I walk up the stairs trying to find Josie’s bedroom. I pass two empty rooms with the doors open before I find one with the door closed. I turn the doorknob slowly and push the door open as quietly as I can. I know it’s her room right away. Everything about this room tells me that Josie is in there. It somehow seems brighter than the rest of the house. It even smells different in here.
She is in her bed with her eyes closed. Her brown hair is spread out on the pillow like a chocolate halo. Stepping closer, I have the urge to touch her, just to make sure that she is even real.
Deciding on not to wake her, I reach in my pocket to take her phone out. That little noise wakes her up, her eyes go wide and she opens her mouth like she is about to scream. I move without thinking. My hand covers her mouth in a split second.
She thrashes around for a moment, grabbing my hand but halts when she realizes that it’s me. Her eyes soften when they find my face.
“Are you going to be quiet?” I grin.
She nods and I lift my hand.
“Are you here to kidnap me again?”
Only if you want me to.
Not having the guts to say that out loud I shake my head. I lower myself onto her bed and lie down next to her. She turns on her side, so we are facing each other. A tear rolls down her face onto her pillow. I want to kiss it away.
“Why are you crying?” I don’t want her to cry, especially not because of me.
“I thought you were dead.”
I almost did die and I still don’t know if I made the right decision to call Mason.
“No reason to cry. No one would have missed me.”
“That’s not true. Hunter and Jaxon would have missed you.” More quietly she adds, “I would have missed you too.”
“They wouldn’t have, and you don’t even know me,” I snort.
“I know enough to have missed you,” she says ever so softly and I know she means it. My heart is heavy and light at the same time. Desperate to change the subject I look down at her bare shoulders.
“Do you always sleep naked?”
She pulls her blanket up and tightens it across her chest. “I’m wearing underwear,” she says defensively. “Plus, it’s not like I was expecting anyone to break into the house and sneak in my room. Why are you here anyway?”
Her sudden briskness makes me smile. I get up from her bed with a grunt, pain shooting through my upper body. “I’m returning your phone.” I lie but she doesn’t seem to realize that this is just a sad excuse to see her. I hand it to her and she gives me a weak, “Thank you.”
“They mourned you,” she calls after me when I head out the door.
“What?” I turn back to face her.
“Jaxon and Hunter, they mourned you when we thought you were dead. They were sad that you’d died.”
I try to brush it off like it doesn’t affect me but the thought of my friends almost makes me smile. I miss them and I miss how close we used to be.
“Where are you going?”
“Someplace I can start a new life.” I want to ask her if she wants me to stay but the words are held back by the fear of her reaction. If I leave now, I can hold on to the idea that she actually liked me and didn’t just pretend to, because she was scared.
13
Josephine
Today is my eighteen's birthday and I am at my very own party, in a room with three hundred people I barely know. Instead of spending it with my twin sister like I am supposed to. Half of them have come up to me to congratulate me, and my face hurts from the fake smile I have to force onto myself. The other half just passes me by, not recognizing who I am. So far, three people have called me a wrong name, which is actually a better turnout than last year.
The last three months has been a nightmare. As I predicted, my dad was not having any of my explanations. I have not been allowed to see Jenna. This is the longest I have been without seeing her. She has even tried visiting me at school but the security my dad has set in place spotted her and made her leave. I only get to talk to her on the phone and even that has been tough. Especially when I started telling her that I won’t leave my parents’ home after our birthday. She just doesn’t understand and I can’t blame her. I haven’t told her the whole story and I’m not sure if I ever will.
Being without my twin on our eighteenth birthday is bad enough. Spending it here with people who don’t give a damn about me is just like getting kicked when you are already down on the ground. No one here actually cares about me or cares about that it's my birthday. They just attend these things for publicity and networking. If the Senator invites you to a party, you’ll go, whatever the occasion is.
I managed to walk off to the side a bit and grab a champagne glass. I sip on it while leaning against the wall, wishing I could take these four-inch heels off. I glance over at the tables holding piles upon piles of birthday presents. I could care less about them. I would give every single one back if I could have Jenna here with me instead. Maybe I could set the presents on fire, using it as a distraction to get away. I take another sip, just to realize that my glass is empty.
“I don’t think even drinking is going to make this party any less lame.”
I spin around, not believing my ears and there he is, right in front of me.
“Colt?!” I stare up into his gray eyes like they are the most fascinating things I have ever seen. The only reason I am able to take my eyes away is so I can look at the rest of him. He is wearing a crisp white shirt under a tailored charcoal gray suit that makes his already broad shoulders look even bigger. With his hair cut shorter and styled, he fits right in with this crowd. Handsome and rich.
I can’t believe that he is really here. I didn’t think I would ever see him again and now he is here. Standing in front of me. At my party. Looking… like this.
I goggle at him for so long that he is starting to look worried.
“Do you want me to leave?” He asks, taking my silence the wrong way.
“God no!” I yell a little too eagerly.
His frown turns up, into a movie star smile that almost makes me swoon. “What…” Trying my best to get it together I ask breathlessly, “what are you doing here?”
