“Goddammit, Emma,” Kailey said. She put her hand to Emma’s mouth and Emma swatted her away.
They started arguing as I cut through another room and went around the back way to the kitchen. My head swirled. It spun. I needed my hands to keep my balance. The last thing I needed was another drink. Logic needed to settle in and remind me that I had no ride home. That there was no way I could walk home either. Worst case I could call Julia for a ride. Or I could just pick a room and pass out. Wake up tomorrow with a headache and regret.
Tears filled my eyes as I grabbed another cup.
When I saw the steps, I took them.
Find a bedroom and find a place to hide.
I felt like I didn’t know anyone anymore.
I wasn’t sure who to blame. Myself. Or everyone else.
What I knew for sure though…
I didn’t set my house on fire.
I didn’t tell Cora to fuck Jesse.
I didn’t tell Wes to follow me, find out my secrets and fall for me.
I didn’t tell Ryland to do everything he did.
Same for Kailey… Mika… Emma… Charlotte…
Every fucking person in this town.
I opened the first bedroom door and straight across was a sliding door that went out to a balcony that overlooked the ocean.
I shut the door and went right for the balcony.
Outside, I sipped my drink and put it on the railing. I lit a cigarette. I stood there with the cool beach air rushing around me.
My jaw quivering as I wrestled back the urge to cry.
There was no crying allowed right now. Maybe ever.
Crying was for bitches.
I was done with crying.
I took a deep drag of the cigarette and reminded myself to be angry. Because when I was angry I controlled everything.
What the hell is everything, Aira?
I had no clue, but I wanted to feel it again.
Behind me I heard the door slide open and then shut.
My first reaction was to smile and hope it was Wes.
Then I turned and saw it wasn’t Wes at all.
* * *
“What a great view,” Jacob said as he stared at me.
“I want to be left alone.” I flicked my cigarette off the balcony into the night.
“No you don’t. Nobody truly wants to be left alone.”
“Watch me,” I said.
I turned and Jacob grabbed my arm. He turned me around and moved in for a kiss. I was smart enough to wiggle away as he tongue fucked the air.
I ran to the sliding door and pulled it open.
“You’re fucking dead if you try that again,” I warned. “Now get out of here.”
Jacob slowly walked into the room. He rubbed his jaw. “Remember that whole enemy thing? It’s real, Aira. And the best thing you can do to your enemy… send a message. It’s always about sending a message. Fighting doesn’t work. Messages do.”
“Great,” I said. “I have a message for you, Jacob. Get the fuck out of my face and out of my fucking way before something bad happens.”
Jacob moved at me again, grabbing my arms.
I wiggled again but this time he had a good grip on me. He moved his lips down to mine and I shook my head as fast as I could. That only made me dizzy as I felt his tongue and his hot breath touching my cheeks and lips. He was literally licking me. It made my knees feel weak as I screamed.
“Nobody’s going to hear you, cunt,” he whispered.
He threw me across the room right to the bed.
I jumped up off the bed and tried to walk but I was done for. Between the drinking and shaking my head, I had no balance. No sight. Nothing. I fell right into the wall, hitting my shoulder so hard it stole my breath away.
Then Jacob was right there, a hand on each side of me against the wall.
His hot breath blanketing the side of my face again.
He put his forehead to the side of my head and pressed.
My head started to hurt.
“Stop,” I said. “Please, stop.”
“Not a fucking chance,” he said. “Stay with me so I can send my message.”
His right hand touched my stomach and raced down.
I closed my legs tight and elbowed him. His stomach was built like a brick wall. It didn’t bother him at all.
His left hand swept around my waist and he pulled me back.
He moved fast, taking us to the bed.
As he fell, I fell on top of him.
His hands were fast, holding me in place, where he wanted me.
I slapped his face and got back off the bed again.
My feet still weren’t working the way they should.
But I made it to the door.
I grabbed the handle as Jacob grabbed me.
He pulled harder than I had a grip on the door handle.
He spun and flung me to the bed again.
I was on my hands and knees, crawling across the bed.
“There’s my favorite position,” he said as he got on the bed.
I looked back and saw him touching his pants.
I swung my right leg back but missed him.
He pounced on me, his hands grabbing my hips, pinning me.
“You asked for it,” he said. “And there’s no coming back from this. Well… there will be coming…”
I threw an elbow back and hit him in the jaw.
That allowed me to wiggle my way to my back.
He was still on top of me but I could see him.
“I love it rough,” Jacob said. “And we all know the HCH girls are rotten whores. I’ll double up with you, don’t worry. I don’t need to take any funky diseases back with me.”
He fell forward and put his hands to my wrists.
He rubbed his nose against mine.
I shook my head.
The room started to spin again.
My stomach did a wild backflip and I felt like I was going to throw up.
