He was the next to leave the SUV.
That left Kip running his fingertips up and down my arm.
Soothing yet deadly.
I turned my head and stared into his blue eyes.
And all he did was smile.
In a sad way that was enough for me.
I was destroyed.
Melting head to toe, watching them as they each got into their vehicles and drove away, following Kip back into Bay Falls.
When I turned my head I could smell Barr’s smoke lingering on my shoulder. I lifted my right hand to my face and smelled Pres’s cologne. The skin on my left arm was still prickly from Kip touching me.
I shook my head.
There was no way in hell I was staying.
I started the SUV and started to drive when suddenly the gas light glowed and beeped at me. I was zero miles until…
“Shit,” I said and quickly pulled over.
I was out of gas?
That was impossible.
When I left Claire’s…
I opened the driver’s door and looked back.
The little door was open.
I covered my mouth.
Those assholes took the gas out of the SUV.
I turned and reached for my phone to call for a ride… but there was no phone.
Either Pres or Barr swiped it.
So I was stuck alone on the side of the road without any gas. Without a phone. Without even knowing where I really was. If I wanted to walk back into Bay Falls I could have done that. It would take a while to do so though.
I looked at the screen on the dashboard and knew there had to be a way to get help from there. Some kind of roadside service that could bring me gas.
But as I reached for the screen, I stopped myself.
I lowered my hand down and just sat there in the dark.
Stuck between the life I had and the life I was running from.
The poor, dirty girl with a junkie of a mother.
Or the fake rich girl with a screwdriver to carve out anyone’s car that got in my way… getting the attention of the three baddest guys in school.
“What the hell are you going to do, Ti?” I asked the reflection in the rearview mirror.
At that moment it felt like there wasn’t much I could do.
So I just sat there.
And waited.
And thought about the life of the dirty, poor girl and the rich, fake girl…
* * *
I ended up falling asleep.
Because the driver’s seat of the SUV Claire let me drive was more comfortable than my bed at my old apartment. And being there on the side of the road on a dark street on a quiet night it almost seemed inevitable to doze off.
The only reason I woke up was because I started to smell dream.
That’s when you dream about something so vividly you can actually smell it.
It was a weird dream of Pres, Barr, and Kip all standing at the beach, right where the last of the water touched the sand. The three of them were shirtless. Their bodies built from stone yet all different in their own ways. Kip being more tone and lean thanks to surfing. Barr tall and thick with muscles, a cigarette hanging from his lips. And then there was Pres. His shoulders so wide and rounded, every inch of his body so well defined…
That’s when the smell started to hit me.
The smell of the ocean from Kip. The smell of smoke from Barr. The smell of cologne from Pres.
It made my head toss and turn against the seat.
I let out a sighing groan knowing how fucking wrong this was. But at least I was keeping it contained to a dream. The three of them were bad. So bad. So very super horribly bad. But in my dream… they could still be bad but in a different way.
I bit my lip and sucked in a deep breath.
The smell was so overpowering that my eyes popped open.
I had the sudden jerk like feeling that I was falling and my hands jumped forward, grabbing the steering wheel as I let out a whimpering groan.
“Think you need one of these, love.”
I turned and put my back against the door and saw Barr sitting next to me in the passenger seat of the SUV. Smoking. Holding the cigarette toward me.
“We need to put down a window,” Kip said. “I think someone just had a wet dream.”
Kip was in the backseat with a foot up against my seat, arms spread across the backseat, looking so cool and calm and casual and deceiving.
And then there was Pres.
Almost blended into the darkness of the SUV.
His eyes were able to somehow shine yet burn even though they matched the darkness.
So the smell from the dream was the smell in real life.
They were back.
And I was stupid enough to not lock the SUV.
Talk about letting everything go wrong.
“Cat got your tongue, girl?” Kip asked.
“Speaking of cats…,” Barr said with a grin.
“Think you lost something, sugar,” Pres said.
He leaned forward and put his hand to the middle console. When he moved his hand away there was my phone.
I looked down at the phone, then to him.
“What did you do to it?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said.
“I don’t believe you. Any of you.”
“Trust is earned, love,” Barr said. “We’ll get there.”
“How do I know you didn’t put some tracker on it?” I asked. “Or downloaded something that lets you see my screen?”
“Do they have that shit?” Kip asked. He almost jumped to the front seat. “Imagine getting that and seeing all those naughty selfies before they’re taken…”
“That’s disgusting,” I said.
“If you don’t believe us, then get rid of the phone,” Pres said. “Run it over and tell Claire you need a new one.”
“Just like your other phone,” Barr said. “Remember when it went for a swim?”
He grinned.
He took a drag of the cigarette.
He opened the door, blew the smoke out and then flicked the cigarette away.
“We could go get you some gas, girl,” Kip said. “And not the kind from too many tacos.”
I curled my lip. “Gross.”
