Treacherous by Alex Grayson & Melissa Toppen

by Alex Grayson

  I leave him on the floor and walk out of my room.

  RYLEE

  “RYLEE,” MOM SAYS seconds before she appears in my doorway. She’s dressed in blue scrubs, her hair twisted into a tight bun at the back of her head.

  “Hey, Mom.” I close the textbook in front of me. It’s not like I’ve retained anything I’ve attempted to read over the last thirty minutes—or the entire day for that matter. My mind has been consumed with thoughts of Zayden. I’ve replayed the events from this past weekend over and over again in my head. It’s all I can think about.

  I still haven’t been able to fully digest how quickly things changed. I went from my highest high to my lowest low in the matter of minutes on Friday. Then to tack on what happened Saturday, accompanied with what Oliver told me Sunday, and then Zayden’s absence at school the last two days, I swear I’ve never felt more off kilter than I do right now. The last few days have been absolute torture.

  “You got a minute?” Mom asks, stepping into my room.

  “Yeah, of course. What’s up?” I tuck my legs Indian style, shoving my schoolwork to the side to make room for my mom to sit. She takes a seat on the edge of the mattress, angling her body toward me.

  “I know this move has been difficult for you. And I know you’ve been doing your best to make the best of a less than ideal situation. But I wanted to check and make sure you’re okay. I feel like we haven’t talked much recently. At least not like we used to.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie, not wanting to get into the ridiculous drama that has taken over my life. Mom has enough on her plate as it is.

  “I know our situation has changed, but I’m still your mom. You know you can tell me anything, right?”

  “Of course I do.” I study her expression, trying to figure out what she’s getting at.

  “So is that why you didn’t tell me about you and Zayden?” She doesn’t try to hide the hurt that tugs at her expression.

  “What?” I stutter, a little caught off guard.

  Up to this point, I haven’t really said anything to her about Zayden. Mainly because we were still so new, and I wasn’t sure where it was going. But also because a small part of me worried that she wouldn’t approve. It’s not like Zayden is the kind of guy a mother would pick for her daughter. He’s actually the exact opposite. No mother wants her daughter to end up with the bad boy. And Zayden is the epitome of a bad boy.

  But he’s also so much more. I just didn’t know how to convince her of that.

  “Zayden stopped by on Saturday. Apparently, he left his phone here on Friday night after he had been visiting you.” She gives me a pointed look.

  “We got partnered up together for an English project. He’s stopped over a couple of times to work on it with me.”

  “And the fact that you two are dating has nothing to do with why he was here?” She gives me the look only a mother can give. The one that says, I was a teenager once—do you really think I’m that stupid?

  “Mom, I….”

  “Don’t even bother denying it. Zayden was all too happy to tell me that you two are seeing each other. He seems quite smitten with you, I must say.”

  “He did what?”

  On one hand, I’m instantly irritated. Telling my mother wasn’t his place. On the other, I can’t deny the way my heart does a little flip inside my chest that she thinks he’s smitten. Not that any of that really matters now. It’s not like he’s talking to me anymore. Hell, no one has heard a word out of him since Saturday night—not even Oliver.

  “It was really kind of cute actually.” Mom smiles to herself. “Though, my feelings are a little hurt that I had to hear it from him and not you.”

  “I had been meaning to talk to you, but it seems like we’re never in the same room longer than a few minutes at a time, and more often times than not, we’re not alone. Besides, I’m not sure how serious it is or if it’s even still a thing for that matter.”

  “What happened?” Concern clouds her face as she clearly picks up on more than I intend for her to.

  “Just drama with Oliver.” I wave my hand around, trying to blow it off.

  “Is he giving you a hard time for seeing his best friend? I can’t imagine that’s easy for him. Out of everyone, I think he’s having the hardest time with this entire transition.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “A mother just knows.” She shrugs. “Tell me what happened.”

  “I really don’t want to get into it.”

