Seven

by Amy Marie

  Getting the proof that what Patrick said there was is a big win in my book. Now, seeing it for myself, I know why Thad was always so awkward. Why he never dated anyone. Why he would have guy friends from other schools over all the time. I don’t fault him. The heart wants what it wants. But, that heart should also be caring and kind to those around him, and he let them use me and my innocence. I wasn’t a game. I wasn’t a bet. All he had to do was stick up for me. He didn’t, and now he will, most likely, lose the biggest case he’s ever had, and his credibility because he is a walking contradiction. A liar.

  Patrick

  Ian

  Thad

  Casen

  Reece

  Evan

  Wesley

  I’m sitting at Jedi’s bar, again, on a Friday night, watching the news on the TV. The day after the Tribune broke the story about Thad Morrison, every news channel got their greedy hands on the video, and it already has over three million views of the g-rated version and close to two million on the “not for kids” version. Lauren, Thad’s client, has already found a new lawyer, and Thad has gone into hiding. His poor wife, though. For her, I do feel bad.

  I glance at my phone and the disappointing message that it contains. Trinity has to work late tonight, and can’t meet me here. She plans to move into her sister’s house this weekend, so I decided to come here on my own. I don’t want to lose the momentum I feel I gained with Casen last week. I left him with just a smidge of anticipation. I just hope I didn’t put him off too much.

  I don’t have to wait long for the answer as I turn in time to see Casen walk in, but this time he is alone, also. When he meets my stare, a smug grin appears and he starts to push is way past dozens of hopeful women. He looks like he has one goal in mind. His wide shoulders make it easy to part the crowd. With each step he takes, my body is filled with eagerness of what's to come. As he gets closer, his eyes rake over me, starting from my peep toe heels all the way up to my teal colored blouse that accentuates my breasts. My chest heaves up and down with each breath I take, and I’m purposely pushing my tits out so they appear bigger than they are. Last week, I was standoffish. That obviously didn’t deter him. This week, I will give just a little bit more.

  Damien nudges my hand aside, causing me to break eye contact with Casen. He sets another drink down without a word, and I don’t hesitate to pick it up and take a long sip not only to cool my heated body but to calm my anxiety. As he nears, memories flood me. Casen was the one I crushed on throughout high school. I walked into gym class as a freshman and was immediately enamored with him. I would have to say my intentions behind going out with his friend Ian during junior year were to get Casen’s attention. Who would have guessed accepting that date was a life changing decision? One that would alter my world forever.

  I feel my skin prickle and my stomach coil, alerting me to his proximity and rub my fingers along the rim of my glass. “Is this seat taken?” Casen’s deep, menacing voice asks. My breathing begins to even out as I look at the gentleman currently residing in the seat Casen is inquiring about.

  He’s got balls; I’ll give him that.

  Cocking my head to the side, I lift my glass up, seductively placing the straw on my tongue and taking a sip. His cool façade breaks as he swallows down the lump in his throat. Taking another taste, I secure my bottom lip before I speak, hoping to sound completely at ease. I motion to the occupied seat, “Looks like it is.”

  The man, who has his arm wrapped around a woman’s shoulders, his face, red with irritation, looks at Casen as though he has lost his mind. “We just fucking sat down, bro. Piss off.”

  I glance between the two men, obviously in some sort of standoff, and try not to laugh. He never wanted my attention in high school but he sure has been seeking it lately, huh?

  There must be a warning in Casen’s stare because the man stands up and grabs the woman’s hand, pulling her up, and they vacate their seats. Shifting away from the cocky bastard, I continue to sip my drink slowly and not mind him any attention. I’m going to make him work for it and try not to flinch if he so much as touches me. He slips in beside me, lifting a hand to let Damien know he wants to order before turning back to me. “Am I going to get your name tonight, beautiful?”

  I laugh.

  Really?

  “Not interested,” I state, trying not to let the seduction in his voice fool me.

