by Dylan Heart
I couldn’t have imagined back then I would ever feel at peace with the world, and with myself. To trust your instincts is one thing, to know when they’re wrong is another.
The three of us sit at a small square dining table off to the side of Jensen’s kitchen. Our kitchen now. After the series of traumatic events that culminated with a loaded gun pointed in all of our faces, a switch within me was hit. I could no longer bear to run from my demons, because then I’d only be delaying the inevitable.
Miss. Collins could have killed us that day, but she didn’t. We could have called the police and had her taken into custody, but we didn’t. Everything could have been different if it weren’t for compassion and understanding, even in the face of who we perceived to be our enemies.
Together with Eve’s mother, we’ve jumpstarted an organization targeting campus bullying. In many ways, I feel like a fraud when I stand in front of a crowd, giving a spiel about my bad reputation and all the terrible things I have done. But I know we’re doing something good, not content with shoveling all our shit in the proverbial closet and throwing away the key.
Jensen says I’m a good person. He’s still not so sure about Brick, but I’m not willing to accept his accolades. There’s still too much work to be done, but I’m getting to a place where I can look into a mirror and not want to shatter it into a million tiny pieces—each shard representing someone I’ve destroyed along the way on my path to enlightenment.
“How’s the wedding planning coming along?” Brick asks after taking a gulp of water.
“It’s coming,” Jensen says.
“We’re going to do it non-traditional,” I say through a glowing smile, but Jensen’s smile is more reserved.
“I’ve no clue what that fucking means.” Brick says.
“It means Jensen’s going to have a best woman, and I’m going to have a best man.”
“Oh?” Brick questions with faux enthusiasm. “That’s interesting?”
“I want you to be my best man.”
“No.” He shakes his head and pushes his chair back, clearly uncomfortable with my request. “That’s a terrible idea. I don’t think you want the man who tried to destroy your relationship as your best man.”
“That’s what I said,” Jensen adds with a groan.
I give Jensen the eye, and he’s seen it enough to know what it means—shut up.
“Our slates are clean.” Jensen sighs. “The past is where it belongs, in the past. Never forgotten, but always forgiven.”
“You’re going to need a date,” I point out, trying to nudge him in the right direction. It’s been two months since he’s spoken to Tyra, and I’m growing tired of the pity party.
“I’m good with going alone.”
“It’s been two months.”
“Another lifetime to go.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
“I can’t take the words back.”
I chew into my lip, worried he’ll never forgive himself. “You can try.”
“She won’t give me the time of day.”
“Do you love her?”
“Does it matter?”
“That depends on the answer.” I place my hand on his. “If you want her, you have to go find her and make her understand.”
“What if I don’t deserve her?” he asks sheepishly.
“Do you want the truth or do you want me to lie to you?”
“Lie.”
Not the response I was expecting. “She hates you, but she loves you.”
His emerald eyes twitch in confusion. “Which one is the lie?”
I shrug and palm at my glass of water. “You’re going to have to figure that out.”
“I’ve done so many terrible things.” He drops his head against the back of his palm and grabs a fork with his spare hand. He begins to pick away at the scrambled eggs before him.
“We can’t live in the past. If we do, it’ll eat away at our souls until the day we die.”
“Yeah, we’ve been through this a thousand times.”
“Then put the fucking fork down and go get her.”
Somehow, I’ve earned his attention and he pauses in place. His entire body is still except for his racing eyes. Flash Gordon takes over his body as he pushes hard against his chair, sending it tumbling to the floor. Before I know it, he’s gone without saying a word and out the front door.
Jensen reaches across the table and grabs Brick’s plate. “Sounded like false hope to me.”
“Come on,” I say. “Hope’s a powerful thing.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“I’m pregnant.”
The glass plate shatters against the floor. “That’s not funny,” he mumbles.
“Took the test this morning.” I reach down and pull a positive pregnancy test from my purse.
“Prove it.”
I pass him the test. He glazes it over for a second, and his eyes go wide. “Oh my God! We’re having a kid?”
“No.” I frown. “I bought it on EBay.”
He shakes the test at me, clearly not amused. “This is a gag gift?”
