The Funeral of a Good Girl

By – TempestRaces

Chapter Thirty Two – Of Misdirection and Running Away

When she next became conscious of the world around her, it was an hour later and the sheets of the bed were mostly on the floor. The fitted bottom sheet had come loose on one corner, and Vince's shirt was hanging off his mirror in a haphazard fashion. "That was angry sex, wasn't it?" she asked conversationally, still sprawled in the pillows where she had ended up at the end of their various contortions.

He flipped off her prone body before he answered. "Yeah. That was angry sex."

"We should fight first all the time."

"I thought we both already decided that we wanted to live to see our next birthdays."

"Well, there is that. But then there's the angry sex. I'm not so sure that another year is all that much better than lots more angry sex."

She sounded so serious he couldn't help his chuckle. "I can see where it's a hard debate."

"I just bet you can," she answered, raising an eyebrow. "But really, either side of the argument is a hard one."

"Where'd the potty mouth come from?"

"Um, maybe out of the ways I just learned my body can bend without breaking."

His look turned serious. "Bet I can show you a few more."

"But there's that need to live to see twenty again." As she finished her statement, her stomach growled.

"I totally agree. Food now, more sex later."

"Sex and food is all you ever think of."

"That's not true. Fighting and racing round out all I ever think of."

"Excuse me," she answered, giggling. "Where you takin' me?"

"Come again?"

"To feed me. Where you takin' me to feed me?"

"Maybe you should be cookin' me a meal for once." He smirked.

"That's Mia's job, an I don't want it."

"Well, there's always Fat Burger."

"And again, if you think I will ever darken the door of a place called Fat Burger, you need your head checked. Do you know how to get to that diner place that Jess likes so much?"

"Yeah."

"Well? Do you wanna go there?"

"I guess."

His petulant tone made her sigh. "You can get fries and a burger there, too. You don't need to go to some fast food joint named Fat Burger for burgers and fries."

"Let's just go already."

"You get awful whiney for a big boy, you know that?"

"Keep runnin' that mouth and see if I take you anywhere." He stood up off the bed with a longing glance at the tousled sheets and stepped into a pair of his boxers. Maybe he was ready to get up, and maybe he was starving. But finding an excuse to take the bed apart even further would still cancel it all out.

"I got a ride, and a cousin who knows where the place is. Do I really need you to make sure I get there? No. I keep you around for far different reasons." She got out of bed and stretched lazily.

He watched the play of her muscles under her now honey coloured skin. It was surprising how fast she'd coloured. There was something about how, even though she was quite strong her strength was tensile and supple, hidden from scrutiny unlike his own made him think about how she thought.

She wasn't a model. She wasn't an actress, so it didn't make sense for her to keep her body so toned and firm. She had to have a certain amount of physical strength for her job. But what had made her decide to go out and become as strong as she had? It didn't matter, because she had remained softly female in all the right places to counter his male hardness. But that overabundance of strength was still lurking there, just below the feminine shape. But why? Why did she think she had to be so strong? At least she didn't end up looking like one of those female body builders. At least she still looked like a woman.

Not that she was lushly female, because she wasn't. Her hips were slender and narrow. Her belly was flat and her breasts were firm and high. She wasn't actually built like the kind of girl he normally went after. She was still built like a female, but not the overtly womanly kind of girl he normally took home. Even Mia had a bigger chest, rounder hips and butt.

She looked back at him over her shoulder. "We goin' or not?"

Her mouthy words shook him out of his reverie. She was as strong and tough as she was because if she was going to act like a street thug, she had to be able to back it up. "I ain't takin' you anywhere until you put clothes on. You exhausted me too much for me to want to end up in a fight with some dude who tries to touch you."

"Well I ain't gettin' clothes on unless you tell me you're takin' me to dinner."

"I'll take you to dinner already." He rolled his eyes. "Get dressed."

She didn't answer. She shot him a dirty look instead and strode over to her bag. "Fuck me."

"What?"

"I'm gonna have to do laundry."

"Why?"

