I gasped and turned away, covering myself. “What the fuck?!”
“Sorry I thought you were done ….” Kyle backed out again, closing the door behind him.
Yeah right.
I sobbed in frustration and shoved on my damp sweater and jeans. I stomped my feet into my cold boots and grabbed my backpack just as I heard Vinny finishing up in the bathroom. I threw open the door and slammed it closed to let him know I left. Kyle was sitting in the hall next to the door, looking like a lost puppy.
“Sorry about that…” he murmured, getting to his feet.
I ignored the comment and walked down the hall. I trembled out of anger and wiped my damp cheeks on my sleeves. I could hear the rain still pounding the building as I made my way toward the doors that would lead into the storm. I didn’t care what kind of weather I was about to face, it couldn’t compare to the hurricane I was feeling inside.
Cold rain struck my face like tiny needles as I stepped outside. I bowed my head and stomped through the puddles, toward the parking lot, wondering if I should go to the library to wait it out. My next thought was to call Lindy, so I found the closest overhang and removed my phone to find it had no service.
Cursing, I looked out over the flooded campus and more tears of frustration began to pour from my eyes as I realized I would have to walk home. I tucked my phone back into my backpack and headed in the direction of the apartment. I barely noticed the rain as I walked, lost in my own angry thoughts.
I wasn’t far from campus when a horn blaring shook me from my thoughts. I looked up to see Vinny’s black Nissan GT-R rolling to a near stop beside me. His window came down and he glared at me.
“Autumn!” he shouted. “What the hell are you doing? What happened?”
“Why don’t you tell me? You lying piece of shit!” I snapped, wanting to punch the confused look off his face.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I stopped walking and turned to him. “I saw the texts on your phone between you and Vivian. I’m so glad you were with me this weekend but you still missed her and her tits!”
Realization loosened the hard edges of his expression. “Autumn, please get in the car so we can talk about this.”
“No! I’m not going anywhere with you. Go away.” I continued to trudge in the rain, stubbornly stomping through any puddle in my wake.
“Would you stop! I feel like an asshole driving next to you!”
“Good, because you are an asshole!” I shouted, shivering as rain drops pelted my face and stung my eyes. I could barely hear myself think over the rushing sound of water hitting the ground.
He slammed his hand on the wheel and sped off, suddenly coming to a squealing stop at the curb ahead. He put his hazard lights on and climbed out wearing a black hoodie and jeans. He slammed his car door and headed towards me with a look of determination.
I backed up a step, my heart pounding. “Don’t touch me!”
“Autumn, get in the car.”
“No. Stay the fuck away or I swear I’ll kick you right in your lying balls.”
Regardless of my threat, he called my bluff and marched up to me. I didn’t stand a chance when he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. I turned away and tried to squirm loose but his embrace tightened.
“Just fucking stop! We can stand out in this fucking rain or we can do this in the car! Either way we are gonna talk.”
I went limp in his grasp and sobbed into my palms, the heaviness in my heart enough to cripple me.
“Come on...” he said turning me to him and pulling me against his warm body. I buried my face into his warm shoulder and sobbed harder.
“You’re freezing, Autumn,” he said against my ear. “Please get in the car.”
I was too cold and worn to fight him. I let him lead me to the passenger side of the car and I dropped into the seat, my soaked clothes squeaking against the leather. He hopped into the driver’s seat a moment later and slammed the door. He glared over at me and ran his hand over his drenched hair.
“What the fuck were you thinking, walking home in the rain like this? You could have waited until I got out of the shower to talk to me.”
I stared out the passenger window, wiping the mix of rain and tears from my cheeks. “Can you just take me home please?” I asked, my trembling fingers numb from the cold.
He sighed and pulled away from the curb, shifting gears. He drove me down the almost abandoned roads to my apartment building. Once he parked, I reached for the door handle, but he hit the child safety feature and locked me in.
I glared at him. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“You’re not leaving angry.”
“Fuck you, Vinny. I have every right to be pissed off!”
“I never said you didn’t. But I have a right to give you my side of the story,” he answered and swallowed hard.
“Explain what? That you have lied to me for the last two weeks?”
“What do you want me to say? She sent me a picture of her tits! I can’t control what she sends me!”
“You could have told her to fuck off, not cheer her on, and tell her she’s fucking sexy!”
He sighed and looked ahead. “We talked about this, Autumn. You know why I put up with this shit.”
I shook my head and put my hands over my eyes, fighting the swell of emotion that was making my heart pound with fury. “You didn’t have to tell her you missed her, especially the night we were together.”
“I sent those texts before we even hooked up that night!”
“Oh so now I’m just a random hook up?” I asked, glaring at him.
“Jesus Christ, Autumn. You really think I’m just fucking with you?!”
“After what I just saw, yes I do. I read your texts. I saw all the pictures of her naked. How do I know you’re not jerking off to that shit. I’m so disgusted right now I can’t even look at you—”
“Why the fuck would you go through my phone in the first place!” he snapped, his voice accusing. “That’s fucking private, Autumn.”
