They just watched each other with big stupid smiles on their faces, neither speaking, occasionally laughing, and shaking their heads at the voices racing through their minds.
Gage set his hands on the small of both their backs.
They both shot their eyes toward him, big and wide, clearly having forgotten he was there at all.
When they saw that he had just as big a goofy smile on his face as they did, looking like an expectant kid on his first day of school, Veda and Hope both burst into laughter. With a gentle nudge and a nod of his head, Gage guided them both into the house before closing the door behind them.
20
The clunk of Hope’s combat boots sounded on the wood floors as she brought the back of her hand up to her chortling lips, throwing her head back when a snort broke free. Laughter filled the dining room’s vaulted ceilings, mixing with the sounds of crashing waves through the domed windows open behind Hope. A pleasant breeze trickled in.
Hope’s fork clanked down on her plate, leaving her vegan peach cobbler abandoned as her laughter took over her body.
Veda crossed her arms from across the white marble dining table, wondering if she’d ever stop rolling her eyes. Her own peach cobbler went abandoned as well. She shot a look at Gage, sitting next to her, his face just as red with laughter as Hope’s.
When their laughs grew to cackles, Veda scoffed. “It’s not funny.”
Gage pointed his fork across the table at Hope, as if he hadn’t heard Veda at all. “Do you have any more? This never gets old.”
Hope slammed her hands down on the table, making the plates and silverware clank. “Do I have more? Who the fuck are you talking to? How about the time our entire freshman class was forced to perform a recital for the whole school. As if being a freshman isn’t torment enough, right?”
Gage nodded, taking another bite of his dessert, smiling eyes shooting across at her.
Hope laid one elbow on the table. “They were forcing us to sing a bunch of patriotic songs to celebrate the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. We practiced the performance in music class for months. For months, me and Veda dreaded the performance, but we got through it. The whole school gave us hell from the auditorium, of course, laughing at us like a bunch of saps, but it wasn’t a disaster. Not until the end, anyway.”
“Do we have to tell this story?” Veda begged, having had enough of this stroll down memory lane. A stroll that had, curiously, only involved Veda’s most embarrassing moments. Through appetizers, the main course, and halfway into dessert, Hope had recounted some moments that Veda herself had managed to forget. Moments that had been so traumatizing she must’ve blocked them out mentally. “Why don’t we talk about a few of the embarrassing stories I have on you, Hope—”
“Shh!” Gage waved a hand at Veda, then signaled to Hope. “So the recital ended, everyone was making fun of you guys, and then what?”
Veda collapsed in her seat with a pout.
Hope shifted in her seat as her hazel eyes widened, her heavy black make-up making them look almost green. “So there was a small staircase that led up to the main stage of the auditorium, right? We were all standing on those five steps for the performance. When it was over, the kids on the first step turned to the right and exited the room single file, then the second row did the same, then the third, etcetera.”
Gage nodded, eyes wide in anticipation.
Veda watched him with cut eyes, amazed at how much joy he was finding at her expense.
Hope bit back a laugh, but it lit up the next words to spill out of her mouth. “I was in the last row, the row right behind Veda, and I waited for her row to turn to the right and leave the auditorium like we practiced. Veda was at the end of the line, and as she was passing me, I stepped down from my row a moment too soon, and accidentally stepped on the back of the long-ass skirt she had on.”
Gage’s mouth fell open. His amused eyes flew to Veda. “Oh no.”
Veda’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh yes.”
“Skirt fell all the way—I said all the way—down to her fucking ankles, okay?” Hope roared with laughter. “The entire fucking school got a load of her Power Ranger underwear! Veda was in such a state of shock that she didn’t even bend down to pull her skirt back up for almost a full minute! By then a couple people had actually managed to get pictures of her naked ass!”
“You wore Power Ranger underwear in high school?” Gage asked.
Veda’s voice and her shoulders hitched all at once. “I was a poor kid from the hill. It was laundry day. A clean pair of underwear was a clean pair of underwear, regardless what picture was pasted to the front. And I can’t believe you told him that story.” Veda beamed across the table at Hope.
