by Grey, S. R.
“Everything is fine,” I assured her. “I was just thinking about our parents today. I wish things had turned out differently.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
I sighed. “I just wish they’d realized their mistakes before it was too late. Perhaps they could have atoned.”
Now it was Selene’s turn to sigh. “I think the die was cast, Lucien, in the days we were conceived. There was never going to be any going back for them.”
Raking away hair that had fallen to my forehead, I leaned back in my desk chair.
“You’re right, Selene,” I said, glancing around my luxurious study. I felt guilty sometimes, for my great success and wealth. I knew such feelings were ludicrous, but still…
“I know it was out of our hands,” I continued, returning to the conversation regarding our parents. “Still, what happened to them bothers me some days.”
I could almost feel Selene smiling on the other end, even an ocean away. Softly, she said, “You know, it’s funny, Lucien.”
“What’s that?”
“You made Dahlia like us, but not before she made you more like her. There’s so much more humanity in you these days, Lucien.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“I used to think it was,” she said thoughtfully. “But now I find it charming.”
It was my turn to smile. I actually loved that I felt more human than I had in the past. Dahlia and I lived the best of both worlds by being this way. Selene was more like Dunne, more pure creature.
And that got me to thinking…
Dunne had called a few days ago. He’d finally managed to muster up the courage to travel and was currently planning to come down to Chicago for a long-overdo visit. In fact, he was coming in this weekend.
No longer living as a complete recluse, Dunne had even ventured to the tiny town near him. He was working hard to overcome his fear by interacting with the townspeople through acts such as buying groceries and getting gas for an SUV he’d recently purchased.
Dahlia told me time and time again that Dunne was ready to meet Selene. She was still fixated on setting up the two of them. It seemed this would be the perfect opportunity.
“Hey, Selene,” I said, adding some much-needed cheerfulness to my tone. “Do you have any plans this weekend?”
Selene sounded curious as she said, “No, why?”
Dahlia walked into the study at that moment. She was smiling, and I knew she’d seen in my mind what I was up to. Leaning against the doorframe, she gave me an encouraging thumbs-up.
“Well,” I said to Selene, “there’s someone Dahlia and I would like you to meet. He’s flying in to Chicago Friday night and he’ll be staying with us for a few days. So if—”
Selene interrupted. “He? Are you and Dahlia trying to set me up with someone, Lucien Chambers?”
She didn’t sound upset, she sounded intrigued.
There was no point in denying anything, so I said, “As a matter of fact, yes, we are.”
“Tell her she needs to get laid,” Dahlia interjected.
“I heard that,” Selene yelled, so loudly I had to hold the phone away from my ear.
“Are you two done?” I calmly inquired.
Dahlia was laughing, and I heard Selene mutter, “She’s totally right, you know.”
“No, I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.”
We all had a laugh, and then it was decided—Selene would come visit us so she could meet Dunne.
“Wait,” she said, before we disconnected. “Who is this guy, even?”
“His name is Dunne,” I told her. “And he’s one of us.”
“Oh, my God,” she exclaimed. “I heard about him. He was once gorgeous, but something awful happened. But, wait… I always thought he was nothing more than a myth.”
Chuckling, I replied, “I can assure you, Selene, he is very real.”
I left it at that. There was no need for Selene to know how Dunne had helped us, which was something I’d be eternally grateful for.
With that in mind, and to make sure Selene was worthy of him, I decided not to tell her Dunne was back to his “once-gorgeous” status. To her credit, Selene didn’t ask. And she didn’t change her mind, even while remaining under the impression Dunne was still disfigured.
The look on her face, though, when she did finally meet him was priceless.
Dahlia
Our life in Chicago was perfect. I loved Lucien, and he loved me. Things were good. Even old, grumpy Bailey had grown to accept me, which was good, seeing as I genuinely liked him.
I mean, how could I hold a grudge against a guy who just had Lucien’s best interest at heart? Short answer, I couldn’t.