  “Not interested? I’ve never heard anyone with that name,” he tries to joke, but I don’t laugh.

  This is the kind of shit he uses to pick up women?

  “What can I getcha?” Damien asks.

  I point at my glass, requesting another drink, and motion towards Casen, “On his tab.”

  “Budweiser for me.” Casen tells him before returning his full attention back to me. “If I’m going to buy you a drink, then it’s only fair you tell me your name.” His leg brushes against mine, lifting my skirt and exposing more of my thigh. Goosebumps spread across my skin like wild fire and I will them down.

  Stay focused, Em.

  My fingers come up to play with my necklace, and I relent, “Embyr.” I pick my gaze up and stare directly into his eyes. I drag them down his body, noticing the long-sleeved, black Henley he’s wearing and faded jeans. His shoes are black, as well, and they look like they hold massive feet. I peek at his hands, seeing exactly what Trinity meant. They are huge.

  A moment passes before he says, “Don’t you want to know my name?”

  I already know your name. Casen Parker. Fire fighter. Lived with your friends, my other high school bullies, Ian and Reece, up until two months ago, when you all ventured off and got your own places. Homecoming King in high school and graduated with honors in fire science.

  But, I don’t say all that.

  “Okay, then.” I roll my eyes as if the idea is beneath me. “So, what’s your name?”

  He stares for a moment before widening his smile. “Casen.”

  His cockiness pulls me in and I can’t bring myself to turn away. His heated tone breaks through my barrier and a flood of emotions take over. Even though it’s been ten years, he still looks the same and I feel a spark of not only hatred but attraction. I didn’t expect that and it makes all of the high school memories come screaming back at me. They consume me. My chest tightens while I feel my face burning. I can’t control the tremble of my hands as I pick up my glass trying to keep this panic attack under control.

  I haven’t had one of these since high school.

  I take deep breaths, gasping for air, hoping I don’t pass out. It’s not working. The memories continue to suffocate me. I feel constricted.

  I can’t fucking breathe.

  A gentle touch glides over my back and I jump at the contact. “You okay?” Casen asks concern evident in his voice.

  Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

  I’m finally able to lift my head and slide off of the stool, grasping my purse to my chest. “Yes. I just…” I stumble. “I need a moment.”

  I race to the bathroom, knowing full well I am fucking this up. I’ve managed to screw Patrick and Thad over no problem. So what is so different that, just speaking to Casen twice in the past week, has me turned inside out? The bathroom door slams against the tiled wall when I barge in and lock myself inside. My forehead meets the cold metal of the door as I chastise myself.

  Get your shit together, Embyr.

  You hate him.

  He didn’t stop them.

  He repulses you.

  I repeat this over and over until I believe what I’m saying. It takes a few minutes, but I gather myself and hold my head up high as I stride back to the bar, shoulders straight, like I didn’t just fall apart in front of my prey. When I turn the corner, I see Casen looking down at his phone typing furiously, and I pray I didn’t lose him. I’ll be pissed if I screwed it all up by letting his good looks and charm suck me in at a vulnerable moment.

  “There you are.” He places his phone back into his pocket.
<
br />   I reclaim my spot and nod. “Yeah. Sorry. Long, shitty day got to me.” I smile back, hoping he believes my lie.

  “No worries,” he comforts and slides a glass of water my way. “You looked like you needed this.”

  I take a sip and nod with gratitude.

  “So,” he begins angling his body so I’m facing him. “Last week didn’t seem to go over very well for me. I feel as though I came on too strong.” When I don’t respond, he continues. “It sounds cliché, but I’ve noticed you the past few weeks and feel like, despite the brush off last Friday, that I should make more of an effort. Try not to scare you off. Maybe see if you wanted to go out sometime.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief. My momentary weakness didn’t screw this up too badly, but I shut him down immediately, “I can’t.”

  A slight tilt of the head and then, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  “No.” I shake my head.

  His eyebrows quirk up in curiosity. “Are you a lesbian? Was the girl you were with last week your girlfriend?”

