“She’s out there with Mara,” I said.
My mother rolled her eyes. “Why does she have to bring her daughter all the time?”
“What’s wrong with Mara?”
“She cried,” my mother said. “I’m the one in pain. My leg was sticking out of my skin, Ulysses. And she’s shaking and crying. Taking Paula’s attention from me. Can you believe that?”
“I’ll talk to her about it,” I said.
I licked my lips.
Why the fuck did you have to go and kiss Mara?
“It hurts,” my mother said.
“It’s going to.”
“No, they said it wouldn’t. I have medicine. I need more. I keep pressing the button and I’m waiting.”
“Give it a minute,” I said. “Let me, uh, go figure this out. See what’s next here.”
I leaned down and put my cheek to my mother’s cheek.
Then I got out of the hospital room.
I looked right at Paula and shook my head. “You’re up. It’s going to be a long ride.”
“As long as the checks clear,” Paula said.
“Oh, they will,” I said. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Paula went into the hospital room and I looked down the hallway.
I saw Mara and grinned.
She stood, leaning against a giant window, earbuds in her ears again, staring at her phone.
Chances were my mother wouldn’t get out of the hospital today or tonight.
Maybe tomorrow she’d get sent home.
Then I’d have to figure out what to do next.
With her.
With Them.
With BFH.
But before that…
Who the fuck was bothering Mara and why did it matter to me?
* * *
My mother had to spend the night.
She requested Paula stay there with her.
Which meant I got to drive Mara back to my mother’s house and be there with her.
Alone.
I walked up to a soda machine and swiped my credit card and nodded to Mara.
“Get a drink,” I said. “I want to get out of here.”
“You’re not staying with your mother?” she asked.
“Hell no,” I said. “She wants your mother. Your mother is getting paid. I’m not.”
“Do you hate her?”
“My mother?”
Mara nodded.
“We’ve had this talk before, doll. Shit is complicated. And this… her leg being fucked up… this is a nightmare. She’s going to hate not being mobile. And she’s going to have all of her friends come over so she can tell her sob story of how she fell down the stairs.”
“Yeah,” Mara said. She chose grape soda. “She didn’t tell you anything else?”
“About what?” I asked.
“About what happened.”
“No. Why?”
“Just curious,” Mara said. “It was just… intense. It’s usually so quiet at the house. I wasn’t going to come with Mom but things…”
“The personal stuff?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Mara said. She twisted off the cap and took a drink of the grape soda. I smelled the sweet sugar. “I’m kind of glad I was there I guess.”
“You did fine,” I said. I touched her arm. “Okay? You did fine. She’s okay. I’m sorry you went through it. I’m sorry shit at your actual home is tough too. And I meant what I said. You shouldn’t feel like trash. Ever. Anyone that does that to you…”
Mara walked away from me. “It’s fine, Uly. I was just worked up from everything. I’m fine. I want to get out of here too.”
We left the hospital and walked to my car.
I took off out of the hospital parking lot and Mara gasped. She pulled at her seatbelt to make sure it was tight enough on her shoulder. She put a hand to the dashboard and her face turned white.
“I’m barely even driving yet, doll,” I said.
“You’re going double the speed limit!” she yelled at me.
“I like it fast,” I said. “And I don’t slow down when I get started.”
She looked at me.
I winked behind my sunglasses.
She was nervous and scared and worried about ten things at once.
I slowed down, but not by much.
I didn’t even break ninety one time, which was unheard of for me.
Was it unsafe to drive like that?
Of course it was.
If I ever crashed and hurt myself or someone in the car, would I be the biggest asshole in the world?
Damn straight.
And did I give a shit about any of that?
Not an ounce.
When I pulled down the hidden road that led to my mother’s beach house, I felt the relief coming off of Mara. Then when I parked, she quickly opened the door and jumped out of the car.
I sat there, the car still running, and watched as she hurried up the steps to the door. I rubbed my chin, watching the way those cut-off shorts worked against her body. Or just the look of the back of her legs. What was it about a pretty girl in shorts and a long sleeve shirt that just…
I let out a long sigh and gripped the wheel tight.
After Mara punched in the code to unlock the house, she disappeared into the house and shut the door behind her.
I knew what this was.
I hated to admit it… but this was a feeling of rebounding. I fucking let Belle get so deep into my heart that it still got to me knowing I’d never have her in the passenger seat of my car. That I’d never reach over while I was driving and gently touch her. Or take her to my favorite spot on the beach and kiss her. Or have her sit front row at a show that Hil and I played.
She was here but long gone.
And on top of being with Ash, she was forever around my house because of Lake. Those two were always writing something together. Which was actually amazing to see. I had never seen Lake so happy before. And the contacts she had for Belle meant she was…
“Fuck this,” I said.
