We both grab armfuls of bags and head back toward Gran’s.
“Would you both like a drink? I’ve made cookies.”
“I should really get go—”
“You can stay for a few minutes, can’t you?” The words are out of my mouth before I have time to decide if I mean them or not, but having him here and seemingly willing to help me, I want to make the most of it. Who knows what information I could glean from my enemy’s best friend.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Gran says, grabbing one of her cookies and disappearing into the living room.
The tension’s heavy between us as I make two coffees and lead Mason out onto the patio.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you don’t deserve any of that shit?”
“Yet up until now, you’ve been a part of it. So what gives?”
“For the record, I never agreed with anything he did.”
“So why follow? Just because he’s your captain doesn’t mean you need to follow him around like a sheep.”
“Trust me, I know. He’s just been my best friend forever, and it’s always been the two of us. Sometimes it’s easy to forget maybe those closest to you don’t have other’s best intentions at heart.”
Sipping on my coffee, I allow the words he just said to register.
“So what’s this then? Peace offering?”
“I guess.”
Silence descends once again as we both look out over Gran’s garden.
“What’s the deal with you and Camila?”
His body visibly tenses beside me as he blows out a shaky breath. That alone tells me that I’m right and that there’s a definite story there. “There is no deal. We were friends, now we’re not.”
“Hmm…”
I keep my eyes on the flowers ahead of me but that doesn’t mean I don’t know the second his stare turns on me. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing. She just said the exact same thing.”
“That’s because it’s true.”
“Why aren’t you friends any longer?”
“I didn’t come here to talk about my life.” His voice is suddenly colder, telling me that he really doesn’t want to talk about this.
“Okay, so tell me why your best friend hates me so much then.”
“Not my story to tell. If he wants you to know then he’ll have to tell you himself.”
“Well... that’s helpful.”
“Sorry. I might not agree with him, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be going behind his back.”
“Like being here right now? I’m assuming he has no idea you’re here or returning our stuff.”
“Uh... not exactly.”
“So seeing as you know him so well, what’s your advice? How do I get him off my case so I can just get on with my life?”
His hand comes up to rub his jaw as he thinks. “You’re under his skin more than he’ll ever admit and I don’t think he realises that it’s not for the reason he thinks.”
“Wow, that helps,” I say with a laugh.
“Just don’t let him walk over you. Stand up for yourself. He’ll respect that.”
“I don’t need his respect,” I snap.
“No, but he needs to know you’re strong. That you can look after yourself and handle things when needs be.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I try to read between the lines but really, I’ve got no idea what he’s trying to tell me. “That cryptic message is all you’re giving me, isn’t it?”
“Like I said—”
“It’s his story to tell. Got it.”
His phone starts ringing in his pocket and he uses it as the excuse he needs to escape my questions.
“Something I should know about?” Gran asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively once I’ve seen Mason out.
“No, really not.”
“Aw that’s a shame. He’s a good-looking boy. If I were forty years younger.” I shudder on the inside, but I clearly don’t manage to keep my disgust from my face because she starts laughing at me. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I think,” she shouts as I turn my back on her and start back toward my bedroom with all mine and Camila’s stuff. “You’re totally allowed to date, by the way,” I hear seconds before shutting my door.
Groaning, I drop everything into the corner and fall down onto my bed.
Grabbing my phone, I make the call I’ve been dreading. She’s going to want answers and I’m not sure I’m ready to explain.
“I’ve got your stuff,” I say, interrupting Camila when she starts demanding to know where I went this morning the second she answers her home phone. I feel bad about making her worry but even after my encounter with Jake, I know I made the right decision in leaving. Last night might have been bearable when there was alcohol coursing through my system, but waking up pretty much sober with Shane wrapped around me was a big enough sign that I didn’t belong there.
“What? How?”
“Mason just dropped it all off. So I guess our suspicions were right about it being them who took it all.”
“Why did he bring it back? That was nice of him.” She says the words as if he’s not capable of doing something like that and it only makes my curiosity grow more.
“I just need to shower then I’ll come around to pick it all up. Fancy a milkshake?”
“I can’t, I’ve got an English lit paper to write.”
“Oh come on, you’ve already bailed on me once today.”
The sadness in her voice forces me to agree. “Okay fine but only for an hour because I’ve got to get this done.”
“Fine. See you in a bit.”
Camila pulls up outside Gran’s house a little over thirty minutes later. After filling her boot with her stuff, we head toward Aces. I try convincing her to go somewhere else, thinking about how half the school seems to hang out there but she won’t have any of it.
Thankfully, he’s not there. There are a few faces I recognise from the school halls and Camila says hello to a couple but we’re able to find a booth in peace.
“Shane thinks you left because of him. Did you?” Camila blurts out after sucking down half of her milkshake.
“Yes and no.”
