I stood up and walked outside to the balcony off my bedroom.
I looked out to the ocean.
It was the perfect night for thinking. For being alone and thinking. So I could plan everything else out.
Because I needed…
My eyes moved down.
I leaned against the railing.
I blinked a few times but swore someone was looking up at me.
It was so dark out and I couldn’t tell if my mind was playing tricks on me.
I eased back and took a deep breath.
“Stop it, Winter,” I said.
I moved forward again and looked down.
That’s when I saw movement.
I gasped.
“Hello?” I called out.
The figure moved again.
Whoever it was, they were dressed all in black.
The call of my hello sent them running.
Around to the side of the beach house…
I ran to the end of the balcony and almost fell over the railing as I tried to see.
For a split second, I saw the figure and I swore I saw a vehicle waiting too.
I thought I saw the quick flash of brake lights.
I leaned again but I didn’t have a good view or angle to see anything .
At least not without risking my life by falling off the balcony and probably killing myself.
I pushed back from the railing and ran into my bedroom again.
I ran to the bedroom door and made sure it was locked.
My heart slammed inside my chest.
I backed away from the door.
I needed to do something.
My eyes stopped at my phone on the bed.
I bit my lip.
I knew what I needed to do.
Chapter 8
sweat, fresh, smoke
Where are you?
I stared down at my phone, waiting.
If this didn’t work then I would have to call my mother. If I called her for this, I would never live it down. And if I called the police, what would they do? There was nothing anyone could do. It was my mind messing with me. Maybe.
Or maybe someone was trying to-
I heard the knock at my bedroom door and I let out a yell.
I ran to the door and paused.
“Who is it?”
“Santa Claus,” Talon’s voice said. “Ho-ho-ho…”
I unlocked the door and opened it.
“What are… oh, damn, darling,” Talon said.
“What?”
“You look scared.”
“I am scared,” I said. “Why do you think I texted you?”
“What’s going on?” Talon asked.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy, Talon…”
“You know, you really fucked up my night here,” he said. “So I’m not in the mood to mess around. Talk, or I leave.”
“I think someone is following me.”
“What?”
“I got this feeling before… like someone was watching me. I let it go. Then I thought someone was following me. But tonight, the same thing happened. Gia went home and I was alone on the beach. I got the feeling but I didn’t see anything. So I came inside, took a shower and-”
“I can see that,” Talon said. He touched my wet hair. “I like your hair like this. All wet. You know what it makes me think of?”
“Let me guess… something else getting wet?”
Talon smiled. “No, darling. You, in the ocean, bouncing around.”
I blushed and swallowed hard. “This is serious, Talon. I saw someone.”
“You saw someone?”
“Yeah. I was out on the balcony and there was someone. I yelled hello and they ran off. I tried to look around to the front of the house but I couldn’t see much. I swore I saw a vehicle. But I could be wrong.”
“Did you check?”
“No. I texted you.”
“Ah. So that’s why I’m here. You want me to check. You figured why not call the Troc and send him into the danger, right?”
“Talon…”
“Why didn’t you call your boyfriends?”
I curled my lip. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Or multiple boyfriends.”
Talon laughed. “Right. Look how touchy you get with that. Oh, Winter, you have no idea what you’re in the middle of.”
“Are you going to help me or not?”
Talon folded his arms. “You know what I want, right?”
I looked down at myself.
I mean, I felt kind of sexy. In a hoodie and shorts. Nothing else. All sleepy and nervous. Fresh out of the shower…
“Darling,” Talon said.
I looked at him. “What?”
“Money.”
“Oh,” I said.
“What did you think…”
“Nothing.”
I started to turn and Talon grabbed my arm. He pulled me against him. He smelled my hair and laughed. “Shit, Winter, you need to get some. Not sure you’re going to want a Troc like me for that. That would really fuck things up. Trust me on it.”
I elbowed Talon and walked to my bed. “I’m not interested in that at all.”
“Liar,” he said. “Now bend over and get the money. I’m dying to see if you’re wearing shorts or panties under that hoodie.”
I shook my head. “You’re sick, Talon.”
“Far from it, Winter.”
I got on my hands and knees and got him some money.
The same as always.
I was starting to run a little low. If I was going to keep this lie up and keep up this deal with Talon I would need to go to the castle and get some more money out of the safe.
Is this what my life really is now?
I laughed in my mind because this was what my life had been since the accident.
This wasn’t new.
It was just getting… worse.
I stood up and threw the money to the bed.
Talon strutted over with a cocky grin on his face.
He grabbed the money and flipped through it.
“This works for us, darling,” he said.
“Can you go check the house, please?”
“This wasn’t what we talked about.”
