The Vincent Boys Collection

by Abbi Glines

  I nodded my head in her direction. “Hey, Aunt Honey.”

  “Want a beer? I can already tell you that you’re probably gonna need it.”

  What the heck did that mean? I started to tell her no and then figured if I couldn’t have a hot shower and painkillers, a beer, was the next best thing. “Sure, thanks.”

  “Go on over to the boys. They’re waiting on ya. I’ll bring ya a beer in just a sec.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

  “Told ya not to call me ma’am. Makes me sound like somebody’s mama,” she teased, and shot me a wink.

  She really was a piece of work.

  I made my way over to Beau, who was leaning up against the edge of a pool table with his ankles crossed and a frosty mug of beer in his hand. It was the expression on his face that tipped me off that this wasn’t just a friendly gathering. I was here for a purpose. Slipping my hand into my pocket, I held Lana’s letter between my fingers. Remembering her words helped me deal. If this was bad news, I needed a reminder that she was out there and that she loved me.

  “What is it, Beau?” I demanded the moment I was close enough.

  “I got some answers for you that you’re gonna want. But you need to remain calm while you get those answers.”

  My heart sped up and I froze. “Lana?”

  Beau nodded. “Yep. Lana.”

  “You know where she is?”

  “Yeah, I do. But it ain’t my story to tell.” Beau turned his head and I followed his gaze to Ethan, who standing a few feet away from us. “Go ahead, E., before he loses it.”

  Ethan shifted his gaze from me to Beau, and I could see the fear in his eyes.

  “What do you know?” I started toward him, ready to shake him until he told me what he knew.

  Beau’s hand clamped down on my shoulder and stopped me. “You won’t get your answers if you hurt him.” He turned to Ethan. “Ethan, tell him. I told you, I won’t let him rip your balls off.”

  My heart started racing, and the blood boiled in my veins. The idea that Ethan had somehow had a hand in Lana’s disappearance was making it hard for me to take calm, steady breaths.

  “You better do this quick, E., ’cause he’s gonna blow in a second, and I’m sore as shit from this week. I really don’t want to have to stop this,” Beau said, urging.

  “Okay, yeah. Um, well, you see, Sawyer. I got a call from Lana—”

  “Why the hell is she calling you?” I demanded, taking another step toward Ethan, who backed up a step.

  “Get the fuck on with this, E.,” Beau said with a growl as his hand tightened on my shoulder.

  “No. Before. She called me before. The day Ash thought Beau cheated. She called me that day and told me she needed a favor. She said she couldn’t stay here anymore and needed my help. I picked her up and—”

  “Where is she?” I roared, taking another step his way. Both of Beau’s hands clamped down on my shoulders.

  “Easy, bro,” he warned.

  “Lord have mercy, boy. Drink this beer and chill out. The girl is safe, and if you’ll let the kid talk, you’ll find out where she’s at.” Aunt Honey stood in front of me and shoved a mug of beer into my hand. “Here, hold this. That way you can hit him with only one fist.”

  “Go on, Mama. I got this,” Beau said behind me.

  “Hmph, don’t look like it. But I hope you’re right. I ain’t payin’ for no repairs if he goes bat-shit in here,” she replied.

  Setting the beer down on the edge of the pool table, I didn’t take my eyes off Ethan. He knew where she was. He knew where she was.

  “I took her to her friend’s condo at the beach.”

  She wasn’t there. I’d called Jewel. . . . Wait. He’d taken her there?

  “Did you see Jewel? Did she actually go into a condo?” I asked, hoping that I’d been played by that crazy ass friend of hers.

  “Yeah, I carried her bags to the door. Jewel came outside squealing and all happy to see her. Then I went back . . . ,” Ethan began.

  The words that he went back sent off a possessive blaze of fury. I shrugged off Beau’s grasp and stalked over to tower above Ethan. “What does that mean? You went back?”

  “Not so fast. He ain’t finished. Don’t fuck him up now,” Beau said with a growl, hooking his arms in both of mine from behind and pulling me back.

