I shut my eyes, not wanting to invade her privacy, whether she cared about that or not.
She touched my head and then my cheeks one at a time.
“You were out there last night, Winter,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry again,” I said.
“Sorry for what?”
“I remember everything,” I said.
How ironic is that, huh? That’s all I ever do. I remember everything but I can’t get my life in order. Typical Winter…
“Oh, you’re still talking about Kace?” Emily asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “You two were-”
“If you need to know, I took care of him,” she said.
“What?”
Emily laughed. “Winter, you partied like a Troc last night, then you wake up as a Bump. I stayed here with you until you were out cold. I put you on your side in case you threw up again. Then I went into Kace’s room and blew him. That way he wouldn’t be on my ass today about it.”
“Oh,” I said.
My face warmed up.
I thought about Talon.
He and I in bed together.
My leg moving over his body.
What I wanted.
What he wanted.
Why did I have to get sick?
“Yeah,” Emily said. “No big deal. I got mine earlier in the night. I came back in here and stayed with you until a little bit ago.”
“You did that for me?” I asked.
“Sure,” Emily said. “You were talking crazy last night.”
“About?”
“You were slurring your words but you were telling me some story about crashing a car, blowing up a car and falling in love with the guy who wanted to kill you…”
Fuck.
“Wow,” I said. “I have no idea what that means.”
“Probably something you watched on TV.”
“Definitely,” I said. “Sorry about that too. I probably sounded like a crazy person.”
“I’ve heard worse,” Emily said. “Hell, I’ve said worse.”
I nodded. “I thought I would feel worse today. I just feel achy from sleeping on the floor.”
“You know, throwing up is the best thing to do,” Emily said. “Some people fight if off. Not me. Get drunk, puke as much as you can, and you’ll feel great the next day.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Emily leaned toward me and kissed my forehead.
My entire body stiffened.
“I have to get moving here,” Emily whispered. “Kace is still in bed. And I’m in the mood.”
“Oh, wow. Okay. Um…”
Emily inched away from me. “How do I look?”
“Honestly?”
“Please.”
“You look like a sleepy slut,” I said.
“Perfect,” she said. “You might want to get out of the bathroom. His bedroom is this wall,” Emily pointed to the wall to my left, “and I plan on coming through that wall with the bed.”
My face turned apple red.
Emily laughed. “You don’t get it often, do you?”
“I do… I’m fine…”
Emily stood up. “If you wanted something wild, Brock would be fun for you. He’s small but the anger between you two would be wild.”
Emily left the bathroom.
I sipped the coffee.
It was already cold.
Fuck this day already.
Chapter 5
This is what’s happening?
I sat next to Raine at the counter and ate a bowl of cereal. It was an off-brand cereal and the milk was suspect, but I needed food. She didn’t say two words to me as she hung over her cereal bowl. She wore sunglasses and took deep breaths as though she was in pain.
Which she was.
She was hungover.
When she finished eating, she walked away from the counter to the living room, fell to the couch and went to sleep.
I was alone for ten seconds before Brock came into the kitchen.
When he saw me, he froze in place.
Slowly, he leaned against the fridge and just stared.
Behind him, down the hallway, I heard the sound of what I assumed to be Kace’s bed beginning to make noise.
This Troc world was crazy.
It was all about getting drunk, having sex, and fitting in a little sleep just so they could wake up and do it again.
“Do you need something?” I asked.
“Just wondering when we’re going to cut through this tension.”
“I didn’t create the tension,” I said. “You did.”
“And I want to cut through it.”
“How?”
Brock pushed from the fridge. “Emily said you needed to get laid.”
I laughed. “She did what?”
“It’s okay. I’m sure the Bumps have a whole process when it comes to that. The right time, place, hair, money, social status… right? See, for us, it’s about what it feels like. We’re not out to get married or having babies and all that shit. It’s about grabbing something in life that makes you feel good. That’s all we have.”
I slowly stood up. “I have no desire in the world to be touched by you. Ever.”
“So you’re still a bitch?”
I looked around and decided it was time to put an end to this tension for good.
Just like Brock wanted.
And since he wanted to revolve it around the little sausage between his legs…
I opened a few drawers until I found a knife.
I took the knife out and threw it at Brock.
“What the fuck?” he yelled as he waved his hands.
I purposely threw it out of the way so it wouldn’t hit him.
I grabbed another knife and stepped toward him.
“Let’s cut the tension,” I said. “I’m going to cut something off your body if you ever look at me, talk to me, or make a move at me again. Got it? I would rather dry hump the edge of the inflatable pool in the backyard than have you touch me for a second.”
Brock’s face turned red.
The cuts and bruises on his face from what Talon had done looked brighter too.