I shake my head. “It’s real. Some woman in Colorado really pissed on it.” I smirk at him and stand up. “I’d wash your hands if I were you.”
He tosses the device into the trash. “What the fuck, Apple?” He spins on his foot, runs the faucet, and begins to scrub his hands.
While he’s not looking, I take two steps back before climbing out of my jeans and my top. I’m not wearing a bra, and I drop my panties to the ground. I kick the pile of clothes out of the way.
He freezes in place when he catches a glance at my body.
“How bad do you want a baby?”
He swallows a visible lump in his throat, but before he’s even recovered his breath, his jeans are around his ankles.
He picks me up and lays my back across the table, prepared to fuck me.
This is the life I want to live. A life with purpose and far away from all the bullshit that’s become relics of my past. I want to make this man happy, because he deserves to be happy. I want to give him a family again.
And I know I’ll never replace the family he’s lost. I’m not naïve enough to think that, or wish that. But I’m more than ready to give him every part of me, now that I’ve left all my baggage somewhere along the lines of yesterday.
33
Brick’
“I object,” I scream as I throw open the courtroom doors. Everyone lasers their focus on me. The judge, the jury, the council, and whoever leads such boring lives they choose to fill the pews to capacity as spectators. “Sorry about that, but I needed to get everyone’s attention.”
“Excuse me.” The judge pounds her gavel. “Who are you?”
“I’m an asshole.” I spot Tyra as she pivots on her foot. “I’m a two-eyed monster capable of the most heinous of crimes.” I notice the uneasiness passing over the people of the court. “I’m not a murderer or anything like that, but I’ve ruined people’s lives.”
Tyra alternates between emotions—surprise shifts into embarrassment—and I haven’t even said her name yet. I’m looking forward to seeing her cheeks flush a shade of cherry red.
“Most of them didn’t deserve it,” I continue. “I took pleasure in dismantling people’s lives, because it made me feel better about mine. Almost as if the only way I could stand to live in this fucked up world was to be far more fucked up than anyone I crossed paths with.”
“I will hold you in contempt of this court!” Judge-girl cries out, but I choose to ignore her warnings. Being charged with contempt while confessing my love would be a great story to tell my kids someday.
Kids… Yeah, I don’t know about all that bullshit.
“Dammit. I will hold you in contempt,” Judge Judy says, lost in a cycle of repetition.
“Can you really do that?” I wave her off, because I’m here with purpose. “There was this girl. She was pure as the driven snow with a heart
full of compassion and love. She was a short, frail, blue-eyed beauty, and she changed my life.”
“This is your last warning, young man.”
“It’s very rude to interrupt someone when they’re talking,” I judge her with a look of contempt—pun intended—a sly, smug grin.
“Guards. Take this young man into custody.”
“I’m really not finished yet.” Two guards approach from the bench. “Shit.” I jump over a railing and land in a row of pews. “Tyra, I’m going to have to make this short.” The guards chase me through an obstructed pew. I climb over the great citizens of Charlotte, North Carolina as I try to escape the guards long enough to declare my love, but I’m knocked to the floor by a third guard I hadn’t seen coming.
Two guards lift me to my feet and drag me to the exit of the courtroom. “Tyra,” I yell. “I think I love you, and I think you love me too.” The guards pull the door open behind me, and I know I’m running out of time. “I’d really like if you could prove your love to me by posting my bail.”
She laughs first, but quickly recollects herself into that of a professional justice-warrior in training. Her face lights up with a beautiful smile as they begin to drag me away. That damn smile lights a fire underneath me, and after mustering all my strength, I jerk away from the guards. Quickly—before they can detain me again—I rush to her and lift her into my arms.
“You’re an idiot,” she says and plants a kiss against my lips. It’s short, but I’m instantly taken back to the first time I tasted her lips. They taste the same today as they did back then—they taste like a slice of heaven.
If I think about it, it was her lips that ignited the fuse that eventually saved my soul. The guards pull me away from her, and I’m left with a smile as I’m dragged away. It’s a curious sight—I’m sure—for everyone in attendance. I mean… When’s the last time you saw a smile plastered on the guy that’s being dragged out of a courtroom?