“Why? You two seemed to be getting along really well last night.”
“Yeah, we were... as friends. Then I woke this morning with him wrapped around me and his…”
“Cock?” Camila supplies helpfully.
“Yeah, that, pressing into my arse.”
“I love the way you say arse,” she says, mimicking my accent. “Sorry, sorry. Not important right now. So he was hard? What do you expect from a teenage boy when a girl’s in touching distance?”
“It’s not that. I’m just not interested and I don’t want him to start thinking there could be more. There won’t be.”
“You sound so sure.”
“That’s because I am.”
“You barely know him.”
“I know enough to know that he doesn’t do it for me.”
“Shame. I was totally hoping we could double date. So who does do it for you? Don’t tell me you need someone a little more... asshole-y.”
My eyes almost pop out of my head at what she’s suggesting.
19
Amalie
“Hey,” Poppy calls as she heads toward the bench I’m sitting on waiting for her. “You had a good day?”
I think back over the last few hours. It started off pretty well when Camila turned up with fresh donuts, she said they were a peace offering after the ‘joke’ she played Friday night. It wasn’t necessary, but I wasn’t going to refuse a sugary treat first thing on a Monday morning. My day soon started to go downhill the second I spotted Jake across the car park the moment she pulled into a space. One look into his eyes and I may as well have been back in Ethan’s car on Saturday morning. My stomach knotted, my fists clenched and my temperature soared. Camila noticed where my attention was and immediately dragged me off in the other direction as she instructed
me to ignore him. If only it was that easy.
“Yeah, it was fine.” Pushing images of him aside. “Yours?”
“I had a surprise pop quiz in Math. I thought surprises were meant to be good things,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “Plus a massive lab report to write up for biology. Nothing like easing into the new year gently. Come on, my car’s this way.”
I follow behind while Poppy continues chatting away about her day and before long we’re pulling out of school and heading toward wherever she lives.
Her house sits on the boundary between the east and west parts of town. The building itself looks like it should belong on the wealthier east side with its colossal size, but the area most definitely looks like the west side.
“Wow, your house is stunning.”
“We’re pretty lucky to have this much space. I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you had in England.” The reminder of home is like a punch to the chest. She’s right, my parent’s house in Chelsea was opulent and massive but it was just a house.
“I guess,” I mutter sadly. “It’s different here though. We could never make use of the outdoor space like you can.”
The second she pushes the front door open we’re met by a loud shout and the vibrations from a slamming door somewhere upstairs.
“Shit.”
Footsteps pound down the stairs before a very pregnant and very stressed woman reveals herself.
“Mom, is everything okay?”
“Of course, sweetheart. Hi, I’m Tammi, Poppy’s mom,” she says turning to me with a wide, fake smile on her face.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Amalie’s just come over to work on a project with me.”
“That’s fantastic. Why don’t you both go and work outside. I’ll bring you out some snacks in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Poppy turns to me. “Do you want to go and find a seat. I just need to run up to my room quick and grab my stuff.”
“Sure.”
“It’s just this way, sweetie,” her mum calls as she walks off, so I follow. Making my way through the house it’s obvious that although it’s huge, they don’t really have the money to keep up with maintaining it. “Soda okay?”
“Perfect, thank you.”
“Just grab a seat anywhere, I’m sure Poppy won’t be long.”
As I step out into their back garden, the late summer sun makes me squint and I pull my sunglasses down from the top of my head. Glancing around, I take in the few flowers that are dotted around but the most eye-catching thing is the pool. The blue water glitters in the sun and my body practically begs me to strip down and dive in.
Not being able to resist the temptation, I slip off my shoes and go to sit on the edge. The water is so warm after the summer of sun and I sigh in delight as it laps at my calves.
Resting on my palms, I tip my head back and close my eyes. The sound of birds and the rustling of the trees in the distance is so relaxing, it makes me wish Gran had this. I could lose a lot of time doing just this.
Just when I think I’m as relaxed as I possibly could be without lying on a float in the middle of the pool, a voice sounds out around me.
“What the fuck?”
My spine goes ramrod straight. I don’t need to turn to know exactly who it is but what the hell is he doing here? Has his obsession with ruining my life now extended to stalking me?
I don’t do anything, just pray that he’ll leave as quickly as he arrived, but I’m not so lucky because in seconds his woodsy scent fills my nose and his body burns my hyperaware skin.
His eyes run down the side of my body and down my legs to where they’re dangling in the water.
“Why?”
His vague question is enough to have me turning to look at him. I take in his creased forehead as he frowns at me like I can’t possibly be here, his pursed lips and tired eyes.
When I don’t respond, he continues. “Why? Why are you always fucking here?” He taps at the side of his head making me think that it’s not my actual presence that’s irritating him so much. “Everywhere I fucking turn, there you are, reminding me of everything, fucking me up like no years have passed.”