“Because it was on the nightstand in clear sight, Vinny!”
“Oh okay,” he answered in disgust. “So that gives you the right to just look through all my shit?”
“I’m glad I did, at least I know the truth now!”
“You don’t know shit.” He snapped back.
I shook my head and feeling like I was about to vomit. “Just let me out of the car.”
“No. You think I keep those pictures because I care about her? Is that what you think?”
“I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m cold, I have to throw up, and I just want to go home.”
“Here,” he said ripping his phone out of his pocket. “Just to prove I don’t give a fuck, I’ll delete every fucking one of her texts, everyone one of her pictures, I’ll even delete her fucking number if it proves you mean more to me than all of this.” I watched his thumb stab at the keys, deleting one photo after another, her face pixelating into oblivion before my very eyes. I looked away and gagged after watching a particularly provocative one I hadn’t seen before disappear.
A few moments passed before he threw the phone down in his cup holder and leaned forward putting his forehead on the steering wheel, his hands clenching it so hard his knuckles were white. “This is why I didn’t want to get involved with you Auti, I just fucking knew this would happen. I knew it. You can’t trust me.”
The truth of his words drove the knife deeper. I took a pained breath. “Then why did you lead me on?”
He looked over at me, his brown eyes expressing the sadness he felt. “I didn’t lead you on. I mean that. Everything I’ve said and everything that has happened between us is genuine. I want you….I care about you so much. I don’t want to lose you over this…I’m so sorry.”
I wiped some fresh tears out of my eyes. “I don’t know if I can get over this, I don’t know anything anymore. All I know is that I’ve never felt this fucked up over anything.
This sucks so bad.”
“Autumn…I’m sorry. Please…” He leaned over, pulling me towards him.
I rested my head against his shoulder, letting him hold me while I released more fresh tears.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this,” he said, rocking me gently, side to side. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You can’t fix it, Vinny. There’s no way to. She will never go away.”
“Yes, she will. I’ll find a way. I’ll stop talking to her if I have to, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
I leaned back and looked into his eyes, giving him a skeptical glare. “You know that won’t happen. She will try harder. Even if you did stop talking to her she will find a way to stay in your life. She will ruin everything, I just know it.”
“She can’t ruin it for us if we don’t let her.”
More like if he didn’t let her.
I sighed and pulled away, too emotionally drained to argue about it anymore. “You better get to class.”
“Are you coming to work tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah I guess.” I said.
“Need a ride?”
“Just home. I don’t start until seven tonight.”
“Okay. So I’ll see you there?”
I nodded in resignation and he leaned over, pressing a gentle kiss against my cheek. “I’m sorry, Autumn.”
“I gotta go,” I let myself out of the car into the drizzling cold rain.
“I’ll see you tonight…” he called as I swung the car door closed and hurried upstairs to the apartment. I walked through the door to hear the muted sound of music coming from Lindy’s bedroom. I walked down the hall, and prepared to knock until I heard the distinct sound of her bed creaking and Tyler saying her name.
I grimaced and backed away. I went into the bathroom, tore off my wet clothes, and took a hot shower to wash away the chill from my bones and the ache from my heart.
Afterwards, I put on some fleece pajamas and made a quick phone call to my mother to make sure Grandma was doing good. By the time I was done, Lindy had noticed I was home early and came to see me.
She sat on my bed and watched me fight with my hair as I straightened it, and told her about my dramatic afternoon. Once I was done, she was as disgusted as I was.
“If Tyler pulled some shit like this on me, I’d kill him.”
“Were not in a relationship though, I don’t even know what we are.”
“If he’s screwing your brains out and telling you he doesn’t want to lose you, that’s a relationship. And having Viv’s naked photos on his phone is an offense. I should go kick him in his balls.”
I frowned at my reflection in the mirror and dragged the straitener over another chunk of my hair. “It’s my fault for even trusting him. I knew he wasn’t over her.”
“You guys used protection right?”
I paused and nodded.
“Autumn.”
“I said yes!”
“But I saw you pause. You had to think about it. Auti if you get pregnant—”
“Lindy don’t even say that word! We used protection the first two times and today he pulled out. I’m fine.”
“I’m studying nursing. Pulling out is risky. You need to get on birth control. I have an extra month of pills you can have. Start taking them now. It only takes a few days to become effective. I can also get you the morning after pill if you think you need it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Stop freaking out. I’m not going to sleep with him again, at least until all of this drama is over with Vivian.”
“Yeah right. You’ve had sex three times in forty-eight hours.”
“Yeah well that was before I saw the truth. I’m serious, Lindy. It’s not going to happen again until I’m one-hundred percent sure I can trust him.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
I sighed and combed my hands through my silky straight hair. “Better start being a believer then.”
After I finished getting ready for work, Lindy drove me to the train station. I spent the forty-five minute train ride convincing myself that I didn’t need Vinny and I was going to tell him we needed to just be friends until he got the Vivian and Mazzolas mess figured out…if he ever did.