"I'm outta clean clothes, almost."

"So, rewear something."

"Girls don't do that. I have one pair of clean shorts left." She turned back to her bag and pushed stuff around. "But no shirts that aren't dressy."

"So wear a dressy shirt."

"With sweat shorts? I don't think so." She dressed as far in her own clothes as she could before striding over to the low dresser opposite and opening the drawer where she knew he kept his tank tops. She pulled one out and pulled it over her head. "I'll just help you generate laundry instead."

His shirt swam on her, and he knew he really shouldn't be allowing her to help herself to his things without asking, because it was going to go right to her head and make her think she could boss him around if she wanted to. But then there was what seeing her dressed in his clothes did for his sense of ownership over her. Everyone who saw them was going to know she was wearing his shirt. And that implied that she had gotten dressed in his room. And if she'd gotten dressed in his room, she likely been given a reason to do so. Like they had been ripping the sheets off his bed. Instead of getting pissed off at her he smirked. Yeah, ok, she could wear his shirt. In front of the team, in front of all the strangers of L.A. They could all look at her and know in whose room she'd woken up today. And how. And why. "You ready or not?"

"That's all you have to say?"

"Yeah. What were you expecting?" He fought down the laugh that bubbled up at the thwarted look on her face. She had expected him to get pissed off and fight with her about the whole stealing his stuff situation and when he hadn't, and thus she hadn't gotten her way, she got mad. She hid it well and quickly thought.

"Nothing. Let's go."

"We asking anyone else to join us?"

"V, it's almost seven. It's not like they all haven't eaten already."

"Guess you're right."

He led the way up the stairs toward the kitchen and found Mia washing up behind the team's supper. "Hey Mia," he said.

"Hi," Mia answered. It seemed obvious that she wasn't impressed.

"What's your problem?" Vince questioned in answer. Why was she pissy with him?

"I don't have a problem," Mia snapped.

Tempest pushed her way out from behind Vince, who had been trapping her on the stairs when he stopped dead at the top of them. "Sorry about missing dinner. I was too sick to get up." Mia looked at her and if Tempest wasn't mistaken there was a touch of contempt in her gaze.

"I'll just bet you were," Mia mumbled, really too under her breath for the others to catch.

Vince thought he caught the gist of it. "What did you say?" he questioned in a growl.

Though she didn't have a clue what Mia had said as her hearing really wasn't all that good at the best of times, Tempest still got the impression from Mia's posture and attitude that the Italian girl wasn't pleased with either her, or her male companion. And thus, she had a fairly good idea that Mia wasn't mad about them getting up so late and missing supper, but rather what had kept them in bed for the last part of their time there. Mia looked from her to Vince, and as Tempest watched, when she looked at Vince her eyes didn't just hold contempt. There was something that looked suspiciously like jealousy too.

Mia getting jealous of what she and Vince did didn't bode well, in her opinion. What, Vince wasn't worth her time of day until he was starting to see some other girl might be worth his? Then all of a sudden she might want him because someone else did and he returned the interest. It wasn't right. Mia didn't want him, and it was patently obvious. But then, because someone else did, and it seemed like Vince might just be starting to get over his silly childhood crush, she started to change her mind.

But was she just being paranoid, or being her ever perceptive self and sensing Mia's jealous reaction, Tempest wondered, and being pre-emptively jealous that Mia might just give Vince the shot he'd been waiting for once she wasn't in the picture anymore, and it would all be because of how Mia had seen him act with her. A quick glance at Vince told her this possibility hadn't gone over his head, and he was intrigued by it. With a sigh she decided she couldn't win. I know what my name is, she sighed mentally, but does it really mean my entire life has to be so stormy?

She slipped off for the living room quietly, hoping neither of the other two people in the kitchen would notice her go, past their own involvement with each other. She wanted to deal with her wounds without Vince around to see how much the rapid change of his attention had hurt her. She couldn't give him the power to know he could hurt her. Not when he did it so often and so well. Her luck held, but she didn't know for how long. She found Jesse and Leon in the living room, trying to beat each other at PlayStation. "Hey guys," she said softly. "How's it goin'?"

