by Leila James
I poke Micah, and he glances down at me as I jerk a thumb in the direction of the handsy couple in the pool. “Does that happen a lot?”
A low chuckle rumbles out of him. “Just wait until later. Half the people here will pair off and disappear into dark corners. It’s best not to roam around at that point or bust into bedrooms, unless you really want to catch an eyeful. At the party last weekend, Beau found six very inebriated people all going at it in his basement.”
“The whole thing scarred me for life. Never seen so much pussy and cock jumbled together in my life, except in an actual porno. There were tits and asses everywhere.” Beau eyes Micah and shakes his head. “You’ve got to stop telling people about it, man.”
“So, it’s really true?” I give him a wide-eyed look, grinning.
“Fuck yes, it’s true. There’s not enough bleach to clean out my eyes after witnessing something like that.”
I stifle a giggle as I look around some more.
There’s a firepit in the yard farther away from the house, and there are plenty of chairs sitting around for casual conversation. And that’s when my gaze shifts left to the hot tub, and I spot Xander. At first glance, I roll my eyes, as he’s surrounded by a bunch of girls. And with my second look, I recognize all of them. It’s totally Aria and her three cheer bitches. They’ve got drinks and are talking loudly with exaggerated hand movements and alcohol-infused voices. Aria appears to be sitting on Xander’s lap. I roll my eyes. Yep, that’s quite the non-relationship they have. She keeps turning to whisper in his ear and play with his hair, all while her boobs in her too-small bikini keep smashing up against his chest. Green, ugly, seething emotion flows through my veins before I even know what’s happening. My fists clench. I want to jab my eyes out with a spoon. He’s not with her, huh? I press my lips together, a whole lot pissed off.
The one I remember as Farrah gushes, “I know. She was so freaking mean. I like ice cream. And I hate her.”
I stop in my tracks. “They’re talking about me, those bitches.”
Micah and Beau have also come to a halt on either side of me. “Sounds like it.”
My eyes flick over to Beau. “I didn’t realize I said that out loud.”
He snorts with laughter, which actually makes me laugh, but also attracts the attention of the hot tub inhabitants.
Micah rubs his hand over the top of his head, and in a low voice mutters, “Here we go.”
The three of us step closer, and Xander finally turns around to see what the girls are staring at. He laughs, like he’s completely surprised to see me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
My face falls. I wet my lips, but between the alcohol I’ve consumed and taking in his bewildered tone, my brain is having too much trouble trying to process to be able to formulate a response.
Aria in her hot-pink bikini turns all the way around and straddles Xander, kneeling on the hot tub seat, and jabs her finger in my direction. “No one wants you here, you skank.”
Chest heaving, I stare at Xander, and he cocks his head to the side, silently watching me with those deep, dark eyes.
Oh fuck, I’m such an idiot. I should have listened to what my head was trying to tell me. This has all been another let’s-fuck-with-Scarlett ploy. All of it. Why did you believe him? Blood rushes to my face.
Just then, Xander grabs Aria by the waist, lifting her and setting her off to his side. “Red,”—he closes his eyes for a second—“it’s not like that.”
I hand my cup off to Micah. I murmur, “Excuse me. I need the bathroom,” and dash back inside.
A quick glance over my shoulder confirms no one has immediately followed, but Aria shouts again, waving her arms in the air. “That’s right, whore. Go back where you came from!”
A tiny tinkling sound fills the air the more she moves her arms. I freeze. What the— My eyes narrow, and I turn right back around, storming toward her. I’d recognize the sound of my charm bracelet anywhere. Holding out one hand, I point with the other. “That’s my bracelet. Give it back.”
Everyone in the vicinity looks between me and Aria, confused looks on their faces.
“My mother gave that to me. Give it back.”
She pouts as she takes it off. “But Xander gave it to me.” His head whips to face her right before she proceeds to drop my bracelet into the hot tub.
