Hate Me Like You Do, page 6
There's an evil in him. I've seen it. I've seen how he threatens guys. Girls too really. Not the typical I'll kick your ass threats that come naturally to anyone.
No. These are fuck with Violet again and I'll bury your mother under your back porch.
That's the threat he gave Damon the morning after he caught the sleazy fuck in bed with her.
Those are the type of things about my life long friend that keep me from ever really crossing him. That and I’m not willing to get kicked out of his house... yet.
So I won’t talk to Dee. I won’t help Dee.
And it’s killing me.
“What’s the best way to forget your woes?” I think out loud to myself as I pull a large bottle of tequila from the Reyes family liquor cabinet. “Ah, my old friend.”
Reed saunters in and before I can look up a football flies toward my face. I nearly drop the glass bottle while fumbling for the ball. “What kind of woes could you possibly have?” His pale brows lift with arrogance while I continue to try and grasp the awkward ball.
Reed has impeccably bad timing. I chalk it up to him being praised for handling his balls all damn day instead of using his head every once in a while.
“I’ve been thinking–” I pause as Knox walks into the quiet den, raising his eyebrows at me.
“You do an awful lot of thinking, Landon," Knox says flatly.
His emotionless voice doesn't deter the blatant challenge in his dark gleaming gaze.
“Hear me out.”
Knox and Reed exchange expressions, Reed’s is mocking while Knox's is unamused. With a harsh toss, I let the football loose with my target being Reed’s chest. He snatches it from the air with ease, his large frame shaking with a shallow laugh.
It only slightly pisses me off how easy he made that look. I'd love to see him maintain that confidence during a basic Bio 101 exam.
The moment Beth Winston stops doing his homework for him he’s going to be fucked.
“Listening,” Reed draws the word out with a taunting smirk.
Knox jumps up, seating himself on the edge of the glossy countertop. I’d say that blank face he’s giving me means he is very interested.
Maybe.
Most would think this particular expression was of mild annoyance or even a bit of apathy. After all, when you’ve been friends with Knox Reyes for over nine years you come to know the subtle differences.
If he was annoyed his lips would have a slight frown in them. Apathy would give him that far off look in his eyes. Interest, however, is this keen gaze with the smallest tinge of a lift in his left eyebrow.
Interest is indeed the look he wears now. That’s how I know he is going to say yes.
I grab another bottle from the cabinet and hold my arms out in an open invitation as if I’m speaking to a large crowd instead of my two best friends. “Let’s get drunk tonight. Just the three of us.”
“What?” Reed whines. “I’m not wasting my fun alter ego on the two of you losers.”
Ah, yes. Who could forget that Reed becomes “Reedleton” after two-ish shots of Grey Goose. You’d think he was secretly some sort of sorority girl. I fight not to roll my eyes.
“We should throw a party.” Reed looks expectantly at me. “It’s the first weekend. We survived one week. We deserve a party after all that.”
I mean we did survive. Somehow so did Dee. Fuck I survived not dropping to my knees and begging between her thighs for forgiveness so that's certainly something.
“You’re an idiot.” Knox balances his chin atop his tattooed fist. That’s code for ‘keep talking you’ll probably convince me.’
The glass bottles clink against the sleek quartz countertops as I set them down and try not to get too excited. I foresee some trouble, good trouble, in the future. The very best kind of trouble. The kind where you teeter on the edge of fun and could get you locked up in jail for a hot minute.
I know it wouldn’t be Knox’s first stint in jail for an evening. It would be for me though, so perhaps I’ll make an attempt to play it safe. If and only if I can keep “Reedleton” under control.
He's an idiot when he’s sober. Imagine how he is after two tiny shots of vodka.
“Are we going to warn Dee?” My teeth rake against the inside of my lip trying to be inconspicuous about how fucking bad I want to warn her.
Is it working? Doubtful. I'll try again subtly. “Should we not have any girls… stay over right now?"
I’ve seen the girls this week. The guys at school, they couldn’t care less about the Dee drama, the girls, the girls are eating this shit up and just sprinkling their own cruelty on top of it all.
Reed grunts. “Wow, Landon.”
“What, Reed? You have something to say?”
"You're pussyless whipped."
God that phrase is fucking atrocious. Judging by his ridiculously proud smirk I'd say he disagrees.
Knox silently folds his arms over his chest, pulling at the black inky lines around his biceps, watching us carefully. Does he know the weight of what he’s asked us to do to Dee? Am I the only one who feels it?
This has to be something with his dad. Knox only does stupid shit when his dad demands it. Stupid, reckless, dangerous things.
Like ruin this girl’s life.
“You’re just trying to be a cock block all because you feel fucking bad. That’s it, isn’t it? You said you could do it but when it all comes down to it, you feel bad.” Reed sticks out his lip in a dramatically excessive pouty face. "Poor fucking Landon can't handle being seen as the bad guy for once."
He’s mocking you, Landon. Don’t let him get away with it. Don’t let them know how you really feel. Don’t let them know you broke the only rule there ever was.
Don’t let them know.
Don’t let them know.
The words sing in a worried frantic rant inside my head.