“But I’m so glad you did.” Gage laughed.
“To make matters worse, it was Power Ranger underwear showcasing the Yellow Ranger!” Hope cried. “Who the fuck was checking for the Yellow Ranger?”
“Hey, Trini Kwan was a national treasure and unforgivably underrated!” Veda cried.
“On what planet?” Hope asked, her laughter dying down. “I don’t know, man, I was always partial to the Green Ranger myself.”
“Tommy,” Gage said.
Hope snapped a finger and pointed to him. “Yes! Tommy. Goddamn. Something about a man with a ponytail….” She nibbled her bottom lip, staring off into space.
Ever smiling, Gage stood, holding a hand to his stomach while looking back and forth between them. “Well, I personally can’t eat another bite. Would either of you ladies like seconds?”
Veda didn’t even look at him, still salty, arms crossed tight, glaring across the table at Hope.
Hope patted her bare belly. The sound of her skin plopping rang into the air. “Yo, I’m good, Gage. Thank you so much for this kick-ass dinner. I killed it.”
“All right,” Gage said, picking up his plate and reaching over to claim Hope’s as well. “I’m sure you two want some alone time to catch up, so I’ll leave you to it.” He stacked Hope’s plate on top of his and then motioned to Veda’s. “Are you done, beautiful?”
“Don’t talk to me,” Veda spat.
Gage chortled, and he and Hope shared a laugh. “So sensitive,” he said before leaving the table with their plates in his hands.
Veda waited until she heard the clattering of plates in the kitchen sink before she screamed in the direction Gage had just disappeared to. “Funny how you leave the table before I have a chance to tell you all of Hope’s humiliating stories!”
“There’s just so many more to tell about you, though,” Hope said, holding her arms out at her sides. “Dinner’s over and there’s still a million more I haven’t even gotten to.”
Veda continued pouting. Even as Hope talked her ear off. Even as Gage returned to clear Veda’s plate too. Even after he finished clearing the entire table, kissed her cheek, and excused himself upstairs to give them some alone time.
Hope playfully kicked Veda’s leg under the table, biting her lip. “Seriously, it’s just as much fun torturing your ass today as it was in high school. But I really did miss you, V. So much. This place just wasn’t the same after you left.”
Veda sighed softly, leaning forward on the table. “I missed you too. I thought about you a lot.”
“Why the hell didn’t you call me when you got back into town?”
Veda contemplated how to answer that. Then she nodded toward the backyard. “Let’s go talk outside.”
Hope’s eyes widened and she hesitated for a moment before nodding and pushing back from the table. “Lead the way, V.”
Hope trailed Veda outside into the backyard, past the infinity pool and all the way to the railing that led down to the three-tiered deck on the edge of the cliff.
“This deck,” Hope breathed, leaning so far over the railing Veda worried she might fall. Even in high school Hope had never hesitated to play a little too close to the edge of safety. Veda had often found herself a bundle of nerves watching Hope tempt fate. Sitting a little
too far back on the edge of tall balconies. Swimming a little too far out during the highest tides. Treating the edge of tall buildings like they were balance beams—even though she was far from an Olympic gymnast. Hope rarely let an opportunity to flirt with life and death go by, and as she lifted her feet from the ground and laid her entire body on the railing, holding her arms out at her sides like she was flying, Veda realized nothing had changed.
“Stop!” Veda took hold of Hope’s waist and pulled her back down to her feet. “You’re making me so nervous. God, you haven’t changed a bit.”
“Yeah?” Hope faced her, shaking her brown hair out of her eyes when the soft breeze blew it in her face. She nodded at Veda. “Likewise.”
Veda searched her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t call when I got home. I’ve just been… really busy.” She waited for Hope to make the connection. To think about the fact that, right after Veda had returned home, the balls of the men who’d changed her life forever had coincidentally come up missing. Hope was the only person who knew what those ten monsters had done to her—besides Jake. Veda wondered when, and if, it would ever click.