“You took the money.”
“That’s my fee just to see me,” he said. “I’m not some cheap whore, Winter. I’m a Troc, but I’m a smart Troc.”
Talon backed away toward the bedroom door.
Anger bubbled in the pit of my stomach.
I felt like I could cry.
“Talon… please…”
“Calm down, Winter,” he said. “I’ll go check the house for monsters and ghosts. Just lift up your hoodie for a second.”
“What? No.”
Talon laughed.
He left the bedroom.
I ran and slammed the door and locked it.
I put my head to the door and sucked in a breath.
What the hell am I supposed to do next?
I waited for the knock on the door.
Each minute that went by was tough to live through.
When the knock came, I opened the door before asking who it was.
Luckily, it was Talon.
“No ghosts,” he said. “No monsters. I did find something to drink in the kitchen though.”
He moved down toward me and I smelled the booze on his breath.
It made my eyes water.
“Did you check outside?” I asked.
“Yup.”
“Did you check-”
“I sailed a pirate ship all the way around the world, Winter.”
“This is not funny,” I said. “You should be worried too, Talon. You’re in this thing.”
He laughed. “I’m just some low-life, piece of shit Troc. Anyone can ask me anything. I’m all about the cash, darling. I’ll do anything for money. That’s just who I am. What the fuck do I care what you’re doing around here. Right?”
“That’s comforting.”
“For me,” he said. “Your house is empty. The outside is clear. Okay? There’s no cars waiting. Nobody is hiding out.”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“Believe me, I know how to do this. Do you want me to explain how I know?”
“No,” I said.
“You’re fine. Just get some sleep and let it go. My guess is they’re fucking with you. Or maybe they’re watching you. Have you slipped up at all with your big secret?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Positive,” I said.
Talon didn’t need to know about Gia.
“Then maybe we need to step things up,” he said. “There’s a lot of other fun stuff we can do here, darling. Just depends on how far you want to take it. They’re definitely worried. So tell me what you want next.”
I looked at my bed.
I was tired.
Very tired.
I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. “Talon… will you stay here until I fall asleep?”
I opened my eyes and knew he was smiling at me.
I hated that he was smiling at me.
“Don’t make this weird,” I said.
“It won’t be weird,” he said. “But… it is considered overtime.”
“You fucking prick,” I whispered.
“Business, Winter.”
I wasn’t in the mood to fight with him.
I got more money and threw it on the bed.
Then I turned out the lights and climbed into my bed.
I got under the covers and curled myself up.
But I felt watched.
Because I was being watched.
Talon was watching me.
I rolled over. “Come here.”
“You sure about this?”
“Keep it in your pants, Talon,” I said. “I just want to feel safe.”
Talon joined me in my bed.
I made sure to stay under the covers.
He was on top of the covers.
I inched closer to him and he put his arm around me.
He sighed and groaned.
“What?” I asked.
“This is not what I want to do in your bed, Winter.”
I swallowed hard.
No. No. No. No.
NO.
“I paid you,” I said. “So shut the fuck up and do what I say.”
“Which is what?”
“Play with my hair until I fall asleep,” I said. “And when I wake up, be gone.”
Talon laughed. “Want me to tell you a bedtime story too?”
“No.”
“Not even the one about the Troc with the really big-”
“No,” I said again. “Shut up.”
Talon laughed again.
I smiled and shut my eyes.
This was not a good way to live.
This could not last forever.
But it was all I had for now.
I left the beach house and saw three vehicles in the driveway.
My morning went from normal and quiet to…
This.
Noah, Easton, and Xavier.
They parked side by side by side, blocking the entire driveway.
The first person to get out of their vehicle was Xavier.
He wore a sleeveless shirt with a sweat stain that went from his chest down to the bottom of the shirt. His arms were thick and glistening, veins that were always visible were now full and I swore they were throbbing.
Easton stepped out of his vehicle, leaving the door open, looking at the car, shaking his head.
He missed his other ride.
The one that was blown up.
He had a lit cigarette between his lips.
He looked tired.
So did Xavier.
Finally, there was Noah.
He opened the door to his car and when he climbed out, I saw his white shirt…
With blood on it.
My heart dropped down and bounced back up.
I had to approach the guys like normal. As always. There was no way I could give any hint that something was off.
Then again, Noah had blood on his shirt.
I pointed. “Jelly?”
He looked down at himself and smiled. “You like to be innocent, Winter, don’t you?”
“Sure,” I said. “What is this? Did you bring me breakfast?”
“I’ve got your breakfast right here,” Easton said.
He grabbed between his legs.
I had to laugh at that one.
“Seriously, Easton?” Noah asked.
“I don’t mind,” I said.
