Page 6 of Savagely Scarred

He grips my shoulders, rubbing his thumbs in circles. “I never told him I wanted to ride. That was all his idea. It’s Dorian. He wants to be cool and have a motorcycle club.” He smiles and I narrow my eyes. “I promise I only agreed to let him store the bike here and that’s why I haven’t mentioned it yet. I didn’t think you would be opposed to that part.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” I concede and drop my shoulders.

Sage wraps his arms around me and pulls me to his chest, resting his chin on my head. “We good?”

“Yeah.” I nod.

He tilts my chin up and places a chaste kiss on my lips before letting me go. The kitchen timer goes off, and he puts on an oven mitt before opening the door and pulling out his baked ziti.

I stop chewing on my lip and slam my hand on the counter. “Christ!”

Sage turns to me, raising a questioning eyebrow. I throw my hand in the air towards the dining room.

“Now I have to worry about Dorian breaking a damn leg!”

I sit back in my chair and push my plate of cake crumbs away. If I eat another bite, my stomach might explode. Besides his famous baked ziti, Sage and I prepared a charcuterie board full of meats, cheeses and fruits. I almost lost a finger cutting up a pepper for the vegetable tray. Afterwards, Sage relieved me of that duty to mix up the dip for the beer bread.

I may lack basic cooking skills, but I make up for it when it comes to baking. Ava’s cake was my creation—minus the buttercream frosting Sage helped me make. The three and zero candles still sit atop the now butchered round cake.

“That was so good, Liv,” Ava says, setting her fork down on her plate. Everyone else hums in agreement while they finish devouring their slices.

“What’s next on the birthday agenda?” Sage asks.

Ava’s eyes light up and grow wide as she looks at me. “Do you remember Alex?”

“Oh God no!” I groan and cover my face with my hands, shaking my head.

“Uh. Who is Alex?” Sage inquires.

“You know another Alex?” Dorian chimes in.

“My name is Alexander. Not Alex. Alex sounds like someone who does steroids and kicks puppies for fun,” Enzo chuffs.

Ava rolls her eyes at his remark and turns back to face Sage. “Alex and I used to date in college. He’s the lead singer of a local rock band.”

Enzo chugs his entire glass of whiskey before slamming it down onto the table. “I thought you don’t date?”

“I don’t. It was just him.” She looks away from him, not bothered by his apparent jealousy. “He got us into all kinds of free concerts and parties. Anyway, his band is playing next Saturday and we are all going.” She smiles at the last part.

Sage turns his head towards me. “And why did you react like this is the worst thing in the world?”

I look up at him sheepishly, biting my lower lip. My eyes slide to Ava across from me.

“Because he always made her sing.” Ava grins devilishly.

Everyone is staring at me with astonished looks on their faces. Dorian’s mouth is hanging open is disbelief. Sage breaks the silence when he barks out a laugh.

“Wait… like karaoke?”

“No. He always picked one song in her range for her to sing at every show. The crowd would eat it up.”

I can feel the heat in my cheeks. I think back to all the memories of me on stage and how I would morph into this completely different person under the spotlights. No one knew who I was other than Ava and the band members. And for a few minutes I got to be someone else. Someone who wasn’t always looking over their shoulder or flinching at loud noises.

“So not only do you look hot in a dress—,” Sage glares at Dorian as the words leave his mouth. “but you can SING?! Who are you and what have you done with our Olivia!”

“Just because you haven’t heard me sing, doesn’t mean I can’t,” I reply and then point at Ava. “But I will not be singing at this one!”

“My birthday. My rules,” she states simply.