Even if it Hurts: A Toxic Romance, page 4
Not that Aubrey does. She seems eager to be rid of my attention. She leans close to her friend and turns to leave without so much as a goodbye as soon as Anae approaches. I’m not sure which one of us she’s more eager to be away from.
“I see you met Aubrey,” Anae says, her tone snide as she utters her name. “I fucking hate that girl.”
“I gleaned that when you tried to kill her.”
She feigns innocence but doesn’t put much effort into the performance. “It’s not my fault Kalea threw her into the pool.”
“Mm-hmm. And I’m sure it wasn’t your fault that picture was snapped and sent to her, or that Kevin cornered her upstairs to begin with.”
Plucking the toothpick out of her martini glass, she brings it to her lips and smiles at me playfully. “I’m entirely innocent.” She catches the olive between her teeth and slides it off the toothpick, sultry suggestions dancing in her eyes.
I smile faintly. She wants me to be impressed by her maneuvering, so I give her nothing to keep her hungry. My tone verging on bored, I ask, “What did she do to incur your wrath?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s a long story.” Her blue eyes meet mine curiously. “You seemed to like touching her.”
With most girls, this would be a trap. Even the average queen bee would be vigilant enough to keep an eye out for anyone who might pose a threat to her coveted position.
Anae is a different breed, though. It’s a blind spot and not one of her better qualities in my opinion, but Anae is so full of herself, she genuinely doesn’t believe anyone is a threat to her. “And?”
Anae shrugs one shoulder as she takes a sip of her martini. “Would you like to touch her more?”
Now, she has my attention.
She knows it, too. She can’t bite back a tiny smile, but she tries as she looks over at me.
“I’m listening,” I tell her.
“I have an idea. I want to destroy that girl, and I’m having a hard time getting to her on my own. I don’t know why, it should be easy, but it’s like… she doesn’t even care about high school.”
She says it like the idea is unfathomable, which I guess it is to her. High school is Anae’s entire world, the one place she can reign over at this point in her life.
“Anyway,” she says, looking over at me. “I know you could crush her. I’ve asked around and she hasn’t dated anybody in a long time, but she’s not asexual or anything. She’s had crushes before.”
“Why does this matter?”
“Well, on top of everything you already have going for you, you just saved her life,” Anae says. “Imagine how easy it would be for her to develop a crush on you.”
I crack a smile. “I may have saved her life, but I don’t believe I left her with an impression that I’m Prince Charming.”
“Who cares,” she says dismissively. “You weren’t aiming to fuck her then. You can change your approach now. Don’t tell me you’re not confident in your abilities to seduce some poor little nobody.”
“You want me to fuck her.”
“Yes, and then once she’s fallen for you, I want you to make her life hell. Break her heart into a million pieces, and make it hurt as much as possible. I’ll help, of course. We’ll do it together. Not the fucking her part, that’s all you.” She reaches over and rubs my bicep. “You deserve to have a little fun for your part in her downfall.”
“Has she fucked anyone before?”
“I don’t think so. I can do a more thorough check, but it didn’t sound like it. So maybe she won’t be good in bed, but I’m sure you can find a way to have some fun with her.”
I think back to how my cock reacted to Aubrey squirming on my lap when she was trying to get away from me. “Yes, I’m sure I could find a way,” I say dryly.
“I hope she’s a virgin. It’ll be sweeter if she is. Virgins like her always attach to their first fuck. Amateurs.” She grins over at me. “God, it’ll be so brutal. I can see it now, her sobbing and leaving you dozens of voicemails, desperate to understand what’s happening when she’s oh-so in love with you and you’ve gone completely cold. We’ll fuck with her head so much. We’ll grind her heart into dust. We’ll ruin her and leave her alone and adrift in the cruel, cold world.” She lets her hot gaze roam over my body. “Are you getting seriously turned on right now, or is it just me?”
I shake my head, cracking a smile. “You’re sick.”
“You love it.”
I could take it or leave it, actually, but I don’t say that. I’m not bored and looking for a fight; I’m intrigued by the idea of seducing and toying with the girl in the striped dress. I’m curious if she is a virgin or if she has some experience. I wonder what she’s like to fuck, and since my girlfriend is asking me to, I have no reason not to find out.
Ordinarily, if Anae brought her petty bullshit to me looking for my help, I would remind her I’m not one of her fucking lapdogs and send her on her way, but this… this appeals to me. Even if it only cures my boredom for a week or so, it’s something to do.
Anae has her own vision for how this will go down, but I’m not interested in collaborating. If she wants me to fuck the girl over, I’ll do it my own way. If the cat and mouse game is fun, maybe I’ll let it run a little longer and do something like Anae wants. If not, I’ll fast forward and get to the part where I put my dick in her a lot faster.
Maybe she’ll struggle like she did on my lap.
Maybe I can play rough with her since she doesn’t belong to me.
Or maybe I’ll discover something new when I push my way into her life. Different types of women fuck differently, after all. Sex with Anae has grown boring, but Aubrey is far from my ordinary type. Maybe sex with her will be different enough to be fun.
