Grey: The Retribution (Spectrum Series Book 3)

by Allison White

  Noah left the minute we got out of the car. I don’t know where he went, but I was kind of sad he wasn’t spending some more time with me. I can’t help but feel insecure and wonder if it’s because of what happened last night. Although we didn’t do anything intimate, we did have a tiny little moment that was halted by my cowardice. And we did sleep in the same bed next to each other. And in a way, that is of an intimate nature. You don’t just sleep next to a random person. You sleep next to someone you are familiar with and are comfortable to be close to in your most vulnerable state. And I did that with Noah…

  What if he sped off today because he regrets wasting his night with me, when he could have spent it with a girl who’d give him something worthy of sleep afterward? I know the type of girls he’s into: tall blondes who are easy to get under the sheets, then leaves them the moment the deed is done. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but how do I have a chance with him if that’s all he’s interested in? Granted, I haven’t talked to him about my feelings for him, but with his type and his lifestyle of spontaneity, how can I expect anything else? It’s all about statistics and educated guesses. With that thinking, I am able to come to the conclusion to protect my heart.

  I did the hurting the last time my heart was involved, but that doesn’t mean he can’t take a dip into the sadistic side. He can play with me like I played Grey, though I didn’t mean to. He can make me fall for him, only for him to reveal that he never even cared for me in the first place. All of this can happen, and I’d be crushed again, but I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to survive the collateral damage this time.

  “Daydreaming about the next Nordstrom sale on pleated khakis?” Charlotte mumbles, a hanger beneath her chin.

  I look up from a pair of shorts I was folding for her and blink rapidly. “What? No.” I look away from her warm brown probing eyes and shake my head. “I was just thinking about all the places Mason and I can show you tomorrow. I’d say today, but you know Louise plans to catch up with you.”

  “Sure,” she says, eyes narrowed.

  She doesn’t believe me, but she doesn’t probe any further.

  Thank God.

  I hum in reply, smiling as I move on to a red ripped tee.

  “Then you must be daydreaming about that hottie that picked me up from the airport? Nick was his name, right?” She taps her chin and bounces her pierced right eyebrow.

  I forgot how annoying she could be.

  I scoff and stop folding. “His name is Noah, and I was not thinking about him.”

  “Wanna try that again without lying?” she asks, pointing a black-painted finger at me. “You do know that you play with that charm bracelet of yours when you lie, right? You’d think after all these years, you’d find a new tick that doesn’t give you away so easily.”

  “I’ll get right on that.” I playfully tug on my earlobe, her lie indicator. She flashes me a middle finger, and I barely hold in a laugh, but I do smile. “That’s what I thought.”

  “Stop changing the subject, you sly dog,” she huffs, narrowing her eyes. She pauses, then shrugs and casually puts another hanger with a pair of pants in the closet. “Tell me about the boy. Are you two a thing? Fucking on the side? I hear you lost your pretty petal to another guy. Is my little Olive Branch turning into a harlot?” She gasps theatrically and slinks a sparkly pink boa from the box next to her across her neck, blinking rapidly.

  I laugh at how ridiculous she looks. The dark eyeliner and feather boa clash greatly.

  “Where’d you get the boa from?” I raise questioning eyebrows, but she ignores me and skips over to the bed and falls in front of me, on the folded clothes. I groan, and she tickles me with her sock-clad foot.

  “Spill, girl,” she demands.

  When she pokes me even harder, I groan and fall onto my back next to her.

  “I like him,” I admit. It feels and sounds even weirder saying it out loud.

  “So, why does it sound like that’s a bad thing?” she catches on.

  “Because I don’t want to.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’ll only hurt him,” I murmur, anxiously twisting a charm.

  She props herself on her elbows and peers over me. “Is this about that Grey dude? I’m not scared to give him some black eyes.”

  “No, it’s not like that.” I laugh. “It’s just…” I sigh and sit up on my elbows too. “I’m scared we won’t work out and I’ll hurt him somehow, like I…like I hurt Grey. I don’t want to betray him too. I like him enough to want to protect him from myself.”

