I pick up my stuff from the ground and walk away, leaving Kyle behind me, watching me head into the diner. I walk through the diner, soft music fills the background, the sound of idle chatter wafting through the room.
I glance back through the window at Kyle as I reach the counter, who climbs into his car and tears away down the street, the deep roar of the engine slowly fading away into the distance.
“Hey there,” Uncle Jack greets as I round the counter, planting a kiss on his cheek as I pass him.
“Hey Uncle Jack.” I head for the back room and place my bags down just inside the door.
“You feeling better?” he calls as I head back out, coming to a stop next to him.
“Much.”
“Good. Who was that I saw you with out there?”
“Oh, no one,” I reply, not wanting to explain.
He eyes me dubiously. “Is he the guy your dad was on about? Some rich prick from the city?”
I hesitate, not knowing what to say.
“I’m not going to pry or push you. You’re a smart, sensible girl and I trust you. I just want you to know that I’m here for you if you need me, if you want to talk,” he offers an assuring smile.
“Thanks Uncle Jack.” I hug him and he wraps an arm around my shoulders, kissing the top of my head lightly.
I pull out my phone and text Gwen and Aaron to meet me after work at Terry’s across the street.
∞∞∞
The day passes steadily, picking up every now and again, flurries of customers coming and going. I’m relieved when the clock strikes five, signalling that my shift is over. I pull the apron over my head and rub my aching temples.
“Hayley!” Gwen shouts as she skips through the door towards me, closely followed by Aaron.
“Hey,” I say as she slams into me wrapping her arms tight around me, the force almost knocking me over.
“How are you? What’s been going on? Where have you been for the past few days? What’s wi-”
“Gwen, slow down. I’ll tell you everything, okay? Let’s just get out of here first.” She nods.
I look to Aaron and smile. “Hey.”
His face remains stern. “Hi.” The look he gives me tells me he’s still mad at me.
I grab my belongings from the storage closet and wave goodbye to Uncle Jack before heading out into the cool evening.
We make our way to the bar across the street from the diner and take a seat at a small table in a quiet corner. The air is thick with the smell of stale beer that lingers in the air.
A waitress takes our drinks order and returns with them a few minutes later. It’s Wednesday night so the bar isn’t overly busy.
Gwen leans forward on the table opposite me, Aaron angled towards me, his elbow resting on the cool, somewhat sticky surface.
“So come on, spill,” Gwen prompts.
I recount every detail of how my father exchanged me for money, the guys in the alley and how Kyle protected me. I tell them everything. I decide to leave out the details on Kyle’s past and my assault when I was seventeen.
“So what happened then, after dinner?”
“He pulled me up to dance and Is This Love started playing, he planned the whole thing. You know how much that song means to me and I... I kissed him,” I confess. A slight blush creeping up my neck to my cheeks.
Gwen lets out a gasp. “So, you kissed him first, like you made the first move?”
“Yeah. It was crazy I didn’t even know what I was doing until my brain final caught up.”
“Was it a good kiss?” she asks.
I nod.
“I’m so proud of you girl! Didn’t think you’d have it in you. So, are you going to call him or something? I mean, if he’s a good kisser, imagine how good he’ll be at... other things...” She smiles suggestively, wiggling an eyebrow.
“Gwen, seriously?” Aaron asks.
I tear away from her gaze, my cheeks burning, even in the dingy lighting in the bar, Gwen must be able to see the best in my cheeks that expose my embarrassment, my silent confession.
“Wait. Did you...?” She leans forward further. “Did you fuck him?” she asks in a hushed voice.
I say nothing, avoiding her gaze, giving her my answer without having to say it out loud.
“Holy shit!” She claps her hand over her mouth and lets out an astonished laugh. “No way,” she draws out slowly. A sly smile touches her lips. “Was it good?”
“Gwen, we don’t need to know this,” Aaron protests.
“Speak for yourself.” She turns her attention back to me. “So?”
I hesitate to answer. I give her a slight nod.
She lets out a squeal, seemingly unable to keep still in her seat. “I’m so fucking happy for you, about time you got some.”
Aaron lets out a deep breath beside me, leaning back against his seat.
“Don’t be, I probably won’t see him again.” I look down at my hands in my lap, picking at the skin around my fingers, a trace of disappointment in my voice.
