“Who are you calling, Pepper?”
“Yeah, who are you calling? You should be enjoying your lox, loxsh.” Lexi blew out a breath and tried again. “This is a hard word. You have to appreciate this lux.ur.ious carpet.” Without waiting Lexi continued. “I did it!” She beamed at pronouncing the multiple syllable word.
Greer put her hand up and when Lexi’s hand met hers in a high five, she said. “Good job Lex!”
Lexi put up her other hand for Pepper to hit and then remembered her question. “Who are you calling?”
“Mark.”
“You like him, you like him, you like him,” Greer sang.
“I do, I do, I do. And he is coming over!”
Greer thought about it. “Okay. Does that mean we should get off of the floor?”
There was a long pause and Lexi finally chimed in. “Maybe Pepper should, but I don’t think we need to.”
That made sense to Greer. “Yes. Pepper should. I think I’m going to sleep here.”
That led to another nonsensical conversation and lots of giggles. When the doorbell rang the trio of girls fell silent trying to identify the sound.
“Pepper, I think it is your doorbell,” Lexi whispered. “Are you going to get it.”
“I’m on it.” And she raised her phone above her head.
Lexi and Greer watched Pepper and then they all laid still, listening to heavy footsteps get closer to the room they were all in.
“I’m in here!”
Lexi and Greer winced and then groaned at Pepper’s shrill volume and covered their ears. “Pepper! Don’t yell.”
When Greer opened her eyes, it was her turn to shriek. “Ahh! I’m seeing a mirage. It looks like Beckett up there!”
Greer became distracted by her mirage’s dark stubble framing his locked jaw. ‘Yummy, I want to feel that.’ One of Greer’s hands came up and encountered air. A big sigh escaped her, “I knew it was a mirage.”
“Mirages are when you are in the desert, Greer. Remember, we are laying in a lush pile. I see a yummy man above me too. Maybe it was the schnapps?”
Greer was having a hard time hearing what Lexi was saying. Then she remembered one of her hands was still covering her ear, so she brought it down.
The mirage yelled. “What the hell happened to your face, Greer?”
Greer winced and tears sprang to her eyes. She brought her hands up to cover her eyes, and her now throbbing cheek. Miserably she talked to the mirage. “I don’t like mean Beckett, go away.”
Deep laughing had her peeking through her fingers and she threw her hands up in excitement. “Pepper, Mark and Jason are here!”
She turned her head to Lexi and whispered. “They are nice to me. I like them.”
“We like you too, Greer.” They were grinning down at her and she returned the gesture.
“Greer,” Beckett had tempered his tone to a soft, warning growl, so she dared a peek “Tell me what happened to your face.”
Greer was fascinated. Beckett had stepped between her and Pepper and he was yummy. Her eyes went up and up his legs until she came to his zipper. She could definitely see what was behind the zipper. Now her greatest wish was to open the zipper. She had never seen a man’s cock and now seemed like a good time. Just as she opened her mouth to ask him if she could open it, he strangled out, “Greer, eyes up here.”
“Okay.” And she went into another daze as she studied his heated gaze.
“Oh, for fuck sake.” And Beckett scooped her off of the floor and sat with her on one of Pepper’s two chairs flanking her TV.
Greer’s head was swimming from the sudden movement and she flung her arms around his neck, leaned her forehead into his neck, and breathed him in. Clean and crisp, nothing fancy for Beckett.
Beckett cupped the back of her neck and slowly guided her to look back at him. “Tell me what happened.” It was a controlled, tempered demand.
“Some girl slammed my face into the bathroom wall.”
His eyes widened and the hand on her neck tightened. She winced and Beckett immediately loosened his grip and started massaging the hurt away. From far away she heard Mark and Jason erupt in anger, but it was Beckett’s ticking jaw, rigid body, and murderous eyes she was fascinated with. For once it didn’t seem directed at her. After a few moments, he drew in a breath and demanded in a clipped voice.