“Fuck off. I’m just saying, she’s just a girl. Does she really deserve all this?”
Knox leans forward as if he knows the meaning behind my words, that heavy stare growing darker by the second.
Why is he so determined to ruin Dee’s stay here? Why is he pushing us so hard to drive her out of this house before the end of the semester?
I guess the better question I should be asking myself is… Do I want her to leave?
“You won’t tell Violet anything.” Knox’ voice is gravelly and low.
Threatening.
Deep inside me I feel a tangling tug of emotions. Listen to Knox and drive Dee away, or betray my friends and keep Dee around.
Maybe the small bout of feelings I caught over the summer for her is a fleeting thing. They’ll go away if she does. Yes, drive Dee away. Keep my friends. Let my feelings go.
Shit, I sound like that Elsa soundtrack my little sister's obsessed with.
“Yeah, don’t shove this shit off on us too like you’re fucking Christian Christ over there.”
I swear if Reed makes one more comment like that I’ll knock his big head off his shoulders. I dare a second glance at Knox. He doesn’t meet my gaze but a smile quirks the edge of his lips as he glances at Reed.
“You really dug through your beginner's Bible for that one, huh?” he says with a hint of happiness shining in his eyes.
Reed gives a half smirk and makes a jerking off motion with one hand, the other already reaching for his phone; the two things I’m sure he’s fantastic at.
But Mr. Captain of the football team has lots of connections. Connections I’m sure will be flooding the Reyes’s property before the night is over drunk and high.
There is nothing else for me to say, I guess. So I pull a shot glass down from the cupboard, setting it right side up before pouring myself a shot. Amber liquid sloshes in, the deep smell of whiskey flooding my senses in calming waves.
The room temperature glass meets my lips and I let the alcohol slide down my throat, the warmth of it quickly prickling over my body.
Rolling my stiff shoulders, I turn back to my friends, Reed excitedly tapping on his phone, Knox watching him type away.
Something bad is brewing in his twisted mind. I give him an equally wicked smile but he simply watches me with that unnerving gaze of his.
Keep my friends. Let my feelings go.
I try not to let my mind wander too much. It’s a dangerous thing. Knox is right. I think too much.
Yet I let my thoughts go there, I go back to those moments where we were sprawled together across the open living room floor, books open around us. Over the summer I tried to help give her a headstart on the math she struggles with so much before the whole… incident happened.
I cringe. Don’t think about that.
Dee rolled to her back leaving behind her open book with a groan of frustration. “Landon, my brain feels fried.”
I let the book I was holding go and pushed it to the side with a quiet thud, watching her. Her pale hair was fanned out against the gold and green rug, the muted colors pulling out the forest green in her eyes. Surprisingly, she didn’t have a single freckle with all that smooth ivory skin.
Didn’t all fair skinned girls sport some sort of brown speckles across their cheeks? Maybe most, but not her. Her skin’s perfect and soft.
Addicting.
When we came down to study, I had watched Dee turn on every light and lamp the room had to offer. She even thoughtfully struck up a fire in the fireplace even though the heat of summer was in full swing.
I laughed at her when she did, asking if the room was bright enough for her. But now I don’t mind as she lies here, the light showing off every perfect thing about her imperfect face.
When I first met her I’d thought the space between her eyes was odd looking and the way her nose turned up at the end made her look like a snob. Be that as it may, now I looked at those same features and thought how beautiful they made her. How those small things that were wired into her genetics made her… Dee.
All I saw was full smiling lips and even fuller breasts pushing at the thin fabric of her shirt.
I leaned closer to her, loving every inch of her body heat touching my skin, even if the fire had me sweating. The way she shifted her thighs against me was so telling it hummed a small anxious laugh through my chest.
Fuck, I wanted her.
Propping my head up on my arm as I rolled to my side, she looked at me. Looked through me?
“What are you doing?” she whispered, confusion ringing through her voice.
“Something, I likely shouldn’t.” With my free hand, I reached for those delicate locks of hair and twisted them gently between my fingers. My hand trailed lower, ghosting along the curve of her neck. and thinking about all the other places I wanted to explore, all the ways I could make her sigh.
Just like she was doing now.
Dee let out a shaky breath without taking her eyes off of me. Her attention fell to my already parted lips.
She wanted me to kiss her.
Fuck, I wanted that too.
I leaned down, my nose touching hers, our lips hovering dangerously close. Her eyes fluttered shut just as my palm pushed hard against the perfect curve of her breast.
“Fuck you. You only beat me because I let you.” Loud voices clattered in from the entryway, hidden from our view by the velvet covered couch in front of us. Knox and Reed's laughter lingered.
That’s when the moment ended. Without thought, I rolled myself away from her, back to the book I had before. I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t. I already did too much. I’d already broke ‘the rule.’
God, I hope she never spoke of this.
If I asked, she'd keep my secrets. I knew she would.
Dee’s eyes bore into me, heated darts that are laser focused against my cheek. I ignored her as my friends came barreling into the living room, completely trashed.
“Yo, Landon. I beat Knox at a game of beer pong.” Reed cheered like he just won an Olympic sport rather than a game that consists of players consuming their gaming equipment.
