The Fall of a God : An Enemies to Lovers High School Romance (The Boys of Clermont Bay Book 2)

by Holly Renee

  "Thank you." Her voice was curt and dismissive, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss the living shit out of her.

  "Mr. Vos." I nodded my head, and his scowl only deepened. I knew the man hated me, and if I was smart, I would have walked away as quickly as I had approached.

  But I was never smart when it came to his daughter.

  I didn’t think I would start being so now.

  Not when she looked like that.

  "Beckham, it looks like your father is looking for you." His voice was as dismissive as Josie’s, and I wondered if that was where she had learned it from.

  I looked over my shoulder to my dad, and Mr. Vos was right. He was staring daggers into my back. He was probably worried that I was causing an even bigger shitstorm than I already had.

  But the truth was that I didn’t care what Mr. Vos or my dad thought when it came to me and Josie. I only needed to convince her, and everyone else would melt away.

  Their opinions and disproval wouldn’t matter at all if she really wanted to be with me.

  "Josie, would you like to dance?" I could have sworn her eyes sparkled as I ignored her father and spoke directly to her. I wanted her to know how little I cared about him or his opinion of me. I wanted her to know that I only cared about her and making up for all the shit things I had done.

  And I knew that what I did to her in the locker room didn’t help with any of that. What I did in the locker room was the exact opposite of what I was trying to accomplish.

  "Not right now." She tucked in closer to her father, and I swear everything in my body ran cold. I knew that she didn’t like her father, and I couldn’t believe that everything I had done had made her feel like she needed his protection over me.

  It made me feel sick.

  "Okay. Later then." I smiled at her and tried to keep the anger out of my voice. I didn’t acknowledge her father again as I let my gaze run down the length of her dress, then turned away from her.

  I had to get away before I said something I would regret, before I made her hate me even more with something stupid I knew I was likely to say.

  I didn’t go back to my table either. I went to the back of the ballroom and grabbed a glass of champagne from a wandering waiter. Everyone here knew that I was far too young to be drinking, but not a single one of them stopped me.

  That would be up to my parents and them alone, and I made sure to stay out of their line of sight as I swallowed down the entire glass in a few gulps. I spotted Carson leaning against the back wall with a slim brunette on his side. I didn’t recognize the girl, but that didn’t mean anything.

  I walked up to him and smiled at the girl. She was pretty and smiling up at Carson like he was the best thing she had ever seen, and I knew that he already had her on his line.

  "You coming back to the table?" I interrupted him, and he looked up at me with a bored expression that told me to get lost.

  "Do you need me?"

  "I do." I put my hand on his shoulder and gave the girl a gentle smile. "I can’t keep your girlfriend company much longer. She’s starting to worry where you are."

  The girl huffed before stomping her foot and storming away from him. He ran his hand down his face and groaned as I laughed.

  "You are such a dick. You know that?"

  "I do." I leaned my back against the wall next to his and stared out over the ballroom. "But you don’t need any more notches on your belt. That girl looked like she would be in love with you before you even got off."

  "So, what? You were saving me?"

  "Exactly."

  Carson pulled a small flask from his pocket and took a sip before passing it to me.

  "I saw you over there with the Voses. What was that about?"

  "You saw that through your flirting game?" I took a long sip from the flask, and the dark liquor burned my throat.

  "I’m a multitasker, Beck. You should practice that talent."

  I handed him his flask back, and he tucked it back down into his pocket. "I was over there asking Josie for a dance."

  "Shit." He laughed, and I turned my head to look at him.

  "What’s so funny about that?"

  "She turned you down."

  I couldn’t help smiling because he was right. She had. "Technically, she said not right now."

  "She was just being nice. I bet you a hundred dollars she doesn’t dance with you at all."

  "You’re so full of yourself. Of course, she’s going to dance with me."

  He shook his head like he didn’t believe it for a second. "I’ll even sweeten it for you. A hundred dollars says she doesn’t dance with you. Two hundred says I can convince her to dance with me."

  There was no way in hell she was dancing with Carson, and not just because I didn’t want her to. I knew that she wouldn’t fall for his charms like every other skirt he chased. "Fine." I held out my hand, and he took it in his.

  "All right. Let’s head back to the table to eat, then I have to go on the hunt."

  I rolled my eyes because he was absolutely absurd, but I still followed him back toward the table where we had to pass his almost conquest before I had interrupted. She was staring daggers at him, and I couldn’t help laughing as he tried to look anywhere but at her.

  By the time we got back to the table, some chairperson for the charity started talking into the mic. He was droning on and on about what the money that was being raised tonight would be used for and how this was the biggest and most beneficial event of the year.

  He named both my father and Joseph Vos as top contributors to the charity, and everyone clapped as the two of them lifted their heads in acknowledgment.

  I spotted Josie sitting next to her father. She was paying close attention to the presenter, but all I could look at was her. I had never seen her look so… I didn’t even know the word for it. Beautiful felt far too simple and overused.

