by Holly Hood
I stared at him stunned. “So what does that mean? You’re going to join the mayor and his son and try and ruin Slade’s life even more than it already is ruined?”
He shook his head. “This has nothing to do with me. The only person who can fix this is you.”
“Well that’s not going to happen,” I said. “I already did enough to Slade for the sake of myself.”
“Slade killed that blonde. He’s bound to do the same to you. Wouldn’t you rather take him out first before he destroys you as well?” Dad asked me.
I couldn’t believe what I just heard. “You’re my dad; you’re not supposed to say things like this. Audrey wasn’t some innocent girl; she would have killed Tucker if it wasn’t for Slade. She would have killed me.”
“Tucker has lived here his entire life. He used to be friends with Slade; he knows more about the guy than you do. He knows what he is talking about. Slade is using you, and you’re going to wind up dead, Hope,” Dad sighed.
“You can forget it. Because I would never believe anything Tucker has to say about Slade or anyone. If you knew who Tucker really was you wouldn’t either,” I said.
“What does that mean?” Dad asked. “I hear this all the time from you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. I couldn’t tell him anything, we were wrapped up into to many complications of our own when it came to them.
Dad finished putting the groceries away. “Well, it doesn’t matter. One way or another I am going to get my daughter back. So you can say no, you can defend him. But I will find a way or die trying.”
He left the room. I watched him climbed the staircase; it wasn’t often he was determined or angry and he was both.
Chapter 17
“So let me get this straight,” Hutch said, we were sitting in his living room. “Your father was told that if Slade died you wouldn’t be this way anymore?”
I nodded.
“You might not be connected to Slade but that wouldn’t change the person you are.” Hutch rubbed at his chin. “And what do you think about that?”
I didn’t understand what he meant. “I know nothing in life is simple. Breaking a connection isn’t going to fix anything.”
“What if it was that simple? What if killing Slade solved all your problems?”
I wasn’t finding Hutch’s question amusing. “Are you kidding me right now?”
Hutch chuckled. “It was a joke, doll.”
“It’s not funny. And you don’t know my dad. He doesn’t like to let go.” I knew him to well. That’s why he drank; he couldn’t deal with things he couldn’t change.
Hutch wasn’t worried about my dad. He sat down next to me, closing the space between us with a kiss on my lips. I kissed him back and pulled away.
“Are you trying to change the subject?” I asked him.
He nodded going for my lips again. We connected; I dropped back on the couch.
“Life would be simple if we could just lie around and do this all day long,” Hutch said unbuttoning my shirt. “Everything is going to be fine. Give him a little time to adjust and soon he’ll see you’re the same Hope you always were.”
I slipped my fingers into his hair smiling as I kissed him. He could always say the right thing when I was having a hard time.
My heart tattoo caught my eye, I pulled away.
“What?” Hutch asked kissing my neck.
“Does this look different to you?” I asked him, I stared down at the heart. It was different and I couldn’t figure out why. But something was not right.
Hutch took me by the wrist. He covered my tattoo with two fingers. “Forget about the tattoo. Close your eyes and kiss me.”
But I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Hutch sighed. This time he covered the entire thing with his hand. He pulled away. “Shit.”
I stared at him confused watching him look out the window. He opened the door. I jumped to my feet stunned to see Slade standing there.
“What are you doing here?” I buttoned my shirt. “I thought you weren’t coming back around?”
Slade surveyed the house before he offered me an answer to his surprise visit. “I may be away but that doesn’t mean I don’t know when you’re acting like an idiot.”
Hutch stepped in between us. “Don’t call her an idiot.”
Slade looked him up and down. “She doesn’t need your help.”
“She needs someone’s seeing you left her here to fend for herself against the entire town of Cherry,” Hutch said back. “And I’ve been doing that just fine.”
I couldn’t believe Hutch. I turned away from Slade and took Hutch by the hand leading him to the couch. “You can’t talk to him like that. It’s going to piss him off. Let me talk to him, see what he wants.”
Hutch toyed with my hair, doing his best to egg Slade on I was sure. “Use my room. I know being out in public isn’t his thing right now.”
Slade followed me down the hallway. I shut the door behind us and took a seat on Hutch’s bed. It was sort of awkward.
“You can’t just show up, why are you here, Slade?” I asked.
He tugged his black hat down farther. “I just told you. You’re acting like an idiot.”
“That’s not your business.”
“Oh I forgot, you filled that position,” he lifted a book on Hutch’s nightstand. “This guy can’t be serious.” He dropped the book with a thud.
“I thought you had more important things to worry about, like running for your life,” I said. I couldn’t believe he was back because word got around I partied a little too hard.
“I told you I would take care of it,” he moved in, his fingers tangling with my hair. “It’s taken care of, and so here I am.”
I couldn’t believe it. “You’re back for good?”
“For good,” he insisted. “He doesn’t seem as appealing anymore does he?”
I swallowed. Slade moved in, I tried to form words. But like every time before I was drawn to him. But something stopped me; I pulled away before we connected.
