Bad Impressions (Revive Me #1) (6 page)

I took a sip of my beer. “What?”

“You seem kind of on edge; not your usual lively self.”

It was because of where we were.

I’d wanted a break from Marsden, so we’d headed out to the City of Ellswood. The only problem was that Tiff had insisted that we went to my old college hangout. It was where I’d taken her whenever she’d visited me. Tiff was a small-town girl through and through. New places unnerved her. And tonight, she wouldn’t go anywhere else. It had to be here.

It was just steps from my old apartment, the apartment that I’d shared with my ex, Jake. He liked to hang out at the club, too, and I was shit-scared he would show up. It was a frigging Saturday night after all. The one night of the week reserved for partying and getting shit-faced.

But I was probably just being paranoid. There were also a dozen other clubs within walking distance. And, in all likelihood, he wasn’t even around. I knew the lease was up on our apartment, so he’d probably moved elsewhere by now. Far, far away.

“You’re worried about Jake showing up, aren’t you?” Tiff asked.

“A little,” I admitted, chugging the rest of my beer, just from the mere thought of that piece of shit.

“You said the breakup was amicable, so relax, babe. Just enjoy the night,” she said, laying a comforting hand on mine.

That was the lie I’d told her. If she’d known the truth, she would’ve gone straight to Ollie with it. And I didn’t want that headache. Ollie was insanely overprotective. If he knew that some guy had laid his hands on me, he would have freaked and done something stupid. I didn’t want him risking himself for me.

Aside from that, I was also embarrassed about the whole thing. Ashamed that I’d let it happen.

It was bad enough that Brad knew about it. But that asshole was too preoccupied with making his way through every woman in town to do anything about it, like my brother would. Brad was also more levelheaded when it came to stuff like that. Brad was the voice of reason when it came to me. Unlike Ollie, he actually listened to what
I
wanted. He always had. Well, accept when it came to…
us
.

I managed a smile and gave Tiff’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Yeah, you’re right. We’re here to enjoy ourselves. We’re young, hot and on the market.”

Tiff hesitated.

“What?”

“I’m actually on good behavior tonight.”

“Oh my God! Did you just say those words?
You
, Tiffany Baxter, are on good behavior in a club full of hot, attainable men?”

She grinned like an excited school girl. “I have a date coming up.”

I shot forward in my seat. “How come you didn’t tell me? With who?”

Again, she hesitated and a sheepish look appeared on her face.

“Tiff!” I pressed.

“I need you to promise me you won’t be mad.”

“Why would I be mad?”

She drew in a breath and leaned across the table, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “It’s Ollie.”

I jerked back. “Ollie? My
brother
, Ollie?”

She nodded, biting her lip nervously.

“Wow, okay, I—”

“I’ve had a thing for him for a while.”

She had? She’d never told me that.
Wait! Hold up.
So,
he
could date
my
best friend, but I couldn’t date his? Unbelievable. Who the hell did he think he was? What a hypocrite!

But as I looked at Tiff and saw how tense she was, waiting on my approval, I quickly reminded myself that it wasn’t
her
fault. I sure as hell was going to have words with Ollie about it though.

“Where are you guys gonna go?” I asked in an upbeat tone.

Confusion flickered in her eyes. “You’re not mad?”

“Nope. Give it your best shot. My brother is a good guy. He won’t treat you like the assholes you usually hook up with do. Just…spare me the gory details, okay?”

She laughed. “You got it, babe.”

I grabbed my empty beer bottle and stood up. “Well, I need another drink. You?”

She blew out a breath. “Hell, yeah.”

***

I made my way outside the club, enjoying the invigorating feel of the cool night air on my overheated skin. I’d needed a breather from a preppy dickhead who I’d made the mistake of dancing with. Tiff had befriended a group of women who were celebrating their bachelorette night and they were living it up on the dance floor.
Preppy Boy
had been far too grabby and really didn’t understand the concept of the word ‘
no’
very well. And I wasn’t in the mood to educate him. I was done dealing with guys who didn’t get the damn message, whether it be ‘
no’
or the opposite.

Speaking of, I hadn’t seen Brad for close to two weeks and I was enjoying the peace and quiet that came with that. Sure, he was on my mind, but as soon as I started to think about him, I pushed it down. I didn’t want to think about him. He didn’t deserve any of my thoughts. Nothing. He was just another asshole.

I pulled a cigarette pack out of my purse and quickly lit up. It’d been a couple of years since I’d quit, but being back in Marsden had shot all that to hell. Back then I’d started the nasty habit in high school. Boredom. I’d been bored out of my mind in that little town.

And I was bored as hell again.

Working for Kate at the bookstore was a bit of a reprieve, but that was about it. Every other minute of the day, I was losing my mind.

But something was stopping me from making a move, from picking up the pieces and getting back to my life. I just couldn’t move.

I was too gun-shy.

The thing with Jake had shaken me up more that I’d let myself admit.

I’d felt like I’d lost my power that night. My strength. My confidence.

And it hadn’t just been that night.

It’d been getting worse over the last year that he and I were together. He just…the way he was…so controlling in such a manipulative way, where you didn’t even realize you were actually being controlled. By the time I’d wised up, it’d been too late. It’d stripped me down. He’d sucked the life out of me.