  She looked like she was right where she belonged. In that dress with her head held high and her gaze empty of worries.

  If I cared about her at all, I would just walk away and let her live in peace. It would be the gentlemanly thing to do. It was what my father had told me over and over was the only option between me and Josie, but as my phone buzzed in my pocket and I checked the text that had just come through, I knew that wasn’t possible.

  Stop staring at me. I’m not going to dance with you.

  My gaze flicked up to hers, but she still wasn’t looking at me. She looked like she had no concerns in the world, especially no concerns with texting me.

  I can’t. You look so freaking gorgeous tonight.

  She bowed her head and looked down at her lap, and I knew that she was reading my text. She raised her head, staring straight at me, and I had not a damn clue what she was thinking.

  It took several minutes before she text back, and I could feel myself getting more and more anxious as the seconds ticked by.

  Too bad it’s not for you.

  I smiled because I knew she didn’t mean it. She just wanted to get a rise out of me, and it was working.

  Then who is it for? Is there somebody else you were hoping to catch the attention of tonight?

  She looked down at her phone again, but this time she didn’t look back my way. She was typing on her phone without a single look up.

  I don’t know. I’m weighing my options. Olly is looking rather handsome tonight.

  My gaze snapped over to my friend, then back to her. She wouldn’t dare.

  Sure. If you want to see me fight my friend tonight.

  There was a small upturn of her lips, but that was all she gave me.

  That could be kind of hot.

  As soon as she sent the message, Lucas pulled out the chair next to her and took a seat. I couldn’t stop staring at her or how damn close he sat next to her. It was almost enough to make me forget how playful she was being in her text messages, that thrill of her flirting leaving me at the sight of him.

  But she wasn’t paying one bit of attention
to him or he to her. She had her elbow resting on the table, and her chin resting on her fist as she looked over at me.

  She was waiting for my reply.

  Is that what you want? The two of us?

  The mere thought made my blood boil. I wouldn’t share her with anyone. Regardless of if that was what she wanted.

  I couldn’t do it.

  I could feel insane jealousy taking over me just thinking about it.

  Does it matter what I want?

  Of course, it does.

  My answer was immediate and honest. I knew that she thought I was some kind of monster, but I wasn’t. What she wanted was all that mattered to me at this point. I just hoped like hell that it was me.

  I want you to take off that tux jacket.

  I looked up at her, but her attention was back on the speaker just as food started being served at the tables. I paid no attention to the food that was laid in front of me. I simply pulled my arms from the jacket and let it fall against the back of my chair.

  That better?

  She looked back over at me and let her gaze run all over me. I could feel my cock stirring in my pants, and I prayed that she didn’t ask me to get up next because everyone here would know how turned on I was getting.

  Yes.

  But you should roll up your sleeves. You have incredible forearms.

  I did what she said. I unhooked my cufflinks and slowly rolled the sleeves of my white shirt until they laid just beneath my elbows.

  Okay. Is it my turn now?

  That depends. What do you want?

  I thought about her question, and there were a million different things I wanted from her. The presenter finished his speech and everyone clapped just as soft music began to play.

  Everyone around us started diving into the exquisite food that was set before us, but not us. Neither one of us touched our food as I sent her my next message.

  Dance with me.

  It took her several minutes before her next text came through. So long that I felt like my heart was resting at the back of my throat.

  I can’t.

  Her words felt like a blow.

  She couldn’t or she didn’t want to? Either way, I knew that I deserved that decision. I had been cruel to her, and now I just expected her to dance with me in front of everyone.

  After everything I had done.

  My dad will be pissed.

  Her next text came through, and somehow it both soothed something inside me while pissing me off even further.

  She wasn’t saying no because she didn’t want to, but because that asshole was sitting right there. And I was sure that he had tried to fill her head with everything he could about me.

  He had hated me ever since the moment everything happened with Lucas, and I hated him. But I didn’t care if he didn’t want me with his daughter.

  It wasn’t up to him.

  I’ll find a way.

  I sent that last text before I finally lifted my fork and dug into the food. So many people in this town were scared of Joseph Vos, but I wasn’t one of them. There was nothing he had that I wanted with the exception of her, and I knew that he didn’t truly have her.

  She wasn’t some fool like Lucas who worshipped the man due to his money and power.

  And I knew that she wanted me regardless of what she knew was best for her. Some small part of her wanted me, and that was all I needed to know.

  Because I could prove to her that I was worth it.

  Even if I had shown her otherwise before. I wanted to be with Josie Vos regardless of who her family was, and I would do whatever it took to get her back.

  Chapter Eleven

  Josie

  I couldn’t stop my leg from shaking beneath the table.

  I just wanted to get up and leave this damn table and go somewhere.

  Anywhere, really.

  I wanted to go straight over to Beck and take him up on his offer to spin me around the dance floor, but I knew my father would be furious.

  That wasn’t specifically in his rules for today, but staying away from Beck was in his everyday rules.

