Forever With You (Silver State Series)

by Renae Kelleigh

  I step one foot over his midsection, then lift my right foot to press it against his chest, keeping him pinned to the ground as I glower into his bloodshot eyes. “What the fuck, you fucking asshole,” I growl, grinding my heel harder into his sternum. He winces in discomfort but thankfully keeps the whimpering to a minimum. “Why would you choose Tawny Read? Of all the girls you could’ve picked to torture, you had to pick her?!”

  “Dude!” he yells, as loudly as he can given that I have my foot lodged against his diaphragm. “She’s my fucking girlfriend! This is what couples do – they have sex!”

  I hop up on my right foot, momentarily applying the full weight of my body to his chest. I almost think I can hear ribs cracking – Good. He definitely deserves it.

  “That’s what you call having sex?” I reply, more quietly this time. “Because where I come from, we call it rape – and unluckily for you, Tawny and I come from the same place.” I have to grit my teeth through that last part to keep from losing it and totally going apeshit on him.

  Something in his demeanor shifts – suddenly he’s holding up his hands, switching from offense to defense. “Dude, you totally misread the situation,” he tells me. “Trust me, she wanted it just as much as I did.”

  The harsh laugh that escapes me is incredulous. “She told you no. I fucking heard her say it, you jackass.”

  He starts to speak again, but I lift my foot before giving it one last twist, possibly cutting off the air supply at the base of his lungs and causing him to gasp and splutter instead. “You’d better hope you haven’t ruined her,” I say. “And so help me – if she’s in any way hurt, you will rue the day you were born. Don’t. Touch. Her.”

  With that I ease my foot off his chest. I can’t help it – I give him one last kick to the side before I start sprinting back to the hotel, leaving him lying there as he tries to catch his breath.

  Tawny – 10:30 PM

  I trip over my feet as I run up the bank of sand to the gate at the back entrance to the resort. I feel like I haven’t taken a breath in minutes or possibly hours. The tears that were stinging the backs of my eyes have evaporated, my disgust and self-loathing replaced by pure fight-or-flight.

  I don’t stop running until I’m all the way through the lobby and standing at the bank of elevators, my heart pounding as I wait an eternity for the doors to open. Once I’m shut safely inside the car, I stand with my index finger hovering over the rows of buttons. Crap – which room was it again? I gnaw at my lip as I try desperately to remember. 307? 309?

  I punch the button for the third floor and wait again as I begin my ascent. As the elevator glides upward, I concentrate on my flushed face in the reflective surface of the doors, making every effort to hold in the nausea swelling in my belly. A part of me still doesn’t believe Aiden would’ve actually done anything to hurt me – at least not intentionally – but the larger part isn’t even close to knowing how to cope with this yet. I would never have dreamed he would force himself on me.

  When the doors slide open on the third floor, I hang a left outside the elevator, following signs for rooms 301 to 322. My hands are balled in fists at my sides as I make my way down the thickly carpeted corridor, still not sure which room I’m headed toward. Rooms 307 and 309 are right next to each other, but when I get there I can see the door for 309 is propped open, and I can hear a man’s voice inside. Must be 307, then, I think.

  I turn to the appropriate door and uncurl the death grip I’ve held on the card key since Kyle tossed it to me; the hard edge of the plastic has pressed a crease into my palm. I slide the key into the slot on the door and silently praise God when the light blinks green. When I stumble into the room the first thing I notice is the huge king sized bed in the center of it – then my eyes land on the girl walking in from the back terrace, her breasts barely covered by the triangle top of her purple bikini. Her diamond belly button piercing almost seems to be winking at me, goading me.

  It’s Macary – Kyle’s girlfriend. Actually, judging from present circumstances, their relationship status is no longer in question. God, I’m an idiot – How could I have forgotten?

  She freezes when she sees me; all I can do is spin back around and let the door slam shut behind me as I run as fast as my legs will carry me back to the elevator. I jab at the down button, but when the doors don’t immediately open I turn to the stairwell instead.