Not that I don’t appreciate someone that I actually like being here. I am just curious.
“I heard there was a big party going on here tonight. So, I thought I’d swing by and check it out.” He looks around the room bored. “Do you know any of these people?”
“No, not really.”
He nods as if he understands without needing any further explanation.
“Did you eat yet? The buffet looks fancy.”
“I wouldn’t mind a bit.” I haven’t really eaten much, mostly due to my depressing mood, but now that Colt is here I am actually hungry.
He holds his arm out and I loop mine under his. The innocent contact is enough to shoot a lightning bolt of excitement through my whole body. I don’t want to let go when we get to the buffet, afraid he is going to leave if I don’t hold on to him. We each load a plate of food and find a seat on an empty table.
“I didn't think I would ever see you again,” I confess after we eat a few bites. “Thank you for coming to my party.”
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to come. Hell, I wasn’t sure if you ever wanted to see me again. You have every reason to hate me.”
“That's, not true. You didn’t leave us with Coleman and the other guy. You almost got yourself killed protecting us. I don’t hate you, Colt. I never did.”
“I’m the one who brought you there in the first place. I might have helped you in the end, but I’m the one who put you in danger. And your sister.”
“Don’t you think that if it wasn’t you working with him, that he would have found someone else to get to us? He probably would have sent Karl to kidnap me.” I don’t even want to think about that, but unfortunately, it has crossed my mind. If Colman would have gotten to Elisa. And Karl would have gotten to me and Jenna…Colt’s expression mirro
rs how discussed I feel on the inside. Just thinking about how things could have ended makes me sick.
The rest of our dinner conversation stay light. Colt asks me a bunch of questions about school and what else I have been up to. When we are done eating, we walk to the bar to get another drink.
Once again, I find myself enjoying Colt’s company. There is such an ease about talking to him like there is some kind of bond between us I can’t explain.
“You haven’t told me anything await yourself. What are you doing now?”
“I got a job,” he says and downs his campaign. “As a bouncer.”
“Where?”
“Cosmos.”
“The nightclub?” My voice goes up to octaves. “In the town, I live in?”
“That’s the one.”
I stare at him dumbfounded. “You moved here?” My voice is still much too high but I can’t seem to bring it down to a normal speaking voice.
“I really didn’t know where to go. All I knew was that I needed to get away from the people around me back home. No one knows me here, so, I figured why not stay.”
“Wait. You have been living in the same city as me for three months and you just now come to me?” I’m not sure who is more surprised by my outburst. Him or me. I have no business of being upset about this. He doesn’t owe me a report on his whereabouts. Eye close my eyes and let my head hang down. “I could have really used a friend the last few months.”
Unable to look at him I turn to walk away, but he grabs my arm and pulls me back to the bar. “Josie, look. I didn’t know what to make of us. We didn’t meet under normal circumstances and I wasn’t sure if you actually liked me or if you were just pretending. Maybe you just have Stockholm syndrome or something,” he smirks at the end.
That makes me laugh. “I’m no expert but I don’t think you can develop Stockholm syndrome within a few hours. Also, I liked you before I even know you’d kidnapped me.”
“I guess you have a point,” he grins.
“Colt, why are you really here?”
“You saved my life, Josie, I owe you.”
“What are you talking about?” Before he can answer some guy holding two glasses of whiskey stumble into me, almost knocking my drink out of my hand.
“Oh, sorry Miss,” is all he says before stumbling away.
Colt looks like a wild animal about to attack. He takes a quick step towards the guy. Somehow I manage to take a step equally as fast and block Colt from grabbing that drunk. With my body inches away from Colt and my hand on his chest he seems to calm down quickly. “You want to go somewhere?”
“You going to leave your own party?”
“Did you not notice how that guy called me ‘Miss’. That's because he had no idea who I was. Neither do most of the other guests. Trust me, no one will even know I’m gone.” I look around me doing a quick sweep. My mom is standing in the middle of a group with other women her age, laughing and drinking champagne. At least someone is having a good time at this party. I don’t even see my dad. I wouldn’t be surprised if he already left or he is smoking cigars in some private room we don’t know about.
“Alright then, let's go somewhere else.” Colt takes my hand and leads me through the crowd. I stay close behind him so no-one else gets a chance to bump into me. I’m not sure if I could hold him back a second time.
Sneaking out throughout the side door of the venue feels like an adventure. Colt had to distract the security so I could sneak by without them noticing me. I want to run to his car, I’m so scared they will notice I’m gone and follow me. When we’re finally driving off I breath a huge sigh of relieve. “Thanks, for getting me out of there.”
“Want to go to a real party now?” Colt asks.
At the Cosmos? I grin.
“If you want. We don’t have to, we can go wherever you want.”
For a moment I think about Jenna. I would love to see her and I know Hunter would throw her in a car and drive her down here in a heartbeat. Pushing the tempting but impossible thought away, I smile at Colt. “I would love to go there.”
When we get to the club, there is a long line up front. I knew Cosmos was one of the more popular clubs around here but I didn’t know that people lined up around the block for it. We get out of the car and Colt takes my hand. Serious butterflies are popping around in my belly. He knows I am not planning on running off. He is holding my hand because he wants to now.
