“I don’t really know, why he is trying to make my life miserable but believe me, he is not joking. He would do is if I cross him.”
“Geez Josie, do Jenna and Hunter know about this?”
“No, I didn’t want to tell her and make her feel bad or worry about me.”
“Josie, I’m sorry. If I would have known I would have come to you earlier. I just thought… I thought you were going to leave.” The sad tone in his voice is tugging on y heart. He doesn’t want me to leave. The last three month, I’ve been thinking I’ve imagined that there was something between us.
“Colt, are we crazy for liking each other?”
“Definitely.” His lips pull into a crooked smile that makes me want to kiss him but before I have the chance he pulls back out onto the road.
When we get to my house, Colt insists on walking me in, even though I told him ten times that there is security around the house now. “Colt, you really need to leave,” I tell him when we walk inside the house. I don’t see or hear anyone yet but I am sure my dad is going to be here any minute. “Seriously, I don’t want you to get in tr…”
I am cut off with Colt’s lips on mine. My body instantly responds and I lean into him. Intensifying the kiss, I snake my arms around his neck to pull him closer. He walks me backward until I hit the wall. I lean against it a little for support, realizing that my legs have turned into overcooked spaghetti.
The kiss ended as fast as it started, with Colt pulling away.
14
Colt
“Who the hell are you?” Senator Warren yells from the staircase. “Who do you think you are, taking my daughter from the party and now violating her in my house?”
Violating her?
“Dad! Don’t be ridiculous!”
“Josephine, go to your room. We’ll talk about this in the morning.” He talks to her like she is eight instead of eighteen.
“No!” She crosses her arm in front of her chest and tilts her head up in defiance.
Her dad takes a few steps toward us. “Young lady, I had enough of you. Go to your room before I have one of the security guards throw you in there and lock the door.”
I take every ounce of restraint I have not to bash his face in. How dare he threatens her like this? I take a few steps toward him until we are face to face. I am so angry, my muscles twitch and my nails are digging into my palm with my hands balled into tight fists.
With my face only a few inches from his I say, “You are going to apologize to your daughter and then you are going to lay off the security around her so she can go where she wants and see who she wants to.”
For a split second, I see terror flicker in his eyes and I know he is scared of me. He quickly composes himself and hides his fear with laughter. I don’t move or give away any reaction at all.
“Or what?” He finally manages to say in between laughs.
“Or I’m going to tell everybody what you are really hiding.”
He instantly quiets down, every last chuckle stuck in his throat. All the blood drains from his face, leaving his skin a pasty white. His eyes are glued to mine for a few moments and the glimpse of terror I’ve seen before is now spreading across his face.
“Does she know?” He asks, his eyes flicker to Josie.
“Not yet, but if we two can’t be friends, I might have to tell her.” Not in a million years would I consider him anything resembling a friend, but I do want him complying with me on this.
“I think we could manage to be friends.”
“Good, come on Josie. I’ll tuck you in.” I turn to her and take her hand. As expected she is wearing a confused and wary expression on her face.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Tate, is there anything you would like to say to your daughter?”
Now it's his turn to test the limits of his restraint. With obvious discomfort, he says, “Josephine, I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
The bulging vein on his forehead tells me this was rather hard for him and I can’t help but feel great about making him sweat. The downside of this knowledge is that whatever he is hiding must be big. We quickly walk through the house until we are alone again in her room.
“What the hell was that and what secret are you talking about?” She asks, as soon as the door closes behind us.
“I honestly have no idea,” I tell her.
“What?!”
“I was bluffing. I have no clue what he is hiding. But I will find out.”
Disbelief crosses her face. “How did you know he was hiding anything at all?”
“I really didn’t know that either. I just had a feeling. The way your dad is acting about Jenna and how he is treating you, something doesn’t add up.”
“I always thought he was acting over the top, but I never consider he is doing this for an alternative reason.” Josie sits down on her bed and slips her heels off her feet.
I sit down next to her and put my arm around her waist. “I promise, I’ll find out what he is hiding.”
She nods and then looks nervously around the room. “Are you going to stay?”
“Do you want me to stay?”
Another nod with a shy smile. I weigh my options in my head. She is eighteen and invited me into the house. Even if the dad calls the cops, which I don’t think he would, there is really nothing they can charge me with.
I take my shoes off and get comfortable on the bed while Josie disappears into the bathroom. When she reappears, her makeup is off, her hair is combed out and she has changed from her party dress into some purple pajamas. She looks even more beautiful now that all of that fake stuff is off of her. This is the real Josie, without a layer of foundation slapped on her face and fake lashes glued to her eyelids. This is the Josie I love.
The Josie I love?
I do love her, I realize. I don’t know why it didn’t come to me before. It’s so obvious, now that I’m thinking about it. I never felt like this with anyone. She is the only person I can just be myself around.
My mind is still reeling from this revelation when she crawls under the blanket and cuddles up next to me. She fits into my arms like we were made for each other. I fall asleep replaying the words in my mind. I love Josie.