"I'm about to kick your cousin's ass here, and then I'll answer pretty damn good. How're you?"

"Great, but starving. You guys wanna take me to the diner place we all liked so much last time?"

"Sure," Jesse answered, tossing down his controller with a groan when Leon did in fact beat him. "Why isn't V h-"

"He just ain't. Can we go already," Tempest cut her cousin off and pushed for the quick exodus. "I'm starving."

"Ok," Leon drawled, picking up the fact that she was running away from Vince for some reason again. He stood up off the floor and walked to the door, where he slipped his boots on and picked his keys up off the table there. Jesse followed him over and pushed his feet into his boots and Tempest kicked on her flip flops and hauled the door open. She then ran to the yellow Skyline and slid into the passenger seat. Jesse finally picked up on the fact that the name of the game was to go fast. He ran down the lawn and dived into the back seat with a laugh. Leon slid into the driver's seat, chuckling the whole time, and started the car. He reversed out of the drive with a squeal and tore off down their street.

"What was that?" Mia asked, breaking the staring contest which she and Vince had been participating in up until that point.

"Leon's car peelin' out," Vince answered her absentmindedly, still staring at her, wondering if he was imagining the slight softening on her face while she was looking at him. What Leon's car was doing taking off like that didn't occur to him.

"Why would Leon take off from here that fast at this hour of Sunday?"

Her question made Vince think for a moment. He had to admit, the things that Mia looking at him like that did to his brain made thought harder than normal. But when he finally wrapped his brain around the one main reason that might make Leon take off that fast it wasn't pretty. "Fuckin' son of a whore!"

"Vince!" Mia admonished.

He didn't answer her, but strode down the short hall into the living room. The PlayStation was still turned on, as was the TV and the controllers were discarded haphazardly on the floor in front of the TV. Leon and Jesse's boots were gone, as were the sandals belonging to Tempest. "Fuck!"

"What is your problem?" Mia asked, angry over the swearing being used.

"What's missing here, Mia?"

"Well, Leon and Jesse were using the video game until a few minutes ago."

"And who came upstairs with me but isn't here now?" Vince growled sarcastically, leading Mia through the deduction like she was a small child.

"Tempest. So what? They went out together. Jesse is her cousin."

"She was supposed to be leaving with me."

When Mia realized what that meant, she felt somewhat guilty herself. What had she been thinking? Starting to think of Vince as something more than a childhood friend simply because someone else enjoyed his company? That wasn't right. Just because it was sort of nice to know that no matter what, someone always wanted you and thought you were perfect didn't give you the right to be angry that he found someone who really wanted him back. And that was all it boiled down to, she realized. And when she realized, she was ashamed. She had gotten jealous over something as stupid as the potential to lose her constant admirer and in the process had hurt Jesse's cousin and possibly messed up the chances of Vince to have a normal relationship with a girl. But what could she do about it now? Any effort on her part to point out how foolish it had been on Vince's part to ignore the woman he had just slept with to make eyes at her would need to be followed by an apology for her part in falsely participating and mucking around in his life and how hard it was going to be for the next few days. It would also have to include another one of those difficult conversations she had been having with him since she was sixteen about how she didn't see him in a romantic light. After she had just acted like she might, just now. So she wasn't going there. But she still felt like she should. "So what now?" she asked, her voice low and apologetic.

"You tell me," he sighed. "If I show up, she's just gonna be pissed, along with Leon, who's gonna be really pissed, and maybe worse."

"Why's Leon going to be mad?"

Vince sighed, not wanting to go into it. "He just is."

His short non-answer was really answer enough for her to get the picture. Leon wasn't impressed with the whole situation, in other words, and this would just be one more reason for him to be mad at Vince for how he was treating Tempest. Great! Now she was a part of the whole feud, where as she had been managing to stay mostly neutral. At least as far as Tempest knew, in any event. Sure, she had forced her opinion on Vince several times, but that was just the way things had always been. "Does Leon like her?"

