Thin Skin: A High School Bully Romance (Vestamont High Series Book 1)

by Indi Bluehart

  She was so engulfed in her novel that I was pretty sure she wouldn’t notice me if I were drowning. I dove underwater and swam the length of the pool.

  The only thoughts running through my head were those of Piers Howard. How had the excellent swimmer drowned in the river? And I was told it had been a calm night. The answer was because he hadn’t drowned. Someone had been there with him. Someone had killed him.

  I gasped for air as I came out of the water. When I saw someone standing there looking down at me, I almost choked on the much needed air.

  Tyler stared for a long moment before he reached down to offer me his hand. I took it and he pulled me out of the pool.

  My eyes darted around but my mom was suddenly missing. Her book was still there but she was gone.

  “Your mom said it was okay,” I blurted.

  “Yeah, I know she made the offer to your mom when I was standing right there.”

  “She said you’d be out of town.”

  Tyler crossed his arms over his naked chest. “I decided not to go.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry we—”

  “We?” Tyler grinned.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll just get my things and get out of your hair.”

  I turned to leave, but he grabbed my hand, spinning me around sharply. My hand reached out pressing against his chest to steady myself.

  He gazed deeply into my eyes. I thought he’d been the strange neighbor boy but there wasn’t anything strange about him. At least not that I could remember.

  His smile was as bright as his eyes and his skin tan probably from spending a lazy summer poolside. He placed his hands on his hips just above his low sitting swim trunks.

  “You don’t need to leave,” Tyler said. “It’s a big enough pool for both of us.”

  “I feel awkward intruding in on your space. You were probably looking forward to a quiet afternoon without your parents around,” I said.

  “So, like every afternoon?” he asked with a half-grin.

  My eye widened. “Must be nice to be homeschooled.”

  “It is,” he said. “The best part is not having to go to that pretentious school with the childish idiots whose favorite pastime is backstabbing. Honestly,” he said shaking his head, “I don’t know how you stand it.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” I said.

  Tyler jerked his chin at something behind me. “Your mom is on her way back.”

  “Oh, see I wasn’t alone,” I said.

  “I knew you weren’t. I saw you both out here when I was changing,” he said pointing at his suit. “My mom always says I should be more social. Get out more.”

  “I want to get out less,” I said and Tyler laughed.

  My mom smiled as she approached cautiously. “Well, hello, Tyler.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Hill,” Tyler said politely. “I changed my mind and didn’t go with my parents.”

  “I see that,” she said picking up her book. “Alyssa, honey, your father is home so I’m going to head back. I’ll see you later.”

  “I should go to,” I said but there was something about Tyler that was magnetic. I didn’t want to pull away from him and it seemed as though he felt it too.

  “I’d like it if you stayed a bit,” Tyler said. “I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone my own age in, oh, approximately four years.” He leaned in closer. “That might be an exaggeration but not much of one.”

  I looked at him again and then back at my mom. “Okay, later, mom.”

  She grinned at us and gave a little wave as she pulled on her cover-up and walked back toward our house.

  “Your mom seems really nice… and by nice, I mean normal,” Tyler said.

  “Your mom seemed nice too.”

  “But not quite as normal.”

  I couldn’t stop the smile from growing on my lips. “Her etiquette is just on-point. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “No, it’s more like she from the past,” Tyler said. “She always loved that era. You should see our house. It’s like stepping back in time.”

  I barely even knew Tyler but I liked him. He reminded me of my friends from before. Casual. Normal.

  “You want something to drink?” Tyler asked.

  “I’d love something,” I said.

  “Soda? Iced-tea? Mojito?”

  “You make Mojitos?”

  Tyler cocked a brow. “The best.”

  “Okay, but make it weak.”

  “You bet,” Tyler said. “Want to join me? Or if you’d like you can stay out here by the pool.”

  I twisted my fingers together for a short moment. His suntan lotion coated chest glistened in the sunlight.

  “I’ll join you.”

  “Perfect,” he said gesturing toward the pool house. “There’s a mini bar in there.”

  “Of course, there is,” I said teasingly. I followed him into the pool house, watching his muscles ripple as he walked. I cleared my throat as he walked around to the other side of the bar. “How long have you lived here in Spring Meadow?”

  Tyler put up his fingers one by one stopping at four fingers. “All my life. I switched to homeschooling when I started high school.”

  I laughed but it faded when another question popped into my head.

  “So, you lived here when Piers Howard was found dead?” I asked.

  “Yeah, the biggest news in the town since like ever,” Tyler said. “Poor kid. Those evil morons drove him to kill himself.”

  “So, you believe it was suicide?” I asked.

  Tyler nodded and narrowed his eyes. “Well, that’s what their investigation determined. I’d like to think they know what they're doing but maybe that’s foolish of me. There is so much corruption in this town that it wouldn’t surprise me if someone wanted to end the investigation to protect themselves or someone else.”

  “And everyone in this town has the money to buy pretty much anything they want it seems,” I said before glancing at his house and then at the pool. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Money has given us a good life but it isn’t everything. Want to know where my parents are right now?”