“Hey, I’m following your lead here,” Kip said in a low voice. “You wanted to laugh, right? Have fun. Laugh.”
“This isn’t fun,” I said. “You boxed me in and stole the gas out of my car? Then stole my cell? Leaving me stranded here? On a dark road? Alone? At night? You’re fucking psychos.”
“Told you,” Barr said.
“What?” I asked.
“You missed the point.”
“And what’s the fucking point?”
Pres leaned forward again and grabbed my phone. “We told you we wanted you to stay. So you’re staying, right?”
I swallowed hard. “I guess I don’t have a choice. Unless I get some gas.”
“Not tonight,” Barr said. “I’ll give you a ride home. Make sure you’re safe.”
“You can tell Claire you ran out of gas,” Kip said. “That you got nervous she would get pissed at you. I’m sure it’ll take her all of ten seconds to get someone here to take care of it.”
“Is that what this is?” I asked. “You guys don’t like Claire? You know she’s not even family to me, right? She was our landlady when I was a kid. She kicked us out.”
They didn’t respond to that.
They just stared at me in silence.
Three sets of eyes.
And I had no idea what I was supposed to be feeling.
I mean, I knew what I wanted to feel…
“Our numbers are in your phone now, sugar,” Pres said. “That’s why I took it. Just in case you need something.”
I laughed. “Wait. So now you’re my friends? You’re going to be nice to me?”
“Nobody said that, love,” Barr said.
“You’ll figure this all out soon enough, g
irl,” Kip said. “But guys like Denny? Never going to happen for you. And bitches like Blair? You have to push back.”
“Tell you what,” I said. “Next time she fucks with me I’ll take a screwdriver to her face.”
“Now you’re getting it,” Pres said with a grin.
“Oh she hasn’t gotten it yet,” Barr said.
My cheeks flooded with heat. “What does-”
“You know the cliché saying of kindness and weakness,” Pres said. “Write that in your mind. Everything has its purpose, sugar. Everything.”
Pres made a bold move and leaned toward me.
So fast and so close that I was swept up in his cologne and had no clue what to do. His soft and perfect lips brushed against my cheek.
My toes curled in my socks and shoes as I tried to play it off cool.
He slid out of the SUV.
Then came Kip.
Touching my arm with his fingertips like he had done before. Making my skin tighten and tingle with goosebumps. He put his cheek against mine. I swore he smelled like the ocean. Soft, smooth, comforting, caring, yet knowing there was a split second fuse that would turn him into something deadly.
“Night, night, girl,” he whispered.
The corner of his lip touched the corner of my lip.
And then he was gone too.
Leaving me alone with Barr.
Without warning or question, Barr reached across the seat and slipped his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me toward him.
My lips parted with a sigh.
Don’t fucking kiss me.
Oh, fuck, who am I kidding? Kiss me.
Let all the bad boys kiss me.
Let them ruin me…
I’m not staying forever, right?
Barr was close enough that I could taste the smoke lingering on his lips and tongue.
“I’ll give you that ride home, love,” he whispered. “But first tell me you’re staying.”
I swallowed hard. “Tell me why you want me to stay.”
“You’re the one without gas,” Barr said. “You’re the one who needs a ride home. That means you do what I say.”
“Leave then,” I whispered. “I’ll ask Kip or Pres for a ride. They’d do it.”
“No, they won’t.”
“Maybe I could convince them.”
“Maybe you could convince me.”
Tinsley Jane Ditkiss… flirting with this asshole of a guy… well done…
Barr dug his fingers a little more into the back of my neck.
He inched closer.
A sense of reality finally smacked me in the mouth.
“I’m staying,” I blurted out. “Okay? I’m staying.”
Barr smiled.
I hated that he was so fucking hot.
I hated that all three of them were so fucking hot in their own fucking way.
“Hope you don’t mind that I have a smoke on the ride home,” he said.
Barr left the SUV.
And I sat there alone again.
I caught my breath and felt my teeth chatter.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
“No, I don’t mind… I don’t mind at all…”
twelve
I shuffled into the kitchen where Claire sat wearing thin glasses slid down the bridge of her nose as she read the newspaper. I never thought in my wildest dreams rich people would read the newspaper. Everything was online.
“Eat up,” Claire said.
The island was covered in food.
Again, a meal fit for ten or twenty people.
I made a small plate of food.
“Claire, I don’t have your SUV,” I said.
She lowered the newspaper and took off her glasses. “What?”
“I had to leave it somewhere. Last night.”
“Were you drinking? If so, just admit it. Because I’d actually be a little proud that you were smart enough to not drive than do something really stupid.”
The word stupid made me think of them.
Pres’s lips to my cheek. Kip’s fingertips to my arm. Barr’s hand at the back of my neck.
I shook my head. “I wasn’t drinking. I think maybe I wish I was though.”
“Why’s that?”
