by T. L Smith
I leave my hair the way it is and pick one of Rhianna’s black dresses that stops just above my knee. I add some lip gloss and call an Uber, leaving my car at my sister’s house.
Noah’s having the event at a local restaurant, so I chose low heels for the occasion. I really have no idea what we’re celebrating. I agreed because she wanted me there. And if I need her, she’s always there for me.
When I arrive at the restaurant, instantly I know I’m overdressed. Way overdressed. Not one of the women is wearing a dress. They’re all in lunch attire, even though it’s evening. Some are wearing jeans, some skirts, but nothing fancy. Striding in, I spot my sister straight away, her arm around Noah as he talks to someone and she’s hanging on his every word. Noah spots me and waves me over, making Rhianna glance up. She removes herself from him and smiles.
“You didn’t go home?” she asks, noticing her dress.
“No,” I reply, causing both of them to scan my body. “Good to see you again, Noah.”
“Always a pleasure, Rylee. Thanks for coming. Is Anderson with you tonight?”
“No.”
“There’s an open bar. Help yourself. Your sister has been,” he jokes, making Rhianna wiggle her eyebrows.
“You want to get drunk and go skinny dipping?” she asks.
Noah’s watching Rhianna with eager eyes. He literally only has eyes for her, and it makes me so happy for her.
“I’m going to get a drink,” I respond, not answering that question. If you give her an inch, she will take a mile and then run with it.
“Or ten,” Rhianna calls to my back, which makes me chuckle.
When I step up to the bar, I order a gin and tonic with lime.
“Didn’t take you for the drinking type,” a dark voice says right next to me. My eyes find that voice, and the first thing I see is tanned hands followed by strong forearms with prominent veins.
Arm porn.
Vein porn.
When I manage to move my eyes away from those sexy arms, I blink, once, twice, three times. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
I haven’t seen him since high school, and even then, he was someone you never got too close to. And here I am, standing next to him as he nurses a drink in his hand.
“It’s water, if you must know,” he says as I glance at his face after staring at his glass for a few moments.
August has been in prison for over six years, and I know his sentence was for much longer than that.
How is he standing here next to me? I have no idea.
“August,” I say, to which he nods then looks away, bringing the glass to his lips and taking a sip. I watch as he swallows, then the glass is placed on the countertop again.
“Rich girl remembers.” His voice is a deep timbre, his hair the color of mahogany, deep and rich, with only subtle hues of light—nothing like Anderson’s. In school, August was two years above me in grades, but everyone knew who he was. He was the bad boy that every girl wanted despite being scared of him.
And believe me, every girl with eyes wanted him.
August Trouble had an air of mystery about himself. No one ever seriously knew him, and the few girls who claimed they did, talked about him as if he were some sort of god.
He hasn’t changed much. He still has that hard air about him. Except now, he has a scar above his lip, his face is sharper, the angles more prominent, and his hair is shorter than the undercut he had in school. He’s bigger—a lot bigger.
“Do you even know my name?” I ask.
Rich girl. That’s definitely not my name.
His eyes, green as the forest, shine back at me.
“Rich girl,” is all he says, then taps his fingertips on the bar.
“That is not my name,” I declare, turning my nose up at him.
August bites his bottom lip, his scar becoming more prominent as he does, and he turns to check me over with those eyes. The black dress suddenly feels all sorts of wrong on my body.
“Rhianna,” he says in a fast breath.
I try to not deflate. I mean, if you don’t know us, it’s hard to tell us apart. And this man hasn’t seen either of us in six years, so there’s no way he could tell us apart.
Plus, we were nothing to him in school.
He was a king.
I was nothing but a girl who went to school every day, trying to hide in the shadows.
“I better be going.” I pick up my drink and wander back to my sister, not looking back over my shoulder at the man with great arms and who thinks I am my sister. As soon as I reach her, her hand grabs mine, and she pulls me so we’re standing next to each other.
“I saw you chatting to August,” she whispers while her other hand stays in Noah’s. “I forgot to tell you this party… it’s for him. Noah got him out.”
Now it all makes sense.
“He’s an asshole.” I lift my drink and check over my shoulder. He’s exactly where I left him, staring at his drink as people mingle all around him.
Rhianna bumps me, and I turn to her. “You had a crush on him all through school. If you wanted to…” She glances back at him. “I mean… I bet he hasn’t had sex in a long time.” Her eyebrows wiggle at her suggestion.
“No. Just no.”
“I bet Anderson hasn’t ever made you come,” she finishes.
“Anderson,” a voice says from behind me.
Spinning around, I see August now standing there.
“August, you remember my sister,” Rhianna says.
“Of course, Rylee.” He winks at me, and I narrow my eyes at him.
The damn asshole. He knew my name all along and decided to upset me by using my sister’s name. Well, two can play that game.
“She had a major crush on you during school,” my sister tells him.
Oh, god. My cheeks go red at her words, and thankfully, before either of us can say anything, Noah walks over and taps August on the shoulder.
