by L A Cotton
“Yeah, she wants me to call her. I’ll be back.” I leaped up and made my way out into the yard. The sun was already beating down, a sign it was going to be another hot one. Moving under the canopy, I dropped into one of the garden chairs, staring at the text message.
Unknown: Please, Kyle. Just half an hour. Surely you can give me that?
My fingers hammered the screen as if the person on the other end might feel it and take a hint, although after her persistence the last few months, I doubted that.
Kyle: No.
Unknown: Please...
Anger simmered in my blood, rushing through my veins like acid. I wasn’t an angry person, it wasn’t my style, and yet, lately, it wasn’t something I could control. She was turning me into someone I barely recognized. Enough was enough. I highlighted the number and hit dial. Before she could get a word out, I snapped. “You need to stop texting me. I’m not interested. I have nothing to say to you. Nothing. Whatever sick fantasy you’ve got in your head about a happy reunion between us, it’s never going to happen. In the words of Elsa or Ana or whatever the fuck she was called, Let. It. Go.”
“Son, please...”
“Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that. Sixteen years, it’s been sixteen years. I don’t even remember what you look like. You’re no one to me. No one. I have a family. I have Dad and Rebecca, and my brother and sisters. I have a perfectly good life.”
She choked over the line and for a split-second, I felt guilty, felt it tighten around my heart until I couldn’t breathe. But she didn’t deserve it. She left me. Sixteen years ago, Maria Lessinger abandoned me. And until three months ago, I gave her little thought. I had a family. Okay, so we weren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but in our own brand of fucked-up, it worked. I was happy. I had everything I needed. Good friends. A shot at playing football for The Trojans. The girl of my dreams by my side. And then I received a text message from an unknown number and everything had started to turn to shit. It wasn’t guilt I needed to feel, it was hate. Maria Lessinger—the woman who didn’t deserve the title of mom—was ruining things.
Forcing down my misguided feelings, I inhaled a deep breath and glanced around to make sure no one had come out here. “This needs to end. Don’t call me again.”
I didn’t add the warning on the tip of my tongue because I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Dad knew people. He wouldn’t hesitate to slap an injunction or restraining order on her. But that would mean telling him that my estranged mother, his ex, was harassing me.
Yeah, I wasn’t going there anytime soon. He didn’t need that on his plate. Not with everything he’d just been through with Rebecca, and Maverick’s dad, Alec Prince. I just had to hope she got the message and stopped calling, so things could go back to how they were before.
My cell phone lit up again and my fingers tightened ready to smash the thing against the wall, but Laurie’s name flashed across the screen and I breathed a sigh of relief. But it quickly evaporated, my stomach dropping as I realized there was no going back now. Because even if she never texted me again, even if she dropped off the face of the earth, for a fleeting second, I had a mom.
The real kind.
Living, breathing. Flesh and blood.
She wasn’t a story my dad used to tell me when I was a kid and I asked him why I didn’t have a mom. So for as much as I didn’t want to rip open old wounds and listen to her strung out junkie excuses, she was no longer a myth. A distant childhood memory.
She was real.
Maria Lessinger was real, and I’d just heard her voice for the first time in my life.
And I didn’t know how to deal with that.
I punched accept and said, “Hey.”
“Hi,” Laurie sounded so distant and I fucking hated it. “I know we said we’d hang out with Lo and Maverick today, but Mom wants to take me shopping before she leaves for Cabo, so I have to bail. I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool. I’ll hit up the guys and see if they want to come over here and hang. Rebecca and Dad are working all day.”
“Oh, okay, well I could swing by when I’m done with Mom?”
“Yeah, if you want to.”
Silence filled the line, and I tilted my head back, shutting my eyes tight. Part of me wanted to beg her to come over, to wrap her arms around me and tell me everything was going to be okay, but how could she do that when I hadn’t even told her what was going on?
“Kyle,” Laurie’s voice pulled me from my reverie. “You’d tell me, right, if something was the matter?”
“Nothing’s up, babe,” I said with ease, the lies just rolling off my tongue. Because that was the problem with lies—the more you told, the easier they became. “Everything is fine, I promise.”
Lies.
Lies.
All fucking lies.
I was lying to her.
To myself.
To my family.
But what other choice did I have? If I told Laurie the truth, it would mean admitting I lied. And when she ran off to Lo and told her best friend, they’d all know. Maverick. Macey. Summer... Rebecca. I wouldn’t only be outing myself, I’d be outing Dad too, and life as we knew it would become a freak show.
It was better this way.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
Chapter 4
LAURIE
“What about this one, darling?”
I flicked my eyes to the dress in Mom’s hand and forced a smile. “Sure, it’s nice.”
She made a derisive noise in the back of her throat. “Could you at least pretend to be interested? Honestly, Laurie, would it kill you to act like spending the day with your mother isn’t a torture sentence?”
It is. The words vibrated around my head, but I swallowed them down. I loved shopping as much as the girl next door, but shopping with my mother always came at a price. “It’s a lovely dress, Mom.” I tried to seem more enthusiastic, taking the silk between my fingers and gazing longingly at it.
