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“Who the fuck is John Smith?” “A terrible person, but I was referring to the Disney version.
Not what I was expecting. “Yeah, I don’t think I ever saw that movie, and no, I don’t own the wall, but this is where the team usually stands.”
“You’re unimpressed.” Her eyes snapped to mine. “By you?” “By everything.”
“I’m not unimpressed. I’m just bored.” “What are you bored of?” “Everything.” She huffed and then let out a tired, unamused laugh.
No, thanks. I brought the beer bottle to my lips to hide my amusement and gulped to avoid laughing.
“Are you in this sorority?” “Hell no,” she said and quickly added, “‘Not that there’s anything wrong with sororities at all. I’m just not interested.”
“Do you want a drink?” I asked. I don’t know what the fuck possessed me to ask that question. Maybe I was as bored as she was. “I don’t drink at parties.”
I snorted. They both looked at me. I took a swig of my beer and looked away. It wasn’t that she didn’t look good. She was fucking gorgeous.
“The semester is almost over. Maybe you can come and party for the next month before we leave.” “Maybe.” Liar.
I tugged her a little closer to me, just to fuck with her, to see if the look on her face would crack.
wanted to experience it, even if it was just once. She patted Pres’ chest. “Well, I’m off, bitches.”
“Why was Lyla everyone’s wet dream?” I asked, going back to that topic. “I don’t see it.” Pres raised an eyebrow. “She’s hot as fuck under those baggy clothes.”
I sure as hell didn’t need another. If you don’t let them in, they can’t hurt you. It was simple.
I’d never been told to stay away from anyone, though, and I didn’t like it.
You can only truly break someone once. Everything after that is just chipping at pieces.
The music suddenly stopped and snapped me out of my thoughts. “Why don’t you want to go?” “Because I don’t like people.”
“But if the issue is that you’re planning on having sex and can’t perform while I’m here, I can leave and come back in. . .” she sized me up. “Five minutes.”
My heart sped up. People were predictable. I could typically gauge what they would do before they did
“Secondly, I like sex as much as I like people.” I blinked hard, my heart pounding.
“You know what happened?” “I have access to the internet.” Damn, someone died in that car accident. “YOU GOOGLED LYLA?” she shouted. “Why?” Because she’s beautiful and funny when she wants to be, but mostly because she makes me feel something I’ve never felt before, and I’m intrigued by her. “She’s weird, so I Googled her.”
“I’m listening.” “One, if you break her heart, she’ll never, and I mean ever, give you a second shot,” she said. It seemed like an obvious one. “Two, you know those girls who like to play hard to get?” She waited until I nodded. “Lyla is hard to get, but man, when she opens up, she’s just. . .she’s honestly one of my favorite people on the planet.” “Why is she so closed off?”
“I thought you weren’t interested.” “Cut the shit, Marissa. Why? Because of the accident?” “She was always a little guarded and selective with her inner circle, but she was voted Miss Congeniality for the high school yearbook if you can believe it.” “I can’t.” I started walking again. “So, the accident?” “I don’t like to talk about it, especially behind her back. Maybe Prescott will tell you.”
The thought of them being alone together irritated me more than it should have. I
at practice. Maybe I’d jam a finger or two. I didn’t care that they’d known each other forever. His hand over hers made me see red. Fuck.
took out my phone and Googled how long I’d go to jail if I kidnapped her.
“Do you come here a lot?” “Sure.” Her eyes darted to mine briefly. “I’ll put myself through just about anything when I’m in my self-loathing phase and want to torture myself.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. It was tiny but there; best of all, it reached her eyes. “You look beautiful as well.”
I blinked quickly to evade tears. I hated crying, and if I started, I wouldn’t stop. I hadn’t cried in so long, I didn’t even think my tear ducts worked anymore, but tonight they would. Tonight, all the emotions I normally buried would be exposed.
