by Claire Adams
"Oh, yeah?" A smile broke out on his face that would rival the beauty of the sun rising across the lake just behind me.
"Absolutely. Let's figure this out." I squeezed him tightly to me.
"You figure it out for yourself. I already know that I wanna try this thing between us. I want to see if forever is really what they say it is." He brushed my hair back and gave me a cheeky grin as my heart melted in my chest. "You know what?"
I smiled and watched him closely. "What, baby? Tell me."
"We are totally a chick-flick right now."
"Or a horror movie?" I laughed as his expression changed.
"Never. Not in a million years." He picked me up and pressed his lips to mine. Even though I was scared to death to take another risk, a larger part of me was far too afraid not to.
It seemed to right. Too good. Like so much more than a summer fling.
Epilogue
One Year Later
Cora
"To us." Clay lifted his beer in the air and smiled around the table as we all sat on the patio of the restaurant we'd gathered at.
"To us." We all called out and lifted our beers to hit them against one another.
It'd been a year since we all met on Lake Havasu. A long year. A great year.
Brody wrapped an arm around my shoulders and leaned down to kiss me. I lifted up to meet him halfway, pressing myself against his side and deepening the kiss until we got the usual catcalls. I moved back and smiled at everyone.
"Why are we back here at the lake eating at a restaurant instead of having our own personal chef whip us up something good?" I glanced over at Cindy, who was sitting in Derek's lap. They'd gotten engaged a few months back, much to all of our surprise. Their plans of expanding Derek's parents’ ranch and starting a small restaurant at the front of the property had panned out over the last year, and they were great together.
Clay and Emily had moved in together and were looking at rings, but nothing had been planned just yet. Emily was extremely particular about the idea of what her wedding should look like, which shocked the shit out of all of us, seeing that she was the least likely to act like a bridezilla. They were sitting side by side, reading something on the beer bottle Clay held between them as I glanced their way.
Dedra was already off to dance with a handsome football type, and Daniel wasn't able to join us due to something related to his schooling. He had already started to pull away from the group, but the guys almost seemed to expect it.
I'd taken on the burden of the apartment myself, but I was rarely alone, seeing that the junior high football coach down the road seemed to like the idea of rocking my bed most nights of the week. I glanced up at him to find him watching me like a hawk.
"What?" I smiled and took a quick sip of my beer.
"You. You're what." He glanced around as his smile widened. "This place brings back so many fucking memories. I can't imagine my life without last summer... without you."
He was a different man. One completely committed to me, and if my mom thought my father treated her like a queen, she hadn't seen anything yet. Brody was at my beck and call, no matter what was going on in his own life. We supported each other in a way that made my other friends jealous and left me breathless when I thought about it.
We hadn't talked much about marriage and kids, though I knew our turn was coming up sooner rather than later. It was just the natural progression of things.
"What's for dinner?" Clay stood up and stretched. "You guys wanna order a big platter of ribs and chicken and go out on the patio?"
"Sounds good to me." Derek stood up and wrapped his arm back around Cindy. There was rarely any space between the two of them when they were together. They'd have kids on the way before any of the rest of us, no doubt.
The thought of kids caused my pulse to race. It was a subject that I would be bringing up soon just to figure out exactly what my handsome boyfriend thought of it.
"The baked potato casserole is stupid good, too." Brody picked up a menu and glanced down at it. "And the green beans. Let's just get a family style platter thing and eat until we're stuffed.”
"And then, we can go back to mine and Derek's cabin. I made a few desserts this afternoon before coming up here." Cindy smiled at us, looking far too cute for her own good. She'd put on a few pounds, which actually made her even more attractive.
"Come dance with me." Brody tugged at my arm and I turned, following him onto the dance floor. I wrapped my arms around his waist and smiled up at him.
"I'm glad we get these two weeks. I need it." I pressed a kiss to his chest and snuggled against him as he moved us around the room.
"We can come out here any time you want to, baby. I've been thinking that once you get your license, we could look at building a house out here. A log cabin like we both want." He brushed his lips by the top of my head just before I moved back and looked up at him.
"I would love that. The commute would be a bitch, but I'm thinking we could work something out with my parents to stay with them when we were in the city for cases and meeting with clients."
A thought brushed by my mind.
"Wait. What about your job? You love what you do with those kids." I ran my hands over his strong back and forced myself not to squeeze his butt, though I wanted to so damn bad.
"There are schools out here, too. Did you see that one on the left just before we pulled into town? They're going to have an opening in the fall. I want to apply for it. If you're down with moving out here with me."
"Are you asking me to move in with you? To build a house with you?" Warmth flooded me as my heart skipped a beat in my chest.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm asking." He stopped moving and cupped my face. "I'm so scattered. Building a house together is a little out of order, hmm?"
He turned and winked at someone, catching my attention. I gazed to my right to find Clay walking toward the DJ booth.