“I promise, Aira, you’ll be calling me for more,” he whispered. “And I promise, I will do it again. We’ll be secret fuck friends. Meet up and I’ll show you what a whore should feel li-”
Jacob was suddenly off me.
Gone.
I kicked back on the bed and grabbed a pillow and wrapped my arms and legs around it like it was some kind of shield.
I gasped for a breath as the room kept moving.
It was all blurry though.
I blinked fast and saw something happening.
Jacob was against the wall.
Someone in front of him.
“You fucking piece of shit,” a voice said.
“Try me, cocksuc-”
I heard a thud.
I turned my head and shut my eyes.
It was the sound of a fist against a face.
Followed by a groan.
Then it was quiet for a split second before I heard the same sound over and over.
Punch after punch after punch…
I opened my eyes and the room was still moving.
I hugged the pillow as tight as I could, like I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean and it was going to tip over.
My stomach flipped again and I turned my head.
I coughed but nothing happened.
That’s when the punching sound stopped.
Someone touched my shoulder and I let out a weak scream.
Hands slid under me and I shook my head.
“It’s okay, darling, it’s me…”
I turned my head and looked up into Wes’s eyes.
He had come to save me.
Chapter 11
Wes
I would have killed him.
That’s what my heart told me to do.
When Kailey told me Aira was dead drunk, lost her mind on her and Emma, and then took off toward the kitchen, I started trailing her ghost. I went up the main set of stairs and started kicking open doors. And if those doors were locked, I pounded my fists until someone open
ed them up. I saw more than I cared to see, but I knew I needed to get to Aira.
The second I heard a scream from one of the rooms, I bolted toward it. And the sight…
I saw her feet. Her shoes. Her old Chuck’s that she wore so beautifully. Rich girl wearing those worn out shoes, making them look sexy and cool and everything else Aira was. That’s what I saw. Watching her struggling against the person on top of her. Like she was some cheap and drunk fuck.
Then he called her a whore.
Whore.
That was something Aira wasn’t.
Of all the words in the world to set me off for good, I had no idea that whore was the one that did it.
I grabbed the guy and threw him to the floor.
Just by the sight of his pristine hair and button-down shirt, I knew he was BFH. A complete piece of shit looking to fuck someone from HCH to brag about it. That was the conquest. Who could fuck someone from another school. Who could outdo each other. But this asshole picked the wrong person to mess with.
I heard Aira whimper and that set me off again.
I grabbed the guy and lifted him up and slammed him against the wall.
When I started hitting him… there was nobody there to stop me.
Normally I had Leo, Flynn or my cousins there to pull me off when I started to go too far.
But not this time.
I hit him… over and over and over…
I felt my knuckles popping, my hand ready to shatter into pieces. But that was nothing compared to what was happening to this guy’s face.
The only reason I stopped was I heard Aira cough.
I thought she was going to get sick so I let the BFH asshole writhe on the floor like he deserved.
I scooped Aira up off the bed and she looked at me with the same eyes I saw when we were eleven.
Fucking eleven years old and I just knew… I always knew…
I was meant to fucking love and protect her forever.
* * *
I helped her into the SUV.
She sat in the front seat and leaned forward, resting against the dashboard.
I rubbed her back. “Nothing will happen to you, darling. You’re coming with me now.”
I slowly shut the door and turned to see Leo and Flynn.
Of course, Charlotte was with Flynn.
Lingering behind them was Kailey and Emma.
“In the one bedroom there’s someone who got what they deserved,” I said. “I think it’s Jacob. He was trying to do something to Aira.”
“Is he dead?” Flynn asked.
Charlotte gasped.
“No,” I said. “He’s lucky though. I wanted to fucking kill him.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Leo said. “He won’t do anything about it. Fucking douchebag jocks.”
“Hate these parties,” I said. I looked at Kailey. “Nothing good ever comes from them.”
Kailey looked away.
“Is she okay?” Emma asked.
Emma had ditched the ice and had the scratch marks on her face showing.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m taking her home.”
“I’ll come with you,” Charlotte said.
“He’s not taking you home,” Flynn said. “Not you and Aira together. Hell no.”
“Fuck, bro, not the time for bad sex jokes,” Leo said.
“Sorry,” Flynn said. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”
“It’s okay,” Charlotte said. “I just want to make sure Aira’s okay.”
“She’s fine now,” I said. “She’s with me. Nothing else will happen to her.”
Not a single person looking at me believed that.
Hell, maybe I didn’t believe it either.
“If that piece of shit from upstairs even tries to show his face, throw him in the ocean,” I said.
“Don’t worry about him,” Flynn said.
“I’m going to go get my baseball bat,” Emma said. “Even if Aira is kind of a bitch right now.”
“Actually, I have a better idea,” Charlotte said. “Time for a little social media backlash.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
“Trust me, Wes,” she said. “Let the bitches do their job now.”
“We’ll hashtag that guy’s preppy ass so no girl ever talks to him again,” Kailey said.
