My heel caught in a groove between pavers, so I kicked off my shoes and continued down the path barefoot, relishing the sting of the cold night air as my dress slipped down my shoulders.
I walked to the pool and dropped the dress at my feet. My toes touched the curved edge of the pavers in the same spot Hendrix’s boots had been that night.
At the thought of him, a sob tore from my throat.
More uncertainty, more confusion.
I wanted him here, but I hardly knew him. He’d probably make me feel worse, but I just wanted him to hold me the way he had at the Halloween party.
I hated that I wanted that, that I craved comfort from some guy. I was supposed to be strong, independent, smart. How the hell was my life falling apart this badly?
I didn’t know what to do with myself. Going back to the party was not an option. Finding my friends in this state was not an option. There was only one thing to do—keep moving forward.
I stepped off the edge and into the frigid black water.
It enveloped me, wrapped its smooth coolness around every inch of my body, muted the faraway noises of the party. It wasn’t his embrace, but it was an embrace of sorts. A muted oblivion I craved more the longer I held my breath and stayed under.
The burning in my lungs made me feel alive. I opened my mouth, squeezed my eyes shut, and screamed. Air bubbles burst from my mouth, floating up, up, up as I released all the pent-up ugliness inside me into the water.
Once I had no air left, my body reacted on instinct. My feet and arms pushed me to the surface, and I gasped, spluttering and coughing, taking air into my lungs once more. But I felt cleansed. I’d let all that other, ugly air out, and I was taking this new, fresh air in.
My limbs felt drained when I reached the edge, and I leaned on the side of the pool to catch my breath.
I needed to clear my head properly, reset, have a break. I needed Davey’s. It had been weeks since I’d gone, reluctant to return after what happened with Hendrix in the alleyway. For some reason, I couldn’t imagine taking any other guy out there.
But enough was enough. I just needed to not think about anything for a little while so I could get back to thinking clearly. Going to Davey’s was the only surefire way to do that. I’d have to wait a few days, just get through Christmas, then Harlow would go into a routine of staying up to a stupid hour and sleeping half the day, and Mom and Dad would go back to work until New Year’s. It would be risky, but I could make it work. After all, the risk factor was half the appeal.
Mind made up, I felt better already. And I was shivering.
I waded to the stairs at the end of the pool and dragged myself out, dripping disappointment and failure all over the travertine.
I pulled my dress on over my soaked underwear and tights, slipped into the house through a side door, and locked myself in my bedroom.
Chapter Fifteen
Hendrix
“Huh?” I glanced at Shady when he bumped my shoulder, but almost instantly, my eyes were drawn back to the good girl gone bad.
For all the effort she put into playing a party girl—the messy hair, the heavy makeup, the slutty clothes—she still looked as if she owned this dump and the whole damn town. Even that motherfucking leopard-print minidress somehow looked sophisticated on her. Some women just had that inexplicable class you couldn’t hide. It was why anyone with a dick was watching her as intently as I was as she danced along to some grungy shit. Two games of pool had completely ground to a halt, the bikers at the tables drooling over their own beards as they leaned on their pool cues.
“Dude!” Shady whacked me on the shoulder this time.
I didn’t hesitate to shove his skinny ass back. “What?” I scowled, and he threw his hands up, his mouth twitching into a smile.
“Are you listening at all?” He righted himself on his barstool and took another sip of his bourbon and dry.
I took a long sip of my own drink—mineral water with lemon—and tried to remember what he was talking about. I had no fucking clue. I’d tuned him out completely so I could watch her.
My eyes started to drift to the dance floor again, but I ground my teeth and stopped myself.
“Yeah, yeah. I heard you,” I mumbled to Shady, hoping it was vague enough to fool him. No way in hell was I about to admit I was distracted by a quality piece of ass.
“Sweet.” He sat up a little straighter. “So, you’re in?”
Fuck. That couldn’t be good. With Shady, he could be asking for anything from a lift home to a kidney.