“I still remember what you said. You told me to forget I ever met you,” I said.
Slade bit down on his lip ring. “When I thought things weren’t going to change, I was looking out for you.”
“You were thinking about yourself. And I see that now,” I said. Every time I invested myself into Slade I was crushed. I didn’t want to be crushed anymore, I wanted to be smart.
“So you go out and drink, almost kill yourself and your best friend to forget your problems?” Slade asked. “Because that shows how much you would rather forget about me.”
“I’m sitting in another guy’s house, what does that tell you?” I stared at him. “I think I already forgot about you if you ask me.”
Slade nodded. “Harsh. I can see right through you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve changed, I like being reckless, it excites me to know I hold all the power and all these people are beneath me. I don’t want to be naïve anymore.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. I hope your little friend out there is supportive of all the bad decisions your making,” Slade told me.
“He hasn’t complained yet,” I stared up at him daring him to say anything else about it. “You can leave; I did just fine without you.”
“I’m not buying it. But I’ll leave,” he said. I opened the door waiting for him to go out first. “You might want to apologize to your friend. Or doesn’t that matter either?”
I huffed and slammed the bedroom door shut so I didn’t have to look at him anymore. I dropped down on the bed. I lifted my arm staring at my ink, there stood the word moron. I sat up ready to chase him down and slap him. But it faded away.
Chapter 18
There I was, choosing to turn over a new leaf for the day, trying to push away all the mistakes, the old boyfriend and the regrets in my life.
I went through a rack of clothes at the shore store. I figured shopping would take my mind away from everything I wanted to avoid.
> I brought a black tank top to my chest and stared at myself in the mirror. It was fitting I decided, I threw it over my arm and moved on to the next rack of clothes.
I watched as two girls beside me giggled with each other as they picked out clothes. Their lives were simple, undemanding, and bland.
I took the shirt to the dressing room and disappeared behind the curtain. As I tried the shirt on I could hear them talking about me. I rolled my eyes at the obvious prejudice like usual from anyone in the town.
I tugged the shirt back over my head after a quick glimpse in the mirror. Shopping didn’t sound great anymore.
“Nice top,” someone said from behind me as I came out of the dressing room.
I turned around. It was K, the guy from the Greenhouse, or more like the asshole from the greenhouse.
He came closer. “So they do have clothes here that don’t make me want to die on the inside.”
I smirked. The girls that were once talking about me were staring him down. He slipped a hand into his expensive gray jeans.
“If you look long and hard you sometimes find something,” I said. “Although I’m pretty sure those jeans didn’t come from here.”
K touched the belt buckle on his jeans. “Back home.”
I nodded a little uncomfortable that he wasn’t hurling insults at me. “Well, I got to go.”
He turned around. “You’re not going to say hello to Hutch?”
I searched the store. “I didn’t know he was here with you.”
“Why else would I be in this shithole?” K pointed toward the back of the store. “He would be upset knowing you snubbed him.”
I eyed K. “Would he?”
He laughed at me. “I thought they said brunettes were smarter than blondes.”
I relaxed once he acted like himself. He came closer. “Do these people always treat the better looking ones like this?” He shot a look in the girl’s direction. They scattered.
“You do come in handy sometimes,” I told K. “And yes, they always act that way.”
“Why put up with it? All for the beaches?”
“I don’t even like beaches. I ask myself the same thing every day.” I said.
K took my top. “I’ll take care of this. You should go say hello to Hutch before he gets grumpier than he already is.”
I released my grip on the top. “What is it about him that has you coming all the way to California?” I hoped he wouldn’t bite my head off for asking. I also wondered what he was about.
He took a good look at me. “Hutch says you’re into magic, that some jerk off changed you into a satanic black magic worshiper. Is that true?”
My jaw dropped. “Not hardly, and that’s rude. What else does he say about me?” I brought a hand to my hip.
“He doesn’t have to say much. I can see he is making the worst mistake of his life and every other man’s on earth.” K was bored with everything going on.
I was confused. “What does that mean?”
“He’s into you. And we all know when feelings get involved things turn to shit,” he took me by the shoulders and turned me in the direction of Hutch. “Now let me pay for this and go talk to him.”
I turned back around. “You never answered my question.”
K sighed. “Because it was stupid.”
I glared at him, and headed for Hutch.
I wove around the racks of men’s clothes and snuck up behind him.
“Guess who?” I said wrapping my arms around him. I would have covered his eyes but he was too tall.
“Oh that’s simple,” Hutch said taking hold of my arms. He linked his fingers with mine.
“If it’s so simple than say who it is,” I teased.
“I can do one better,” he said turning around. He pulled me in and planted his lips on mine. His hands caught the back of my head before I could pull away in shock.
“That was quite the greeting,” I said, I touched my lips turned on by him. “What are you doing here?”
Hutch pointed at the racks of clothes. “Retail therapy, I thought this would clear my mind.”
I raised an eyebrow. What did he have to worry about?