I wasn’t the girl that I had been. The carefree, no-nonsense thing that was excited about life and all the possibilities of the future that lay ahead of her. I’d lost that.

And I didn’t know how to get it back.

Maybe that was why I’d let myself get swept up in the whole Brad drama so easily again.

He
knew
me. Really knew me. Better than anyone else. He always brought out the best in me. He made me feel…invincible. I always felt like my true self with him more than I ever had with anyone else.

I shook my head and forced all thoughts of him out of my mind. That way only led to badness.

Dragging on my smoke as I leaned against the wall, I finally felt some of the tension leave my body.

And then my heart stopped beating as a familiar voice called my name.

Oh my God. No, no, no. Please be imagining it. Please.

I forced myself to turn in the direction of the voice.

And no…I hadn’t been imagining it.

There he was. Jake Sheffield. Standing there in his designer shirt and khakis.
Asshole frat boy.

He stared at me for a long while, running his hand through his black spiky gelled hair, as if he couldn’t quite believe I was real and not just some mirage.

And then he started to walk towards me.

I tensed with his every confident, self-assured step.

When he finally reached me, his eyes swept over me, making no pretense of the fact that he was eye-fucking me on the spot. I felt sick just from having his eyes on me.

“You finally came to your senses,” he said in that arrogant way of his. “I knew you’d see the error of your ways soon enough, Sophie.”

His condescending tone sparked something to life inside of me and my fear left me.

I was pissed as hell.
How dare he?

“I’m here with a friend. That’s all,” I seethed. Did he really think I was back for him? “She likes this club.”

“Tiffany?”

“Yes.”

His nostrils flared. “That slut always was a bad influence on you.”

He’d never liked her even though she’d been nothing but nice to him the entire time we’d dated. “Don’t talk about her like that.”

He scoffed. “Whatever. I don’t care about her.” He nodded in the direction of the club. “Let’s get a drink and talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“We were together for a long time, Sophie. You don’t just walk away from that.”

“You
hit
me!”

“It was an accident. I told you that a million times. You need to get over it.”

“Get over it?” I fumed. “You. Hit. Me.” I growled every word for emphasis.

I could see him mulling them over. But there was no remorse in his eyes. No regret whatsoever. He shifted his weight suddenly and demanded, “Is this about
him
? That fucking bartender?”

I couldn’t believe it.
Not this again.
“No.”

But as usual he didn’t listen.

“Ever since you let that trash fuck you, you’ve been different. Even after I forgave your little indiscretion.”

“Forgave me? You were sleeping around behind my back that summer!”
Oh my God. How messed up was our relationship?
Saying those words just really brought it home to me.

“Because you wouldn’t put out! You did for him though.
One
night, Sophie. One. That was all it was, but you’ve never been able to let it go. That fucking guy is always in your head. Nothing is ever good enough for you, because of it.”

“Bullshit!”

“He can’t take you anywhere. He’s trash. He
is
that little hick town of yours. It’s all he’ll ever be.
I
can take you places. I’m gonna be a lawyer, baby. My dad owns the biggest publishing house in this damn city. You’d be all set. As soon as you graduated, I had a job interview lined up for you, just like you wanted. A Junior Editor where you could put your English degree to good use.”

“You never told me about that interview.” I didn’t give a crap about it, but I wanted to know if he was playing me. I just needed to know how far he’d go in his manipulations.

“It was gonna be a surprise that night we got into that stupid fight and you took off.”

“I don’t want you for your connections, Jake. I never did.”

“It’s just a bonus that comes with being with me, baby.”

Urgh. Why did it take me this long to realize what a smug bastard he is?
He was my first boyfriend, so I guess I was too green to see it.

“I’m not with you. We’re done.”

And I was done with our messed up conversation.

I stubbed out my smoke and moved past him to head back into the club.

His hand gripped mine.

Hard.

He jerked me towards him and, before I knew it, my back was up against the wall and he was pinning me there.

“We are
not
done. Not by a long shot.”

“Just let it go, Jake,” I said, tiredly, tired of him, tired of everything.

“You know I don’t just give up, Sophie.”

“The moment you laid your hands on me, it was over!” I bellowed, finally snapping. “I never want to fucking see you again! Get that through your screwed up head!”

He shook me hard. “Never speak to me like that. Do you hear me?”

Maybe I was stupid. Foolish.
But,
I just couldn’t bring myself to placate him. I couldn’t cower like I always had with him when we’d been together. “I’ll speak to you however I like, asshole. Get your hands off me! Now!”

His eyes flashed with ire. His right hand left me and fisted at his side.

I knew then that he was gonna do it again.

He was gonna hit me.

And what could I do? Nothing. He had me pinned against the wall. He was bigger and stronger than me and I didn’t know shit about fighting or any self-defense stuff.

That awful feeling that I’d felt the last time rushed over me: total and utter helplessness.

“Hey, asshole!” a harsh voice rang out suddenly.

I turned to see the bouncer I recognized from when we’d entered the club earlier approaching. He had a smoke in his right hand. He must’ve come out for his break.

“Mind your own business!” Jake snapped.

“I’m making it my business,” the bouncer said, not the least bit deterred.

“Fuck off,” Jake snarled, dismissing him like he was nothing.

Everything happened so fast then.