Snake Eyes

by Melissa Pearl

  Snake Eyes

  Masks #3

  Melissa Pearl

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  1. Caitlyn

  2. Eric

  3. Caitlyn

  4. Eric

  5. Caitlyn

  6. Eric

  7. Caitlyn

  8. Caitlyn

  9. Eric

  10. Caitlyn

  11. Caitlyn

  12. Eric

  13. Caitlyn

  14. Caitlyn

  15. Eric

  16. Caitlyn

  17. Eric

  18. Caitlyn

  19. Caitlyn

  20. Eric

  21. Caitlyn

  22. Eric

  23. Caitlyn

  24. Caitlyn

  25. Caitlyn

  26. Eric

  27. Caitlyn

  28. Eric

  29. Caitlyn

  30. Eric

  31. Caitlyn

  32. Eric

  33. Caitlyn

  34. Caitlyn

  35. Eric

  36. Caitlyn

  37. Caitlyn

  38. Caitlyn

  39. Eric

  40. Caitlyn

  41. Eric

  42. Caitlyn

  43. Eric

  44. Caitlyn

  45. Caitlyn

  46. Eric

  Dear reader…

  Snake Eyes copyright © 2015 by Melissa Pearl

  Cover design copyright © 2018 by Emily Wittig Designs & Photography

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

  Snake Eyes, Book III, The Masks Series by Melissa Pearl

  1st Edition published by Evatopia Press

  2nd Edition published by Melissa Pearl Author 2018

  www.melissapearlauthor.com

  Acknowledgments

  Once again, I have a long list of people I want to thank for their contribution to this story.

  Margery - the original publisher and editor. Thanks for being so great to work with.

  Emily - your cover is beautiful!! Nailed it!

  Cassie and Rae - thank you SO much for your feedback. Cassie - you always have the best insights and Rae - your knowledge of Spanish was so brilliant.

  Lindsey, Karen, Kristin & Marcia - thanks for being the final eyes on this project.

  Rachael - thank you is never a sufficient word to express how grateful I am for all you do.

  Songbirds & Playmakers - I love hanging out with you guys!! Thanks for your enthusiasm and awesomeness.

  My readers - what would I do without you? Thank you so, so much.

  My dear friends and family - thank you for always believing in me and giving me the right pep-talks on the days it gets too hard. I love you for everything you pour into my life.

  My Lord and Saviour - thank you for giving up everything to rescue me, for never turning your back on me and showing me what real, unconditional love looks like. I love you with all my heart.

  For Nana and Granddad, Grannie and Poppa

  I was lucky enough to have all four of you in my life for such a long time. What a privilege it was. Thank you for everything you poured into my life over the years, and thank you for cheering me on no matter what I was up to.

  1

  Caitlyn

  The coffees arrived at our table smelling like everything we needed them to be. I picked mine up and sniffed the scent with a happy sigh. Taking a tentative sip, I licked the foam off my upper lip and let out a satisfied moan.

  Eric glanced over his laptop and chuckled. “Needed a kick, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah.” I cradled the mug in my hands and grinned at the waitress as she passed our table.

  My laptop sat open in front of me, my class schedule all mapped out. Lectures for my sophomore year started on Monday and I so wasn’t ready.

  It had been the perfect summer, flitting between my place in L.A. to Eric’s grandfather’s place in San Diego. We even popped over to Hawaii with the rest of my family to see my sister, Holly, and her fiancé, Max, get married. Eric came, too, which was a total treat. It had been ten days of sun, surf, and luxury. And my parents had paid, so that was a bonus.

  Since getting back, the prospect of school had been looming, but I put it off for as long as I could. I wasn’t ready. After the disastrous start I had last year, getting caught up in Professor Hoffman’s drug/gambling ring, nearly losing my life and my boyfriend for that matter, I was a little dubious about kicking off another year. Eric assured me everything would be fine. The rest of my freshman year had gone smoothly.

  It helped that I’d basically stopped reading people. It was intentional. I just couldn’t handle it anymore and decided I needed some time off, so every time people’s masks began to slip and I saw something even vaguely sinister, I’d shove them back in place and turn the other way.

  The homeless man I’d met two years ago never should have trusted me with the power to see what everyone was feeling. I’d nearly gotten myself killed twice and I wasn’t ready to throw myself into the fray again. Instead, I pretended I was just like any other normal human being and tried to ignore the guilt that lived permanently on my shoulders.

  I took another sip of coffee, briefly reliving my final encounter with the man who changed my life.

  He smiled at me. “This is your path now, you must accept it.”

  “I don’t—I don’t want to! How am I supposed to help people? Everyone has something to hide! Everyone has problems!”