  “Honey, if Oliver has done something….”

  “He hasn’t,” I cut her off, not sure why I’m jumping to defend him after everything he’s done. “It’s just complicated between me and Zayden and having Oliver as part of the equation has made things a little hard to maneuver. That’s all. Everything will work itself out. Or it won’t.” I try to act indifferent. “But speaking of Oliver, I do have something I want to ask you.”

  “Okay.” She nods, waiting for me to continue.

  “I don’t really know how to ask this, so I’m just going to be as blunt as I can be.” I take a deep breath. “Did you and Paul start seeing each other while he was still married to his wife?”

  I can tell my question catches her off guard, but she quickly recovers, her expression smoothing.

  “Why would you ask me something like that?” she questions, shifting her weight on the bed.

  “Just something Oliver said.”

  “Which was?”

  “He said that he overheard his parents’ arguing just before they split. His mom apparently mentioned the affair his dad was having. Then, after you two started dating, I guess his mom told him you were the woman that his father was sleeping with while they were married and that you were the reason they divorced.”

  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Maria Conley would say or do anything to make herself the victim.”

  “Wait.” Her comment makes me pause. “You know her?”

  “Not well, but yes, we’ve met.”

  “So then it’s true?” I ask hesitantly.

  “Yes and no.” She lets out a heavy breath. “When Paul and I met, he was married to Maria, and we were just friends. And while I’ll admit, our feelings were bordering on more than platonic, we never acted on them. Paul and Maria had been having problems for years. In fact, when we met, Paul had just found out about her second affair. He was trying to keep things together for Oliver—hoping he could make it work until he was out of the house, but that second affair really took a toll on him. I was there for him, as a friend.”

  “So you didn’t….”

  “I won’t lie to you and say that nothing happened between Paul and me before they divorced. But I can promise you that I was not the reason that they did. Maria had done damage that couldn’t be undone. It wasn’t until Paul told her that he wanted a divorce and they officially separated that our relationship began to move into a more intimate direction. But I don’t think you want all the details where that’s concerned.” She smiles when I cringe.

  “No, no details.” I shake my head, causing her to giggle.

  “I didn’t realize that Oliver was struggling with this. I’ll talk to Paul and make sure he sits down with his son. Sounds like they need to have a conversation that’s a bit overdo.” She leans over, patting the top of my leg. “Let’s keep what I just told you between you and me for now. I think this is something that needs to be handled between the two of them.”

  I nod in agreement, hoping for all of our sakes that they have this conversation sooner rather than later. While Oliver has played nice the last couple of days, that doesn’t mean it will last. Maybe if he learns the truth about his mother, this vendetta he has against my mom, which has bled over onto me, will be over, once and for all.

  My attention is pulled away from my mom when my phone pings on the bed next to me. Glancing down, my heart nearly leaps right out of my chest when I see Zayden’s name pop up on the scr
een, followed by a text that reads I’m outside.

  “I’m sorry, Mom.” I jump up off the bed like someone just lit the bedding on fire. “But can we finish this conversation later?”

  “Um, okay.” She seems surprised by my abrupt movement.

  “Zayden’s here,” I tell her in a way of explanation. And even though she has no idea what’s been going on these past few days, something about my expression must tell her that this is important.

  “Okay.” She smiles as she stands. “Just don’t leave without letting me know.”

  “I won’t.” I lean in, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Thanks, Mom.” With that, I take off out of my room, running down the stairs so fast it’s a wonder I don’t end up on my face at some point.

  When I push my way outside, I spot Zayden’s truck out front, parked on the curb. A brisk wind blows across my face, stealing my breath, but I don’t let it deter me. I jog across the front lawn, no jacket, no shoes, with a trillion butterflies flapping wildly in my stomach.

  When I pull open the passenger side door and catch sight of him for the first time in days, it takes everything in me not to burst into tears. I didn’t realize how much I needed this, how much I needed to see him, until this very second.

