True Colors (book #1, The Masks Series)

by Melissa Pearl

  He grinned. “I promised him I would, okay. Give me a break.” His forehead wrinkled. “What happened to your face?”

  “Um...” Brushing the back of my hand over it, I went for casual. “Got hit with a ball at school. Didn’t even see it coming.”

  “Huh.” Seth nodded. “Sounds like you.”

  “Thanks.” I scowled. “Look, I’m fine. The house is fine. Nothing’s on fire. Would you just go please?”

  His eyes narrowed. I noticed how his wrinkles were starting to show. I guessed he was turning 40 next year.

  I lifted my chin to counter his suspicious glare.

  “What’s the rush? Why do you want to get me out of here so badly?” He looked over my shoulder, down the hallway. I followed his gaze, feigning confusion. “Whose Jeep’s in the driveway?”

  Shit!

  I cleared my throat. “It’s Eric’s, our next door neighbor’s. His mom had a party last night and there wasn’t room for his car, so he asked if he could park here.” I shrugged. “I didn’t see any harm in it, so I said yes.”

  Seth looked unconvinced.

  “He didn’t want to leave it on the road. Big deal.” I flicked my hand.

  Seth’s eyebrow arched, just the way Dad’s did when he didn’t believe me.

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, as if he’d be here. The guy’s like a God, he barely knows I exist.” My insides thrummed as I mentally begged big brother to believe me. I hoped Mom hadn’t blabbed about Eric taking me hiking.

  Crossing my arms, I decided to change tactics and gave my brother a pointed look. “Seth, I’ve got my period, okay?” Surely that would freak him out. He used to hate it when Layla and Holly were so open about that kind of thing. “I’m tired, I’m cranky and I just want to be home alone. Let me enjoy this. Please.”

  As I expected, he took an instant step away from me. His hands went into his pockets as he reluctantly sighed. “Alright.”

  “I’ll tell Dad you came to check up on me.” Although he didn’t want me to see it, the thought made Seth happy. It didn’t matter how old he was, Seth liked being Mom and Dad’s golden boy.

  He walked back to the door and eased it open, turning to look at me. “Call me if you need anything.”

  I grinned. “I’m cool, Seth. You go worry about your own girls.”

  He left with a snicker.

  As soon as the door clicked shut, I tipped my head back with a sigh.

  “Who was that?” Eric’s voice made me jump. I spun to face him and noticed his shirtless form coming down the hall. Seriously! Was he trying to torture me?

  His jeans sat low on his hips, letting me see the full glory of his carved torso. I wanted to study every contour of his bare skin, but I pulled my eyes away. “It was just my brother checking up on me.”

  Eric grimaced. “Does he mind that I’m here?”

  “He doesn’t know that you’re here.” I scratched the back of my neck, suddenly feeling awkward. “I told him you parked in our driveway last night because your mom was having a party and there was no space left in yours.”

  He looked impressed by my quick thinking, but also really uncomfortable that I’d lied. “Look I can leave. I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.”

  Looking to the floor, I tried not to let his words sting. I knew he was looking out for me, but I really didn’t want him to go...unless he didn’t want to stay. I shrugged, going for nonchalance. “You can leave if you want, but I’d prefer you to stay.”

  His eyes lit with a grin as he stepped towards me. “Then I’ll stay.” He kissed my forehead and it took every ounce of willpower not to run my finger down that dip from his chest to his navel.

  I curled my fingers into a fist, commanding them to behave.

  “Want some breakfast?” I needed something to distract me.

  “Sure.” Eric nodded and followed me into the kitchen. We worked in silence, me getting out milk and yoghurt while he chopped up the fresh fruit. I pulled out Mom’s homemade granola and a couple of bowls and we were soon sitting at the kitchen table quietly munching our food. Thankfully, or regrettably, Eric had pulled on a T-shirt before we sat down to eat. The image of his half-naked body was burned into my brain though...and would probably stay there for all eternity.

