“Really?” I asked.
“What? It makes sense. Right?”
“No,” I said. “If she wasn’t… you know… then she didn’t want you.”
“You’re missing the point,” Noah said. “It wasn’t her. It was him.”
“It was not me,” Easton said.
“So you gave her a bottle of water,” I said. “And she got pissed and left.”
“Exactly,” Easton said. “I didn’t get what the big deal was. I was just trying to be helpful. I figured if she hydrated her body then that hydration would work its way between her…”
Easton’s voice trailed off.
“Finish your sentence,” I said.
“Not right now.”
“Why?” I asked.
Easton’s face became very serious. “We’re being followed.”
So it was just part of the plan.
But my heart still raced.
At least I was with all the guys though.
I wasn’t alone.
If something were to happen, they’d all step in and protect me.
Aside from that, I hoped more than anything that Talon was doing his job.
Noah drove like normal.
And we all went back to sitting in silence.
I was sure we were all thinking the same thing.
“We have to get rid of them now, right?” I asked.
“That’s the plan,” Noah said. “Have to just keep it normal. They want us to know they’re following. And if we do something about it… who knows what will happen.”
“So we have to act afraid,” I said.
“I’ll just cruise back to your beach house, Winter. Like a normal drive. They’ll bail and then we wait for Talon to do his thing.”
“And hopefully not get killed,” I said.
“Eh, I’m not worried about him,” Xavier said.
I elbowed Xavier. “Your sister loves him.”
“I still don’t want to think about it,” he said.
I looked over my shoulder and saw the SUV following us.
It was the same thing as always.
The lights were too bright.
They would get close, then back off, then get close again.
They did nothing to act like they weren’t following us.
My head spun… the fact that this all came from some kind of plan that I came up with to get some money and leave BFH.
More so, whoever was in that SUV was someone who not only wanted me dead, but tried to kill me.
Realizing that made me shiver.
My hand must have shook because Xavier leaned closer to me.
He put his arm around me.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Winter,” he whispered. “I swear on my life.”
I nodded.
I took a deep breath.
Noah drove the rest of the way back to the beach house in silence.
Every turn, we were followed.
Every stop. Every go. Every move.
Not that I expected anything to change, but there was the faint glimmer of hope that the SUV would just pass us and this was all a misunderstanding.
That wasn’t going to happen here.
This was real.
As Noah made the last turn toward the beach house, I sucked in my breath and held it.
Tank Two came to a stop and I looked back just in time to see the SUV following us pass by.
Like nothing was happening.
I kept watching and waited to see Talon.
I counted the seconds…
One.
Two.
Three.
And then there was Talon.
“He’s following,” I said. “Talon is. I just saw him.”
“Good,” Noah said.
“Now what?” Easton asked.
“Now we go inside and get a drink and wait,” Noah said.
“Why don’t you two stay out here?” Xavier asked. “Winter and I could use some time alone.”
Noah’s jaw tightened with jealousy.
Easton looked back at us and smiled. “Need some water to keep things hydrated?”
The four of us kids just paced around the deck.
My mother was nowhere to be found. Which wasn’t a shock, but I did worry a little about her. Whether she liked it or not, she was emotional over finding out the guy she loved had gotten his wife pregnant. I just hoped she was out with Gia’s mother and they were enjoying themselves, not getting into trouble - or worse.
“This waiting around shit doesn’t work for me,” Noah said.
“There’s no choice,” Xavier said.
“We can get naked and run into the ocean,” Easton said.
“You go first,” I said.
“Because you want to see me naked?” Easton asked.
“No, thanks,” I said.
“Hey…”
The voice sounded wispy. Almost like a ghost or something.
I didn’t see Gia for another second and then silently sighed with relief that it was just her.
“Gia,” I said.
“What are you doing here?” Xavier asked.
“You’re back,” she said. “I can’t just sit around.”
“This isn’t your deal,” Noah said.
“She’s fine,” I said. “She knows everything. Gia, come here.”
I hugged her and she clutched me tight.
She was scared for Talon.
I felt like the worst best friend ever for putting her and Talon through something like this again.
I hugged Gia tight until she let me go first.
She took a deep breath.
“What happens after this?” she asked.
“Don’t know,” I said.
“We’ll figure it out,” Easton said. “One thing at a time. Plus, your guy is a Troc. They can survive anything.”
“That’s true,” Gia said. She smiled.
“I can’t believe this,” Xavier said. “Look at your face right now, sis. Over a Troc?”
“I can’t help it,” Gia said.
“I can,” Xavier said. “I’ll rearrange his face. Then you won’t like him so much.”
“Maybe it’s not his face she likes,” I said.
“True,” Gia said.
