“I talked to a detective and he was shady,” I said. “As I drove to the police station, someone followed me. They hurried into the police station before me and then left. Then this detective showed up and he had a file about my accident. He made it seem like he was trying to help… but he was scary, Gia. He told me it was my fault. He was adamant about it. I almost came clean that I remembered everything, but I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t trust the guy. Something is… there’s something bigger happening here.”
“Okay,” Gia said. “I would never call you crazy for talking about how you feel. I hate when people do that to me.”
“You’re a really good friend.”
“A best friend,” she said.
“The bestest.”
“That’s not a word.”
“It is now. I don’t care.”
“You’re going to go to that ball,” Gia said.
“I know.”
“And not for the reasons you’re going to try and tell me.” She looked at me. She frowned. Then she smiled. “So don’t lie to me.”
“Is it bad?” I asked.
“Very. You’re getting feelings involved.”
“I know.”
“Winter, you brought me to this spot… think about what made you come here. And think about the memories of this place.”
I nodded. “Hey. Maybe I’m just some broken and unloved girl looking for anything. My mother is a psycho that left us when I was young. She used my father for his money and for a baby. That was her lottery ticket. My father knows he was used and all he wants to do is invent the next dumb thing everyone needs, travel and talk about money. I’m not saying he doesn’t love me, but he loves me from afar. I was raised by housekeepers. And I could never get close to them because they weren’t family. They would come and go because they were employees.”
“And you think this is the right thing to do now?”
“Nope,” I said.
“But you’re going to do it anyway.”
I looked forward. “Yup.”
We went back to the beach houses and went for a run together.
It was a run for me but a jog for Gia. Actually, it was more like power walking for her. She didn’t even break a sweat as I kept trying to catch my breath. I felt like I ran a marathon when it was only one mile.
“How many miles… do you go?” I asked.
Gia looked at me and smiled. “Do you really want to know?”
“No.”
She laughed and sped up.
I grabbed her arm and slowed her down.
My feet slowed and I started to walk.
I took a deep breath and drank some water.
“But it makes sense, right?” I asked.
“What does?”
“What I’m doing. I can’t keep…” I took another breath. “I can’t keep messing around with Talon.”
“Messing around?” Gia asked.
“Not like that. Bad enough my mother laid into me over it.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, shit. I didn’t tell you about this morning.” I took another breath and stopped walking. “My mother knows about Talon. Him sneaking around. She was teasing me about sleeping with him. Which I’m not. That will never happen.”
“Winter…”
“Gia, stop it,” I said. “I am not going to sleep with Talon. I did not sleep with Talon. Just stop.”
“Okay. I’ll stop.”
“What I’m thinking…” I took another deep breath. “Fuck. How do you run, breathe and talk?”
“You don’t,” Gia said. “I run in silence. Earbuds in. Music turned up. Focus.”
“Sorry,” I said. “So I talk too much to run?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, when this is all done, we can run for miles together. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
I caught my breath. “Talon is about violence. Which is fine. But he wants to get into their heads too. The thing is… I’m not going to keep paying him. It’s dumb. So when I go away with the guys to that ball, I get to do it all alone. I’ll get everything I need and then when I come back, I’m good to go. Even if I have to use Talon one more time, fine.”
“Winter, just cut the crap,” Gia said.
“What?”
“You want to go because you want the attention,” she said. “You can’t help yourself. Look at those guys and think about how hot they are. And trust me, they are hot. Everyone knows they’re hot. And the bad boy dangerous side makes them sexy. So I don’t blame you there. But they tried to hurt you. I mean, they did hurt you. They wanted you to die. You can’t just forgive and forget that.”
“I’m not,” I said. “That’s the best part. I’m not. And I won’t. I get to get dolled up in a fancy dress and look fucking beautiful. I get to tease them on so many levels too. They’re going to want me so bad and they can’t have me. You know?”
Gia nodded. “Okay. If you say so. Just… okay…”
Gia was getting serious. And she was right.
I was wrong.
But I wasn’t going to admit it.
So, I decided to distract both of us.
“Hey,” I said. “Race you!”
I took off, running as fast as I could.
Gia caught up and blew right by me within three seconds.
She was like a blur, flying through the sand.
I stopped and laughed.
I looked to the ocean.
And I made my peace with something.
To hurt Noah, Easton, and Xavier… I was going to end up hurt again too.
Chapter 14
zip it
I was sitting on the top step of the deck, lost in random thoughts, sipping a lukewarm cup of coffee when my mother opened the door and whistled for me.
I turned my head and she was smiling ear to ear.
“What?” I asked.
“Someone is at the door for you. Gorgeous young man. Rough and tough. Smells like cigarette smoke. Just a little too young for me.”