Whatever the outcome, it sounds like a good time.
“I’m in,” I tell her.
Anae’s eyes light up. “Really? Yay!” Sighing dramatically, she leans her head on my shoulder so the scent of her expensive French perfume wafts my way. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”
That’s not true at all, but I could do worse than having a hot girlfriend who wants me to fuck another girl, so I throw her a bone and give her a sideways squeeze.
“You want to go upstairs?” she asks.
I know she means to fuck, so I shake my head. “Not right now. I need to make sure my mark gets in the ambulance. I was serious about that. If she sues, my father will shut down these parties so fast....”
“Oh my god, she’s not going to sue you. She’s going to suck your dick. Stop worrying. We’ve got this under control.”
“All of that hinges on her surviving this weekend. I can’t fuck her if she’s dead. I’m not into that.”
“As far as you know,” Anae jokes. “I watched a movie last weekend that made it seem surprisingly hot. You should watch it with me.”
“Maybe after everyone else leaves.”
I head inside the house alone while she wanders back toward the crowd of people—still buzzing about what happened—and presumably does damage control. With me, Anae is more open about her depravity because she knows I’m no better. With her subjects, she has to show a slightly edited image of herself since being a mean girl is one thing, but presenting as a total sociopath would probably be off-putting to them.
By now, she should be better at controlling herself. She isn’t as observant as I am. I don’t know if it’s because she’s so self-obsessed or what, but it interferes with her ability to be as diligently aware as she needs to be.
Me, I notice everything. I take notes without even thinking about it, categorizing the traits and weaknesses of everyone I come into contact with just in case I need to take advantage of them later.
Anae thinks we’re two sides of the same coin, but she’s wrong. She’s not on my level.
Like a fucking creep, I go upstairs and find a dark corner with a view of the driveway. I lean against the wall and linger there until I see the ambulance pull up the drive, then I search for Janie and the girl I saved.
Aubrey, that was her name.
I find her and watch as she fights with her friend about getting into the ambulance. It’s irritating and illogical unless she has a death wish. I don’t like unreasonable, hard-headed people who insist on doing dumb shit just to be difficult. If she’s that sort of person, I’ll fuck her and be done with it, but I don't want to spend any time with her.
Should be easy enough. Those types tend to be severely vulnerable in ways they don’t realize. I’ll bombard her bloated ego with compliments and mirror her own self-image right back at her. She’ll like me for seeing what a super special badass she is, and I’ll have her on my dick so fast…
Standing in my driveway, she turns around and looks directly at me.
My heart drops.
I know she can’t see me, but it feels like she can. She’s too far away to make out her expression, but I can feel her anger burning so hot, it singes the path of my thoughts and I forget what I was even thinking before.
I watch her friend hover as the paramedics put Aubrey in the back of the vehicle.
Still, her angry gaze is fixed on this window like she knows I’m on the other side watching.
A faint smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. I lift my hand and use my pointer finger to draw a circle around her on the glass. I draw another circle inside, and then another. Finally, I complete the crude, imaginary target with a solid circle right over her face.
Bullseye.
The ambulance doors close and I can’t see her anymore.
But I’ll see her again soon.
Watch out, mermaid. I’m coming for you.
Chapter four
Aubrey
After one of the worst weekends of my life (it wasn’t the worst, but definitely top three material), the only logical solution I can come up with is to skip school on Monday.
I spent most of the weekend in the hospital.
I knew Chase Darington didn’t know I had my mom at home to care for and I couldn’t just dip out on her to laze around the hospital all weekend, that I wasn’t willing to part with my time with her just to “be safe” when I knew I was perfectly fine.
I did expect Janie to understand that.
If circumstances were different and things were how they used to be, I wouldn’t have fought going to the hospital after nearly drowning, but they’re not. Nothing is how it used to be, and I could not afford to waste this weekend.
They didn’t give me a choice, though.
I glared at the cliffside mansion and the asshole who lives in it—even though I knew he couldn’t see me—as they loaded me into the back of the ambulance and drove me away.
I missed a shift at work I couldn’t afford to miss.
Josie from next door had to bring Mom to the hospital when I finally called her the next morning. I didn’t even want Mom to know what had happened, I hoped I could be in and out of the hospital in a few hours and just sneak in before she woke up.
That didn’t happen. I told her not to come to the hospital, but she insisted. At least they brought my backpack so I could get my homework out of the way, but Mom couldn’t stay. Her immune system is severely compromised at this point. Catching a cold would hospitalize her, anything more severe than that would kill her.
I told her to go home and not to come back even though it killed me not to spend the time with her as we had planned. Josie checked in on her, but I should have been there.
The time is gone and can’t be brought back, and all because I went to a stupid party I didn’t want to go to in the first place.
The whole experience cemented my decision to be done with Janie, at least for the time being. After high school, we’ll probably go down different paths, anyway, so I doubt we’ll reconnect, but some relationships aren’t meant to last. I don’t have time to be friends with Janie right now, and I’m not going to take risks like the one I took the other night. It just isn’t worth it.
My Monday is better spent with Mom than at school, anyway.
