by B. B. Reid
She blinked a few times, seeming to come out of her trance and shrugged. “She’s usually home by now, but she may be out with Jackson.”
“Jackson?”
“The PI guy she hired to investigate my parent’s disappearance. Remember?”
I’d forgotten all about her aunt’s bogus book tour.
I shed my jacket and brought her down to sit on my lap. She looked panicked again as her eyes searched mine. “What?”
“My aunt saw the papers. She won’t like you being here.”
“I’m not about to leave you alone, baby.” Her aunt would have to deal.
She shot up from my lap and fisted her hands on her hips. “This is getting out of hand. You need to go to the police about your father.”
“What?” My fists clenched in my lap from the need to touch her and drag her back into my lap. The only thing keeping me sane was her.
“Your father is trying to kill you, your brother, and your uncle for inheritance money. Don’t you think it’s time you do something?”
“Mitch will be taken care of.”
“So you are going to chance going to jail again?”
“I didn’t realize you cared so much.” I smirked up at her. The fury in her eyes danced and blazed brighter.
“You don’t seem to care enough. What if he comes after me again?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” My voice lowered dangerously.
“Yes. You are here, and he’s still out there.”
“I’m doing what I can, Lake. At some point, it’s going to have to be enough!”
I didn’t mean to snap at her, and judging by the hurt look on her face, I knew I had fucked up.
“I think you should go.”
I stood up, ready to apologize, but when I reached for her and she moved away with a cold look in her eyes, I felt my own anger flare.
“Fuck this,” I spat.
I had noticed her flinch before I stormed out. I thought to wait outside so she wouldn’t be left unprotected and would feel safe, knowing I was still here, but I wanted to punish her, so I got in my car and pulled out of the driveway to park down the street.
Just as I left the driveway, another car I recognized as her aunt pulled in. I watched as she passed, and when we made eye contact, I didn’t miss the icy glare she shot my way.
* * *
Saturday morning practice required me to be up at six a.m.
I didn’t need to drag myself out of bed because I stayed in my car the entire night staring up at her window. I knew the exact moment she went to bed, and it was all I could do not to climb through her bedroom window and make her forgive me.
I rubbed the sleep from my face and reached to turn the ignition when an unexpected knock sounded at my window. I tensed but relaxed infinitesimally when I saw who was standing outside my car.
I rolled down the window and took in the older, near replica of Lake. “Ms. Anderson?”
“I need to talk to you if you don’t mind.” I studied her carefully before climbing out of the car. I could tell by her body language that whatever it was wouldn’t be good. I slid my hands into my front pockets and assumed a casual stance against my car door.
“How do you know Mario Fulton?”
I’m not sure how much time had passed with me standing frozen. Being who I am there wasn’t much that surprised me, but hearing my former mentor’s name come from her did the trick. When I said nothing, she pressed further.
“You have had numerous dealings with him over the past few weeks, none of which I’m sure were legal.”
It felt like a slap in the face to realize I wasn’t as careful as I thought. “And you know this how?”
“Let me just get to the point. I want you to stay away from my niece.”
“And somehow your niece has something to do with Mario? What would that have to do with me?”
“I know you having dealings with him, and I know you were the one to murder those poor kids.”
“Apparently, you don’t know as much as you believe.” I waited for the bait to take, and when it did, I drove on. “Those poor kids, as you like to describe them, were the worst kind of enemy for your niece.”
“Worse than you?” she countered. A few months ago, she would have been right, but a lot had changed, including me. She seemed good at measuring people. I recognized the calculating shift of her eyes. She didn’t carry the same naiveté her niece did. She seemed to find whatever answer she was looking for because she turned to go.
“Mrs. Anderson,” I called.
She turned back and pinned me with an angry stare. “It’s Ms.”
“Well, isn’t that a shame?” I flashed a sarcastic smile to which she didn’t even flinch.
So much for family genes.
“How do you know Mario Fulton?”
For a moment, she looked like she would answer, but she only said, “Stay away from my niece, or I’ll have you arrested.” She walked away, and I was forced to simply watch her retreating form as she left me in suspense. I would have to do digging on my own.
Something else about Mario I could store for later. This war just kept getting better.
As for Monroe, I would stay away for now, but I had no intention of letting her go. She would have to be pried from my cold, lifeless fingers.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lake
February
The grocery store was filled with the typical Sunday afternoon shoppers. Aunt Carissa was deeply involved in her next novel so that left me to take over the reigns, which included grocery shopping.
I hated grocery shopping.
Aunt Carissa would always get annoyed when I would come back with junk food and frozen dinners, which led to her having to do the shopping herself.
“Well, the good thing is we won’t starve,” she would comment. Hours later, additional groceries would magically appear without explanation.
Over the last two months, the relationship between us had been strained and becoming more so as time passed. The day Keiran stormed from our house, she confronted me about him and accused me of keeping secrets before forbidding me to see him. She never explained why and I never asked her to. She was right, of course. I did keep secrets.
