Pull

by Rachel Van Dyken

  Alyssa, you can sit by me.”

  “No touching.” I eyed them both and shut the door.

  Sam lifted an eyebrow as if to say no promises. I flipped him

  off as if to say I’d break every one of his fingers if he even thought

  about it, and made my way into the room. We were missing our

  final member, but I wasn’t sure if he was coming back after all the

  drama from last time.

  Sure enough, the minute I sat down the doorbell rang again.

  I opened the door and was happy to see Connor standing there

  with his hands shoved in his pockets.

  “You made it.” I reached out to shake his hand. He nodded

  and shook my hand and took a step into the house just as a flash

  went off. I cursed and looked at the boardwalk where several

  paparazzi were setting up camp.

  “Shit.” I pushed Connor into the room and slammed the

  door behind me.

  Everyone came into the entryway to see my freak-out,

  including Alyssa. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  I groaned and banged the back of my head against the door.

  “I swear I had no idea, you guys. I didn’t even find out until I got

  home this afternoon. Nothing’s bugged in here, like I said. But the

  minute you leave the house, your faces are going to be everywhere.

  I’ll do my best to sneak you out the back. I guess we could call the

  cops and put hoods over your heads.”

  Alyssa burst out laughing. “Seriously? Hoods over our

  heads? What’s going on?”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out except

  for air. I began to sweat.

  Sam spoke for me. “The media seems to think Demetri is

  going to be doing a reality show about Seaside. Some pictures of

  you guys were leaked to the media as well as the information that a

  show had been in the works and, voila, you’re caught up. Hey,

  where’s the popcorn?”

  Wordlessly, I pointed to the kitchen and put my head in my

  hands and groaned. “Guys, you have to believe me. I really didn’t

  know.”

  Alyssa shrugged. “Demetri, it’s fine. Let’s just get on with

  the session and then we can figure out how to get everyone out of

  here.”

  She made it sound so easy. As if I could just snap my fingers

  and all the nightmares would disappear. I sighed and hung my

  head. Instantly I felt her warm body pressed against mine and then

  her lips were pressed against my cheek. I missed everything about

  her — the way she smelled, the way her lips felt against my skin.

  Hell, I would move heaven and earth for this girl. She had to know

  what I felt for her, what I would do for her.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled as she pulled away.

  She shrugged and blushed. Damn, it was hot when she

  blushed. “For what?”

  “Making me feel better.”

  “It’s the least I can do.”

  “And what’s the most?” I pulled her back into my body and

  slowly walked backwards until we were against the wall and out of

  earshot of the rest of the crowd.

  “T-the what?” she stuttered.

  “The most.” I leaned in and smelt her hair, then trailed my

  nose against the outside of her jaw, as my lips nibbled down

  toward her mouth.

  Alyssa closed her eyes and then tilted her head back. I kissed

  her exposed neck. She gasped. My fingers bunched her shirt as I

  started to lift it.

  Someone cleared his throat.

  She pushed me away.

  I wanted to kill whoever just interrupted us. I turned slowly

  and came face to face with Bob. Yeah, I’d lose in a fight with him.

  He lifted an eyebrow and peered at both of us while crossing his

  arms. Why did I suddenly feel like I just got caught doing

  something wrong? I mumbled a curse and stepped around him,

  grabbing Alyssa’s hand in the process.

  Bob’s chuckle followed us into the living room. It irritated

  the hell out of me. My body was hot and cold all at once. I just

  wanted to be with Alyssa, not lead the stupid group or have to

  worry about all the paparazzi outside.

  “Look…” I took a deep breath and sat down. Everyone was

  drinking soda and munching on popcorn. “I had no idea about this

  whole reality show thing. Just so we’re clear. We can still meet, but

  I think it might be smart for us to start meeting at someone else’s

  house, considering the circumstances.”

  “We can meet at mine,” Alyssa piped up and winked.

  Man, I loved her.

  What the hell?

  I felt my mouth drop open at the realization. No. No way.

  No way did I just say that in my head. I ran my fingers through my

  hair and cleared my throat. “Um, okay. Thanks, Alyssa. That’s

  really cool of you.” Deep breaths, Demetri, deep breaths. “So today

  I want to talk about regret.”

  Mrs. Murray had reminded me in our last counseling session

  that it was important for people to voice something they regretted

  not doing or saying to the person they lost. It had taken me three

  months to finally go through with the process of writing my ex-

  girlfriend a letter. I bawled for days and ate more taffy than I cared

  to admit.

  “What do you mean?” Aaron asked, grabbing a piece of

  paper and pencil.

  I hated opening up, but it seemed like the only way to get

  them to understand things was to use myself as a guinea pig. Great.

  Hopefully, I don’t cry like a girl. “I lost my dad when I was little.