“See?” Easton asked. “She’s getting her memory back. She remembers how she felt about me all along.”
“I wish,” I said.
“Yeah?” Easton asked. “You wish you were with me?”
“No. I wish I was getting my memory back.” I looked at Xavier. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here?”
“Just checking on you,” he said. “We had a busy day and night.”
“I can tell,” I said. I pointed to Noah’s shirt. “Did you get what you needed?”
“Not quite,” he said. He unbuttoned his shirt. “See, we ran into a problem. A big one.”
“Meaning what?” I asked.
“There’s a lot of lies floating around here,” Noah said.
He took the shirt off.
His body was cut, toned, ripped, everything… whew.
He balled up the shirt and threw it into the back of the car.
Then, just like he did that day at BFH, he put a new shirt on.
As he buttoned the shirt, he walked toward me.
“The pieces aren’t matching, Winter,” Noah said. “And as much as I hate to say this… I think you’re in danger.”
“Me?” I asked. “I’m in danger?”
I looked at all three.
They were all getting closer to me.
“It made sense to go after BC,” Easton said. “We’ve always had issues there. We also heard a lot of rumors of things changing over there. Of course you don’t know what that means, right?”
I shook my head.
I knew what it meant.
BC. Brooks Crest. The place where the really bad people were sent to stay hidden. They were not the kind of people you wanted to mess with.
I looked at Noah. “What happened?”
“Brooks Crest,” Noah said. “We went and paid a visit. Grabbed Raf for a talk.”
“Raf?” I asked.
“One of Mac’s crew,” Xavier said. “I guess the names don’t matter that much.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“You saw the shirt,” Noah said. “Raf took the beating like a man. And he gave us nothing.”
“Imagine our surprise there,” Easton said.
Now they were maybe a foot away from me.
I could smell the sweat on Xavier’s skin. The freshness of Noah’s new shirt. The cigarette smoke from Easton.
My knees were ready to start shaking.
“Something is going on here,” Noah said. “And since you’re close to us, you’re close to everything. You have to be careful. We don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I matter that much?” I asked.
“Yeah, you do,” Xavier said.
“Why?”
They were silent.
I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
Then an idea came to me.
I didn’t exactly have the time to think it through so I just went with my gut.
“I feel followed,” I said.
“What?” Easton asked. He flicked his cigarette away. “When?”
“A few times,” I said. “I feel like someone is watching me. Following me. I thought I saw something last night.”
“What did you do?” Noah asked.
“I hid in my room.”
“Alone?” Xavier asked.
“Yeah. I figured it was my mind playing tricks on me.”
&
nbsp; Now that got the guys moving.
Noah walked to his car.
He punched the hood.
Easton went to get another cigarette.
Xavier slipped his hand into mine. “New rule, Winter.”
“What?”
“If you ever feel unsafe, you tell me,” he said. “You call. Text. Anything. I’ll be right over to help.”
“At what cost?”
“What?”
“I can see what you guys are. Nothing is free. I lost my memory, not my common sense.”
Xavier leaned down and kissed my cheek.
Then he put his lips to my ear.
“When the time comes, I’ll get exactly what I want from you.”
Chapter 9
investigate
I was on my way out of BFH again when Evie and Darcy decided today was the day they were going to block the doors.
“How’s your brain?” Evie asked.
“Broken,” I said. “But at least I have one.”
“So funny,” she said.
“I think you’re full of crap, Winter,” Darcy said. “This isn’t real.”
“What isn’t?” I asked.
“Why aren’t you going to see doctors and stuff?” Darcy asked.
“I’m sorry? Are you following me?”
“No,” she said. “But if this was real, you’d be, like, getting tested and stuff.”
“They did that,” I said. “I was told to go home and rest. Let it come back to me. It may never happen. Which is sad, because it’ll be a shame to miss out on the memories of our friendship.”
“I still don’t think it’s real,” Darcy said. “I’m going to tell everyone to watch out for you.”
Before I knew what I was doing, my hand pushed at Darcy’s chest.
I pushed her against the doors. “Don’t you ever talk about me.”
A stinging pain hit my cheek and I realized that Evie had slapped me.
Or tried to.
I turned my head and Darcy grabbed my arm, digging her nails into my skin.
I screamed ouch and the two bitches slipped away.
“See you around,” Evie said.
My face and my arm hurt.
They just walked away like nothing happened.
A hand touched my back and I spun around, ready to hit someone.
It was Noah.
His perfect hair, face, everything… but his eyes were still dark and mean.
“What was that about?” Noah asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “They’re pissed that I can’t remember them. And that I guess I’m getting attention.”
Damaged Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 2) Page 7
