Belle threw her arms around me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“Your mother…”
“She’s fine,” I said. I backed away from Belle. “She’s fine.”
“She’s not fine, Uly.”
“Shit, doll, I said she’s fine.”
“Hey, calm down,” Ash said. He walked up the porch steps and put his arm around Belle. “Don’t be a dick about it.”
“I’m not,” I said. “She’s in the hospital for tonight. Maybe tomorrow. I don’t know. She’s got Paula with her. I don’t even need to be here actually.”
“Then let’s go,” Hil said. “I’m ready for a fucking fight.”
“You always are,” I said. “Did you bring some guitars and something to drink?”
“Fuck that,” Hil said. “Not here.”
“I like this place,” Belle said.
“Bonus points that my mother isn’t here,” I said.
“Belle insisted we check on you,” Ash said.
“Thanks for caring,” I said to Ash.
“I don’t care what the situation is,” Belle said. “It’s your mother. You kind of took off.”
I looked at Belle. I swallowed hard.
Why the sudden feeling of hate? Disgust? Annoyance? And why the fuck are you trying to flip that shit around on Mara…
“Hey, Uly…”
I looked back and saw Mara in the doorway again.
She froze.
“Hey, I know you,” Belle said to her.
“Ah, look at this,” Ash said.
“Fuck off,” I said. “She’s Paula’s daughter.”
Hil lit a cigarette and walked to the door and helped himself inside.
“You can’t smoke in the house,” Mara said.
Hil put his head back and puffed smoke like a train.
“He’s an asshole,” I said to Mara. “He can’t help it. Ignore him.”
“Mom will get pissed at me,” Mara said. “And then your mother will get pissed at her.”
There was fear in Mara’s eyes.
Just like back at the hospital.
I gritted my teeth and hurried into the house.
I caught up to Hil and grabbed the cigarette from his lips.
“What the fuck?” he yelled at me.
I tossed it into the kitchen sink and doused it with water.
“Are you kidding me?” Hil asked.
“We’re not trashing the place, okay?”
“Why not? It’s not our problem. We can give your mother a little parting gift.”
“No.”
Hil blocked the way out of the kitchen.
He put a hand out. “What the fuck is this?”
“Nothing.”
“We always trash the place. Remember?”
“Not this time.”
Hil smirked.
I stepped toward him. “Say something. I dare you.”
Hil backed away and I went from the kitchen toward the front of the house again.
Mara was on the porch with Belle, and Ash.
She had the porch light turned on.
“So your mother is dealing with the entire thing?” Belle asked Mara.
“Yeah,” Mara said. “That’s what she gets paid to do.”
“And you get the house to yourself?” Ash asked.
Mara looked at me. “I guess.”
“Is that my hint to fucking leave, doll?” I asked. “You need some private time?”
“Well, we aren’t leaving,” Belle said. “We’ll all stay. Hang out. Talk.” She looked Hil. “Did you…”
Hil had the same smirk on his face. “Of course I brought something to drink.”
“This isn’t…”
“What’s wrong, Uly?” Mara cut in. “Too much of a pussy to have fun tonight?”
“Oh, fuck,” Ash said.
Everyone looked at me.
I looked at the front door. I nodded.
“Okay,” I said. “It’s not my ass on the line here. Fuck it.”
“Good,” Mara said. She breezed right by me and went into the house.
Belle went next. She looked at me. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” I said.
“I don’t believe you.”
Ash went next.
Then I looked at Hil.
He took a flask out of his leather jacket and nodded.
I lit a cigarette and reached for the flask.
Smoke and drink… that worked in ways too tough to explain.
Was it the way to handle things?
Of course it was.
“Working on a name,” Hil said.
“What?”
“The pill guy,” Hil said.
“Oh. That. Right.”
“You got a little lost up here, huh?”
“Not lost, Hil. It’s been a long day.”
“You don’t want us here,” he said.
“I don’t need you here,” I said.
“I can drag Ash and Belle out of here,” Hil said. “Just wanted to know where you’re at with this shit.”
“The pill guy?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s gotta go,” I said with a laugh. “We can’t have that shit in BFH. East or West. And everything checks out with Jas.”
“Meaning what?”
“The truth,” Hil said. “She’s been buying the pills. I don’t think she’s in deep with the guy though. Shit, I almost feel bad for Aaron.”
“No, you don’t,” I said. “You just wish you were the one dealing the pills to have Jas riding you.”
Hil looked at me. “Do you really think I would be that fucking evil?”
“Yeah,” I said.
Hil smiled. “You know me well, Uly.”
I shook my head. “So who’s the guy?”
“Don’t have a name yet.”
I enjoyed the rest of my cigarette and had a few more drinks from Hil’s flask. It was some strong booze. Strong enough that it was punching me in the head faster than I was used to.
“Just get the fucking name, Hil,” I said. “And then we’ll handle it.”
I moved toward the door and Hil grabbed my arm. “How long are you staying here?”