I jumped up. “What? Did you say something to him?”
“I only asked his age,” she said. “We’re all adults here, Winter.”
“Oh, god…”
My mother laughed. “Just fix your hair on the way to the door. It’s all messy from the breeze. If anything, you want that fresh, just had sex messy hair.”
I hurried across the deck to the door.
My mother blocked the way. “Is that one of the guys who…”
“I’m not answering that,” I said. “Just let me handle this.”
“Are you sure you can handle it?” she asked. “You look flustered.”
“I’m fine. It’s the coffee.”
My mother nodded. “Sure. It’s just the coffee.”
I ran through the house, my cheeks on fire.
I knew it was Easton just by the way she described who was at the door.
I was flustered and flushed and…
Nothing else.
Yeah. Fucking. Right.
I opened the front door and Easton stood there with a cigarette between his lips.
It was a nasty habit that on anyone else I would say not a chance in hell. But for as bad as Easton was, smoking kind of balanced him out.
That made no sense at all.
But whatever.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“That’s not a very nice hello,” Easton said.
He dropped his cigarette and stepped on it.
I noticed his left hand was up near his shoulder.
His pointer finger hooked around something.
A hanger.
He moved his hand and lifted up what had to have been a dress.
“For you,” he said. “For the ball.”
“Seriously?”
“Told you I would get you a dress, Winter.”
“Can’t wait to see how perverted it is,” I said.
“What does that mean?”
“Is it low cut? Or super short
? Or with holes in it in convenient places?”
Easton chuckled. “This ball is a big deal. I would never want you to be uncomfortable.” He inched forward and touched my waist. “Plus, I’m willing to wait so I can see all of you. All at once. I know a nice place on the beach up there. Nobody will ever see us. Under the stars together, Winter. Your name is Winter, but between your legs it’ll be hot like summer and wet like autumn.”
That was disgustingly cheap, but it worked.
I felt a rush of heat go through my body.
I grabbed the dress from him.
“I’m not trying this on in front of you.”
“Damn,” I said. “I thought I was going to get lucky.”
“Goodbye, Easton.”
He put his hand to the door. “I can already picture you in that dress, Winter. You’ll look amazing. I can also picture that dress on the beach. Or the floor of a bedroom in a beach house that makes this place look like a shack.”
“That’s very-”
Easton leaned down and kissed me.
His mouth. My mouth.
The taste of his cigarette.
His tongue flirting with mine for a second.
He pulled back and walked away, leaving me suspended in air.
Oh, so kissing was just the normal now?
I reached behind me to get to the zipper but couldn’t reach it.
My chest pushed the dress forward, making me look slutty.
The front poofed open without the zipper zipped up all the way.
“Damn,” I groaned as I reached back again.
I tried with two hands and when I did that, the dress pulled down and my boobs popped out.
I pictured Easton standing there, seeing it.
And what his reaction would be.
What he would do.
Walk up to me. Touch me. His thumbs gently gliding over my-
“Need help?”
I lifted the dress and let out a scream.
My mother stepped into the bathroom and walked up to me.
She grabbed the dress, pulled it tight, and zipped it up.
“There,” she said. “You look beautiful, Winter.”
“Thanks,” I said.
I stared at my mother through the reflection in the mirror.
She started to grin. That same grin.
“So…”
“What?” I asked.
“That gorgeous man comes to the door with a dress for you?”
“Your point?”
“Oh, I have lots of points to make, Winter.”
“I’m going to a thing with them,” I said. “Some kind of rich people event. Some ball or something.”
“Right,” my mother said. “I think I know the one. Believe it or not, I used to have to work a little.”
“Shocker.”
“I know, right? I worked a few of those balls. Just handing out drinks. Flirting. Looking for someone with a big wallet and a stupid heart.”
“Like Dad?” I asked.
“You know, I did love him at one point.”
“No, you didn’t. You loved his money. You had me. That’s all you needed.” I turned around. “And, wait, you ran out of money at one point?”
“No,” she said. “I just wanted more. Your father had a rough couple years where things slowed down. He was even considering selling the house. But he told me how much it meant to you. So I half thought about supporting myself so he could support you. Glad that feeling passed.”
“Wow. Even when you try to sound nice, you’re still evil.”
My mother shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not fake, Winter. This…” She pointed to the dress. “This is fake.”
“This is a plan,” I said.
“This is a plan?” she asked with a laugh. “What plan is that?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I spun around. I stared at myself in the mirror. The dress was black. It kind of shined in the light too. It fit me perfectly. There was nothing perverted about it at all. The perfect length. No cleavage. I mean… Easton did a good job.
“Should I unzip it now?” my mother asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Thanks.”