“You ready?” he asks.
August nods.
Rhianna leans in and kisses my cheek. “We’re going. You going back to mine?”
“Yeah, don’t think I want to head home just yet,” I tell her. I can feel August’s eyes on me as I speak, but I choose not to glance his way.
“Okay. I was going to stay at Noah’s, but I can come with you if you need me to.”
I hold up my hand. “No, don’t be silly. I can crash at yours.”
“I love you,” she says.
Noah waves as they head off. August stepping off first, not saying a word to me as he leaves.
And that’s probably for the best.
Chapter 4
August
The house is empty and lonely. Noah picked me up from the prison and drove me out to my new home. Not hearing voices yelling from another cell, which somehow became something I had expected to hear, made my first night here difficult, to say the least. I hardly slept, and when I couldn’t, I went out to the yard to tackle that. It’s quite clear no one has been here for what seems like forever. I’m glad Noah managed to get the house cleaned. If the yard is anything to go by, I would’ve hated to have seen it before it was tidied and scrubbed. And that’s saying something considering where I have spent the last six years. But then again, anything is better than there.
And I mean anything.
By the third day post-prison, the yard is looking better. It’s starting to resemble something like a normal house again.
“August.” I hear Paige’s voice before I see her. Turning around, my little sister jumps into my arms and wraps hers tight around me.
It’s the first time I have been hugged in a long time.
A very long time.
My hands hang at my sides because I don’t know what to do. Hugging is so damn foreign to me.
I see her father standing next to his car, not taking his eyes off of her for one second as she releases me. I ruffle her long hair as she pulls back.
“You look good, kid. So big.” She was a pipsqueak w
hen I went away all those years ago, and the letters here and there occasionally containing a picture are nothing compared to what she’s like in person.
“I’m almost an adult, you know.”
My lips turn up in the corners at her words. “I’ve missed you.”
She leans back in and wraps her arms around me again.
“I’ve missed you more.” We stay like that for a little while until her father calls her name. “I told him he was either taking me, or I would find my own way to see you.”
“I would’ve come and seen you, squeak.” She’s my top priority of absolutes, but I needed to get my head on straight first.
“August.” Glenn, her father, walks across the yard and nods his head in my direction. “It’s good to see you.”
“Thanks for bringing her around.”
Glenn glances past me to the house. “You’ve done a lot in a few days. This place was starting to look haunted,” he says, then his eyes travel back to mine.
My sister grins.
“You seen your mother?” He cut all contact with the woman when he took Paige from her care. I hated him for it at the time, but now I am glad he did. I would hate to see Paige broken the way I am. Her soul is too kind for that to happen to her.
“No.”
Glenn nods, happy with that answer.
“Time to go, Paige. Say goodbye to your brother.”
“I want to stay. I can help, August. Please, let me help.”
“That’s not a good idea. We have plans,” Glenn says.
“It’s fine, squeak. Another time, I’m sure.”
Glenn grins. “Yes, another time.”
Paige wraps her arms around my waist again before she pulls back, and I watch as they both depart, leaving me alone once again.
I’m used to solitude, so it makes no difference.
The stares and the whispers are what I expected. But dealing with it isn’t something I was mentally prepared for. Before I was locked away, I got the same reactions, but not to this extent. Now everyone knows who I am, so when I walk into the grocery store to buy some food for the house, women hold their purses a little tighter, and the cashier flinches when he sees me.
I head straight to the back to pick up the staples—bread, milk, and snacks. Basically, just enough so I don’t have to come back here anytime soon.
“You need to leave,” a voice pipes up from behind me.
When I turn, I see a rent-a-cop dressed in blue, holding onto his utility belt like Batman as he stares at me. He’s old, and in one movement, I could have him on the floor. Instead, I bite my tongue and stroll past him, going straight to the cashier with the groceries I have in hand.
He follows me, his boots clicking behind me.
The cashier glances at the asshole rent-a-cop before looking directly at me.
“Leave,” the fake cop, or should I say security guard, barks behind me again.
“I need to purchase this, then I’ll leave,” I reply, biting my cheek a little too hard, so much so I taste the metallic tang of blood. It’s the only thing stopping me from turning around and showing him who I really am.
But I’m changing.
I have to.
The old me was dangerous and unpredictable. I need to be a better me. Otherwise, I’ll end up where I just left.
“You aren’t welcome here,” he snarls.
I give the cashier a grin, ignoring the rent-a-cop. “Ring me up, so I can leave,” I tell him.
He’s young, and his eyes shift behind me again, where I know the rent-a-cop is standing.
“No, leave,” the young guy says.
Fuck! I clutch my wallet in my hand and think how easy it would be to simply knock them both the fuck out. I could walk out with the stuff I want and not care, but I want to be better than that. Better than these two knuckleheads.
However, I won’t because that’s exactly what they want. And one wrong move will lead me back to the one place I just escaped from.
And I do not want to go back.
