by L A Cotton
“Yeah, ignore me, I’m just being silly. How are you and my annoying cousin? I got the sense something was off last night?”
“You could say that again. We spent the day at the pool with my parents.” My lips pressed into a tight line and Lo offered me a weak smile.
“Say no more. Your dad still pushing you to ‘make the right choice’?”
“Yeah, and USC will never be it for him.”
“But what do you want, Laurie? This is your future, not his.”
“I...” The words lodged in my throat. I wanted to go to college with Kyle. To be at his side. To be his everything. And there had been a time when I felt that I was. But he was hiding something. I’d suspected as much for a while now.
Water sprayed around us and Lo and I shrieked as the guys, wet from the waves, howled with laughter.
“Jesus, Kyle, you got us all wet.”
“That’s kind of the point, babe,” he said around a breathtaking smile and heat pooled low in my stomach. God, how I missed that, feeling close to him. “Come for a swim?”
“Lo?” I turned to my friend, but she was preoccupied with Maverick. “We’ll be in the water.”
Kyle pulled me up and wrapped me into his arms, peppering my salty skin with warm wet kisses. “You know I love you, right?” His declaration seeped into my bones, washing away some of the lingering doubts.
“I know. Now last one in buys ice cream.” Ripping out of his hold, I took off in a spray of sand and air. It didn’t take him long to catch up. His arms went around my waist and we stumbled into the ocean in a tangle of limbs.
“Kyle!” I scolded, running two hands over my hair to drain off the excess water but when my eyes landed on his, my legs clenched together. “What?”
Eyes fixed right on me, Kyle stalked toward me through the water. When he reached me, he dipped down, snagging my hand and pulling me with him. My legs went around his waist as his arms steadied me and he moved us deeper until the water reached my shoulders.
“Kyle, you’re freaking me out right now.” I quickly scanned the area around us. People were minding their own business. Groups of kids enjoying their summer break. The odd family chasing their toddlers in and out of the gentle waves.
“I just need a minute.” He rolled his hips into me and I understood his words the second something hard connected with my stomach.
“Seriously.” I slapped his chest. “Here? In the middle of a crowded beach.”
“It’s not like I can help it. Have you seen you?”
Rolling my eyes, I fought to hide the smile tugging at my lips. “You’re a pig.”
“But I’m your pig.” He gave me no warning, slamming his mouth to mine. I gasped at first, overwhelmed by the intensity of his kiss, but as soon as his tongue traced the seam of my lips, my body relaxed. The familiarity of his touch soothed some part of me. Kyle’s fingers pressed into the flesh around my hips, searching, seeking, as our tongues swirled together.
“Kyle, I...”
“What?” He broke off the kiss, touching his head to mine. “What do you need?”
Our eyes locked, and I saw the secrets glittering in his eyes, a reminder of his betrayal. I didn’t doubt he loved me, I didn’t doubt his loyalty to me, but Kyle was keeping something from me. So why didn’t I push it? Why didn’t I demand answers? The truth?
“I love you,” I rushed out, sealing my declaration with a kiss to his lips. Hungry and desperate, he kissed me back, his tongue licking and stroking every inch of my mouth.
“Wahey, get some, Stone.” A chorus of cheers broke out around us and I buried my face in his shoulder.
“At least one of us is, Berrick,” Kyle yelled back to his friends. Maverick’s basketball friends, to be precise. But Kyle fit in just as easily. Even though he was a year their junior, even though he was a Stone, not a Prince, they still loved him.
Everyone loved him.
That was half the problem. When we went off to college and he joined the Trojan’s football team, and the USC masses joined the Kyle Stone fan club, where did that leave little old me? At least people knew me here. I’d grown up with them. I wasn’t only Kyle Stone’s girlfriend, but if I followed him to USC, it was a label I wouldn’t be able to shake.
“I’m going to go say hi to the guys,” Kyle’s voice ripped me from my thoughts. “Want to come?”
“No.” I forced a smile untangling myself from his body. “You go.” I started to swim back to shore, but his voice stopped me mid-stroke. “Laurie?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s you and me. You know that, right?”
