“Dickheads.” Ashton’s voice cuts through my daze. “Who decided to start the party without me?”
A few hollers and whistles respond for their captain, but Ashton’s focus isn’t on them, but me and the way my hips are rolling to the beat, caressing Penelope’s.
“And what a party it is,” he breathes.
My lungs stall, heart wanting out of my chest. You weren’t supposed to be here. Grayson clears his throat. And neither were you.
Ashton swivels to Grayson as if forgetting he’s there. “Oh, hope it’s okay I brought Gray along.”
Simon jumps to his feet. “Grab a beer, man. Gray, what’s your poison?”
Penelope twists, turning to face me and takes my hands lifting them above my head as we dance. “Looks like all your boys are here.” She giggles, leaning in close. “Shall I leave you alone?”
Smiling at the wicked glee in her green eyes, I take one of her hands and twirl her around as she laughs. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”
“It’s why I asked. Those three in bed would be an experience and a half.”
Shaking my head, laughter bubbles out of my throat. “They’d have killed each other before we even hit the sheets.”
True to her word, Penelope is glued to my side, though she spends far too much of that time dancing suggestively and driving the boys around us insane. It’s later in the evening that I realize it wasn’t for my benefit but Simon’s, Declan’s not-so-bad-looking friend. We part ways after she begs me to release her from her friend duties, and with the way Simon is looking at her, I can’t say no; it would be criminal.
Left on my own, I decide it’s late enough to leave and contemplate slipping out without saying goodbye when Declan finds me. His smile is lopsided and his gaze unfocused, but it doesn’t stop the brain in his pants from working.
“There you are beautiful; thought I’d never get you alone.”
Faking sincerity, I pout. “My mum’s just called; she wants me home, I’m afraid.”
“I only need twenty minutes,” he says, taking my hand and tugging me in the direction I presume the bedrooms are.
“Dec,” I answer, stroking his chest. “I hope you’re not taking me where I think you are.”
“Come on, Rose, you’ve been teasing me all night, practically fucking Pen as you danced.” Yeah, that wasn’t for your benefit. Didn’t you notice my gaze was not on you?
Allowing him to kiss me, I pry myself off him when he begins to guide me down the hall. “It’s not happening, Dec, we’ve not known each other that long.”
“Don’t go playing the simpering flower now, Rose. We both know you put out to Ash while he was with Sophia and you’ve slept with Gray.”
Anger surges through my veins and I shove Declan away. “Believe the rumors all you want, Declan, but this flower will not be sleeping with you. And you can forget about taking me to the masquerade too.” Turning, I march away, fire and disgust driving my feet forward as my insides churn.
Because the truth is, Declan’s right. I’ve slept with more than just Grayson since Ashton and I imploded. I’ve used sex to punish myself, used it to lose myself in human nature’s most basic pleasures, but the difference is, Declan has never caused even a flicker of lust to spark at my core. From the moment he’s touched me, I’ve felt nothing but revulsion.
“Need a ride home?” Grayson asks, stepping from the shadows.
“Anyone ever told you it’s not polite to lurk in the dark.”
“Had to make sure that asshole didn’t try anything,” he answers.
“I can take care of myself.”
He grins, falling into step beside me. “Never doubted that for a second. So… that ride.”
“I’d rather walk. Need to clear my head.”
His hand blocks my exit. “You’re not walking home alone in the dark.”
“Careful, Gray, your armor’s shining.”
“Wait here. I’ll fetch Ashton,” he orders.
“Leave him. He’s celebrating his win.”
“We only came because Simon texted him a picture of you and Pen dry-humping each other.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine. Whatever.”
Waiting two seconds, I make sure he’s gone from view and slip out the front door. It’s nice that he wants to make sure I get home safely, but I wasn’t lying when I said I needed to clear my head, and having Grayson and Ash with me isn’t going to help that.
My feet carry me quickly from Simon’s building and down the street, but I only make it one block before Ashton is calling my name and racing up to my side.