My eyes narrow as I try to piece together what he’s saying, but he might as well be talking gibberish.
His chest heaves as he stares at me, his eyes flitting around my face almost like he’s committing my features to memory, but that really can’t be the case as he’s so fed up of me.
He reaches out and I gasp in shock as his hand lands on my lower back and pushes just enough to have my butt sliding across the tile beneath me and toward the water’s edge.
“Jake,” I squeal, my fingernails digging into the edge in an attempt to keep me out of the pool.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”
“Because,” I squeak, scrambling to come up with a reason. “Your cousin’s about to come back.” My brain suddenly puts two and two together after what Poppy said about supporting her cousin at the football game Friday night.
The pressure at my back reduces and the long breath he blows out tickles down my neck, making my nipples pebble beneath my vest.
“You need to stay out of my fucking way.”
“Trust me, I’m not trying to get in your way.”
His fingers grasp my chin and I’m forced to turn to look at him once again. He leans in so our noses are almost touching. “Then why are you always fucking here?”
I open my mouth to respond but another voice fills my ears.
“Jake, what the hell?”
At the sound of Poppy’s voice, he gives my chin one final squeeze and stands, leaving me to drag some much-needed air into my lungs.
“Just saying hello to your new friend. You want to watch who you spend time with, Pop. People aren’t always what they seem.”
“What the hell is that meant to mean?”
“Just watch your back, yeah?”
No more words are said and after a second he turns on his heels and storms down the garden.
The air’s heavy until he’s vanished from sight and a bang sounds out.
“Are you okay?” Poppy asks, placing her books down on the table and walking over.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Is there something I should know about?”
I glance over at her kind face and I wonder how much I should tell her. Jake’s a part of her family, I’ve no clue how close they are other than the fact she supports him on game nights.
“I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Yeah, I got that vibe. Why?”
“I was hoping you could tell me that.”
20
Jake
Slamming the trailer door, I roar out my frustration into the empty space. I’ve managed to avoid her all fucking day. Every time I saw the flash of her platinum hair across the hallway, my fists clenched with my need to go over to her. I’m not sure exactly what I would have done if I did, I had no intention of finding out. But fuck if she doesn’t call to me in a way no one else has before.
Then here she is, in my fucking garden.
My heart thunders in my chest with my need to go back out there and finish what I started. The image of her with her clothes soaking wet, her white vest see-through enough to give me a clue as to what she’s hiding beneath makes my temperature soar.
“Fuck,” I shout, the word echoing around me.
I make quick work of changing and grabbing my headphones before heading back out and to my make-shift gym. The trailer is right at the bottom of the garden and tucked into the mass of trees that separates this property from the bungalows behind. That’s where my homemade gym lives. It’s also my quiet place when I need to escape when things just get too much.
Climbing through the undergrowth, I stomp down some brambles that have grown since I was last in here until the small clearing opens up.
This place might not be anything like the gym we’ve got at school and it’s a mile away f
rom the one I sometimes go to with Ethan, but it does the same job. I’ve even now got an exercise bike that I took from someone’s skip down the street over the summer.
Jumping, my hands wrap around the rough branch and I fight to pull my chin up. My muscles burn, reminding me that I haven’t warmed up at all, but I don’t give a fuck right now. I need to feel the burn, the pain that only I can cause. No one can tell me what to do here. I make the rules and push my own boundaries and limits.
I continue until my arms are trembling and begging for reprieve. Releasing my grip, I allow my feet to hit the floor once again, the ground crunching as I land on old sticks and fallen leaves.
Throwing my leg over the old bike, I turn up the tension.
Sweat pours from my skin as I push harder and harder. My head’s filled with images of my past. I push my legs as fast as I can go as I try to escape. I picture her face the day she said goodbye and walked away from me. The way her lips were in an almost permanent smile because of the filler she’d had shoved in them, the ridiculous lashes that were stuck to her eyelids and her damn near yellow peroxide blonde hair. She was about as fake as she could probably get and I’m sure it’s only got worse as the years have gone on.
I’ve done my best to steer clear of ever seeing her face again, but with the job she does, sometimes that isn’t possible. I’ve always steered clear of opening any kind of magazines and walking away when any of the girls at school pull one out. If I have to ever see her face again, then it needs to not be when I have company. Thankfully the day I discovered her most recent career of choice I was alone in the safety of my trailer. No one was around to witness the fallout of that clusterfuck.
The music booms in my ears but I don’t hear a word of it. I’m too focused on escaping the memories, the pain, the desperation I still remember all too well.
Almost every single one of my muscles tremble with exhaustion by the time I’ve finished. Pulling my sweat-soaked t-shirt from my body, I wipe my face and throw it over my shoulder as I head off in search of water.
THORN: A High School Bully Romance (Rosewood Book 1) Page 9