My dream starts out unusually light and happy. Josie is there with me. We are holding hands, walking into a restaurant. Hunter, Jenna, Jaxon, and Eliza are sitting at a large round table waiting for us.
“There you guys are!” Jenna jumps up, smiling wildly and hugs her sister before she throws her arms around me. “Good to see you,” she tells me gleefully.
I sit down in between Josie and Hunter, he pats me on the shoulder. “Hey, brother.”
We order and eat, we have fun and talk. Everybody is laughing and enjoying dinner. The waitress comes and brings dessert, sitting a big piece of chocolate cake in between me and Josie. I go to grab my fork but instead of thin and light utensil, I’m suddenly holding a heavy gun in my hand. The metal is cold on my skin when my finger slides over the sleek side and find his way to the trigger. No!
I want to drop it, throw it away as far as I can, but my hand is moving on its own. Everybody around me is screaming, begging me to not shoot. Laughter has turn into blood churning screams. Smiles have turned into scared and shock filled expressions.
My arm raises on its own accords with an unyielding force. I look past the barrel and there she is. Looking at me with her pleading eyes. Shielding Eliza with her own body. Protecting her from the monster in front of them. Me.
My finger pulls the trigger without my consent. The gun kicks back in my hand a quarter of a second before it hits Sarah’s chest. The sudden silence around me is unbearable. I turn to Josie, but she is not there. She is hovering in the corner of the room, crying, scared and alone. I take a step towards her and she starts screaming. She is yelling and begging not to hurt her. I tell her that I would never harm her, but when I hold my hands up, I’m still holding the gun.
“Wake up!” Someone calls from the distance and the floor a
round me starts to shake. Josie starts to shake too and I need to get to her. I try to reach her, grab her and shied her, but she is just out of reach. “Colt, wake up!” The voice is closer now.
I open my eyes and lunge forward, automatically grabbing onto Josie’s delicate shoulders. She gasps in response. “Colt, are you okay?”
I loosen my grip on her while I do my best to get my erratic breathing under control.
“I’m fine. Just a dream.”
“This one was worse than last time,” she points out. “You dreamed about Sarah? You said her name in your sleep.”
I close my eyes and let my head fall into my hands. “Yeah, I have nightmares about what I did. It’s fine Josie, really. Don’t worry about me.”
“Colt, I need to tell you something.” She shifts next to me. “My dad looked into Sarah when she took Jenna’s case. Sarah knew about me and I think my dad wanted to make sure he had something to keep her quiet.” She takes a deep audible breath. “You know how Sarah started working at social services? She was court ordered to work with kids at the juvenile detention center.”
“Court ordered?” The thought of sweet Sarah getting in trouble with the law seems outrageous.
“Yeah, apparently she was an alcoholic by the time she was sixteen. After an all-night binger, she drove home drunk and ran the car off the road. Her best friend was in the car with her and that crash left her in a wheelchair. They charged Sarah with a DUI and she got three years of probation and a hundred hours of community service.”
I don’t know why she is telling me any of this. Neither Sarah mistakes nor how she started her career, change anything.
“Her friend killed herself a few months later. Sarah dedicated her life to helping others because she always felt like her friend's death was her fault.”
I get up off the bed, unable to listen to this any longer. “Josie, you can’t compare that to what I’ve done. Maybe she felt responsible for what happen but I am responsible. And even if she was the reason for her friend's death, that doesn’t make what I did any better. Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Josie copies my move and stands in front of me. “That’s not what I meant. What I’m saying is that everybody makes mistakes and some people make very big ones. That doesn’t mean you can’t still be a good person.”
“Josie, I made more than a mistake.”
“Sarah turned her life around. She went through something really dark and scary. She hurt people in the process but she changed her life.”
“I’m not like Sarah, I can’t help people like she did.”
“I think you are wrong. I think there is more good in you than you realize. You just don’t want to show it to anyone. That's why you act differently when you around other people.”
She doesn’t have to explain to me what she means. I’m perfectly aware of my change in demeanor when I’m around people other than her. That facade is purposely placed so people are scared of me. I have perfected it over the years and until Josie no-one was able to get passed it.
A few days later
Ever since the night of Josie’s birthday, I have been trying to figure out what her dad is hiding. Even with a large amount of cash I have saved up and the few contacts I still have, it was hard to find anything out. Most people turned me down right away, as soon as they heard who I need information on. I finally found a private investigator who is willing to do it and after started snooping we quickly realize that there was something wrong with Josie adoption papers. I decided on not telling her anything until I know exactly what's going on. Hopefully, I’m making the right decision here.
I eagerly walk into the bar, late in the afternoon. It’s still empty and I spot the person I’m meeting right away. John, the private investigator is already waiting for me at one of the tables. I slide in the booth on the opposite side of him. “Find anything?” I ask him, wasting no time.
“I did, but it’s not exactly what we were looking for.” He takes some folded papers out of the inside jacket pocket and hands them to me. “I couldn’t find any adoption papers, because there never was an adoption.”