Selene had flown into town as planned and met Dunne.
And, wow, had those two ever hit it off!
A full month had passed, and Lucien and I still couldn’t get them out of the house. Neither had any desire to go back to their respective homes and leave the other.
Good thing we lived in a mansion.
And then there was me.
I’d found my true self, and I couldn’t have been happier. I’d left behind that uncertain girl who’d had hardly any confidence. In the process, I’d become a woman who’d met her perfect match.
The best part was I’d have several lifetimes’ worth of years to spend with Lucien.
And I couldn’t wait to get started on the one before us.
S.R. Grey is an Amazon Top 100 and Barnes & Noble #1 Bestselling author. She is the author of the popular Judge Me Not series, the new Promises series, the Inevitability duology, A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy, and the Laid Bare series of novellas. Ms. Grey’s works have appeared on several Amazon Bestseller lists, including Top 100 multiple times, as well as Barnes & Noble #1 in Bestselling Nook books.
Ms. Grey resides in Pennsylvania. When not writing, Ms. Grey can be found reading, traveling, running, or cheering for her hometown sports teams.
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Read the first chapter of S.R. Grey’s fast-paced New Adult/Romantic Suspense novel, Inevitable Detour
I stare at the computer screen. It’s my last exam of spring semester, and there are only five questions left on the Strategic Management final before me.
My eyes are glued to words, forming a single question. I know the answer. Yes, I do. But then my vision blurs, and I think, ugh, whose idea was it for me to major in business?
Not mine.
The cursor on the screen blinks over answer choice B. Like I said, I know the correct answer, and it sure as hell isn’t B.
What to do…what to do…
With a sly grin, I choose B and hit next.
I am feeling particularly defiant today. My parents left me a voice mail this morning, telling me in no uncertain terms that any thoughts of heading up to New York City this summer with my best friend and roommate, Haven Shaw, are best put to rest. So much for thinking it’d be fun to hang out in the Big Apple with Haven while she worked on finding an agent, making acting contacts, and generally just doing whatever it is a person needs to do when preparing to land a part in a play someday.
And not just any play.
“Broadway, here I come,” Haven said the other day when we were discussing her big-city dreams.
She’s a bit theatrical, but that’s to be expected. She’s a theater major, after all. Her goal is to eventually make it as an actress on the Great White Way.
Conversely, my dreams are much smaller. My primary longing lately is for something—anything—to happen in my mundane life. I thought New York would be a promising start. Guess not. Thanks to my parents and their aversion to anything fun for Essa, there will be no excitement in m
y life this summer. Nope. Just like the two previous summers, I’ll be lulling away the time here at Oakwood College. Excitement for me will consist of chilling in the coffee shop on the edge of the tiny Pennsylvania town my small college is located in. My after-class afternoons will include exciting activities like staring out at cows and farmland, sipping on a mocha, and wishing and hoping for something more.
And that’s just not right.
I’m a damn straight-A student, for God’s sake. I don’t need to spend the summer at Oakwood, taking stupid summer classes. Unfortunately, my parents don’t care about my wants and needs. They believe their only child should apply herself year-round. Forget that I’m already a model daughter.
Well, more or less. But that’s neither here nor there.
Bottom line is that my parents will not, as they put it in their terse message, have me “veering off course.”
Oh, really? So they think…
My defiance hits full throttle, and I purposely choose the wrong answers for the next four questions.
I hit submit and think, take that, Mr. and Mrs. Brant.
Despite my actions, I’ll still receive a solid A for the class. My GPA will not suffer in the slightest. Still, it feels kind of good to be bad.
That’s sad, Essa, that choosing a few wrong answers on a final is the best defiant act you can come up with.
Sighing, I click a button to indicate I am finished with the exam. I then grab my purse from the back of the chair and head for the door. “You’re pathetic,” I mumble to myself as I step out into a warm, stuffy hallway that smells of varnish and books.
