Pepper pulled her into a hug. “I don’t know what is going on with you, but please call me or Lexi if you need us.”
She squeezed Pepper back. “I will.” Greer got into the car without looking back. It took all of her efforts, and wiping her eyes several times, to maintain her focus on the road and not break down. By the time she got home her back and neck hurt from holding herself so stiffly.
With each step toward her room, her enforced numbness slowly wore off. By the time Greer made it upstairs and had her door shut, tears were rolling down her face, and she sunk to the floor.
Stabbing reprimands pounded in her head and chest. Not only had she allowed Beckett whatever liberties he wanted she was the one who had started them. She’d had frequent daydreams about the man who would be allowed to touch any part of her and never had it starred a pretend boyfriend, outside, in the middle of a party.
How was she ever going to face Beckett again? She was humiliated and the worst part was she had a feeling it would happen again if they were alone. He sparked something in her that no one else had. Every time they were in the same vicinity there was this raised awareness and her body stood at attention.
She had to get through prom and then this pretend boyfriend thing had to end. Not only was her body still craving him, she was actually starting to like him. Her heart thudded remembering how he had stood in front of her, shielding her from Lowell. She wished she could call him hers, but with a crumbling heart, she knew that was the last thing he wanted. In the middle of her pity party, Greer’s ears sharpened and her heart started racing and it felt like it was going to explode out of her chest. Beckett’s heavy, steady footsteps were coming up the stairs.
Greer closed her eyes and concentrated on inhaling and exhaling as she raised her arm to turn the lock on her door as silently as possible. Beckett had to pass her room to get to his and she held her breath, as he approached. To her dismay, his footsteps slowed and then stopped at her door. When the knock came it reverberated down her back and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to hold back the gasp that wanted to escape.
“Greer. Open the door. We need to talk.”
It wasn’t a polite request. Greer wrapped her arms around her legs, to stop her shaking, and buried her face on top of her knees to take panting breaths, praying he wouldn’t hear her.
Another knock, one she felt on her back. “Greer.”
She could feel the pulse in her head pounding as she silently prayed for him to go away.
“I know you are there, Greer. Pepper’s car is in the driveway.”
After a tension-filled silence, he snapped out. “I’ll let you hide, for now. We will be talking tomorrow.”
Her whole body sagged and she slowly lowered herself to the floor. When she heard his door open, she sucked in some much-needed air, and whispered, “Not if I can help it.”
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Chapter 24
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Beckett wanted more of what happened by the fire. Next time he would make sure there would be no interruptions. He cursed himself up and down the entire night after seeing Greer’s stricken expression when she realized the drunk rumbling of the guys was heading straight toward them.
He didn’t mind hooking up in public, it brought an excitement that had been lacking from sex in the last year. Greer was different. He wasn’t sure if he could explain it. But he actually liked that she didn’t throw herself at him and hadn’t fucked the rest of the football team. Although he had noticed the football team wanted to fuck her, which irritated the shit out of him.
He had started down this path to get Greer to show her true colors, and it had. Her colors weren’t that of a gold-digging whore. Her mortified, ashamed expression when she had realized someone would see them solidified it for him.
She had practically been in tears when she had told the guys in her high, fake, cheery voice she was going to find Lexi and Pepper. The panic that ensued when he told her would go with her had been obvious. He had decided to give her a few minutes to calm down and not raise Lowell’s suspicions. If Lowell hadn’t been drunk Greer’s distress would have been more than obvious.
Reluctantly he let her go, so he could distract Lowell and his two buddies and because she couldn’t go anywhere. When he had finally tracked down Pepper after his texts to Greer went unanswered, he was pissed.
“What do you mean you let her take your car home?”
It was obvious Pepper was sober from the way she studied him and started to reach some conclusions. “Are you the reason she was so upset?”
“No!” He lied. He hadn’t meant to upset her, things had gotten out of control. And he could honestly say he had never been totally out of control when he was with a girl. “How was she upset?”
He met her curiosity head on and waited. “Her eyes were all red and I know it wasn’t because she was drinking. I didn’t smell anything on her. She was upset, even if she was trying to hide it.”
“Then why the fuck did you let her drive?” He was pissed and not hiding it.
Mark was suddenly between him and Pepper.
“Don’t. Don’t talk to Pepper like that.”
“Shit.” He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just need to talk to her.”
Mark relaxed and pointed out the obvious. “Then go home and talk to her.”
Beckett walked away and broke all the speed limits getting home and was relieved when he saw Pepper’s car in the driveway. When he walked in the door his tension returned at the eerie silence and dark house. He knew getting Greer to talk to him wasn’t going to be easy.
He left the lights off and climbed the stairs. There wasn’t a light on under her door, but his gut told him she was awake. He pounded the door and demanded they talk. When nothing happened, he pounded louder. Loud enough to wake her up, and he still didn’t hear a peep. He contemplated picking the lock, but she wouldn’t be able to avoid him forever. Reluctantly he went further down the hall to his room.