When I finally got to work, I used the back entrance so I could avoid having to see Vivian. As I was putting my stuff into my locker, I heard someone come into the room. I turned around to see Vinny standing there in a flour-covered black apron.
Pain centered in my chest. I frowned at him and turned back to my locker.
“Hey, you made it.” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Are you still pissed at me?”
I looked over at him and frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
My answer came out just as a well-manicured hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.
Vivian squeezed past him, giving me one of her snide smiles. “Why wouldn’t you be what?”
“None of your business,” I answered.
He frowned at me and answered her. “Nothing Viv. Did you need something?”
“It’s busy. Autumn you need to cover for me while I make an important phone call.”
I slammed my locker closed. “Sure, I’ll be right out.”
She crossed her arms and stood aside, watching me as I approached Vinny who was standing right in the doorway. My gaze warned him to move, but he didn’t. “Can we talk on your break?”
“I guess so,” I murmured. He accepted that answer and moved aside.
I walked past them both and I was surprised to find him following me.
“Hey Vinny, can I talk to you a second?” Vivian called after him with annoyance in her voice.
I glanced over my shoulder at him and he answered her with a smirk. “Sorry Viv, gotta get back to work.”
I smiled and he gave my butt a swat as he passed me.
Hearing him reject her lifted a little of the heaviness in my heart. I headed to the hostess counter to find it wasn’t as busy as Vivian claimed. I knew that she was just saying that to get rid of me so she could talk to Vinny alone and make me jealous. Little did she know how drastically the game had changed over the weekend.
I seated two tables before she came back from her break. She glanced over at me unsmiling as I picked up the marker and updated the seating chart.
“That was cute,” she said, turning one of her long black loose curls around her finger.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know, what you did this weekend. Oh no my grandmother is sick so I can have a weekend with Vinny.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Excuse me?” I asked, feeling the urge to punch her in her already swollen lips. “Vinny had nothing to do with it. My grandmother is in the hospital because she fell and had a brain hemorrhage, and by the way, she’s recovering fine, thanks for asking. Vinny offered to take me this weekend, I didn’t ask him to.”
She rolled her eyes. “Like Lindy couldn’t take you.”
“No, Lindy couldn’t. She was sick.”
“Speaking of…you made a real ass of yourself at the party the other night. I hope you know you costed Vinny his place in Alpha Tau.”
I glared at her, shaking my head. “No I didn’t. He said he changed his mind about joining.”
“Yeah, because you shit on his opportunity with your dumb ass little drama queen scene outside. After he put your drunken ass in the car, they pulled him aside and told him they don’t need members with drama. He told you a different story so that you wouldn’t feel bad. He deserves better friends than little drama queens that ruin his life like you.” She snatched up the clipboard with the guests names on it and walked around me.
“Peter Torino. Party of four!”
She walked off to seat the party and I glared after her, wondering how much truth there was in her words. Even if that was true, I was probably doing Vinny a favor, living in a frat wasn’t good for anyone.
I was finally able to take a b
reak around 8:30PM. I paid for a bottled root beer and took it with me as I went to find Vinny. I peered into the kitchen to see him pounding a piece of veal with a meat mallet. He looked up the moment I entered the room and tossed the veal in some flour.
“I’ll meet you out back in a minute, just let me get this in the oven.” he wiped his brow with the back of his arm.
“Kay.” I left the kitchen, grabbing my coat on the way out the back door. I sat down on the steps that faced the creepy ally way. I was glad for the glow from the security light overhead, giving some comfort to the otherwise dreary setting. The sound of traffic echoed off the brick walls as I took a sip of my root beer.
Vinny finally stepped outside and sat down on the steps next to me. He looked tired. I offered him my root beer. He took it and sucked down three large gulps before handing it back.
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
“You said you wanted to talk to me?” I asked, pressing the bottle between my knees.
“Yeah I did,” he said picking some flour off his fingernails before he glanced over at me. Our gazes met and the concern in his eyes melted to sincerity. “What happened today was wrong, but I don’t want this to be the end for us.”
“I don’t either.” I said, glancing down at my root beer.
He slid his arm around my shoulders. “I need you in my life.”
“You sure about that? Vivian said that it was my fault you didn’t get invited into the frat.”
His arm tightened around me. “Who cares what she said.”
“Is it true?”
We watched a man take his trash out from the building across the way before he answered.
“Does it matter?”
“It matters to me.” I said looking at him.
He shrugged. “Yeah, it’s true. But I don’t care. That night…” he paused to rake his hand through his hair. “That night put my life in perspective. I did some things and said some things, I shouldn’t have. I feel like things happened for a reason…and things are right where they should be now.” He took my hand in his and kissed my palm. “Can you forgive me?”
I smirked, my resistance melting. “I’m sure I’ll get over it, but I do think we should take things slow. At least until all of this shit with Mazzolas is over. Vivian is right in the fact that I do complicate things for you.”
Down to Business (Business Series) Page 23