I kind of like the smell as it wraps around me. It’s the smell of students seeking knowledge; it’s the smell of youth. Despite all my protestations to the contrary, I do like college. I would just prefer to be studying something of my own choosing.
I stand and ponder. Not only does the smell of school envelope me, but the heat of the day does as well. The second-floor hall I’m lingering in is about ten degrees warmer than the classroom was. Dropping my purse to the floor, I shrug out of my olive-green mock-army jacket. I’m down to two layered tanks, blue over white, but I am still roasting.
“Blech,” I pant, fanning myself as I bend down to pick up my purse. The button on my pants threatens to pop, and I let out a curse. I really should have worn a pair of nice, loose shorts instead of squeezing my ass into overly stylish skinny jeans this morning.
Maybe if the jeans were a little looser, I’d be more comfy.
I do a funny little dance in the thankfully empty area outside the classroom. Sadly, the jeans don’t feel a single inch looser. Damn designers. Don’t they realize we’re not all model-perfect? When I exhale, the button squeezes once again at my middle, and I remind myself that I need to lay off the sweets.
Yeah, right. A girl has to have some kind of indulgence, right? And since I’m no exception, sugary treats are it for me. Otherwise, I’m fairly straight and narrow. I don’t do drugs, and I don’t smoke. I also barely drink—two drinks are my limit when I do imbibe—and I’m not promiscuous.
“Far from it,” I mumble.
I’ve only had sex once, in fact. And what a disaster that turned out to be. The memory alone, from one of the few nights I deviated from my two-drinks policy, at a Saint Patrick’s Day party two months ago, leaves me feeling nauseated. Yeah, the thirty seconds spent with the senior who was cowriting an article with me for the online Oakwood College Gazette just wasn’t worth the time it took to take off my clothes. All too clearly, a fuzzy memory of him grunting on top of me, sweaty and harsh, comes to mind. I kept regretting that this was how I was losing my virginity. I still regret it. But what can you do? Last time I checked there were no time machines.
So, yeah, forget about sex. That’s my motto. I’ll stick with sugar-laden goodies for now. Like cupcakes. Haven made a batch to celebrate our surviving finals week. Her homemade buttercream frosting is far better than sex any day. Not to mention it’s more orgasm-inducing than the thirty seconds that had me asking, “What? That’s it? Why bother?”
I sigh. I need to get back to the apartment and hit up those awesome cupcakes. But my feet are far from moving. I can’t believe I daydreamed away five whole minutes. Or maybe it’s been ten.
Retrieving my phone from my purse, I send Haven a quick text: Leaving Byers Hall. Don’t eat all the cupcakes.
A few seconds later, she texts back: Oops. I got hungry and ate the rest for dinner. Sorry.
Bitch, I reply.
Whore, is her response.
I call her a bitch again and laugh. She’s laughing too. I’m sure of it. Haven knows my texts are sent with love. She is so not a bitch, and I would never think such a thing for real. Nor do I suspect she sees me as a whore. I am far from it, as established. Well, unless we’re talking sugar. Then, I’m a full-blown slut.
Haven sends another text. Just kidding, Es. I didn’t eat all the cupcakes. I know you love them, so I left the rest for you.
Aww, Haven is the best. You’re super sweet, I text back, and then I start down the hallway. Finally.
As I amble along, I think of how Haven is definitely one of the better parts of my life. Throughout the course of the past three years, we’ve become best friends. We met at a freshman orientation. It was an early one, held during the spring prior to matriculation. We sat next to each other and clicked immediately, which is kind of amusing, since we’re so different from one another. Somehow, though, we just work. Bottom line, I love Haven, and I’d do anything for her. She’s certainly done some selfless things for me, no doubt about that. As a result, we’re close, thicker than thieves some say. I tease Haven all the time; tell her she’s my sister from another mother. Since her own mom passed away years ago, she usually replies that she’d let my mom adopt her. But then she adds the qualifier, “that is, if she wasn’t so damn overbearing.”