We stood in silence… except for the sound of Emily and Kace going at it in the bedroom.
The thudding of the bed to the wall started to piss me off.
And it started to make me jealous.
If that was Talon and I… if I just let myself go for once… maybe everything would have worked out…
“Do you understand?” I growled at Brock.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Good,” I said. “I’m taking this knife with me. And if I see you again, I’ll cut your hot dog into slices.”
I walked around him and didn’t look back.
I stood in the hallway and heard Emily’s voice oohhing and aahhing.
With the knife still in my hand, I went to look for Talon.
I was no longer drunk.
And I knew what I wanted from him.
I opened the bedroom door and there was no sign of him.
I left the knife on the dresser and climbed up to the top of the bunk bed.
The covers were messy, like always.
I grabbed the top cover and tried to smell it.
I wanted to smell Talon…
But the blanket just smelled like old dust.
As a Bump I was used to fresh sheets almost daily.
The sights and smells of the Troc world were really something else.
I climbed back down off the bed.
I looked at the bottom bed and that was messy too.
That blanket… that was the one that smelled like Talon. He had that dirty, bad boy smell. Like muscle and sweat. With a hint of cologne. Really cheap cologne too. Or maybe that douchey body spray that guys used.
That was Talon.
Oh, I needed to find him.
And fast.
The moment was hitting me hard and I didn’t want it to pass. I didn’t want reality to
smack me in the face like it always seemed to do. I just wanted this moment, this time, for myself. I wanted to feel good. I wanted…
I threw the blanket down to the bed and walked out of the room.
Emily and Kace were still going at it.
Just to be a bitch, I stopped at the bedroom door and slammed my fist against the door a few times.
The noises quickly stopped.
“Who is it?” Kace’s voice boomed.
Emily giggled.
I smiled and walked away.
In the living room, Brock had joined Raine on the couch.
Cuddled together, both with their eyes shut.
I threw both middle fingers at Brock and went outside.
The backyard was a shit hole.
At night, it looked very different.
Everything out back was overgrown, uneven, and most of the grass was dead.
The inflatable pool was dirty and half emptied.
There was trash all over the ground.
Everything about this place…
I shook my head.
I wasn’t there to judge.
I needed to find Talon.
For more than one reason.
I needed a plan.
There was no way I could stay in the Troc world for much longer.
I walked along the backyard, looking for a body of water. It sounded so dumb, but I missed the ocean. I missed the view from the beach house. I missed the sound of the waves, the smell of the water and the peace it offered.
The only water around here was in the sink.
And I wasn’t even sure if that worked.
I stepped through some of the brush and spotted something.
It was a pickup truck.
An old pickup truck.
I noticed the back of it was open. And in the bed there were blankets and pillows. And what looked like more bottles of booze.
On top of that, from the side, I could see feet.
Two feet.
On the ground there were shoes.
Someone was sleeping in the bed of the truck.
The feet then moved as I approached to see who it was.
I heard a noise.
A groan.
It wasn’t a guy groaning either.
That meant there were two people in the bed of the pickup truck.
I told myself to turn around and walk away.
Only I kept walking toward the truck.
It felt like in the Troc world, it was just one surprise after another.
This was no different either.
I heard another groan… then a giggle.
The sound of the giggle went through me like an icy spike.
I knew that giggle…
“Relax, darling, you don’t want us to get caught, do you?”
That was Talon’s voice.
I moved toward the back of the pickup truck and saw the truth.
Talon and Gia were fooling around.
I gasped and didn’t mean it to be so loud.
But what I saw…
Talon shirtless.
Gia wearing his shirt.
His hand between her legs.
Her kissing his neck.
And then Talon looked at me.
He popped his head up but didn’t stop moving his hand.
“We’re busted,” he said.
“What?” Gia asked.
She looked and when she saw me, she let out a cry.
She pushed Talon’s hand away from between her legs and sat up. She grabbed a blanket, wrapped it around her then bounced her butt to the edge of the truck and jumped down.
“Winter,” she said.
“What. The. Fuck…”
Talon sat up and hung his arms over his knees.
The smile on his face was a mile wide.
“Looks like you two need to have a chat,” he said.
Gia looked back at Talon. “I told you this was too risky with her here. You asshole.”
“It was either you or someone else, darling,” Talon said.
He started to laugh.
He stood up and jumped out of the truck and grabbed his shoes.
“I’ll leave you two to have at it,” he said. “If you start throwing punches and anyone ends up naked, someone better call me.”
I was like a statue as Talon walked by me.
I refused to take my eyes from Gia.
Her hair was a sleepy mess. Of sweat. Of sex. Wearing nothing but Talon’s shirt.
“Where… where’s your car?” I asked.