I nodded. “I'm taking her home. I’ll have her talk to you all in the morning.”
“If you need anything, call,” Charlotte said.
“You sure you want to say that in front of Flynn?” I asked.
“Oh, so you can make a sex joke?” Flynn asked.
“Before I forget, too… Ryland looked pretty hammered. He was on the porch swaying around. Not that I give a fuck if he hurts himself or something, but he seems way off.”
“Take care of your girl,” Leo said.
That’s what I intended to do.
* * *
I had to carry her up the stairs and to bed.
She flopped around like she had no bones in her body. Her head falling all over the place, switching between noises of crying, laughing, and then trying to move her hands and touch me. She asked who I was about ten times so I kept calmly repeating that it was just me.
Just Wes.
She smiled each time I said my name.
I gently placed her down on the bed and stared down at her. She was a fucking mess. Her hair was knotty and going in any direction it wanted. Her shirt was pulled up enough to show skin. Her shorts were hanging low on her hips. I sort of hated myself for the thoughts going through my head when you considered what had just almost happened to her.
I forced my eyes down to her shoes and I slowly untied the thick laces.
She wiggled her feet. “Don’t steal my shoes, asshole.”
I laughed. “I’m not stealing your shoes, darling. I’m taking them off so you can sleep this off. You’re going to feel like shit in the morning.”
“I already feel like shit,” she whispered.
“I know,” I said.
I wrestled the Chuck’s off her feet and threw them to the floor.
Her socks were light blue with purple stitching.
Fuck me for standing there, studying her socks. Her feet.
Everything about her.
My eyes scanning up her legs.
I gritted my teeth.
I swallowed down enough emotions to kill a sane person.
“How do my feet look?” she asked.
She smacked her feet together.
“They smell bad,” I said.
“Here. Smell.” Aira kicked her left foot up and smacked me in the mouth.
My head jolted back and I grabbed for my lip.
Aira gasped and jumped up to her elbows. Her head swayed and her hair fell in her face. “What happened?”
“You just kicked me, Aira.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“You deserved it, Wes. You hurt me.”
I wiped my thumb across my lip and saw blood.
I looked at my right hand and my knuckles were a mess of swollen cuts.
“Yeah, I did deserve it,” I said.
I walked up the bed and slowly sat down.
Aira looked at me through the hair in her face. She let out a breath and tried to blow the hair away. It lifted and lowered.
She did it three times and then snorted.
“I’ll help,” I whispered.
I touched her face, over her hair.
Then I slowly moved my hand and brushed the hair out of her face. I tucked it back behind her ear. I kept my hand there, my thumb gently touching her cheek.
Our eyes locked and it was the first time all night that her eyes weren’t spinning from drinking so much.
I opened my mouth, ready to say something defining in whatever kind of relationship we did or didn’t have.
“Hey,” Aira said. “Your lip is bleeding.”
“I know. You kicked it. Remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said.
She giggled.
She snorted.
I moved in and pressed my lips to hers.
It felt like exhaling the longest breath ever held.
I put my other hand to her face and held her.
Our lips just touching.
I slowly parted my lips, needing to taste her.
Aira’s hands grabbed my shirt and made fists, pulling at me.
Next thing I knew we were kissing harder, faster. Deeper.
I moved to hover over her more, taking a power position. To love her. To protect her. To have her.
I climbed on the bed, on top of her.
I exhaled deeply through my nose as I kissed her the way a girl like her was meant to be kissed.
My body against hers just felt right. It felt like home. The only home I could trust and the only home I really wanted to be in.
My hands moved to the bed. But only for a moment. My right hand moved down and over her shirt. Over the swell of her breast.
Aira groaned into my mouth and arched her back.
She broke our perfect kiss and turned her head.
My lips went right to work down at her neck.
My tongue drawing pictures for us only.
My right hand kept going down her body, along her side, down to her hip. There I gripped and pressed, letting out a growl, knowing what that spot did to me.
Aira wrapped her legs around me and pulled.
“Yes, Wes,” she purred into the air.
That’s when I stopped.
I froze in place, my lips an inch from her neck.
Her hands were still tight against my shirt.
“Wes?” she asked.
I inched off the bed and away from her.
I stood up, my back to her.
When I looked down, my jeans were obviously bulged out.
Damn did that piss me off.
It was like I was saving myself for her.
Which I fucking was.
Which I didn’t do for anyone.
I didn’t go this long without… you know.
“You need to go to sleep, darling,” I said. “We can’t do this right now.”
“Weslee Jackson,” she said in a slurred voice. “You are the worst person to ever live. You made me feel like you loved me and hated me when we were kids. And when I moved away, I cried for days over you. I never forgot about you. I dreamed of you… having me. For my first time.”
HIDDEN CREEK DARKNESS: a hidden creek high novel Page 10