  We ate in comfortable silence...at least Eric looked comfortable, gazing past me at the clear blue sky and looking relaxed. I pushed the cereal around with the tip of my spoon, willing myself to take another mouthful and just forget it. But I couldn’t. I was so used to swallowing down my emotions and just going along to keep people happy, but this was just ridiculous. I didn’t care if this was about to get awkward; I needed to know where I stood.

  “Do you not want me?”

  Eric jolted with surprise, looking at me as though I’d just sprouted two green antennae.

  I closed my eyes with a huff, dropping my spoon into my cereal.

  “Sorry. I’m just trying to figure out what happened in my bed this morning. I thought...” I desperately wanted to look at him, to figure out what he might be thinking, but I forced my eyes to remain on the table. I wanted to read him so bad right now. “I must have imagined it.” My voice quivered.

  There was a long, painful pause before Eric finally reached for my chin, forcing me to face him.

  “Caity.” His eyes were filled with longing. “I had to go and have a cold shower. An ice cold shower.” He looked pained. “This morning was most definitely not about me not wanting you.”

  I frowned. “Then what was it about?”

  A half smile pushed at his lips as he tipped his head to the side, looking almost bashful. Reaching for my wrist, he gently tugged me towards him and nestled me onto his lap.

  “My mother has spent her life jumping into bed with guys before she even knew them. It’s gotten her divorced twice, nearly married three more times after that and I’ve spent years having different guys - some jerks, some really cool - traipse in and out of my life.” He rested his chin on my shoulder. “I don’t want to be like that. If my mom had just managed to control herself, she wouldn’t have ended up with such a mangled heart.”

  Sitting back, he pulled me around so I was facing him, tucking my legs on either side of him.

  “I don’t want our first time to be this lust-filled moment... a distraction from all the crap.” Placing his lips against the edge of my jaw, he kissed me lightly and whispered. “I want it to be a conscious decision. A choice. I never want you to regret letting me touch you or make love to you.”

  My insides were melting like butter in a frying pan. I tried to rein them in and force my breathing to slow down.

  Eric picked up one of my curls and rubbed it between his fingers. “Sex complicates everything, Caity, and we’ve only just started. I’m not ready to jeopardise what we’ve got going here.”

  A smile danced across my lips as I buried my head into his shoulder. My zinging hormones were very disappointed, but I was pretty sure my heart just fell in love.

  “Will it be your first time?” I hated asking, but I had to know.

  He cleared his throat as he ran his finger up my arm. “It takes a lot for me to trust people... so yeah. I haven’t gone all the way yet.”

  “Me too.” I had always thought that I’d want my first time to be with someone experienced. I didn’t know what I was doing and I wanted them to take the lead and show me, but sitting here with Eric, hearing his sweet words, I suddenly loved the idea of figuring it out together. If this morning was anything to go by, it wouldn’t be that challenging. I blushed at the thought. “I think you’ll be worth the wait, Mr. Shore.”

  “As will you, Miss Davis.” He nibbled my earlobe and trailed kisses down my neck, finishing with a raspberry just below my chin. I jumped with giggles and tried to pull away from him, but he held me tight and lavished more kisses upon my throat until his mouth ended back on mine. He pulled me against him and ran his hands up my back, deepening the kiss, promising things to come.

  My
senses started to catch fire and I knew it would soon be time to pull away, but I didn’t have to make that choice. Eric’s phone rang and our kiss-fest was brought to an abrupt end.

  Chapter 22

  The phone call was a reality check I wanted to ignore, but Eric was right. Kissing our way through the weekend wouldn’t solve my problems. Spoil sport.

  So instead, we were sitting in a cafe opposite Dale Finnigan and Nicole Tepper. I didn’t particularly want to meet either of them, but Dale had called to check whether I was okay and Eric had launched into the story of what happened to me. Fifteen minutes later, he was asking if I’d be cool to go and meet his friend, Dale. I was too confused to do anything but nod.

  Sometimes I hated how my first instinct was often compliance. I was way too easy-going for my own good. Always trying to make others happy.

