Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1

by D. J. Pierson

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have Mikey drop me off. We’ll make sure it’s running right. Are you keeping it or selling it?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” Kacie tells him, reaching back for my hand. She must be getting ready to fall apart, so I stand up and wrap one arm around her waist. I feel her body relax into me.

  “I’ll take care of it. I promise,” Danny says sympathetically.

  “Thanks, Danny.”

  “No problem.” He smiles at her.

  She spins around to face me. “Thanks,” she whispers. “I’ll be back.” Kacie unravels herself from our embrace and darts away from all of us.

  When I go to follow her, Jade grabs onto my arm. I wasn’t even aware she stood up and came to this side of the table. “Give her a minute.” Only because she knows Kacie better than I do, I listen. I watch my girl go down the steps of the large deck, walk across the grass, shed the white dress she was wearing, and stand at the edge of the pool. After a few deep breaths, she dives in and swims for the opposite end. Everyone already in the pool casually moves to get out of her way. I walk over to the railing of the deck where I stood earlier and watch her. She’s making her way back to the end she dove in from when Jade joins me. “She’s letting you in,” Jade announces.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Kacie hasn’t allowed anyone to do that in a really long time. Jake was probably the last one.”

  “I still don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

  Jade smiles as she watches her friend. “Kacie has this defense mechanism where she doesn’t let anyone see her for who she really is. She keeps everyone at arm’s length. No one is allowed to get too close. She’s afraid of someone else hurting her.” That sounds familiar.

  “Someone else?”

  “Her fucking parents. She gets burned by them enough. She doesn’t need it from anyone else,” she clarifies. “Then there’s you, Mr. Pierce. I have no idea what you did or what you said to her, but she’s letting you in. You should feel privileged. I really hope you care enough to want her. You have to accept all of her. Even her flaws and insecurities.”

  “I don’t believe she has any flaws.” Then I ask, “Do you think she wants something more than just this friendship bullshit with me? She keeps saying she can’t get involved because of her parents, but I don’t see her acting the way she does with me with anyone else.”

  Jade starts laughing. “That’s my Kacie!” She doesn’t answer my question, though. “How would you feel if she wanted more? Would you be able to give it to her?”

  “Are you kidding? I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. Jade, you can judge me all you want based on how I used to be, but that guy took a hike the first time I held her in my arms. I’m not going to rest until Kacie is mine. I’m just afraid if I push her too hard or too fast, she’ll run.”

  “She may try to run no matter how slowly you go about it. It’s just a matter of whether or not Kacie is worth chasing. Sometimes that’s what it takes for her to see how much you care about her.”

  “Thanks, Jade. I actually feel a little better.” I go around her to go to the pool. I want to be there when Kacie is ready to get out.

  “Hey, Evan!” Jade calls from behind me. When I look back at her, she’s smiling again. “Just between us, I think she’s already yours. She’s just not ready to admit it yet.”

  “I hope you’re right,” I say before making my way toward the pool.

  On my way by the table, I grab a towel from one of the piles that Meg had set out for everyone to use. Kacie is just getting to this side of the pool when I sit down and put my feet in the water. She sees me as soon as she comes up for air, then tilts her head back into the water to fix her hair. Does she really think I give a shit what her hair looks like while she’s in the pool? Once she’s satisfied with it, she makes her way over to me.

  “Trying to show up everyone around you?” I tease her.

  “Only you,” she jokes back. “Come in. The water’s beautiful. Besides, you’re all sweaty.” She proceeds to splash water up at me.

  “No way. You’ll make me look bad,” I say, looking down at my clothes. “I will drown your ass for wetting me. You know that, right?”

  “You won’t even be able to catch me,” she says as she comes over in front of me. Feeling her hands on my legs reminds me of last night at the club. She runs her fingers under the edge of my shorts. “Are you going to leave me in here all by myself?”

  I motion for her to look at the pool filled with about fifteen other people. “You aren’t by yourself.”

  She doesn’t turn away from me. “But I want you to come in with me,” she says with eyes I can’t deny.