  Ethan wiped at his forehead nervously and gulped. “Listen, man, I didn’t know. I thought you’d moved on. I didn’t know how you felt about Lana. When I came to your house Saturday to talk to you about Lana, that was the first time I realized that I’d made a huge mistake helping her run away. So I went back. I was going to fix it. She wouldn’t listen to me. Hell, I couldn’t even say your name.”

  “She was there? When did you go?” I was backing up. I needed to know. I had to get to her.

  “She’s there. At the condo. Condo unit one oh three. Kiva Dunes,” he called out, and I started running for the door.

  Then the words from the phone conversation with Jewel came back to me: In the meantime, you could come visit me. I’d make you real happy. I’m staying at Kiva Dunes condos on West Beach. Unit one oh three. My room is on the far corner looking straight at the water instead of the windows facing the pool. The crazy bitch wasn’t so crazy after all. I’d bet my ass the room was Lana’s. Jewel was trying to tell me without ratting out Lana. Beau was right. Lana was careful with who she let get close. Jewel was one helluva liar, though. I’d completely believed her. The dumb blonde thing she had going really threw me off.

  I reached for my truck door and realized my hands were shaking. I knew where Lana was. And I was going to get her back.

  “Sawyer, wait!” Beau called out. I turned back to look at him. He was making his way out to me.

  “What? I gotta go.” I didn’t want to talk about this with him. I just wanted to go find Lana.

  “You want me to drive?” he asked with a concerned frown on his face.

  “No, I want to get there. Now.”

  Beau sighed. “I get that you want to find her. But be careful. She will be there when you get there.”

  When had my badass brother started worrying over my driving skills? Shaking my head, I jerked my truck door open. “I gotta go.”

  Beau stepped back as I slammed the door and cranked the engine. My heart pounded anxiously in my chest. I knew where she was. I’d finally found her.

  Chapter 23

  LANA

  Jewel’s friends started showing up around seven. The sun hadn’t even set yet. I ignored them for the most part as I finished slicing up my mozzarella and tomatoes for my salad. Last night Jewel had hooked up with some local guy who was in a band. I was afraid they were all eventually not going to go home and just move in for the rest of the summer. Jewel was all over the lead singer already today. She had a thing for tats and piercings and he had them in mass supply. If he moved into her bedroom, then his rock band posse would move in too. As much as I didn’t want to go back to Alpharetta earlier than necessary, I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to handle the live-in rockers.

  “Well, hello. How did I miss you last night? I’ve got a raving mad thing for redheads.” I glanced up to see one of those rocker tagalongs leaning on the bar and leering at me.

  “Go away,” I replied, and went back to preparing my salad. I would have to eat in my room again tonight. They kept showing up earlier and earlier. It wasn’t as if I could complain. I stayed here rent free.

  “And feisty. I like my redheads feisty. They talk dirty in bed and do those bad things that drive me crazy.”

  Slamming my knife down on the bar, I glared at him. “I think I just threw up in my mouth. Back off. I am not interested.”

  His lips curled up in a grin. Was this guy for real? He stuck his tongue out at me and flicked it showing off the metal bar pierced through it. Not surprising. He had piercings in his eyebrows and one in his lip. “That’s it, kitty cat. Show me them claws, baby. Sweet pussy, pussy,” he said in an
amused voice.

  Yuck!

  I grabbed the knife and held it tightly in my fist before coming around the counter. This creep had pushed it too far. I had told him to back off and he hadn’t. Now I was going to make him.

  I held the point of the knife tilted toward him as I closed the distance between us. His amused smile began to waver as he tried to decide if I would actually stab him.

  “Listen, you sick piece of trash. I am not interested in you. At. All. So when I say to leave me alone, I want you to back the hell off.”

  He held up both his hands. “Whoah, girl. I was just teasing. No need to get violent.” His gaze shifted around the room, looking for someone to come in and take the knife from the insane girl.

  A loud cackle of laughter came from behind me. “She’s got you by the balls, Fence. Guess you’ll be careful whose pussy you talk about next time, won’t you?”

  I didn’t glance back to see who spoke. I knew it was one of the other band members.

  “Yeah, guess I learned my lesson,” he replied, but his smile wavered.

  “I promise to leave you alone, sugar. Now just put down the knife.” He was talking to me slowly like I was an idiot.