The day goes pretty well. We sleep in, then have brunch on the back patio. Josie gives me a ride over to the Daringtons’ mansion to pick up my car. I go during school hours so I know I won’t have to see Dare while I’m there.
Originally, I was going to try to pick up a shift tonight to make up for the one I missed over the weekend, but as much as I need the money, I decided not to. We already lost the weekend together. Yeah, I’m on the fast track to maxing out all our credit cards since Mom has no income, and mine is just part-time, but I have the rest of my life to work on paying that back. At the end of the day, will going to work tonight make enough of a difference to justify losing that night with Mom?
The answer’s no. Of course it is.
The doorbell rings around 4 o’clock. It’s a little earlier than I expect. I made a grocery order to be delivered around 5 since grocery shopping is another thing I don’t have time for. I paid for everything—including the tip—on the app, so I don’t grab my phone or anything, I just head for the door. The delivery people are supposed to leave our bags on the porch and go, so I don’t expect to find anyone on the other side.
But when the door swings open, there is a person standing on the other side.
A tall, troublingly handsome person with dark hair and a jaw that could cut glass. His cool, deep brown eyes meet mine and my stomach drops, memories of the other night flashing back to me.
Me underwater, struggling to get back to the surface.
Him diving in after me, grabbing me, and dragging me to safety.
Saving my life.
He’s an ass, but he did save my life. Of course, I’m grateful to him for that.
That’s the only reason I don’t shut the door in his smug face immediately.
Without even trying to hide it, his gaze rakes over my body. Mom and I were staying in today, so I’m wearing a pair of activewear Capri leggings and a plain purple T-shirt. His gaze lingers on my legs, then drifts to my boobs.
A shiver runs down my spine. Maybe he notices because a smile teases the corner of his mouth when our eyes finally meet.
“What are you doing here?” I ask without a hello.
“Making sure you’re alive.” His tone is light and playful despite his words echoing the assholey sentiments he expressed the other night.
I prop a hand on my hip and cock an eyebrow. “How gallant.”
“Isn’t it? I rode my steed over and everything.” He glances past me into the house.
On instinct, I move closer to the doorframe and pull the door closed a bit to block his gaze. “As you can see, I’m alive and well.”
“You weren’t at school today,” he remarks, seemingly untroubled by my shutting him out of my house.
“Yeah, well, if almost dying doesn’t get me a sick day, I don’t know what will.”
He cracks a smile. “True enough. You’re all right, though?”
I nod even though I know he doesn’t actually care.
He finally drops my gaze, dropping his shoulder so the backpack I didn’t notice him carrying falls. He puts it down on the porch, then opens the flap and reaches inside.
I scowl, full of distrust.
What is he doing?
I almost expect him to pull out some kind of release form his lawyer whipped up to assure I don’t sue his family, so I’m guarded when a moment later, he holds out several sheets of notes, all written in different colored ink. “Here,” he says, seeming to expect me to take them.
Still scowling, I ask, “What is this?”
“Notes from all the classes you missed today.”
My eyes widen and shoot to his face. “You… took notes for me?”
“No. I don’t even take notes for myself, I have nerds do that for me. Today, I had them copy down notes for the classes you were in, too, that way you didn’t miss anything.”
Slowly, I reach to take the papers from his hands. “That… is both really awful and really thoughtful at the same time.” My gaze flickers back to his, still uncertain. “Thank you.”
He shrugs, then closes his bag and slings it over his shoulder. “It’s nothing. You’ll be at school tomorrow, right?”
The corners of my lips tug up. “Why? Want to give your note-taking nerd army a little heads-up this time if I’m not?”
He shrugs again, his brown eyes glinting with mischief. “Maybe I’m just hoping I’ll see you in the halls. Make my day a little better.”
He’s full of shit, but it still drags a smile out of me as I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right. You literally didn’t know my name at the party, now I’m the bright spot in your day.”
I say it mockingly, but he grins, not taking offense. “Hey, maybe you are, you don’t know. I did save your life. I feel like we have a bond now.”
I try to bite back my grin, but fail miserably. “You’re the biggest liar I’ve ever met.”
So why is his obvious bullshit charming me so much?
God, I need to get out more.
I’m in a better mood than I have been all weekend. I can’t deny, even if he’s lying his ass off, this lighthearted break has rejuvenated me a bit.
“I need to get back inside, but… thank you for the notes.”
“You’re welcome.” His reply seems almost sincere. His offensively perfect lips tug up into a little smirk I desperately don’t want to find cute and he catches my gaze as he starts to turn. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
I nod, my tummy fluttering strangely as he starts down the front steps. “Yeah, you’ll see me tomorrow.”
When he gets to the bottom, he turns around so he can look at me, and walks backward toward the driveway. “Good.”
I watch him get into his car—a matte black Audi. I know his family is loaded, so even if it didn’t look disgustingly expensive, I would expect it to be. It does, though. It looks ridiculously cool with tinted windows and sexy curves. I’m not even a car person and I notice how cool it is.
I don’t want him to catch me watching him drive away, so I hurry back inside the house and close the door behind me.