“That’s not what I said.” I gave him a reproachful look. “I’ll think about it.”
He eyed me for a second, eyes narrowing in suspicion, then nodded. “All right.”
Hopefully I hadn’t just agreed to consider selling a pound of pills to the spoiled rich kids at my school for him. The guy had a big heart, but his sense of morality was beyond skewed.
Shady downed the rest of his drink and waved the bar chick over. I could no longer stop my eyes from looking for Donna in the crowd.
She was definitely a complication, but I couldn’t seem to get her off my mind, her smell out of my nose, the feel of her ridiculously soft skin from under my palms. She was everywhere, and I wanted her to be nowhere so I could get through the next few months and get the fuck out of this town, maybe even this country.
I wanted her gone so badly, but when I scanned the crowd and couldn’t see her light hair or ridiculous dress, I frowned. Where was she? I’d only looked away for a few minutes to get Shady off my back.
Did she take another guy out to the dumpsters? My teeth clenched so hard I was close to cracking one. I was half off my barstool before I knew what I was doing, but then Shady’s hand appeared on my chest.
“Seriously?” he said. “What the fuck is up with you tonight, bro? I don’t think you’ve heard half of what I’ve said.”
The urge to pick his lanky ass up and throw him over the bar was overwhelming, but this was why I didn’t drink anymore. Just as quickly as the murderous rage came over me, I leashed it, shoved it back into its cage, and slammed the door shut. I’d die before I threw another fist.
I rolled my head and took a deep breath . . . and that’s when I spotted her.
She came out of the ladies’ room, quickly wiping away the look of disgust that marred her perfect features. I laughed under my breath and lowered myself back onto the stool. She liked to play the bad girl, but she was grossed out by the nasty bathroom in the dodgy bar. You can take the girl out of the private school, but you can’t take the privilege out of the girl.
My eyes tracked her as she made her way toward the bar, but I looked away before she got too close. I couldn’t have her catching me staring like a dweeb. I wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea. As I turned away, my eyes landed on Shady’s amused expression.
He looked over my shoulder, then back to me and grinned. Shit.
“Now it all makes sense.” He chuckled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mumbled, taking another sip of my soda water.
“Her name is Donna.” As if I didn’t already know her name. As if I didn’t know what she looked like when she came on my fingers. “But don’t get your hopes up. She just comes here for a bit of fun.”
“Isn’t that why we all come here?” I raised a brow.
He laughed. “Yeah, but Donna . . .” He shook his head and blew out a big breath. “She’s amazing in the sack, but she’s fucking crazy, man. Just be careful.”
Of course she’d fucked Shady. Had she opened her legs to every douchebag in this dump? For the second time that night, I resisted the urge to do violent damage to one of my only friends in this world.
“Noted,” I informed him, my attention already drawn to the other end of the bar. She was leaning over it with her ass sticking out, the bar chick checking out her tits. Half the women here were into her too.
“Want me to intro? I’m not weirded out by sharing pussy if you aren’
t.” Shady leaned forward and broke my line of sight. “Hell, she’d probably be into a threesome if you’re game.”
Three times—that was three times I’d wanted to drive my fist through his teeth in the space of half an hour. Because of her.
I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but before I could, something behind me caught his eye.
“Shit. Never mind. I gotta go talk to a man about a dog.” He downed the rest of his drink and disappeared into the crowd without even waiting for a response. I didn’t even want to know what shit he was getting into now.
My view of Donna was unobstructed again. I tried really hard not to stare, but it was fucking impossible when I knew what her tits felt like in my hands. Now they were resting on the bar, and I wanted to pulverize the bar. This was ridiculous. I huffed, disgusted with myself, just as she looked up and our eyes met.
She glared at me and paid for her drink. Something inside me stirred at the anger in her gaze. The two times we’d hooked up, she was livid. It was as if my dick had learned that anger in her eyes meant action. I adjusted myself as she marched over, her shoulders back, tits and hair bouncing.