The only part of our argument I fought internally was staying away from Keiran, but the feat proved easier than I thought. The decision was made for me Monday morning at school when Keiran breezed past me as if I didn’t exist. Not a glance or even a flicker of acknowledgment. I might as well have been a ghost.
I told myself I didn’t care and it would be the last time Keiran played me for his fool, but later that same day I had confronted him in the hallway before lunch:
“Am I invisible?”
His eyes flickered over me hungrily before dimming to a bored dull. “Can I help you?”
“You aren’t still upset about Friday, are you?”
“Upset? No.” He shrugged and pushed off from the wall he was leaning against. I expected him to invade my space as he was fond of doing, but he maintained his distance with a shit eating grin. “I just decided someone as ungrateful as you are isn’t worth going to jail for.”
Keiran was back to being the revered basketball star of Bainbridge High, and I was once again invisible and unimportant… at least to the masses. I clung to Willow and Sheldon for support, and they seemed to do the same.
Ten frozen dinners and many sugary sweets later, I was ready to check out when the voice of a stranger stopped me.
“Wow. You’re prettier than I expected you to be.”
I looked around curiously, not really expecting the comment to have been directed at me, but when I saw the owner of the voice look me over, I knew I was the intended audience.
“I’m sorry?” I studied the tall, dark-haired girl who looked around my age.
She flipped her well-glossed hair over her shoulder, rested her manicured hand on her hips, and asked, “So are you her?”
“I guess that depends on who ‘her’
is supposed to be.”
A sly smile spread across her lips as she continued to watch me. “I can see why he likes you so much. You’re just as warm as he is,” she sarcastically answered.
“Well, it was nice meeting you.” This girl reeked of trouble, and I had enough of it to last me ten lifetimes. Why was she so interested in who I was anyway? I’ve never even seen her before.
“Wait,” she called out.
Despite my better judgment, I did just as she asked. Her heels clicked against the tile floor as she closed the distance between us. Who wore heels to a grocery store anyway? I almost laughed when I remembered thinking a similar thought about Anya and her habit of wearing stilettos for any occasion.
“Could you at least tell me your name?”
“I’d rather not so—”
“I’m Diana,” she offered. “I’m a friend of Keiran.”
A friend of Keiran? How could this girl, whom I’ve never met or seen before, be a friend of Keiran? She smiled slyly at what I was sure to be an astonished look.
“So at least we’ve established that you do know Keiran.”
“How do you know Keiran?”
“He’s a friend of my father. Apparently, they have history. Anyway, I’m here visiting. Maybe we should get together and hang out sometime.”
I would rather chew my own arm off.
“Who is your father?” I found myself asking.
“Mario Fulton.”
“Mario is your father?”
Her eyes narrowed at my question as if she had the right to be suspicious of me. “Do you know my father?”
“Not quite. His name came up few times.”
“Interesting.” She twirled her finger in her hair, feigning indifference. “About what?”
“This and that.”
“So are you going to tell me your name?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I hear you are a very special girl.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Don’t you want to know why?”
“Sure,” I answered impatiently. I had little interest in what she had to say. “Why?”
“Because it takes someone special to actually throw away cock as good as his.” She grabbed her receipt from the self-checkout machine at the same time I did and flounced from the store. I followed behind her at a slow pace hoping she would be gone by the time I exited the store.
When I finally did, it was in time to see her hop in the familiar black muscle car. The engine roared to life before speeding away, taking my stomach and heart with it.
* * *
“That bitch!” I watched Sheldon pace back and forth across the floor of her bedroom. Willow was curled around a pillow with me, rubbing my back. “Ugh. What a smarmy bitch,” she continued. I’d just finished telling them about my encounter with Diana at the store. “I knew she was no good.”
“Wait… You knew about her?”
A guilty flush spread over her skin as she sunk down on the bed. “Yes. I didn’t mean to keep it from you. It’s just that I’ve been so wrapped up in everything that happened with Keenan, I—”
I touched her hand to stop her. “It’s okay. I understand.”
Sheldon had just begun to come out of her shell, and I think it had everything to do with Keenan being released from the hospital a month ago. He hadn’t been back at school because of his lung. The patch on his lung was fragile at best, and the condition of his release required he stay in bed. I talked to him at least once a week, and according to him, anything was better than the hospital.
I wondered if Keiran still planned to go along with his idea to get Keenan a lung. It had been three months and nothing had happened. Finding out today that Keiran was still dealing with Mario, and even worse, babysitting his daughter, had me reeling.
“No, it’s not okay,” Sheldon’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “That wouldn’t be the way I would want to find out.”
“How long has she been staying with him?”
“Three months?”
I felt my heart drop to my stomach, which twisted in pain. She was there when he was with me. Granted, we were only together for a week, but he laid claim to me long before.