  I remain unaffected though he almost sounded hopeful. Like if she was, that I would let him watch “No.”

  “Studying to be a nun?” he deadpans but I can see a hint of smile play over his lips.

  “No. Not a nun.” I inwardly laugh at the thought of me living in a convent with other celibate women. Living my life for Jesus. I’m far from that. But, like them, I pray. I pray every day that they all get what’s coming to them. That I come out unscathed or with just a few scratches. But, my skin is as thick as steel.

  “No boyfriend. Not a lesbian or a nun. So, why not go out with me? I thought we had something.” He leans in dangerously close to me, sending a second round of goosebumps all over my skin. “You know the whole ‘can’t keep my eyes off of you’ thing going on.”

  “Because,” I say with annoyance. “I don’t like you.”

  He gasps, bringing a clutched hand to his heart. “You don’t like me? How can you not like me? You don’t even know me.”

  I shrug and watch his jaw drop to the floor. His eyes stare into mine, waiting for an answer, making me uncomfortable, so I pick up my Captain and Coke and empty the rest of its contents. Even though he isn’t saying a word, I know this isn’t finished. If I remember anything about Casen from high school, it’s that he doesn’t stop until he gets what he wants. If he wants me, then this is far from over.

  Without warning, Casen jumps up off the stool and climbs on top of it, making the legs wobble. Shocked, I grab hold of the seat to keep it from tipping over. “Ladies and Gentleman!” he screams from his pedestal. My face burns with embarrassment as the entire bar quiets down. Even the music’s volume has been lowered. This is fucking unexpected. I pull on his pant leg, but he ignores my desperate pleas to get down. This is not how I wanted him to work for my attention. “I need your help!” he continues, pointing a stern finger down at me. “This beautiful, sexy lady refuses to go out with me! There is no boyfriend, no girlfriend, and no convent in her life.”

  I can hear a few people chuckle and one woman yells out that he could do more than go out with her. Ignoring her, he continues. “Tell this lovely lady, Embyr, to give me a chance,” he pleads, fingers laced in prayer. Everyone erupts into encouragement for the crazy man on top of a bar stool.

  Go out with him.

  Give him a chance.

  I’ll have him.

  All are being thrown my way. “Get down!” I command. He shakes his head no. Exasperated I finally say, “Fine”

  Casen bends down, holding the bar for support. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you.”

  “Fine!” I tell him. This time, louder.

  “Fine as in it’s fine I won’t get down or fine you’ll go out with me?” He smiles.

  Knowing I need to do something drastic, I grab onto his shirt and pull his lips against mine aggressively. Cat calls begin all around us, and when his tongue begs entrance between my lips, I pull away and whisper, “I’ll go out with you.”

  “She said yes!” He screams to the crowd, making them all cheer.

  “Did you really have to do that?” I ask once the crowd quiets down, and he is safely seated on his ass, fresh drink is in his hand.

  He takes a pull from his beer. “I did. Now you can’t bail since I have witnesses.”

  “Is that your idea of not scaring me off?”

  “You said yes, didn’t you?” He smiles.

  I give him a fake laugh, shaking my head. “Why me, though? There are tons of women in here who would have said yes without the public display.”

  His fingers pull on the label of his beer. “I don’t know. There is just something about you that I really like. I’m drawn to you. Even just seeing you across the bar has been the highlight of my week for the past month. I just feel like we need to get to know one another.”

  “And if you don’t like me once you get to know me?”

  “I don’t think that’s possible.”

  I smile deviously. Oh Casen. I’m going to destroy you.

  The water sparkles like crystal off of Lake Arlington as I wait for Aria to get here. It’s an unseasonably warm day and I should be enjoying the sun, but being back in Arlington Heights just makes my skin crawl. I can’t help the uneasy feeling that settles over me every time I’m here. Even if it is only thirty minutes outside of the city, I still feel safer within the city limits of Chicago. But, every Saturday I come out here for one reason and one reason only.