“Why the fuck would you want to see him again?” Aaron barks. “He fucks over your dad to get close to you, then forces you to stay with him in his cushy penthouse like some fucking prisoner. This isn’t fucking Beauty and the Beast so stop romanticising it. Why would you want someone like that? He sounds like an asshole, and I’m not going to sit here and listen to you gushing about how good he is in bed, for fuck’s sake.”
“What the fuck Aaron?” Gwen yells.
He jerks up out of his seat and storm away.
“Aaron,” I call after him, but he just keeps walking.
I sit stock still, stunned into silence as I watch my best friend walk out of the bar, the door slamming closed behind him. Aaron has never spoken to me like that before, never got so angry. He’s always been so easy-going which is why his reaction is such a shock.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Just ignore him, he’s just being a dick.”
I nod slowly, letting it lie, for now, though I’m not convinced. There’s something more going on with him, I want to know what it is.
Chapter 18
Kyle
“Another?” The beautiful redhead behind the bar asks, exposing her tits over the top of her thin strappy tank as she leans forward.
“Yeah.” I push the empty towards her across the smooth mahogany top.
She lingers for a moment before she takes the empty glass and exchanges it for a new one.
I bring it to my lips and down it in one.
“Looks like you needed that,” the redhead says, leaning her hip against the bar, her arms folded across her chest.
“You could say that.” I wipe my mouth on the back of my hand and exhale deeply.
She cocks an eyebrow. “A girl?”
“How can you tell?”
“Baby, I work behind a bar, I have guys comin’ in every night tellin’ me their problems, drownin’ their sorrows in booze, hopin’ they’ll find the answers in the bottom of their glasses.”
“And do they, find the answers?”
“Sometimes.” She shrugs.
“Well, I’m not gonna spill my life story to you, no offense.”
“None taken.” She laughs. She leaves and returns a moment later with another glass, pushing it in front of me. “Here, on me.”
I tilt my head curtly and knock back yet another drink that I’ll regret in the morning. I slam the empty back down on the bar and close my eyes as I swallow, squeezing them together as the scotch burns a trail of fire down my throat.
Her face pops into my head.
Hayley.
I can still feel her lips against mine, I can still hear the sound that escaped her as I moved inside her last night, I can still remember the taste of her on my lips.
Fuck.
Driving away from that diner was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it was the right thing to do.
For the first time in my life I did the right thing.
I let her go.
She doesn’t need me in her life.
She’s better off without me and my shit.
As much as I wanted to keep her, I had to set her free.
Deep down I knew that the deal I made with her father was wrong, but my want for her clouded my judgement so I went ahead and did it anyway.
I didn’t lie to her, last night meant something to me, in fact, it meant a whole lot to me.
She trusted me.
After what happened to her when she was seventeen, she chose me, she trusted me enough to give herself to me completely.
And I had given myself to her in return.
Mind. Body. And fucking soul.
Something happened to me last night.
Something I have never felt before.
Something I never imagined would happen to me.
Last night, I fell in love.
Chapter 19
Hayley
It's been five days since I last saw Kyle, tearing down the street away from the diner in his car, since then, I've thought of nothing else other than him. Both my waking and sleeping hours completely consumed by thoughts of him. Five days of wiping down tables at the diner, sweeping the floors, making coffee, thinking only of him.
Missing him.
How is it possible to miss someone you’ve only known a few days so much?
Is he thinking of me?
I can't count the times when my finger hovered over his number, ready to call him, times when I’ve chickened out and deleted messages that I had been so ready to send.
I need to snap out of it, accept that what we had was temporary, that our short time together was limited.
Just before my shift is due to end, Gwen arrives to pick me up. She breezes through the door, her long ponytail swinging from left to right at the back of her head, heels clicking across the hard floor. She smiles when she sees me as she heads in my direction.
“Hey, girl,” she greets, giving me a hug.
“Hey. My shift ends in ten.”
“Okay, I’ll wait over here.” She motions to the booth behind her and turns on her heel before collapsing into the soft red leather.
My shift ends and Gwen and I leave together. We head for her car which is parked across the street. My hand stops on the passenger door handle as I look over the roof to Gwen.
“Hey, can we stop off at mine first, I need to pick up some more clothes?”
“Of course, jump in.”
“Have you spoken to Aaron at all? I’ve texted him but he hasn’t replied to any of them.”
She shakes her head.
I sigh. Why did he react the way he did that night in the bar? I’ve never seen him act that way in all the years I’ve known him. Since that night I’ve called him every day, each time he ignores my calls.