Trey Berrick launched himself at Kyle and the two of them disappeared underneath the crystal blue water. With a resigned sigh, I walked the rest of the way back to the beach. Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t get time to reply because what would I have said? That I didn’t know? That I knew there was something coming between us? That as long as he had football there would always be something coming between us?
I didn’t want to be that girl: insecure and jealous of her boyfriend’s future. But it was hard to love the very thing that would one day take the person you loved more than anything, away from you.
I WASHED MY HANDS AND checked my reflection. My skin had that sun kissed glow, but I’d overdone it this morning, and it felt tight. It’s why I’d wanted to come inside and get out of the heat. That, and Kyle wanted to eat. Again.
As I yanked open the bathroom door, I ran straight into the girl wanting to come inside.
“Sorry,” I said taking her in, but she didn’t reply, giving me a wide berth.
Odd.
And what was with her outfit? All that denim and those boots. Summers in Cali required tiny shorts and bikini tops. She must have been sweltering.
“There you are,” Lo looked up as I approached our little group. “I got you a milkshake.” She handed me the glass and I thanked her, letting Kyle pull me into his side.
“So, Laurie, what are you going to do when this one is at football camp?” Maverick’s voice held no snark, but his words still cut deep. As if I needed anything else to worry about; in two weeks, Kyle would be leaving for football camp.
“Well,” I said around my straw. “I’m hoping I can steal away Lo for a day or two.”
“One, max.” He shot me a grin and Lo elbowed him in the ribs.
“I’m yours for as many days as you need me. You,”—she jabbed her fork at him—“get me every night.”
“I still can’t believe Uncle Rob lets you stop at the pool house,” Kyle said, and Lo shrugged, taking a bite of her salad.
“What can I say,” Rick spoke up. “I’m a very persuasive guy. Besides, he has his hands full with Stella and Bethany.”
My best friend stiffened at the mention of her dad’s girlfriend and her six-year-old daughter, and Kyle grunted something over his mouthful of fries.
“Seriously, Stone. Say it, don’t spray it.”
“It’s probably a good thing you’re not at the house more. Uncle Rob doesn’t need to see the two of you going at it like bunnies.”
“Kyle!” Lo and me said in unison and he gave us a look that said ‘what?’
“What crawled up your ass and died?” Maverick levelled his stepbrother with a glare and the air around us crackled with tension.
“Guys,” Lo interjected. “Play nice. Laurie, of course we can hang out when Kyle’s away. Kyle, me and Maverick are not lovesick puppies who can’t resist each other, despite what you might think; and Maverick, I’ll have to go home eventually. Good.” Lo scanned the three of us. “Now can we finish eating?”
Awkward silence descended over the table, the way it seemed to every time we hung out lately. Graduation was only a week ago, but it already felt like a distant memory. Not that I’d attended. Mom and Dad were in town and wanted to have dinner, so I’d been unable to celebrate Maverick’s day with the rest of his family.
Kyle kept one eye on me and one on his cousin as she ate her salad. Maverick
glared at Kyle while Lo burned holes in the side of his face, and I played dumb, staring into my milkshake. Milkshake was safe. It didn’t ask questions, make snarky comments, or push your buttons. I liked milkshake; the rest, not so much.
After finishing a strained meal, we filed out of The Shack.
“Laurie, Lo?” A familiar voice said, and our friend Autumn approached us. “Hey.”
“Hey, Autumn.” My eyes did a quick sweep of the parking lots. “Who are you... Oh.” Liam, her boyfriend, appeared at her side with his friend, Devon Lions, in tow.
“Hey, guys,” he lifted his hand in a small wave and Kyle and Maverick uttered forced greetings.
Awkward.
Devon kept his eyes on his sneakers, but it didn’t stop Maverick glowering at him. What did he really expect after he set Lo up, playing her right into Caitlin’s hands? Lo and Devon had kind of cleared the air, but Maverick Prince didn’t forget.
And he definitely didn’t forgive in a hurry.