“Tonight. In some fucked up way I want to make sure my mother gets her ass home and settled.”
“See, this is what happens when feelings are involved,” Hil said.
“Feelings? Really?”
“Shit with Belle. Shit with your mother. It’s…”
“Hey, Hil.”
“What?”
“Don’t fucking talk to me like we’re best friends,” I said. “If anyone is going to talk about feelings, it’s you. You know what you did before. Want to go down that road again?”
“I’m not against fighting you tonight, Uly.”
“I’m always good for a few punches,” I said.
Hil and I stared each other down.
The history between us… the friendship that once was… the music… Penelope…
Hil touched his chin and went into the beach house.
I looked back at the darkness and nodded.
Shit changed just as much as it stayed the same.
* * *
Mara sat on the counter, her feet swaying, kicking the cabinets.
She was drinking whatever Belle was drinking.
They were talking and everything Belle said, Mara laughed at. And it wasn’t the quiet, shy Mara laugh. She laughed heavy. Hard. Throwing her head back. This was the drunk Mara laugh.
A laugh I had never heard before.
Belle got close to Mara at one point and looked at me.
Then Mara looked.
Belle whispered something and they both started to laugh at me.
I balled up my hands, ready to fucking explode.
“Hil talked to you.”
I turned and Ash stood close to me.
The smell of his cologne hit me.
Belle loved his cologne.
It smelled l
ike a skunk.
“Yeah, he did,” I said. “We just need the name.”
“We can always let Aaron handle it himself,” Ash said. “Let those guys fight a battle on their own.”
“They’ll fuck it up,” I said. “And it’ll hit us worse.”
“Teach them a lesson.”
“We are Them,” I reminded Ash. “This is our problem now. And it’ll keep us in control of those jocks too. I’m sure we can think of plenty of favors to call in.”
I heard Mara laughing again.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Hil standing in front of her. He was doing something fucked up with his lips, almost like a fish face or something.
And Mara was laughing at that?
“We have another option too, Uly,” Ash said.
I looked at him again. “What?”
“Throw it to the Rulz,” he said. He grinned. “Right?”
“Internal sabotage,” I said. “That’s fucking wicked.”
“It would work. Imagine… especially with Kip… his situation…”
“That could take time,” I said. “What about Jasmine?”
“What about?”
“She could get hurt.”
Ash stared at me with cold eyes.
You don’t care if she gets hurt. Or if she ends up dying. Right?
I nodded. “Right. I get that look.”
“I’m just…”
“Okay, we have options,” I said. “We can…”
I heard Mara laughing again.
I looked back a second time and now Hil had his hands on the counter. One on each side next to Mara. Boxing her in. My eyes locked to Belle’s for a second. Then she moved from the counter toward Ash and I.
“We can what?” Ash asked me.
“Just get the fucking name,” I said. “That’s what we need.”
“Then let’s go, Uly,” he said.
“Where are we going?” Belle asked.
I heard Mara laughing again.
My blood began to boil.
“Not tonight,” I said.
Ash smirked.
Belle tucked herself close to him.
I rubbed my jaw. “Look, it’s simple. We put the pressure on Jasmine. It’s not rocket science here. If she doesn’t want to talk to us, we’ll set Hil on her. He’ll work his magic…”
“Like he is right now with Mara?” Belle asked.
I spun around just in time to see Hil nuzzling his nose to her shoulder.
She put her hands to his body to push him away.
Not to pull him closer.
She didn’t want him touching her.
I dove toward the counter and locked my right arm through Hil’s right arm and pulled him away from Mara.
He was quick to throw a left hook, hitting me in the jaw.
I saw a few stars and was lucky he didn’t get the full punch on me.
I threw my right elbow and caught him under his nose.
Hil stumbled back and hit the sink, his nose bleeding.
“What the fuck, Uly?” Mara called out.
I pointed at Hil, curling my lip.
Hil wiped the back of his hand under his nose and looked at his blood.
“Got it,” he said.
“I think it’s time for us to take off,” Ash said.
“Really?” Belle asked.
“I’ve been drinking water, angel,” Ash said. “We were never going to stay.”
I was ready to take on Hil like it was back in the day with Penelope. The booze swimming through my head told me to kill him. To take him down for good. To protect Mara from Hil’s cheap fucking pickup lines and moves.
My mind flashed images of her cut-off white jean shorts and ugly orange shirt on the bedroom floor…
“Hil, let’s go,” Ash said. “We came for what we needed.”
“Yeah, we did,” Hil said. He grabbed a towel and wiped the blood from his hand and nose on it and then threw the towel at me. He looked at Mara. “I’ll talk to you again soon, beauty.”
I side stepped and blocked Hil’s view.
He was fucking with me.
On purpose.
Fuck.
“I’ll catch you around, Uly,” Hil said to me.
“Get the fucking name,” I said. “Then we’ll go from there.”
“Practice tomorrow?” he asked.
