UNLoved: a bay falls high novel, page 15
“Sounds romantic,” I said.
“It works. We’re both so busy anyway.” Claire shook her head. “And why am I telling you this?” Claire frowned. “You don’t need to hear this. You need to go learn. Go kiss some boys or something.”
If you only knew, Claire…
I laughed.
Claire pointed at me. “I’ll give you one quick warning. On the day Jeff leaves I’m a raging bitch.”
“Warning heard,” I said.
“Good.”
Claire walked by me and I reached for her hand. “Hey. Quick question before the raging bitch comes out.”
“Tinsley…”
“Are you really my mother?”
Claire looked at me. “No.”
“Swear on it?”
“Swear on it,” Claire said. “It was easier to just tell Jeff you were my daughter. I don’t know why. There was a time when he was serious about us getting together and I said I had a daughter and needed to be here. It was a cheap lie and it stuck. I think of you as a daughter and that’s that. If the conversation ever came up and I had to tell the truth, I know how to cover myself.”
“Okay. I just wasn’t sure. With so much going on…”
“Believe me, Tinsley, I wish I could tell you I was your mother. But I’m not. I swear. And if you don’t believe me, just find a picture of your mother when she was your age. Identical.”
I was disappointed.
A part of me hoped there was a big secret waiting about my life.
That I was Claire’s daughter.
That I was entitled to Claire’s wealth.
Ugh.
I hated myself for thinking that way.
I went back through the kitchen, grabbed my coffee (which was once again freshly poured because rich people loved their coffee hot and fresh), and went out to the pool.
I stood in the spot where I had seen that man.
Those thoughts of him were quickly erased when I found myself no longer outside alone.
I smelled smoke.
And where there was smoke there was… Barr.
And with Barr came Kip and Pres.
They were all dressed in black.
“Look at you,” I said. “You look like you’re going to a funeral.”
Pres nodded. “That’s exactly where we’re going, sugar.”
* * *
“Funeral?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it, girl,” Kip said.
“I am,” I said. “Who died?”
“This is out of respect,” Barr said. “I don’t even want to fucking go. Fucking asshole playing dirty games and got his ass caught.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Hidden Creek High,” Pres said.
“Weslee Jackson?” I asked.
“No,” Kip said. “Not him. But the way he lives though…”
“Doesn’t matter,” Barr said.
“Well, do you have the name of who died?” I asked.
“Sugar, let it be,” Pres said. “We just wanted to come see you.”
“Wanted to make sure you had dry clothes this time,” Kip said with a grin.
“Yeah, funny,” I said. “Let’s just pretend someone didn’t die.”
“It’s nobody you knew, love,” Barr said.
“He had it coming to himself,” Kip said. “Like Barr said.”
“Wait,” I said. “He had it coming? How did this person die?”
“By not breathing anymore,” Pres said.
He reached for my chin and I swatted his hand away.
“No,” I said. “I’ve had a weird morning. I don’t need this shit right now.”
“Feisty,” Kip said.
“I can handle feisty,” Barr said.
“When you put yourself into a position where you can get hurt… sometimes you get hurt,” Pres said to me.
“Meaning?”
“Murdered,” Barr said.
“What?” I called out.
“You heard him,” Pres said.
“Someone at Hidden Creek High was murdered?”
“That’s right,” Kip said. “Honestly, we don’t even want to go. What happened… he got what was coming to him.”
“Then why go?” I asked.
“To show face, love,” Barr said.
“So we don’t get accused of anything,” Pres said.
My jaw dropped.
Accused? Murder?
“Why would…”
“Just the way this war goes, girl,” Kip said. “They’ll point at us for it.”
“But you didn’t…”
“No,” Barr said. “We didn’t kill anyone.”
“But the cops will look, right?” I asked.
“Who knows what they’ll do,” Pres said. “Just wanted to see you before we leave.”
“We’ll be back later,” Barr said. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Yeah, of course,” I said.
Pres touched my chin again. He made me look at him.
His eyes were so dark. So sexy.
Were they capable of murder?
Murder?
My body shivered and started to shake as they walked away.
I looked down at the pool and watched my own reflection rippling.
For every second I felt comfortable in BFH there was something there to surprise me.
These were the kinds of surprises I wanted though.
I would have rather been making out with Kip. Or Barr. Or Pres.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Claire and Jeff hugging each other. Claire looking up at him. Jeff looking down at her. Knowing Claire spent time with Pres’s dad on the side. Maybe they had an arrangement that when Jeff was gone it was okay to sleep around.
It was a lot to think about.
I should have just stayed in my fucking bed.
fifteen
The entire day felt way off.
All because of this funeral happening down in Hidden.
Nobody would speak the name of who was dead. It was just this big thing about someone getting murdered. Everyone actually seemed scared by it. Making it a point to change the subject or just point that that’s what happened in HCH and to stay away from that town, the school, and everyone.