  I spun around and went back to cutting up my tomatoes.

  The annoying rocker let out a loud sigh of relief and walked away, leaving me once again alone in the kitchen. I made quick work of my salad and headed for my room. Several of the band members made comments about me and my ability with a knife, but I ignored them. I would have to remember to make my dinner earlier from now on.

  By the time I had finished eating, the party had started up already. I couldn’t stay in this room one more night. Of course, I didn’t want to go out into that wild mess, either. Before it got too carried away, I locked the door to my room and went to the window to escape. I didn’t want anyone making themselves at home in my bed while I was out. I didn’t think any of them would attempt to get in the window. I’d been locked away for two weeks. Everyone knew, by now, that my room was off-limits.

  Making sure no one saw my escape, I headed down to the water. Just a long walk to stretch my legs and breathe in the clean ocean air, and then I’d head back to hole up for the night. Maybe I wouldn’t be so restless. Breaking into a jog, I pushed all those memories that tended to creep in when I let my guard down to the back of mind. I imagined myself running from all of them, leaving them in the past as my hair flew out behind me. Silent tears streamed down my face as I let it go . . . one memory at a time.

  SAWYER

  This place was like a frat house. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like it at all. I started to knock on the door as music began to pound through the thin walls. Some bikini-clad girls leaned over the railing on the second floor and called out what they wanted to do to me if I’d just come on up. Shaking my head, I headed for the corner room that faced the ocean.

  A guy had a girl pressed up against the side of the building, and I was more than positive they were having sex. This crap had surrounded Lana for two weeks. I was going to kill Ethan once I got back home. She didn’t belong here. If someone had touched her . . . I stopped myself. I couldn’t do this. I had to win her back. If I went all caveman, she would fight me.

  Turning the corner, the window facing the ocean greeted me. I glanced at the other windows in the unit, and they all faced the pool. The window had to belong to Lana’s room. I knocked and waited, but there was nothing but silence. The lights were off. Could she actually be somewhere in this wild bunch of people? I reached down and thought I’d check and see if the window was locked. It wasn’t. Not smart, Lana. Didn’t she know better than to leave her windows unlocked? Anyone could have gotten in. I didn’t want to think about it. I needed to focus.

  Pushing the window open, I stepped inside the room. The sweet smell of her perfume filled the room. Jewel had given me directions straight to Lana, and I’d missed the cue. The room was empty. I glanced over toward the door and realized it was locked. So she’d escaped through the window. She wasn’t at this party.

  A knock on the door startled me. I froze and waited to see if they would go away. What if she’d met someone here? What if she was out with him right now? I’d kill him.

  “Lana! You in there?” Jewel’s familiar voice called from the other side of the door. I didn’t respond. I didn’t want her to know I was here. She could see Lana before she returned. Then Lana might run again. I had to make her talk to me.

  “Okay, fine. If you’re mad about Fence, I’m sorry. Chain told me what he said. He was kidding, Lana. That’s just the way guys like him are. They say things like that. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

  Fence? Chain? And what the hell had he said to Lana? I reminded myself that I had to convince Lana to take me back. That I loved her. I couldn’t go storming out the door to beat the shit out of guys with crazy-ass names. They were probably all stoned anyway.

  “Chain said you threatened Fence with a knife.” Jewel laughed approvingly. “He was impressed and maybe a little turned on. It’s best that you’re locked up in here tonight. Maybe things will be straightened out soon. Maybe Sawyer will call me again.”

  A knife? What if he’d lunged for her and the knife had stabbed her? Fuck. I had to get her out of this place. Did she want me, too? Is that what Jewel meant by maybe I’d call again? God, I hoped so. I had to tell her I loved her. I’d been so stupid before.

  She’d be back. I just needed to wait. I was close.

  Sitting down on the bed, I reached over and took a pillow. Holding it to my nose, I inhaled. God, I’d missed that smell. Burying my face in her scent, I sat watching the window . . . waiting.

  LANA

  The tears were dried on my face as I made my way back to the condo. I’d run for over an hour. My lungs burned and my legs would probably feel like Jell-O tomorrow. I wasn’t big on exercise, so it was gonna hurt.

