Beaten (Broken Book 1)

by Rue, Rebekah

  I feel shocked, weak, and disgusted. Am I imagining all of this? Did he just throw that back in my face intentionally? I did nothing wrong. The surge of tears starts to develop, but I’ll be damned if I let him see me cry.

  He speaks first. “I see we both have company, so I’ll let you attend to yours, while I go satisfy mine. Have a fucking good night.” Before I can say anything, he ends the chat. A few traitorous tears fall, and I realize my hands are shaking. I have this extreme urge to throw my iPad. Why did I expect anything different? People have reputations for a reason, and sadly, I think that was the wake-up call I needed.

  Chapter 9

  Lo

  It smells like the color brown, and an odd tickle tickles the tip of my nose. Begrudgingly, I slide my eyes open. Is that a . . . ahhh! My right hand rises up and swipes Diddy off my chest. “Nasty cat! Go sleep on someone else.” A low noise comes from next to me, and I prop myself up on my elbows to see Micah sitting on the other end of the couch, chuckling, watching a muted TV.

  “You couldn’t have helped me out?” I say in a raspy voice, pulling my body upright on the couch, brushing the coat of cat hairs from me.

  “No way, doll. I was just waiting for that to happen, and your face was priceless.” He smiles, causing a dimple to pop out on his right cheek.

  “Shouldn’t you be out searching for another place to live?”

  “Ha, trying to get rid of me already?”

  I can’t help smiling as I sink back into the cushion and snuggle up in my blanket to block out the chill in the room. I watch mindlessly as the stock market numbers scroll along the bottom of the TV screen, and then my eyes spot that darn iPad on the coffee table. Just like that my smile fades and my mind drifts back to last night, wondering if Talon banged that chick or not. I try to hold back the cloud of resentment that is starting to roll back in, but the slap stings a little more, witnessing it firsthand. I blink a few times, stretching open my eyes. They feel tight. I don’t need his nonsense; I need to focus on starting school and building my life. Screw this! Today is going to be all about me, so I kick the blanket off. Micah watches in silence as I pad down the hallway to Maggie’s door, knocking softly. “Come in,” she says. Turning the knob smoothly, I poke my head in a room of blackness. “Maggie, you up?” I whisper.

  “Mmm hmm.” She’s still half asleep.

  “May I borrow your car today? Do you have anything important to do?”

  “You’re looking at it. Knock yourself out.”

  “Thanks.” Shutting her door, I go to mine and get ready for what I have planned.

  First stop is this hole-in-the-wall coffee shop called The Grind, where I get my caffeine fix. Dark red walls house the best smelling aroma of ground beans. It saturates the air and clings to my clothes as I sip my liquid dessert, peering out a busy window. The mood here is fabulous.

  From there, I hit up a salon, badly in need of a trim, completing my stay with a mani-pedi. The manicurist rubs my legs until they’re silky smooth and paints my nails the softest baby pink. The color is pretty and makes me feel feminine.

  After that, I swing by this store called The Jewelry Box. I’ve been eyeing it since I moved here. I just haven’t had time to go. The bell chimes as I enter. “Welcome, is there anything I can help you find?” With a bright smile, a very nice red-haired saleswoman greets me.

  “No, just looking.”

  “Okay, don’t hesitate to get me if you need any help.”

  “Thank you.” I move around to each display, reveling in all the beautiful pieces. They have everything from high-end to local artists, cheap to the very expensive. When all my new jewels are wrapped and paid for, I drive home with the top down, radio up, and the wind blowing through my hair.

  The condo is quiet. I practically float to my room and organize my treasures in my jewelry box, happier than ever. There’s just something about hitting the jackpot when you go shopping that spikes your mood like a sugar high.

  Next I change into an old black string bikini that is still in decent shape, grab a towel, a bottle of water, and earbuds and head back downstairs to the condo’s community pool. The pool is quiet and almost empty except for a mother and her little girl playing in the shallow end. I take a minute to watch them. I watch them giggle, which makes me giggle. The little girl lands on her mother’s shoulder, catching eyes with me. She smiles a missing-tooth smile like I’m not a stranger. So beautiful.