“Yes, but I really don’t think he has touched her.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Other than the fact that he can’t stand her?”
I nodded. “Well, I think her and Quentin have history.”
“What? How?” This came from Willow, who had been silent until now.
Sheldon ran down the entire story of the day she had met Diana, and by the time she had finished, I was as stumped as I was when I met her.
“Well, you know what they say—if you lay down with dogs, you are sure to wake up with fleas.” I laughed at Sheldon’s apparent dislike for the girl who was intent on making sure she wasn’t liked. My laughter died when I thought of an idea.
“I think I know how to make myself feel better.”
“You do?”
“How?” Willow questioned suspiciously.
“Ctenocephalides canis.”
* * *
Rihanna’s S&M blasted from the speakers as I made my way to school the next morning with my plan fully formulated. I bounced in the seat to the beat of the music.
All day, I rehashed my plan over and over, and when lunch finally came, I was bouncing with vindictive excitement. I skipped the cafeteria altogether and made my way to the tree where Collin sat with his usual abundance of books.
“Hey, Collin.”
He looked startled as he looked up at me. “H—hi.”
“I kind of have a favor to ask you.”
“A favor?”
“Yes. I know we don’t know each other well and this may be wrong of me to ask but I’m pretty desperate.”
“What do you need?”
“Fleas.”
“Fleas?” He pushed his glasses up his nose and peered up at me. “Why?”
“Revenge,” I answered truthfully. He didn’t react. In fact, he barely looked bothered at all by my answer. Being picked on and ridiculed for the last four years probably stirred similar feelings a time or two.
“Well, it’s winter so they will be pretty hard to get…”
“But I bet you know how, don’t you?”
He reluctantly nodded and then took me by surprise when he asked, “What do I get in return?”
“What would you like?”
“Well… um.” He blushed and ducked his head, which gave me a pretty good idea of what he was thinking.
“I’m not paying for fleas with sex.”
His eyes widened when he looked back up. “No. Not sex. A kiss.”
“A kiss?”
“Yes. I’ve never kissed a girl before.”
I mulled it over and just as his face started to burn redder from embarrassment, I made my decision. “Sure. A kiss it is, but when and where I say. Deal?”
“Deal.”
I sat down to eat lunch with him and to get to know him. If I was going to be his first kiss, then I felt it was the least I could do. In truth, I was honored. I could tell Collin was a good person and maybe with a little time we could actually be friends.
The rest of my classes, including fifth period, were a breeze because, instead of feeling nervous, on edge, and sexually frustrated, I calculated and planned. By the end of the day, I was practically rubbing my hands together.
Before showing up at Keiran’s house, I called ahead to make sure he was at practice, and Diana was apparently being watched by Quentin. Surprisingly, Collin was able to supply me with the fleas right after school. As it turns out, his basement was a museum for various bugs. Go figure. I haven’t paid him his kiss yet, but I’d already warned him it would definitely be a public one. The larger the crowd, the better.
Keenan answered the door, shirtless and dressed only in sweats. He snatched the bag of burgers he made me bring him from my hands before retreating into the
kitchen. I called out to tell him I was going to use the bathroom before disappearing up the stairs. He had no clue what I actually came here to do. I was here under the pretense of wanting to visit a friend. It’s not that I didn’t trust Keenan, but I couldn’t risk the chance of him talking me out of it. Besides… who would willingly allow fleas in their house?
I snuck around upstairs, looking for the guest bedroom where Diana would likely be staying in. If she isn’t actually sleeping with Keiran.
I pushed open the door directly next to Keiran’s room and hit the jackpot. It was blatantly clear the room had been inhabited by a female and for a long time now. I fought back the flare of anger and shrugged off the bag on my shoulders. As tempted as I was to snoop, I didn’t have much time before Keenan would get suspicious and come looking for me.
I removed the jars he instructed me to keep warm and carefully opened the first. The pillows were my first victim before I moved on to the sheets and then her clothes. Satisfied, I made my way to the bathroom and the shower where, just as I suspected, there was a feminine bottle of shampoo and conditioner. Opening the caps, I dumped a few fleas inside before screwing them back tight and hoping they would survive. I was down to my last jar, which I saved for the best part. I made my way back down the hall and pushed through Keiran’s bedroom door. His room was exactly as it had been when I was last here during a much darker time. I remembered most how he humiliated me when he used my mouth for the first time.
It pushed me to do what I needed to.
I went through the same ritual I did with Diana’s room before making my way back downstairs. Keenan was inhaling his last bite when I walked in the kitchen.
“Took you long enough,” he remarked without looking up from collecting his trash.
“Well, you know how we girls like to primp.”
He cut his eye at me and pursed his lips. “So it would seem.”
He was suspicious but didn’t press further. I shrugged and followed him out to the living room where we watched movies until it was no longer safe for me to be there without running into Keiran.