Understatement of the year.
Just the other day, after I received a call from my mom—she was checking in on my studying—Haven joked, “If your mom took me in she’d probably insist I change my major from theater to business.”
“She probably would,” I agreed.
It’s true. My mother means well, as does my dad, but both my parents have a tendency to focus on practicality. And to the Mr. and Mrs. Brant, practicality means majoring in business.
“It’s always smart to major in something marketable,” Dad likes to say.
“Like business, honey,” Mom always adds with a smile. “You’re making smart choices, Essa.”
Too bad they’re not my choices.
Wishing I was more like Haven, who answers to no one, I round the corner and run smack dab into one of Haven’s acting professors. To my dismay, it’s the shitty professor who broke my friend’s heart two weeks ago.
“Hi, Essa,” Professor Walsh says cordially while pretending to step out of my path.
He remains in the way, of course. Still, I manage to slip around him. He nonetheless stays with me, turning and watching me the whole time.
Ugh. It is so hard not to snipe, “Get the hell out of my face, you fucking douche bag.”
Since I lack the courage to say such a thing, I hold my tongue.
But when Professor Walsh reaches out and touches my arm, halting my progress, I twist from his grasp and snap, “Really?” I raise both brows and take a step back. “Please tell me you did not just lay your hand on me.”
“Now, now,” Douche Bag Walsh says in a sickly, patronizing tone. “There’s no need for such a venomous retort. I don’t know what Haven has told you—”
“Try everything,” I interrupt.
Haven and her thirty-five-year-old professor had a three-month fling. It was all hot and heavy, not to mention illicit as hell, until he ended it in a not-so-nice way.
Concern fills the professor’s light-brown eyes as he taps his foot and stares at me. It’s not concern for the girl whose heart he’s broken. It’s purely concern for his own ass. Oh, the trou
ble he could get into for fucking one of his students.
“Don’t worry,” I say, just to get him to stop staring and, hopefully, go away. “Haven won’t let me go to the disciplinary board, and God knows she’ll never do it herself, so your secret is safe.”
The professor, more confident as soon as he hears I plan to keep my mouth shut, lazily brushes back a lock of wispy, dirty-blond hair that’s fallen to his forehead. He’s boyishly handsome, and this is a move he’s obviously perfected.
Too bad it does absolutely nothing for me.
Undeterred, he says in a low voice, “Everything that happened between me and Haven Shaw was consensual. She’s twenty-two years old, Miss Brant. Last time I checked that makes her an adult.”
I feel like screaming in his smug face. “You were her freaking professor, prick. Not only did you violate school policy, but you violated her when you let her fall in love with you and then callously walked away.”
But there’s no point in lashing out. Haven is still hung up on the guy, shady though he is. She doesn’t want him to get into any trouble. And someone might hear me if I start going off in defense of my friend. The halls are empty, but many of the classrooms are full.
So I don’t say a thing. I do, however, scowl at the man. And then I walk away, leaving him standing in the middle of the hall. I feel his eyes on me, probably checking out my ass. His hooking up with Haven wasn’t some fluke. It’s common knowledge that Professor Walsh has a thing for college-age girls. Until Haven, he was known as a one-and-done kind of guy. But he was really into Haven, for a while…until he wasn’t.
It’s really no surprise he liked her as much as he did in the early days of their fling. Men find Haven irresistible. And why wouldn’t they? The girl is gorgeous. She is far prettier than I am. Haven is tall, with a model-like body. I am short, not super thin. Haven has big, expressive aquamarine eyes and shiny, raven-black hair. I have boring hair that can’t even decide what color it wants to be. Some days it appears light brown, other days it’s more of a dark blonde shade. Not that I pay much notice. I usually just pile the long, unruly tresses up in a sloppy bun, or twist the mess into a ponytail.
