Chastity Falls: Limited Edition Box Set

by L A Cotton

  The stadium was cloaked in darkness, and I blended into the black backdrop as I headed for the back of the bleachers again.

  “I wondered if you were going to show.” Cara was sitting on the last row with her hoodie pulled her over her head to keep out the cool breeze.

  “I keep my word.”

  She shrugged and nodded for me to take a seat beside her. “I brought coffee. You want?”

  “Sure.” I helped myself to one of the cups and took a swallow. “So no Jason?”

  “He doesn’t know I’m here, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “And he needs to know where you are at all times?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  Wasn’t it always? I didn’t get involved with girls for this exact reason. They were the complication. Just look at Ana and Jackson. He was a goner the second he’d laid eyes on her at the freshman orientation party. He hadn’t known back then that I knew he felt something for her, but I saw it. She was bad news, but her pretty face and the black shadow hanging over her blinded him.

  I didn’t let myself fall for all of that bullshit. I fucked and moved on. Sometimes, a girl was worth keeping around if she was extra special in the sack. But a relationship? No, thank you.

  “Where have you gone?” Cara stared at me as if I’d grown a second head.

  “Just thinking. Thanks for the coffee.” I tipped the cup in her direction before taking another swallow.

  “So that’s it? You’re not going to push me for answers?”

  “About Jason? No, I’m not going to push you. We all have secrets. You keep yours, and I’ll keep mine,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

  “He’s a family friend,” Cara said propping her feet up on the bench in front. Just like she had that first time. “My brother, of sorts, I guess. He thinks he can boss me around, stick his nose in my business. I hate it. It’s always been that way ever since I was just a girl.”

  I didn’t say anything. She obviously needed to get this off her chest, and if I was being honest with myself, I wanted to know about her. About her past.

  About Jason.

  “My dad is way overprotective. He didn’t want me moving away for college. We argued … a lot. I threatened to go anyway, so Jason was the compromise. If I agreed with us going to college together, Dad said he would give me his blessing to live on campus.”

  “Sounds like a pretty shit deal.”

  Soft laughter filled the air and I relaxed back onto my arms. “It’s not too bad. I got to come to Pacific and study art. They have a great program and all I’ve ever wanted to do is paint. Jason mostly stays out of my business. He’s studying business.”

  “Good for him,” I shot back unable to hide the bitterness in my voice.

  “Hey.” Cara nudged my shoulder with her own, and my stomach dipped. Only last night I’d had a hot chick almost naked offering it up to me on a plate and Cara was able to elicit more feeling from me with a simple touch of her shoulder. I was officially losing my fucking mind.

  “The freedom is … well, it’s fucking awesome. Growing up with a dad like mine wasn’t easy. He still thinks he can tell me who I can and can’t date. I mean I’m twenty for Christ’s sake. But what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right? I got pretty good at sneaking out when I was younger. The habit kind of stuck.”

  I turned to look at her and our eyes connected, locking on each other’s. Her cheeks flushed with color and I liked the way it looked against her pale skin. Cara dropped her eyes for a second before they flickered up to my mouth.

  “I was pissed when you tried to save me earlier. I don’t need saving, Braiden.” Her eyes didn’t move from my mouth as she spoke, and my heart slammed against my chest over and over.

  Cara might not have needed saving … but I did.

  I inched closer to her until our noses almost touched. “I’m not the good guy, Cara,” I warned her.

  She should stay away from me. I was no good for her. People got hurt around me. I hurt people.

  Cara closed the gap, pressing her lips to mine. For those first few seconds, I froze, unable to move. But like a small spark igniting a fire, I became lost in the feel of her mouth moving over mine, and somewhere deep inside me, a switch flipped. Hooking an arm around the curve of her waist, I pulled Cara flush to me, causing her to yelp into my mouth. Our tongues clashed, fighting for control. I could feel her anger and frustration with every lick and touch. She was taking her shit out on me, and I was more than happy to oblige. She tasted too fucking good to stop, like coffee and strawberry bubble gum. I dug my fingers into her waist, needing her to be closer as our lips explored and nipped and dueled for dominance.