Between that, what happened with Claire (again), and not having the Rulz around, it was just a strange day all around. Beth seemed really off and she was purposely distanced as she was following Denny around. That pissed me off because of what Denny had done to her. And now she was going to fall right back into that same old trap.
Not that I was one to talk.
I was still the prize of some made up bet.
My feelings getting all twisted up over nothing but fake, processed emotions.
There was nothing in my locker, which left me feeling let down. Or forgotten.
“Get it together, Ti,” I whispered with my head in my locker.
“Look, she’s talking to her imaginary friend.”
I shut the locker and turned to find Blair and Vicky standing there, arms crossed.
“Something you need?” I asked.
“Just making sure you understand what’s happening,” Blair said.
“That you two are wasting space and valuable oxygen?” I asked. “Or better yet… you two are prepping for a life of begging some old guy with a big bank account to save you from realizing just how useless you are?”
“Oh, she’s got attitude now,” Vicky said. “Must be the street trash version of herself showing through.”
“Exactly,” I said.
“Let me make something clear,” Blair said. She pointed at me. “What happened at HCH was because of a new girl. Just like you.”
“A new girl? I thought a guy was killed.”
“That’s true,” Vicky said. “But rumor has it that it happened because of a girl. A new girl.”
“Wes’s girl,” Blair said.
“She killed someone?” I asked.
“No. But Wes is in hot water.”
“He didn’t do it though,” Blair said. “But it’s going to get messy. I heard…” Blair looked at me. “Can you walk away now? I’d like to talk to my friend.”
“This is my locker, bitch,” I said. “You take a fucking walk.”
“Whatever,” Vicky said. “Just watch yourself. Don’t want to get anyone killed here.”
I curled my lip.
“We’re just trying to help,” Blair said. “Eventually, you need to leave. Hopefully soon.”
The two trotted away and I walked right for the door.
I was done with BFH for the day.
I wasn’t in the mood for anything else. No more rumors. No more drama. No more talking about someone getting murdered. Or who did it. Or the funeral. And yet nobody wanted to speak any names. Like it was some big, bad secret.
Yet the Rulz were at the funeral.
I found myself wandering into the large garden where I had first been treated to being surrounded by Pres, Barr, and Kip. That was the day I tried to get away, ran into Kip, and he set me up to be seen by the other two.
It was almost hard to imagine what had happened in my life since that moment.
And what was going to happen.
That answer appeared in the form of Pres.
Walking from the opposite side of the garden.
Hands in his pockets, head down, alone.
“Hey,” I said.
Pres froze and looked at me, surprised. “Sugar. What are you doing here?”
“Trying to get away from this place. Too much noise. And nobody wants to talk about what’s happening.”
Pres nodded. “That’s because it doesn’t matter. Nothing to worry about here.”
“You sure?”
“Positive,” Pres said. He slowly inched toward me. “Anything happen while we were gone?”
“Three guys grabbed my ass,” I said. “I slept with two of them. I’m engaged to the third. And, I might be pregnant.”
Pres’s lip curled. “Is that a joke?”
“Yeah, Pres, it is. Learn how to take a joke.”
Pres took his hands from his pockets. His right hand held my chin. “I don’t do jokes, sugar.”
“Then what do you do?” I asked, knowing I was flirting.
But screw it.
I needed it.
I needed the distraction.
I needed Pres.
He brought his lips down to mine.
The word whore flashed for a second in my head.
Here I was, back to kissing all three of the Rulz.
But they were good. So, so, so good.
Pres’s lips were soft and commanding. He gently pushed my chin away to make me break the kiss.
“Anyone fucking touches you and I will kill them,” he whispered.
“I feel bad for Barr and Kip then,” I whispered back.
“You know exactly what I mean, sugar.”
“Yeah… and I would exactly love to know what your plans are here, Pres. The three of you… and me…”
Pres looked around. “I think you’re right. This place is feeling a little crazy today. Let’s go.”
“Go? Where?”
“Away from here.”
“Just you and me?”
“Is that a problem?” Pres asked.
“Not at all,” I said.
“Good. I wasn’t going to give you a choice.”
“Where are we going?”
Pres pulled me close to him. “That’s a secret in life, sugar. Sometimes you don’t need to go somewhere to be somewhere. You just go.”
His words eased into my heart in a dangerous way.
He was comfort, protection, power, and lust all swirled together into this rich bad boy.
And I was following him.
At least my tongue wasn’t wagging like I thought it was in my mind.
The motorcycle was super sleek. Black with neon red stripes all along the body. It wasn’t a rough and tough biker’s kind of motorcycle. It had a wide back wheel and looked built for intense speed. The kind of motorcycle that was quiet and fast. Not the growling kind that you’d see in some outlaw show.
“I’m getting on that?” I asked.