  Nicole sat across from me, her tiny arms folded across her chest. Her dark hair was perfectly brushed and her sharp eyes ran down my body as she shook my hand in greeting. She looked about as enthusiastic as I felt. I pulled her mask away. Oh yeah, there was no way she’d driven all the way down here to spend the morning with strangers. She wanted Dale all to herself and from the look in her eye, she wanted him somewhere private.

  I pressed my lips together, squashing my grin.

  “So.” Dale leaned his elbows on the table. “Eric told me you got into some trouble last night over Liam Donovan?”

  I nodded, still nervous that Eric had let some stranger know all about what I was doing.

  “Look, I know it’s probably really uncomfortable for you talk to me about this.” His gentle eyes were filled with compassion. “But I asked to meet you because...well, I used to know Liam.”

  Regret was evident. I tried to pull his mask away, to see more, but there wasn’t one. What I saw was exactly that.

  I swallowed. “How’d you know him?”

  Dale sighed and ran a hand over his scar. “I didn’t know him that well; I used to hang out with his brother.”

  “Mason.”

  “Yeah, he uh...” Dale glanced at Nicole. “He taught me how to drive.”

  “He taught you more than that.” Nicole winked, making Dale blush. A sad smile washed over his face, his regret blatantly obvious.

  He grimaced, his nose wrinkling, and eventually confessed, “I used to steal cars...with Mason. He taught me how.”

  My lips parted and I sat forward. “When was this?”

  “A few years back now.”

  “Did you go to Burbank High?”

  “No, I was at Glendale. But I did use to party a lot with Mason’s crowd.”

  My eyebrows rose without meaning to. He definitely didn’t look like a hell raiser. This sweet guy in front of me? There was no way.

  “I can see you’re skeptical, but...” He licked his bottom lip, struggling for words.

  Nicole nudged his elbow with her own. “He’s learned his lesson the hard way.” There was some secret joke going between them. They obviously had nothing to hide from each other. He ran his hand up her back, squeezing the nape of her neck affectionately. She grinned at him.

  I didn’t want to kill their uber-cute love tones, but I felt I had to ask. I looked at Eric, who still seemed pretty tense, and he nodded at me.

  “I read an article in the Burbank paper about a murder that happened a couple of years ago. The case has gone cold now, but it was suggested that the victim was killed by someone trying to steal his car. You don’t think it would be Mason, do you?”

  Dale’s scar throbbed red. He wanted to shake his head vehemently, but couldn’t quite do it. He scratched his curls and frowned. “Look, I haven’t seen Mason since I was fifteen. When I knew him, he was the kind of guy that just wanted to party and have fun all the time. I can’t imagine him being capable of murder, but he was a reckless guy.”

  “What was Liam like?”

  Dale shrugged. “He just wanted to be like Mason. Everything Mason did was for Liam and everything Liam did was to please Mason. Their dad was a total loser; they only really had each other and it made them pretty tight.”

  I nibbled my lip, thinking about Liam's phone call and what he'd said to my attacker.

  “What is it?” Dale’s eyes searched my face.

  “Tell him, Caity, it’s okay.” Eric ran his hand down my arm, threading his fingers through mine.

  “I overhead Liam talking on the phone, and in retrospect, I think they were talking about me. I’m getting too close to something and they wanted to scare me away. Liam said not to kill me; he didn’t want whoever he was talking to, to have any more blood on his hands.”

  Dale hissed and sat back in his seat. “That sounds pretty dark to me.” He shook his head. “But I don’t think it’s Mason.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Then who's controlling Liam?”

  Dale pursed his lips and shrugged. “Not sure, but I’d be really careful if I were you. Liam’s had a troubled past and it sounds like he’s in a pretty bad place right now.” Dale shook his head. “My memory of him was that he could be pulled into anything. Whoever he’s working for could probably get him to do whatever they wanted.”

  “I just wish I knew what they were up to.” I bit the inside of my cheek. "I have a few theories, but—"

  “I guess you’ll just have to live without knowing.” Eric squeezed my hand.

  I turned to him with a frown. “But what about Indie? She’s in trouble. She’s scared. How can I just turn my back on her?”

  “You don’t.” Nicole’s voice was adamant as she placed her coffee cup down.