“Tell me everything after you got out of the car at the stadium.”
A knot formed in her stomach as the memories she had escaped through Schnapp shots came rushing back at her. She slowly shook her head, still holding Beckett’s eyes.
“I don’t want to, Beckett.” Tears pooled in her eyes.
His jaw locked and she put her hand up to it. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
Beckett closed his eyes and she could feel his body tense under her and when he opened them back up his jaw relaxed and he didn’t seem as full of anger.
“I’m not mad at you, Greer. But you need to tell me what happened.”
As her gut tightened, she knew he wasn’t going to give up. “Okay, but can I have another shot when I’m done?”
“Hell yes!” Pepper shouted.
“No,” Beckett stated. “Talk.”
Greer looked over at the black TV and talked to it even as she reached her hand up to the back of Beckett’s neck and ran her fingers over the short texture of his hair. She found it soothing and liked the connection to him. She could feel his hard body underneath her and it comforted her.
“David and Mom dropped me off at the stadium and I went into the bathroom to change out of my work t-shirt.” She paused to allow the memories back.
“I came out of the stall and the next thing I know I’m being rammed into the wall.” This time the pause was to take some breaths to control the quiver in her voice.
“Then she took my neck and slammed my cheek into the brick and tried to flatten my face into it.”
Lost in the memories, Greer put one hand up to her cheek and the other on her stomach to stop the nausea turning in her stomach.
Warmth filled core when Beckett’s warm hand laid over hers. The nausea turned to flutters only to freeze with Beckett’s question.
“Did she say anything?”
She froze, thankful when Pepper blurted. “She told her to stay away from you.”
“What? From me?” The confusion was apparent.
Greer nodded her head. “I was ruining her plans to be with you.”
“What the hell?” Beckett said at the same time Jason spoke.
“Dude! You have a stalker.”
Beckett’s stillness relayed his intensity, “Who was it?”
“I don’t know. I never saw her face.”
“You didn’t last time either,” Pepper inserted.
Beckett’s whole body was rigid and he put his finger under her chin and lifted it to meet his eyes. “What does she mean ‘last time’, Greer?”
She cast an evil eye toward Pepper who was now sitting up cross-legged on the floor, who shrugged.
“Nothin.” Talking about the bathroom incidents were killing her buzz. She closed her eyes and let herself drift off while surrounding herself with Beckett.
“She got cornered in the bathroom at school.”
Her eyes popped open at Lexi’s soft confession and she saw Beckett’s head swing toward a now sitting up Lexi, as he asked.
“You must be Lexi?”
Lexi nodded and turned regretful eyes in Greer’s direction. “I’m worried about you.”
Tears sprang to Greer’s eyes and she climbed off of Beckett’s lap to hug her friend.
With her arms wrapped around Lexi, she murmured, “You don’t need to be. I can take care of myself.”
“Who are you?” Jason’s confused question broke the somber moment.
Lexi and Greer split apart giggling. With one arm still around Lexi’s shoulder, Greer told Jason. “This is my bestest friend in the whole world, Lexi Phillips.”
“Nice to meet you
bestest friend in the whole world. I am Jason Rodriguez. Beckett’s bestest friend in the whole world.”
Greer glanced between Lexi and Jason. Lexi’s face was red while she picked at a mysterious something on her finger while Jason had a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Oh no, Jason.” Alarm bells were going off in Greer’s head. This could not happen.
“What?” He asked not taking his eyes off Lexi’s reddening face.
“You can’t have her.”
Jason’s narrowed eyes swung to her. “Why not? I want her.”
Jason had to understand she was serious about this, so she crawled over on her hands and knees, pulled herself up gripping his knees, and stuck her finger in his face. “She is not a toy, like the girls at Oak High. If you kiss her, like Beckett kissed Jenn, then I won’t have any friends.”
An eruption of voices surrounded and suddenly everyone was yelling at everyone. Greer tried to keep up with what was being said.