  I pause for a moment at the top of the stairs, unsure whether to go up to my room or down to the lobby. Then I think of having to relive the events of the last half hour with Vivian, who’s one of Aiden’s best friends, and my decision is made for me – that’s just not something I can stomach at the moment.

  Everything becomes a little clearer as I round the last landing and skip down the steps to the first floor. I push through the door into the lobby and head straight for the women’s restroom, taking out my cell phone as I go. This is going to be one hell of an expensive phone call, but there doesn’t seem to be a good alternative. I hold down the speed dial for my sister as I barge into the marble floored lounge area inside the restroom; the phone rings three times before she sleepily answers.

  “I need you to get me a plane ticket. I’m coming home.”

  Kyle – 10:45 PM

  I halfway expect him to chase me back up to the hotel, maybe try to pick a fight, but he doesn’t. Maybe he came to his senses and realized he fucked up – here’s hoping, anyway. In any case, I’m far more concerned about catching up with Tawny.

  I pace around the miniscule cage that is the elevator until the doors open on the third floor and bolt towards my room. I fish around in my pocket before realizing I gave my key to Tawny, then raise my fist and rap softly on the door so as not to startle her. The horrific shock that rips through me when Macary opens the door in a bikini is beyond description; it’s followed almost instantly by dawning realization. Oh shit, what have I done?

  I barely have time to process the look she’s giving me as I shoulder past her, my eyes scanning for any sign of Tawny. “Wanna tell me what’s going on, Kyle?” Macary asks as she lets the door shut behind us.

  “Was there a girl here?” I ask, ignoring her question as I spin around to face her; I can hear the desperation dripping from my words.

  “Yeah, some girl who had your room key,” she says carefully. “She took one look at me, then took off running.”

  I suck in a deep breath, trying not to think about how very bad this is. “Listen, I gotta go,”

  I tell her hurriedly. “Can you sleep in Steph’s room tonight? I’ll explain later.”

  Macary scoffs as she plants one hand against her hip, looking like a petulant child. “Oh sure, that’s classy. Forgive me, though, if I don’t immediately clear out so you can get laid by some random girl.”

  I clench my jaw as I toil to steady my breathing. “You’re way out of line,” I tell her through gritted teeth. “That’s not what this is about. Just, please – Don’t fight me on this. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that I brush past her and head back down the hall to the elevator.

  Truthfully, I have no idea where to search for her. She might’ve gone back to her own room, but I don’t know her room number – so, I head to the only place I can think of to find out. The Latina woman at the reception desk stares at me coolly as I approach her; suddenly I remember I don’t have a shirt on, and I curse myself for not remembering to throw one on before coming down here.

  “Can you tell me which room Tawny Read is staying in?” I ask her, not bothering to beat around the bush.

  “I’m sorry sir, but I cannot disclose that information,” she says in a faint accent. I sigh – of course not. I wish I could call her, but my phone is powered off and tucked away in my suitcase back upstairs, and my cell service is shitty down here anyway.

  I spin around and plow both hands back through my hair, then continue clutching at my skull as I stare out across the lobby, as if holding my brain will help it think more clearly. Just as I’ve made up my
mind to go check outside, I pick up on a conversation between two girls coming out of the ladies’ room.

  “I hope she’s okay,” the blonde says. “Poor thing – she seems to be having a rough night.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be fine – probably just had too much to drink,” replies the brunette.

  “We know how that feels.” They both start giggling, but stop abruptly when they see me standing in front of them. From the way their facial expressions fall, I can only imagine what my own face must look like.

  “Are you talking about a girl in the bathroom?” I ask.

  “Yeah…” says the brunette.

  “Can you tell me what she looks like?”

  The blond tosses her ponytail and squares her shoulders, and I inwardly roll my eyes – if only she knew, now is not the time for her to get all self-righteous. “Who’s asking?” she says.

  I let go of the tension building in my chest as I exhale, trying to seem patient even if it’s squarely last on the list of emotions I’m currently experiencing. “Her friend,” I reply curtly. “She was hurt, and I need to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Who hurt her?” asks the brunette guardedly while the blond continues to pin me with that frosty glare.