  “Focus on the ones who touch your heart. It may be one, it may be five. Spend time with them, peel back the layers. As you learn to control your vision, you’ll know what to do.” He pointed at my heart. “Ignoring this will only make you miserable. Trust me, I know.”

  The deep shame and failure on his face made me want to cry.

  “Help those around you, one person at a time, and you will have a full and happy life. You can do what I never did.”

  Well, I’d tried to do what he never did and it was awful. Sure, I’d helped people, possibly even saved lives, but I’d never signed up for this and the break was doing me good.

  I frowned into my coffee cup.

  “Hey, it’s not going to be that bad. Our course schedules aren’t that different. We’ll still get to see each other.” Eric rubbed my knee with a tender smile, totally misinterpreting my expression. I went with it. We hadn’t talked about my special eyesight in months and we both seemed happy to keep it that way.

  I grinned back at him, placing my mug down and leaning back toward my computer.

  “So on Monday, you have Human Neuropsychology at nine a.m. and I have Human Memory at the same time. Those classes are really close to each other; maybe you could swing past my dorm on your way in. We could walk there together.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Or you could just spend the night and we could drive there together.”

  I blushed.

  Since Eric had moved out of the dorms and about two miles from the UCLA campus, he’d been using any excuse he could to get me to stay. I wasn’t complaining or anything. Eric and Scott finding a 3-bedroom house to rent was everything my roommate, Piper, and I wanted. Now both our boyfriends lived in an off-campus house. It was freaking awesome.

  It had happened just be
fore the summer break. A contact of Scott’s, Matt Houston, had two friends moving out and they snatched the spots up immediately.

  Eric moved in as soon as school let out. Scott had moved in, too, but he was still in Palm Springs hanging out with his parents for the rest of the break. According to Piper, they were driving back on Sunday morning. I couldn’t wait to see them. We’d spent the first half of this year hanging out together. After surviving the drama of exposing Professor Hoffman’s underground gambling ring and organic drug operation, we became really tight. Piper had become a close friend and the four of us got along really well now.

  I glanced back at Eric. His eyes were still on me. The edge of his mask began to slip and I pulled it away, his smile changing from a look of innocent sweetness to outright hunger. Oh yeah, he wanted me...bad. I bit my lower lip, igniting the expression even more. Man, I loved that he let me read him now. It made our relationship so open and free. Eric was often closed off from the world, protecting himself from anything that might hurt him, but with me, he was exactly himself and I loved it.

  Gently closing my laptop, I ran my fingers up his arm and leaned toward him.

  “Come on,” I whispered. “Let’s go do something about those hungry eyes of yours.”

  His eyebrows rose as he realized I had been reading him and then his lips broke into that killer-watt smile of his, the one that turned my legs to putty.

  Snapping his laptop shut, he shoved it into his bag and, coffees forgotten, we headed for his jeep.

  It didn’t take long to get to his place; the coffee shop was only a couple of blocks away. We pulled into his driveway and grinned at each other. Matt’s car wasn’t in its usual spot, which meant there was a chance we had the place to ourselves.

  We jumped out of the vehicle. A giggle bubbled inside me as I skipped up the stairs and stopped outside the wooden door. Eric let us in, slipping his backpack off his shoulder and placing it on the floor in the entryway.

  “Matt, you home?”

  The answer was a long beat of silence. Eric grinned at me, his eyebrows wiggling as he snatched me into his arms. I lifted my feet off the ground and let him swing me around, clinging to his shoulders as he carried me down the hallway.

  When we neared his door, he placed me down, his lips finding mine and sending them into overdrive with his warm, coffee-tasting tongue. I grappled with his shirt, pulling it over his head as we stepped into his room. I ran my fingers down his hard body, savoring the feel of his rigid muscles. He had a surfer’s body to die for. I knew, because I watched him out on the water most days and saw the way the beach bunnies eyed him as he jogged up the sand toward me.

  He was the sexiest guy on this planet...and he was mine.

  A thrill raced through me as the thought hit me once again. I still didn’t get it. I didn’t know what he saw in me, but I’d take it.

  He lifted my shirt off, throwing it over his shoulder before pulling me against him. Our skin smacked together and I let out a luxurious sigh. I was in paradise.

  We stumbled toward the bed. The back of Eric’s knees hit the edge of the mattress and we tumbled onto it, both laughing. The sound was cut off quickly as our mouths fused together. Eric held my head, brushing the loose strands of hair off my face with his thumb as our tongues danced.

  I closed my eyes, getting lost in his touch. In a flash of movement he spun us over, his weight pressing down on me and filling me with that sense of security it always did.