  “God, I knew we were the same. I knew you understood me,” Cara murmured into my mouth. But I heard her. I heard every damn word, and they hit me like a bucket of ice water.

  “Stop, we have to stop.” I released my hold on her and pulled away, putting some space between us. The flush in her cheeks had spread down her neck and I wanted to taste her right where her jawline met the underside of her ear, but I couldn’t.

  I wouldn’t.

  This had gone far enough. Cara thought we were the same.

  We were nothing alike.

  She was just a girl seeking independence, wanting to break away from her father’s rule and live her own life.

  And I was the guy fathers warned their daughters about.

  Chapter Ten

  Cara blinked at me, rejection flickering in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Shit.” I cracked my knuckles needing to relieve some of the tension. What I really needed was a cold shower. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Shouldn’t have or you didn’t want to?”

  My eyes snapped to hers, glaring hard. Surely, she had to know the effect she had on me. Cara’s eyes narrowed back, waiting for some kind of explanation.

  “We can’t do this,” I said slowly, making sure to hammer home each word, but defiance schooled her features. “I think we just did,” she replied.

  “It won’t happen again.”

  “Won’t? Or can’t? What are you hiding?”

  I hated that she could see through me so easily. Okay, I’d jumped ship when she had asked about my scar, and even though a hundred different scenarios existed for the jagged line marring my skin, she didn’t know. She couldn’t. So why did it feel like she knew I was hiding things from her to keep her safe?

  Safe from me.

  “Cara,” I warned. I didn’t want to leave. Not yet. But we couldn’t do that again—whatever the fuck that was because it sure as shit felt like more than just a kiss.

  My cell phone vibrated startling us both and I cursed under my breath, retrieving it from my jeans pocket. Jack’s name flashed across the screen, and I angled the phone away from Cara. “I need to take this.” I rose and started down the steps. I didn’t want to answer it until I was out of her earshot, but something made me stop and turn around. “Same time tomorrow?”

  Cara pulled her lips into a thin line and I expected to hear a ‘no’ tumble out of her mouth, but the line broke into a slight smile and she nodded.

  “Bye,” I mouthed as I jogged down the remainder of the steps and hit answer. “Hello.”

  “Braiden, we need to talk.”

  I turned the key and entered the apartment.

  “I just got home, hang on.” Hitting the light switch, I closed the door and secured the latch. “Okay, you said we needed to talk.”

  After I had left the stadium, Jack had made small talk waiting for me to return to the apartment. I’d offered to call him back, but he’d seemed more than willing to chat about mundane things like how was Forest Grove? What was I doing with my time? All meaningless bullshit if you asked me.

  “There’s been a complication.”

  “Complication?” I was beginning to realize that Jack Doyle was much like my father. He only gave out information on a need to know basis. If he didn’t think you needed to know, he d
idn’t tell you. It was that simple.

  “O’Connor knows you’re out. We’re not sure how, since we covered our tracks. Or, at least, we thought we did. He doesn’t know where you are, but word’s out that you’re walking free.”

  “Okay,” I said. It wasn’t any great shocker that he knew. He’d tried to have me killed, so it made sense he had someone watching me. “What do we do?”

  “You stay put. Forest Grove is the safest place for you right know. I’m working to persuade my associates to move the timeline forward. The quicker we can move against him, the better. I don’t like the idea of giving him enough time to track you down.”

  “And Briony?”

  “She’s safe with Luke. Astoria is safe.”

  Was it? I didn’t know that because I still didn’t know what the hell I’d walked into. Sure, Jack made it sound like I was a key player—he wanted to bring me into the fold—but something about the whole thing bugged me and like it or not, right now I was his puppet. Unless you walk away.