  “Not me,” I answer in a rush. “Her boyfriend…well, ex-boyfriend now, I hope.”

  The blond seems to soften a bit; her shoulders relax as she takes a step back. “Does she have really long, reddish brown hair?” she asks.

  “Yes,” I reply.

  “Let’s see…” says the brunette, holding one manicured finger up to her lip. “I’m guessing that’s your shirt she’s wearing?” She looks pointedly at my conspicuous lack of a shirt, and I nod.

  “Yeah, that’s her.” I take a step forward, totally prepared to charge straight into the restroom, but the blond holds up her hand to stop me.

  “Hold on there, tiger. You’re not allowed in there, remember? Why don’t we go back in, make sure she’s okay, and you can stand out here and keep an eye out for whoever this other guy is?”

  I don’t like it, but I have to admit she’s making some sense. “Okay,” I tell her quietly. “Just – can you tell her I’m sorry if…she walked in on a surprise earlier? Tell her I’m so, so sorry, and it was just a misunderstanding.”

  The blond’s eyes narrow back into slits as she prepares to go back into attack mode. Shit. All I can do is hold my head high while meeting her gaze, imploring her to believe I’m the good guy – I don’t want to divulge any more details than I already have. That part will be up to Tawny.

  “Come on, Bridgette,” says the brunette, tugging on her friend’s arm. “Let’s just go talk to her.”

  “Her name is Tawny,” I call after them as they turn around. I hold my breath as I watch them return to the restroom, then let it out as I prepare to stand guard.

  Tawny – 11:00 PM

  In the past ten minutes I’ve managed to expel every last bite of dinner from my body. After vomiting, my stomach continued to fold in on itself, causing me to retch and heave for a few minutes more even though there was nothing left to come up. When I finally managed to lift myself off the floor, I flushed the toilet and came out to the sinks to clean myself up.

  I blink at myself in the mirror as I let cold water run over my hands and forearms. Amazingly, with the exception of the single tear I leaked earlier outside, I still haven’t cried. My cheeks are puffy and pink though, since my eyes watered pretty much nonstop while I threw up.

  I wet a paper towel and use it to wipe my mouth, then press it against my cheeks to take some of the redness away. I splash water on my face and in my mouth and use one of the complimentary bottles of mouthwash sitting on the counter to rinse out the back of my throat. Finally I turn around and lean back, my hands clutching at the counter behind me, while I wait for Rhiannon’s call. She’d said she would look for flights and call me back before she booked anything.

  I’m taken by surprise when the door opens and two girls around my own age walk in; I’m even more surprised when I realize they’re the same ones who were in here a few minutes ago. I’m pretty sure the blond was watching in the mirror when I ran into one of the stalls and collapsed on the floor in front of the toilet just in the nick of time.

  “Are you Tawny?” asks the brunette softly as she comes toward me.

  I frown. “Yes?”

  “I’m Claudia, and this is Bridgette,” she says, pointing at the blond.

  “There’s someone looking for you outside,” says Bridgette evenly as her gray eyes penetrate me.

  I suck in a breath. “Who?”

  “A good-looking guy with really dark hair and no shirt?” Ugh, that description could apply to either one of the horrible men in my life. Too bad I can’t ask them how good-looking on a scale of one to ten – it might help to have some idea.

  “He says that’s your shirt he’s wearing,” Claudia adds. Ah, so Kyle then. I look down at the orange Oakland A’s t-shirt I have on; it just barely covers my denim skirt, probably making it look as if I’m not wearing any bottoms.

  I drop my head and bury my face in my hands as I slowly shake my head in disbelief. I wish Rhiannon would call me back and offer me a way out of this hell.

  “He said to tell you he’s sorry if you were ‘surprised’ earlier,” says Bridgette, using air quotes. “He said it was just a misunderstanding.”