  “Hey.” He gives me a tentative smile. “Get in.”

  I do as he says, hoisting myself up into his truck before pulling the door closed.

  I angle my body toward him, honestly not really sure what to say or do.

  “Oliver came to see me,” Zayden confesses after a long moment of silence passes between us. He grips the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turn white. Even though he’s speaking to me, his eyes remain forward. “He told me what happened.” He blows out a heavy breath through his nose, his jaw locked tight.

  “Zayden.…” I start, feeling like I owe him an explanation of some kind.

  “Don’t.” He cuts me off. “Just let me say this, okay?” When his eyes finally look at me, there’s so much regret etched on his face that it nearly knocks the wind right out of me.

  I nod, suddenly feeling even more uncertainty than I did just moments ago.

  “I fucked up.” He releases the steering wheel. “What happened Saturday…. I have no excuse. You needed me, and I fucking left you there.” The words catch in his throat as he looks down at his hands that are now knotted in his lap.

  “Don’t do that.” I scoot across the bench seat, not stopping until my leg is resting against his. “You didn’t know.” I slide my hand against his cheek before gently coaxing his eyes back to me.

  “But I should have known. I thought… I thought you were cheating on me. After everything I put you through, you opened your heart to me, you gave me your body, and that’s how I repay you—by believing the absolute worst of you. Had something worse happened to you, had you been… raped.” He swallows hard. “I don’t think I could have lived with that.”

  “Nothing happened. Look at me. You stopped it. You showed up and you stopped it. And I’m okay.” I reach up and push his hair away from his forehead. “You read the situation as you saw it. I don’t know what I would have done had the roles been reversed. I probably would have done the exact same thing.” I give him a reassuring smile. “This isn’t on you, Zayden. This is on me. I let Oliver get to me. I let him make me believe the worst in you. And because of that, I put myself in a really bad situation. This isn’t on you,” I repeat.

  “Looks like Oliver played us both,” he grunts, his shoulders relaxing slightly.

  “He did.” I blow out a small sigh. “But what he did doesn’t change how I feel about you. No matter how messed up everything has been over the past few days.”

  “It doesn’t change the way I feel about you either. If anything, this whole thing has made me realize just how much you really do mean to me.” He shifts, turning so that we’re facing each other. “My whole life has been a parade of users and abusers. Full of people who only care about themselves. I learned from very early on to keep people at arm’s length, but then you came along, and for the first time in my life, I found myself wanting to be close to someone. Wanting to let someone in. I’ve never felt that way about a girl before.” He smiles. “Fuck, I sound like a pussy.”

  “You do not.” I shove at his shoulder. He snags my hand and lifts it to his mouth, pressing a gentle kiss to my palm.

  “I do. But I don’t fucking care.” His ocean blue eyes bore into mine. “Just tell me I haven’t lost you.” His words are almost pleading, bringing every emotion that has been brewing in my chest straight to the surface.

  “You haven’t lost me,” I croak, tears stinging the backs of my eyes. “You are the only thing I want, Zayden. The only thing in this world that feels right to me.”

  “I’m in love with you, Rylee.” The words fall from his lips so effortlessly that it’s almost like he’s said them a hundred times before.

  The tears I’ve been holding at bay for days break free. All the devastation and uncertainty I’ve been lost in for the last few days evaporates in an instant. And when Zayden looks at me the way he’s looking at me right now, it’s hard to remember ever feeling them.

  My chest swells and my hands tremble.

  “I’m in love with you, too,” I admit. No sentence has ever held more weight or more truth. Because I’m not just admitting to him how I feel, I’m also giving him a power that I can’t take back.

  “Thank fuck.” He blows out a breath, his shoulders sagging forward as he pulls me into his lap.

  The steering wheel bites into my lower back, but I don’t care.

  Zayden’s fingers slide against my scalp, tangling in my hair as he tugs my face down to his.

