by Geneva Lee
“It’s a pleasure doing business with you,” Luca says before knocking him out with the knob of his bat.
“You could’ve just kept the hood on.” Not that he’s going to take my notes on this.
“And listen to him bitching the whole way?” Luca shakes his head. “He deserves a headache, at least. You let him off too easily.
“I have a lot of people to teach around here,” I remind him. It’s better not to draw too much attention to our revenge business before it’s off the ground.
“Fair enough.”
It takes both of us to drag Oliver’s limp body to the back of Luca’s BMW.
“Roomy trunk,” I comment as we arrange him inside it.
“It really does have best in its class cargo storage,” Luca agrees. He shoves Oliver’s legs in and slams the lid shut. “Jack told me you left with Adair last night.”
“So?” I ask.
“Jack likes her,” Luca says.
“It’s not Jack’s place to like her,” I growl.
“He also predicted you would react that way.”
“What about you?” I say, feeling betrayed. “Do you want me to reconsider?”
“I do not have a horse in this race, brother, but you do,” he says. “What’s it worth for you to win?”
“Everything.”
“Have you ever been to the Kentucky Derby?”
“Have you?” I ask. What the fuck is he on about now?
“The horse that wins doesn’t always survive the race.”
“Are you threatening to shoot my horse?” I ask flatly. I see the point he’s making. Apparently, he’s taking Jack’s side.
“Are you willing to pay that price?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Because the reason he’s in here”— he taps the trunk —“is because of her.”
“So?”
“Are you really prepared to do the same thing he did?”
Adair’s betrayed face flashes to mind. She’s lost faith in me already. She didn’t care about who I was then or how little she knows about me now.
“I don’t kid myself about the kind of man I am. Someday someone will come for me,” Lucas says. “And I’ll deserve it. I know who I am. I know what that means. Do you? Does she?”
“I’m not sure it matters. She’s made up her mind about me.” This thing with her isn’t a black and white. Adair exists in the gray.
“Then change her mind.”
Maybe it’s that simple to Luca’s lizard brain, which seems to work in binaries, but Adair isn’t so easily swayed. “How would you suggest I do that?”
“Send her flowers. Be romantic. Take her on a date or some shit.”
I look from him to the trunk that holds a man we just shoved inside it. “Are you really giving me romantic advice right now?”
“I have layers,” he says, pretending to be offended. “And, word to the wise, so does she.”
“You know an awful lot about her for spending one evening with her.” I don’t want him to be right, but he might be.
“Women and torture aren’t all that different. You just gotta find the right button to press.” He shrugs and opens the driver’s side door. “Speaking of, where do you want me to dump this piece of shit?”
I’m too preoccupied to come up with an answer. “I trust you.”
Luca slides into his car, a slash of a smirk on his face. “You sure about that?”
He takes off before I can process that I might regret giving him free rein. It’s too late now and I have other things on my mind.
Like hair the color of wildfire and emerald-green eyes that see right through me. I love her. That’s how this started. That’s how it ends.
33
Sterling
The Past
The library is dead even for a Saturday. I guess the weekend combined with Halloween means normal people are on their way to parties. They probably don’t have to maintain an insanely high GPA like I do. Given how much time I’ve been spending with Adair, I’m falling behind in a few classes. Enough to worry me. There’s still plenty of time to get my grades up. At five, I pack it up and head back. Adair is coming over in an hour, so I’m surprised when I spot her white Roadster parked in front of my building. She’s still inside, singing to some song only she can hear.
I poke my head in and startle her.
“Sorry.” I hold up my hands in surrender. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Where were you?” She asks barely concealing the suspicious way her eyes rove across me like she’s looking for clues.
“The library. I needed to catch up.”
She scrunches up her freckled nose. “You went to the library on a Saturday.”
“Not all of us have a dad to write a tuition check,” I snap. I instantly regret it. She flinches like I bit her. I know she doesn’t mean to be a snob. She’s actually remarkably kind in comparison to some of the people I’ve met in Valmont. “Sorry. I’m just stressed. You want to come in? We can order some food. I tracked down some cupcakes and I promise not to sing.” I’d actually swiped them from the cafeteria earlier today. She might not want to celebrate her birthday, but I’m not going to let her ignore it entirely. Baby steps. Next year will be easier.
She pauses and I wonder just how badly I fucked up. “Actually…”
Fan-fucking-tastic, Sterling. You’ve screwed up her birthday.
“My dad had to go out of town this morning. I thought we could go to my place.”
Other than the time we went riding, she’s never invited me to her house before. I assume she doesn’t want to deal with her father’s disapproval. I can’t blame her.
When I don’t answer immediately, she clears her throat.
“I thought we could be alone,” she says.
“Cyrus is out at some party.”
“What if he comes home?” she presses.
“He won’t bother us,” I begin.
Adair lets out a frustrated shriek that stops me. Her cheeks flush and she glues her eyes to the steering wheel. “I mean alone alone.”
“Oh.” This processes more slowly than it should. It’s not like I’ve never slept with someone. I’ve banged plenty of chicks back home. But this is different. Adair is different.