  I was so in love with him and the longer we were together, the more the feeling grew. I couldn’t imagine ever being with someone else. He’d promised me that I’d be his girl forever and I knew down to my core that it was true.

  We were meant to be, and nothing could break us apart.

  2

  Eric

  I nestled Caity against my chest and kissed her forehead, loving the feel of her naked body lounging beside mine. An afternoon of making love to this beautiful woman made me a happy man. My muscles felt like cooked spaghetti and I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face as I gazed up at the ceiling.

  Caity let out that cute sigh of hers, adjusting her head on my shoulder and drawing patterns on my chest with her finger. It tickled a little, but not enough for me to stop her.

  Her trailing fingers stilled on my abs, her soft hand splaying over my skin before she went still. I wondered if she was drifting to sleep and I smiled. It was only four-thirty in the afternoon. Yes, it was definitely the life.

  “You should hang some stuff in here. It’s really bland.”

  Her soft voice startled me. I squeezed her shoulder and gazed at the walls of my room. I’d never really thought about it. Whenever I was in here I was either sleeping, getting dressed or distracted by the very sexy girl in my arms.

  “I’m not really into artwork.” I shrugged.

  “It doesn’t have to be artwork. It could be pictures of your family or the ocean or something.”

  I grunted, not loving the idea, but not opposed to it either.

  “Like, you know that gorgeous one hanging in your grandpa’s place? That would look great in here.”

  “No way,” I snapped.

  Her head swiveled on my shoulder, her eyes narrowing at the edges as she read me.

  “What does that picture have to do with your dad?”

  I gave her a dry look, wondering how she always knew to bring it back to my absent father. I really didn’t enjoy talking about the guy.

  Why had I snapped? I should have just kept it casual and she never would have looked up at me. I wished I could control my temper better. It was such a curse sometimes.

  Her permeating gaze wouldn’t let up, so I eventually gave in with a sigh. “He shot that picture, okay? The guy was really into photography apparently, and for some reason Gramps likes to keep it up on the wall.”

  “The picture was taken by his son; you can’t really blame him.”

  “A useless son who disappeared and never contacted him again.”

  Caity pressed her lips together before nestling her head onto my shoulder and looking back at the wall.

  “Well, he was a good photographer.”

  I humphed, resting my cheek against her head and hoping like hell she’d drop it.

  “Do you think you’ll ever forgive him?”

  I went still, hating the question.

  How could I?

  The guy had let me down in so many ways, chipped at the heart of a child until there was nothing except a lumpy piece of rock left...and then he’d just vanished.

  I cleared my throat. “Look, it’s done, okay. Yes, I really hate the guy for dropping off the face of the earth, but there’s nothing I can do about it. He could be dead for all I know and I’ve had to move on. Talking about it is not going to solve anything and it definitely won’t make him the father I want him to be.”

  “I guess we can’t choose family.”

  “Nope. At least I’ve got Gramps.”

  “Yeah. It makes me realize how lucky I am. As much as I’m the tail-end, after-thought in my family, at least I know they love me and still remember to call and invite me...” Caity’s voice trailed off, her head snapping off my chest. “Shit! What day is it?” She grabbed my wrist to look at my watch and check the date. “We’re late!”

  Flinging back the covers, she jumped out of bed, giving me a decent view of her tanned skin. I leaned up on my elbow, admiring her flurry of movements as she scrambled for her clothes.

  “Get up!” She threw my board shorts at me. “Get dressed!”

  “I’m just admiring the view.”

  “You can look at it later; get your ass out of bed! Mom hates it when we’re late. Come on!”

  With a groan, I threw off the rest of the rumpled sheet and moved to the edge of the bed. Caity paused while buttoning her little denim shorts, her eyes lighting with a smile as I stood tall. I threw her a droll look, which made her blush and giggle.

  Her eyes traveled slowly from my chest to my pelvis
as her tongue skimmed the edge of her lips.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, these will not be going on.” I shook the shorts in my hand. “And those will be coming off.” I pointed at her shorts.

  She whined in her throat before throwing on her shirt and mussing up her golden curls. “Let’s go.”

  I quickly threw on my pants and collected my shirt from the hallway, sliding it on as Caity snatched my keys off the entranceway table and opened the front door.

  Although we were running late, I wasn’t willing to risk a ticket, so I kept to the speed limit. Nerves got Caity’s fingers twitching. She really hated letting people down, and her mother was always a stickler for time. Caity and I had been late on more than one occasion over the summer break and it hadn’t gone over too well. It didn’t help that we often walked in looking radiant and scruffy. I’m sure her parents knew exactly why we were late every time. I was grateful they hadn’t said anything.