Heart of Stone ~ Book 1

by Karmen Madison

  “You realize you’ve been watching that door since you got here and when it’s not him you kinda wilt.”

  “I do not wilt. I sigh with immense relief” I point out, but Caleb just gives me a look that says, “Yeah whatever.”

  “He’s here, he’s here” I hear Beth squeak as she runs in fixing her dress, pulling my attention from Caleb and his delusional theory.

  “What?” I eye her dress and she blushes.

  “Stone” she whispers, and I see Caleb grin beside me.

  “Oh.” I lean back against the counter uninterested and a little deflated. “I honestly don’t care Beth.”

  Then I see him. He’s looking right at me. His mouth is open, and his eyes are running over me. I suddenly feel naked…And tingly. And very interested.

  What the hell was that about?

  “Ohmigod, I knew it” Beth squeaks excitedly beside me dragging my attention away from Stone. I look at her feeling a little dumbstruck. “Did you see the way he looked at you? I knew it.”

  “You knew what, exactly?” I ask pretending I don’t know what she’s talking about, even though I do because it’s all she talked about when we were getting ready.

  “He totally wants you.”

  “Ew. He does not. Please don’t make me throw up on my dress Beth” I groan.

  “He so does. He is so…coming this way. He’s coming this way.” She’s slapping my arm looking both excited and terrified and I have to hold her wrists to calm her down.

  “See” Caleb adds, “You seek each other out.” He’s smiling smugly and it irritates the life out of me.

  “Why are you here?” Stone deadpans before I have a chance to kill Caleb.

  “It’s such a pleasure to see you too” I say with an eye roll.

  “I’m gonna…” Beth points around the room and then slinks off dragging Caleb with her.

  “No don’t…” But they’re gone. When I look back, I catch Stone’s eyes drifting to my chest, so I fold my arms.

  “Enjoying the view?”

  “No. I was just wondering who you’re all dressed up for.”

  “It’s a party jackass. Everyone’s dressed up.” I wave my arm around at all the party guests to prove my point.

  “You look….” He’s scanning me again and I don’t like it but as always, I disguise my discomfort with sarcastic humor.

  “Devine. Goddess-like. Amazing.” I say dramatically. His eyes meet mine and he doesn’t even crack a smile.

  “I was going to say…weird.”

  Ouch. Not that I want him to think I look good.

  “Weird?” I echo trying not to let the sting of his words show in my own. “Well, thanks. Weird was what I was going for” I snap as I try to push past him.

  “You don’t usually give up that easy” he says grabbing my arm and pulling me back, so I’m stood directly in front of him.

  “Despite what you might think, the world does not revolve around you. I’m here to have fun and get very drunk, not to entertain you and your heart of stone. Huh. Stone. Fitting.”

  “What if I want you to entertain me?” he says leaning in close to my ear. His voice is husky and deep, and it makes my mouth go dry.

  Is he flirting with me?

  Of course he’s not. He’s just messing with me like he always does.

  “Then you will be highly disappointed” I say leaning away from him. “Because I plan on being as far away from you as possible for the rest of the night.”

  He leans in close again, his lips dangerously close to mine, and I swear he’s about to kiss me but instead he reaches for a bottle of beer from the worktop behind me and then walks away. When I’m sure he’s gone I look down at my outfit and suddenly feel self-conscious.

  He thinks I look weird. Why does that bother me so much?

  I spend the rest of the night drinking, dancing and most likely making a fool of myself. When I start feeling sick, I decide to head to the back garden for air. I lay back on one of the lawn chairs and look up at the sky. I love the sky here. The stars weren’t nearly as bright where I used to live. I can only vaguely hear the party continuing around me. I’ve shut it out. There’s a couple of people smoking pot at the far end of the garden, otherwise I’m alone, and I plan on not moving again until morning. Or at least an hour.

  “Did you know you wear way too much cologne” I say as I continue to stare at the stars.

