She spotted a head of curly, black hair by one of the bonfires amid a slew of girls she didn’t recognize. Mitch Clarkson turned his round face to the guy next to him. It was the other guy Beau couldn’t seem to live without, Josh Breeland. He grinned and blushed when one of the girls pecked his cheek.
She leaned over to Zoe to be heard above the music. “I’m gonna find Beau.”
“Sure thing. I’ll get us something to drink.” Zoe took off in the direction of one of the tubs filled with ice and beer.
Dawn trudged across the sand, eager to spot Beau’s sun-streaked hair. He usually met her first thing when she arrived at the river. So where was he?
A tingle in her belly ignited an inkling of concern. Was he with another girl? It was always a fear, probably because she never felt good enough for him. Sometimes she couldn’t believe the most popular guy in school wanted her. What she hadn’t realized was how stressful keeping him would be.
The music grew fainter as she made it to an obscure corner of the beach. Then a very familiar, musical chuckle drifted by.
Beau?
A breeze shifted the branches, allowing light to shine on an isolated picnic table. Beau was there, nursing a bottle of water and wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt that hugged his broad chest. Next to him was a girl in a pair of black leather pants. Big-boobed and platinum blonde, she had her arm wrapped around Beau’s shoulder and gazed longingly into his eyes.
Dawn became so angry she felt like a bulging volcano about to blow.
Beau, seemingly captivated, raised his hand to brush the hair from the girl’s face—a gesture he had done a thousand times before with her.
Dawn dug her heels and stormed across the sand. When a beam of moonlight caught the girl’s face, jealousy quickened her pace. It was Sara Bissell—the smart-mouthed bimbo who told everyone she loved bondage, but no one actually believed her.
“Beau, what are you doing? Get away from her. She’s trash.”
Sara sat back from Beau, a broad sassy smirk on her bright red lips. “Who you callin’ trash, bitch?”
Beau stood, his gray eyes hooded, and his mouth a thin, angry line. “Dawn, enough!”
His hard voice sent a chill through her. He scared her when he got mad.
“Why are you hiding back here with this whips and chains freak? What are you up to, Sara? He’s mine!”
“I’m not up to nothin’!” Sara stepped down, appearing ready to claw Dawn’s eyes out. “Your boyfriend asked to talk to me. Seems he’s looking for pointers.”
Beau’s eyes darted around the beach. He took Sara’s arm and walked her past Dawn. “Why don’t you go back to the party?”
Sara gave Dawn one last steely-eyed stare. “You know where to find me.”
Dawn wanted to hit someone or to tear Sara’s dyed hair out by the roots. How could he have been talking to her out in the open where all their friends could see? What would everyone think?
In her head, a small voice sounding like her sister kept repeating, “I told you so.”
“What the hell, Beau?” She spun around to him, seething. “You want to tell me why you were with Bondage Bissell?”
Beau remained aloof as he stood in front of her. One hand slipped into the pocket of his jeans, and the other holding his water. His expression was a mixture of amusement and discontent. The calculating way his gaze skidded up and down her figure made her feel like a rabbit caught in the sights of a wolf.
“You need to lower your voice.” He sipped his water.
She charged up to him. “I will not lower my voice. What were you doing with her?”
He took her arm and dragged her back to the picnic table, his fingers digging into her skin. He pushed her onto the bench and set his water next to her. He took a moment, rested his hands on either side of her, pinning her in.
“We were only talking.” Beau put on the boyish frown she had never been able to resist—until now. “She’s been very forthcoming about her lifestyle and I had questions. Things I wanted to know about her world.”
The disclosure hit her with the force of a tsunami. “What? You don’t actually buy she’s into that stuff? It’s an act.”
He eased his head lower until his lips came to a halt right before hers. “This isn’t about her. It’s about us. I’ve been thinking about trying some new things with you. To find ways to please each other.”
She didn’t recognize the way he spoke or the strange distance in his voice. This wasn’t her Beau.