“Slade showing up yesterday put a bit of a damper on things.” Hutch lifted a shirt from the display. “Every time I feel like we get a little bit closer he seems to come in and change all that.”
I followed him to the next display. This wasn’t like him. And I wasn’t so sure about the sudden change in his demeanor. “I told Slade to leave. You know that, I told you all about it.”
Hutch lifted his gaze from the shirt to me. “I’d hate to see him ruin more of your life.”
“He won’t. I can deal with Slade,” I said.
“He doesn’t deserve someone like you.” Hutch’s crooked grin appeared. “And you deserve much better.”
“Like you right?” K said interrupting our conversation. He tossed the bag at me. “Men and their lines.”
I watched Hutch, he wasn’t amused. He scratched his head. “Come to lunch with me.”
I smiled at his shy ways. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Because you’re dying to get to know me better,” Hutch waited for an answer.
“Fine,” I said. “There are worse things I could be doing.”
Chapter 19
So much for a one on one I thought to myself. I watched K down another beer as we sat outside eating.
I stared at the water off in the distance. The beach was full of Cherry residents, they were everywhere and this made it harder to enjoy being outside.
“So how is it you got wrapped up with this guy?” K asked.
I spoke first. “I was on the beach with my friends.”
“She apologized for her friends and boyfriend for trying to kill us,” Hutch grinned. “She didn’t know it at the time but I knew what they were.”
I looked away; it was awkward enough that night to apologize and he knew all along we were different.
“Supernatural,” K said. “Do you like having power, Hope?”
I shrugged. “So far, no.”
“You must not be doing it right then. Everyone wants power.” K took a sip of his beer.
“Hope’s different; she wasn’t looking to be any part of this.” Hutch told K. “Wrong place at the wrong time.”
That was true. If I stayed in Georgia my life would have panned out another way.
“What about you?” I asked, turning the attention to K. “What makes you so powerful?”
K wasn’t pleased I asked about him again.
“I told you. The less you know about this guy the better off you are,” Hutch said.
I lifted my glass of tea. Any answer I wanted wasn’t about to be revealed. I studied K from across the table. I wondered what it was. And why it was better not to know.
His eyes searched the beach as he conversed with Hutch. It seemed he always watched someone or something, always alert.
The wind blew, and not a single strand of his perfect hair was affected. He smirked at Hutch’s comment and then a perfect set of pearly whites were on display, drawing many eyes in his direction. He was a good looking guy, and everyone around him knew it.
“Oh boy, not this girl again,” K said. It was Karsen, and she was headed for our table. She wasn’t alone either.
I went to stand up but Hutch grabbed me by the wrist stopping me. “Just relax.”
Karsen, Slade and Kidd all came to a stop at our table. Karsen and I locked eyes. I wasn’t happy to see her. I didn’t have the courage to apologize yet for what happened. I didn’t mean to push her. It wasn’t something the normal me would have ever done.
“Here all this time I thought you were at home feeling bad for all that you did. But you’re out with these two?” Karsen said starting in on me.
“I was invited to lunch.” I was uncomfortable having to talk about anything in front of Slade at this point.
“Why don’t we sit down and leave Hope to her new friends,” Kidd s
aid speaking up. “No reason to make a scene. Karsen you can do this another time.”
Karsen ripped her arm away from Kidd. “This is my best friend.”
Kidd threw up his hands. “I’m trying to save you from the drama. Don’t be an asshole.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” Karsen snapped at Kidd. “You didn’t listen to me when you were busy running off.”
Hutch raised an eyebrow. K studied the three of them with a bit of confusion. Karsen was mad at Kidd and she let the entire world know it.
Slade pushed Kidd out of the way of Karsen’s insults. “Go find a table.” Kidd walked away.
Hutch grinned, leaning forward. “Wow, don’t we just have them all in line,” he said watching Kidd follow Slade’s orders.
K smirked.
“Do you have anything better to do?” Slade asked Hutch. “Besides trying to take what is not yours?”
Hutch stood up. “I’m only nice the first time someone pisses me off, never the second time. You might want to think about what you’re doing.”
Slade pulled off his aviators. “Is this what you want to be doing right now?” he asked me.
Karsen stood behind Slade and waited. I was surprised she wasn’t butting in.
“I’m at lunch, what am I doing?” I sighed. “Why do you do this?” I just wanted one day of freedom.
Slade shook his head. “Let’s talk somewhere.”
“She doesn’t want to go with you, isn’t that right, Doll?” Hutch’s hand gripped mine.
“She doesn’t know the first thing about you.” Slade grabbed me by the elbow. “Give me five minutes.”
I pulled away from both of them. “I’m not a rag doll. I will do whatever I want.”
Slade went to grab me again. K jumped up and shoved him away. “I wouldn’t be doing that.”
“Are you kidding me?” Slade said nose to nose with K. “Sit down. I don’t even know who you are.”
K grinned. “Oh, but I think you do. If I would have known it was you Slade I would have figured this all out.”
By this time everyone was back at the table. I couldn’t understand how it was possible K knew Slade and Hutch. I wanted to know who this guy was.