“We don’t have to,” she says quickly, misreading my hesitance. She unbuckles her seat belt and reaches for the door handle. “We’ll just hang out. I just thought…”
I grab her hand before she can open the door. “Of course, I want to be alone with you.”
I pray I’ve averted crisis. For all her confidence, I sense she needs a little encouragement.
“Cool. Um, we can go now if you want.”
“Let me drop my stuff off.” I hold up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”
I brush my teeth in my room and consider grabbing extra clothes. That seems a little too presumptuous so I settle for changing into one of my nicer shirts—a long-sleeved white thermal that Francie sent in a care package. It’s nicer than the hoodie I’d been wearing but still casual. It’s not every day someone like Adair MacLaine asks you to take her to bed. I grab her present and stick it in my pocket, so she won’t complain. She told me not to get her anything and it’s not like it’s anything special. But I couldn’t ignore her birthday entirely.
She’s drumming the steering wheel nervously when I come back.
“You want to drive?” She asks when I get into the passenger’s seat. “I…I don’t want to.”
“Okay,” I agree slowly. Jumping out, I round the car to open her door before she can beat me to it.
As soon as she steps out of the car, I’m glad I changed. Usually, we hang out in jeans on the couch. Tonight, Adair is in a tight black dress that stops so short the length should be illegal. Long sleeves cover her arms but the neckline dips down between her breasts. She’s piled her hair on top of her head, a few strands fluttering freely around her face. Her skin is bare but her lips are glossy. If I had any doubt what s
he meant about being alone, I don’t anymore.
I rush to the other side of the car to help her into her seat—and also, so I can savor another few seconds of her in this outfit.
It’s not until we begin to drive that I realize she’s shaking.
“Are you okay?” I slow the car a little.
“Yeah,” she says quickly. “I’m just a little cold.”
“I should tell you it was a bad idea to wear that dress then, but I’m glad you did, Lucky.”
She preens and maybe its enough to warm her up because the trembling fades a little. When I pull past the guard station at Windfall, ignoring the security officer’s disapproving glare at finding me in the driver’s seat, she directs me to bypass the circular drive and head toward the pool house.
“I thought your dad wasn’t home,” I say as we pass the main house.
“He’s not.” She chews her lip for a second. “I’m not allowed to have boys in my room.”
I try not to laugh and fail. “Is he going to find out?”
“There’s cameras all over this place,” she tells me.
I cast a concerned look at her. “Maybe we shouldn’t…”
“He won’t check the pool house cameras. It’s too cold to swim and I told him I was going to a friend’s for a party.”
“Wait.” Something terrible occurs to me. “It’s your birthday.”
“Yep.”
“And your dad left town?”
She nods.
“Are you upset?”
“He’s been home for like two of my birthdays. It’s not a big deal.”
I had a shit father before he went to prison, one I didn’t really want around either—and that’s how I know she’s lying. It doesn’t matter how much they disappoint you, you never stop hoping they’ll finally show up for you.
“He doesn’t know what he’s missing.” I mean it. I know it’s true.
Before I can process it, she’s unbuckled and climbed into my lap. It’s easy enough given how short her skirt is. It bunches at the waist and I get a glimpse of heaven between her legs. Whatever nerves were bothering her earlier aren’t anymore. She wriggles a little, her eyebrows furrowing. “Um, is there something in your pocket?”
For a second I think it’s a really stupid joke then I remember her present. I dig it out, inspecting the package to see if she accidentally squished it.
“Your birthday present.” She starts to protest but I stop her. “Don’t get excited, Lucky. It’s just something that made me think of you.”
Adair wraps her long arms around her neck, ignoring the tiny package. It’s already dark and in the moonlight, I can’t see the green of her eyes or the red of her hair. But I see her perfectly. I want to bury my face in her neck and breathe in that scent that I only know as Adair.
“Do you know what I want for my birthday?” she whispers. “You.”
“I’m all in, Lucky.” My mouth finds hers as she presses closer and I have to remind myself that it’s cold and that the first time I fuck her is not going to be in a car. But I can’t stop myself from tasting what’s to come. I slip my hands up her thighs and cover her mouth with mine. I’m beginning to question my earlier decision not to take her right there, against the steering wheel, when something explodes overhead.
Adair rears up and my arms circle her protectively. Then the second firework lights up the night sky, illuminating a tent for a split second.
“Fuck,” she mutters, figuring it out before I can.
Lights burst on and a crowd of people scream “surprise!”
We scramble apart and I help her pull down her skirt before anyone can get a better look at us in the dark.
“I said no parties,” she says. “You didn’t…”
“I had nothing to do with this,” I swear.
Our conversation is cut short as her friends descend upon the Jaguar. There’s not an ounce of shock on their faces over our indelicate entrance. Adair looks less than thrilled as she’s led toward the tent. She casts a frantic look over her shoulder and yells, “Later! Find me!”
It’s not a promise. It’s a command. She really didn’t want a party.