  Pulling up my window, I stepped inside to find someone sitting on my bed in the dark. Naturally, I screamed.

  “Lana, it’s me.” Sawyer’s hands were on my arms instantly. Sawyer . . . Sawyer was here.

  I stood, frozen, trying to decide if I’d passed out from the running and it was a dream.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.” The words “I’m sorry” snapped me out of my shocked haze, and I jerked out of his grasp and quickly moved away from him and toward the door.

  “Lana, please don’t. Please listen to me. Don’t shut me out. You have no idea—”

  “I have no idea? Me? Yes, I have an idea. I want you to leave. Do you understand me? Leave. I. Do. Not. Want. To. See. You!” I was yelling, but I knew no one would hear me over the noise outside.

  “Lana, please,” Sawyer begged. He walked hesitantly toward me. I closed my eyes and crossed my arms protectively over my chest. I hated how the pleading sound in his voice pulled at me.

  “If you ever felt one small amount of anything for me, you’ll leave and let me move on,” I whispered fiercely.

  When he didn’t respond, I was torn between joy that he was leaving, meaning he felt something for me, no matter how small it may be, relief that he wouldn’t be here to witness me crumble to the floor, and agony, because seeing him had completely ripped me open.

  I heard the faint rattle of paper, and I opened my eyes slowly to see Sawyer standing in the same spot, a worn-looking letter in his hands. He began to read:

  “I made the mistake of opening my heart up to someone who clearly could never feel the same about me. I knew Sawyer loved you. I’ve known it since we were kids. I thought maybe just getting his attention for a short time would be enough. It wasn’t.”

  My chest felt like it was going to explode. He had the letter I’d left Ashton. Oh, God.

  He lifted his eyes from the paper and looked directly at me with so much pain, and something else, in his eyes. . . . “I loved Ashton once. She was my childhood crush. She was all I really knew. But when she left me, I didn’t cry. When you left me, I wept like a bab
y.”

  I stopped breathing as he lowered his eyes back to the paper in his hands.

  “I’ve grown up with two parents who never once thought about me in the choices they made. My emotions weren’t something they concerned themselves with, and maybe that is my fault because I didn’t speak up. I just pushed the hurt and anger deep inside me. I wanted to be strong because I knew they were weak. I’m tired of being strong. I’m tired of being second best. I need someone to love me.”

  He stopped reading and lifted his eyes to stare at me once again. “You should never and I mean, never, be anyone’s second choice. Anyone who doesn’t see you for the incredible gift you are is a blind bastard.”

  He lowered his eyes back to the paper and began reading again.

  “Staying in Grove isn’t a possible option for me. I let myself hope for too much. I’ve been broken too many times. I can’t stay somewhere near . . . someone who will eventually destroy me.” His green eyes lifted to meet mine, and the tears glistening in them took my breath away. “If I lose you because of the blind idiot I’ve been, then I will be the one who is destroyed.”

  He continued to read.

  “You had the right Vincent boy all along. Don’t take him for granted this time. He loves you in a way that I hope to one day inspire in someone. He would give up the world for you. When you have someone that special, that incredible who loves you, don’t let it go. This is your second chance to treasure what you’ve had all your life. Sawyer was always the Vincent boy worth fighting for. He’s the special one.”

  Sawyer slowly folded the paper and rubbed his thumb over it as if it were something precious. Then tucked it back into his pocket.

  “Ashton didn’t have the right Vincent boy. I know this because I understand now what love really feels like. The kind that consumes you. Love holds the power to break you, holds the power to complete you. When I read this letter, I was standing in Ashton’s living room after fixing things for her and Beau, which was all I wanted to do. They belong together. They’ve always belonged together. I get that now. Not because she chose him, but because you chose me. Until you, I was lost. I thought Ashton was what my life was supposed to be. Letting go of the comfort zone that our relationship represented was hard. Then you came into my life like a light bursting through the darkness. You made everything make sense.” He took a step closer to me, and I fought the urge to throw myself in his arms. “Lana. I think about you every minute of every day. When I’m with you, my world is complete. When I touch you, I understand the meaning of life. When I lost you, I completely shattered. You. Own. Me.”