Damaged Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 2)

by Jaxson Kidman

  My foot touched the last step and I took a deep breath.

  I engaged my resting bitch face - thank you to my mother for that - and turned the corner from the stairs.

  Noah, Easton, and Xavier all stood there, wearing tuxedos.

  I froze and lost my breath at how good they all looked.

  They were all different yet wearing the same tuxedo.

  My jaw almost dropped.

  Noah was tall with his perfect hair. Easton kept his hair a little messy and just had that rough and tough bad boy look to himself. And then there was Xavier. His muscles looked ready to burst through the tuxedo.

  I was drooling over all three of them so much I forgot about myself.

  “What dress is that?” Noah asked.

  I gasped.

  I looked down at myself.

  Shit.

  I swallowed hard. “This is the one I picked out.”

  “You did what?” Easton asked.

  “I didn’t like any of the dresses you gave me.”

  “You’re fucking with us,” Xavier said.

  “Nope,” I said. “I know what I like.”

  I stepped forward and waited for them to make a move.

  When they did, they all turned.

  Easton walked forward and walked between Xavier and Noah.

  “Bold move, Winter,” Noah said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The dress,” Noah said. “You were supposed to choose.”

  “I did,” I said. “I chose myself.”

  Easton looked back. His lip curled but he also had a little bit of a smile too.

  I was defiant and he liked it.

  Noah didn’t.

  Neither did Xavier.

  Easton got to the main doors to the walkway to the tent and opened them.

  “Here we go, Winter,” he said.

  “Is anyone going to get into a fight tonight?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” Noah said.

  He went first.

  He grabbed a drink off a tray and I cringed.

  Easton went second.

  Xavier put his hand to my back and nudged me forward next.

  We walked in a straight line down the stone pathway to the now open tent.

  Everyone was dressed up elegantly.

  It was a far cry from the masked party last night.

  With everything open and everyone looking nice, I actually felt myself relaxing a tiny bit thinking that I could survive this.

  We entered the tent and walked around to one side.

  They all stopped so I stopped with them.

  “What do we do now?” I asked.

  “We look normal and blend in with these assholes,” Easton said.

  I slowly started to smile.

  I wasn’t fully sure of Easton at the moment, but I was okay with that.

  He looked over at me and winked.

  Before I could say a word, someone bumped into my shoulder.

  “Oh, well, well, well,” a man’s voice said.

  I looked at the man and stepped back because he was right up against me.

  Easton stepped mostly in front of me and Noah touched the man’s shoulder.

  “Who the hell is this beauty?” the man asked.

  “She’s with us, Barry,” Noah said. “Plenty for you to look at elsewhere.”

  “You can’t afford her,” the man said with a laugh.

  “Come on, Barry, don’t cause a scene,” Easton said.

  I turned my head and saw the look on Xavier’s face.

  He stared at the man - Barry - like he wanted to kill him.

  I inched closer to Xavier and pointed at his arm.

  He looked down at me.

  I smiled.

  “Want to get a drink?” Xavier asked.

  “Yeah, I think I do. Something tells me this thing is going to get crazier by the minute.”

  Xavier nodded. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen, Winter.”

  Crazy was a strange word.

  There were moments when I walked around the tent and felt like I blended in. People looked at me, they smiled and nodded. I wasn’t as invisible as I thought. Some random women touched my wrists to stop me and tell me I looked beautiful.

  There were also moments when I felt really out of place. Times when I caught myself alone, a few people looking at me with questionable eyes, probably wondering who I was and why I was there. Of course that could have just been paranoia, because whether I liked it or not, the truth was that Noah, Easton, and Xavier had tried to kill me, and on top of that, someone had been following me.

  That I’m following you vibe hadn’t hit me since I arrived at the mansion with the guys, but that paranoia lingered like a bad cold.

  I looked around for the guys and saw Noah standing with his parents.

  His mother had a claw like grab on his arm as his father talked to two men. Noah looked ready to explode.

  Not too far away from him I spotted Easton. He was sandwiched between two older men, both with gray and white hair, much shorter than Easton, talking, laughing, all the while Easton looked like he wanted to just die instead of being there.

  As far as Xavier went… I couldn’t find him.

  He was supposed to be nearby so I wasn’t sure what happened to him.

  This was the whole purpose of the ball.

  Drinks, food, music, and talking.

  A lot of talking.

  I wonder what kind of deals were being made right at that moment.

  Everyone looked so perfect and elegant, yet I knew behind all of that there-

  “Risky to be alone, my beautiful girl.”

  Barry slid by me with a wink.

  My cheeks turned red.

  He looked back at me. “Coming with me for a drink?”

  “No, thank you,” I said.

  “See, I usually ask once, just to be nice,” he said. “Don’t make me command you in front of everyone. Okay?”

  I lifted my right hand and showed Barry my fist. Then I lifted my middle finger.