Maybe if she never brought up the party at all, Hope wouldn’t even think of it. Maybe Hope had already forgotten about the conversation where Veda had spilled her broken heart. Maybe bringing it up would be a mistake. The catalyst in tickling a subconscious part of Hope’s brain that had already been laid to rest and forgotten about.
Veda had no interest in tickling that subconscious, so she decided not to ask Hope to keep her secret under wraps. Just in case Hope had already forgotten there was a secret to keep at all.
“Nah, I get it, man,” Hope said. “Life happens, right? The universe has a way of bringing people back together who are meant to be together. That’s why your boy toy walked into my job the other day.” They chuckled together. “That’s why he was showing your picture all over the building. Trying to prove to everyone he was down ’cause he had a hot black girlfriend.”
“God, is that what he was doing?”
“’Course it was. He didn’t say those exact words, but it was obvious.” Hope chuckled. “That’s just proof, though. The universe wanted us to reconnect. And so it is.”
“And so it is.”
Hope looked out into the expansive ocean water. The moonlight cast a shock white light that sparkled straight down the middle of the surface. That same light flirted with the rocky black cliffs, helping them stand out against the dark sky.
“Looks like you got yourself a good one,” Hope said. “And he can cook too? Shit, girl, lock it down.”
Veda lifted her ring hand and waggled her fingers. “Trying.”
“We all hated him at first. When he walked into the foundation. We hated that motherfucker on sight.” Hope smacked her gum with a grin. “But he really does seem like a good guy. At least he’s making the effort to pretend he actually cares what the foundation is about instead of just buying his way onto the board. It’s a given he’ll get a seat, but at least he’s pretending to work for it.”
“He’s not pretending. You should hear how excited he gets when he talks about the foundation. All the good work you guys are doing to help those missing kids. He truly cares about the cause.” Veda joined Hope in looking out at the water, latching onto the Blackwater Cruise ship that floated next to a long dock in the distance. “Before I met him, he was so brainwashed by his family that all he cared about was obtaining a lucrative position at that cruise line. About getting his family’s blessing and approval on every facet of his life. He didn’t even know what his dreams were. He didn’t know he was allowed to have dreams. But once he found out he could, your foundation was what pulled his heartstrings and put that twinkle in his eyes. He’s not pretending at all.”
Hope leaned on the white railing, nodding. A long silence went by, and then she cut a look at Veda from the corner of her eye. The slight movement of her head made her nose ring glimmer.
“You know he was there that night, right?” Hope asked.
Veda’s heart constricted at the question. Not because it confirmed that Hope most certainly hadn’t forgotten about Veda’s biggest secret, but because she’d just used the same words to ask that question as Jax Murphy had the other day. Veda didn’t even ask Hope to elaborate. The sick feeling blasting through her stomach already knew the truth.
Veda blew out a breath between her lips, squinting into the distance. This time, it was her who let a silence fall in, unable to think of a response.
“You know he was with Todd and Eugene,” Hope said. “All night. Right?”
Veda sucked in a breath and shot a look at her, knowing immediately what Hope wouldn’t say out loud.
“When I found out you were engaged, I was convinced you were using him to get closer to his hideous friends”—Hope smiled with a soft shake of her head, as if she were in the presence of a foolish child—“but you guys actually love each other.” She hissed, as if there weren’t a shovel in the world large enough to dig Veda out of the hole she’d made for herself.
Tears stung Veda’s eyes. “No one can ever know what I told you about that party.”
“I know. You can trust me.” Hope lifted her brows while licking her lips softly. “You know, I remember.”
Veda lifted her own eyebrows in question.
“I remember the Veda you were before we crashed that party.” Hope nodded across the water to the Blackwaters’ white stone mansion, proving once again that she most certainly did remember everything. “I remember the Veda you became after.” She paused and took a deep breath. “And even if you hadn’t decided to cut Eugene’s fucking balls out….”