“Yeah, sugar, you are,” Pres said.
He handed me a helmet that would cover my head and face. With a flip-up visor.
I slowly put the helmet on, feeling almost claustrophobic for a second or two at the feel of it constricting against my head and face. Obviously I wasn’t going to get on the motorcycle without the helmet.
Pres put a similar all black helmet on his head.
He then climbed on the ride and waited for me to do the same.
I acted as though I was stepping over fire, moving awkwardly with my heart racing.
My hands grabbed his shoulders but I realized that wasn’t going to work. So I moved my hands down to his sides and then around his body. I interlocked my shaking fingers as he started the motorcycle and began to go.
The engine was quiet and powerful.
The twists and turns through the parking lot of BFH were enough to toss my stomach around, leaving me feeling a little seasick and with butterflies everywhere.
The second Pres got the ride out on the road, he took off.
I tried to scream but lost my breath at the feeling of the sudden speed.
I knew if I moved my hands I could fly off the back of the motorcycle and that would be it for me. He was going faster by the second with no intention of slowing down at all. The motorcycle screamed with powerful force. All at the hands and command of Pres.
It was like going from zero to a thousand in seconds.
Which was dramatic.
But I had never been on a motorcycle before.
When Pres took the first bend in the road, I thought we were going to fall. The motorcycle went low to the ground. So low that I shut my eyes, waiting for the feeling of the road to start ripping apart my clothes and skin.
That never happened.
Pres knew how to ride.
And it was obvious I wasn’t the first girl to be on the back of his ride.
My fear of the motorcycle was then replaced with another touch of jealousy.
There was nothing I could do about it though.
I was at the mercy of Pres and wherever our destination was.
We blasted far away from BFH and started to climb the twisty beach roads. With each bend, Pres took the turn without slowing down. And with each bend, I kept feeling the sinking feeling that we were going to crash.
On my right were mountains made of rock. On my left was a cliff that went down to the ocean.
My fingers had a death grip together on Pres’s shirt.
And he just kept going.
Cruising really fast along the coast.
We started a small descent and I felt our speed slowing down. Not enough that I felt safe but at least it wasn’t the crazy, blinding speed.
Pres pulled to the side of the road and stopped.
Without hesitation, I jumped off the motorcycle and ripped off the helmet. I handed it to him, tempted to slap him across the face for the way he had been riding. Instead, I turned and walked to the guardrail and looked to the ocean.
I took deep breaths, reminding myself to calm down. To just focus on the water and relax. I was alive. Everything was okay. At least in the sense of not being killed in a violent, fiery motorcycle accident.
“Not a fan of the speed, sugar?” Pres asked me.
“Don’t know,” I said. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
“The way I see it… if you’re going to ride it, ride it.”
I looked up at him. “Yeah?”
“Problem?”
“You tell me.”
“Not anymore,” he said. “Want to do something fun?”
“Fun? You and the word fun don’t seem to get along.”
“Try me, sugar,” Pres said.
He offered his hand.
I took it.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
It was like I was with a different part of the Rulz.
Pres walked from the side of the road to the thick rocks. He guided me down where the rocks turned into sand and it was a much easier climb down to the beach than I thought it would be.
“Are we allowed here?” I asked Pres.
He looked back and grinned.
I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean.
There was no real choice but to just stay with him.
When we got to the flat part of the beach, Pres slipped his arm around me and pulled me close as we walked.
“You need to stop worrying so much, sugar,” he said.
“Have you seen the way my life has been, Pres?”
“And what’s that?”
“Games, Pres. Games. I don’t think BFH is worried about secrets or rumors. But you all love games.”
“I think we prefer to deal with the truth on our own terms,” he said. “There’s a difference.”
“Yeah? Kind of like your father cheating on your mother? And it’s just totally okay? For the record, Claire is in love with someone else. I met that guy too.”
“You think that’s love?” Pres asked with a laugh. “My old man has a thing in every goddamn city across this country. And across the world. What’s it matter to you so much?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe because I never knew my father. I never had a normal family. And then I see you… I mean, it’s not my business, but it just bothers me. Mother, father, son. Rich parents. Rich kid. And you look the way you look…”
“Meaning?”
“Really? You need me to say it?”
“Say what, sugar?” he asked with a smirk.
“You’re fucking gorgeous, Pres. And you know it. I’m not the first to say it and I won’t be the last.”
“So just because my parents are married and rich it’s supposed to be happily ever after?”
“No,” I said. “But in my mind it sure as hell makes sense.”
Pres stopped walking. “You know, you’re breaking the law right now, sugar.”
“How so?” I asked.
“This area here is private.”
“A private beach?” I asked.
Pres nodded to a sign that warned of what he said.
“How do you own the beach?”
Pres grinned. “You just do.”
“So now what? You going to call the cops on me? Set me up to get me in trouble?”