  “Fine,” I cave. I pull my shirt off over my head and empty the shit out of my pockets without standing up. After pushing my stuff away from the edge of the pool, I drop lightly into the water next to her without make a splash.

  “Your form sucks,” she informs me.

  “Get over here,” I say, reaching for her. She doesn’t try all that hard to get away from me, which is a good thing. The girl really is a much better swimmer than I am. I probably wouldn’t be able to catch her if she didn’t want to be caught. Once I’m able to pull her in against me, she wraps her arms around my neck and holds me close. “What were you saying about my form?” I ask, holding onto her with one hand and onto the side of the pool with the other to keep us from sinking.

  “It sucks,” she repeats.

  I turn her away from everyone else and bring my lips to hers. I honestly thought she’d stop me since there are so many other people near us, but she doesn’t. She allows me to kiss her and holds nothing back when my tongue parts her lips. Her hands are suddenly in my hair and her legs are wrapped around my waist. Fuck! She is going to drive me insane with this shit. One of her hands slides off of the back of my head, to the side of my neck, and down to the front of my chest. I’m very curious to find out what she plans on doing with that hand, but I’ll never know.

  Someone screams “Look out!” and Kacie pulls back just in time for whoever it is to jump into the pool just a few feet from where we are. She ducks behind me to protect herself from the wave of water. I spin around to see who is requesting to lose their life so prematurely. Mike, Danny’s cousin, is breaking the surface of the water just then. He’s already laughing, so he’s very aware of what he did. The rest of our friends have made it to the edge of the pool.

  “Sorry, Evan. I tried to hold him back.” Danny is cracking up. “Mike, do you see his face? You’re in a shitload of trouble, man!”

  Kacie rewraps her arms around me and draws my attention back to her. “Your form got a little better,” she whispers. As if that didn’t distract me enough, she kisses me again. She lets go and swims over to the ladder. There’s no way I can get out of the pool right now, so I just watch her go.

  She’s drying her hair on the towel when Jade and Kyle join us. “Back in the pool, Foster,” Jade tells her. “They want to play volleyball and I’m not doing it alone.” I’m relieved that she’s getting back in where she’s at least half-way covered.

  Over the next hour, most of us played volleyball. All of the girls bailed once the spiking began and one of them almost got hit in the face. Can’t say I blame them. It got a little out of control the longer the games went on. They hung out in the hot tub or at the tables around the pool, drinks in hand. Occasionally, I’d look over to see Kacie watching us play and she’d smile at me. It’s amazing how seeing her smile can make me feel so damn good. She immediately catches my attention when she stands up and starts to walk away. I swim over to the edge to ask her where she’s going.

  “I’m going to go take a shower real quick. I’ll be back,” she says.

  “Hold on. I’ll come with you,” I tell her and pull myself out of the pool. “Just let me dry off a minute. I’ll get in trouble if I drip on the floor.”

  “You don’t have to. I’ll be fine.”

  “I want
to.” She takes her towel from around her and holds it out to me. “I felt better with it covering you,” I accidentally say out loud.

  Kacie takes the two steps separating us and lays the towel over my arm. “No one is looking at me except you.” How the hell does she not notice the dozens of eyes on her at all times?

  “Evan! Where the hell are you going?” Mike yells from the pool. “You can’t leave. You’ll make the sides uneven.” I ignore him and take Kacie by the hand, leading her away from the dickhead who may actually be the only one trying to keep her away from me.

  When we get to my room, Kacie grabs her bag and disappears into the bathroom. I consider following her, but don’t want to push my luck today. My heart won’t be able to take her running out on me for a second night in a row. I rummage through the dresser drawers, looking for something to wear. The only thing I find is a worn gray t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Good enough. The sun has already set, so it isn’t nearly as hot as it was earlier. While I have a few minutes, I call the club to check in with Keith. He assures me everything is running smoothly and no one has shown up who shouldn’t be there. I made sure Joe knew to keep an eye out for the troublemakers from the previous night.