His sleep was broken since he was on high alert. As soon as he heard Greer, he was going to pounce. She wasn’t going to get away from him that easily again. To his dismay, when he blinked his eyes open and looked over at the clock, it was 11:00 am.
“Fuck!” So much for being on high alert.
He threw a t-shirt over his head, pulled on surfboard shorts, and headed down the hall to Greer’s room. The door was closed and unusually quiet for 11:00, but he knocked anyway. Hopefully, she would assume it was her mom and answer.
When no betraying footsteps padded around, he went down to the kitchen in search of her. He was surprised to see Vivian and his dad in the kitchen.
Vivian looked over her shoulder from assembling sandwiches and smiled at him. “Morning Beckett.”
His dad looked up from the I-Pad and said. “Good timing. I was just coming up to have you join us for an early lunch.”
When Vivian brought over three plates, he realized Greer was not here. As casually as he could muster, he asked. “Where’s Greer?”
Vivian happily answered his question as she gestured for him to sit, placed a plate in front of him, and then when to get him a glass. “She is with Lexi and Pepper getting ready for the dance.”
“Already?” He knew a lot of girls went to the salon, but it was barely lunchtime.
David chuckled shaking his head, and he had never seen Vivian so lit up, excited. “They are making a day of it. First lunch, and then they are going to the spa.” She slid into her seat and looked at him so earnestly he started shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
“Thank you for inviting her, Beckett. It’s her first dance and every girl should have at least one formal dance to fully experience high school.”
Shit. Greer’s miserable face from last night flashed before his eyes as Vivian was looking at him like he was some sort of hero. He didn’t think he’d ever been at a
loss for words, but at this moment he was. He knew he didn’t deserve Vivian’s words and now he needed to talk with Greer more than before.
“It’s her first dance?” How was that possible? The guys at Public must be blind idiots.
“Yes, and I’m so excited for her to come home and see her dress.”
Vivian clapped her hands together and was almost bouncing in her chair. He looked quizzically at his dad, hoping he would fill in the blanks.
“When Greer and her friends went shopping, she fell in love with a dress. Lexi sent Vivian a picture.”
Nothing shocking there. He waited.
“When Greer got home it was a completely different dress. When Vivian asked what happened to the other one Greer told her she decided on the black instead. Vivian texted Lexi and got the real story. Greer said she couldn’t afford it.”
Something in his gut twisted. “How much was it?”
David narrowed his eyes and said. “Five hundred dollars.”
He opened his mouth to say, ‘That’s it?’, but stopped himself in time with his dad’s sharp look.
“I told Vivian to go get the dress Greer wanted and I would pay for it.” David finished decisively.
Vivian started quietly talking to him. “I know it’s not your dad’s responsibility to pay for Greer,”
“Vivian,” David interrupted with a sternness Beckett had never heard him use with her. “You don’t owe Beckett any explanations.”
In an equally determined tone, Vivian turned hard eyes to his dad and said. “Yes, I do. Now be quiet and let me finish.”
To his utter amazement, David did, and Vivian turned her determination to him, but with softer eyes. “Greer never asks for anything and I’ve always felt bad that I can’t give her more.” She looked at him so earnestly that there was no way it could be faked. “She deserves this Beckett, but I promise you I won’t make a habit of using David’s money for Greer.”
Beckett was stunned. Apparently, he hadn’t covered up his apprehensions as well as he thought, and now he felt like shit. Luckily his dad was talking to Vivian. He had no idea what to say.
“I’ve already told you, Vivian, I spent that same amount of money on Beckett for a tuxedo. It was only fair I spent that on Greer.”
“And I told you, David, you don’t need to feel that way. David is your son. You can spend whatever you need to on him.”
“And Greer will be my step-daughter, so I can spend whatever I want on her.”
Vivian’s jaw took on the same determination as Greer’s and Beckett quickly butted into the burgeoning argument. “It’s fine, Vivian. I’m not upset.”
And surprisingly he wasn’t. A few weeks ago, he probably would have been, but Greer and her mom were slowly getting him to truly understand how good he had it. Five hundred dollars was nothing to him, and he knew it was even less to his dad.
He needed to talk with Greer. If Vivian knew what had happened last night, he didn’t think he could take her looking at him in disappointment and his dad would kill him.
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Chapter 25
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It was a lot of work getting ready for a dance and Greer was ready for a break. Pepper had picked her up at 10:30 and as they drove out of the driveway, she let out a huge breath of relief. She had miraculously avoided Beckett. The next time she saw him they would be surrounded by their friends.
Throughout lunch, she had gradually let up on her self-recrimination. With Lexi and Pepper’s enthusiasm for the day it had been impossible to stay in a funk. As soon as they arrived at the spa her worries disappeared. As Pepper checked them in, Greer and Lexi looked at each with their mouths open.
They had lived in New Hampshire their whole life, but had never been to a spa and this place was off the charts gorgeous. It was obvious, from the décor to the impeccable service, this was for the wealthy.
Greer knew they were going to a spa and had been prepared to dip into her savings, but she wasn’t sure her entire savings would cover this. She took the steps over to Lexi to whisper that exact worry.