  I can see my childhood home as it backs up to a trail that is two miles around the lake, and try to remember the good times it held . . . up until I started high school. Its green shutters now are blue, and the current owners have added a deck and a swing set for the two little ones they have. I sold the house just after both of my parents passed away, and paid off, not only, all of their debts, but put it towards my college education, as well. It also secured a little down payment for my condo. It was tough for me to let it all go, but I knew that, in order to get away from this town and these people, that it needed to be done.

  I went far away from this place after I graduated. I wanted to go somewhere that I could make a safe transition from Annie to Embyr. So, I went to a small college in North Carolina where no one knew my fucking name. It was the perfect place to change everything. Mentally and physically.

  I took a lot of time and consideration into my new name. I wanted something strong and independent. Two things I was striving to be, but also something vicious because I knew it needed to signify what I was going to do. It needed to give me strength every time it was said.

  One drunken night, I watched the burning wood die in the fireplace, and the name Embyr sprang from my thoughts. It possessed the qualities I wanted it to stand for. And, so began the process of becoming Embyr Quinn.

  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and, by the time I graduated from college, I was ready to start my plans of retribution.

  “Here you go.” Aria’s soft voice breaks into the quiet morning air as she drops a heavy envelope next to me on the bench. I look up, finding her tight, little, eighteen-year-old, flawless body. Her blonde hair is flowing freely in the light breeze, and her blue eyes are crystal clear as though she has slept for hours. Her tiny running shorts match her red tank top, and her ample breasts push out as I watch her pull her hair up into a ponytail. She must be about to go for a run around the lake.

  I lift the package and turn it side-to-side, feeling the weight of it. “Did you take your cut?” I ask.

  She’s now bent over at the waist (her flexibility beyond anything I could ever do), touching her toes and looking upside down at me. No wonder Wesley couldn’t keep his hands to himself; she’s pretty damn hot. “I did,” she says, standing up and smiling. “I have to admit that I would almost feel like a prostitute, if he didn’t fuck like a stallion.”

  Standing up, I nestle the envelope between my side and my arm as I glare at her. “Sometimes we have to do what we have to do, Aria. You don’t ha
ve to worry about putting your parents in the poor house for sending you to college now. Plus, besides the fact that he doesn’t even know you are benefitting from this, he should know better. He’s a principal who is fucking a student. You should sleep well at night, knowing you are reaping the rewards of his immorality and getting a good fuck.”

  I start to walk towards my car, leaving her to her run. “You still haven’t told me what you’re getting out of this, Embyr,” she says to my back.

  I turn around, tilting my head, and smile. “I’m getting the rewards of his immorality that I’m due.” When I get into my car I allow my head to fall back into the headrest.

  Think what you want. It was as much Aria’s idea as it was mine.

  I slouch down into the driver’s side of my car as I keep an eye on the side doors to the high school. Out of all the men on my hit list, Wesley comes across as the saint. I can’t find one shred of evidence to the contrary. From what I’ve found out, he worked his ass off to earn the job as Principal of the high school, despite all the money his family has.

  No parking tickets.

  No restraining orders.

  None of his ex-girlfriends had a bad thing to say about him.

  A fucking saint.

  Yeah, right.

  There has to be something.

  I lean over to bump up the heat, when I see the side door to the school swing open, and Wesley steps out. He’s tall. Six feet two-ish and dark-skinned like the color of chocolate. He reminds me of Taye Diggs with his large lips and smoldering eyes. He looks around the parking lot, turning back to speak to someone behind him. After a moment, I watch as a blonde-haired beauty, who looks to be barely legal, steps out and makes a mad dash. He follows, running after her like she stole something. I watch curiously to see what she has done to make him sprint like he did, but when he reaches her at his car, his arms cage her in and he lowers his lips to the crevice between her neck and shoulder. Her fingers glide over his button up shirt and she grabs onto his tie, pulling him even closer into her.