  “How long?”

  “A couple of weeks, at least.”

  My mind instantly went to the short blonde I’d left sitting on the bleachers only minutes earlier.

  “Luke said you wanted some time. This is a good thing, son. You can take the time you need to make a decision, and then when the time’s right, we’ll bring you back and restore your family name. Your grandfather would want nothing more.”

  My chest filled with the pain of being screwed over by Dad—by O’Connor. At one time, being Braiden Donohue was all that had mattered to me. But now?

  Now, I didn’t know if it was enough.

  The next day, I walked the streets of Forest Grove trying to get my head straight, but my feet led me in one direction—to the campus. It was easy to blend in the crowds of students moving around the small grounds. My black hoodie faded into a sea of Pacific sweaters and hoodies, and no one seemed to notice the lone guy amidst their ranks.

  Not even Cara.

  I’d spotted her walking from one building to another. Her short blond waves bounced with each step as she laughed and chatted with her friends. Jason was nowhere to be found, or he was better at being invisible than I was. Either way, I didn’t care. If he had a problem with me, he could go to hell. I might not have been willing to pull Cara into my world, but it didn’t mean I was quite ready to leave hers.

  Cara’s group headed in my direction, and I backed up forcing myself between a tree and a wall. To the unassuming eye, I looked like I was stretching or taking a breather from a jog. As they moved past me, I pulled the bill of my cap lower, holding my breath. If she saw me, Cara would freak. This wasn’t normal, I wasn’t normal—I was a twenty-six-year-old guy hiding in the shadows and following around a college chick. But I couldn’t shut her out of my thoughts. She’d confided in me last night at the stadium—the first time a girl had ever tried to have a real conversation with me. Cara didn’t know who I was. She didn’t know my history. She only knew Braiden Kelly.

  And she liked him. Felt safe enough with him to open up about her life.

  It was right there in her eyes whenever she saw me. The way she’d kissed me as if I was her air. Fuck. I dragged a hand over my face. If I wasn’t careful, this girl was going to ruin me. Or you’ll ruin her.

  Cara and her friend’s laughter grew quieter as they continued on, moving away from me. Unable to torture myself any longer, I stepped out from my cover and hit the path. But I couldn’t resist one last look, and just as my eyes found her, she reached out and grabbed her friend’s arm, saying something to her. Cara turned around and our eyes connected. Surprise registered on her face, replaced quickly with intrigue and what looked a lot like delight.

  “Well, this is a surprise.” Cara approached me and stopped a few feet in front of me.

  “I, hmm.” Shit. “Hi.”

  I’d reigned over high school, ruled college, and survived prison, yet this girl had my fucking balls in the palm of her hands.

  “Hi.” Her smile grew into a smirk. She knew exactly what was going on, and I wouldn’t have blamed her for running a mile. Instead, she said, “Come on, Braiden Kelly. I’m buying.”

  We walked in silence as Cara led us away from the hustle and bustle of campus to a quieter street littered with the odd store. Pausing outside of a little coffee shop, Cara checked her wristwatch and opened the door. “Find a table.”

  I did as she instructed, finding an empty table near the back of the shop. Dropping into one of the chairs, I pulled off my cap and ran a hand through my hair. Cara was being served and I watched her smile and joke with the server. It was hard to believe she was the same girl that had sounded so frustrated and pissed when she’d been telling me about her father, and it made me wonder just how good she was at schooling her true feelings.

  “Here we go. I left out the sugar, but there’s some on the tray.” Cara set the tray down and took the seat opposite me.

  “Thanks.” I added cream and sugar to the mug and rubbed my thumbs around the rim, focusing on the heat.

  “So were you just passing through?”

  “I was …” Think, Braiden. THINK. “Jogging. Yeah, I was out jogging.”

  “Jogging, riiiight,” she drawled, a hint of laughter in her voice. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have too much time on your hands. What was it you said you’re in town for? Apartment sitting?” Cara sipped her coffee looking up at me through her lashes.