The grin on his face made me want to hit him again.
“Yeah,” I said.
“You better tuck her in soon,” Belle said as she grabbed my hand.
She meant Mara.
I looked back and Mara was leaning back on the counter.
She was temptation… a wrong decision…
“I’ll take care of her,” I said to Belle.
They all looked at me with the same fucking stare.
And then they left.
I waited until the front door was officially shut before I spun around to look at Mara.
She was back on her elbows, looking at me with a smile.
“You’re drunk, doll,” I said.
“So are you,” she said.
“I can handle myself.”
“Can you? You just tried to fight your friend. Because of me?”
“Hil isn’t my friend,” I said.
“Then…”
“It’s fucked up,” I said. “We have to stick together to control BFH.”
“Huh?”
“Bay Falls High,” I said.
“Oh,” Mara said.
She started to sit up again, her body swaying side to side.
“You need to get your ass to bed, doll,” I said.
She put her right hand out and wiggled her fingers. “Come, help me down. I’m going to fall. I drank too much too fast. I never do this, Uly. But Belle is cool. She’s funny as fuck. She said you made a move on her before.”
I curled my lip. “Yeah. Right.”
I moved closer to Mara and she grabbed my shoulder.
My left hand touched her side and she bounced her ankles off the backs of my legs.
I growled in my throat as she leaned forward.
She slid her butt to the edge of counter and then froze.
Our eyes met and… well, drunk had a messy way of telling the truth.
Mara lunged toward me for a kiss.
Chapter 5
Her lips tasted like vodka and a mistake.
I pulled away and pulled her to the floor.
She clung to me, hands on my shoulders, and we were standing like we were slow dancing.
She looked up at me. “What’s wrong?”
“You need to crash, Mara,” I said.
“Lame.” She rolled her eyes. “Are you staying?”
“I’m not leaving, doll. I’ll be here in the morning.”
“Great. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Sarcasm while you’re drunk, huh?”
“Whatever, Uly,” she said.
She moved her hands from my shoulders to my chest.
She shoved at me.
I stepped back and watched as she stumbled her way through the kitchen. She bounced into the doorway and turned, almost falling face first into the other side of the doorway. She caught herself and looked back at me, giggling.
Her hair was all over her face.
She snorted and her knees started to bend.
“I’m sinking like a ship, Uly,” she called out.
I hurried over to her and grabbed her from behind. I locked my hands together and picked her back up. She put her head back against my chest and shrugged her shoulders and groaned.
“Can I say something?” she asked with a drunk slur.
“Sure, doll.”
“Ash smells like cat pee,” she said. Then she giggled.
I laughed. “Yeah. He does. That’s rich people cologne. The worse it smells the bigger the bank account.”
“You don’t smell like that, Uly.”
“What do I smell like then, Mara?”
“You smell like… like ho
me. Like warmth and comfort. Like… like pages in a book or something. You know? I mean, the cigarette smoke is disgusting. Yuck. But you smell okay.”
“Thanks for that,” I said. “Let’s walk.”
I basically walked her through the house, past the front door, around to the guest part of the beach house.
I took her to the same bedroom I caught her dancing in and helped her get to the bed.
She sat down and lowered her head. “I’m tired. And your mother is a bitch.”
I laughed again. “Shit, doll, you’re going to regret saying this stuff in the morning.”
“She is,” Mara said. “She makes Mom cry. A lot.”
I helped Mara lay down in the bed and pulled the covers from under her body to tuck her in.
“My mother makes your mother cry?” I asked.
“All the time,” Mara said. “And she’s a bitch for it. But now… now I feel bad.”
“Because she fell down the steps?”
“Of course,” Mara said. “I saw more than Mom knows…”
I sighed.
Fuck. She’s got this cute heart to her, huh? And she’s drunk as hell, opening that heart a little.
“Listen, doll, you’re fine,” I said. “And so is my mother. Close your eyes.”
Mara closed her eyes.
Then she opened them again.
She giggled.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked her.
“Messing with you,” she said. “You should kiss me goodnight.”
“Oh yeah? What happened to the mean girl that got mad that I kissed her in the hospital elevator?”
“She’s a liar,” Mara said. “She secretly loved that you kissed her. She secretly has had a crush on you for a long time. She just wished that a kiss like that happened in a different setting. Because she’s been so upset over what Adam did to her…”
“I’ll take care of it,” I said. “And you…”
I lowered my mouth down to hers.
We kissed.
And kissed… and kissed…
No tongue though.
Just these little kisses.
I finally pulled away.
She’s drunk, Uly…
“Tell me to close my eyes again,” Mara said.
“Close your eyes again, doll,” I said.
Mara shut her eyes.
And she didn’t open them again.
I touched her face with my fingers and wasn’t sure what the fuck was happening.
We were both drunk.
We were both lonely.
We both didn’t belong in that fucking beach house.
I was looking for a rebound.
ULY (Bay Falls High - Them Book 1) Page 4