I stared at my phone in disbelief. I lefted New York six weeks ago and now, only now, has my brother, Patrick, remembered me. This text message was the first time we've spoken since I came to Berkeley. Well, the first time he's spoken. I sent a text message when I got here to let him know I was safe, and then that was it. Until today.I looked again at my phone. I didn't know why I expected any different from him. He would only get in contact if and when he wanted something. And like usual, it was money. I didn't want to know what he wanted it for, but judging by the fact he was asked for eight hundred dollars, I'd say it was rent. All because his arrogant, selfish ass couldn't hold down a job long enough to support our suicidal father.I rubbed my forehead and tried to block out the memories, telling Patrick I'll call up the bank and wire the money to Dad's account. Not that it made a difference. he will use it on what he wants anyway, thinking of Dad second.A wave of guilt crashed
Sandra reached up and tugged her hair from its holder. Her fiery red curls fanned out around her shoulders, settling with one last bounce down her back. The end of her hair was inches from her ass – the ass I got to touch earlier, per winning conditions.She won, but I did get to touch that pert little butt, so I'd call that a win-win situation.“So,” I begun as we walked across the sand. “You never answered my question earlier.”“What question?” She looked at me with those big green eyes of hers.“Do you speak to your family much?”“My dad and I talk about once a week, usually on Sunday. It's become kind of a habit. My brother? Not so much.” She shrugged a shoulder.“Aren't you close?”She snorted, shaking her head. “About as close as two opposite poles.”“What about your mom? Do you ever speak?”She stopped by the edge of the water, drawing a line in the sand with her toe. Her eyes mist over a little, and I moved next to her. She looked up, and there was pure, raw pain in her eyes.
We entered the house, and music pounded against us. Jack reacheed for my hand, linking his fingers through mine. I let him, squeezing his hand lightly, and he pulled me through the packed house. We surfaced in the kitchen where Kayle, Maggie, and Leila were sitting by the bar.“I'm gonna go find Josh.” He leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Wait for me by the bar?”I nodded and stepped forward, releasing his hand. I smiled at him over my shoulder, and he winked. Jesus. It had been twenty minutes and already, I was tired of pretending I gave a shit about any of it. Although, I was questioning why I opened up to him earlier. Maybe it was because I didn't care and I knew it was vital to him falling for me. Pity, right? Poor little Sandra. I scoffed at myself.Maggie slid her arm through mine the second I reached her. “Well?”“Game on,” I whispered, smirking at Leila and Kayle.“Whooooooop!” Kayle yelled and waved to Carl. “Eight shots, two each, one two bam!”“You got it!” Carl winked
I woke up and shook my head at myself. Yesterday ran through my mind on fast-forward, and I remembered – I had a girlfriend. Fuck. That was weird.And then there was Carl. The guy had a real stick up his ass about me being with Sandra – and not that I blame him, if I was him, I probably would too. I know what half the people at the party last night were thinking. They were wondering why Sandra is so different from the others and what was so special about her. The girls were cursing her for taking what they wanted, and the guys were slinking back into their dark corners, their chances at seducing her shot to hell.Well, fuck them all.“Well?” Josh opened my door.“Don't bother knocking,” I said sarcastically, putting my phone down. “I love it when assholes barge in on me.”“Uh, yeah.” He raised an eyebrow and shut the door, sitting on my desk chair. “What was that shit about?”“I was about to kiss her. Seal the deal on this challenge then you fuckin' called me.”“Shit, man. Sorry. If I
“See this?” I waggled my little finger around the room. “He's wrapped right round it.”“I don't doubt it,” Maggie smirked. “I saw him go mental on Carl, remember?”Kayle leaned back on her bed, crossing her arms behind her head and sighing happily. “This shit is entertaining. And so fuckin' satisfying.”“Satisfying?” Leila looked at her.“Yeah. Jack Cole, Mr. Playboy himself is wrapped around little old Sandra's baby finger. He's like a fly in a spider's web.”“Except I'm not gonna eat him for dinner,” I reminded her. “I'm no cannibal.”“Well.” She rolled over slightly and waggled her eyebrows. “You could always-”“Stop,” Maggie ordered. She held her hand up. “No further, Kayle. That is quite enough.”“Filthy mind.” Leila giggled. I grinned, and Maggie pulled out the OPTP plan.“So, we're a day ahead of schedule.” She ran a finger down it. “Good going, Sands. What's happening today? Are you seeing each other?”“Uh, I'm not sure.” I smiled sheepishly. “But I finally gave him my number.