Her explosive anger trickled to a steady drip. “But why talk to Sara? Why not me?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Part of her didn’t buy it. “You were hitting on her. Admit it.”
He chuckled softly, filling her with doubt.
“Baby, why would I want to be with her when I have you? Sara’s a nobody. She isn’t the head of the cheerleading squad, or very cute, or smart, or funny. All the things you are.”
He’d described all the things she fought to be every second of every day. But still, she still didn’t feel good enough.
“Yeah, but Sara’s got big boobs, and all the guys think she’s hot because she talks about bondage all the time.”
Beau stood back and kicked the sand, looking too damn cute for her to resist. “You know I’m not a boob man. I’m an ass guy, and there isn’t an ass in the entire school as fine as yours.” He came up to her, grinning. “And as far as the bondage stuff, well, we could try it. Experiment with some things. What do you say?”
Dawn searched his face, hoping to find the truth. Instead, she became more confused. Was love supposed to be this hard? Was giving in all the time the norm in a relationship? And bondage—she’d just gotten the hang of sex. How was she supposed to feel about something that made her uncomfortable?
“What are you, drunk, Devereaux?” Zoe waltzed up to them, wrinkling her nose at Beau. “That bitch, Sara Bissel, is announcing to everyone you two are back here having a fight because of her.”
“This is all I need.” Beau ran his hand through his hair. “You can tell everyone at the party we’re not fighting.” He waved Zoe away. “Go on. I’m still talking to Dawn.”
Zoe planted her feet. “What am I, your social director? Don’t you be thinking you can shoo me away, boy. I’m here to protect my friend from your cheatin’ ass.”
Beau tossed his head back and held up his fists. “I’m not cheating!”
His smoky voice had been replaced by a touch of panic. He didn’t sound anything like the boy Dawn had come to know.
What is going on with him?
Dawn got up from the bench, the nervous tickle in her belly growing stronger. She didn’t want to be left alone with an angry Beau. She went to Zoe’s side, ready to put some space between them.
“Let’s go back to the party.”
Beau slapped his chest, indignation burning brighter in his eyes. “What? You’re leaving before we’ve finished our discussion?”
“Can you blame her?” Zoe stood protectively between Dawn and Beau. “You’re a piece of shit, Devereaux.”
“Shut up!” He smoothed out the tension in his face and shifted his focus to Dawn. “You need to chill, baby. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Yet,” Zoe edged in with a smirk.
“Damn it, Zoe, stop it.” He raised his hand, looking as if he might strike her, and then lowered it. “Don’t you dare make Dawn doubt me.”
His reaction sent a gut-wrenching jolt through her system. Beau had never laid a hand on Dawn, but she’d never seen him teetering so close to the edge. With his fists clenched, and his jaw muscles quivering, he looked downright dangerous.
“Leave Zoe out of this.” Dawn stepped away from her friend. “This is between you and me.”
His deadly stare gutted her. Where were the kind eyes of the guy she loved?
“How can I compete with people who keep trashing me? I’m your boyfriend. You need to believe me and not your so-called
friends.”
Her heart wanted to believe him, but her head urged caution. He was different, and she couldn’t put her finger on what had sparked the change.
“I’m beginning to believe Leslie was right about you.”
“You’re going to listen to that twisted bitch? After all the times I reached out to her, only to have her throw it in my face?” Beau’s voice ticked higher, sounding scary. He held up his hands and backed away from her. “That’s it. I’m done. Believe who you want, Dawn.”
Dread cascaded through her. She couldn’t lose him. What would happen to her reputation? Last night things had been great between them, and now this? What the hell?
“Are you serious?”
He raised his head, a cruel sneer on his lips. “I’ve never been more serious in my life. I can’t hack your drama anymore.”
My drama!
The nightmare scenario she had dreaded was here. Her fear morphed into a crushing weight, sucking the air from her lungs.