Since this is Valmont it’s not just a party though. Making my way to the tent, I discover a dozen large heaters set up strategically to keep everyone warm. Pink lights are strewn along the tent, casting the entire space with a rosy glow. In the corner, there’s a bar and a man in a white jacket serving drinks. I work my way through the crowd to her. She reaches for me, grabbing my hand.
“Don’t let go,” she says, holding it tightly.
That’s easier said than done when her friends start wishing her a happy birthday. They come from every direction, hugging her one at a time before passing her to the next person. It’s impossible to keep hold of her but I stay close by. No one notices how she flinches each time. They’re oblivious to her pain.
“Are you surprised?” Poppy glows with excitement, completely oblivious to Adair’s obvious discomfort.
“I am,” Adair says in a strained voice.
“You didn’t think we would forget your birthday?” Poppy continues, grabbing Adair’s hand and leading her into the crowd of people. They part to allow Adair to see the giant cake on display in the center of the tent. It’s shaped like a horseshoe and nearly as tall as I am. They don’t do anything halfway in Valmont.
“Sorry, man.” Cyrus appears beside me and bumps my shoulder. “I know you thought you were getting her to yourself tonight.” He holds out a bottle of whiskey. “Peace offering?”
“No thanks.” I turn him down, wondering if I should intervene on Adair’s behalf.
“Poppy knew her mom usually planned her birthday parties, so she thought she should step in,” he explains.
“You two seem to be getting cozy.” I bypass telling him that Adair didn’t want a party. I’m beginning to understand these things are never about what the guest of honor wants. It’s all for show.
He follows my eyes to where Poppy is forcing a glass of champagne on Adair. “Me and Poppy? I don’t know. I’ve never really…”
“She’s gorgeous. She’s rich,” I say flatly. “She’s a lot nicer than most of the people here.”
“Is there such a thing as too nice?” he asks. “I don’t think I could ever live up to her expectations.”
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you,” I say. The truth is that Poppy Landry won’t ask him to live up to any expectations. She’s blind to his faults. He’s not a bad guy, but I suspect she’s too good for him.
“She is hot,” he agrees after a moment.
It’s good to see him really weighing the benefits.
“Money and Oliver are here,” he says, pointing to the pair.
“What are they supposed to be?” I ask checking out their wildly colored suits and gold chains.
“Pimps,” he tells me. “I’m going to go say hello.”
There’s no way I’m spending a minute with those two dickheads acting like they’re hot shit. “I should check on Adair.”
“Catch you later.” Cyrus nods and heads toward them.
Weaving my way through the throng of people, I lose sight of her. For the next hour, the party-goers swarm like locusts, drinking, dancing, and blocking me from reaching Adair every time I see her. I finally spot her with Poppy standing by the cocktail bar. She says something to her and then darts toward the pool house.
I force my way though the crowd. This might be my only chance to get her alone. It’s dark inside but there’s a light on in the bedroom down the hall. Not only did I get her alone, we might be able to pick up where we left off before her friends descended on us.
I’m nearly to the door when I hear voices.
“You better spill,” someone says.
Adair’s voice answers. “There’s nothing to spill. Nothing’s happened.”
“Have you told him you’re a virgin?” Someone asks. Darcy maybe?
Apparently, her sexual history is common knowledge.
I have no idea why she acted so weird about it now. I guess part of me thought the confession meant it’s a big deal to her. Now she’s chatting about it like it’s just a burden.
This conversation is none of my business. I wish I hadn’t come in after her. I hesitate before peeking through the cracked door. Adair is spread on the bed. Ava and Darcy sitting cross-legged on opposite sides.
“Shut up, Darcy. It’s not something I brag about,” Adair says.
“Does your daddy know you’re dating him?” Ava asks.
I have no interest in their malicious gossip, and Adair doesn’t need me to save her. She can take care of herself. I turn to leave when Adair responds.
“Of course, he doesn’t.” The laugh I’ve grown to love sounds hollow—cruel even.
A pit opens in my stomach. I taste acid on my tongue. I don’t want to hear anymore. This isn’t my conversation. But my feet betray me, refusing to move. Instead, I cling to the shadows, out of sight but still able to hear them.
“It’s not a bad deal,” Darcy says. “Ride him for what he’s worth. I mean, it’s all he has to offer, right? Then use him to get your dad to back off.”
“I’ll get right on that,” Adair says.
I can’t move. I’m stuck listening to her piss all over me.
“When you’re done you can pass him around,” Ava suggests. “My dad will flip the fuck out. He never cares what trash Money is banging, but, God forbid, I bring someone like that home. Double standard.”
“Mine, too.”
“Sterling isn’t really into dating,” Adair says.
“So? He’s on scholarship, right? Who do you think is paying his tuition?” Ava asks. “Those of us writing checks. He owes it to us.”
“Exactly,” Darcy agrees.
“You haven’t even graduated,” Adair says.
“The point is that he can be useful and fun. Don’t forget to share,” Ava tells her.
“I won’t.”
I can’t listen a minute longer. I’m glad her friends got their way. I’m glad she’s finally shown me who she really is. I just wish it wasn’t too late, because she got her hooks into me already. I love her fire—that unreachable piece of her that can never be tamed. The part of her I know will destroy me.