  Now what could he be referring to? Oh yes – probably the mostly naked girl staying in his hotel room. I let out a defeated sigh as I slump forward and wrap my arms around my ribcage in an effort to hold myself together. Good thing I already emptied the contents of my stomach; otherwise I’d likely be back at it.

  “Are you okay, sweetie?” asks Bridgette, stepping forward to soothingly touch the side of my arm. “Do you wanna tell us what happened?”

  “I’m fine,” I tell her, though nothing could be further from the truth. I just don’t feel like doing a retread with a couple of strangers – although the fact they don’t know me does have its appeal compared with having to face Kyle or any of Aiden’s friends. “I’ve just had an epically bad night.”

  Claudia looks about to say something, but suddenly we’re interrupted by a whoosh of air as someone else pushes the door open.

  “Tawny?” says a male’s voice. Kyle. My heart starts pounding again in double time. It’s funny, actually – even though what Aiden did was unforgivable on so many levels, it nearly pales in comparison to the hurt I felt when I realized Kyle set me up to walk in on his girlfriend, whether it was intentional or not.

  “She’s not ready to come out yet, and you’re not allowed in here!” snaps Bridgette, who’s still hovering over me with her hand on my arm.

  “I’m not coming in,” he calls back. “I just need to say I’m sorry. Do you hear me, Tawny? I’m so sorry. I totally forgot Macary would be there when I gave you my room key. There’s nothing going on between us, okay? I swear it – I’ve been sleeping on the couch.”

  I stand perfectly still as I allow his words to sink in. Nothing going on between us. I suck in another shaky breath as I look back over my shoulder at the door that’s standing slightly ajar; since it opens toward the lounge area rather than the bathroom, I can’t see his face from here. Do I dare feel hopeful?

  The two girls’ eyes are on me; I clear my throat and push off the counter, pulling myself up to my full height. Time to stop hiding in the bathroom. I walk past them as if I’m in a trance; when I pull the door the rest of the way open, Kyle almost falls into the room. Thankfully he catches himself on one foot and rights himself before he face plants.

  For a moment I’m mesmerized by the sight of him shirtless – I’d been so hell-bent on getting back to the hotel earlier I’d barely paid him any notice when he whipped off his shirt to give it to me. My God, he’s even more ridiculously attractive than he was the last time I saw him like this – certainly more muscled in his pecs, lats, delts and abs, not to mention his biceps and triceps. Plus, he’s now spor
ting an even darker tan, no doubt compliments of the hot Mexican sun.

  He’s staring straight into my eyes, his forehead creased with concern as he wordlessly entreats me to believe him – and as I study his light brown eyes, I realize I do.

  “That girl isn’t your girlfriend?” I ask.

  “No,” he says ardently. “She’s just a friend…she’s always been just a friend.” His shoulders fall as he exhales, assuming a broken stance similar to the one I affected earlier. “I just wanted you to have someplace safe to go, and I made everything even worse,” he says softly. He reaches his arms out, watching my face as he touches my shoulders, gauging my reaction. When I don’t flinch away, he slowly draws me into his chest and wraps his arms around me so tightly I fear I’ll be unable to breathe. I unwind in his arms and turn my head to lay the side of my face against his shoulder while squeezing him back.

  When my phone rings I think it scares both of us half to death. I step away and pull out my phone; it’s Rhiannon calling me back finally. When I answer she immediately starts talking, explaining how she ended up having to call the airline. I cut her off mid-sentence. “Hey, sis? I’m gonna have to call you back.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I’ll call you back. Thanks for doing all that…just don’t making anything final yet, okay? I promise I’ll call you in a just a few.”

  “Are you sure, Tawny?”

  “I’m sure. Talk soon.” I press the End button, feeling a pang of guilt as I lift Kyle’s shirt to slide my phone back in the pocket of my skirt.

  “Come upstairs with me,” Kyle whispers. As an afterthought he adds, “It’ll just be you and me.”

  I take a deep breath and nod. Suddenly remembering we have an audience, I look back at Bridgette and Claudia, who are regarding us curiously. “Thanks for checking on me,” I say. “It was nice meeting you.”