Ahead of me was the reception desk. I took my place in the line, which consisted only of me, standing directly behind a cute guy who was leaning against the desk, his elbows on the counter.
"Mr. Hanson, regardless of the classes you took over summer, you will still be four units short of graduating this fall." The lady behind the counter looked sympathetic, but her voice was firm.
"That's not fair! I've worked my ass off in order to catch up. I've done everything my guidance counselor said needed to be done in order to advance this year and now you're telling me I'm stuck as a sophomore for another year? Fuck that." he kicked the bottom of the counter, showing his frustration.
I tried not to eavesdrop, pretending to be overly engrossed in my transcripts, but I couldn't help but look at him. I could only see him from behind, so I didn't have much to work with, but he was the type of guy you couldn't not look at.
He was tall, a good few inches taller than me, his shaggy brown hair had a slight curl to it and looked in dire need of a cut, but it didn't detract from his appeal at all. He wore a black leather jacket over a gray shirt and worn denim jeans which framed his ass beautifully. That's where my eyes were. This guy's ass was mesmerizing. You could have taken a picture of his ass in those jeans and used it on a billboard, that's how good it looked.
He stepped back suddenly, catching me off guard. I was so focused on his ass I didn't have time to side step out of his way.
"Ouch!" I gasped, as he fell back into me, his foot crushing mine. "Shit!" I winced in pain, letting myself fall onto the ground to relieve the pressure on my foot. Suddenly, my strappy heeled sandals didn't seem like such a great idea. Pain ripped through my big toe as he crouched down beside me.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," he gasped, his eyes wide, "are you okay? I didn't even know you were there!" My back tingled where he'd placed his hand to support me. He was even better looking from the front. His unruly hair fell across his forehead and his ice blue eyes felt like they were invading my soul. His face was creased with concern, concern that maybe he'd really hurt me.
"It's fine," I gritted my teeth, managing a smile, knowing it was completely my fault, but not about to admit why, "Sorry, I shouldn't have been standing so close to you…"
My voice trailed off as I remembered why I didn't move. I'd been so engrossed in my perving session. A blush spread across my face. I forced myself to stand and bare weight on my foot. Fuck, it hurt.
"See? All good," I smiled, ignoring the pain that radiated through my entire foot. I looked down. God, it was starting to swell. He smiled back, still looking unsure.
"Okay. Can I help you somewhere?" he asked. Why wouldn't he just leave? I was embarrassed enough as it was!
"Uh, no. I have a friend picking me up. I'm fine. I promise," I added. He waited a moment longer, before nodding and backing toward the exit.
"If you're sure…" he raised his eyebrows, giving me one last shot to go with him. Me being the nerd I am around guys, waved him off.
"Are you sure you're okay, honey?" I turned to smile at the lady behind the desk I had forgotten about. I blushed. Knowing she'd just witnessed all that made me feel even worse.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Who, uh, was that?" I asked casually. She smiled knowingly. Okay, maybe I wasn't acting as casually as I thought.
"Dane Hanson," she smiled, "nice young boy, but he's had some issues…" her smile faltered, her voice trailing off as she realized she probably shouldn't really be talking to me about a fellow student, "Can I help you, dear?" she asked, her voice clipped.
"Right, yes." I handed her my transcripts and my enrolment form. She looked over her glasses at me, her eyebrows raised.
"That's quite a big study load, Ms. Somerton."
I nodded, "I'm very keen to catch on the year I missed," I smiled, bracing myself for the prying questions that came naturally with a missed school year.
"Ah, what was it, travel? A year working?" She shook her head, pursing her lips as though she'd heard it all.
"Something like that." I nodded, not really wanting to get into the whole twin dying, mental breakdown, world falling apart thing. I stood by the counter awkwardly as she tapped away at her computer. I lifted my foot so I didn't put pressure on it. Fuck, it hurt like crazy. After what felt like hours, she handed me a form.
"Your class schedule. Good luck." She said it as though she thought I'd need it. I flashed a fake smile, instantly disliking her judgment of me. Why did she think she could lump me with every other student she'd enrolled? She knew nothing about me.
Outside the office, I began the limp back home. I walked through the pain, trying not to concern myself about the numbness that was starting to set in. The sun was beginning to set, which had caused a change in the wind. I shivered, wishing I'd taken a jacket with me. I pulled my long blonde hair back with my hands, wrapping it around itself into some sort of knot. It stayed put, but threatened to unravel at any point.