15
Josephine
Another week, another lame party in honor of my amazing father. The only reason I can get through these events is the Champagne they're serving. If it wasn’t for the alcohol, I would have probably stabbed my eyes out with one of the salad forks a long time ago.
I wish Colt was here right now, but he had to work. We’ve been talking and texting every day since my eighteenth birthday a month ago. He took me on a few dates, and he came and visited me at the house twice, but he didn’t stay over again. We still don’t know what my dad is hiding but Colt assured me that he’s going to find out.
Whatever it is, it must be big since my dad gave me the green light to go and visit Jenna on weekends. We’ve had a lot of catching up to do. So I’ve gone to see her every weekend for the last three weeks. The only reason I didn’t go this weekend is because of this event my dad asked me nicely to come to.
“Here you go,” a guy I don’t know says and hands me a full flute.
“Ah, thanks.” I take the glass and set the empty one on a high table a few feet away from us.
“I’m Leo, you are Josephine Warren right?”
“I’m the one.” I give the guy a quick look over. He looks to be my age, maybe a little older. Most girls would probably describe him as a good-looking guy, but he has no appeal to me.
“Doesn’t look like you are enjoying the party much.”
I shrug. “It’s okay.”
“You might enjoy it more if you would actually talk to people instead of standing here in the back corner by yourself.”
I would if the guests were actual human beings and not a bunch of self-righteous jerks.
“Why don’t we go somewhere else where we can have a better time, sweetheart?”
Wow, this guy has some balls being this straight forward. “Leo, thank you for the offer but I don’t think so. I can’t leave my dad’s party.”
“Oh come on sweetie, let’s go somewhere. I promise I’ll show you a good time.” What a prick.
“Sorry, but no thank you.” I step away but he grabs my arm keeping me against the wall. Shocked, I look over his shoulder into the crowd. Nobody is paying us the least bit of attention. People are too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice. “Let go of me.”
He shakes his head puts his arm around me to hold me close to his body. I start to fight him and wiggle out of his hold but he is too strong. His fingers are digging into my skin with a strength that will surely leave me bruised.
“Let me go?” I yell, but the loud music drowns out my cry for help.
“Don’t be like that, princess.” He pulls me to the exit door not far from us and pushes me out the door. I stumble backwards almost falling on my ass. Leo is right behind me, pulling the door shut. Just before the door closes all the way, it swings back open and another person bursts through, grabbing Leo by the throat and slams him against the wall.
“Big mistake, tough guy,” Colt growls in his face. Leo hits Colt in the ribs a few times but Colt seems completely unaffected.
“Come on man,” Leo begs, his voice so strained that the words are more like a wheeze. Colt tightens his grip and Leo’s face is starting to turn a reddish-purple.
“Colt, stop. You’re killing him!” I put my hand on his shoulder and Colt lets go of Leo’s throat almost immediately. Leo sucks in a loud, shaky breath and slumps down to the ground as Colt steps back.
He turns and takes my arm, leading me down the back alley. I can barely keep up with his fast pace, mostly due to my less than comfortable high heels.
“Are you okay?” He asks without looking at me.
“Yes, I think so.” Right now I’m more worried about Colt than myself. He looks like a bundle of C4 that’s about to go off. And I’m the head of the bomb squat, specializing in this specific kind of explosive.
“I need to get aw
ay from here or I will kill him.”
“Okay, let’s go somewhere. Anywhere!”
I spot Colt’s car on the other side of the street and we rush over there. My quick small steps in my high heels are no match for his long stride. If he didn’t still have his hand on my arm, I would have already fallen on my butt three times. He walks me to the passenger side and opens the door for me, but I don’t get in. He is too wound up right now, I can’t let him drive like this. His eyes are wild and he is breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling way too fast. I need to calm him down and I need to do it fast.
He glances down at me briefly and I throw myself at him. I lock my arms around his neck and pull him into me for a kiss. Our lips slam into each other with brutal force. He stills and for a split second I think this is not going to work.
I feel his hands on my hips first, then they come around and rest on my lower back. His lips soften as they mold onto mine and I can feel the tension drain from his body.
By the time we break the kiss, my legs are wobbly and my mind is nothing but mush. I have to lean against the car to keep myself up. Colt puts his arm around me and helps me into the car before walking around to get behind the wheel.
“You want me to take you home?” He asks.
“I don’t want to go home,” I admit. “Can we go to your place?” As soon as the words are out, I have this funny feeling in my gut. I might be wrong but I think this is what people say when they mean ‘want to go have sex?’
“Sure,” he says completely normal. Maybe I’m wrong about this. I have very limited experiences with sex. Or maybe I’m not wrong and this is all normal to Colt, and that's why he is acting like this isn’t a big deal. I’m probably overreacting. I’ve been alone with Colt before. We’ve even slept in the same bed before. Twice. So why does this feel different?
Yeah, I’m definitely overreacting.
The Lies We Tell: An Enemy to Lovers Young Adult Romance (Pushed Aside Book 3) Page 8