“I thought it would be perfect for the gala next month. You know how much your father likes us to dress up. And Nathaniel Teason will be there.”
“Mom.” I shot her an irritated look, but she’d already moved on to another rack.
“He’s home for the summer. Darla was telling me how wonderful he’s finding Berkeley. Such a good school with an excellent pre-law program.”
“That’s great, Mom.” I trailed after her as she plucked dress after dress out for me.
“I really wish you’d consider it. USC is fine and all, but it’s not Berkeley. And I know your father would love nothing more than to have you attend his alma mater.”
“USC is a good school and Kyle is...”
“Laurie.” She paused her browsing and set her perfectly lined eyes at me. “You’re seventeen. Who knows where you’ll be when you graduate. A lot can happen in a year and you’re young, sweetheart. Too young to follow your boyfriend off to college in hopes that he’ll stick around and be faithful.” I might have mistaken her soft tone for genuine concern if I hadn’t heard this six times already.
“Can I ask you one thing?” I said standing taller, sick and tired of her bullshit.
Confusion pinched her Botox-smooth forehead, and she smiled. “Anything, you know that.”
“If I was dating Toby Nusack or Vincent Marlson would you say the same thing?”
“Well, that’s different...” She touched a hand to her neck. “The Nusacks and Marlsons are—”
“Are what, Mom? Wealthy? Successful? Because last time I checked so are the Stone-Princes.”
“Laurie.” Her eyes darted around the store. “We’re in public, please lower your voice.”
“I’m just... God, Mom. I’m so frustrated. You said you liked Kyle.”
“I did, darling. I mean, I do. But that family is,”—she leaned in closer keeping her voice low—“trouble.”
“Trouble?” My eyes widened, surprised she was humoring me. Usually, conversa
tions about my boyfriend ended in one way: in deafening silence.
“There was the scandal with Eloise, and then Rebecca and Gentry pulled that stunt with Alec Prince. He was devastated. To think all he’d done for—”
“Gabi, darling, how good to see you,” a saccharine sweet voice called across the store and Mom went deathly still beside me. But her mask was pulled back on as she spun around. “Luna, what a surprise.”
“I’ll be over there, by the workout clothes.” I hurried away, wanting to avoid a scene and more questions I didn’t have the answers to.
Had I decided on a school?
Was I looking forward to senior year?
Had I finally fulfilled my parents wish to break it off with my boyfriend and date Toby Nusack or Vincent Marlson instead?
Rummaging in my pocket, I snatched out my cell phone and texted Lo.
Laurie: Save me.
Lo: What’s up?
Laurie: Mom alert. I need a bail. Please!
P!nks Beautiful Trauma started blasting out of my cell and I made a drama of answering it. “Lo? What’s wrong?”
Mom immediately looked in my direction and I mouthed “It’s Lo,” before moving out of earshot.
“That bad, huh?” my best friend asked, and I let out a heavy sigh.
“She’s making me try on dresses for the charity gala next month.”
“That doesn’t so—”
“He did what?” I fake gasped. “Yes, of course.” Glancing over my shoulder I made sure they were still watching. “I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
“Laurie, what the hell?”
“No, no, don’t do that. I’ll be there. I promise.”
“Seriously, Laurie.” Lo groaned over the line but I was on a roll.
“It’ll be okay, just hold on ‘til I get there.” I hung up and slid the phone into my pocket.
“Is everything okay, darling?”
“It’s Lo.” I grimaced. “She needs me. There’s been a... thing.”
“A thing?” Mom’s brows quirked up to her hairline.
“She and Maverick had a fight. She’s upset and needs me.”
“Trouble that one,” Mom’s friend sucked in her cheeks, judgment dripping from her voice. “There are rumors about him, you know.” She went on, but I cut her off.
“I need to bail, is that okay?”
“But I wanted us to get a late lunch and—”
“Mom, she needs me. I’m her best friend.”
“Ahh, I remember those days, Gabi, don’t you? The highs and heartache.”
I offered our unwelcome intruder a smile and then turned my focus back on Mom.
“Oh, fine.” Her face softened as much as humanly possible given the amount of work she’d had recently. “We still have a couple of days before we leave for Cabo. Maybe we can go to L'Apaiser for facials.”
“Sure, Mom,” I said through gritted teeth like that was ever going to happen. “I’ll see you later.”
“So attached to that family.” She sighed as if the idea actually pained her, but I didn’t look back, letting her dig roll off my shoulders. The Stone-Princes might have had their problems but at least they knew what it was to be family. The way they protected and loved one another, I wanted that. It was real, and messy, and raw, but I’d take it any day over fake smiles, expensive dresses, and facials at the prissy spa Mom and her friends frequented, not to mention being left alone for days on end while my parents swanned off to some new resort they just ‘had to see’.
So maybe I had attached myself to Kyle and his family. But I loved him. I loved him so much it scared me. Because although I hated to admit it, my mom was right about one thing. If I followed Kyle to USC, our relationship would be tested in ways I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
“MAYBE THIS ISN’T SUCH a good idea.” My feet ground to a halt as Lo reached the gate to the Stone-Prince’s yard.
“What?” She swung around to me.