“Oh, I’m going to throw up,” Noah said. “Bad enough I have to deal with a Troc… now I have to hear this?”
“You’re just jealous,” I said to Noah. “Talon is getting some and you’re not.”
“Damn,” Easton said.
Noah looked ready to attack.
I just smiled.
He knew better than to try anything.
Emotions were too high, and Xavier would destroy him.
“I don’t get the whole Bumps against Trocs thing,” Gia said. “Does it really matter?”
“Yes,” Xavier said.
“You’re not breaking that barrier,” Easton said. “Just so you know.”
“Fine,” Gia said. “Just give Talon a pass.”
“If he pulls this off, we’ll see,” Xavier said.
“Fair enough,” Gia said. “I need a drink.”
“Me too,” Noah said.
He charged for the door and rushed inside.
I cringed and looked at Xavier.
“He’s jealous,” I said.
“He’ll get over it,” Xavier said.
“I don’t know,” Easton said. “You really played him hard, Winter.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I said. “Or maybe I did at the time. I just feel bad now.”
“Can’t change the past, Winter,” Easton said.
“That’s a good point,” I said.
Noah came back outside with a bottle of vodka.
He already had the cap off and was sipping it.
He walked right to Gia and gave her the bottle.
She helped herself to a drink.
Then she passed it to me.
I sighed.
Why not?
We all took a drink togeth
er.
And we waited.
Which was the worst part of it all.
Either Talon was going to get us what we wanted…
… or he was going to end up dead.
When we saw Talon appear, there was a collective feeling of relief.
Even from the guys.
As much as they hated the Trocs, they were almost happy to see Talon.
Of course, their reasons were completely selfish.
Gia ran and jumped off the top step of the deck.
Talon caught her and they started kissing like they hadn’t seen each other in years.
Noah let them kiss for a few seconds before clapping his hands.
“Tongues back in your mouths,” he called out. “We need to talk.”
Talon carried Gia up the steps and put her on her feet. But she refused to let him go.
“Did you get what we wanted?” Xavier asked.
“Did Winter get my money?” Talon asked.
“You know I don’t have it yet,” I said.
“Then I’ll wait,” Talon said.
“The fuck you will,” Noah said.
He moved toward Talon.
Talon nudged Gia away.
Fists were a second from being thrown.
Easton jumped into the mix too. I thought he was going to stop the fight, but he looked ready to swing too.
I looked at Xavier.
He curled his lip and got between everyone.
He faced off with Talon.
“I would love to knock your teeth down your throat,” he said to Talon. “I have no problem taking a Troc out. Even if it’s right in front of my sister and she loves him.”
“But you won’t do that,” Talon said.
“No, not tonight,” Xavier said.
“Just tell us what the fuck happened,” Noah said.
“I followed the SUV,” Talon said. “Like you said to do. I kept my distance.”
“And?” Easton asked.
Talon stepped back and Gia grabbed his arm.
“The SUV turned down near Windbrooke. I sped up and cruised by and got a picture. It was a long shot to get a picture, but I figured I’d try. Worst case, I’d wait a second or two and then keep following.”
“Did you get the picture?” Xavier asked.
“Clear as fucking day,” Talon said. “I have no idea how I pulled it off. But I did it.”
“Let me see the picture,” I said.
“Reach into my pocket, Winter,” Talon said.
“She won’t do that,” Gia said.
“Just show us the fucking picture,” Noah said.
Talon was enjoying this moment.
He had something the Bumps wanted. Which was a rare occasion for a Troc.
He slowly took his phone out of his pocket and opened to the picture.
When he showed it to me, I stared for a few seconds.
“Do we know who it is?” Noah asked.
My jaw tightened.
I slowly nodded.
My heart raced.
I turned the screen and showed the picture to Xavier.
“You know who that is?” Talon asked.
“Fuck,” Xavier said.
He turned around.
“Who is it?” Easton asked.
I swallowed hard. “It’s your mother, Easton.”
Chapter 18
Hidden and forgotten
We all crashed at the beach house.
The only option we had was to feed Easton enough vodka that he eventually passed out.
He went from pissed to happy to raging to laughing to wanting to fight Talon to wanting to fight Noah all the way to wanting to talk about me and him having sex in the backseat of his car… over and over and over…
I could tell it took everyone’s might not to just knock him out.
There was even a moment when I thought Noah was going to tell Talon to knock Easton out.
It was that bad.
And why not…
It was Easton’s mother who was following us.
Caroline.
So that meant it was both of Easton’s parents involved in this money thing.
Aldrich and Caroline… then Roland… and my father…
It was overwhelming to think about.
And with Easton acting crazy, it made it harder.
Finally, Easton took that last drink of vodka and he grabbed his stomach.