We climb in the car and drive to my house. I spend the entire journey silently hoping my dad isn’t home. I still can’t bring myself to face him, though I know I’ll have to eventually.
We pull up outside my house, the lights in the house are off and the driveway is empty, I breathe a sigh of relief.
He isn’t home.
We climb out and head for the front door. Inside I jog straight up to my room and grab more of my belongings, shovelling them into the tiny suitcase that lies under my bed.
“Hayley?” Gwen shouts from downstairs.
“Yeah?” I zip up my case and bound down the stairs, my case banging against each step behind me. I find Gwen in the kitchen, the counter is strewn with pieces of paper. I take a closer look at the papers, they are bank statements, all are dated today.
“Oh no.” The feeling of dread washes over me, nausea pooling in the pit of my stomach.
I pull my phone out and log into my dad’s bank account, the one we share and look at the recent transactions. The money that Kyle transferred to us, all of it, gone. The money was withdrawn at the bank this morning.
“What is it?” Gwen asks.
“My dad... the money... it’s all gone.”
“What?” She peers over my shoulder at my phone screen. “Do you think he’s gone to repay your debts?”
“If he had, it wouldn’t be in cash.”
“So, what’s he going to do with it all?”
“I think I have an idea. I only hope I'm wrong.” I know exactly where he is, and what he’s using the money for.
∞∞∞
Gwen and I barrel through the entrance to the casino.
“Excuse me, I need to see your IDs please.” The doorman looks between me and Gwen. We fumble for our identification and pass it to the doorman.
“Thank you. You ladies have a good evening.”
I offer him a weak smile.
I can’t believe I’m back here, on the same mission I came here on just a week ago.
“Hayley?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention. That voice. The one I’ve been dreaming of for the past week.
I spin around to find Kyle striding towards me and my breath hitches. “Kyle,” I breathe out.
“So, this is the famous Kyle?” Gwen asks, as he reaches us, stopping only a few short feet in front of me. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Gwen, right?”
“One and only.” She smiles sweetly.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Kyle holds out his hand and Gwen takes it.
After a few moments, Kyle releases her hand and turns to me. “What are you doing here?”
“My dad. I think he’s here. All the money has been taken out of our account. Everything’s gone.”
“Shit.” He lets out a sigh. “Come on.”
He steers me past blackjack tables, roulette wheels and slot machines, his hand on the small of my back, Gwen following closely at our heels. We search across the endless sea of people, scanning each face carefully, none of them are my dad.
We head up the grand staircase to the poker tables on the first floor, waves of déjà vu wash over me. We scour the tables, again, none of them are my dad. The fact that he doesn’t seem to be here gives me a small glimmer of hope.
“Do you really think he’s here?” Gwen asks.
“I don’t know, I really hope not,” I reply.
At that moment, someone catches my eye. A man. I look closer at the man sitting in the back corner of the room, up against the wall, engrossed in a poker game, standing out against the sea of tuxedos wearing a plain plum button-down shirt.
My dad.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I charge in his direction, Gwen and Kyle following close behind me.
My hurried steps eat up the floor. As I near the table, my dad looks up, giving me that same look of remorse as he had the last time we were here.
“How could you? After everything!” I shout.
The men sat around the table turn their attention to me, some of them in shock, some of them looking at me like I am an inconvenience, interrupting their poker game.
“Hayley... I...”
“No more lies and excuses, dad. I think I’ve heard enough of them, don’t you think? Unbelievable.” I turn on my heel and march back the way I came.
“Hayley, wait!” my father calls after me.
“Hayley,” Kyle says softly, reaching his hand out to my arm. I shrug out of his grip and carry on walking.
Tears well in my eyes, the backs of my eyes stinging with hurt and betrayal. I storm down the staircase, through the crowds of people and out the main doors into the cool evening air.
“Fuck!” I shout, kicking the wall with my foot in frustration. My toes throb. I spin around, leaning against the wall, taking slow deep breaths to calm myself.
Kyle and Gwen step through the doors and head towards me.
“You okay?” Gwen asks.
“Oh, I’m great,” I reply sarcastically.
“I had no idea he was here, I’m sorry,” Kyle says, edging towards me, reaching out his hand to touch my arm, squeezing comfortingly.
“I can’t bel
ieve him. How... how could he do this again?” I cry, tears cascading down my face.
The Game Page 12