  “Stop talking like that, Olive.” She pinches my arm and nudges into me. “You are the most caring, compassionate person I know.”

  “Based on who you hang with, that’s not saying much,” I mumble, and she hits me again. “You don’t have to be a sister in every sense of the word, you know.” I push against her, and she points a finger in my face.

  “You better not hold back on that Nick guy because of that asshole you dated. He may have been your first, but that doesn’t mean he should be your last.” She pauses and pokes my cheek with a nefarious glint in her eyes. “And I am your sister in every sense of the word. Meaning I will give you advice and smack you around and praise you until it sinks into your thick skull that you are worthy, no matter what. Got it?” She pinches my cheek.

  “Okay, I get it—you come as the full package: annoying, invasive, and supportive.”

  “Got that right.” She smacks my butt playfully as I stand. I laugh and swat her hands away.

  “So tell me more about the prick with a color for his name,” she says, flopping onto her stomach, watching me as I continue folding her clothes.

  “He’s handsome, very handsome, and is…well, a fighter.” I grumble the last part and shrug innocently.

  “Fighter?” She chuckles, throwing her head back, then lifts a pierced eyebrow. “What’s his name again?”

  “Grey Wyler,” I tell her, smoothing out creases in a tie-dye shirt. She must have made it during some rock festival or something. She usually attends them during the summer. I can only pray she doesn’t drag me to one this summer. Once we woke up in the middle of a deserted area with more Solo cups and bras than I ever want to see in my life.

  “Fucking Christ on a bagel, this dude is hot as shit,” she exclaims.

  When I look up, she’s showing me her laptop screen. On that screen is a shirtless Grey, lounging by the pool, tattoos and tan on broad display as the sun glints in his sunglasses. A blush blooms on my cheeks, and I lunge to take the computer away from her, but she falls back and takes me with her. We shriek as the once-folded clothes fly onto the floor.

  “Stop it, Char!” I scream.

  “No, I’m going to ogle a little more,” she breathes evilly, pushing my face away as she scrolls through more pictures on his Facebook. I feel like I’m on the sun as pictures of him at the gym, sweaty and heated, pop up one by one.

  I finally sit up, covering my eyes. “Fine, go ahead and perv on my ex-boyfriend. Which is, by the way, so not cool!”

  She laughs like the hyena she is and slings an arm around me, placing the laptop between us. “Sorry, but just how the fuck did you score him? He’s like a god had a baby with the sun.”

  “I think you’re exaggerating a little bit,” I mumble, tugging at a charm.

  “Oh, fuck, never mind. He isn’t all that,” she resigns, and I frown at how quick her mood diminished.

  “Wait, what are you talking about?” I catch the laptop’s top half before she can close it.

  “You don’t want to do that…” she trails.

  I open the laptop and find an unsettling picture. It’s of Grey and Rose hugging under the sky, on the beach. They’re laughing, and his eyes are glistening, and she is radiating pure happiness, and underneath the picture, it reads that it was taken last night…

  “I’ll cut his most likely large and glorious testicles off, and I’ll shove them down his gullet,” Charlo
tte says, violently balling her hands in fists. “Just tell me and I’ll get my hammer.”

  “You have a hammer?” I laugh lightly.

  She shrugs. “You never know when you’ll need a hammer, babe…”

  “It’s fine.” I close the laptop, and she gives me a blank expression that only I can decode that means: “Don’t fuck with me or I will get my hammer.” I laugh wholeheartedly this time and nod to myself. “I’m seriously fine. He has moved on, and I will too.”

  “With Nick?” She brushes my hair behind my ears.

  “His name is Noah, and yes.” I glance at the laptop and widen my smile. “Plus, Rose isn’t all that bad. In fact, she may be the nicest person I know.”

  “Seriously?” she scoffs. “She’s your ex’s girlfriend. You have to hate her a little.”

  “No.” I shake my head. “She’s pretty sweet.”

  She narrows her eyes and lifts a brow. “Really now?”