  He had cancer. But we knew he was sick. I have to admit I suck

  around sick people. I think I’m traumatized from being around the

  hospital so much, but the point is we knew it was coming. We

  knew he was terminally ill. Therefore, my brother and I were able

  to say goodbye, we were able to have no regrets with him.” I blew

  out a shaky breath and continued. “I mean, I still regret that he

  didn’t get to see my brother and me grow up, but that was beyond

  my control. My dad didn’t get stolen from me. I didn’t wake up one

  day to find him missing from my life. When you go through the

  type of grief where a person is suddenly ripped away from you, it

  feels like a part of your soul is missing. You look back and wonder

  what you could have said or done, did they know how you felt?

  Were they aware that you cared for them? Did you just get into a

  fight? Those are the type of regrets I’m talking about. I know this

  sounds like a lot of psychological bullshit, but Mrs. Murray’s

  awesome at this stuff, and I know it really helped me.”

  “It helped you?” Aaron narrowed his eyes. I shifted in my

  seat.

  Holly patted him on the hand and nodded. “I like it. Come

  on, Aaron. Let’s go over and sit in the corner and decide what

  we’re going to write.”

  Soon everyone was dispersed around the room. Everyone,

  but Alyssa.

  “Are you okay?” I tapped her on the leg with a pencil. I

  wanted to hold her, but she suddenly looked like the last thing she

  wanted was for anyone to touch her.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered
under her

  breath.

  I shrugged. “Just try. I’m going to go over there.” I pointed

  to the kitchen. “Far, far away, so you can have your privacy, okay?

  Just write what’s on your heart.”

  She nodded and I walked off feeling like crap. I hated that

  bastard, and I hated myself for hating him. I hated her for loving

  him, but most of all I hated the connection I knew they still shared.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Alyssa

  The sheet of paper was blank. I know Demetri was trying to

  give me my space so I could write my letter. But I honestly had so

  many regrets with Brady, I didn’t even know where to start. It felt

  like my heart was going to explode the minute Demetri mentioned

  the word regret. It was like he could see right through me when his

  gaze met mine.

  I was too ashamed to look at him.

  I knew there was still this invisible chord that held my soul

  connected to Brady’s, even though he wasn’t here. I may as well

  have a sign plastered across my face that said, “A part of me still

  loves my ex-boyfriend and always will.”

  Demetri took those feelings away, and yes I knew I needed

  to heal, to move away from the past, but the minute he said regret I

  was tempted to jump back into old habits, because my biggest

  regret thus far, the one that still kept me up at night, was the very

  thing I’d never voiced to anyone before.

  My hand shook as I clenched the pencil between my fingers.

  My knuckles turned white from the pressure. Sighing, I wrote one

  word. And in that one word every regret fit beneath.

  Living.

  I regretted living. Every damn day.

  Staring at the word made me nauseous. All the memories

  flooded back — his smile, his laugh, his cocky attitude. Everything

  was so real in my mind, it was almost as if he was there with me on

  the couch. He should have been there. Suddenly angry, I wrote

  another word on my paper.

  Hate.

  I hated that he was taken from me when he was so young. I

  hated that I was forced to live with this grief. I hated that the only

  person I could blame was myself, but that even then I knew

  accidents happened.

  A tear slid down my cheek, with shaking hands I wrote

  down another word.

  Virginity.

  Something he never got the chance to take from me. One of

  the many things I was never able to give him. He wouldn’t let me.

  He said I was too young. Brady always refused to talk about sex. I

  knew he’d had sex. He wasn’t exactly a saint, but I admired that he

  didn’t pretend to be. He was always freakishly honest about the

  temptation of being the star quarterback. Girls threw themselves at

  him the way girls threw themselves at Demetri, except in

  ridiculously smaller doses. He had dated a lot of girls before me.

  “Why can’t we?” I begged. Okay, begging was so lame, but I loved

  him, didn’t he love me too?

  “Believe me.” He laughed. “I would love nothing more, but you’re

  so young, Alyssa. You need time to figure yourself out, and if in the end

  I’m still the one you want, then I’ll gladly take you up on that offer. But

  until then…” He sighed and kissed me on the cheek. “I just can’t do it.

  Not when you don’t know about my past, about everything. It just

  wouldn’t be right.”

  “So you’re rejecting me?” I slid away from him and looked out the

  window of the truck as a tear ran down my cheek.

  He cursed and pulled me back into his arms, even though I fought

  him every inch of the way. “Stop crying,” he said gently. “Believe me, any

  guy who had no respect for you and no damn morals would have you in

  that backseat in an instant.”

  “Your truck doesn’t have a backseat.”

  “You know what I mean. Look at me, Alyssa.”

  Begrudgingly, I turned and glared.

  He laughed. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

  “You’re pissing me off now.”