“Guys, wait up.” Another voice called out and my stomach sank. Just what we needed—another kind-of-ex thrown into the mix. “What’s going...” Jared Teller gulped, his eyes shifting between me and Kyle and back again.
“Hey, Jared,” Lo spoke, and I flashed her a glare. She shrank back into Maverick’s side.
“We should probably head inside.” Autumn offered me a weak smile. “I’ll call you though, Laurie?”
“Yeah, of course. Bye, guys.” I hurried toward Kyle’s Jeep ignoring everyone else but Lo caught up with me, slipping her arm through mine.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. I panicked and didn’t want it to be weird, but it was weird, wasn’t it? I screwed up.”
“It’s fine,” I hissed, making sure the guys hadn’t reached us yet.
“But—”
“No buts, nothing happened between me and Jared, Lo. It was a couple of texts and then I set him straight. I’m with Kyle, I love Kyle.”
Her brows pinched together as she studied my face, searching for answers I didn’t have right now. Because things were weird; everything was weird and wrong, and I hated it.
But I didn’t know how to fix it.
“Are you proud of me?” Maverick joined us.
“Proud?” Lo said.
“That I didn’t beat the shit out of Lions.”
“Maverick,” she groaned, climbing into the Jeep the second Kyle bleeped it open.
“I’m joking, it’s a joke. Fuck, why is everyone so tense tonight? You know I gave him a free pass.”
“Seriously, Maverick...” The two of them launched into an argument over Devon Lions while I took shotgun next to Kyle. He was quiet—too quiet—and part of me wondered if he’d picked up on the weird vibes coming from Jared. But then, why would he? Because I was his. I belonged to him. That was how things worked with the Stone-Princes. Kyle would never consider being with him wasn’t enough. It’s why we’d split up once before, when we were in tenth grade. When I finally relented and gave him another chance, it was because I loved him. He was my first love, my first everything. And he was a good person, he really was. But people changed, I realized that now. They outgrew their small towns and friends and the people they’d once turned to. And although I didn’t want to believe it was true, that Kyle would never tire of me and our relationship, who was I kidding?
He had the world at his feet.
And I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with my life.
Chapter 3
KYLE
“Good morning, Momma P.” I brushed past my stepmom, Rebecca, and headed straight for the pile of bacon.
“Kyle, it is no ready,” Loretta, our housemaid, sang as she batted me away with the towel in her hands.
“Come on, I’m starving.” I flashed her a wide grin and her scowl melted away as she rolled her eyes.
“That smile, it will break hearts, no?”
“He breaks mine daily,” Rebecca added, draining her coffee and placing the mug in the sink. “Kyle, I don’t know how many times I’ve already asked, but please do not call me—”
“Momma P,” I said stuffing bacon into my mouth.
Cussing under her breath she levelled me with her best mom-look. “I have an event at The Coastal tonight and your father is working late. Try not to get into any trouble.”
I shrugged in a ‘who me?’ way and she cussed again. “When your sisters decide to get out of bed, tell them I’ll see them tomorrow. And behave, all of you.”
Offering her a two-fingered salute, I went back to my plate of bacon, loading extra pieces on. Loretta moved quietly around the vast kitchen, dusting and wiping while humming a tune. For an exuberant over-the-top Mexican woman, she sure knew how to dial it down.
“Good morning.” Summer breezed into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Do I smell bacon?”
“I tried to stop him, Miss Summer,” Loretta mumbled, disappearing into the hallway.
“Seriously, Kyle,” Summer said taking a seat opposite me. “Where do you put it all?”
“What? I’m hungry.”
“You just ate a whole pig.”
“And I loved every bit of it.” I smirked, and she poked her tongue out at me. “So, Sis, what are your plans for this beautiful day?”
“Nick’s coming over.”
“Oh, is he indeed? Well I had strict orders from Momma P that we’re all to behave. So downstairs, where I can keep an eye on the two of you, got it?”
“Kyle!”
“Summer...” My brows quirked up.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Does this face look like it’s kidding?” I pointed at myself.