Dee sat up and cocked her head at the two of them. “No one beats Knox at beer pong. He makes it a point to always win. It’s one of the rules he holds himself accountable to.”
“Well, listen here, little girl, I totally did.” The way Reed stepped up to her, making his hips eye level with her upturned face is the only thing I could focus on for a second.
“I let him win.” Knox pressed his lips together, seemingly trying to hide his hint of a smile. “Gotta give him something every once and awhile or he'll never play with me again.”
I weirdly believed him.
“It’s nice to break the rules on occasion," Dee whispered with a straight face. With my attention fixed on my friends, I could feel her look my way.
Again.
I should have never let myself get that close to Violet Demure.
In the quiet of the kitchen I pour myself another shot. It burns all the way down in the best way possible, washing away all the shitty thoughts that constantly live in my mind. “You know my father hates parties,” I say cheerfully to nobody in particular.
My father hates parties. Which is the only reason I love them.
Seven
Dee
It’s getting dark outside. Not so dark that I don’t still see glimpses of the setting sun peeking through the dense trees. But dark enough that the street lights flicker on and I find myself hurrying between the shadows of their glow just to get to the next well lit spot.
In my hands I swing my slightly broken in loafers. You would think I would have nice callused feet after wearing shoes that were too small for me for so many years but I guess my body will never learn. I’m hoping my blisters heal up over this weekend enough so that I can keep my shoes on when walking home from now on.
It’s not my home, I remind myself.
I hiss as a sharp rock jabs the pad of my heel, pulling me from my thoughts. I can see the driveway of the Reyes estate. I paused, blinking as I see people walking around in the landscaping that surrounds it.
Are the boys outside waiting for me?
Wow, that sounded pathetically hopeful.
I’m late getting home. I spent too much time at the library just trying to get away from them for as long as I could. There isn’t much difference between the horror that is Mournmount Academy and Knox’s house these days.
After being gone for hours, maybe they feel bad…
Again, pathetically hopeful.
Continuing to the house, I realize as I get closer that I don’t actually know these people who are stumbling around in the dim street lighting. It’s only eight o’clock and someone is already drunk on the lawn?
Talk about childhood memories coming to life.
Damp grass slides along my feet when I leap over the guy face down in front of the bushes.
Shit. The thumping sound of music meets my ears and realization hits hard. Those asshats threw a party.
Probably celebrating how miserable they've made me for five days straight.
The rocks at my feet look mighty interesting as I pass the people out front. I don’t pay anyone any mind or act as if I hear them at all as a few of them giggle and sneer, “It’s Venereal Violet.”
A heavy breath pushes from my lungs. If one day could pass where I didn’t hear that name, that would be fantastic.
I just want a night of quiet. A moment of peace from this hell that has become my first week of school.
That’s become my life now.
There isn't a need for me to open the front door since it’s already wide open, showing off the throng of people dancing to the music blasting from the radio and sipping out of red plastic cups. Through the entryway, just before the living room, I can take the stairs and escape to my bedroom…. Knox’s bedroom.
I can lock myself away and hide until they pass out or leave. What if I call the cops on the party? The thought passes through my mind but I quickly dismiss it. I’m not a narc.
That’s one thing my mother always said over and over again. Demure women are not narcs. I don’t know why she always said that like it was our family motto.
A terrible motto if you ask me.
I kept my mother's endless secrets for so long it's like not giving away too much is permanently ingrained into my personality.
I shoulder past sweaty people without an apology. These people have likely done this or worse to me this week already. The stairs are also littered with familiar faces but I weave through easily enough, getting to my bedroom in a matter of seconds.
Dim light is shining from underneath the door and I twist the cool metal knob with a prayer that they just left the lights on for me when I got home. Unlikely, I know.
And very fucking wrong.
It’s a flash of skin here and limbs twisted together there. Pleasure filled moans and empty sounding porn star noises. It’s all just a glimpse before I slam the door shut. My back settles against the solid wooden door as I try to blink away the vividly thrusting images playing in my mind.
Where am I going to go now? Maybe I can find Reed or Landon and talk them into tossing the people out of the room for me. Also, I need a change of sheets at least now.
The misery list just keeps growing.
Leaving my backpack and shoes in the hall, I pass familiar students hooting in laughter, couples teasing each other with quiet kisses, and drunks already slumping to the floor.
Lightweights.
Back on the main level, I walk through the crowd without finding Reed. Football players tend to hangout in a pack.
A very intimidating pack.
I find them easily but Reed isn’t anywhere around the hulking men chugging in the living room. One of the guys in the group sees me and reaches out, snagging my arm in his grasp.
He reeks of beer, the scent washing over me as he talks. “Venereal Violet right? Sounds like an interesting name.”
Anyone who finds that to be an interesting name already has some issues.
Like this guy.
I look at him in disgust, trying to pull away from his big sweaty palm. He only grips tighter. “It’s all talk, isn’t it? Feeling like scoring with someone on the football team? I got a few buddies, and I know we could show you a good time. Bet that mouth of yours knows a thing or two. Why don’t you show me what nasty things Knox taught you.”