  “Is that right?” Stone says as he comes into view

  “If I can smell you before I see you then it’s too much. I suppose you need it to cover up the smell of all your bullshit though, so I guess it’s alright.” He laughs and I think I have a mini heart attack from the shock of it. “Did you actually just laugh, like out loud, in real life?” I look at my drink accusingly. “I think I’ve maybe had too much to drink.”

  He sits beside me on the chair I’m using and I’m suddenly on high alert. His thigh pressing against my hip is not my idea of a relaxing stargazing session.

  “Excuse me, you’re in my area of oxygen and that cologne of yours is making it impossible to breath in clean air.”

  “Shut up” he says playfully, nudging me slightly with his shoulder as he drinks from his beer.

  “I’m serious. Those aren’t stars up there you know” I say pointing at the sky and he looks up. “They’re actually holes from where that stuff you’re wearing has burned through the ozone layer.” I look at him and give him a convincing nod.

  “Right, of course.” He laughs again and I look at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “Are you sick?” I ask.

  “No. Why, do I look sick?”

  “You look terrible” I say in mock disgust. He doesn’t. He looks like he just stepped out of a damn magazine, like always. “You also keep making this strange sound. It’s almost like laughter but that cant be right because you don’t do that.”

  He smiles and then looks at me. His eyes are brighter than usual, and that smile seems genuine. There’s only one logical explanation. His body has been taken over by aliens.

  “I’m glad you came tonight” he says interrupting my whole alien body-snatching theory.

  “Now I know you’re sick” I snort.

  “I’m serious, you made it less boring.”

  “What can I say? I am the life and soul. I did tell you I’m amazing.”

  “Yes, you did” he says nodding slowly. He’s still smiling. Still looking into my eyes. And I’m tingly again. And he’s leaning in.

  Fuck my heart is beating fast.

  “Hey Stone, have you finally found someone to put up with your shit?” a guy I don’t recognize calls from across the garden. Stone pulls away and his expression changes back to his usual cold one almost instantly and he gets up and walks away without so much as a backwards glance. Instead of feeling relieved I feel the sting of rejection and I hate that feeling more than I hate Stone.

  Chapter Ten — Devlin

  “Damn Lincoln” I growl as I slam the door behind me.

  “What’d he do?”

  “What?” I turn and see Caleb and Aaron looking at me confused. “Oh nothing.”

  Only fucked up my chance with Dahlia.

  “Was that dahlia you were sitting with out there?”

  “Uh…yeah.” I couldn’t exactly deny it when she’s sitting right there where they can see her. My eyes fix on those legs of hers. She has beautiful legs. I could’ve been touching those legs right now if Lincoln hadn’t opened his damn mouth.

  Caleb clears his throat grabbing my attention back. “Just go for it already. I already had this conversation with her tonight.”

  “What conversation? What did you say to her?”

  Why do I feel nervous all of a sudden?

  “Nothing much. Just that you two clearly want each other.”

  “I don’t think so” I scoff into my beer.

  I do. I really fucking do.

  “Why not? She’s hot. She’s funny. She doesn’t take your shit.”

 
; “I’m not interested in that hellhound.”

  “Really? So you won’t mind me trying then?” He walks toward the door watching me. He pauses as he reaches for the handle to see if I’ll react but when I don’t, he shrugs and pushes the door open. I watch as he joins Dahlia. She’s smiling at him and I can’t help but hate the fact that she looks at him with warmth, like she wants him to be there. That’s all I can watch though. I don’t know if he will make a move, but I don’t want to see if he does.

  I push myself off the work top and head upstairs, the one place I know I can forget about the girl who’s plaguing me.

  “Stone. Where’ve you been” Bella shouts excitedly when I reach the top landing. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  “You couldn’t have looked far; I was only in the kitchen.” I decide to skip the fact I that was just sat outside with Dahlia, about to kiss her.

  “I missed you” she purrs giving me a little pout.

