“Just a little bit. It’s really not a big deal,” she muttered, looking away.
She couldn’t even look me in the eye when she said it. Because it was definitely a big deal. It was a massive fucking deal.
Reaching out, I plucked the red cup from her hand and tossed it to the ground.
“What the fuck, man?” Josh pushed around her side.
She reached out and laid a hand on his chest to stop him.
“Oh fuck that. Don’t put his leash on him yet, Chelsey. Let him come my way. I fucking dare him,” I said, my eyes burning from the rage simmering below my skin.
Again, Josh moved my way. This time, I set Chelsey to the side and got in his face. I heard the crowd behind us go quiet and I knew we’d gained the attention of everyone around us. So be it. Let everyone see his bitch-ass get beat the fuck down. Because that’s exactly what I was planning on doing the minute he even opened his fucking mouth again.
His wide shoulders stiffened and his narrowed eyes took me in. He was just as ready as I was.
“Do something, motherfucker. I fucking dare you,” I hissed in his face.
Chelsey tugged at my arm, her tiny fingers digging into my bicep.
“Stop it, Blaine! This is none of your business,” she shouted at my side.
My eyes whipped her way at her words. How could she say that? How could she even think anything involving her wasn’t my business? She was my fucking business. Had been since the moment I first saw her. Whether she knew it yet or not, she was mine.
Mine!
“You’re not my business?” I roared at her, making her jerk at my harsh words.
Her face turned red with anger and it only made her even sexier. Her fingers dug harder into my flesh, her nails biting at my skin.
“No! I’m not. So, just leave us alone!”
She gave as good as she got, and her words hit their target. My chest burned with hurt, which only angered me more. I pulled my arm from her grasp and turned my heated stare on her. She didn’t back down. Instead, she lifted her chin like a man ready to fight me. It was funny considering the situation. She obviously had more balls than Josh.
I felt all eyes on me, burning into my expression and waiting for my next move. Then I realized how things must’ve looked to outsiders. I looked pussy whipped. It looked as if my girl had been taken by Josh the fucking rich boy jock.
Fuck that!
Shaking my head, I let a sardonic smirk pull at my tight lips as I looked down at her.
“You know what? You’re right. You ain’t shit to me.” The lie burned my tongue.
She gasped as if I’d hurt her and I didn’t even try to fix things. Instead, I backed away with my eyes still on hers, and turned and walked away.
It was the first time I’d walked away from a fight in my life, but fuck it. If she wanted to make a fool out of herself so be it. If she wanted to come to a party she obviously didn’t belong at and drink until her fucking face went numb then it was her business, not mine.
I debated getting in my car and leaving all the rubber from my tires on the side of the road as I peeled away, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. The truth was I didn’t trust Josh, and I definitely didn’t trust a drinking Chelsey. So instead, I went back to my chair and downed my beer in one large gulp.
Fuck it.
“You okay, man?” Jay asked at my side.
I kept my eyes on the blazing bonfire in front of me and nodded my answer. I didn’t trust myself to speak. I didn’t trust what kind of crazy shit might fly from my mouth if I opened it.
I watched from across the bonfire as Chelsey stepped into my world without me by her side. I watched as she continuously drank and laughed like everything I knew she was working for didn’t matter—like Columbia didn’t matter.
The longer I watched, the more pissed off I became. Until finally I lost count of how much I’d had to drink. I tossed my cup to the ground and walked away from the party and toward a cluster of trees. I had to piss so badly and I wasn’t leaving the party until Chelsey did. Hell, if I was being honest, I wasn’t letting her leave with Josh. Period.
I pissed on the side of a tree, the sounds of the party and the four-wheeler engines far away from my existence. And then everything lit up and the sounds of everything became even louder. The engines sounded different, as if they were straining to go. The party goers roared loud with excitement, and I knew something was up.
Turning toward the commotion, the figures and firelight blurred before my eyes letting me know I’d had way too much to drink. Shaking and zipping up my jeans, I made my way back toward the crowd and pushed through until I was standing in front of everyone and taking in the scene before me.
And everything stopped.
Chelsey was on one of the four-wheelers, and it was obvious she had no idea what she was doing. Her ponytail swished in the air around her as she sped through the muck way too fast. Dirt and mud coated her jeans and shoes as she raced another girl on the other four-wheeler.
She fishtailed, her back wheels sliding to the front, and I gasped with fear. My buzz was gone instantly, as I watched, feeling completely helpless. There was no way I could catch her or help her. She turned her wheel getting back on the track and took off again.
Josh yelled and egged her on from the sidelines along with the rest of the party goers, but I could see the catastrophe that was about to happen. I knew about engines and tires. I knew about the Georgia mud and what you should and shouldn’t do in it. But worst of all, I knew Chelsey had no fucking clue was she was getting herself into.
The crowd gasped as she hit the gas again a little too hard, and everything moved in slow motion as her four-wheeler turned to the side, tumbling and rolling over the mud and tossing Chelsey at least ten feet into the air.
I was running toward her before she even landed. The rest of the crowd stood in shock as her four-wheeler landed upside down beside her, the tires still spinning fast in the air.