I gulped my drink, both dreading and craving whatever was about to come.
She leaned one hand on the bar and propped the other on her hip. “We hook up a couple of times, and you all of a sudden think you have the right to follow me around? Seriously?”
I turned my head but kept my body facing the bar, shielding my vital organs from her perfectly manicured claws. “I’m pretty sure I’m the least creepy guy in this dump, but whatever.”
“Stop deflecting, Hendrix. Did you follow me here?”
I frowned, letting some of my frustration show. “You may be under the delusion that you own Devilbend, but in case you haven’t noticed, Dorothy, this isn’t Kansas. No, I didn’t fucking follow you, and I have just as much right to be here as you. Which, technically, is none, since we’re both underage.”
She scoffed and crossed her arms. “OK, mom. Just stay out of my way.”
“You’re the one who came over here and started screeching at me. I’m literally just sitting here minding my own business. You stay out of my way.”
Her lips pursed as her breathing quickened slightly, those perfect tits swelling with every inhale. It took more than a little effort to keep my eyes off them, but I did. I gave myself a mental high five and smiled. I knew I looked every bit the self-satisfied asshole she thought I was, but her obvious fury only made my smile wider.
This was kind of fun.
“What are you doing here anyway?” She chugged her drink and didn’t even wince, making me wonder if she was pulling the same trick with the soda and lemon I was.
“Same thing you’re doing here.” Lies. But she didn’t need to know that. To drive my point home, I looked over her shoulder, spotted a tall brunette with waves down to her jean-clad ass, and eyed her up and down the same way every other deadbeat had been ogling Donna all night.
She followed my gaze and scoffed. “You’re such a pig. Just stay out of my way.”
Without giving me a chance to reply, she moved back to the other end of the bar, but I watched her check out the brunette as she passed. She had that appraising look all women had when sizing up their competition—pursed lips, one raised eyebrow, the quick up-and-down glance.
I covered my mouth to hide the grin I couldn’t hold back.
This was a dangerous game Donna Mead and I were playing, but it was the most fun I’d had in a long time.
Unfortunately, the brunette must’ve noticed me checking her out, because she suddenly appeared in front of me, blocking my view of Donna.
“Hi.” She smiled and looked at me through long lashes. Her glossy lips wrapped around a straw, and she took a long pull of her drink.
She was pretty, and I probably would’ve gone for it had I not still been hard for the infuriating, entitled bitch who had just walked away.
I gave her a disinterested “hey.”
Her boobs pressed against my arm as she leaned in to say something, but between the loud music and my every sense acutely keeping track of Donna, I didn’t hear a word. She just wasn’t going away though, and really, she didn’t deserve to be led on.
I looked at her properly. “Listen, can I be honest?”
She nodded.
“I’m interested in someone else. When I checked you out, I was just trying to make her jealous.”
She pouted but gave me a smile. “The cute blonde?”
“Yeah.” My eyes sought her out in the crowd again. She was dancing with some thirty-year-old-looking motherfucker with a beard and hand tats, but she kept glancing in my direction. Was she trying to make me jealous?
“She’s a lucky girl.”
I scoffed. “I don’t know about that.”
“Is she still looking?”
I glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah.”
The brunette gave me a cheeky smile and leaned in, trailing a hand up my arm and across my shoulders. Then she tilted her head and tucked it into my neck. I wrapped an arm around her waist and angled my body into her. It would’ve looked as though she was kissing my neck and I was into it. I mean . . . I wasn’t not into it . . . but only because I knew it was probably making Donna furious.
“You smell amazing too,” the brunette said. “Such a shame.”
“Thanks for being cool about it.” I gave her hip a squeeze.
She shrugged and smiled one last time before turning and making her way to the exit.
Do not look at Donna. Do not look at Donna. Do not look at Donna.