I glanced down at my thin pink shirt and my cotton shorts. I made a face as I caught sight of my foot. I'd managed to block out the pain pretty well, all things considered, but seeing the blue black discoloration spreading across the joint of the big toe made me feel queasy. Maybe I should've called Kella.
I limped inside the house, kicking the sandal off on my good foot and gingerly easing it off the other. My first stop was the kitchen, where I grabbed a bag of frozen beans. My second stop was the sofa.
Sitting down, I sighed as I put the towel wrapped frozen beans on my foot. The pain was back with a vengeance. I don't think I'd ever felt this much pain before. The deep throb was beginning to extend all the way down to my ankle and my toe looked like some kind of over boiled frankfurt that was about to burst out of its skin.
"Hey how did-" Kella stopped short, staring at my foot, "What the hell happened?" she screeched as she plopped down next to me. She lifted my makeshift ice pack and made a face, "Fuck Lil, I think that's broken," she gasped, her face going a shade of green, then white.
I peered around my knee to get a glimpse. It wasn't good. My whole foot was now swollen. I was beginning to think Kella was right. There was a teeny tiny chance I'd broken my toe, or rather, he had broken my toe.
Dane Hanson. My heart swooned.
My mind wandered back to eyes. So blue, the color of the sky on a clear, sunny day. When he looked at me, I felt like he was staring right inside of me, feeling my feelings and reading my thoughts. Then there was his smile. Oh god, that lopsided grin, those lips I'd just wanted to touch.
"Lil?" Kella wacked my shoulder. I jumped.
"What?"
"I said I should really take you to the hospital," she repeated, "I'm no doctor, but I'd bet my entire shoe collection that it's broken."
Wow. This must be serious. Kella loved her shoes more than she liked eating. At last count she had more than a thousand pairs, everything from flats, to heels, to boots. Why someone needed so many shoes I never understood. Just as Kella couldn't understand how I could get by with only five pairs. My runners, sandals, two pairs of pumps and a pair of boots. And Kella was the last person you'd expect to have an obsession with shoes. She hated shopping, unless it was for shoes. I couldn't drag her down to the mall to shop for clothes without promising to look at shoes too.
"Okay," I relented, letting her help me up. I winced, unable to put any pressure at all on my foot now. Part of me worried I'd done more damage by walking home.
"How the hell did this happen, anyway?" she asked, baring most of my weight as we made our way to her car.
Thank god for her car. Everything being so close for me, I'd convinced mom I didn't need a car, mainly because I felt guilty enough about moving away, without having her dip into her savings. Now, I wasn't so sure. What if Kel hadn't been home? Not that I would've been able to drive myself, but in another kind of emergency, not having a car could have been really bad.
"I was so busy perving on the guy in front of me at student admin, I didn't realize he'd taken a step back. Right
onto my foot," I blushed, "I literally fell over," I added.
Kella would be the only one to hear the real version. For everyone else, like my mom, I tripped over the footpath. This was way too embarrassing to repeat.
"Lil!" Kella laughed, shaking her head. She checked my face, as if she wasn't sure I was serious. I raised an eyebrow. She laughed again, "Jesus, you're so unco," she giggled, "Who was the guy, anyway? He'd better have at least been hot," she added as she helped me into the car. I rolled my eyes. Like his cuteness made me breaking my toe almost worth it? I waited until she was in the driver's seat before answering.
"His name is Dane Hanson," I replied, with a giddy smile. God, even his name brought goose bumps to my skin.
"Dane?" Kella looked surprised, her eyebrows shooting up.
"Yes. Why?" I asked suspiciously. Kella appeared to be squirming in her seat.
"Nothing," she murmured. Kella was not a good liar. One second ago she had wanted to know everything and now she was paying extra close attention to the chip in the foam of the steering wheel.
"Kella. I love you, but you can't lie for shit. Spill," I ordered. She hesitated, before rolling her eyes. What didn't I know here?
"Well, it's just…it's probably nothing, but there were rumors around college last year…" her voice trailed off. She glanced at me, biting her lip, her dark eyes full of worry.
"Kella!" I yelled, exasperated.