  “Yes, really.” Why is it so hard that I like my ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend? Okay, I hear how odd it sounds, but it’s possible. “I think I may even want to be friends with her.” Though it would be quite…painful to see her with Grey every time we’d hang out.

  “So you wouldn’t be weird with calling her and asking her to hangout, like say…go on a double date with you and Nick?”

  “Noah,” I correct her through gritted teeth, then soften my resolve and smile softly. “And no. But maybe we could not bring the boys and, maybe, go to the mall.”

  “Cool, cool…” She dives her hand into my short’s pockets and yanks out my phone before I can say anything. “Then call her and arrange it right now.”

  Knowing her, I should have seen this coming. But there isn’t anything wrong with hanging out with Rose. She’s just a girl who happens to be, possibly, dating my ex-boyfriend and first-time lover, first time anything really. How awkward can it possibly be to hang out with her?

  “Fine.” I snatch the phone away from her and dial the number Rose programmed in my phone when we got lunch after she helped me find my dress for the charity event. Already we’ve shown that we can be civil and even friendly with one another. There is absolutely nothing to worry about.

  But another part of me worries this may not be the best thing…

  Chapter Thirty

  As a welcome to Miami, I take Charlotte on a brief tour, along with Mason, Mateo, and Noah. Since Mateo recently came to the city too, it was kind of like his welcome too. So far, we’ve been to Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, and Zoo Miami. Now night has fallen, and I’m exhausted, but Charlotte is wide awake and is more hyper than ever. I watch as she bounces and hoots and dances along to party music as we stroll through downtown.

  You’d think staying in California for two months would be enough to fulfill her desperate need to party, but she was never one to stay grounded and miss out on the chance to get wasted and wake up the next morning without any recollection from the night before.

  “What’s next on the list?” Charlotte asks, flashing a wicked grin over her bare shoulder. “I’m hoping the strip clubs? I could use a lap dance or two from someone named Candy-cane Lane, ‘where the best journeys are taken down her path.’”

  “Yes.” Noah flashes her a smile. “I’m down for that.”

  “I knew I’d like you, Nick,” she says playfully, wagging a finger at him.

  When did they get so close? And why is it bothering me so much?

  My throat tightens, and I smile. “Don’t you think we should go back home?”

  “The night is young, and so are we,” Charlotte says. “Why waste this precious night watching a movie or some lame shit like that?”

  What has gotten into her?

  “I vote no,” Mateo pipes up. “Not really up for sequined breasts in my face.”

  Mason raises their linked hands. “I second that veto.”

  Charlotte groans and faces me. “That’s two nos and two yeses. The winning vote goes to you, Olive.”

  I look between her and Noah, who has his arms crossed and eyebrows in the air. Then back to Charlotte, who has her hips jutted out, hands stuffed in her frayed shorts. Of course, I don’t want to go to a strip club. I’m still that overthinking Olivia, the same Olivia who detests clubs in general, moreover clubs that involve half-naked girls swirling on poles. These two can go another night, without me, by themselves…

  The thought literally makes me queasy.

  “How about we go out for dinner instead?” I smile sheepishly and rub my stomach. “I sure am starved. And there are plenty of four—even five—star restaurants around somewhere.”

  Or maybe I just don’t want to see them bonding anymore for the night, or I’d crumble to pieces?

  “I’m actually kinda hungry, too,” Mason says. He must have seen how uncertain I’m being. I silently thank him with my eyes, and he nods to me before pulling out his phone. “I’ll look for a restaurant right now.”

  While he searches, I breathe in relief and drive my fingers through my hair. I cast nervous glances at Charlotte and Noah. I don’t know why she’s suddenly interested in him when she can’t even get his name right. And the fact that he’s going along with it hurts me even worse. Is he doing this because I won’t make a move with him? Or because he grew tired of me and wants someone else instead?

  Either way, it hurts. Especially because Charlotte’s supposed to be my sister.

  “Come on, we found a place.” Mason links his arm with mine, with a smile.