  “You’re mine, Rylee.” He kisses me slow and deep, like he’s relishing his first drink of cold water after spending days on a hot desert. He kisses me until there’s nowhere I can’t feel him. Until there’s no part of my body that isn’t affected. “Say it. Say that you’re mine.”

  I’ve never been happier to oblige.

  “I’m yours.” I smile against his lips. “I’ll always be yours.”

  “I fucking love you.” He slides his tongue against mine.

  “I fucking love you, too.” I giggle when he pulls back and hits me with an amused look. “What?” I cock my head to the side, draping my arms around his neck.

  “I love that word even more when you say it.”

  “What word?” I nibble on my bottom lip. The way he’s looking at me makes me feel all kinds of ways.

  “Fuck.” His eyes go dark as his hands slide around my back.

  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” I repeat, laughter rumbling through my words. I’ve never been one to use much profanity but being around Zayden has definitely loosened my tongue where that’s concerned.

  “Keep talking like that and Friday will seem like a warmup for what I’ve got planned for you.”

  I lean forward and press a kiss to his mouth before seductively whispering against his lips, “That’s what I’m counting on.”

  ZAYDEN

  THREE WEEKS LATER

  I TUCK MY GIRL against my side as we walk out of the door. Normally I can’t wait for spring and the warmer weather, but I have to admit, I’m liking the cold more and more. It gives me a damn good excuse to have Rylee snuggled up to me. Not that I need an excuse. I’ve never been the affectionate type, with the exception of Danielle, but I’m realizing it was because I hadn’t found the right girl to be affectionate with. If Rylee is near, I have to be touching her in some way. Thank fuck, she’s totally down with my clingy ass.

  Three weeks ago, I damn near lost her. While the thought still incites my anger, I refuse to let the greediness and mistakes of others dampen mine and Rylee’s relationship.

  “Hey, Z!” someone calls my name. “You and Rylee coming to the game tonight?”

  “We’ll see,” I answer back.

  Opening my truck door, I toss both of our books behind the seat
. After, I get in Rylee’s space until she bumps into the back fender with nowhere else to go. I curl my fingers around the bed of the truck over her shoulder. “What are our plans for tonight, baby?”

  She tips her head back to look up at me. “Hmm… I was thinking we could watch New Moon.”

  I wrack my brain, trying to think of what movie she’s talking about, but come up with nothing.

  “I don’t remember that one. What’s it about?”

  Her eyes take on a mischievous sparkle and she grins. “It’s the second movie in The Twilight Saga.”

  “Lee!” I yell, still holding her eyes. “What time does the game start? Looks like I’m going solo.”

  Rylee giggles and slams my stomach with the back of her hand. “I’m just kidding.” She leans up and presses a kiss to my lips, her delicious flavor enticing me to further the intimate contact. “Actually, Paul and Mom are going away for the weekend. Savannah was supposed to come visit Saturday and spend the night, but she came down with the flu. I heard Oliver tell his dad he’ll be gone for the weekend, too.” Her eyes take on a sensual look. “Looks like I’ll have the house all to myself. I’ll be alone all weekend.”

  She pouts playfully, and it makes me want to lick the look off her face.

  “Well, I guess we’ll have to rectify that.”

  My dick instantly hardens. I fucking love the idea of having Rylee all to myself for an entire weekend. I groan when I think of all the different ways I can take her.

  “You’re being naughty in that head of yours, aren’t you?”

  Leaning forward, I bury my face in her neck and take a deep breath. I nip at her skin, then tug her earlobe between my teeth.

  “Very fucking naughty, baby,” I admit huskily.

  “Alright, you two, knock it off,” Charles says, interrupting our moment.

  I lift my head and shoot him a glare. “Bad timing. Leave and come back later.”

  He chuckles and throws his book bag in the bed of my truck. “No can do. You’re my ride home.”

  “What the hell? Since when?”