Stepping back, I turn and march out. As soon as I step out the door, my stomach growls. I ordered takeout last night, and I am fucking starving now, but I can’t keep wasting my money on takeout. At least not until I find a job.
“Here.” I turn to see a dark-haired beauty standing in front of me, sunglasses covering her face as she holds a paper bag out to me. “Take it, August. Before my hand falls off.”
I take the bag and check inside. It’s full of everything I was trying to buy. As I look back up, Rylee is staring at me through her glasses. Then she turns and strolls away. I watch as she hotfoots it to her expensive car. And just before she gets in, I call out to her, “Rich girl.”
She turns back. “Yes?” Her nose is scrunched up at my choice of name for her.
“I’m not your fucking charity case,” I spit out.
Rylee shakes her head before she slides in her car and drives off. A part of me wants to throw the shit at her car, but I know better. I need food. And despite her being a rich girl, she is fucking hot and generous, even though I don’t want to admit that right now.
“You’ve done heaps,” Noah says the next day as he steps inside. He checks around, his hands by his sides, exuding so much confidence it’s almost enough to make me physically ill.
“Yep,” Is all I reply.
Noah walks to the back door and views the yard, which I have torn to pieces and flattened. Not even a bush is standing where it used to be.
“How are you going with getting supplies?” he asks. “I heard about the supermarket.”
“Of course you did. She can’t keep her mouth shut.”
“Who?” Noah asks.
“Rylee.”
“What does Rylee have to do with the supermarket?” he asks with an appearance of confusion crossing his face.
“She was there. It wasn’t her that told you?”
“No, one of my clients saw it all and let me know.”
Well, fuck. Rich girl kept her mouth shut. I’ll be damned.
“What do you plan to do for work? Your grandmother left you some money, but there’s not a lot.”
“I haven’t gotten that far. Though, I guess, it’s something I should look into.” Except for the fact that I’ve never worked a real job in my life.
“Do you want me to get you some work?”
I scrub my hand down my face and sit at the dining room table as he turns and stares.
“No.”
“August, this will only work if you go back to living a normal life.”
I chuckle.
What is a normal life? Even before prison, my life was anything but normal. My mother was the town whore, doing whatever she could for her next drink, even my damn friends. Disgusting.
Normal life? Yeah, I don’t know what that is.
“You can be whoever you want to be, August. If you look at it that way, I’ll do whatever I can to assist you.”
My knuckles rap on the table. “Why?” I ask. He’s done everything for free, and he’s one of the best lawyers in the city. His reputation as the next big thing is renowned, and yet, here he is, helping me.
“I don’t know if I told you this, but I was married before.”
I shake my head because I had no idea. Though we don’t share many personal things.
“She was a great woman. She told me I shouldn’t do everything for the greedy, that I should remember where I came from. Remember my roots.” He stares at me. “I remember, August. And believe it or not, we have a very similar backstory. My mother was someone you wouldn’t wish on your worst nightmare, and my father was never in the picture.”
“And look at you now,” I say to him, surprised by his words.
“And look at you. You’re free. Now, make the most of it,” he says before he heads out the same way he came in, leaving me to ponder his words of wisdom.
Chapter 5
Rylee
“Rylee.”
Fuck.
Fuck.
>
I didn’t see his car out the front. How did I miss that?
“We need to talk.”
Ha, no stinking way.
“Rylee, dear, Anderson has been waiting for hours to see you. Seems he keeps missing you.” My mother’s eyes narrow on me as if she knows I’ve been avoiding him. Hell, she probably does.
“Yes, let’s talk,” Anderson says and begins the journey up the stairs to my bedroom. I place my bag down on the floor as I watch him disappear.
“What are you waiting for, Rylee?” my mother asks as I stay where I am.
Turning to her, I see so much of me in my mother. The same color hair and bone structure. But it’s the eyes that stare back at me that aren’t mine. Hers are hard and demanding. She has expectations. I live in her reality.
What I should do is move out, leave this house. It’s not as if I’m not old enough or don’t earn enough money to set myself up. It’s been easier living here while studying and working, but now I don’t have any reason to stay.
I think it’s way past time, though.
“I’m going to move out,” I tell her. Her brows shoot up in surprise. “I’m going to start searching for a place tomorrow.”
“What about your brother? He enjoys having you here.”
“He can visit whenever he wants. He knows that.”
“You’ll end up just like your sister,” she warns.
“And there is nothing wrong with that. Rhianna is with a man who makes her happy. She has traveled the world and loves what she does right now, even if it’s not what you want.” My head turns back to the stairs.
My mother isn’t a bad person, simply demanding, and I’ve come to know how to work her better than either of my siblings.
“I have a ring picked out,” my mother chimes when I don’t give her my attention.
“Throw it away,” I say, as I begin the climb up the stairs, my hand gripping the banister, my knuckles turning white with the realization I’ll be in the same room with him by myself, and we all know that never turns out well—for me.
Anderson is standing at my door, leaning against it as he watches me walk past him. His eyes roam over me from top to bottom before he whispers, “I missed you.”