Worst, because once you learned how to numb yourself from pain, you took the risk of it happening to all of your emotions.
If I didn’t look, I wasn’t there. That was my motto. Someone sat beside me, and I stilled, straightening in my seat and pushing my shoulders back. I knew that scent. Jesus Christ on a cracker, this could not be happening right now. I kept looking at my nails. “If I tell you that you look beautiful, will you throw your glass of water in my face?” he asked, his deep voice tickling my ear.
He was tall and imposing in a way that either made you feel safe or terrified. He evoked both for me.
“Thank you.” My lips moved. I smiled or gave him whatever was left of it these days. “You look beautiful as well.” His eyes danced. He leaned in and whispered, “Is this a nightmare for you?” My body went
“What did I say?” Lachlan had his hands in his pockets and a genuine look of concern on his face. “Nothing.” I shook my head. “Please go back to the dinner. I’m fine.”
“You’re okay.” It was a chant, a mantra, a promise. “I got you. You’re okay.” That made it worse.
“This is so embarrassing,” I whispered to the second button. “Don’t do that.” He tilted my chin. “I would never judge you.” I swallowed, took a shaky breath, and wiped my face again. “Thank you.” “Do you want to talk about it?” “I can’t.” My lip wobbled again, but I contained myself. “Not tonight.” Not
I walked Lyla to the guest house and waited for her to fix her makeup. I wanted to carry her away from this house. From this town. From this state. From this country. From this fucking planet. Whatever it would take to make her smile.
I was starved for her. Not just her body, but her. Her attention, her secrets, her smiles, her laughter. Anything.
I wanted to be the sole keeper of her secrets. I wanted to possess her.
“Your makeup looks good again,” I said, like a fucking moron. It looked good. She’d just spent fifteen minutes fixing it. “Thanks. I’m ready when you are.” “Do you want to hide out here until it’s over?” She cocked her head slightly. “With or without you?” “With.” “Then no,”
“What?” She whispered. “Why did you stop listening to them?” My lips twitched with the satisfaction that I’d made her lose her thought. “Because a million different things can be said about you, about anyone. Some may be true, but in my experience, most accounts aren’t. I don’t want to hear anything about you unless it comes from you.”
“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” I ran my thumb in soft circles against her cheek.
I’d ever wanted to kiss anyone in my entire life. I wouldn’t unless she initiated it, but fuck, I wanted to. “We should go,” she whispered, holding my gaze. “We should.”
Her eyes hadn’t left mine since she snapped her little comment at me. I loved it. “Is that true?” I raised an eyebrow. “I like a handful of people,” she said quietly. “Only one hockey player is on the list. There’s no one on it with a name that starts with the letter L.”
I wouldn’t just be on the list of people she liked. I’d fucking dominate it.
“Did you tell him to fuck off?” I asked when she didn’t add anything to her statement. “Lachlan!” She whipped the kitchen towel at my arm. “He’s your father.” “He’s dead to me.”
“You’re his heirs,” she said. “So?” “He’s sick, Lach,” she said quietly. “Oh.”
And the moment I smelled him near me, I felt butterflies. “It wouldn’t kill you to smile,” my father said. “If you wanted someone who would smile, you shouldn’t have asked me to come,” I said through gritted teeth. Beside me, Lachlan coughed into his napkin.
I wasn’t part of the team anymore, so we no longer shared the same inside jokes or saw each other daily. I missed having a family like that. I fucking hated him for doing this to me. Loathed him.
“Nightmare?” he asked quietly. I finally met his eyes and felt my mouth move into a small smile. His eyes dropped to my lips, making wings flap inside my stomach. “The worst kind.” I turned and ignored him for the rest of the luncheon, for his sake more than mine.
“This isn’t what I meant when I said you should play hockey.” He smirked. I looked over my shoulder and back at him. He frowned. “Are you okay?” “Yeah.” I looked over my shoulder again. “I. . .I...I have to go.”
