A very thin, beautiful woman with dyed honey blonde hair was hurrying over to us, with a quite handsome older man in tow. I'm terrified to know how bad this was going to be.
"Aw, there you are, Brandy!" She smiled. "You look more like your father every day."
"We all have flaws." Lee joked before she wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Brandy." The older man said.
"Uncle Zeke." They shook hands.
The woman looked me up and down with what I hope is intrigue. "Is this the girl then?"
"Yes. Uncle Zeke, Aunt Holly, this is my amazing girlfriend, Scarlett."
Zeke enthusiastically shook my hand, but Holly seemed less enthused.
The rest of dinner was wonderful. The food was amazing, the wine was smooth and everytime Hal had something bad to say about Lee, I had something good to say. After dinner Hal wanted a group photo. "Scarlett, why don't you and Brantley come to the center?" Hal asked. "Oh we're fine on the edge." Lee assured him. "What do you want her on the edge so we can cut her out if you mess up and lose her? Come to the middle." We obliged. It would be pretty hard to cut me out of this picture. I was now cemented in Windsor history forever. We went back to the banquet-like room and it was completely different for dessert. Rich people are insane.
"Leave her alone, babe." Harper said half heartedly. "Anyway, Scarlett, where did you get those fake red bottoms? They almost look like the real thing." "Probably because they are." I smirked. I lifted up my foot to show her. "It's okay, not everyone can tell the difference between a fake and designer." "Ooh, I like her." Nia whispered to Theo. Harper gave me a fake smile. "Whatever." "Gentleman!" Hal called. "It's time." "Time for what?" I asked. "All the guys are gonna go smoke cigars." Nia informed me. "Ooh, I wanna go." I told Lee. "It's kind of just a guy thing." Lee said. "You
We kept talking sex until we saw all the older gentlemen enter again. The room smelled of cigar smoke, which I was kind of about."Where's the boys?" I asked."The study." Addison rolled her eyes.We swapped sex stories quietly as we drank champange. The older adults acted as though we weren't there and were still mingling amongst themselves."Alright, I'm going to the study." I announced. "I'm in need of Lee's giving nature.""Scarlett, you can't." Harper said. "That's the boy's place.""Is there a law against it?" The girls shook their heads. "Then I'm going.""It's an unspoken rule though." Addison insisted. "The study is for the bo
I woke up from the most gorgeous sleep ever the next morning. It was pitch black and for a moment I was confused until I remembered the blackout curtains around the bed.The way Lee was breathing indicates that he's still asleep. I decided to let him be. I felt around for my phone and slipped out of bed.It's actually a beautiful, sunny day. For once the sun doesn't bother me.I went out and stood on the balcony. The property was truly amazing. From where I was, I could see several giant pools, a tennis court, a few fire pits, lots of furniture, and a freakin helicopter."Remarkable, isn't it?"I turned to my right and saw Roland on his balcony shirtless."Yeah, it's impressive. I
I had never told anyone this, but I had this irrational fear of horses. I know they're sweet animals, but they're so goddamn big and it's pretty intimidating. I plan to stay as far away as possible.I was wildly pleased with the box seats. People kept bringing us champagne and food, and I loved it."We're gonna go to the sidelines." Keaton announced. "Any of you girls wanna come?""No." I answered. "We'll be just fine here, thanks."They all looked at us strangely but left us alone."Okay girls, how were your nights?" I asked."I'll go first." Nia said confidently. "Theo was so horny last night. He was all over me. Things got so wild, I broke my shoe. It was too good last night."