She pulled at the zipper and I put my hands to my chest.
“Ugh, Winter, you are so beautiful,” she said. “I mean, I know I made you and all… but thank goodness you didn’t get your father’s looks.”
“Wow. That is really mean.”
“It’s the truth. Can you imagine if you looked like him? Those guys would not be flocking to the door with flowers and dresses. You wouldn’t have a Troc sneaking around here either.”
“Okay, stop talking,” I said. “I need to get changed. Okay?”
“Sure thing,” she said. She walked to the doorway and then paused. “Oh, wait, I almost forgot. There was a reason I came up here.”
“Which is what?”
“Something else was just delivered for you.”
I hurried to get out of the black dress from Easton and get back into my normal clothes.
I raced down the main steps to the front door.
When I opened it, there was nothing there.
I stepped outside and looked around.
The only thing there was Easton’s gross cigarette butt.
I kicked at it with my foot.
“Winter,” my mother’s voice echoed.
I looked back.
“It’s in here,” she said. “I have it hanging up for you.”
I shut the front door and walked into the kitchen.
There was a dress waiting for me.
Hanging on a small hook in the wall.
It was covered up.
A note pinned to it.
Your dress. I need this back. And my hoodie.
I caught myself smiling.
“Look at your face right now,” my mother said.
“Shut up,” I snapped at her.
“Is that any way to talk to your mother?”
I reached for the zipper and pulled it down.
I sucked in a breath at the sight of a navy blue dress.
It was soft and smooth. Nothing really fancy about it, but the color and the feel was just…
“Wow,” I whispered.
“You better try it on,” my mother said. “I’ll wait here so I can zip you up.”
I took the dress off the hook and walked to the bathroom just off the kitchen.
I turned on the light and shook my head.
This was really happening.
Noah, Easton, and Xavier were violent. They were mean. Evil. They were bullies times ten. If it wasn’t for their families’ money and power they probably would have been in jail.
And now, suddenly they can show this softer side?
To pick out a dress for me?
We just talked about the ball last night… which told me they had this planned for a while now.
I took a deep breath and stripped out of my clothes again.
This dress had no straps.
It was meant to rest on my arms.
So I kind of looked goofy wearing a bra with the dress. But I didn’t want to take my bra off like I did with the other dress, in case I popped out again.
The sides on my arms and across my chest were slightly ruffled, but not in an annoying way.
The dress was comfortable.
I felt a little more exposed in this one than the one Easton gave me.
I walked out of the bathroom and my mother was waiting.
“Dress number two,” she said. “Turn around.”
I turned and she zipped me up.
“This is getting interesting, Winter.”
“They want me to choose a dress to wear,” I said. “That’s it. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Sure it’s not,” my mother said. “I trust you, Winter.”
She laughed.
She didn’t trust me.
I wasn’t sure I trusted me either.
I walked through the kitchen to one of
the two thousand windows and stared at myself in the reflection of the glass.
Just the faintness of my reflection…
The dress came down to my feet.
Not enough to drag on the ground though.
My shoulders exposed, which I was not used to. I didn’t feel confident enough for that. The dress hugged me and was loose in all the right.
I swallowed hard.
They wanted me to feel beautiful.
It was working.
I did feel like I looked good.
It was easy to get distracted by the dress.
To fall into myself… to fall into them.
“Nope,” I said.
I walked back to my mother.
“Unzip,” I said.
She did and I went into the bathroom to get changed.
They weren’t going to get to me.
They weren’t going to win that way.
I draped the dress over my arm and started to walk away when my mother called my name.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Now what?”
“Nothing. I’m going to toss both dresses to my bed and figure it out later. Make them sweat. In fact, they won’t know until I get there.”
“You realize this is way more than you asked for, right? It’s one thing to want to mess with these guys, Winter. To tease a little. Get into their heads. But you want to go away with them?”
“Are you going to be a mother and stop me?”
“No,” she said. “I can’t stop you anyway.”
“That’s right,” I said. “I’m a grown up now.”
My mother laughed. “Far from it.”
“Is that the only reason you want to talk to me now?” I asked. “Because I’m an adult?”
She looked taken back by the sudden question.
I was kind of taken back myself that the words came out of my mouth.
“That’s a deep thing to answer,” my mother said. “Not quite meant for an across the room yelling kind of thing.”
“Oh, right. You have to make time for me then? Get your answers straight?”
“You know, I’ll accept your bitch attitude only because I respect it and it’s what I gave you,” she said. “And because when you were a kid you were a baby. A big baby. So it’s good to see you with an edge.”
I walked to the stairs and made it halfway up before I stopped and felt my throat tighten.
I wanted to cry.
Damaged Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 2) Page 12