I shut off the car and went to the front door.
It was locked.
Mara locked the damn door.
I stared at the keypad and laughed.
I didn’t have the code.
Or better yet… I did but I didn’t remember it. I didn’t give a shit to remember it.
I only visited when my mother was home.
As I said before, the obligatory visit.
I rang the doorbell.
I knocked on the door.
Mara left me hanging.
Stuck outside.
I leaned against the railing and thought about it.
Was she pissed that I kissed her in the elevator? Shit, I was pissed at myself. I had no idea why I did that. To make her feel pretty? To remind myself there were others besides Belle? Or did I actually care that she felt worthless because of some douchebag?
In the silence of my racing thoughts I heard the crashing of the ocean waves on the other side of the house.
I walked off the porch and down toward the beach.
I saw the ocean. The perfect waves. Their endless movement.
And then I saw Mara.
* * *
Standing with her feet in the sand, hugging herself, her messy hair blowing all over the place. I walked right by the back of the house, knowing the door had to be open.
So that was her plan?
To lock me out of the house and hurry down to the beach.
Well played, doll.
I walked through the sand and stood next to her. Without touching her.
“I’ve never been locked out before,” I said.
“You couldn’t get in?”
“No.”
Mara looked at me. “It’s your mother’s house.”
“How often do I come down here?”
“Oh,” Mara said. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not. You wanted to do that. You wanted to lock me out, doll. You wanted to punish me.”
“Surgery?” I asked with a laugh. “I mean, come on, it was her leg, right? Talk to me when she’s getting her heart cut open.”
Mara gasped. “You’re an asshole.”
“Hey, you’re going to be just fine,” I said. “Your mother is going to pick up so much overtime… you’ll be rolling in the money.”
“Like you?” Mara asked. “You know what? Don’t talk to me anymore. Okay?”
Mara dug into her pocket and took out her earbuds and stuck them into her ears. It was cute to watch. Wireless ones were much easier to deal with. No fighting with the cord…
She walked away from me but not too far.
I turned and watched her.
Listening to music. Facing the ocean. The air playing with her hair.
It all meant something greater to her than it did to me.
She looked at me twice.
Each time just as pissed.
Finally she ripped the earbuds out of her ears and walked toward me.
“You know what? You don’t get to do anything to me. Or for me. Ever. Okay?”
“Meaning what, doll?” I asked.
“You don’t get to talk to me like you do,” she said. “Or throw pens at me.”
“I threw one pen,” I said. “As a joke.”
“I don’t care,” she said. “And you don’t get to chase me down into an elevator. For what? To make me feel worse than I already do? And then to kiss me? What is wrong with you?”
It was a valid question. Or series of questions.
I stared at Mara’s green eyes.
“What’s your story then, doll?”
“What?”
“The guy bothering you. Is he your boyfriend or what? Ex?”
Mara laughed. “You’re stuck on that?”
“It upset you.”
“And you care… why?”
“Why not?”
“You never cared before, Uly.”
“You never told me someone was bothering you before.”
“That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is this?” I asked with a grin.
Mara shook her head. “You come around here when you feel like it. I’m usually here because I try to help Mom out. And we only talk here and there, Uly. It’s never anything serious. I get it. You’re the big, rich, bad boy and I’m just… what? Part of the housekeeping crew? The maid’s daughter? I don’t know what you think of me.”
When Mara turned, I thought about touching her arm again.
But I didn’t.
Instead I just talked to her.
“It’s just us tonight, doll,” I said. “We could at least try to get along.”
Mara looked back. “Or we can be in separate rooms and call it a night.”
She walked away again and I let her go this time.
If she locked me out again I would just break a fucking window to get inside.
When she got to the back door of the beach house, she paused.
She looked back at me.
It was a quick second where our eyes locked.
But I knew exactly what that second meant to both of us.
* * *
The back door was unlocked.
I wandered through the massive beach house, hating being there because all it did was make me think of all the bullshit that led to this house. My mother and father together. Then not together. My father dying. My mother trying to be some kind of grieving ex-wife. Just mess after mess after mess.
It was almost completely dark outside when I made my way to the back guest bedrooms. That part of the house was almost built like its own wing. There was only one hallway to get there. Complete with two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a side door that went right to the beach.
Paradise, right?
I opened the first door and the bedroom was empty.
So I moved to the next door.
I opened it a few inches and I spotted Mara.
I leaned against the doorway and opened it a few more inches and watched her.
Standing with her earbuds in, facing the window that faced the ocean.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket.
It was Belle.
Are u ok? Please text!