I heard Maggie's laugh before I saw her and Sandra round the corner. Company. Brilliant. I knew what she was doing here. Maggie will give me the creepy silent 411 with her eyes-thing she does.Ignoring my best friend of a lifetime, I focused on Sandra. If I was going to fake date someone, then fuck me, I choose a gem with her. Her figure was obvious even in a denim skirt and simple shirt - she was not skinny and she was not overly curvy. She had a perfect mixture of toned muscle and curve that had me itching to run my hands across every inch of her bare skin. That kiss last night didn't help matters. I felt that damn body against me.Shaking off my x-rated thoughts, I grinned at her when she stopped in front of me. She smiled at me, and I bent down slowly, cupping her head and capturing her soft lips with mine. One of her hands rested on my waist to steady her, and the other gripped the arm holding her. She responded to the kiss almost eagerly, and I was in no hurry to pull away.This
“The whole 'do you always ignore the girls you sleep with?' line was magic, Sandra. Pure freakin' magic.” Maggie laughed across the room. I paused, my mascara wand suspended in mid-air and smiled at her through the mirror. I was glad she was thinking about the plan, because I was not.I was too preoccupied with how I felt when he was touching me.When he did the hand on thigh move earlier I wanted to castrate him. Really, I wanted to rip off his gentlemanly parts and rub them against a cheese grater. Repeatedly. When he started rubbing my leg, I wanted to punch him, yet when he took his hand away I wanted to grab it and demand he left it there.That thought made me feel slightly ill. I wanted Jack to touch me, and when he did I enjoyed it. I damn well enjoyed that innocently sexy move he did with the pad of his thumb against the inside of my leg. This plan was getting dangerous.It was a week in and already I could feel a little crack against my attraction to him. Yeah, the same attra
I learned three things last night.One, Sandra fit in my arms perfectly. Two, I wanted to fuck her, badly. Like, really fuckin' badly. And three, her hair smelled like apples.It had been nine days since Josh and Austin challenged me to make Sandra fall in love with me, giving the limit of a month to do it. I wouldn't need a damn month at this rate. She was falling – and she was falling hard and fast. I gave it ten days, and I'll prove to them I can do it and then I'll walk away from her.Because, let's face it, if I was a falling in love kinda guy, I'd fall in love with someone like her. Under that curvy body, fiery hair, and behind those pretty green eyes was a girl unlike anyone I knew. I was also pretty damn sure I wouldn't meet anyone like her either.And that was the problem. When she smiled at me, really smiled, I could see her turning me into a falling in love kinda guy. That made her dangerous, too fuckin' dangerous, and I gotta get her in bed and walk away before it's too la
I tugged the zipper of my jacket up higher as a cold wind blew in off San Francisco Bay, and fought the urge to turn and ran back to the marina. I won’t run. This was something that had to be done, for me.Maggie squeezed my hand, curling into my arm, and we began to walk into the small cemetery where my mom was buried.I felt sick. Emotion stronger than I had felt in a long time swirled around my whole body, from hatred to pity, fear to anger, yet through it all … Through it all was a bit of love for the woman that tried and failed to give me life.We weaved silently through the graves and markers, heading to the back of the cemetery. I held the white rose I bought tightly, clutching it to my chest, and tried to breathe deeply.I would never forgive her and I would never forget her, but I could finally be at peace with her.The small, black marble headstone sat alongside my
I slid down from Storm’s back and patted his neck lovingly, hooking his reins around a tree branch in the shade. I took my helmet off, shook out my hair, and looked under the roots for the basket I asked June to place there earlier. Storm turned his attention to the water I had given him, and I lied the blanket out on the ground on the other side of the small tree. Excited, I sat down and waited for Austin to catch up.Palm Canyon trail was one of my favorite to take – it always had been. Sitting there by the stream and letting Storm rest was a weekly pastime before I left for Berkeley. We’d do the other trails on our other rides, but our Saturdays were always reserved for this.And now I remembered why.The green of the fauna was a stark contrast to the barren desert beyond, and the rocks that dotted the stream were just big enough to sit on. It was beautiful here. Peaceful in the winter when no one came here.“How do I get down?&
Maggie ran her hand down my body, her fingers tracing the defining lines of the muscle. I sighed deeply, pulling her closer to me, and breathed in the vanilla scent of her hair. No matter where she had been or what she had done, she always smelt like vanilla.“What are we doing today?” I asked, my fingertips following the curve of her spine right to her ass.She shuddered. “I thought we could go riding.”“I get the feeling we’re not talking about bedroom riding.”She looked up at me, her hair messy, and smiled. “No. Horse riding. I don’t go at college and I miss it.”“I’ve never ridden a horse.”“I’ll teach you.”“Um.”“You taught me to fish,” she reminded me. “You made me fish!”“I guess there’s no way around this, huh?”She shook her head, rolling on top of me. Her knees went either side of my hips, trapping me, and her hair fell around my face. She slowly lowered her face to mine, sucking my bottom lip into her mouth and grazing her teeth across it. I slid my hands along her thighs