Jason and Mark looked at Beckett incredulously. Jason was the first one to talk, and he sounded disgruntled.
“Dude, you kissed one of her friends?”
Then Mark. “When was this?”
Then Jason again. “Where is this Jenn?”
Pepper was busy looking hurt and yelled, “Hey, what about me? I’m your friend!”
Lexi swore to Greer. “I would never kiss Beckett after the way he has treated you.”
Greer couldn’t keep up with all of the yelling going back and forth, so she crawled back over to Pepper and said, “Pepper can I have another drink?”
“No! You may not! You are going home with me!” Beckett’s voice yelled at her from somewhere behind her.
Greer stood up, turned around, swayed, and put her hands on her hips. “No. I’m not. My mom already knows I’m staying over Lexi’s.”
Beckett rolled his eyes. “Greer, you are at Pepper’s.”
Hmm, he had a point, but she didn’t want him to know that. “I know that, and you know that, but my mom doesn’t need to know.”
“Are Lexi’s parents expecting you at her house?” Jason interjected.
Lexi and Greer stared at each other. Jason sighed and offered Lexi both of his hands to bring her to a standing position. “Come on, let’s go sober you up and call your Mom.”
Lexi stared at Jason in horror. “What am I gonna tell her?”
Jason chuckled and guided her out of the room. “You’re going to tell her you decided to go to Greer’s after the game.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
Lexi’s awed voice drifted back to her as the got further away from the room. Mark talking to Pepper pulled her attention away from Lexi and Jason.
“Pepper, we are all staying here tonight, so let’s go round up some pillows and blankets. You can show me around the house and we can decide which room we are staying in.”
Pepper jumped up like an excited little girl getting ice cream. “Okay!” And out the door she went, ignoring Greer, who had turned to Beckett to declare, “You are not staying here tonight!”
Beckett pulled her to her feet and then guided her to a chair. “I am staying here tonight, Greer.”
With her arms crossed, Greer looked at Beckett sullenly. “Why?”
“You are drunk and we need to talk about what happened tonight.”
“Why? Why do you care I’m drunk and why are you pretending you care about what happened tonight?”
Beckett looked down at Greer’s mutinous expression and asked himself why he did care. All he knew was that he was determined to find out who had hurt her. Her tipsy state made her talk to him more than she ever had. He knew he was being an asshole, but he was going to use that to his advantage. He pulled a matching chair over and turned Greer’s so they were facing each other.
“Have you been drunk before?”
He didn’t think she would answer and then she looked down and mumbled. “No.”
“Then why tonight?” He asked quietly.
She raised her eyelids briefly before looking back down. “My face hurt and I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. Pepper said I needed a shot to come back to the land of the living.”
Beckett looked at Greer biting her lip and knew there was more to the story. “And then?”
Greer peeked back up at him and then mumbled to her lap. “The first shot of schnapps went down and started warming me up, so I had two more.” She looked up and she was back to being fierce. “We were having a grand time until you came and ruined it.” She looked up. “Why did you come?”
“Pepper was texting Mark and she told him you were hurt.”
She looked puzzled, so he admitted. “I was worried.”
“Why?”
“Look, Greer, I know I’ve been an asshole, but I don’t want you hurt. My dad would kick my ass if I didn’t protect you.”
Her face fell and the kick he felt in his gut had him backpedaling. “I like you, Greer. I was upset when I heard you were hurt.”
She looked at him with pink eyes and he knew she was fighting back tears, but you couldn’t hear it in her voice. “It’s okay Beckett you don’t have to pretend to like me. I haven’t told your Dad and I won’t.”
She got up and he knew she was going to leave, but he wasn’t going to let that happen. He picked her up, ignored her startled squeak, and settled her in the chair with him. He put his hands on her legs that were straddling his, so she had to stay put.
“No,” he said, lowering his voice, “If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t give a fuck what happened to you.”
She nodded her head, once. And that was it. He was frustrated beyond belief that she wouldn’t believe him. He took a deep breath and spoke the words that had been clawing at his guilty conscious.