  “Nicky.” Dale placed his hand on his girlfriend’s leg and warned her with a gentle squeeze.

  She turned a pointed look on him. “If you’d turned your back on me, I’d be dead right now. You put yourself in harm’s way for me and you saved my life.”

  His expression softened and they were briefly caught in a moment that told me everything. These two were in love, and not just the “let’s see where this takes us” kinda love, but the “we’ve been through big shit together and survived it” kinda love.

  My curiosity was piqued, but I was too shy to ask. It wasn’t really any of my business what they’d been through. I could just tell it was big.

  Suddenly interested, Nicole turned her sharp gaze back to me. “So how do you know all this stuff? You overheard the phone call, but what else?”

  “Well, I’ve just noticed around school that people are kind of scared of him, but the problem is, everyone loves him.”

  “Okay.” Nicole’s head tipped in confusion. “So this guy is scary, but people like him?”

  “They don’t know he’s scary. I mean all the people with the power to actually do something about it think he’s charming.”

  Nicole sat back, her eyes piercing me. “So how do you know it then? You a mind reader or something?”

  I looked down with a blush, surprised by an intense urge to just tell her. “Something like that,” I murmured.

  “Caitlyn’s powers of observation are... pretty good.” My eyes shot to Eric and he winked at me.

  My lips jumped into a grin.

  “So you’re like a mentalist then.” Nicole nodded as her lips quirked into a grin.

  I blushed. “Kind of weird, I guess.”

  She shrugged, looking completely unfazed. “I’ve heard weirder.” She shot Dale a wink and he grinned at her.

  “Look, Caitlyn, if I were you, I wouldn’t be able to walk away either.” Nicole’s expression turned serious. “Just be careful and don’t try to save the day on your own. You’ve got a boyfriend who obviously cares about you and people in your life who can help you. I know your type.” She raised her eyebrow and flicked her head towards Dale. “You don’t like to bother people with your problems. You like to figure stuff out on your own, but don’t be an idiot. People want to help you, so let them.”

  Her speech was good and I knew she was right. I acknowledged her words with a smile and a nod before glancing at
Eric. He wasn’t totally pleased by what Nicole had said, but his reticent demeanor had changed. He looked slightly more at ease and I wondered if maybe I could still pursue this without pissing him off.

  *****

  The night had set in and we lay in bed in the darkness. Eric had popped home during the day and grabbed a few things. His mom hadn’t even flinched when he’d told her he was staying with me. She’d just blushed and wiggled her eyebrows. Eric rolled his eyes when he told me.

  We’d spent the rest of the day hanging out. We walked away from our session with Nicole and Dale, strolling down to the beach both thinking about it, but not saying anything. I knew we had to. I wanted his blessing before I hit school on Monday, but he wasn’t quite ready to give it to me. The rest of the day was quiet. We watched a movie. I did some homework while Eric studied for an upcoming test. We were like an old married couple. The comfortable silence stretching out before us, not bothering either one of us.

  We chatted over dinner, I heard all about the weekend with his grandpa in detail. I loved it. And then that night we’d gone to bed and kissed until our bodies were on fire. He’d caressed my skin and I’d slid my hands as close to the line as he’d let me.

  We finally pulled away breathless and Eric had faced me away from him and held me tight, until we’d both calmed down.

  “You’re gonna make this really challenging, aren’t you?”

  I grinned. “It’s not my fault you’re hot.”

  He kissed my neck, his arms squeezing me tight. I was expecting a teasing reply, but he didn’t give one. Instead he sighed, his breath tickling my exposed shoulder. He pulled my T-shirt back into place and rolled me over, his expression serious as he ran his finger behind my ear.

  “I want to keep kissing you, keep distracting myself with your soft skin, but we need to go to sleep and I can’t do that until we’ve talked.”

  I pressed my lips together.

  “I want you to walk away from this Liam thing.”

  My face crumpled.

  “But I know you’re not going to.” He looked disappointed and I hated that I was the cause of it.

  “Eric, I’m sorry, but I can’t.”