"Okay!" She put a hand up to quieten me, "He was one of the top boxers in the state, apparently. Then he just quit. He went from being 'Mr Socially Popular Always Out Drinking And Picking Up Women' to a recluse. Nobody really knows what happened. I'm shocked he's back in classes, actually. I didn't even know he was back."
"He quit school?" I repeated. That kind of explained his little tiff with the office lady, "And what were the rumors, exactly?" I asked suspiciously. I was always wary of rumors. Spending weeks in a mental ward kind of did that to you.
"Drugs, mainly. There was a rumor he'd killed someone and had gone to juvie," Kella thought for a moment, "And then there was the rape rumor." Murder? Rape? My heart raced. Not my Dane. As silly as it was, I couldn't believe I could have such a connection with someone capable of those things.
"Well, it's not like I was planning on dating him," I said defensively, cutting her off. I didn't want to hear anymore. "And besides, if he murdered someone last year, he would have been eighteen and sent to prison, not juvie."
Why was I being so defensive? Kella eyed me as if she was thinking the same thing.
"What?" I snapped.
She raised her eyebrows, but said nothing as she pulled into the emergency parking area. As soon as the car came to a stop, I hobbled out of the car. Kella rushed around to help me.
"Lil, don't put pressure on it," Kel said testily, putting my arm around her shoulder like a human crutch.
"Thanks for this. I'm sure you had better ways of spending your Saturday night," I said dryly, as I leaned on her. She laughed and I couldn't help smiling like I always did when she laughed.
"I was planning on spending it with you, anyway, dipshit," she giggled, kissing my cheek. I grinned. Kella was an awesome friend.
After an almost three hour wait in emergency, during which I almost walked out three times (but was stopped by an insistent Kella), I was finally seen by a doctor.
"That's definitely broken," he said after a quick look at my foot.
Whatever happened to X-rays? How the hell could he tell it was broken?
"I'll order an x-ray to confirm, then we will plaster you up and have you on your way."
Hold up, plaster? Who said anything about plaster? There was no way in hell I was going to be hobbling around campus with a plastered foot. I wanted to be inconspicuous; blend in, not stand out!
I may as well wear a sign that read 'Uncoordinated idiot, steer clear'.
And then there was Dane. I groaned inwardly. As soon as he saw me on crutches, he'd know. I could almost picture his smirk. And those sexy piercing eyes and his smile…
"Look, I'm feeling much better already. I think I'll just be going," I snapped back to reality and started getting off the trolley, only to be pushed back onto it by a pissed off looking Kella.
"Hey, sit your ass back down and do what the doctor says," she growled.
The doctor, who understandably looked more than a little bit terrified of Kella, nodded in agreement and left the room.
"Kella!" I wailed, "I can't be hobbling around campus on crutches!"
"What are you, twelve? This is college, Lily. Nobody gives a damn!" Kella barked. I looked at her and started laughing. God I loved her and her no bullshit attitude.
At only five foot, she was a tiny little thing. That paired with her tumbling curly dark hair and brown eyes, looking at her you'd think she was a dainty little princess. Not Kella. Growing up with five brothers, she could swear and drink half the frat boys at Fairhaven College under the table.
Another three hours and we finally arrived home, me, complete with my plastered foot and crutches. And a lot of attitude.
"I'm not using these on Monday," I grumbled, hobbling my way to the couch.
"Yes you fucking will be and every day for the next three weeks. You heard the doctor, Lil. You want to end up with a deformed foot?" she demanded. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.
"You want me to call your mom?" she asked sweetly, completely changing her approach, knowing that would make me oblige. I was going to tell mom, but not yet. I didn't want her worrying and breaking my toe on my first day away was not a good look.
"Fine. You win," I growled, grabbing the TV remote off the arm of the chair. The pain killers were starting to wear off, "Actually, I think I might go to bed, Kel. I'm pretty tired." Kella looked like she wanted to argue, then smiled.
"Okay, Lil. Sleep well," she called out to me.
I glanced around my room, thankful Kella had set up the bed. Everything else was boxed up still. I peeled off my clothes and took two of the painkillers the doctor had given me. My foot still ached like crazy, though the support of the cast did seem to help. As did the drugs.
I climbed under the covers, glad it wasn't an overly cold night. My pajamas were still boxed away, so I was sleeping in my underwear. It had been such a long day, it was only minutes before I fell asleep.
.
Table of Contents
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirt
y six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Incredible Beauty (So Many Reasons) Page 16