  I give her a subtle wave, and she extends her arms out in my direction, ultimately melting my insides. Her mother twists to see what she’s reaching for, and we share a smile; then she hugs her daughter closer. Once they turn away, I press three fingers to my lips and offer it up to the heavens, giving my momma a silent I love you.

  Lying out under the hot rays, I slide my sleek silver-framed shades on and turn on some easy listening music. The light breeze and tropical tones take me to another world. Why haven’t I done this sooner? This is the first time I’ve ventured to the pool since I got here. I guess I’ve been too wrapped up in Talon lately, but I can see myself coming down here more often.

  I must have fallen asleep, because when I open my eyes, Maggie is standing above me, tapping my shoulder. “Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. Do you plan on eating with us? Micah just finished up the burgers, and I figured you’d probably be hungry.”

  I am a little hungry. The only thing I had was that coffee this morning. “Yeah, I’ll come up.”

  Maggie helps me carry all my crap back upstairs. When we open the front door, my stomach growls at the mouthwatering aroma seeping from the kitchen. Kicking off my flip-flops, I excuse myself to freshen up.

  My skin is rose tinged. I’m lucky; by morning, my skin will brown up. Opening my door, I walk to the dining room where Maggie and Micah are seated around the table, a plate already made and waiting for me. The sight warms my heart, and I will forever cherish the love these two people show me.

  Dinner is amazing! I eat so much I can hardly move. I laugh so much I can barely breathe. We move our party into the living room after cleaning up. Since we girls picked the last movie, Micah gets to pick tonight’s flick.

  We lie around, just the three of us, completely comfortable with one another. We are the three blond mice. Micah doesn’t criticize us when we cry during certain parts or veto our chick flicks because they’re corny. He has a kind heart, and the woman that hooks him will be one lucky girl. For a brief moment, I question if he’d be right for me. He embodies the perfect mate—great steady job, sensitive, tall, blond, and handsome—and we share a love for one another. The foundation is set. Micah is a nice guy; he’s just not my guy.

  Like the night before, Maggie bids us farewell, leaving Micah and me on opposite ends of the couch. I’m sitting there with my head slightly tipped down, picking nonexistent lint from my pants. It’s weird, like playing a game of chicken, because neither one of us moves, except for Micah’s wise eye staring me down from two cushions over. I don’t budge. Slowly he stands, extending both arms high above his head to stretch, releasing a big yawn. Good, he’s leaving. Tricking me, he takes one step over and settles into the seat to my right. With the turn of my head, I peer at him. Yep, he’s up to something.

  “How are you doing, Lo?” he asks, reaching over and patting the top of my hand as a father would do.

  Oh no, I don’t want to get into this . . . this daddy talk. His question has me swallowing hard. “Good.” Okay.

  He snorts a disbelieving laugh. “Don’t bullshit me. Remember I’m a lawyer. I know when people are lying.”

  Dang, I know better. I should’ve been the first one to go to bed, and then I wouldn’t be having this uncomfortable spilling of my guts. “Okay.”

  “Spill.”

  I continue with hesitancy. “There’s a person I tried to not become friends with, but we started hanging out a lot, and they kind of grew on me. My gullible self got attached, developed a trust, but I was a fool.” I take a long breath; Micah reaches back over and c
overs my hand with his. “Last night some things were done and said that shouldn’t have shocked me but did. Frankly, they hurt. I thought things between us were different. It seems people only show you what they think you want to see. Now in my mind, we’ve sprung back to square one and an ironclad wall went up in place of my lovely white picket fence.” I stop and think about how little interaction I’ve had with guys or even friends for that matter. It’s sad. “But I’m okay,” I say, smiling at Micah. I’m okay because I have to be.

  Micah just nods while he gathers and analyzes all the evidence. “Well, I’m sorry some jackass took advantage of your good heart, but it’s smart you recognized he was a problem. It is a he, right?”

  Pulling a smile from the depths of me, I nod a couple times.

  “Whew, good. Just remember . . . men aren’t stupid creatures. We may not be the sharpest with women, and sometimes we need an instruction manual, but if a man cares for you truly, he’ll do anything in his power to keep you around, and I mean anything!”