  “Where?”

  “They’re on separate vacations.”

  Tyler shook his head with a look of disgust aimed at the house. “I don’t want this kind of life, which is why I’ll be gone in less than a year.”

  “You’re homeschooled. You can do that anywhere.”

  Tyler lowered his gaze. “I wish that were the case. My parents want me to finish at home. They aren’t excited for me to leave and will do whatever it takes to keep me around as long as possible.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said.

  “Yeah, I think they think that if I leave, I’ll never come back to see them,” Tyler said. “My parents are good parents but they are overprotective. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about my life here. What about you? Why did you come to Spring Meadow?”

  “My dad got a new job offer he just couldn’t refuse.”

  Tyler nodded slowly as if it were a story he’d heard a thousand times. But as far as I knew not many had moved to Spring Meadow over the last four years. Or if they had, their kids didn’t attend Vestamont High. Maybe they’d been successfully chased away.

  Nadia had been the last or at least that was how Lacey and her friends had made it seem. Then again, perhaps I’d just assumed.

  “So, you don’t really know any of the Vestamont High students?” I asked.

  “Thank God, I don’t,” Tyler said. “When they see me in town, they always look at me as if I have something seriously wrong with me. I don’t think they’ve decided yet if I’m special needs or if I have an illness of some sort.”

  “That sounds like Vestamont High students all right.”

  Tyler grinned. “I don’t know how you stand it.”

  “Hanging on by a thread,” I smiled back.

  Tyler and I spent the rest of the day sitting by the pool. We talked about everything and anything but none of it would help me figure out what
really happened to Piers.

  Before I knew it, the sun was going down and I was getting chilly. I grabbed my things and Tyler walked me home even though we were next door neighbors.

  “You should come by again tomorrow,” Tyler said. “If you want.”

  I had a ton of school work to catch up on but when I looked into his eyes, I didn’t care. “Yeah, okay. Sounds good.”

  And with that, we parted ways. It was weird how comfortable I was with Tyler. It made me feel not so… alone.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning when I woke up and it was raining, I was disappointed. It surprised me how much I’d been looking forward to spending more time with Tyler at the pool.

  I sat up in my bed and stretched my arms over my head. The grayness coating the walls of my room made me want to lay down and go back to sleep.

  I groaned as I reached over for my phone. There was a message from Reed wishing me a good morning and another from Lacey asking if I was busy.

  It would be easier to just ignore her than it would be message than to tell her I wasn't available because she wouldn’t believe me.

  A knock at the door downstairs set a panic jolting through my body. I don’t know why but I imagined Lacey looking for me. She seemed like the type that would always get what she wanted, she even claimed that was the case… then again, nearly everyone at Vestamont high probably got everything they wanted.

  “Alyssa!” my mom called. “It’s for you.”

  I was wearing a pair of shorts that were a half-size too small and a t-shirt that had gone through the wash a million times. My hair wasn’t combed so I figured I could play it off like I wasn’t feeling well.

  I slowly descended the stairs with my arms crossed and my head down. My foot touched the bottom step and when I looked up, I jerked back.

  “Oh,” I said quickly combing my fingers through my hair. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

  A grin grew on Tyler’s face. “I thought we were going to hang out today.”

  “It’s raining.”

  “You can still come over. We could watch a movie or something,” Tyler said. “Please,” he said leaning closer, “come over so I can feel normal for another day. Unless you’re not feeling well.”

  “I’d love to but I need to shower first,” I said. “How about in an hour?”

  My eyes grazed his gray shirt that hugged his muscular chest. He wasn’t doing anything but still, every inch of my body tingled.

  “Perfect,” Tyler said. Glancing at me over his shoulder as he walked to the door. He wanted to make sure I was watching him walk away. “See you soon then.”

  “Yes, soon,” the door closed and my blood pulsed sharply.

  I drew in a breath and ran up the stairs. It wasn’t until I saw myself in the mirror that embarrassment set in. My hand covered my mouth and my eyes closed. I couldn’t believe he’d seen me looking like the bride of Frankenstein.

  Oddly he’d still wanted me to come over. I hadn’t ever thought so, but I must have been a good conversationalist. Or he was just desperate to hang out with someone his own age for a while.

  I showered, changed, and shouted to my mom where I’d be before leaving the house. It had only taken me thirty-five minutes to get ready which had probably been a record of some kind.

  The fresh early autumn rain sprinkled down into my still damp hair. My pulse raced as I stepped onto his front porch under the overhang. I reached out my fist to knock but the door opened.

  “That was fast,” Tyler said as he stepped to the side letting me into his home.

  “You weren’t kidding,” I said looking around the house with wide eyes. “Tell me what year it is?”

  “My house isn’t a time machine, it just looks like one,” Tyler said. “Don’t worry the family room in the basement is much more modern. Want to order a pizza?”

  My stomach was too twisted to even think about food. “If you want to.”

  He grabbed his laptop and motioned for me to follow him. We walked down the stairs and into the basement that looked like a mini movie theater.