“You’re not my babysitter.”
“Oh, but I am. I’m the eldest, ergo you baby,”—I jabbed my finger at her and then at myself—“me sitter.”
“If you want to play who’s eldest, I think you’ll find it's Maverick, then me, then you, Kyle.” Macey, my stepsister, came into the kitchen looking like something off The Walking Dead. “So technically, you’re the little brother.”
“Mace, that you under all those eye bags? Geez.” I fake shuddered, biting back a smile. Summer shot me a silencing look, but it only spurred me on. Any chance to yank Macey’s chain, and I was all over that like white on rice.
“Kyle, I don’t have the energy for your bullshit this morning.”
“Late night, dearest sister? Come to think of it, I can’t remember hearing you come in?” I pushed off my stool and approached her. “You stayed out.”
“Fuck off.” Her walls slammed up, but Macey Prince didn’t scare me.
“So, who’s the lucky guy?”
Macey’s eyes flashed at me and then she slunk away toward the coffeemaker. “I’m right, aren’t I?” I pushed. “There is a guy. Wait until I tell Ric—”
“Kyle,” Summer warned.
“Fine.” I threw up my hands and started my retreat. “I’ll back off, for now. I’m out anyway. Summer, no funny business with Nick under my roof. Mace, I think you need coffee, a shower, and a shit ton of Advil. Have a great day, sisters of mine.”
“I hate him.” Macey ground out, but I was already going out the back door. When I reached the pool house I contemplated walking straight in, but decided against it, rapping my knuckle against the glass instead. Maverick appeared, sporting bed hair and no shirt. Thank God for knocking.
“What?” he growled.
“Do you have to walk around like that? I’ll get an inferiority complex.” I barged past him and made a beeline for the couch, flopping down between the cushions.
“Come in,” Rick said. “Make yourself at home. It’s not like you don't live here or anything, oh wait, you don’t.”
“But I could.” I stretched out, gracing him with a lazy smile. “Yeah, I think when you move to SU, I could definitely see myself out here.”
“Not. Happening. I’ll be home on a weekend. Besides, I want Lo to have this place in case—”
“In case what?” Lo appeared—f
ully dressed, thank fuck. Maverick looped his arm around her and pulled her close. “In case you want to feel close to me.”
I stared at him, aware that I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets, but that was their deal, not mine. No doubt when the truth came out, and the shit hit the fan, I’d be the one to pick up the pieces, but until then, I had my own troubles to deal with.
“You’ve changed, Prince.” I skated over his blatant lie and dropped my gaze to his junk with a smirk.
“Fuck off,” he barked. “Did you come over here to annoy us, or did you actually need something?”
“I’m going to make coffee. You want?” Lo asked Maverick and then looked to me.
“No, but I’d take a juice.”
“See those things attached to your torso?” She stared at me, disbelief glittering in her eyes. “They’re called legs, Kyle. Use them.”
“Someone’s in a good mood this morning, Cous.”
Maverick left Lo to it and came over to the couch, dropping in the chair opposite. “Really, why are you here?”
“I can’t come hang out now? You wound me, Prince. Wound. Me.”
“Kyle, come on. This is me.” I froze up at his choice of words. Kyle. He’d called me Kyle, he never called me Kyle. It was always Stone, or asshat, or occasionally motherfucker. But never Kyle.
“We’re on a first name basis now?”
“Kyle, man, seriously, what’s gotten into you?”
Damn him. He always knew. But maybe that’s why I was here, outstaying my welcome, pushing myself where they didn’t want me to be. Because I wanted someone to drag the truth from me.
“I’m just feeling the pressure.” Liar.
“With USC? But I thought Coach Munford said it was a dead cert? Their coaches have been watching you, you’ve got the grades, it’s in the bag.”
My eyes traced the blemishes in the ceiling when my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. Sliding it out, I held it over my face.
“Laurie?” Maverick asked, and I said, “Yeah.”
But it wasn’t.
It wasn’t Laurie at all.
And that was the problem.