“I mean, he has his friends over and I don’t want to—”
Lo brushed her hair from her face, tilting her head to the side, and searched my eyes. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing, I...”
“Did something happen? Because if Kyle did something, I will kick his—”
“No, no. I just, ugh, it’s my mom’s fault. She was saying all this stuff and now I’m all worked up.”
After bailing on my mom, I left the mall and rode the bus home. Lo insisted on coming over and we spent the afternoon hanging out in the yard.
“What stuff?”
I hadn’t wanted to talk about earlier and she hadn’t pushed. But from the deep scowl on her face, I wasn’t going to escape this time.
“You know how she gets.”
“About USC?”
I nodded. “They want me to go Berkeley to study pre-law, just like my dad did.” Really, I think they wanted me to go anywhere but USC.
“It’s your decision, though. You know that, right? There’s still time to decide.”
“I know, I just...” My gaze dropped.
“Laurie, talk to me. I would never tell him anything, you can trust me.”
“They think he’ll get to USC and leave me high and dry. And honestly? Part of me wonders—”
“No. No way.” She planted her hands on her hips. “He would never... Kyle would never do that to you. He adores you. For him there is only one plan for next year and it involves both of you moving to USC.”
I wanted to believe her—God, did I want to believe her. Because until recently, that had been my plan, and I’d been so excited about the prospect of starting the next chapter of my life with Kyle. Sure, there was still another year of high school to get through, but we were solid.
And then I found the text message that changed everything.
God, why did I have to look? Why couldn’t I have ignored it?
But I hadn’t, and it couldn’t be unseen. And even though things had gotten better, there was distance between us. At first, I thought it was all from Kyle. He was pulling away, putting up an invisible wall. But now I wasn’t so sure. Because the seed had been sowed and what started as a small drop of doubt about our future was slowly pooling into something bigger.
Something dangerous.
“Laurie,” Lo said when I didn’t speak. “Kyle loves you. I don’t know what’s going on with him or with the two of you, but it’s been a crazy few months, for everyone. Maybe you just need to spend some time together. Have a little fun.”
Lips pressed together, I pulled on the hem of my oversized racer tank. “You really think we’ll be okay?”
Her lips curved. “I know so. Now come on, let’s go have fun.”
“Okay.” I forced a smile. “Fun, I can totally do fun.”
Lo waited for me and we walked into the yard together. The sound of male laughter filled the air and when we rounded the corner we found our guys sitting at the edge of the pool. Maverick leaped straight up and made his way over to us.
“Hey.” He looped an arm around Lo and pulled her close. “I missed you.”
She pressed her hands against his bare chest and smiled. “It’s only been a couple of hours.”
“Still.” He kissed her nose and a pang of jealousy bolted through me as I looked over at Kyle. He was watching me watching them, the muscles in his jaw tense. Heeding Lo’s words I lifted my hand in a small wave and he patted the tiles beside him.
“I’ll see you guys in a minute,” I said moving to Kyle. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He smiled up at me the way he had a hundred times before, but this felt different somehow. “Sit with me?”
“Okay.” I kicked off my sandals and sat beside him, sliding my feet into the pool. A couple of his friends took a break from wrestling in the water and called, “Hey, Laurie.”
“Hey, guys.”
“So how was shopping with your Mom?” His hand slid over mine and he linked our fingers.
“It was... who I am kidding? It sucked. I bailed
.” I stared at the ripples as my toes sliced through the water.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You know how she gets.”
Kyle shuffled closer until our shoulders were touching and dipped his head, pressing a kiss there. “I love you, Laurie Davison. Don’t ever forget that.”
“I—”
“Yo, Stone, get in here!”
“Fuck off, I’m busy.” He slipped his arm around my back and hugged me close.
“Go,” I whispered, turning my face into his shoulder, my heart still racing from his touch, his words. “I’ll be right here.”
“You’re sure?” He craned his head around to me, his blue eyes glittering some unspoken question.
“Yeah, go.” The corners of my mouth lifted. “Just don’t get me—”
It happened so quickly. One second we were sitting there, then Kyle lunged forward, his arm still tight around my waist. Water splashed up around me as I gasped, fighting for breath. But strong arms cocooned me, pulling me to the surface.
“Kyle!” I shrieked as a chorus of cheers echoed in my ears.
He grinned, pushing soggy hair from my face. “You’re cute when you’re mad.”
“I’m wearing my bathing suit underneath. You could’ve least let me get changed first.”
“I like you like this.” His eyes darkened, sweeping over the wet t-shirt clinging to my curves and a shiver rolled up my spine. He looked so gorgeous. Blond hair wet from the water, sticking up at all angles; his lips pulled into an amused smirk. Tan broad shoulders, a testament to all the hours he spent training and running drills for Coach.
“Laurie, I—”
I saw my opportunity and took it, splashing a handful of water at him. He spluttered and stared at me with disbelief then dived for me. My shrieks filled the Stone-Princes yard as I tried to break free, kicking my legs with everything I had, but Kyle was quicker, stronger, and my attempt at escaping was futile. His sculpted body covered mine, and he pulled me into his chest, his mouth right by my ear.
“There’s no escaping me, babe. I’m never letting you go.”