I licked my lips. I was nervous. My entire life was hanging on by a thread. With Claire’s command I would be back in that apartment. No more rich life. No more of the Rulz.
“I ran out of gas,” I whispered.
“Ran out of gas?” Claire asked. “Where did you drive to?”
I chewed on a piece of cantaloupe.
Then I put the plate down.
“I was going to go home. I mean, back home. I was going to leave.”
“Leave? Why?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Just a lot at once. Looking for something familiar. I guess I ended up wandering around and next thing I knew I was out of gas.”
“Why didn’t you call for help?” Claire asked.
“I didn’t want to burden you.”
“Burden me? You can never be a burden to me, Tinsley.”
“I got a ride home. I’ll figure out how to get gas. It’s my fault, Claire. It’s not…”
Claire had her phone in her hand. Her fingers moving faster than a teenager texting about drama and hot boys.
“There,” she said. “Done.”
“Done?”
“Done,” she said again.
“Okay then,” I said. “I’m really sorry.”
“No need to be sorry,” Claire said. “Forget about it. It’s done.”
I went back to eating.
Preparing myself for what I needed next.
Which was another vehicle to take to BFH.
Unless I skipped the day and just hung around the house. Or the beach.
I bet if I texted Gi or Beth they would skip and hang with me.
But not together though.
They hated each other.
Which seemed to be the trend at BFH.
Everyone hating each other.
I slipped out of the kitchen to go get dressed. I’d play the dumb card.
Oh no, how am I going to get to class today?
As I finished washing my face in the bathroom and picking out every little flaw I could find on my face, I heard someone knocking at the bedroom door. I wiped my face and walked through the room.
“Hello?” I called out.
“Tinsley, it’s Claire,” she said.
The door wasn’t locked.
I opened the door. “It’s your house, Claire.”
“It’s your privacy,” she said with a smile. “Just wanted to let you know… someone’s here for you.”
“Oh?” I asked.
“I guess you need a ride to Bay Falls High, right?”
“Yeah. Right.” I figured it was Gi but then I realized Gi had no clue what happened to me last night. “Wait. Who’s out there?”
“Barrington,” Claire said.
She turned and walked away.
My jaw dropped.
Oh… well… it’s just fucking Barrington…
* * *
I sat in Barr’s luxury SUV as he drove with his left hand, leaving his right hand to slowly creep toward me. It was an intriguing game, watching him move his hand back and forth. I knew it wasn’t out of fear or hesitation but rather to mess with me.
Everything was to mess with me.
Even if I still didn’t know why.
As we approached BFH the sprawling, old building grew out of the horizon. Suddenly Barr turned right.
“Detour?” I asked.
“Proposal,” he replied.
He pulled to the side of the road and reached for my hand.
I ripped my hand away before I let my mind get involved too much.
“That’s fine,” he whispered. “Pull away as much as you want. And here I was going to tell you something about me.”
“Like what?”
“Something I recently found out,” Bar
r said. “You’ll find it interesting. But it comes at a price.”
“Meaning?”
“A kiss.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
I swallowed hard. “A kiss? You want to kiss me?”
“Oh, love, if I wanted to kiss you I would,” Barr said. “I’d slide my hand behind your soft neck again and pull you so close your lips wouldn’t know what to expect. And know what lips I’m talking about…”
I rolled my eyes. “Fancy talk. You want me to kiss you. You want me to fall to my knees before you and beg for you.”
“I said nothing about getting on your knees, love,” Barr said. “But if that’s something you want…”
“So that’s what this ride is? There’s always a reason.”
“Which we told you last night,” Barr said.
“You’re jealous,” I said. “Just like…” I grinned. “Pres kissed my cheek. Kip touched my arm. And you… you didn’t do anything.”
“That’s because you’re going to do something,” he said. “You’re going to fight through all those thoughts of what’s right and wrong. You know what you want.”
I leaned toward him. “If I wanted to kiss you, Barr, I would have already.”
I opened the door to the SUV and he reached for my arm. “I hope your mother can make it on her own.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, turning my head and curling my lip.
“One phone call and she’s out of there,” Barr said.
“Fuck you, Barr,” I said.
“No, love, not yet. Soon. First you need to realize something. We’ve set our eyes on you. Not the other way around. And you’re standing in the middle of something you don’t understand. You can’t see it yet but you will. No matter what it takes.”
I looked down at his hand. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
He opened his hand. “My advice to you… Tinsley… look up who owns the building. Look up who owns the land. Look up who owns everything…”
“You’re an asshole,” I said.
“I am. We all are. You have no idea what you’re up against. Or what you could be with.”
“Be with? No.”
“Just a kiss, love,” Barr said. He winked. “I think that’s worth your mother getting nice and clean, right?”
My heart started to pound inside my chest. Not that racing, fluttering feeling. But a rage feeling. He was going to use my junkie mother against me? For a stupid kiss?
UNtouched: a bay falls high novel Page 11