  “Why are you so perfect?” I say, shaking my head and smiling at him.

  “Nah,” he says, bumping his shoulder into mine. “I’ve just dated a lot, and maybe I even let the right one slip away, but in the process, I’ve learned some really good things just from listening.” Micah pulls up the hand of mine he’s been holding and presses a kiss to it. “Now go to bed; your eyes look really tired.”

  “Thanks.” I know he’s right, and I am thankful for so much more than just his advice. Maybe he doesn’t ever have to move out.

  I stand up, wishing him a good night, and retire to the comfort of my bedroom. When I slip under my favorite set of sheets, I pick up my phone, unlocking the front screen. No missed messages or calls. “Humph,” I say to no one, refreshing Micah’s impressionable words to the forefront. My day was so busy; not once did I think about Talon or what he was or wasn’t doing. I’m completely exhausted, and within two minutes of turning off my phone, I’m asleep.

  The next day Maggie and I go shopping for bikinis. We take the Jeep to the mall and hit up several major stores, but we both find our perfect match at Victoria’s Secret. Well, a couple of perfect matches actually. Maggie’s holding a microscopic bikini up to her chest, posing as if she has it on, though there isn’t much to the metallic neon-green strings and triangles. “Eat your heart out, boys; we are gonna make these boys pop wood like pubescent teenagers hoping to lose their virginity. Breast is best!” She laughs and shimmies her shoulders, causing her full breasts to jiggle wildly.

  I laugh and do a turn of my own, checking myself out in the mirror. My suit is a bright coral twisted bandeau top with a navy-blue glittered anchor in between my breasts. What sold me was the back. It’s sexy. Tiny strings lace together the two ends perfectly snugly, making my back look sinful and exposed in a corset style. The bottoms are also bright coral, but they have their own sex appeal. They call them cheeky, so the coverage in the back is practically non-existent. The two sides of the suit are held together by dainty navy blue chains that play along each of my hips. My body is in the best shape it’s ever been in, and I have one person to thank for that. Too bad he won’t be getting the chance to see this little number. We both walk out with two new suits and continue to shop for a few more hours.

  “You know Talon came by the house looking for you this morning.” Maggie says, eyeing my side of the vehicle. Yes? I think, swinging my head in her direction. I’m all ears, staying quiet so she can go on. “He was acting like his nerves were spun tight. Said he was there to pick you up. He tried to go into your bedroom, but I stood in front of your door, blocking him.” Oh my God. He was on the other side of my door this morning and I had no clue. “It was weird because he accused me of hiding something from him, except I had no idea what he was talking about.” We stopped at a red light and she went on. “You could see his jaw get really tight, and he seemed like he wanted to take a swing at me.” Her forehead wrinkles between her eyebrows in confusion. “He has never let his anger come out like that around me before, and it scared the shit out of me, so I kicked his ass out.”

  I take a moment to catch my breath and my thoughts. Why would he get so pissed?

  “Screw virginity.” Maggie huffs. “Will you please just sleep with him already so he’ll leave you alone? God, I would be so stressed carrying that thing around all the time.”

  I’m appalled. “It’s not like I have the plague.”

  “I know, babe, but I can guarantee that that would solve all your problems.”

  “Well, it’s not going to happen, so . . .”

  She drops the subject with a shrug for the rest of the ride home, but my mind is still mulling over the new development and how I should handle it. As much as I want to say I don’t care what Talon thinks, a big part of me does. Of course, I will never admit that to Maggie.

  Finn: Get your fine asses over here.

  We’re driving to the address he texted us earlier, Maggie, me, and . . . well, we thought it would be nice to bring Micah, even though he’s not a smoking-hot girl. The house our GPS has us going to is situated down a private gated drive. Everything about it is grand and exquisite with its perfectly manicured landscaping, which only emphasizes the sleek styling of the massive home.