I curled my lip and slipped my phone back into my pocket.
I wasn’t interested in texting Belle. Or Them.
My eyes were locked on Mara.
She looked at her phone and she started to dance.
Holy shit, doll…
Believe me, it wasn’t some kind of sexy dancing or anything.
Mara had no rhythm.
At all.
And trust me, I wasn’t the kind of guy to dance.
But to see her…
I smiled.
I forgot about everything.
And I just watched her and her goofy ass dancing.
Jumping around and waving her arms in the air. Then she turned and threw her head back and put her phone to her mouth and mouthed the words but didn’t actually sing out loud. She then started to spin in circles, jumping as she did so. Throwing her hair in all directions, not even realizing I was standing there watching her.
The smile on my face refused to quit as she jumped up on the bed in one quick move that made me raise one of my eyebrows.
Now on the bed, she jumped and stomped her feet, messing up the perfectly made covers and sheets. She even had the wildness to kick one of the fancy throw pillows, sending it through the air, hitting a wall.
Mara fell to her knees on the bed and pretended to sing again.
Leaning way back on her knees, the front of her ugly orange shirt pulled up.
I swallowed hard at the sight of her bare skin. Her cute little belly button showing for a few seconds before she jumped up to her feet and then off the bed.
When her feet hit the floor, she looked right at me and her eyes went wide.
She ripped the earbuds out of her ears and threw them along with her phone to the bed.
I was busted so I pushed the door open the rest of the way and started to clap.
“Well done, doll,” I said.
Mara stared at me, her face turning three different shades of red.
There was a chunk of her hair pulled across her face, stuck to her bottom lip.
I stepped into the room and used my pointer finger to pull the stuck hair from her bottom lip and tuck it behind her ear.
“So quick to lock the front door, yet you forgot to lock your bedroom door,” I said.
I backed away and tried to mimic a few of Mara’s killer dance moves.
I laughed and walked away.
Mara quickly shut the door and locked it.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
And the night was just beginning.
Hell, maybe my mother would have to spend a few nights in the hospital.
My phone buzzed again and I growled under my breath.
It was Belle yet again.
We r coming to c u RIGHT NOW
Chapter 4
I sat on the top step of the porch and smoked a cigarette in the pitch black.
Not even the porch light was on.
I could hear the cigarette burning when I inhaled it. It was the only other sound I heard besides the ocean off in the distance.
The only thing left to do was wait to see the headlights of Ash’s big ass truck.
Belle and Them were coming to see me. To check up on me. To make sure I was okay. Or they all knew the beach house was empty and it was a hell of a spot to have a great night.
I took the last drag of my cigarette and flicked it as far as I could.
Dangerous, stupid, careless?
Yup.
I talked to Lake right after Belle texted me. I gave her a quick rundown of what had happened to my mother. She was silent until I told her it was okay to laugh. Hearing Lake laugh
at my mother’s expense made me laugh too.
Probably mean to do… but still… I could picture my mother hurrying down the steps because Paula didn’t have her toothbrush facing the right direction. Because you knew whatever was making my mother rush that quick was something trivial. And she missed a step and not only fucked up her leg, but fractured it. And not just a fracture but the kind that went through the skin and required surgery.
“Well done,” I whispered into the night, just as I had said to Mara for her dance moves.
Speaking of which, the door opened behind me.
Mara walked across the porch.
I looked down at her toes.
She had long toes. The middle toe longer than her big toe. They were unpainted. I wasn’t sure if that mattered. And her big toes looked like someone had smacked them with a hammer.
I shifted my gaze up and grinned at her.
“When’s the next show?” I asked.
Mara kicked me. “Shut up, Uly. That’s not funny at all.”
“I didn’t mind it.”
“I said shut up.”
“You’re bothering me, doll. What do you want?”
“Mom called.”
“Okay?”
“Your mother is sleeping. She was in a lot of pain so they gave her more medicine.”
“They knocked her ass out, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Mara said. “Mom is on a cot in the room. The plan is to send your mother home tomorrow as long as there’s no complications.”
“Good,” I said.
“Your mother insisted on having a lot of help.”
“Of course she did.”
“It’s going to get busy here, Uly.”
“Just in time for me to leave,” I said with a grin.
“Must be nice,” Mara said.
She turned and stormed away. She slammed the door behind her.
I slowly stood up.
If I went after her, something was going to happen.
And that something was pretty damn simple.
I was going to end up kissing her again.
This desire to kiss her and save her was rippling through me… and it really felt like it came out of nowhere…
Headlights flashed and caught my attention.
Which was good.
Last thing I needed was more trouble in my life.
* * *
ULY (Bay Falls High - Them Book 1) Page 3