I can’t lose him!
Desperate to save their relationship, she got angry. “Beau Devereaux, if you walk away, I will never speak to you again!”
“That’s fine by me.” He turned his back on her and strolled toward the party.
The air thinned, and despite her deep breaths, she felt suffocated. Dawn bent over and grabbed her knees.
“It’s all right.” Zoe patted her back. “He didn’t mean it.”
Her cheeks burned. Dawn needed to get away. She took off for the party.
“Wait up!” Zoe shouted behind her.
She reached the beach where the partygoers swayed to the soft sounds of a ballad and sipped their beers. Faces blurred as she rushed past, her gaze focused only on the pine-needle strewn path returning her to her car.
By the time she was halfway up the embankment, Zoe caught up to her.
When she stepped out on the gravel lining the lot, her only thought was to get home and climb into her bed so she could cry without anyone seeing. But the heaviness in her heart got to be too much, and once she slid into the driver’s seat, tears trickled down her cheeks.
“You’d better let me drive.” Zoe took the keys from her hand.
Sniffling, Dawn opened her car door. “I can’t go home. Not like this.”
Zoe patted her hand. “We’ll go to my house. You can stay over. Everything will be better tomorrow.”
“Will it?” Dawn didn’t think her life could get any worse.
* * *
The fire swirled and weaved around the pine logs in the pit, the crackling of wood carrying across the beach. Beau pictured the red and orange embers running through his bloodstream, flecks of rage surging into his muscles and igniting his desire for pain.
Dawn had ignited his fury. No one ever questioned him. No one.
“I think you blew it with Dawn.” Mitch came alongside him, holding on to a can of beer. “She looked pissed.”
“I’ll smooth things over.” Beau grinned at his friend. “We just had a misunderstanding.”
Mitch popped open his beer. “Chicks are hard to figure out.”
“Some are harder than others.” Beau wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Like Dawn’s sister. Now there’s a real tough nut.”
“She’s not so bad.” Mitch’s dark eyes flickered in the firelight. “She helped me get through freshman English. Would have failed without her.”
Beau’s fingers twitched. What other information had his friend kept from him?
“You never told me that.”
Mitch’s shrug was meant to reassure Beau. It didn’t.
“You’ve always been down on her so I never wanted to say nothin’.” Mitch sipped his beer.
Beau arched an eyebrow. “So, you like her.”
Mitch’s color turned ashen and he edged backward, sweat beading his brow. “No, man. It was freshman year. Before she got bitchy.”
Beau tilted his head. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did like her, but I’d stay away. You might end up cut off from everything. Like Derek Foster. Know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I hear ya.” Mitch weighed the beer in his hand. “What you gonna do the rest of the night without a date?”
Beau surveyed the partygoers. “I’m going to hang out with my friends and have fun.”
Mitch wiped his brow and toasted him. “You’re the king!”
Josh came up to him, offering Beau a beer. “I saw Dawn busting out of here. You need to drink, heavily.”
Tempting, but his father’s mantra came back to him. “No. Gotta drive my best buds home sober.” He slapped Mitch and Josh on their backs.
“Next weekend, I’ll drive.” Josh popped the beer he had brought for Beau. “Least I can do after all the times you’ve brought us.”
The idea of Josh driving him anywhere almost made him break out in hives. He could trust his defensive lineman to cover his ass on the field, but not on the road.
“We’ll see. I’m gonna change the tunes. I think we need some dance music.”
He left the orange glow of the bonfire and passed through a mass of giggling high school girls. Then someone patted his back.
“You and Dawn okay?”
Sara’s blue eyes came into focus as she stepped in front of him.
He reined in his irritation. “She’s a little mad at me, but she’ll get over it.”
She rubbed her hand along his chest. “Anything I can do to help?”
Beau removed her hand, turned off by her aggression and her red lips. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” He pressed into the soft spot of her hand, the space between her thumb and index finger. “I heard you were telling everyone Dawn and I were fighting.” He squeezed harder. “Is that true?”