  “Wow,” I said looking around. There was even a popcorn machine that was already half-full with yellow tinged popcorn. “This is amazing.”

  “Thanks, it’s my favorite place in the whole house,” Tyler said as he cracked open his laptop. “Favorite topping?”

  I narrowed my eyes for a second but then remembered the pizza. “Oh, mushrooms?”

  “That’s it?” he asked.

  “You asked my favorite. I’m not picky.” Nor was I hungry.

  He clicked around for a few minutes before pulling out his wallet and typing the numbers from his credit card onto the keyboard.

  “You have your own credit card?” I asked.

  “If you live in Spring Meadow, you simply must have your own credit card,” Tyler said grinning as he put it back into his wallet and closed the laptop. “Should be here in no time. Pick a seat.”

  “What are we going to watch?” I asked.

  Tyler’s eyes widened. “An oldie but a goodie.”

  “What is it?”

  “Seven.”

  “Is that the one with the box?”

  “Yeah, should I pick something else?”

  I shook my head. “It’s fine.”

  “What’s your favorite movie?” Tyler asked.

  “Oh, hmm, I have so many. I like Labyrinth.”

  “We can watch that next if you like?”

  I chewed my lip. “A double feature?”

  Tyler shrugged. “Hope so.”

  “When do your parents get home?” I asked.

  “Not until Tuesday. They both took a long weekend. A really long weekend.”

  “Oh. Which parent were you supposed to go with?” I asked.

  “My mom this time. Last time was a golf thing with my dad.”

  I chuckled softly. “You golf?”

  “Not very well but I hang out at the pool like nobody’s business.”

  My eyes shifted down toward his rock-hard chest. I could remember exactly what he looked like with his shirt off and it made my blood run through my veins quicker than it already was.

  There was something about being close to him that made my body tingle. I barely knew him but he was out of this world gorgeous.

  Silas had done the same thing to me but it was different with him. Along with the heat was an anger. But that was easy to explain. It was because Silas was an attractive asshole.

  I shook my head, annoyed at myself for even thinking about Silas when I was at Tyler’s movie theater.

  “What?” Tyler asked clearly having noticed me shake my head.

  “Oh, nothing. I was just lost in thought, I guess.”

  “About what? Not about that guy who drowned again, I hope. Or I’ll start to worry about you.”

  I twisted my fingers together, nervously trying to think of something. I definitely didn’t want to tell him the truth.

  “Yeah,” I lied.

  “You know,” Tyler said leaning closer. “I was thinking more about that night they found him.”

  I cocked my head to the side, looking deep into his eyes with interest. There wasn’t anything I could do to stop myself from being interested in Piers Howard.

  Rich kid’s death in a rich town where people can buy anything. It was fascinating. Although I guess since it had been solved, I probably should have just let it go like everyone else in town.

  The problem was, it just didn’t make sense.

  “What about that night?” I asked.

  “Well, I went there. Nearly the entire town did when word got around that they’d found the body at the river.”

  I swallowed down the sour lump at the back of my throat. “Nearly everyone?”

  “I noticed his family wasn’t there. None of them.”

  “That’s odd, isn’t it?”

  “No one else seemed to think so. I heard the whispers but others said it would be too difficult for them to see.” Tyler look
ed down at his hands. “It was pretty horrific.”

  I grimaced. “I wonder who else wasn’t there.”

  “Sorry, I’m sure there were a lot of people but I just don’t know any of their names well enough,” Tyler said.

  “I still think it’s all so strange,” I said.

  “The more I think about it, the more I think you’re right,” Tyler said. “I'd be happy to play Fred if you want to play Velma.”

  I chewed my fingernail. “Velma?”

  “Daphne then? You look more like a Daphne but you have the brains of a Velma. The perfect combo,” Tyler said gesturing toward the seats.

  I sat down and the lights dimmed. I exhaled but my body didn’t relax into the seat.

  “Who found the body?” I asked stiffening my spine.

  “Hmm,” Tyler said. “I can’t remember, some girl called it in. His girlfriend maybe? Then when it hit the scanner, everyone called everyone and it was so crowded anyone passing by would have thought it was some night festival. Well, except for the flashing red and blues.”

  As far as I remembered Piers hadn’t had a girlfriend. Maybe Tyler had just gotten it wrong. I’d have to worry about it later because the movie was starting and all I could think about was how close to Tyler I was.

  We weren’t more than fifteen minutes into the movie when his hand slid over to lightly touch mine. It was like an electric shock bringing life back into my body.

  I hated how I barely knew him but yet I wanted him so badly. There was just something about him that made me feel safe and normal.

  I held my body stiffly because I knew if I turned to look into his gorgeous blue eyes, I’d want to kiss him.

  But something took over me. I couldn’t stop my head from turning.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tyler clearly felt the same tension between us. His eyes sparkled for a millisecond before he slid his hands around my neck and pulled my lips to his.

  The passion was overwhelming. Every nerve in my body was igniting with desire as his tongue dipped into my mouth.

  “Alyssa,” he said my name as his lips kissed over my jaw and down my neck. “What are you doing to me? No one has ever made me feel this way before.”