  I turned and hurried away from him.

  I exited the tent and it was dark out.

  I had forgotten just how much time had gone by. I stood near the tent and before I could have ten seconds to myself, Easton appeared.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Just getting some air. I don’t know. It’s tense in there.”

  “It’s all just money going to money,” Easton said.

  “Who were you talking to?”

  “Two old pricks that think I’m next in line to control the family money,” Easton said.

  “Are you?”

  “Of course I am,” he said with a grin.

  “Hey, there you are,” Noah said as he hurried out of the tent. “Sorry about that. Had to do my part to keep the dream alive.”

  “What dream is that?” I asked.

  “I don’t even know anymore,” he said.

  His words were already starting to slur.

  “Did you guys see Xavier anywhere?” I asked.

  “No,” they both said at the same time.

  “He’s lingering,” Easton said.

  “Or hiding,” Noah said.

  “I’m going to get a drink,” I said. “Then what do we do?”

  “We can dance,” Noah said. “Slow dance. They do that here. Turn the lights down a little. Set the mood. The wives and mistresses hate it.”

  “Glad I’m neither of those,” I said with a smile.

  Easton touched my back without Noah seeing. He leaned closer to me. “At some point we can bail out of here, Winter. Just you and me. I can’t stop picturing you in that bed…”

  Heat flooded my cheeks and I stepped away.

  “I’m going to get that drink,” I said.

  I shook my head and exhaled a breath as I went back into the tent.

  I found the closest person with a drink tray and took one.

  I thanked the person but they didn’t say a word to
me. They didn’t even look at me.

  I started to turn when I felt a hand touch me.

  Not my back.

  But down.

  A handful of my…

  “Hey,” I said as I swatted the hand away.

  I thought it was Xavier.

  But it was Barry.

  I looked right at him.

  His eyes looked like they were spinning in his head.

  He was drunk. And an idiot. My height, sweating because his shirt looked like it was choking his neck, and he smelled like greasy food.

  “Come on,” he said. “I asked once and you didn’t listen. Don’t make me look like a fucking idiot here. This is going to happen.”

  I stepped back and bumped into the person with the drink tray.

  Two glasses fell and hit the ground, breaking.

  “Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” I said.

  The second I turned, Barry tried to touch me again.

  I had the urge to scream but I didn’t want attention on myself.

  So I elbowed Barry out of the way and hurried to escape the tent.

  Noah and Easton were talking and I didn’t even bother to say something to them.

  I just wanted to be alone for a second.

  To catch my breath.

  To go get changed and burn the dress.

  I didn’t care how much money someone had, they weren’t going to just grab at me like I was some prize or a toy or an object.

  A wave of emotion smacked at my heart and I touched the corners of my eyes.

  I could not cry right now.

  I took a few more steps and had the feeling that I was being watched.

  I checked to my left and saw Xavier.

  He had a drink in his hand.

  He dropped it.

  I wasn’t sure what he saw or what he knew.

  But he did not look happy at all.

  Chapter 23

  you can’t take it back

  There was a moment when I knew I could have stopped Xavier.

  The way he charged toward the tent.

  The way Noah and Easton stood together, talking, pointing to a few people, without having a clue as to what was going on.

  My mind even begged me to do it.

  To grab Xavier by the hand and pull him away. To take him somewhere else and keep him out of trouble.

  But my heart wanted to see what was going to happen.

  What did it really matter what Xavier did? If something happened and he got into trouble, then it was a win for me.

  My mind and heart were in a war and had no problem switching sides either.

  One second my heart wanted Xavier, the next second my heart wanted to watch Xavier get hurt.

  Back and forth…

  Xavier disappeared into the tent.

  I took a few steps back to blend into the darkness.

  There was light that poured from the tent but not enough to keep the entire property lit.

  I was hidden and watched as Xavier emerged from the tent.

  With Barry at his side.

  “Fuck,” I whispered.

  My heart raced.

  Xavier took Barry out into the open yard area. They were just silhouettes but my eyes were stuck on them.

  As Xavier turned to face Barry, he wasted no time in hitting him.

  I gasped and covered my mouth.

  The first punch was to Barry’s gut.

  Barry became hunched over, and Xavier grabbed the back of his tux jacket to keep him from falling.

  Xavier then drove his knee up into what had to have been Barry’s face.

  He let Barry go.

  Barry stumbled back and Xavier swung one more time, hitting Barry in the face.

  Barry toppled to the ground and Xavier looked right at me.

  My heart continued to race.

  And I felt myself getting turned on.

  I felt protected.

  I had to remind myself of everything that had happened and that was going on.

  But when Xavier started to walk toward me…

  I forgot about everything.

  “Who was that?” I asked Xavier.

  He ignored me, took my hand and kept walking.

  We walked behind and around the tent to the other side of the property.