She recoiled from his grip. “Beau, you’re hurting me.”
He enjoyed the way she squirmed. “I thought you said you were into pain. That’s what you told me before?”
“Not like this.”
It was what he figured. Another girl who claimed to crave whips and chains, but when confronted by real pain, turned tail and ran.
He pressed on her flesh a little more. “What did you tell everyone about me and Dawn?”
Then he saw it. That captivating twinkle of fear in her eyes. Much less than the horror Taylor had fed him, but enough to awaken his thirst for more.
“I might have told a few people you were fighting.” She twisted her arm, trying to get away from him.
The confession was what he wanted. He let her go. “Do yourself a favor, Sara. Don’t spread lies about me.” He wiped his hands, wondering how loud she would scream if he raped her. “I don’t like it when people tarnish my image.” He leaned into her. “Be careful what you say about me to anyone. It might come back to haunt you.”
He thought he saw her lower lip quivering, but then it vanished. The light from the bonfire flashed in her eyes.
He held out his hand, eager to see if she was worth pursuing. “Now why don’t you let me buy you a beer and we can talk some more.”
“About what?” she asked, still appearing leery.
He smiled. “Anything you like.”
Chapter Twelve
Beau folded his arms, studying the trace of morning fog hovering above the blacktop of the school parking lot, his irritation gnawing at him.
Where in the hell was Dawn? She always rode with Leslie, but this morning they were late. Had something happened to her? It would explain why she hadn’t returned any of his calls or his texts.
Sometimes she annoyed the shit out of him.
“Any sign of her?” Mitch asked, appearing next to him.
Beau rested his hip against the hood of his car. “She’ll be here soon enough, and I’ll convince her to forgive me.”
Mitch kicked at the mist around his feet. “You know, sooner or later, she’s gonna wise up about the other girls. She’s not stupid.”
Beau offered a playful smirk. “What other girls?”
“I’m just sayin’, they all find
out.” Mitch stroked the hood of Beau’s car. “My old man tried to keep his cheatin’ hidden from my mom for years, but she found out. It’s the reason I ended up in this damn town after the divorce. Workin’ at the brewery was the only job my mom could find.”
Beau leaned into him. “Yeah, well, Dawn better not get wind of any of the other girls from you or any of the guys on the team.”
“I hear ya.” Mitch hurriedly backed away. “I’d better get to first-period before the bell. Mr. Santos can be a ball-buster if you’re late.”
Beau sighed, disappointed. He’d always believed Mitch to be a friend, but what if his favorite wide-receiver was just another ass-kisser?
Aren’t they all?
A familiar white Accord entered the lot. Beau uncrossed his arms and stood.
The car pulled to a stop and Dawn emerged from the passenger side.
He counted to ten before jogging across the lot.
I hope this damn woman appreciates the ass I’m making of myself.
“Hey, baby.”
Dawn ignored him and made a beeline for the school entrance.
Leslie climbed out the other side of the car. The look in her eyes dug into his soul. He took in her sweater and jeans and pictured her naked body covered with bruises. She was curvier than her flat-chested sister, and, he suspected, a lot feistier in the sack.
“Leslie. How are you today?”
“Get away from me, asshole.”
She started to walk away and he fumed, undone by her brush off. He so wanted to teach her a lesson.
“It won’t always be like this between us.”
Leslie stopped in mid-stride and turned to him. “What’s your problem?”
He moved in closer, analyzing the turn of her head, the way her blue eyes never wavered. The rush she gave him sometimes made it hard to think.
“My problem is you.” Beau’s voice degenerated into a guttural rasp. “You haunt my dreams every night. I see me doing incredible things to you.” He brushed the bangs from her eyes. “And I plan on making my dreams come true very soon.”
She slapped his hands away. “Touch me, and I’ll cut your dick off and shove it up your ass.”
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