"What are you guys doing?" I turned back to find Brody on one knee in the middle of the floor. Our friends crowded around us, and I realized that the trip to the lake hadn't been Clay's doing, but Brody's. The handsome man on his knee before me had pulled everyone together and set everything up for this moment.
"I never in a million years thought that I would find someone powerful enough to make me want to give up my wanton ways and settle down. The moment I laid eyes on you a year ago, I knew without a doubt that you were her. I'd never been so damn scared in my life. Well, except now."
Everyone chuckled as I tried to catch my breath.
"I love you more than words can express, Cora Ross. Marry me and make me the happiest man in the world. You're that woman, baby. The only one I see anymore." His eyes were filled with unshed tears, and I let out a soft sob as I took the ring and shook my head.
"I wouldn't be with anyone else," I mumbled.
He stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. "Good. I'd hate to have to kick some dude’s ass."
We laughed, and he spun me around before letting me slide down his hard body.
"I love you, Cora." He pressed his lips to mine, swallowing my response and overwhelming me completely. He moved back and smiled.
"I love you, too. Only you. Forever."
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GAMED
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
Chapter One
Quinn
His face on the magazine cover kept eclipsing my textbook. I recognized him from high school, junior high school actually, and the thrill of seeing him again was more ex
citing than gross anatomy. I tried to tell myself it was the magazine that was grabbing my attention. I had obsessed over the new hit multiplayer online game Dark Flag since it came out. Owen Redd was rising to dominance as the game's first clan leader. He was a star in the gamer community.
And my sister's boyfriend, I reminded myself.
I never understood how he put up with Sienna. She had wanted to change him from the moment they met. My perfect sister, with her stellar GPA. and her driving ambition to be a surgeon, wanted her boyfriend to be more than a gamer. I always suspected she started dating him as a challenge. Sienna was always trying to improve, perfect, and control the world around her. Owen struck me as another project she took on – change the school's most popular rebel into the prom king. She kept a framed picture of their prom court on the desk in her dorm. Owen's crown was crooked, but he and Sienna were still together.
I wondered if she knew he was on the cover of a magazine. Sienna would not be impressed, but it really was a big deal. I reached for my phone.
"The studying going well?" my roommate asked.
"Can you believe the professor gives us a quiz at the start of every class? Seems cruel," I said.
Darla shook her head and laughed. "I heard he charts the quiz scores on a board."
I groaned. My sister's name was on the top of that board and I could not help but look at it every time I sat down to struggle through another quiz.
Darla gave my long hair a sympathetic tug. "Have you ever considered changing your major? I know nursing is a noble profession, but as far as I can see, you don't like anything about it."
"I like it," I said. "It’s just a lot of memorizing and papers and sitting around studying new research. There's not a lot of, I don't know, action to it."
"Well, if you're looking for action, I heard there's a Dark Flag party over in the basement of the Mathematics lab," Darla said.
My roommate was the opposite of me in many ways – an art major with a concentration in textiles – but she was also a gamer. I stood up to lead the way out the door.
"Wait, you forgot your phone," Darla stopped me. "Ugh, I think your advisor is calling."
I looked at the caller ID and bit my lip. Alice Bonton had a sixth sense about when I was going to do something fun instead of study. There was no reason I couldn’t let the call go to voicemail, except my father's nagging motto: never put off for tomorrow what you can deal with right now.
"Ms. Alice, how is your evening?" I asked. Darla shrugged her shoulders and left without me.
"Quinn, I'm glad I caught you. I mean, I'm not glad, I'm just grateful you answered your phone," my advisor said.
"If this is about skipping class last week, its sounds much worse than it was. I was actually volunteering my time down at the blood drive. I just forgot to get a volunteer form signed," I said.
"Skipping class again? That's the fourth time this month. That's once a week. Quinn, I'm concerned. I know this isn't the time to discuss it, but–" her voice cracked. "I'm not sure how to do this."
"I can make up all the work, I promise. I'm studying right now. Literally, the book is open in front of me. I love nursing, I really do. I've just been distracted lately." I stopped myself before I started talking about the new game. My college advisor would not be impressed to hear how dedicated I was to a new online game.
"When was the last time you went home? Spent any time with your family?"
"I don't know, fall break? So, well, I guess about a month," I said. "But I'm going home for Thanksgiving. Sienna wants to stay on campus, but I agreed to go home. I'm in charge of making the gravy. Sienna makes the best stuffing, but she's only staying on campus to get a head start on studying for finals. She's pre-med and wants to be a surgeon."
There was silence on the other end of the line. Finally, when I had held my breath long enough to see a few stars creeping around the edges of my vision, my advisor said, "I know you look up to your sister, but I hope you have considered finding your own path."
I could feel dread hanging over the conversation. Ms. Alice's words were heavy and she struggled to speak. The same weight settled over me. "Am I getting kicked out of the nursing program?"