  Kacie is opening up the bathroom door as I hang up the phone. “Feel better?” I ask.

  “Much better. Thanks,” she says, running the brush through her hair. She goes back into the bathroom and, this time, I follow her. I watch her in the mirror as she pulls her hair up. She sighs when it doesn’t do what she wants it to, but doesn’t do anything about it. “You jumping in?”

  “Yeah. Want to stay in here and keep me company?”

  She rolls her eyes. I’m blocking the doorway, so she has to wait for me to move before she can leave. “I’m really glad you came to my house today,” Kacie tells me, placing her hands just above my wet shorts. “Thank you for not letting me sit home alone.”

  I rub the backs of my fingers along her cheek. “I won’t ever let you be alone.”

  “One of these days, you’re going to realize I’m not worth the effort and walk away from me.”

  “There’s no way in hell that will ever happen.”

  “I really hope not,” she says softly, then leaves the room.

  After my quick shower, I emerge from the bathroom only to find Kacie sound asleep on the bed. There’s no clock in this room, but I remember when I called Keith that it was just before ten. I switch off the bathroom light and stroll over to where she is. Lightly rubbing her arm doesn’t cause her to stir. “Kacie,” I say her name softly and she still doesn’t budge. She is laying on top of the comforter and I’m afraid she’ll get cold if she stays like that all night. The closet out in the hallway has extra blankets so I go get one to cover her up. Once she looks comfortable, I crawl in bed next to her. For a little while, I watch her sleep, but not for long. As much as I want to stare at her beautiful face until the sun comes up, my eyes won’t stay open for one more second.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kacie

  Being fully aware you aren’t in your own bed before you wake up has the potential to be a scary thing. Not that it’s happened to me, but I’ve heard people talk about how awful waking up with a stranger is. However, realizing the person lying next to you is one of the sexiest guys you have ever met sure does turn that fear into something else. It’s probably not a good thing to start the day off by being all hot and bothered by someone you aren’t ready to sleep with yet. Well, technically, I’m more than ready, but the anxiety of him being finished with me the second after we finally have sex is eating me alive.

  I try to force my eyes open to get the day started, but I’m so comfortable. Slowly, my legs stretch out below a cozy blanket as my back straightens against the rock hard abs of Evan Pierce. His hand slides from the mattress in front of me, along my lower abdomen to my hip. From there, he pushes it down my leg as low as he can reach while burying his chin in the crook of my neck.

  “I was beginning to think you were going to sleep all damn day,” Evan utters in my ear.

  “If you stay right there, I just might,” I answer, snuggling in even closer to him.

  The bed shakes when he laughs. “I have no problem keeping you company if this is where you want to stay, but I thought you might want to go somewhere with me today since it’s my day off,” he says.

  I jump up to a half-sitting, half-lying position. “What’s today?”

  “Uh…Monday?”

  “The date. What’s today’s date?”

  “The twenty-seventh, I think,” he says, looking at me like I’m a lunatic.

  “Shit!” I jump out of bed and start to hunt for my stuff. “I have to go.”

  “Go where?” Evan asks, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

  My bathing suit is still in the bathroom. I go to retrieve it and rush back into the bedroom to stuff it in my bag. “I just have to go.”

  Evan gets up off of the bed and walks over to me. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulls me to him, holding me in place. “Calm down and tell me where I’m taking you.”

  “Home,” I try to say calmly.

  “Why are you in such a rush to get home?”

  “I have somewhere to be. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep here last night. How could I have forgotten?”

  “Hey,” Evan says, spinning me around. He grabs ahold of both sides of my face and lowers his head to look right into my eyes. “Where do you have to go, Kacie?”

  Slowly, I inhale deeply, then exhale. “Today is my grandfather’s birthday. I have to go to the cemetery. I promised Gram that I would never miss his birthday.”

  “Do you have to be there at a certain time?” he whispers.

  “No.”

  “So, how about we go downstairs, eat some breakfast, then I will take you to the cemetery. I promise to have you there before lunch.”