  Rules that I freaking hated but needed to listen to.

  Because whether I liked it or not, my father was the key to my future, and I knew that I would have nothing if I didn’t listen to him. It didn’t matter that he was my dad. He was a businessman through and through, and he would hold up to what he said.

  He would rip my mother’s house and the small amount of money she left me away without a second thought. It wouldn’t hurt him at all, but it would kill me.

  "Would you like to dance?" My father held his hand out to Amelia who gladly accepted it with a genuine smile on her face. She had been far too excited about this event, and when I shot down the light yellow dress she had first picked out for me, I had actually felt a little guilty by the way her face fell.

  I knew that it was unfair to be cruel to her just because I was starting to hate the two people that she loved most. Amelia had done nothing to me, but I still hated the way she looked at my father like he hung the moon. Like he hadn’t abandoned his first wife and kid before he chose her.

  But I had still softened myself as I told her the kind of dress I liked. She had beamed at me like it was our first true bonding experience, and I may have even enjoyed it a bit once I tried to let go of how I felt about her with my dad. She brought out the red dress, and I knew that it was the one.

  I loved it immediately, and she had agreed once I tried it on. I tried to not think about Lucas or my dad or my mom as I let her zip up the back of my dress and push my hair over my shoulder.

  Amelia had almost nothing in common with my mother, but I knew that fact didn’t make her evil.

  The two of them moved from the table and onto the dance floor, and I couldn’t stop my gaze from immediately going to Beck. He was laughing with his sister and his friends, and every part of me wanted to go over there and be a part of it.

  I wanted to see this Beck. So carefree and fun.

  Not the Beck who felt like he was constantly for show.

  "Stop staring over there. You look desperate." Lucas snapped from beside me, and I quickly pulled my attention away from Beck to look at him.

  I didn’t say a word as I stared. I didn’t have anything to say to Lucas after everything I found out. Neither of us had uttered a word to each other since the locker room.

  "You do remember what he did to you, right? Do you need a reminder?" He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I’m sure one of my boys still has the video if you need to watch it again."

  "You’re such a prick." I said it under my breath, but I had no idea why I was showing him any courtesy in front of these people when he had absolutely no respect for me.

  "I am." He nodded before looking toward the table where the Clermonts sat. "But so is he."

  He leaned forward and I leaned back out of instinct. I wasn’t scared of Lucas, but something inside me screamed for me to get away from him. I didn’t fear him, but I didn’t trust him either.

  "Beck told me that you were the only person he sent that video to."

  Lucas laughed low and humorless, and I felt a few eyes turn our way from the people who shared a table with us. I didn’t know who any of them were. "Of course, he did. That’s exactly what I would say if I was trying to fuck you again."

  I scooted my chair back from the table and stood. There was no way in hell I was going to sit here and listen to another word from his lips. It didn’t matter that what he said was probably the truth.

  I searched the room for Allie. I had seen her walking around with a tray of food in her hands earlier, but she had been far too busy to stop and talk to me. But now, she was the only person I wanted.

  When I didn’t spot her anywhere in the ballroom, I pushed through the heavy double doors and out onto the small garden that was attached.

  I took a deep breath and tried to wash away everything Lucas had just said. There were small lights strung overhead that lit up
the small concrete garden from the darkness that surrounded it. There were flowers everywhere, along with a few benches, and a tall ashtray meant for smokers.

  I went to the far edge of the garden and looked out over the rail. We were in the middle of the city so there were no grand views here. It was all buildings and concrete and more parking lots than I could count.

  But it still felt better than being in there at that damn table.

  There were a couple of people milling around. One man was chain-smoking his cigarette like he had been waiting for hours to finally get a hit, and I watched him blow out his smoke over and over as I tried to clear my head.

  He didn’t pay one bit of attention to me, but I couldn’t stop watching him until my phone buzzed in my hand.

  Where did you go?

  It was from Beck, and I knew that I should have never text him to begin with. But I was so shocked when he had walked up to me in front of my dad and told me that I had looked beautiful.

  Beck may not have truly known the extent of my father’s dislike for him, but he knew that he didn’t like him, and he simply didn’t care. It shouldn’t have made my heart race or my stomach flip.

  Beck wasn’t good for me, but my body didn’t realize that. It didn’t matter how much I repeated that over and over in my head. Nothing else was listening.

  I ran away for a bit.

  I pressed Send then tucked my phone away. I would be lying if I hadn’t thought about how Beck would react when I picked out this dress. I shouldn’t have even cared, but I did.

  Can I find you?

  I stared down at his question, and I knew what he meant. He was giving me the opportunity to tell him that I didn’t want to be found. That I wanted to be alone, and I was so shocked by it, that I could barely respond.

  Beck didn’t ask permission for anything.

  Since the moment I met him, it was clear that he was the kind of guy who went after what he wanted and didn’t let anything stop him. The fact that he was giving me this choice meant that he was giving me more than he usually allowed, and there was only one answer that I could send back.