  “Yeah?” She hooks her arms around my neck, and I snake my arm around her waist pulling her closer. Just like she does at every other party we go to, she pulls me into the nearest bedroom and starts removing her clothes before the doors even closed behind us. She pulls me towards the bed, and I don’t resist, this is what I want.

  Party hooks up are just that. We both know the score. There’s no complications after and no emotional ties. She kisses me just like she has many times before and I kiss her back. Hard. Determined to forget about the girl down stairs. My lips trace along her jaw and down her neck and she arches her back bringing her hips closer to mine. I close my eyes as I go through the motions and when I finish it’s not Bella I see. It’s Dahlia. It’s Dahlia I see beneath me. Dahlia’s voice I hear moaning my name. Dahlia I’m kissing. Dahlia I’m craving. Dahlia.

  Damn I’m screwed.

  “Look not that I mind or anything but who is she?” Bella asks from the bed, a sheet barely covering her.

  “Who’s who?” I ask pulling on my shirt.

  “The girl you were thinking about”

  “What? I wasn’t” I lie but it’s not in the least bit convincing.

  “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m not bothered Stone. You can think about whoever the hell you want. You know I don’t care about any of that stuff.” I know she doesn’t. Bella hates commitment as much as I do. She’s not the clingy jealous type either. “You couldn’t look at me Stone.”

  “Just...a girl okay” I breathe.

  “It’s that new girl isn’t it?”

  “No” I say unable to look at her.

  “It is” she squeaks sitting up on her knees and I run my hands through my hair.

  “Fine. It is.” I rub the side of my face. “I don’t know, she’s just…” I don’t even know what to say because I don’t understand it.

  “She’s pretty” Bella finishes.

  Pretty. That word doesn’t even come close to describing my little hellhound.

  Mine? She’s not mine.

  Chapter Eleven — Dahlia

  Sun pours in through the window, assaulting and torturing. I am now regretting ever wanting to attend a party and I briefly consider making a pact with the devil if he ends my suffering. My phones buzzes beside me but it sounds like a jackhammer.

  “Whaaaaat?” I groan as I reluctantly answer the call.

  “What happened to you last night?” Beth asks, her voice sounding like a damn foghorn.

  “Stop yelling at me.”

  “Seriously Dahlia. I looked all over for you. Where did you go?”

  “Oh. I was tired so I left.”

  I wasn’t tired.

  I went to the bathroom and when I came out, I bumped into Stone and some pretty girl coming out of one of the bedrooms upstairs.

  No prizes for guessing what they were doing.

  When he saw me his eyes turned darker than I’d ever seen them before and for the first time it actually scared me. Just a little bit.

  “Are you following me or something?” he gritted out. Why the hell was he mad at me this time? He was just being nice to me in the garden.

  “I was peeing. I’m pretty sure you weren’t in there” I retort feeling angry at myself for believing he was genuinely being nice to me before.

  “I’m getting really tired of seeing your face everywhere I turn.”

  “Yeah, well the feelings mutual.”

  My eyes drift to the girl beside him and she’s looking at us in shock.

  “Come on Stone leave her alone” she said trying to pull him away, but he ignores her.

  “Why don’t you go find yourself someone to hook up with instead of stalking me. Then again, I doubt anyone would be interested in you.” He looks me up and down. “Look around you. You don’t belong here Dahlia.” Without thinking I slap him across the cheek and he just smirks back at me.

  “I hate you” I hiss as I walk away, and he snickers.

  “Lincoln said he saw you with Stone in the garden last night. He said you two looked pretty cozy together.” Beth’s voice reminds me I’m on a call.

  “He must have been drunk because the day I am cozy with that jerk is the day hell freezes over.”

  “So you dint leave with him?” she asks with disappointment in her voice. I don’t know why she was so convinced we would hit it off last night. All I discovered is how much he really hates me.

  “Urgh. Beth, I feel sick enough can you please not make it worse by putting disturbing images in my head.”

  “Fine. Pull yourself together though. We’re going out.”

  “But I was planning on staying home and dying today.” I make an exaggerated groaning sound.