Veda held her breath, slamming her eyes closed, cursing the fact that she’d underestimated Hope’s amazing perceptiveness. Hope had always been blessed with the ability to see a little deeper beneath the surface than most. She could always spot the truth, even if it was buried under a mountain of pretense and lies.
Hope continued. “If you’d decided to kill him instead… if you’d decided to kill all ten of them in cold blood…?” She poked her lips out. “Telling your secret? Wouldn’t have been me. It will never be me, Veda.”
Veda’s teeth chattered softly.
“Personally?” Hope smiled. “I’m a little disappointed that you didn’t kill him. He would’ve fucking deserved it.”
Veda searched her eyes, amazed that Hope was carrying on an entire conversation about Veda being The Shadow Rock Chopper without ever asking her to confirm or deny. Without ever even saying the words out loud. Veda knew Hope didn’t need to hear the words out loud. She didn’t need the truth confirmed. She knew what was real, and she’d never look to another human being—not even Veda—to confirm the truth she knew in her mind and heart.
Hope really hadn’t changed at all.
Still, Veda tried. “Hope, I have no idea what you’re talki—”
“Don’t.” Hope shook her head.
A tear tumbled over Veda’s cheek. She slapped it away.
“Should’ve killed him,” Hope spat. “Should’ve found me. I’d have done it for you.”
“I wanted to,” Veda whispered. “But I couldn’t do it.”
“Nah.” The corner of Hope’s mouth lifted. “Didn’t have it in you then, and you don’t have it in you now.”
Veda didn’t have it in her, but Hope always had. Back in high school, Veda had lost track of how many times Hope had fought battles she’d been too afraid to. How many punches she’d taken in Veda’s defense. How many conflict lines she’d charged to the front of even as Veda dawdled behind, never hesitating to put herself in the crosshairs.
“No one can ever know,” Veda said again, hearing the tremble in her voice as it rose, so loud she was sure it soared straight into the starry night sky above and mingled with the winking stars.
“Like I said….” Hope’s voice lowered. “If the truth ever comes out? It won’t have been from me.”
“Never,” Veda begged.
&n
bsp; Hope blinked lazily, and gave a soft shake of her head. “Ever.”
Veda released a breath. “You haven’t told anyone? Not your mom? Not your dad? I know how close you are to your older brother—”
“I’ve never told a soul, and I never will.”
Veda felt her heartbeat slowing, her wide eyes shrinking, and her fisted hands loosening. “Thank you, Hope.” Her head fell.
“He was there.”
Veda’s eyes shot back up when Hope repeated the three heart-pounding words Veda had been trying to forget.
“The party was at his house,” Veda said through clenched teeth. “Of course he was there. But… that doesn’t mean he was on the balcony.”
“But.” Hope clenched her teeth too, tilting her head as if she were aware of the delicate ground she was treading. “It doesn’t mean he wasn’t.”
Veda turned her head away completely, unable to hear anything else. Unable to face the stomach-churning truth behind the words that had just come out of Hope’s mouth.
Words Veda didn’t want to hear, but was finding harder and harder to escape.
21
After the unsettling conversation with Hope the night before, Veda hadn’t wasted any time getting to the boxing room at the gym. Time to punch her feelings away.
“Pathetic,” Linc said after Veda threw her hardest punch into his bare chest. His eyebrows rose as she powered forward, hitting him again and again, barely moving him off the balls of his feet as she put every ounce of her energy into pummeling him. He chortled when one of the strikes she threw actually sent her stumbling backward instead of him. “Really?”
She found her footing on the blue mat of the gym’s only boxing ring. At first, the handful of people in the room with them had been intrigued by a man and woman sharing a ring. But after just a few minutes of watching her flail about, their fellow gym-goers had quickly concluded there was nothing to see. Just some guy teaching some girl how to box—and failing miserably, at that. An hour in and just three other people remained in the boxing room, scattered about, not paying Veda and Linc any mind.
Purr (Revenge Book 3) Page 15