I downed the rest of my drink and mentally patted myself on the back for not looking at Donna as I got off the barstool and headed for the exit too. It was time to go home. If Donna happened to think I was leaving with the brunette, that was her problem.
But as I skirted the edge of the dance floor, I couldn’t help taking a glance.
Right away, my eyes caught the flick of her light hair as she turned, the hand-tat guy leading her toward the bar. Another guy with a low ponytail and a bit of a beer gut leaned into her other side, and she laughed at whatever he said.
She glanced behind her, and I slunk into the shadows, leaning back against the wall. Something didn’t sit right, and I wasn’t willing to admit to myself that I hated seeing her with two lowlifes. So I stayed and watched like the creep she’d accused me of being.
They went to the bar and ordered drinks. Three glasses were delivered—two with amber liquid and one with clear. At least she was still smart enough to stay sober.
Hand tats told some kind of joke, getting her full attention as they all laughed. While she was facing him, ponytail reached into his pocket and dumped something into her drink.
I pushed off the wall, my hands tightening into fists. What the fuck? Did no one else see that?
Of course fucking not. Everyone here was too drunk or high, too wrapped up in their own shit. Before I could bulldoze my way through the crowd and stop her, they cheersed, and she gulped down most of her drink in one go. I had no idea what they’d given her, but I wasn’t sure I could take them both. I just knew I couldn’t let her out of my sight, couldn’t let them take her from here.
This was none of my business—I’d been heading out the door anyway—and Donna was a bitch, but she didn’t deserve this. No one deserved this.
So I hung around for a little while and watched.
She stumbled over her own feet while standing still, and hand tats steadied her before sharing a grin with ponytail. My vision went red, thoughts of tearing the fuckers to pieces assaulting my mind. But I had to keep my shit together.
Keeping Donna in my periphery, I scanned the crowd and spotted Shady at the end of the bar area. I beelined for him, bumping into drunks and bikers as I went. Donna was leaning heavily on the bar now with her head in her hands, while the two men hovered like the predators they were.
“Shady.” I interrupted his conversation with a smack on the shoul
der, barely sparing him a glance.
“Hendy, bro, I’m in the middle of some business here,” he ground out.
I grabbed him by the collar of his tracksuit and leaned in close. “Some pieces of shit just drugged Donna. I can’t take them alone. Come on, man.”
I wasn’t above begging, but I hoped the asshole’s humanity would kick in before I had to.
Shady got to his feet and excused himself from the conversation he’d been having, ordering another round of expensive whiskey and stating he’d be right back after he took out the trash. Then he gestured to two of his buddies.
I kept my focus on Donna. Her feet started falling out from under her, and the two scum propped her up on either side and started helping her stumble toward the exit.
I rushed toward them, no longer caring if I had to take the two of them alone, no longer caring if I had to take twenty.
We cut them off barely ten feet from the door.
“Let her go,” I growled, already reaching for her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, then focused, then rolled again.
“Back off, asshole.” Ponytail scowled. He was even uglier up close.
“Hen . . . hel . . . h . . . ,” Donna mumbled. Was she trying to say my name or “help”? It didn’t matter. She was getting both.
Shady and his guys finally caught up. They didn’t ask questions. They simply shoved the two shit stains out of the way as I stepped in and wrapped my arms around Donna. As I held her delicate frame against my chest, her legs gave out, her arms went completely limp, and her head rolled back.
Panic choked me; the shriveled thing in my chest passing for a heart constricted, then started hammering.
I scooped her up and pushed the door open with my shoulder. All I knew was that I had to get her out of there. Maybe to a hospital.
Shady caught up with me halfway to my car.
“How’s she doin?’” He brushed some hair off her forehead. Lucky for him, both my hands were busy holding the unconscious waif of a girl.
“I don’t know,” I growled. “What the fuck did they give her?”
Like You Hurt: A Standalone Enemies to Lovers Romance (Devilbend Dynasty Book 2) Page 14