I’m fast, but I don’t think I’ve ever moved so quickly in my whole life. I kick out of my shoes and sail into the tub, clothes and all, immediately ducking under the water. I faintly hear Farrah, Danica, and Alora squeal and scramble over the side, put out at having their hot tubbing interrupted. Aria and Xander don’t move from the bench seat.
I come up for air once before going back under. Finally, I see the shimmer of the silver over toward the side of the tub. I snatch it up just before it gets sucked into a filter.
With my bracelet clutched tightly in my grasp, I resurface, splashing them as I stand. Aria squawks, but I hardly hear her. My hard gaze locks on Xander. “That was pretty low.”
“I—”
Aria twists in his hold, elbowing him right in the gut before he can finish.
I shake my head. They totally deserve each other.
Blinded—I’m blinded by anger and disappointment. The worst part is, all of those ugly feelings I’m having? They’re aimed at myself.
Sopping wet and shivering in the night air, I can’t look anyone in the eye. Never have I felt so completely fucking stupid in my entire life. Someone offers me a towel. With a murmured thank you, I stalk off toward the house. Right before I’m about to go in, my conscience gets the best of me. I can’t traipse through Beau’s parents’ beautiful home and leave puddles everywhere. I stop at the door, strip out of my jeans, then pull my soaked blouse over my head and let it slap wetly onto the patio. I’m left in my bikini—the bikini I’d worn just for Xander. Here, I’d thought something was changing between us, but all that douche-canoe was doing was reeling me in so he could get close enough to stomp all over my heart. My chest aches with regret.
I’m so upset my movements are jerky. I towel off as best I can, and when I see people in my peripheral vision heading in my direction, I don’t look up, but hold up a hand to stop them. My voice hitches as I say, “Please leave me alone for a few minutes.”
I rush inside, wandering through the big house, fighting tears, and trying to remember where that one bathroom we’d passed on our way outside was. Between the haze of liquor messing with my brain and the adrenaline still coursing through my body I can’t think straight. I end up at the front of the house near the stairs. Not knowing where else to go, I hastily make my way up them, needing to be alone for a few minutes to process what just happened, away from everyone’s prying eyes. I pray for any door to be open.
At the end of the hallway, I finally turn a knob and find an empty room. I hurry inside, and close the door behind me. From the looks of it, it’s a spare bedroom. Not bothering to turn on the light, I sit on the bed, my head dropping into my hands.
I’m such an idiot to fall for his tricks. Has he been working up to this all week? Apologizing? Kissing me? Putting his hands on me? Inviting me to come tonight only to pull the rug right out from under me and make me look like a complete fool? I shudder to think of how I’d carefully picked out what I was going to wear tonight—for him. I want to laugh and scream at the same time at the part of me that had thought for even a second that maybe I’d be the one in the hot tub with Xander, perched on his lap. I’m so, so stupid. I keep allowing him to play with me, then even when he shows his true colors, I come back for more.
I’m filled with utter disgust. I don’t know how I thought I’d ever belong here.
Chapter 30
The door creaks open, and I frantically wipe at my face with my fingers, trying to get rid of the few tears I’d allowed to fall and any makeup that might have been messed up by my dunk in the hot tub. I’m probably about to be joined on the bed by a couple wanting to get it on, so I b
egin to stand, ready to get out of their way and let them have at it. At least someone will be having fun in here tonight.
“Hey.” A low, deep voice sounds from the doorway.
My brows pinch together. At first, I don’t recognize the voice, but when I do, it’s right after I hear the lock click into place. A cold shiver runs through me, and my mouth goes dry. “Justin?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” He walks toward me slowly, like he’s on the prowl.
Oh my God, can this night just stop?
I bite down hard on my lip as he puts a hand to my shoulder and forces me back toward the bed.
“Nice bikini.” He groans, sliding his hand down between my breasts. “You’re totally fuckable, aren’t you?”
My breath becomes erratic and my heart rate shoots up. I feel like everything else is happening in slow motion. The only thing I register in real time is the woodsy scent of his cologne. I don’t like it.