"What?" my advisor asked. "No. I mean, I don't know, the skipping class is getting out of hand. I just think now is a good time for you to consider what you really want to do. You shouldn't stick with a major just because of family expectations. Instead of following in your sister's footsteps–"
"Ms. Alice, are you alright? Maybe I should make an appointment during your office hours," I said. "I'm going online right now to put in the request. I don't want to take up any more of your time this evening."
"Wait, Quinn, I'm calling late for a reason," my advisor said. She cleared her throat and paused again.
"Oh, no! You're right. I didn't know how late it was! I promised a friend I would cover his shift at the front desk of our dorm. I gotta go, Ms. Alice. I'm sorry. Thanks for your concern. We'll talk soon!" I hung up the phone and put it down as if it burned my hand.
I was never rude and I never lied, but I had been both to Ms. Alice for no discernible reason. Something in her heavy tone and her pauses made me nervous. I looked at the clock. It was past 10 o'clock on a weeknight. My stomach twisted. Why would my college advisor be calling so late?
I stood up and brushed my hair back, doing my best impression of my sister's hair flip. Sienna never let other people bother her. My sister would have cut the strange phone call short 20 seconds after it started. On the other hand, I was wracked with guilt. I felt as if Ms. Alice was trying to tell me something and I had not done a good job of helping her spit it out.
Despite the guilt, I brushed my hair and got ready to join Darla at the gamer party. I moved quickly and was out the door before I could even shut my abandoned textbook.
"Oh, sorry. Excuse me," I said.
The taller of the campus security guards held up both hands. "Whoa, slow down. Are you Quinn Thomas?"
My stomach turned sour. "Yes?"
"Your advisor is Alice Bonton?" he asked.
"Yes. Wait, what's going on?" I asked.
His rotund partner shoved his hands in his pockets and scowled. "Your advisor needs you to meet her at Alton Tower. We're here to give you a lift. That's all we know."
"Please come with us, Ms. Thomas." The taller guard stepped aside and ushered me past.
I took a step before I saw the sharp look pass between the two men. "What is this all about? Has something happened?"
Neither said a single word more. I fought the urge to run, and instead walked downstairs and out the front doors. The fat guard waved a thick hand towards the campus vehicle. My feet froze and an angry buzzing started in my ears. The taller guard stepped around me and opened the passenger side door, relegating his partner to the back seat.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
The lanky man folded himself into the driver's seat. Instead of answering, he turned the key in the ignition. I tried to close my eyes and take a calming breath, but an incessant flashing of lights stopped me. An ambulance drove past and joined the whirling lights of a police car not far away.
Alton Tower. That's where the guard said my advisor was waiting. I knew it because it was my sister's dorm.
The campus vehicle bucked the curb and drove right onto the lawn outside Alton Tower. Another campus security Jeep, the police car, and the ambulance blocked the front door of the dorm. I sat in the car, not sure where I was supposed to go.
Ms. Alice appeared, skittering around the front of the police car. She ran up to my door, and I could see she was talking before she opened it. "Quinn, I'm so sorry, but I was afraid you wouldn't answer if I called back."
"What is going on?" I asked. I gripped the side of the passenger seat and refused to get out.
"There's been a…um, well, an accident," my advisor said. She reached for my hand.
"My sister? Is Sienna alright?" I slapped away Ms. Alice's hand and vaulted from the s
ecurity vehicle. The rotund security guard tried to stop me, but he was too slow getting out of the back seat.
"Wait, Quinn, stop. Let me tell you what happened," Ms. Alice said.
The raw agony in her voice made me stop, but I could not turn around. She slipped around to stand in front of me and held out her hands. I crossed my arms tightly and waited for my advisor to speak.
"Sienna committed suicide tonight."
I laughed. The sound fired out of me. The two security guards backed off, as if I brandished a gun. "That can't be right. Sienna would never do that."
"Quinn, I'm so sorry. Her roommate came back from the library and found her in the bathtub–"
"She slit her wrists?" I asked. The world was spinning away and getting smaller. It felt as if everything around me was shrinking onto a television screen and some terrible afterschool special was on.
"Please, Quinn, come sit down," my advisor begged.
I yanked my arm away from her reaching hands. Before my thoughts returned to my body, I had started running. I dodged around the ambulance before the fat guard could catch up. His lanky partner tried to cut me off on the front steps, but I spun out of his reach. The guards keeping the front hall clear were too shocked to move. I slammed into the stairwell and ran up two steps at a time.
Sienna lived on the second floor at the end of the hall.
"Quinn, no! That's her sister," Sienna's roommate cried as I ran past where she sat wrapped in a blanket in the stairwell. The EMTs in the doorway called out, but I could not stop.
A detective in a gray suit looked up as I barreled through the door of Sienna's dorm room. His bright badge and ashen face stopped me.
"Is it true?" I asked.
"You're the sister?" he asked. His gray eyes swept towards the bathroom door. "I wouldn't."
He made no move to stop me, seeming to understand that I had to see for myself. I lurched towards the bathroom and stopped two feet short of the threshold. A wet puddle of bath water mixed with dark blood inched towards the door.