  “You don’t have to do that. It’s your day off. Go do something. I’ll just go by myself.”

  “I want to spend my day off with you, if that’s okay?” He removes one hand from my face, only to brush away my hair that has fallen forward.

  “You have nothing better to do?” I tease.

  “Nope.” He smiles.

  “You have a very boring life, Mr. Pierce.”

  “I used to, but then you walked into it and it’s been total chaos ever since.” My favorite sexy grin appears on his face and my heart weakens. If he wants to spend his day off with me, who the hell am I to deny him?

  “You want chaos? I’ll give you chaos.”

  “Great! Just what I need,” he says, turning away from me to collect his shirt from the floor.

  “How come you didn’t mention your tattoo when you asked about mine the other day?” I wonder. I noticed it yesterday at the pool, but forgot to bring it up when we were alone. He has a Celtic cross on his back, over his right shoulder blade. Through the cross and in script font, it reads “RIP Brother”. I walk up behind him and run my fingertips over it as he stands up. “I love it.”

  Evan throws his shirt over his head and turns to me. “Ethan had the same one, in the same place. He actually drew it. He wanted us to have the same one. You know, the whole twins thing. I had the rest added the day after his funeral.” He shrugs. “Sometimes I forget it’s there.”

  “It’s kind of cool that you guys got the same tattoo,” I smile at him.

  “Come on. I’m starving,” he says, ushering me out of the bedroom.

  It dawns on me that if Evan comes to the cemetery, it may be difficult for him. “Evan?” I spin to face him. “Maybe I should just go alone today. I don’t want being there to upset you.”

  He winks. “I’m going.”

  We walk into the kitchen to find our friends. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here. The chatter dies as soon as we enter the room and all eyes shift to us. Jade is standing over the stove making French toast. I could smell it as I was coming down the stairs. That should have tipped me off that Jade was here.
She opens her mouth first, “That must have been some shower you went upstairs for last night since neither of you were seen for the rest of the night.”

  I turn to Evan. “You stayed in the room even though I fell asleep?” I ask in disbelief, not caring that everyone is listening.

  He walks by me and picks up a piece of bacon from the platter in the middle of the table. “I didn’t want you to be alone in a strange place if you woke up,” he replies, crunching on the bacon.

  “How sweet!” Meg calls out from next to Jade. “That definitely gets you off of my shit list for missing the rest of my party.”

  “It was very sweet,” I acknowledge, trying to hold back a smile.

  “I call bullshit,” one of the guys who played volleyball with them yesterday remarks. I think his name is Justin, but I could be wrong. “He totally hit it. He’d be in a bad mood if he didn’t get any after all that flirting she was doing.”

  Before one of my infamous comments comes flying out of my mouth, Evan is around the table and has this guy up against the wall on the other side of the room. He’s desperately trying to get out of Evan’s grip, but is unsuccessful. Any other time, I’d be shouting for Evan to let him go. Justin, or whatever his name is, deserves what he gets for being an asshole. “Apologize to Kacie. Now!” Evan growls at him with clenched teeth.

  “I’m sorry!” he yells. “I’m fucking sorry, okay?!” Evan appears to accept his apology. He lets Justin go and starts to walk away. “My bad. Guess I was wrong. There’s no way he got any with that attitude,” the idiot mumbles too loudly.

  Perhaps Justin should have waited a little longer before opening his mouth. Evan was still close enough to him that all he had to do was turn around and swing. His fist connects with Justin’s jaw before he even has the chance to move. Then commotion ensues. Danny and Mike jump up to separate the two of them, while Meg is screaming for them to get the hell out of her house before they break something. The other girls around the table scramble to get away from all of it. Some of the guys stay in their seats, either laughing or shaking their heads in disbelief, and others get up to help out the Rodriguez’s. I notice one thing out of the ordinary in this short skirmish…Jake. He’s just sitting there with his hand on his head, his elbow resting on the table in front of him. It looks like his eyes are forcefully closed.