“You were supposed to wait,” Ash says, pulling me to a stop.
“Damn it, woman, do you never listen?” Grayson pants, leaning on his knees as his catches his breath.
“Shit, Gray.” Ashton chuckles. “I think you should start running with me and get in better shape.”
Pointing at the pair, I narrow my gaze. “I’m starting to really hate this newfound friendship the two of you have.”
They both smile. “We love you too,” Ashton adds jokingly.
Throwing my hands up in the air, I begin to walk. “Fine, walk me home, but you’ll stay quiet because the noise in my head is loud enough as it is.”
“Maybe talking will help,” Ashton suggests.
I eye them both, Ash to my left, Gray to my right. Ashton’s in dark jeans, paired with a light grey shirt, while Grayson’s in fitted dress slacks with a matching waistcoat. They both look sexy as hell as they pound the pavement with a menacing aura that is sure to keep anyone away from me. I’m drawn to them both for different reasons, and while Grayson may have warmed my heart after Ashton broke it, it will never belong to him. As Ashton said, I am his.
Talking though, it’s not going to help. The chaos in my head isn’t going to be solved by the men who put it there to begin with… well, and my selfish mother.
“My mother’s going to be rather annoyed when she finds out I just ditched Declan.”
“Screw him,” Ashton growls.
“Fuck your mother,” Grayson adds.
Laughing, I take their hands and swing them between us. “Oh boys, if only it was as simple as that.”
Life’s complicated and messy, and the road I’m taking is paved with bad turns, but whether they confuse me or not, and drag my heart into conflicting directions, I can’t help but smile with Ash and Gray being as they are… my friends.
Chapter 26
Rose
As I leave my bedroom the next morning, there is a spring in my step that wasn’t there the day before. Finally ditching Declan has a big part to do with my mood, but it also has to do with the messages Ashton sent me once he’d gotten home. We’re on the right track at last. I can sense it—the excitement of a new beginning, the need to be near him again, churning and building, ready to take me over until we are all we see once more.
Styling my hair into short messy curls, I add a deep plum gloss to my lips and a flick of mascara to my lashes before leaving my bedroom, heels dangling from my hand.
My mother’s in the kitchen making tea as I walk out, and she pours me one and hands it over as I hop up onto the kitchen stool.
“Morning,” she chimes, her tone overly cheery.
“Hi.” Alarm bells sound in my head, warning to tread with caution. Our relationship has been strained since I found Arthur and Sophia together, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better any time soon. She’s often out late and if she isn’t, we hardly talk. We are two separate people living under one roof, doing our best to pretend the other is invisible.
“I forgot to say last night, I’ve hung three dresses in your wardrobe for you to pick from for the masquerade ball.”
“Oh… thanks. Though I’d arranged to go shopping myself with Pen and the girls.”
“Have them over for the night. Try the dresses on then,” she suggests.
“Yeah.” I smile. “That might be fun.”
Sipping my tea, I study
her over the rim of my mug, wondering if her motive is going to show or if she’s simply woken up and decided to be my mother this morning.
“Rose?” Here she goes. I silence my groan. “I need you to come straight home from school today. We’ve got an engagement to attend tonight.”
“What kind of engagement?” I ask, my stomach tying itself in knots.
“Elizabeth Moor has invited us over for dinner.”
“What?” I gasp. “No, Mum, I can’t…. Declan and I aren’t exactly on good terms.”
“What do you mean?” she asks, outraged. “I asked for one week, Rose. That’s it, and you couldn’t even give me that.”
My jaw drops and it takes me a moment to find a suitable reply that isn’t an outright scream. “Declan Moor is an asshat who’s only interest is to get into my pants, and when he wouldn’t take no for an answer, I had no choice but to tell him to bugger the hell off.”
“Well, I need you to fix it,” she demands.
My arms cross over my chest, my teeth biting painfully together. She infuriates me; I’ve gone from civilized to wanting to draw blood in seconds. “And how do you propose I fix it, Mother? Spread my legs and let him do what he wants?”