“Parked over there,” Gia said and nodded. “There’s a gravel area where they have their vehicles. I always park there.”
“Always?” I asked. “This wasn’t the first… oh, shit. I’m going to throw up again.”
I turned and started to run.
There was one problem.
Nobody could outrun Gia.
Running was her thing.
Not that I was planning on outrunning her. I just wanted to keep moving.
The shock that went through me…
Gia and Talon.
“Winter, wait,” Gia said. “We need to talk about this.”
“Talk about this?” I screeched.
I stopped and turned. Gia ran into me. I shoved her back.
She dropped the blanket and jumped at me to push me.
We ended up in this pathetic pushing match, neither one of us wanting to actually hurt the other.
I finally just grabbed her arms.
“You’re wearing nothing but his shirt,” I said.
“So?”
“Who are you?”
“Me?” Gia asked. “Are you really going to try and judge me right now, Winter?”
I swallowed hard. “He was in bed with me last night, Gia.”
She blinked fast. “Your point?”
“He kissed my forehead. I… I thought…”
My stomach felt sick again.
I let her go and started to walk again.
For some reason, I wanted to see her car.
I wasn’t sure why but I needed to see it.
Gia stayed right with me, the blanket wrapped around her again.
“What do you think you’re going to get out of this?” I asked. “If you only knew how close he and I were to sleeping together. So many times too. You’re a fool, Gia.”
“You’re the fool,” she said. “He would have never touched you.”
I stepped from grass to gravel and spotted Gia’s car.
Just where she said it was.
Then I looked at Gia.
“He already did touch me.”
I watched as Gia dug through a bag of clothes to get dressed.
Sneaking around to be with Talon. Bringing clothes.
Standing in a gravel driveway outside of a Troc’s house, stepping into fresh panties and then hiding on the side of her car so she could take Talon’s shirt off and put on a bra and shirt. Then finally, stepping into a pair of jeans.
“I know about everything,” Gia said as she fought with her hair. “You don’t realize what’s going on here.”
“Then fill me in,” I said.
“You don’t think I’ve wanted to?” Gia asked. “I feel like crap right now.”
“You should!” I yelled. “Because I feel like crap. I feel like I betrayed you.”
“How?”
My mouth opened. I hesitated. Then I just let it loose… “I wanted him to take me last night. I was drunk and he climbed into bed next to me and I made a move. Then I got sick. If I hadn’t gotten sick, Gia…”
“He would have cut you off and got you to go to sleep,” she said. “Trust me.”
“Trust… what the hell…”
Gia sighed. “Winter, I’ve been here every single night since you’ve been here.”
“What?”
“Talon made a promise to you,” she said. “And you pay him. That’s it.”
“Are you kidding me right now. The way he talks and acts…”
“You sound crazy.”
“And you keep judging me. So when you’re ready to talk, you let me know. I can’t lose you from my life, Winter. And I wanted to talk to you about Talon. I really did. Before I could you were worrying about your dress choice for the ball with Noah, Easton, and Xavier. Okay?”
Gia got into her car and started it.
I lunged for the passenger door and got into the car too.
“You’re not leaving,” I said.
“What am I supposed to do then?” Gia asked.
I didn’t look at Gia. My heart, head and body… I was so confused.
“I feel like a terrible friend,” I said. “I wanted Talon. I wanted him last night. I wanted him this morning. Or afternoon. Or whatever time it is right now. I was looking for him. I needed it. All this stuff I’m feeling…” I looked at Gia. “If I knew you and him were together…”
“I know, Winter,” Gia said. “I’m not mad about that. I know everything Talon says and does. And I’m telling you that it was never meant to be that way. I’m sorry you took it that way. I’m sure he did it on purpose. He’s a Troc.”
“And you’re with him?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“How…”
Gia exhaled a deep breath.
“Here’s the entire story…”
Chapter 6
The everything
“Fletcher.”
“Fletcher?” I asked.
“Do you remember my story about him?” Gia asked.
“Yeah. You were crying over him and then…”
The words trailed off.
I sighed.
“I know,” Gia said. “That’s when it kind of started.”
“Kind of?”
“He talked to me when you weren’t around,” she said.
“And you never told me?”
“I didn’t know what to do, Winter. He’s…” She sighed. “He’s gorgeous. He’s bad. He’s just…”
“Not a Bump,” I said.
“Exactly. He went after Fletcher.”
“What?”
Gia smiled. “Yeah. He went after Fletcher. He didn’t hurt him or anything. He said he dressed all in black and had his face covered up. But he scared the hell out of Fletcher. He didn’t mention my name or anything either. But he wanted to do something.”
“And you just fell for him?”
Devious Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 3) Page 5