  “Coffee then shopping. Hurry up. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

  “But Beeeeeeth” I whine.

  “One hour. Be ready” she orders, ignoring my pleas for compassion.

  “I hate you” I grumble.

  “No you don’t.

  “Okay, I don’t, but I am not very happy with you.”

  “Fine with me. Now get your cute butt out of bed. Now” she says before hanging up.

  Remind me, why did I want to make friends again?

  I roll off my bed and on to the floor and claw my way to the bathroom. It takes way too much effort to get ready and although my shower perks me up slightly I am in no state to be dressing up so I just throw on some jeans and a hoody and throw my hair in a messy bun. I completely forgo make up and push my feet in to my favorite chucks.

  Beth arrives just as I’m finishing up so there’s no risk of me accidentally falling back into bed.

  “I am officially dying” I grumble as I climb in the passenger side of her car. “I want my headstone to read ‘died being awesome’”

  “Okay but first. Coffee.”

  Beth starts the engine and the rumble has me instantly wanting to throw up. I lower the window and hang out of it like a dog on his first road drip. Minus the tongue and slobber. I think.

  When we arrive at the Plaza, I’m all but dead on my feet and if Beth hadn’t have complained I would’ve crawled the entire way to the coffee shop. But she did, so I didn’t.

  “What did I ever do to you to deserve this kind of torture?” I complain as I slouch low in one of the bucket seats. It’s so comfy that I let out a satisfied moan and I fear I wont ever be able to get back up.

  “You ditched me at a party.”

  “I did not ditch you. Even in my dying state I remember you being the one who left me to hook up with Aaron.”

  “We did not-”

  “Oh the lies burn more than the sun” I say dramatically, holding my hands up as mock shields.

  “Shut up” she blushes before leaving me to order our coffees.

  When she comes back, she slides the elixir of life across the table to me and I sniff it like the aroma itself will bring me to life.

  “I love you sweet caffeine” I say pawing at the cup and Beth stares at me in amusement.

  “Well, love it quickly because I have shopping to do.”


  “Hey, you might like it fast but I’m a slow burn kinda girl, don’t rush me.” She laughs and sips at her own coffee. I bring mine up to my lips and blow across the surface to cool it down and then drink it down quickly.

  Turns out today I wanted it fast.

  When we’re done with our coffees, I begrudgingly follow Beth around as she drags me through store after store buying absolutely nothing.

  “I thought you were shopping” I huff out as we leave yet another store empty handed.

  “I am” Beth shrugs.

  “You’re not. You’re fingering material. Is it like a fetish of yours or something?”

  “No” she chuckles. “I’m done anyway.”

  “You bought nothing.”

  A little-known fact about me, I’m not like most girls. I hate shopping. I hate walking around stores all day and I hate leaving with nothing even more.

  “I’m planning” Beth states. “When I get my allowance at the end of the month, I’ll know what I want already.”

  “Okay, I’d say that was good thinking if I actually believed that come the end of the month you won’t repeat this torturous endeavor.”

  “It’s your hangover that’s torture not my window shopping” she argues.

  “Nope, it’s definitely the shopping.” She nudges me gently towards the door shaking her at me. I bet even Stone would’ve been a better option to take shopping with her today than a grouchy, hungover me.

  ∞∞∞

  As much as I hate shopping I hate home more. Beth left me off an hour ago and already I wish I were somewhere else. It’s dark in here. Not literally. It’s an emotional darkness. It hangs over me whenever I have too much time alone to think. I wonder if my new friends would actually like me if they knew the real me, if they saw my darkness, if they knew my truth?

  “Dahlia” my mom’s voice echoes from downstairs and I jump up and run to greet her.

  “Hey. How was work?” She looks exhausted. She has dark circles around her eyes and she’s starting to look thin in the face. I’m really worried about her, but she always maintains that she’s managing fine.

  “Oh you know, it’s work. I survived that’s the important thing. Did you enjoy yourself last night?”