“How are we going to pay for this, Lexi?”
Lexi laid her hand on Greer’s arm. “What’s going on, Greer? Pepper told us on the way over it was her treat—well, her father’s treat.”
How had she missed Pepper telling them that? Greer tooth a deep breath and without the worry of how she was going to pay took in her surroundings. The 360-degree rolling green views, piped in music, and all-around tranquility of the spa sunk in her tense muscles and Greer decided she needed to be in the moment with her friends.
Greer felt her phone buzz and she looked down to see several texts from Beckett and the tension returned with a vengeance. She couldn’t avoid Beckett and enjoy her day.
She looked up at a still frowning Lexi. “I’ll fill you in later, but I’m fine. Go figure out what Pepper is getting us into.” She smiled at Lexi, held up her phone. “I’ll be right back.”
Lexi peered at her and even though her eyes were filled with curiosity, but she simply said, “Okay.”
Greer walked out of the stacked sliding glass doors, sunk down in one of the wicker chairs with plush cushion seats and texted Beckett. She knew it was the easy way out, but it still took all of her courage to do it.
‘Can we forget last night happened?’
She gripped her phone like the non-existent wind would blow it away any second. She waited on pins and needles, but no telling dots scrolled at the bottom of her open text to Beckett. The ping of disappointment hurt, but having him ignore her was what she deserved. He had sent her five texts asking why she ran away, if she was okay, demanding she talk to him, and lastly pointing out that she couldn’t hide forever.
The buzzing in her hand made her jump and for a split second, her finger hovered over the ignore button. Instead, she took a shaky breath and slid her finger across the screen.
“Hello.” Well, that sounded only a little timid.
“Greer, what the hell is going on?”
“What do you mean?”
She could hear the long-suffering sigh over the phone. “I don’t know, Greer. We were having a good time at the party last night and then you ran away. You wouldn’t talk to me last night and you’ve been ignoring my texts and calls.”
With glossy eyes, she let his obvious frustration kick in and realized he didn’t think what they did last night was a big deal.
“Greer.” The demand was quiet but forceful.
Greer closed her eyes, and just blurted it out. “I’m sorry I ran away. I know you are used to doing that, but I’m not. We were out in public where anyone could see and we barely like each other and when the guys came I felt like if they saw me they would know exactly what we did and I didn’t want to be one of those girls who’ll just do that with anyone. Because I’m not!”
Greer held her breath during the crickety silence that followed her outburst. She couldn’t take it anymore and held the phone away from her ear and saw the display indicating how long the call has been still ticking away. She brought the phone back to her ear, and tentatively said, “Beckett?”
“Yeah, I’m here. First of all, I like you.”
“No, you don’t.” As much as it hurt to say, she wasn’t going to let him get away with lying.
“Yes, Greer. I do.”
It was a flat declaration. She opened her mouth to argue, but Beckett was talking again.
“Look, Greer, I was leery of you at first, but I thought we had gotten past that. I agree we got carried away by the fire, but it’s not like you can avoid me forever. We live in the same house.”
The confession seemed dragged out of him and she was dying to ask more questions. The first question was, why are you leery of me? It was burning a hole on her tongue to spit it out, but she wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer.
“I’ll stop avoiding you.” She could see Lexi and Pepper sitting a
t the juice bar in the lobby. There were three workers in white smocks patiently waiting a few feet away from them. “I need to go. Lexi and Pepper are waiting for me.”
“We’re good? No more avoiding me?”
“We’re good.” But she would also do her best not to be alone with him. It was enough that he wasn’t leery of her anymore, even if she didn’t know what that meant. She couldn’t seem to get her body under control when he was around. She wasn’t setting herself up for more embarrassment.
The rest of the day was worry free and Greer understood why women went on a regular basis. She felt relaxed yet rejuvenated. Best of all she felt like a shiny new penny. They’d visited the steam room, had massages, facials, pedicures, her hair had been styled, and her makeup done. All she had to do was slip into her dress when they got home and meet Beckett downstairs.
When Pepper pulled up on the cured driveway, Greer reached over from her spot in the back seat and hugged Pepper who was in the driver’s seat. “Thank you, Pepper. That was amazing.”
“Thank you, Greer.” Pepper met her eyes in the rear-view mirror and said solemnly. “You and Lexi have shown me what a real friendship looks like. Everything before you came was superficial, and I felt like I was in a constant competition.”
Lexi broke up the heavy sentimentality. “Selfie! We have to remember the moment!”
They all grouped together, took the picture, and Lexi promptly used a filter to make them all look like various animals. After bursting out laughing they had a quick group hug and then Greer was pushing out the door. “See you all in a little bit.”
Greer moved from the entry-way up the stairs, chuckling when the selfie came through. A feeling of contentment, one she hadn’t felt in a while washed through her. They all looked happy and carefree in the picture. Pepper had hammed it up for the picture and Lexi let out a laugh. Pepper was ridiculous, she loved her. She was the extravert that Lexi and her needed.
Battling Beckett Page 18