  “Yeah, for a friend.”

  “Friend, got it.”

  “So no Jason today?” I shot back not liking where the conversation was headed … or the feelings she provoked in me.

  Cara laughed. “No, he has classes. But we only have an hour then he’ll be around no doubt.”

  Jealousy bubbled under the surface and my grip on the mug tightened.

  “Down, boy. We’re safe, for now.”

  We drank the remainder of our coffee in silence. I’d never met anyone like Cara before. She wasn’t like the dumbed down college bimbos I’d known back in CFA, who were more interested in landing themselves a football player than an education. Something told me Cara didn’t fit into that category. She liked to push the boundaries, had a mouth that had no doubt gotten her into trouble more than once, and she didn’t look at me and see a trophy.

  “What?” I asked catching her watching me, her eyes glittering with mischief.

  “Nothing, it’s not a good idea. Forget it.” Short blond waves fell over her eyes creating a curtain, and I found myself wanting to reach out and brush them out of her face. But she beat me to it, pushing the hair out of her view. “It’s juvenile.”

  “You can’t look at me like that and then refuse to tell me what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.”

  “Ahhh, be still my beating heart. Blue thinks I’m pretty. Call the news station, Braiden Kelly has a heart after all.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” I barked, probably a little too loudly for a small coffee shop, and a couple of heads turned in our direction.

  “Do you talk to all the girls like that? Or just the ones you think are pretty?” Cara tilted her head and cocked her eyebrow. I clenched my fist under the table, smoothing it over my jeans. She certainly brought out the best … and worst in me.

  I didn’t want to hurt her, but I did want to pound the shit out of something just to expel some of the tension pumping through me. Her cute little smirk was not helping things—my dick literally twitched every damn time her lip tugged up to one side. Being around her was getting increasingly more difficult.

  “Cara …”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” She held up her hands and shook her head, laughing softly. “You should see your face right now. Anyway, as I was not saying, I think we should go on a dat-”

  “No fucking way.”

  I didn’t date.

  Not happening.

  Never in a million years.

  Hurt flashed across her face and for a split second, I felt guilty f
or putting it there. “You didn’t even hear me out,” she protested.

  “I don’t date.”

  “You don’t date like you had a bad break up and now you don’t date, or you don’t date like you’re opposed to hanging out with a pretty girl? Wait, are you gay?”

  “I don’t date,” I repeated. It wasn’t that difficult to understand.

  “He doesn’t date. Of course, he doesn’t.”

  “Are you talking to yourself?”

  Cara’s eyes snapped to mine and widened. “Ah-ha. You don’t date, but you do do coincidental meetings that are completely random.”

  Where is she going with this?

  “So, for example, if I were to be at the theater at, oh say, ten, and you just happened to be there, it’d be silly for us not to watch the film together. Don’t you think?”

  I had to give it to her—she was good. Because I had nothing. No smartass comeback.

  Nothing.

  “I’ll take your silence as cooperation. Oh, would you look at that.” Her eyes dropped to her wrist, and she shrugged. “Time’s up. I guess I won’t be seeing you tonight.”

  Cara stood from the table and winked. She had actually fucking winked right at me before exiting the shop and disappearing into the steady stream of passersby. Leaving me with my mouth hanging open. I’d survived being on the wrong end of Levi Shaughnessy’s shank, but I just got my ass handed to me by a college chick six years my junior.

  I guess there was a first time for everything.

  Chapter Eleven

  Forest Grove theater was a small old place. In fact, it looked ancient with its original sign; the kind where someone had to change the letters by hand. But I liked that it was low key. Other than my one night at the student bar, I preferred to move in the shadows and avoid the crowds. It wasn’t as if I’d forgotten how to act, but it was different now. I had no group of friends to feed off of or reputation to get me by. All I had was me, myself, and I … and a shitload of memories I’d rather forget.