  “Alyssa.” He moaned and then kissed me lightly on the lips. “Let

  me put it this way. I’m not ready to take that from you yet. You know my

  reputation before I met you. I just couldn’t live with myself if I messed up

  a good thing. And what we have is more than good. Okay?”

  I nodded. I mean, I understood I guess. I just felt semi-rejected that

  he hadn’t wanted me. But maybe this was more.

  “I want it to be me.” Brady cursed and shook his head. “You have

  no idea. And I don’t know what’s holding me back other than my own

  hang-ups and the fact that you look so damn innocent sitting there. But in

  the end… if something ever happened, I don’t know, at college, or if you

  decided you didn’t want to be with me anymore. It would kill me to know

  that what we shared wasn’t going to be forever.”

  “Don’t be silly.” I rolled my eyes and kissed him firmly on the

  mouth. “We’ll be together forever.”

  I glanced up at Demetri through watery eyes. He was

  patiently standing in the kitchen pretending to be immersed in

  reading a magazine while we all poured our hearts out.

  What would his paper say? I looked down at mine again and

  sighed. Would his letter be to his ex-girlfriend? One thing was for

  sure. I didn’t want him to read my paper. It would kill him and I

  couldn’t hurt him. He didn’t deserve the hurt that came with being

  associated with me. Yet, I craved him, cared for him, needed him

  more than I was ready or willing to admit. Was it selfish that I held

  on to him? All the insecurities of the night before came flooding

  back.

  I stood and walked over to him. His eyes snapped up and

  that devastating grin, the one that made me want to wrap my arms

  around him and never let go, appeared on his face. “Finished?”

  “Yes.” I folded my paper and put it on the table. “You’re

  right. It was good to write some things down.” Even though it

  almost killed me to admit any of the things I just admitted.

  “Say it again.”

  “It was good to write some things down?” I grinned,

  enjoying the way he was trying to tease me out of my sadness.

  He scowled and shook his head, this time leaning down and

  whispering in my ear, his lips moving just against the tip causing

  butterflies to shoot through my stomach. “The other part.”

  “You’re right?”

  “Damn straight, I’m right.” His tongue touched my ear and

  flicked it before he sucked for a few seconds then abruptly pulled

  back.

  Bob cleared his throat and glared at us. Thankfully everyone

  else was still immersed in their note writing, and I was ready to fall

  into a puddle at Demetri’s feet. How did he make me feel so crazy?

  For a brief second I forgot all about the note I just wrote about

  regrets. My body reacted to Demetri the way that electricity reacts

  when a live wire is exposed. Everything felt good, and I wanted

  more and more of him.

  I just wasn’t sure if Demetri was willing to share me with

  someone who was dead. I wasn’t sure if I would share
me. Was I

  really worth it all in the end? Or would he tire of my emotional

  breakdowns like everyone else did? Would he constantly wonder

  about where my thoughts were? When he kissed me would he

  think I was wishing it was Brady?

  “Penny for your thoughts.” Demetri grabbed my hand and

  kissed it.

  “My thoughts are worth more than a penny.” I argued.

  His face turned serious. “Believe me, I know. I just hope one

  day I’ll be able to afford them.” He gave me a sad smile and went

  back to the chair where he began gathering the pencils and papers.

  “Alright, everyone, it’s time to come back together.”

  The rest of the group sat down. Sam looked like he had been

  crying as he wiped his eyes and sighed. Connor looked just as bad

  if not worse. I could guess what he wrote, something about

  regretting driving that night or even possessing a license. Aaron

  and Holly were sad too, but I think most of their grief came from

  something unrelated to Brady and the accident. Aaron kissed

  Holly’s head and sighed heavily.

  Demetri took everyone’s papers. “I’m not going to read

  these. They’re private. Between you and what you regret. But if

  anyone’s willing to share, I think it would be really cool.”

  Holly spoke up. “I lost my baby.”

  Aaron held her tightly as she began to softly cry. “In high

  school I got pregnant and I had a miscarriage. It was really hard

  and… well, it almost destroyed my relationship with Aaron.”

  Aaron cleared his throat. “It was a Friday night. I was angry

  at Holly. She had been drinking and instead of staying with her at

  the party I ran off.”

  I listened intently as Holly continued where Aaron left off. “I

  was so upset he would abandon me that I slept with one of the

  football players. I found out I was pregnant at the beginning of

  football season. I told Aaron and he threatened to kill the father.

  But I refused to tell him who it was. It wasn’t his business, and it

  nearly killed us both.”

  The room fell silent. Holly choked back a few more tears. “It

  felt good. To write that letter. To talk to Aaron about it. I feel better.

  Thanks, Demetri.”

  Demetri smiled warmly. “Anytime. And don’t worry, the

  first time Mrs. Murray asked me to do this I cried for days. And if

  that ever gets leaked out into the press I’ll hunt each and every one