  We make our way through the parked cars, down a path, and around the side of the house, where we hear voices. The closer we get, the louder they get. There, at the end of the path, it opens up into a playful lake. I feel a wave of peace with the breeze, and a calm rushes over me as I inhale a lungful of warm summer air. The noise of screaming girls interrupts my Zen moment when a ski boat cuts through the tranquil water, leaving its wake to crash into shore, soaking a small group. Several guys are doing back flips off the roof of the boathouse into the lake, but mainly everyone is just hanging out. I scan the crowd, not anticipating this big of a turnout, and with so much going on, I feel a bit intimidated.

  From behind, Finn squeezes between Maggie and me, wrapping an arm around each of our shoulders. “Sweet! You girls made it. You can set all your bags down in one of the empty bedrooms upstairs; go through that door,” he says, pointing with a finger. “Then come on back down and get wet with us. Glad you could make it.” He removes his arms and gives both our adjacent butt cheeks a good smack, leaving us as fast as he came.

  Micah leans down and gathers our bags, moving towards the house. An odd tingling sensation comes over me, like someone is watching as a steady breeze blows wayward strands across my face. With a swipe of my hand, I brush the hair and odd feeling away, telling myself to forget about it and have a good time. I’m just out of my element.

  We make our way through the grand home to the second level where we quickly choose a room and change into our swimsuits.

  The heat warms my bones, waking my spirit, making me happy I came. This is definitely another check mark on the list of experiences I’m up for. We take the stairs that descend from the porch to the infinity pool and hot tub, which that overlook the lake. Micah takes notice of a couple of ladies floating on rafts and hangs back. Finn is standing next to a glossy black ski boat docked in the sand, and when he catches sight of us, he flashes a goofy friendly smile and waves us over.

  Talon

  I knew she’d be here and that’s why I came. Two days of silence has me walking in circles, bored and lost in my maddened mind. She is my little dose of sanity. We didn’t part on good terms; then no word from her all day Sunday. I wanted to call her a hundred times throughout the day. I did my laundry and some of hers I found lying around, went to the grocery, and shined up the cars so we’d have something nice to drive in. It seems I’m turning into a pansy-ass loser. Monday morning I hoped to pick her up, expecting her to be fully recovered from whatever funk she was in, but it wasn’t a funk at all. She had another man in her bed. Immediately, I saw red again. My suspicion had me wanting to manhandle Maggie from in front of Lo’s door, kicking that cock face out on his ass, and claiming what’s mine: my best friend. How I acted
Saturday was selfish and cruel. I’m learning to juggle all these new emotions when it comes to this girl. I want to, for her. At times, she plays the friends’ role very well, and in the beginning, that’s certainly all I wanted. Well, I really just wanted to fuck her, but whatever. It’s such a strange revelation that I placed this one female on a pedestal and she doesn’t even care.

  Finn’s voice jerks my attention to the path on the side of the house he was walking away from, and there she is. For a moment, I forget how to breathe. She is my kind of beautiful. Her sheer white cotton dress blows in the breeze kicking up around her amazing legs. With pure hunger, my eyes feast on her form, absorbing all that I’ve been starved of for the last two days. Her long hair is hand twisted loosely, draping over a shoulder, resting between her breasts in an effort to control it in the wind. A reposed smile frames her face as she catches the stray wild strand that broke loose, and that’s when I see him. I don’t know who he is, but I immediately hate him. It makes me sick to think he knows her body better than I do. He’s had the privilege of wrapping her delicate body protectively close to his heart and kissing her soft pink lips till they’ve rosed over from affection. Or maybe that’s not how they are at all. Maybe they just fuck: no romance, no promises, just a good healthy cleaning of the pipes. God, I hope there’s no romance. Romance is a potently irresistible drug that instantly saturates all a woman’s nerve endings, flicking something in the brain that makes them want to go all Susie Homemaker and seek a mate. Shit, they’re mating alright. I hurt just thinking about it. There I go, rubbing the center of my chest again.

  In that short time, I surgically dissect their every move. He stands close, but not too close. She knows he’s next to her but doesn’t care what he’s doing. No affectionate touches or fond smiles as she gives me. Thank fuck! I think I would have lost my shit in front of everyone. God knows I’m on the edge already. They disappear for fifteen minutes. For the longest fifteen minutes of my life, I don’t blink, don’t move. I stare at the back door of the house like a stalker waiting for her to reappear.