  “And it’s nearby,” Mateo adds, and I literally have to crane my neck back to see his smile.

  We begin to walk to the restaurant, and as we do, I unintentionally listen to the “couple” behind us. They’re talking animatedly, and I make the mistake of looking over my shoulder. They’ve linked arms too, and Charlotte’s even twirling her hair. I gasp because that’s what she does before sneaking off with a boy and have her way with him.

  “I’ve never met a girl like you,” Noah says.

  “And now that you have…?” she inquires.

  I stop walking and whirl around before he can reply. I’ve had enough of this; she’s the closest thing—along with Louise—that I have to a family who actively shows they care about me, and I want to know why she’s doing this. Why now?

  “Char, can I talk to you for a second?” I ask through gritted teeth.

  She shrugs. “Kinda busy right now.” She gestures to Noah, who looks at me with a weird look. I anxiously fiddle with my charms and avoid his stare.

  “It won’t take long.” I grab her hand and yank her to the side before she can say anything else. I look around nervously before hissing in a low voice, “What are you doing with Noah?”

  “Nothing,” she lies.

  I lift an eyebrow and flick her on her chin. She chuckles evilly. “I’m being serious, Char.”

  “I don’t like that fratty.” She sighs and rolls her eyes.

  “What-y?” I swear, she has the weirdest vocabulary on the planet.

  She rolls her eyes and looks around. “I mean I don’t like the frat guy.” She uses her hands to wildly gesture to Noah, who is standing a little away with the other boys.

  I look back to her and her evil little smirk. “But why would you flirt with him like that if you didn’t like him?” She can be so insane sometimes, it drives me insane, maybe even more than her!

  “So I can show you that if you don’t get a jump on that oily ass over there, you can lose him.” Her eyes go stoic, and she pinches my side. “You actually thought I’d go for him or even pull him out from under you knowing you like him? Is that what you thought of me? I thought we were sisters.” Out of anger, she pinches me again, but a little harder.

  “Ow!” I roll my eyes at her, annoyed and a little peeved off. “I was just confused. I never actually thought you’d do something like that. I trust you, Char.”

  She humphs a reply, then breaks into a grin. “So, I really lit a fire under your ass, huh?” She win
ks at me, and I’m reminded of how’d she spot a random boy in the mall and push me to talk to him. I’d get two feet away before shrieking and hiding in an Old Navy.

  I blush and avert my eyes as she gets closer and begins tickling me, knowing how much I despise it. “I think we should go now, don’t you?” I want to leave and get her off this topic as soon as possible.

  “Oh no, why don’t you express how much you don’t trust your big sis?” she teases, throwing an arm around me as we make our way back to the boys.

  “I trust you, Char,” I sing-song in a whisper.

  “Remember you said it,” she says, and before I can think about what she means, I am pushed into Noah’s chest.

  “Hey.” He smiles from ear to ear, and my heart thumps harder at the sight.

  “Hey,” I say in return, then back away and clear my throat. I turn around and glare at Charlotte. She winks at me like the little devil she is, and I roll my eyes before meeting his eyes again.

  My stomach does a little tap dance, but they don’t twist into knots, and I am not on fire under his stare. My body is buzzed and feels on alert, but it isn’t dying and reviving under his piercing black eyes or the way his body always feels like it’s on me when he can be standing ten feet away…

  Stop it, Liv, I tell myself.

  “You okay?” Noah asks with a concerned look.

  I blink away the stupid thoughts in my head and nod, forcing on a smile. “I’m perfect.”

  Not like him, though…my subconscious sighs.

  I grab his hand, and we both freeze, unsure of what I’m doing. I just need to show my head that I can force my heart to squeeze in another. That I’m not just subject to feeling for that man. That selfish, selfish man, for expecting me to live in the dull, when I can have this ray of sunshine guide me out into the light. Anything has to be better than this dark, desolate place.

  “Let’s go eat,” I suggest, grinning. I have to distract myself or I won’t be able to move on as everyone has been telling me to do.