Mia's definition of 'like' wasn't hard to fill in. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe. He says no, and she says the same thing."

"But you're not sure?" Mia pushed just a bit further in a very passive, gentle tone. She didn't want to be told off, or close Vince off totally from their conversation.

"No, I'm not fuckin' sure," he growled. "He said something once about how," he trailed off. He didn't want to fill Mia in. He didn't want to tell her how Leon had said that if he didn't want Tempest for himself, really want her, he didn't have the right to tell Leon he couldn't have her if he did really want her. He didn't want to hear about how Leon was right. Not now.

Besides, if Leon didn't really want her, why would he have even gone there? Why bring it up? Was it just because Leon wanted to make him think? Or was there more to it than that? Great! He threw up his hands in the air. Now Mia had him going crazy with thoughts of Leon wanting 'his trouble' when he'd managed to put that line of-ok, he admitted it-jealousy out of his head. Just fuckin' great!

"How what, Vince?"

"How I didn't have the right to tell him he couldn't have her if he wanted her since I didn't. Not really." He watched as Mia's face turned contemplative.

"I can see where he's coming from, really. I just didn't think Leon thought about her that way."

"Yeah, well, neither did I."

"But now you do?"

"No. But I do think he, along with the rest of you, hates the idea of the two of us together, so now he's going out of his way to put an end to it. I also think more happened in that bedroom than the two of them playing one fuckin' hell of a practical joke." He finally gave voice to his private worry.

"You think?" Mia asked.

"I fuckin' well said it, didn't I?"

"Don't get mad at me because you messed up your life again Vince. I didn't make you do it, and moreover I told you it wasn't a good idea from the get go."

"I guess I was alone in the kitchen a few minutes ago. No wait, you were there too, and you didn't notice her slip out any more than I did. Because if you had, you'd'a been the first one to rub it in to me how I fucked up again."

Mia's face coloured at his correct observation. "I didn't see her go, no." She sighed. "Vince," she started, looking at him pleadingly.

"Don't start Mia. I don't need to hear another word." He knew where she was about to go, and he didn't need to hear that he fucked up the good thing he had going on over a moment of her indecision that didn't really change anything. As he'd told her last night, he knew he was stupid. He didn't need it rubbed in any further than it already had been.

"Ok. I get it. But now what are you going to do about the whole situation?"

"What can I do?"

"Go tell her your sorry would be a good start. Then acting like you really are."

He moved toward the front door. "I'm goin' out."

"You going to find them?"

"No. I'm just goin' out. I don't know when I'll be back."

"Ok. Fine. Run away from your problems. See how much that helps."

"Mia! For fuck's sake! What am I gonna do, huh? Go tell her that I'm sorry that I got caught up in looking at another girl and temporarily forgot she was right there beside me. Again? After we had just gotten up from tearing each other's clothes off and destroying my room? How would you have me start that apology?"

"I don't know." Mia blushed at the frank speech Vince used to describe his situation to her. "I guess I would have had you look at the girl who did those things with you like she was the most important thing in your life to date, which is only the way you should look at her in the first place, and then you wouldn't be in this mess."

"It's just sex."

Mia nodded. "Then you deserve everything you get for deciding to use a family member of this team that way. No matter what mistake I made out of a moment of my own stupidity, you're the one who decided to take her to bed. You're the one who didn't make it a one night, drunken mistake. You're the one who kept on taking her to bed. And apparently you're the one who knew all along that you were just using her for sex. I half wish she was Leon's cousin not Jesse's just because I know Jesse'll never tell you off over it but at least I'd get to see Leon kick your ass."

"That's real nice Mia. Thanks."

"Why should we be nice to you? After what you just told me I can only surmise you're just not a nice person Vince. I have dishes to finish." She turned to leave the room.

"Mia."

The begging tone to his voice checked her. "What?" she asked shortly.

"What do I do?" he asked in a small voice.

"I don't have the answer to that for you Vince. You're just going to have to clean this one up on your own."