My boots were lost in the sludge as I ran into the space they were using as a pit and landed on my knees at her side. Her face was pale and covered with muck—her hair black from the mud that was caked in it. She looked small and helpless—entirely too beautiful and too good for everything around her.
All the air in my lungs went away, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to inhale again. Everything became a blur, the noises muffled. I reached out and touched her cheek, guilt filling me. I should’ve taken over. I should’ve kicked Josh’s ass. I should’ve told her what I was thinking—what I wanted. I wanted her. She should’ve been at the party with me. She should’ve been with me anywhere. Period.
If she’d been there with me I would’ve never allowed her to get hurt. I would’ve never let her get on a four-wheeler knowing she’d been drinking and had no idea what she was doing. But then again, had she been with me, she wouldn’t have been drinking in the first place.
I leaned over her. I was sure I was suffocating, and I was sure I was looking down into the face of a girl who might not ever wake up again. Panic filled every crevice of my being. Reaching up, I settled my fingers against the side of her neck to check for a pulse, but then her eyes popped opened, her brown ones clashing with my blue, and she smiled, relieving the pressure around my chest and giving me back my ability to breathe.
“Did I win?” she asked.
15
CHELSEY
I LEARNED A FEW THINGS ABOUT MYSELF at the farm party with Josh. One: I can’t handle my liquor. Like, at all. Like, I should never be allowed to smell it, much less drink it. I don’t think I’ll be doing the whole drinking thing again for a long time, if ever.
Two: I’m completely incapable of turning down a dare. As in, I couldn’t have said no if I wanted to. The adrenaline. The rush of doing something so completely against my character—it was a hell of ride—a ride I never wanted to get off of.
But the biggest thing I learned, was Blaine cared about me. Regardless of the things he said to me when he went all Inc
redible Hulk on Josh, he cared. He said I was nothing to him. He said those words, and I could tell by the conviction in his voice he meant them when he said them.
His words hurt. They sent me on a downward spiral for the rest of the night. From that point on, I drank whatever was handed to me. I was a smart girl. I knew everything I was doing was stupid, but that’s what Blaine did to me. He turned me into a stupid mess of a girl—one who wanted to make bad choices just to show him I could—just to make him crazy.
The four-wheelers roared into the night as different people raced each other in a pit full of mud. I’d heard of people doing the mud bogging thing. I mean, I did live in the south after all, but I’d never seen it firsthand. It actually looked like a ton of fun.
“I’m jealous of four-wheelers,” Josh slurred at my side.
I turned to face him, and he was shaking his head. His soft smile did absolutely nothing for me. It was nothing like the mysterious smirk Blaine gave me. It didn’t make me wonder what he was thinking. Honestly, I didn’t care about what Josh was thinking at all. The only reason I was even there was because I’d promised Lynn I’d try to have fun.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you haven’t taken your eyes off of them all night,” he said. “I want some of that attention for myself.”
I hated when he talked to me like that. He’d been flirting all night, and all night I managed to blow it off. But the more he drank, the more vulgar he became. The more vulgar he became, the more he touched me. And the more he touched me, the more I found myself pulling away from him.
His hands felt wrong against my skin—they felt clammy and gross. The spark I felt when Blaine touched me was absent, and it made me feel dirty and cheap. Although, that could’ve had more to do with the outfit I let Lynn pick out for me.
My jeans were too tight, and my shirt was too low. I found myself constantly pulling it up to hide the tiny bit of cleavage Josh kept staring at. All in all, my night of fun was a bust, but at least the liquor Josh kept feeding me took the sting of boredom away.
“I just think it looks fun,” I mumbled, shrugging.
Again, his eyes moved over my chest prompting to me to adjust my shirt for the hundredth time.
“You want to ride one?” he asked, licking his thin, cracked lips.
“Oh no, I couldn’t,” I replied.
“Oh come on, Chelsey,” his slur deepened. “Live a little.”
Peer pressure was a bitch. Still, I shook my head and looked away at the scene in front of us.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said into my cup.
“I dare you to drive it.”
And that was all it took.
A thrill I hadn’t felt all night, except for when I was arguing with Blaine, filled me. The alcohol swimming in my veins loosened me up and made my decision making abilities moot.
I giggled. “Don’t dare me, Josh.”
His brows lifted when he realized he was getting somewhere.
“Fine,” he breathed. “I double dog dare you.”
I laughed. “What are you, five?”
His eyes wrinkled with his laughter. “Nope. It’s just I can see the excitement in your eyes, Chelsey. I know you want to ride it.”
He said it as if he was talking about something sexual. A disgusted chill moved through me.
And then he stood and started toward the guys who were basically running the four-wheelers. I was right on his heels.
“No, Josh. Just forget it. This is stupid.” I was out of breath from trying to keep up with him. That, and from the excitement that was blooming within.
“Don’t be such a chicken,” he goaded.
I followed behind him until my feet were sinking into the mud of the pit—until we were standing beside one of the four-wheelers, the engine humming and ready to be revved up and driven.
“I’m not doing this,” I said, as I watched a girl wrapped in pink camouflage climb on the other four-wheeler, a daring smile on her lips as she looked over at me.