“Greer, at first I was leery of you. Our parents haven’t known each other very long and all of a sudden you are moving into our house.”
Curiosity was looking back at him, so he forged ahead. “All my life, because I am David Dawson’s son, people have wanted something from me.”
“What would I want from you, Beckett?”
Money. The answer popped into his head, but he knew if he said it this conversation would be over. “I don’t know, Greer, but I was sure it was something.”
Greer studied him and slowly nodded. “Okay I understand, but I really just want for you not to be mean to me.”
He took a deep breath. “Okay.”
The wariness was back. “Just like that?”
He nodded, but added a disclaimer, just in case, “Unless you give me cause, then all bets are off.”
Pepper sailed into the room, and stopped so suddenly Mark ran into her. With wide eyes, Pepper straightened herself. “Sorry, we should go.”
Greer was back to being puzzled. “Why?”
Pepper gestured with her hands their way. “What does that mean?”
Mark, who was grinning, clarified, “Most friends don’t sit like that together. Want us to come back?”
Mark waggled his eyebrows and Greer jumped off Beckett like she was on fire. She ended up waving her arms like a bird, falling down and springing back up, and then snapping.
“We were just talking.”
“UmmHmmm.”
Mark was having a hard time keeping a straight face and Greer was having a hard time keeping her temper. The last thing she needed after reaching a truce with Beckett was more rumors.
“We were!” She looked behind her to see Beckett struggling to keep a straight face. “What are you laughing about? Tell him!”
Beckett looked around her and dutifully said. “We were just talking.”
Mark looked back and suggestively said, “What about?”
Greer threw her hands up and walked to the door. “Grow up! I’m going to find Lexi.”
“Approach cautiously, I don’t know if Jason will appreciate you finding her.”
Greer was in the hall and whirled back around only to close her eyes and put a hand to her to will the room t
o stop spinning.
“What? Really?” She was still leery of this development. She looked at Mark. “Wait. I like Jason, but”
“What do you mean you like Jason?”
Greer turned puzzled eyes to Beckett while Mark started laughing and might have mumbled under his breath, “Oh yeah you got it bad.”
“What? I like most of the football team.”
Beckett’s eyebrows formed a V and she couldn’t decide if he was mad or puzzled, so she rambled on. “Besides Pepper, they’re the only friends I have. I know you don’t like it, but I tried not talking with them, but they are persistent. I’m not really sure if they like me or are just being nice to me as a favor to you, but that doesn’t make sense since you’re usually not very nice. Maybe they feel sorry for me?”
“They don’t feel sorry for you,” snapped Beckett.
Mark laughed some more and agreed. “Trust me, Greer. We like you because of you. It is not because we feel sorry for you or as a favor to lug head over here.”
“Do you think Jason like-likes Lexi or is she just convenient because she is here?” Greer looked between the two guys who were having some silent man communication and their lips were twitching.
“I’m telling you now,” she wasn’t sure who to direct her threat to and choose to wag her finger between them both, “if he hurts her, I will…” Hmm, she couldn’t think of anything and Pepper finally piped in, “Cut off his balls?”
“Yes!” Then she blinked at Pepper sitting between Mark’s legs on the floor and looked at him with her pointy finger. “And be nice to Pepper. I would hate to stop talking to you after I cut off your balls!”
Mark’s eyebrows rose and he drawled. “Drunk Greer is scary.”
“That’s right, I am!”
Greer declared triumphantly and went in search of Lexi. She ignored the laughter following her down the hall.
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Chapter 17
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The next morning Greer reluctantly squinted her eyes open and looked around. She was the only one left in their ‘campfire’ circle. Last night, she found Lexi and Jason downstairs moving furniture out of the center of the room. Pepper had declared the room with the fireplace and TV above it as the perfect spot to sleep. Everyone made beds from the blankets and comforters Pepper and Mark had gathered around from around the house.
Battling Beckett Page 11