“This is going to be a disaster,” Maggie muttered, pulling onto a street with houses worth more than I could ever dream of making. Most were three-story buildings, all with driveways, garages and perfectly pruned front yards.I fidgeted in my seat. A small voice in the back of my mind whispered about the differences in our lives. It reminded me how different it was here compared to where I started life in San Francisco. I glanced at Maggie and told the voice to fuck off.My past doesn’t define who I am. The here and now does.Gramps whistled low. “What, you got a pool and all?”“Hope you brought your swimming trunks,” she commented in a chipper voice.“Good job I did, then.” Gramps patted his stomach. “Love a good swim.”She turned the car onto a driveway leading to one of the three-story houses. The drive was lined by circular bushes and winter flowers. I looked up at the hou
Everything was easier when the secret was out. Now I didn’t have to worry about looking at Austin wrong or saying something that might look suspicious. I didn’t have to watch my every movement, bite my tongue or clench my fists so I didn’t touch him.And I loved it.I loved that we could just be.I didn’t care about the whispers from people outside our circle of friends, the ones who didn’t know the truth, and I didn’t care about the looks that came from other girls. I just cared that I could fall into his arms when I found him standing outside my classroom, just like he was now.“Shakespeare hasn’t killed you yet, then,” he said as he smiled at me, taking my hand.I looked over at him. “No, not yet, but there’s every possibility of it in the future.”“Not a damn chance.”“How
“Are you telling me I could be standing here all day and not catch a thing?”Gramps cacklesd across the boat. “That’s exactly what he’s telling you!”I turned my face toward Austin, and he grinned. “What?”“I can’t believe I got roped into this.” This was ridiculous. I ate fish. I didn’t catch it. Hell.“Hey.” His hands fell to my hips and he nudged my collar from my neck with his nose. His lips brushed the skin of my neck. “This was your idea, remember?”“Yes …” My idea for them.Austin’s nose ran up and down my neck, his breath hot against me, and I swallowed.“So you didn’t get roped into anything. You had to know that you’d end up fishing,” he reasoned.“Mhmm.”“So why are you so surprised?”I shivered when he took a deep breath and exhaled against my skin. His hands slid down my sides to the front pockets of my jeans. He placed his fingers in them, spreading them out and stroking my legs, before taking them back out.“I’m not,” I whispered.“Then don’t complain.” He was smiling a
“What are we doing?” I asked as Maggie tugged me towards my car.“It’s Sunday,” she said simply. “We’re going to see your Gramps.”“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you have a damn picnic basket with you.”“Fine – we’re going to see your Gramps and take him out for the day. Better?” She raised an eyebrow at me, and I grinned, starting the engine up.“Much. But where are we going?”“You’ll see.”She settled back in her seat, smiling to herself. If I’d hoped to get any clues from her outfit, I’d definitely not got any luck. Her jeans, jacket, and boots were nothing out of the ordinary – but her tied up hair was.Not that it meant anything in particular … Apart from making me want to nuzzle her bare neck.We pulled up outside Gramps’ house and got out. When I opened the door, I wa
The rough bark of the tree dug into my back. Apart from with Maggie, outside was the only place that gave me peace. Even as I waited for the inevitable conversation with Jack – the one where I’ll have to admit why I need her so much. He deserved that much after what we had done to him, and I was ready for it. Because of Maggie I was finally ready to start opening up about my life.“Still a spacey bastard.” He smirked.“No fist in my eye?” I smirked back at him.He shrugged a shoulder. “I considered it. Several fucking times. Then figured it just ain’t worth it since I’d probably get more punches from those damn girls than it’s worth.”He was probably right.“But that doesn’t mean I won’t kick the shit out of you if you break her fucking heart.”“I wasn’t joking when I said I loved her yesterday,” I said bluntly, staring him down with t
My heart was in complete contradiction of itself. Lying there in Austin’s arms, half of it was lighter than it had been in the last few weeks. The lightness came from the truth being told. But the other half was heavy, like a lead weight was holding it down and pinning it to the ground.I shifted, and Austin’s grip on me tightened. I ran my fingers through his hair, smoothing it back from his face, and studied him. Now he looked like he was at peace. The lines on his forehead I had seen so many times were now completely smooth, his mouth was slightly open, and his breathing was even and steady.But his peace had come at the torment of my best friend – who was somewhere in this house, probably awake. He’d be hating himself for being mad at me, happy I found the love he had, and guilty I felt like I couldn’t tell him.In fact he wouldn’t be at the house. I knew exactly where he’ll be.I climbed out of bed, and there