“You are. You want to. Just do it,” he urged.
I bit into my bottom lip, the excitement within exploding and forcing me to move. And then I was climbing onto the cushioned seat and straddling the four-wheeler.
It vibrated between my legs sending a jolt of sensation through me that made me smile. I tried to listen as a guy everyone called Swamp Cat went over the gears and how to drive it. I had no idea what he was saying. All I know is when they said go I flicked my wrist and hit the gas.
The four-wheeler jerked as I took off, the wind whipping my ponytail around. For a few brief minutes, I felt more alive than I had in my entire life. The engine rumbled with life. The rush of cool air over my skin cleansed me. And the coursing adrenaline made me feel higher than anyone at the party.
It was great. Better than great. It was amazing.
That was until everything went wrong and I felt myself flying through the air. The adrenaline was replaced with fear as the world turned and twisted before my eyes. And then the world went black and I was met with a never-ending silence.
The ground was hard beneath me. My lungs ached to breathe. My heartbeat was ripping through my body at a high rate of speed, but still, I refused to open my eyes and acknowledge what I’d just done. I’d wrecked some poor guy’s four-wheeler, and I was sure I broke something in my ankle. The pain radiated up my calf and throbbed with the beat of my heart.
And then I sensed him. His familiar scent invaded me and his warm breath moved over my face sending calm through my core.
Opening my eyes, Blaine was staring down at me, worry etched in his brow. He was breathing hard, his breath coming out in white puffs of smoke in the night air around us. His calloused fingers moved over my cheeks, wiping mud from my face, leaving warmth in their stead.
“Chelsey,” he whispered.
His voice cracked with emotion I didn’t understand, and then he was touching my face again.
I blinked as the world around us came back into focus, and suddenly the sounds of everyone who was standing around us came in clearer and clearer. I pressed my hands into the ground at my sides to push myself into seated position, and mud squished between my fingers. My eyes moved over Blaine’s concerned face before I let them slide over to the four-wheeler lying on its back beside us.
“Oh my God,” I rasped.
I could hardly believe I’d done something so stupid—that I’d put myself in so much danger. But a dare was a dare, and I was dumb enough to go along with it.
My head spun, and I reached out to smooth away the sharp pain that moved across my skull. The buzz from the alcohol Josh fed me had dissolved from the shock of the accident, and slowly twinges of pain moved into the rest of my body as I moved to stand.
Eyes of strangers stared down at me, but it was only Blaine I could see.
“Let me help you,” he said, reaching under my arms and lifting me to a standing position.
His voice was quiet, his eyes softer, and I knew something had changed from the last time we spoke.
“You’re bleeding,” he said.
Reaching down, he pulled his shirt over his head and off his body, revealing a perfect set of olive-colored abs. They rippled and flexed as he balled his shirt up and placed it against the side of my forehead to soak up my blood.
My eyes roamed over his skin and a heated blush covered my cheeks. He smirked down at me as if he knew my train of thought.
He leaned in, his blue eyes darkening. “Don’t look at me like that, Little Doe. You don’t understand what you’re eyes are asking me for.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I let him swoop me into his arms and carry me toward the parking area.
“Shit. Is she okay?” Josh asked, running up beside Blaine and me.
“Get the fuck away from her. I’ll deal with you later,” Blaine said.
And something told me had he not had his arms full of me he would’ve made good on his earlier promise to beat the crap out of Josh
.
I lifted my head to say something to Josh, but before I could, Blaine stopped me.
“Shhh. Don’t talk. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Real panic set in. I couldn’t go to the hospital. My parents didn’t know I wasn’t home. Already they were driving me crazy with their rules. They’d gotten worse since the police brought me home from my date with Blaine. I didn’t think I could take it if things got even stricter at home.
“No!” I called out, pressing my hand to Blaine’s chest. He looked down at me with question in his eyes. “My parents will find out,” I clarified.
He pulled open the passenger’s side door of his car and set me carefully inside. I felt terrible about getting mud on his seats and floor, but he acted as if he couldn’t care less.
“Chelsey, I’m sorry, but you’re going to the hospital.”
And then he shut the door in my face before I could argue and ran around to the driver’s side door.
He slid into the car and brought his engine to life, the roar much louder than any four-wheeler, and then he peeled away from the party, leaving Josh and everyone else behind without a second thought.
16
BLAINE
EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THE LAST THING I wanted to do¸ I called Chelsey’s parents. It’s not like I had a choice since the hospital was going to anyway. She was just three weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday, which meant legally they had to call.
She wasn’t too happy about it, and she begged me not to be the one to call, but I wasn’t a bitch boy. I wasn’t about to drop her at the hospital like a sack of potatoes and not be there for her. I knew her mother wasn’t going to be too happy she was with me, but it was a chance I was willing to take.
I’d decided after her accident I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight. Then I decided in the silent car on the way to the hospital that I wanted to be with her, and being with her meant dealing with her parents—showing them I could be good for her. Leaving her to clean up a mess alone wasn’t good for her. It wasn’t the responsible thing to do, and for Chelsey I wanted to be responsible.
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