"Lee, can we talk?" I asked, pausing the TV before another episode."Are you not happy here? Do you want to go? Is it all too much? God I knew it. I got in too deep with you too early and we took this huge step and it's way too much for you. I'm such an idiot! How could I think you really felt about me the way I feel about you? You're too good for me and you always have been. And I'm sure seeing me around my family makes you realize how much of a loser I really am. You choose him. Of course you do. Why would I think you didn't?""I see my lunatic ranting has rubbed off on you." I smiled.""You…you don't want to leave me?""Of course not, babe, I'm having fun.""Oh so what do you want to talk about then?" He asked. I co
We didn't speak about what happened until we were back at the mansion."I'm guessing it's not the first time he's done something like that?""What you just saw was a watered down version of one of the many Christmases he ruined. Broken glass, alcohol spilled everywhere, crying, screaming that's what it always was with him. One year for Christmas he got me a collection of snowglobes and they were all broken by the end of the night.""Shit, Scar, I can't even imagine. I-I didn't think it was that bad." Lee whispered."I try to pretend it wasn't. Because you know what's worse than the screaming and broken glass?" He shook his head. "The silence. The quiet dinners and the sound of silverware hitting the plates. Just me and mom at the table."
Now looking at Roland I kinda recognized him. It was easy to see why I didn't at first. That time was such a blur.A smirk came across Roland's face. "Does the golden trade mean anything to you Scarlett? Sex for drugs?""It might." I said stubbornly."And I might be inclined to tell Brandy all about it. Unless of course…""What do you want?" I asked. He couldn't blackmail me. Lee already knows all about it. But I was curious."What I wanted then. Another night with you. I won't tell Brandy about anything. The drugs...us. None of it baby."I couldn't help but laugh. "You really think I'm an idiot, don't you, Roland? This deal of yours has no winning situation for me. If I do
What was wrong with me? Why was I putting myself and the boys through this all over again? Things were kind of normal. I had a routine and Grayson and Lee were my friends and I just wrecked them by having sex with both of them in the span of fourteen hours. How stupid could I be? But also what was wrong with them? Making deals behind my back and deciding what I could and couldn’t do. They infuriated me! I was surprised later that night when there was a knock on my door. It was Lee and Grayson. “What do you want?” I asked. “We should all talk.” Grayson said. “Why? You two talk enough. You make deals and decisions without me. You don’t want to keep doing that?” “Scarlett, come on.” Lee groaned. “Just let us in.” I clicked my tongue, but let them in. They sat on the couch and I took the armchair. “What do you want?” I asked. “To talk about how you both fucked me and then told me it was a m
“Grayson, I’m sorry.” I groaned, sliding off of the island. “I didn’t even think of that!”“You seriously haven’t thought about it? At all?” He demanded, sitting up.“A little, I guess. But I thought I was supposed to be focusing on my sobriety!”“Of course that’s important, but I would think things would be clearer than ever right now. That you would know what you want now.”“I never know what I want, Gray.” I knelt next to him. “I’m honestly shocked you guys even still want to be with me.”Grayson went back to fixing the sink. “How many times do we have to tell you how much we love you?”“I thought you moved on! You had girlfriends!”“I went on a date, geez, Scarlett! I thought about you every single second of the day! I missed you like crazy. And now I’ve been doing everyt
One month of sobriety.It’s been an interesting time. I decided to get a plant like they suggested we did. I named him Herman.Herman has been doing incredibly well so far. He’s stunning and gets a lot of light from the window sill.Getting back into work was shockingly easy. Rex Adams was wonderfully supportive and all my coworkers were nice. It felt so good to be back in business again.My friends were so proud of me. They saw the lifestyle change I’d made and commended me for my hard work. It felt good that someone was proud of me again. Rudy was doing some traveling and was trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He said being a drug dealer no longer made him happy.I saw Grayson and Lee the most. We’re friends for now. Being in a relationship could really mess up my sobriety so we’re taking this slow and learning how to live with the new me.I’d been attending NA mee