Nose scrunching at my words, my mother narrows her eyes. “That is not what I am suggesting. Bat your eyes, flutter your lashes. Boys aren’t bright at the best of times, Rose. I’m sure you will figure something out. It’s one night. What harm can it do?”
Plenty I’m sure. Putting down my tea, I pick up my shoes from the floor and slip my handbag onto the crook of my arm. “You know, Mother, you have a distinct talent for ruining my day before it’s even begun. There really are no bounds to the levels you will sink.”
Turning away, I stride out of the apartment, forgetting breakfast and the hour until school opens. If I don’t get away from her right this minute, I may finally snap and give in to the desire to hit her.
Stopping at a café on my walk to school, I take a seat by the window and order a tea and some breakfast, before bringing up my Kindle app on my phone and the book I’ve been meaning to finish. I’ve allowed circumstance and other people to dictate and shape my life, to the point where I’m struggling to remember the things I like to do that are just for my own simple enjoyment. While I acknowledge and hate this, in the back of my mind, I’m running through options to get Declan back on my side. It seems I’m willing to sink to any level for my mother; it’s almost as if she’s programmed it into me. I’m unable to tell her no. It’s something I vow to work on.
Time slips by quickly once I’ve got my nose in a book and a cup of tea in my hand and before I know it, I’m rushing to school, almost certain I’ll be late for my first class. As I power walk through the front gates, Ashton steps up to my side, his smile causing my stomach to dance as he slings an arm around me, his lips meeting my cheek.
“Good morning, gorgeous. You’re running late.”
“So are you,” I point out, slowing my roll to savor his arm around me for a moment longer.
“Nah, I got here ages ago. I was waiting for you.”
Coming to a stop, I let all my frustration and anger out with a sigh. “Listen, Ash, I can’t walk in there with your arm around me. Declan might see.”
His face falls for just a second, and I feel like the biggest bitch in the world. We’re finally getting into a good place, and I’m ruining it for my mother and her selfish desires.
“I thought you’d ditched him last night,” Ashton asks as we begin walking again, the space between us hurting me more than I wish it did.
“It would seem Mother Dearest had other plans. I’m required to attend dinner at Declan’s house tonight. If I can convince him to pretend last night didn’t happen, that is. I’m an idiot for listening to her, but what else can I do? I’ve only got one parent left.”
The first bell rings, telling us we need to get to class, but Ashton doesn’t seem to hear. Taking my hand, he drags me into the nearest empty classroom and shuts the door, backing me up against the wall.
“You’re not an idiot, Rose. You’re fierce, beautiful, and brave. And you are worth so much more than Declan. Play the game, act your part, but remember, he’s the one who should be kissing your feet, and when you’re through with him, leave him scrambling and gasping for breath.”
His lips land on mine, fleeting, soft, and oh so tender. And then he’s gone and I’m the one scrambling for breath.
But hell, Ashton’s right. The crown is on my head, and I was going to grovel like he was king when it’s Declan who should be bowing at my feet. Leaving the classroom, I hold my head up high, remembering who I am. I earned my place, stole my queendom, and if Declan wants me to beg, then he can explain to his mother why I’m not attending dinner, because his idea of romance is forcing his way into a woman’s pants.
It seems I haven’t lost my good mood after all. And the day has just begun.
Chapter 27
Grayson
The last thing I was expecting to see today was Declan seated at the elites’ table, trying his hardest to win Rose’s favor and her not telling him to get lost. My fists clench, twitching to hit the bastard square in the jaw, but I learned some years ago it was best to solve my problems with information and not violence, though I’m considering a lapse in judgment just this once.
“I thought that problem was solved?” I grind out, sliding up beside Ashton. “Weren’t you waiting for her this morning?”
“I was. I did. Her mother’s making her go to dinner with Declan’s mother tonight.”
“And you’re okay with this?” I ask. Ashton has a tendency to solve problems with his fists too.