“Come on, man,” Talon said. “Let’s get you to the bathroom. You can sleep it off.”
Talon walked Easton to the bathroom and we all stood silent in the kitchen.
When Talon came back a few minutes later, he was smiling ear to ear.
“Did he puke?” Noah asked.
“No,” Talon said. “He’s out cold already. I put him on his side with a few towels behind his back. If he gets up, he’s right there to get sick.”
“Thank you for that,” I said.
“Yeah, thanks,” Xavier said. “He’s a mess.”
“I’d be too,” Talon said.
“So his mother is in on this?” Gia asked.
“Looks that way,” Noah said. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“Because I’m here,” Talon said. “I get it.”
“Why does it matter if he’s here?” Gia asked.
“It just does,” Talon said. “Let’s get out of here, darling.” Talon looked at me. “Money.”
“I will get it,” I said.
I hugged Gia again and they left the beach house.
Then it was just down to me, Xavier, and Noah.
Oh, and the awkwardness between the three of us.
Because I led Noah on.
Because I secretly loved Xavier all along.
Without Easton and his craziness, it just felt… weird.
“Should we figure this out now or later?” Noah asked.
“Later,” Xavier said. “I don’t want to think about anything without Easton here.”
“Agreed,” I said. “I feel sick over it all.”
“This is why we did this,” Noah said. “They’re all corrupt. Power hungry. It’s not even about the money. Their power was threatened by us. When we were at the ball, my father kept pulling me aside and wanting to talk about my future. It wasn’t like he normally does. Normally he’s just pissed about something. But as he drank, he seemed to calm a little. He was still yelling at me, but not like he normally did. He was pushing me…”
“Of course he was,” I said. “He knows. He knows everything. And with me showing up with you three…”
“Fuck,” Xavier said. “It was like we were throwing it right in their faces. All of them. Your parents, Noah. And then Easton’s…”
“Fucking rich people are the worst,” Noah said.
I pointed at him. “Now, you sound like a Troc.”
Noah curled his lip and walked to the sink. He grabbed a bottle of soap.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m going to drink all this soap,” he said. “I never want to be compared to a Troc in my life ever again.”
He winked and put the soap down.
I smiled at him.
Xavier’s hands touched my hips from behind and he pulled me against him.
I felt a little bit of jealousy from Xavier, but not as much tension, like before that would suddenly pop up between him and Noah.
I didn’t want to be that girl that screwed up everyone’s friendships.
“I’m going to crash,” Noah said. “I’ll stay down here in case Easton needs something.”
“Thank you, Noah,” I said.
“Let’s go, Winter,” Xavier said.
I walked away with Xavier.
I looked back at Noah one more time.
I wished I could love them all the same.
Xavier’s hand touched my leg and I sucked in a deep breath and held it.
I stared at the ceiling and felt him shift in the bed, getting closer to me.
We had zero li
ght in the bedroom.
We were reduced to silhouettes.
It made the moment even hotter.
All I could do was exhale my breath, find another one, and feel him touch me… and smell him… his hair, clothes, skin…
His lips touched my shoulder.
Slowly, he kissed to my neck as I turned my head, taking slow, deep breaths.
His fingers moved along my left leg, touching my inner thigh, taking his time, but we both knew where his destination was.
My hips rocked long before he touched me, eager to feel him once again.
He kissed to my ear and paused.
“Winter,” he whispered. “Everything is going to be okay. We have each other. We finally have each other.”
I turned my head to look at him.
Even though I couldn’t actually see him.
I was close enough to taste his breath.
His fingers dipped between my legs, curling against my softest skin, making me sigh.
“Finally?” I asked.
“We’ve wanted each other for a long time,” he said. “We both just didn’t do it.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Why didn’t it happen?”
Xavier pressed forward with his fingers. My body welcomed his touch.
He moved deep into my warmth, groaning as he did so.
I put my head back to try and keep my breathing steady.
His lips grazed my neck. “It just didn’t happen. Do you remember all the parties? You and I, looking at each other…”
I sighed. “I remember. Of course I remember that…”
“We just let tension build, Winter.”
His fingers moved. His breath, lips, and kisses moving along my neck.
“It doesn’t matter now,” I managed to say. “We’re together.”
“We have lost time to make up for then,” he said.
“I think we’re doing okay with that, Xavier.”
“Yes, we are,” he whispered.
He kissed up to my mouth again and slowly moved his body closer to mine.
His dancing fingers moved from between my legs and he replaced that touch with another.
His body.
Xavier eased over me and I reached for his face.
I stared into his eyes the best I could in the darkness.
Even though it was completely dark, I felt the connection between us.
My thumbs stroked his cheeks.
Devious Love (Bay Falls High NEXT Book 3) Page 17