A week later, I was released from the hospital. I was meant to go straight to the facility. It was the middle of the day on Wednesday, so only Grayson, Lee and Rudy could be there for me. It was almost symbolic. The three catalysts for my relapse were helping me get help. Grayson was right. The facility was insanely nice. My last one was a bit more off the grid to keep anyone from finding out. This didn’t seem like a place that people went to get better. It looked more like vacation. “This looks like a rehabilitation center for a doll,” I stated. “It’s really nice, Scar.” Grayson replied. “So am I rehab barbie?” Rude chuckled slightly. “Is now the time for jokes, Letty?” “There’s always time for jokes,” I shrugged. We parked and the boys grabbed my bags. A part of me wanted to run. I knew this was my choice, but I still wasn’t thrilled about going back. I was still on me
Grayson’s POVSometimes there are moments in life when time slows down completely. Like someone hit the slow-mo button and you’re forced to watch either some of the best or worst moments slowly unfold and you’re unable to do anything about it.I’ve had a few moments like that. When I first met Scarlett, when I found her overdosed on the bathroom floor, when I first kissed her, the night she told me she loved me, finding out about her and Lee, when the car crashed. And then there was tonight.Rudy said that Scarlett was in trouble and to call an ambulance. I swear we were all moving quickly to get to that park, but it all felt like it was happening at snail speed.When we arrived at the park, I could see Scarlett. She was lying so still on the jungle gym. Once again it felt like it took forever to reach her.Tears filled my eyes when I saw her. She wasn’t breathing.I forced myself to start CPR
Lee’s POVThis was horrifying.Scarlett’s behavior was unlike anything I’d ever seen. The Wrenfords had been right about how she was in this state. I could tell she was breaking Grayson’s heart with her words, but he still stood there and took it.He really loved her.I stepped forward. “Scarlett, babe please. It’s me. Will you just talk to us?”“I’m done talking, Lee? Aren’t you? All we do is talk! About our daddy issues and insecurities, I don’t want to talk anymore. Especially not to you. You ruined everything!”“What?”“I was happy before you. I had a plan and you eviscerated it within months! You tricked me into falling in love with you!”“Tricked? I didn’t make you fall in love with me, I told you not to!” I reminded her.“Right because your family is always telling you you’re nothing.
Lee’s POVI was pretty fucked up after Scarlett didn’t choose me. However, I was relieved that she didn’t really choose anyone. I thought for sure she would go with Grayson. He was the obvious choice.Older, more intelligent and sophisticated, they had a history.I was actually kind of proud that she chose herself and wanted to truly figure out who she was. I was hoping that meant she would come back to me.I hated how weak and lonely I was without her. My bed was lonely and after all that time without sex, I was craving it badly.Enter Rebecca Walsh.She was stunning, sexy, and liked to have fun. I knew I wouldn’t be serious about her, but I needed to at least feel satisfied.It worked, but only up to a point. I could get off and feel sexually fulfiled for a few moments and then the emptiness set in.Now that I had made love, just fucking felt so useless. It didn’t give me
“Lee?” I asked.“Um...hey there, Scar.” Lee smiled slightly. “You look...great.”“Thank you! You do too! I mean you always look great. You’re Lee Windsor, that’s kind of your thing. Looking hot. You’re just hot.”“Uh...thanks babe. I mean Scarlett.”“Babe,” I giggled. “Isn’t that such a strange word like doesn’t it mean baby, which is like an infant, but also another pet name who comes up with this shit?”“Can we talk? Alone?” Lee questioned.“Sure,” I turned to Rudy. “I’ll be right back babe.” I kissed him before following Lee.“So...that’s your new boyfriend?” Lee whispered.“Yeah, I guess. It’s not serious...but like it is pretty serious. He drives me to work a-and home. And he met everyone for the first time tonight, which made m
It had been two months since I broke my sobriety.I loved life.I had something of a routine. I would do a few lines when I woke up, Rudy would drive me to work, I’d snort for lunch, and when I got off there was Rudy to take me to whatever wild party was happening. We would get high, have sex and party all night until we passed out. Then we woke up and did it all over again.I of course made time for my friends so they didn’t suspect that anything was wrong with me. My limited communication with Grayson and Lee continued. Both had tried to explain the girls, but I didn’t want to hear it.I had moved on.On quieter nights, Rudy and I got high alone and watched stupid movies and fucked on my couch. Our relationship was both severely codependent and low maintenance.We simply wanted what we needed from each other.It sounded complicated but was wonderfully simple.“Hey wh