Colt walks us to the front of the line and nods to one of the bouncers. They let us in without checking my ID, which is a good thing since I’m not twenty-one yet.
When we get in, the music is blasting so loudly that I can feel the insides of my ears vibrate. The dance floor is packed and I can barely see the bar top because so many people are lined up in front of it. I’m already worried that someone is going to run into me and Colt is going to go ballistic in here. Even though I don’t want anybody to get hurt, his overprotectiveness makes me feel good.
He puts his arm around me and leans closer to my ear. “Let’s go upstairs, it’s much less crowded up there.” He lets me to a set of stairs with yet another bouncer. They do their whole nodding spiel again and the six-foot-five, three hundred pound guy lets us pass.
The upstairs is basically one large balcony wrapping all around the room with a perfect view of the dance floor. Comfortable looking couches are scattered all along the walls and two of the corners are home of small but sleek looking bars. We take a seat on one of the couches and a cute redhead waitress in the smallest shorts I have ever seen skipped over to us. “Hi you, I was wondering where you were today,” she beams at Colt, awkwardly ignoring me.
“Hi Vicky, I’ll have a beer.” He turns to me and puts his hand on my bare thigh. My skin feels hot and tingly where he touches it, right below where my dress ends.
I normally don’t care about designer clothes, but right now I am thankful for this custom fitted skin tight dress and matching high heels. This waitress is clearly trying to flirt with Colt and my dress is making me feel confident enough to only care slightly.
“I don’t know, the only thing I’ve ever tried is wine and champagne. I would love to try something new.”
“Make her a White Russian,” he orders. I have never appreciated Colt’s lack of politeness more than now. The waitress, Cleary disappointment by his lack of flirting back, turns around and returns to the bar. Colt moves his hand from my thigh and drapes his arm over my shoulder instead. We lean back and I cuddle into his side.
“This is nice,” I admit. “I thought I was going to have the worst birthday ever.”
“It’s better now?”
“Much!” This feels much more than nice. It feels like it is meant to be. I fit perfectly under his arm. Like two puzzle pieces falling into place.
“I half expected you to not be at your party. I thought you would be long gone by now, probably staying with Jenna and Hunter.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I’m staying with my parents, until further notice.”
“Why?” Colt looks concern all of the sudden. “What’s wrong?”
I suck in ad deep breath. “It’s complicated. I want to leave but I just can’t. Can we talk about something else?” This topic is a serious downer.
“Sure.”
Just then Vicky comes back with our drinks. She hands me mine with an obviously fake smile on her face. I hope she didn’t poison my drink. The first sip I take is small, but once the delicious drink hits my taste buds I suck down a bigger gulp.
“Slow down, that has a good amount of rum in it,” Colt tells me.
“Well, don’t order me a yummy drink if you don’t want me to drink them fast.”
“Noted.”
After the second drink, my mind is all fuzzy and my inhibitions are lowered by a lot. I somehow go from sitting next to Colt to sitting half on his lap. Vicky glaring daggers at me from the bar only edges me on. I snake my arms around Colt and lean my head on his shoulder while starting to kiss hi
s neck.
“I think you had enough to drink,” he whispers in my ear.
“Mhm,” I say in-between nibbles.
“You guys want anything else to drink?” I look up at Vicky. Seriously? I want to strangle her right now, but because I’m a nice person I say, “No thank you,” and smile. “Hey Vicky,” I call after her. “Do you mind taking a picture of me and Colt?”
“Sure.”
I give her my phone and scoot my but all the way onto Colt lap. He wraps his arms around my stomach and I lean my head back on his shoulder. She takes the picture with a grimace on her face that says ‘I hate everything about this’. Then she hands the phone back to me with something that almost looks like a smile. “Here you go.”
“Thanks so much girl,” I beam at her.
Colt shakes his head. “You are still too nice. Come on Cinderella, it’s midnight. I’ll take you back to your ball.”
“Cinderella had to leave and go back home at midnight. Don’t you know how that fairytale goes?”
“Not really. I only watch the cool stuff. Like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
Thanks to the alcohol, I’m laughing way harder at that than necessary. “Maybe I should go home.”
On the car ride to my house, I almost fall asleep. I don’t want wast any time spend with Colt though. Trying to do my best to keep my eyes open I say, “I haven't seen Jenna in three months. My dad wouldn’t let me.”
“Why are you still here? You are eighteen now. You can do whatever you want. If you want to go be with your sister, then go. I’ll drive you there myself if you want me to.”
“I can’t.” I let my head fall into my hands. “It’s complicated.”
Colt suddenly pulls over and parks on the side of the road. “Explain it, I have time.”
“He said if I don’t play the role of his happy daughter with the perfect family, he will make sure that neither me nor Jenna will be accepted to any school or even find a job.”
“What the hell is wrong with him and why is he so worried about this anyway? So what he adopted a kid?” Colt is more furious than I’ve expected him to be.
The Lies We Tell: An Enemy to Lovers Young Adult Romance (Pushed Aside Book 3) Page 7