  Off into the darkness, just Xavier and I.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “I want to show you something,” he said.

  There was a very small sliver of rationalization that said this was probably a bad idea. Going off alone with Xavier. I had no idea where I was or where we were going.

  The property wrapped around the entire mansion, but we weren’t walking around the entire mansion.

  Xavier had other plans.

  He took me near the edge of the property, where it becomes a little rocky. Where it dropped pretty far down to get to the ocean.

  Now, if someone were to fall, I doubted they would die. Maybe break a limb. The problem was that if you fell down there, you weren’t getting back up without help. Probably a helicopter with a rope or something like that. And in the meantime, the waves of the ocean would just pound away, and that meant you were either going to get sucked out into the water or thrown against the rocks over and over.

  Xavier climbed up to one of the bigger rocks.

  He turned and reached down for me.

  He picked me right up by my sides and stood me in front of him.

  I hurried to reach up and touch his face.

  “Tell me…”

  Xavier curled his lip. “That was Uncle Barry. The family drunk.”

  “Uncle?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You just hit your own uncle?”

  “I don’t give a shit, Winter,” he said.

  He backed away and took my hand again.

  I wasn’t in the right kind of footwear to be trucking across rocks so I stopped to take my heels off. I left them on the rock, then just kept going with Xavier.

  He finally stopped at a very flat rock and sat down.

  I stood above him and he looked up at me.

  “Sit down, Winter,” he said.

  I sat down while Xavier bent his legs and hung his arms over his knees.

  “This is the best view,” he said. “I always find my way out here when I have to come to this place. Feels like the only place to sit and think for a second.”

  “It’s not bad,” I said. “It’s kind of dark though.”

  “Just be lucky the moon is out,” he said. “Sometimes it can get really dark. I like it though. If you look at the water long enough, you can see the waves better. Or if you look out to the horizon you can see lights. It amazes, you know? That there are ships or whatever out there. I don’t know, it kind of reminds me that things are much bigger than they look.”

  “And you like that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Most people like to feel closer. More comfortable. Not you?”

  “I know what closeness is,” Xavier said. “And I know how screwed up it can all get. So I like the idea of things being big and open. It also gives you the chance to run like hell if you need to.”

  “Ah, so you look at it as an escape,” I said.

  “Maybe I do.”

  We sat in silence.

  I looked out to the ocean and started to feel comfortable.

  After a few seconds, Xavier’s hand touched mine.

  I bit my lip.

  Ut-fucking-oh.

  I opened and closed my mouth five times, wanting to keep talking to Xavier.

  I had a ton of questions to ask.

  But I kept looking at his hand.

  His hand touching my hand.

  Then he made a move.

  His hand touched the bottom of my dress.

  I had to hike my dress up a little to sit down comfortably.

  I watched as his left hand moved under and then up my dress.

  I took a deep breath and slowly looked at Xavier.

  His fingertips
touched my skin, inching up my leg to my inner thigh.

  I felt my legs trembling, torn between slapping his hand away or just going with it.

  The deepest desires in my heart already knew what I was going to do.

  What I secretly wanted so bad.

  I swallowed hard and tried to keep my breathing calm and contained.

  I wanted Xavier to turn his head and kiss me.

  But he didn’t.

  He just stared forward at the ocean.

  In silence with him, the only thing I heard was the ocean. Not to mention my racing heart that thudded throughout my body.

  I slowly opened my legs and pressed my hips forward.

  Xavier’s fingers then moved directly between my legs.

  My toes curled and I lifted my butt off the ground for a second.

  I put my head back and looked up to the clear sky and took another deep breath.

  He began to press, making wide circles, sending electric pulses through my entire body.

  My hands were flat on the large rock we sat on.

  I pushed with my hands and my arms started to shake.

  I let out a soft sigh as relief worked its way through my body.

  Not the kind of relief that was to come though…

  I turned my head again and this time, Xavier finally looked at me.

  He leaned toward me and I almost pounced at him to kiss him.

  Our lips touched and he made another circular motion with his hand.

  I sighed.

  He kissed me again.

  When his tongue began to flirt with my lips, I shut my eyes, knowing things were going to get hotter.

  As we began to really kiss, his fingertips gently pulled at the edge of my panties, sliding them to the side. He was now touching me. Skin to skin. Fingertips to such a delicate area.

  It was instant warmth and pleasure.

  I kissed Xavier back as hard as he kissed me.

  His fingers curled up and then moved right back down.

  I sighed into his mouth and could no longer kiss him.

  My focus now entirely existed between my legs.

  Xavier offered me one more kiss, then looked forward again.

  I put my head to his shoulder. My hands pressed against the ground again. I caught myself rocking against his touch, wanting more.

  We found our rhythm together.

  His fingers dancing and touching and thrusting while my hips moved along with him.

  I managed to move my head and casually look down.