The back of my legs connect with the bed and before I can stop him, he pushes me down onto the mattress. Forcing me onto my back, he quickly covers my body with his. He’s heavy, and holding me down, he pins my arms above my head. I try to buck him off, but he’s immoveable. Even the slightest motion I make seems to excite him even more. He grinds against me, rubbing his hard cock against my belly. My terrified breath comes out in pants. “Get off of me.”
“Come on, baby. I saw you lead me up here. Don’t play coy. Don’t tell me you’re a fucking tease.”
“I didn’t!” I wrestle desperately beneath him, trying to get away, but every movement unintentionally makes him harder. After struggling with me for several seconds, he gets enough leverage to shove one knee between my legs.
His breath in my face smells like stale beer. He dips his face next to mine, and his lips graze my ear. “I can’t wait to sink my dick into your hot cunt.” He holds both of my wrists in one hand, freeing the other to slide down my body. He grasps the side of my bikini bottom and starts to shove it down.
I panic, squeezing my eyes shut as I continue to jerk, trying to squirm out from under him. “No! Stop!” I’d been embarrassed at first, but now I have no shame. “Get. Off!” I yell and ram the knee that’s between his legs straight up. When it connects with his dick, he howls.
“Fucking. Bitch.” His words come out in gasps.
Good, motherfucker. I hope that hurt like hell.
The light from the moon shines through the window into the room, glinting off his face. His eyes meet mine, and I can see his pupils are blown wide, making him look like a monster. He gives me a twisted smile as he wraps his hand around my throat. Squeezing. I struggle and buck against him, but he simply tightens his grip. Without enough oxygen, all the fight goes out of me.
I’m going to pass out. And then what?
That’s the last thing I think before something hits the door and it crashes open. His enormous weight is yanked off me in one swift movement, and I’m able to draw in a full breath again. I gasp, sitting up, my mind spinning. In the dark, I can’t see a whole lot, but I hear the loud thump of a body hitting the wall, the crash of something falling to the floor, and the sickening sound of fist connecting with skin over and over.
I don’t have to see him to know who my rescuer is. I just feel him.
And as much as I’m still pissed off at him, I’m grateful.
Xander’s low voice growls out across the room. “Fucker. I told you to stay away from her.” Crunch. The sound of what can only be bone breaking makes me cringe. “I warned you.” And in an anguished voice, “She’s mine.”
What?
I try to calm myself by taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly, but on every breath out, my face crumples, knowing what could have happened to me. And what did he mean by that? His? His to play with, maybe.
There’s a commotion in the hallway just before the door slams all the way open and more bodies barrel inside the room.
Oh, God. As if the fully clothed jump into the hot tub didn’t already have everyone talking. This is not how I want to be remembered at my very first Rosehaven party. My heart sinks in despair, and my mind wants no part of this. In the dim light, my eyes focus on Beau, Micah, and a few other big, tough-looking dudes I don’t know as they wrestle Xander away from Justin.
Xander’s words come out punctuated by gasping breaths. “Stay. The fuck. Away from her. Touch her again, and I will end you.”
Several pairs of eyes move back and forth from Justin’s face to me. His face is a blood-covered, quickly swelling mess. I squeeze my eyes shut and draw my bare legs up to my chest.
I can just make out some of what Beau and Micah are saying over and over to Xander as they try to calm him. “It’s okay. She’s going to be okay. You stopped him.”
Someone flicks on the overhead light.
I whimper and drop my face to my knees to hide. My body begins to shake.
The lights flick back off. Xander growls, “Get him out of here. Get him the fuck out of my face.”
A few of the guys haul Justin’s now-limp body away. Floorboards creak and feet scramble down the hall.
At my side, the bed dips under Xander’s weight as he sits next to me. “Are you okay, Red?” His voice is full of grit, low and surprisingly gentle. “He didn’t …”
I look up when his voice trails off to see him watching me, his dark eyes full of tightly-leashed anger. Yet, there’s something soft there when I look deeper. Something unexpected and touching. He pulls at his hair. “I tried to warn you. I tried.”