The last thing I see before they shut the doors is her smiling, but shaking her head. I’m left waiting for one last answer—does she love me enough to bail me out? The last thing I need right now is to share a jail cell with this guy in shackles on a bench beside me—Does anyone know if Jax Teller has a brother? If he does, then I think I’ve found him.
Epilogue
TYRA
The sun settles against the horizon of the lake, casting tree-shaped silhouettes against the mirror-like water. I grew up on this lake, and I first began to fall in love with Brick on this lake. It’s a monument in and of itself, but with the memories attached, it becomes something else entirely.
Underneath the soft, pale lights, Brick and I dance in a circle. The fact that he’s wearing a tux still impresses me beyond belief. I never had a doubt he’d look stunning in one, but I never imagined I’d have the privilege of seeing him dressed to the nines.
After the fight in his apartment, I never thought I’d see him again.
“This is a beautiful wedding,” I say, and continue to dance in a perfect circle with him. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Thanks for bailing me out.” He smiles, and there’s no trace of venom left. When he used to smile, there was always this feeling in the back of my mind that he was planning his next move. Now, I look into his eyes, and find solace in his smile.
“Be honest.”
“Always am.”
I wet my lips with my tongue. “Are you happy?”
He nods his head gently.
That’s good enough of an answer for me. I drop my head onto his shoulder.
“Why do you ask?”
I look back up at him. “Because I’ve never seen you look this handsome.”
He averts his attention from me, and I notice the tiniest tinge of redness blushing across his cheek. “Are you blushing?” I laugh.
“You don’t have to tell the entire world.”
“I’ll keep it between the two of us.” I lay my head back upon his shoulder, and nothing in the world could wipe the smile off my face. I was the first to notice he’d changed before, but it’s been a slow process to a full recovery. The Brick I knew all those months ago never would have had the modesty to blush.
He’d embrace the compliment with his trademarked smugness.
Yeah, I love the man he’s becoming.
CECE
“Rafe?” I call out. I’ve searched for him everywhere after he went missing a half hour ago. He had went to the open bar to grab us drinks but never returned. “Rafe?”
I head across a fresh-cut lawn overlooking the lake, and toward the horde of parked cars. I know he’s had a few drinks, and I’m starting to think he’s passed out in the car.
My eyes go large as my stomach drops to my feet.
Rafe stands before the hood of a car, with his pants around his ankles. His ass bounces as he drives his dick into Jensen’s best woman. Instinct kicks in and I want to beat the living shit out of him.
No. Too fucking easy.
I’m too angry to cry, but not so angry as to not be able to see straight. With full clarity, I know what must be done, even if I know better. I should dump his ass and leave it at that, but there’s only one thing on my mind.
Revenge.
I will become the people who turned my life upside down, and I’ll do it with a devilish smile. I will make Rafe pay…
THE END
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IMITATION GAMES – DATE TBD
BLURB
Angel, Thomas, Davis, Miles and Tiger are the names of all Rafe’s best friends. When he is caught red-handed cheating on his loving girlfriend, Cece, she vows to get revenge.
One by one, she sleeps with all of his best friends, until only one remains. Tiger is the absolute worst, and Cece can hardly stand to be in the same room as him, let alone sleep with him.
It’s a simple game, meant to end with a devastating blow against Rafe when he finds out the men he trusts the most have each betrayed him. But when her masterful plan is turned on its head, and she begins to fall for the baddest boy of them all, will she sacrifice the love she’s found in Tiger just to destroy the man who broke her heart?
Imitation Games is a stand alone, sexy new adult novel in the Bad Reputation series.
Also by Dylan Heart
Standalones
Summertime Sadness
White Lies (August 2018)
Small Town Blues
Make You Miss Me (2018)
You Stupid Boy (2018)
Steal My Kiss (2018)
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Wicked Games
Dangerous Games
Imitation Games (TBD)
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Dylan Cole is the alter ego of Dylan Heart
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BAD REPUTATION SERIES
Wicked Games
Dangerous Games
Imitation Games (TBD)
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