“I haven’t much choice, Gray. We aren’t together, and I have no right to push my weight around even through I’m picturing breaking his nose.”
Chuckling, I clap a hand to his shoulder. “I’m going to get my guy to dig. Declan has overstayed his welcome.”
“Agreed. Just make sure Rose doesn’t find out.” Tearing his gaze from them, Ashton meets my own. “Wanna get out of here? If I watch him touch her knee one more time, I can’t guarantee I won’t break something.”
“Sure thing, brother. Are we ditching or just out for the lunch break?”
“I’d love to ditch but the last thing we need is the school calling my mother.”
“True.”
Leaving the courtyard, we walk side by side in comfortable silence. It shouldn’t have taken us so long to truly become friends, and a lot of that was my own doing. I’d willingly given over my crown and the pressure my father had put on me to be the golden boy, but even so, resentment had lingered, making sure we never quite made a true bond.
My tendency to be devious and underhanded didn’t help matters either, but when you’re taught from birth to take what you want and do whatever it takes to get it, it’s hard to think of relationships and friendships as anything other than a one-way street, with strings to be plucked and directed.
My father did us a favor really. He broke us apart, gave Rose the ammunition needed to drive a blade into the kingdom we once ruled, and after the dust settled and the debris cleared, I saw life for what it was. Clear, crisp clarity… I was becoming my father, the one man I never wanted to be like, and Ashton and his family were mine, ready and waiting with open arms. I won’t become like him. I’m taking a different path and I’m doing it with my brother by my side.
“Josh has got baseball practice tonight, right?” I ask as we exit the elegant gates of Albany Nightingale and take a right turn.
“Yeah, I said I’d take him. Mom’s doing better, but I’m not sure she’s ready to face people yet.”
“I’ll come with. Taylor can pick us up and then we’ll go collect Josh.”
“You don’t have to do that, Gray. I can get an uber.”
“I want to,” I respond. Being an only child sucked growing up and gaining Josh as a little brother was a pleasant bonus. I’d always been careful to not overstep, knowing Ashton wasn�
�t happy Josh and I got on so well, but going forward, I can tread with less caution, unafraid of what Ashton will think.
“Josh will love that,” Ashton says. “Thanks.”
Shoving him in the side, I laugh. “He’s my brother too, dipshit. I don’t need thanking for watching him play.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Ashton pushes back. “I’m still getting used to the more saintly version of you.”
“Give over.” I roll my eyes. “I’m hardly a saint.”
He arches a brow. “When was the last time you slept with someone?”
“Erm….”
His expression drops. “It was Rose, wasn’t it?”
“No,” I lie, shrugging. “I’ve been preoccupied with my father.”
Surveying my face, Ashton’s gaze flickers from mine to the ground several times, but he finally grips his head and speaks, “You actually like her, don’t you? I mean, like her like her?”
“What? Are we in seventh grade?” I joke, hoping to avoid answering the question.
“Shit, man.” He pulls at his hair. “We cannot like the same girl.”
Don’t I know it.
“She loves you, Ash. Let’s drop this, okay?” I say matter-of-factly, when on the inside, the knowledge burns deep.
Rubbing his face, Ashton studies me out of the corner of his eye, before nodding his agreement. Dropping his hands, he lengthens his strides and heads for the first café we come across, opening the door to let me inside. “Hey, has your father called at all?” he asks.
“He’s called twice. I’ve ignored him twice.” Doesn’t mean I didn’t spend both times arguing with myself not to answer his call though.
“If he calls a third, will you pick up?”
“I honestly don’t know.” I sigh. “Would it bother you if I did?”
“Of course not, dude, he’s your father. I can’t expect you to ignore him even if I hate him.”
“He’ll only try to manipulate me into dropping our vendetta.” Yet a small part of me still hopes that he might see the error of his ways and apologize. Doesn’t mean I plan on listening to that stupid part though.
The Resurrection of Us: A High School Bully Romance (Albany Nightingale Duet Book 2) Page 14