The heels of my hands press against my temples, and I rub, certain all of this is just a bad dream. Like if I were to close my eyes and open them again, I’d be at home with Aunt Liz and Uncle David.
But I’m not. And this is no dream. I’m sitting on an unfamiliar bed in a huge mansion with Xander Grey, my unlikely rescuer, at my side.
“I know you did. And I didn’t believe you. I thought you were exaggerating.”
“Why’d you bring him up here with you? Were you doing it to get back at me for being in the hot tub with Aria? Because I swear, she’s nothing to me. Not like that, I—”
I interrupt. “No. I just came up here to be alone. He must have followed me.” My eyes flick to his. “He was going to—” I can’t even say it. “Did you hurt him really badly?” I whisper.
“Yes. You know I did.”
“Why? Why did you care what he was doing?” The breath I draw in shudders back out while I wait for his answer.
After several quiet seconds, he rasps, “I hurt him because he touched you. And you aren’t his to touch.” He blinks, but goes right on staring at me, searching my face for answers I’m not ready to give him yet.
My body is suddenly rocked with vicious tremors. Xander’s arms come around me, scooping me up off the bed and onto his lap. They’re like bands of steel wrapped around me, protecting me from anyone or anything that would harm me. His citrus-and-spice scent and the feel of the warm, pliant skin of his chest next to my cheek comfort me in a way I never would have dreamed possible after the way he has taunted me. He’s left me confused, guessing, and frustrated. Not understanding. He’s made my start here more difficult than it had to be. But despite all that, in this moment, I know I’m safe with him.
I don’t understand how it’s possible. The longer I stay here, wrapped up in his embrace, the more I lose sight of all the things he’s done, like they’re wiped away by this simple act of kindness.
His hands touch me softly, caressing my skin, calming me.
Of course, once my brain kicks back in, bits of memories of our short, shared history assail me from all sides. What are you doing? He literally just invited you to come to this party, then acted like he didn’t when you showed up. “I-I have to go.”
He reaches out and takes my hand, pulling me back to stand between his legs. “Why?”
“I shouldn’t be here.” I let go of his hand and put my palms to my cheeks, trying to breathe and keep myself calm. I stare into his dark, shadowed
eyes at close range. “I haven’t forgotten what you said to me earlier. You said, ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ I was so stupid to think when you texted me that you actually wanted me to come tonight.” I sniff. “I mean, what kind of idiot must I be to believe a word you say? Even now.”
He reaches for me. I step away.
He drops his head for a few seconds. When he looks back up, there is fire in his eyes. “I never texted you. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was confused to see you here, but only because I thought this wasn’t your thing.”
What does he mean he didn’t text me? I scoff, “Someone pretended to be you?”
He shrugs. “Sounds like it. I was caught by surprise. A pleasant surprise, though.”
“Is that why Aria was in your lap?” I dislike the hint of jealousy lacing my question.
He grips my hip just like he did that day in the woods. Possessive. “I told you, Aria and I have an arrangement. It’s not like that between us. It just looks that way.” The feel of his hand on me has the power to make me lose all train of thought.
I’m scared to know just what their arrangement consists of. I back away again. “I can’t think when you put your hands on me.”
He looks up at me from under his inky dark lashes, a slow smirk spreading across his face. “I think I like that.”
“Well, I don’t.” I run my hands over my upper arms, trying to warm myself. “My bracelet. Do you see it on the bed? I had it before Justin came in here.”
Xander turns around, sweeping the bed with his hand, then holding it up when he finds it. “Come here. I’ll put it back on you, where it belongs.”
I bite out, “If that’s the case, why’d you give it to Aria?” I feel very naked under his stare. Very exposed. Very vulnerable.
In the dark room, his white teeth clench together. “I didn’t, Scarlett. I swear to you. I didn’t touch it. I didn’t realize it was on her wrist until you said something. I promise.”
