Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (40 page)

Rachel looked at him, whispering angrily. “What do I like need your help with?”

“You said ya needed my help.”

“I wanna know like what the fuck’s going on!”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“You like stood in that exact spot this morning and like came onto me telling me that you like wanted me in your bed tonight. Now, like they walk in the door and like you can’t get rid of me fast enough?”

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “It’s not like ‘at. I told ya last night, after we fucked, that it was
just
a fuck.”

“Yes, like you made that perfectly clear after we fucked. However, like to get me in your bed like you told me about how you were like crushing on me. What? Did that like just disappear when they like walked through the door?”

“It was all good an’ well an’ we had fun. We’re not getting’ married or ridin’ off into the sunset together.”

“So that’s like it?”

“Well… yeah. I kinda am diggin’ the new girl Amber.”

Closing her eyes, she shook her head as she laughed. “You know, like Zach was right about you.”

The people in the other room eating all hushed as they could now hear the conversation in the kitchen.

“What are you talkin’ about? That asshole doesn’t know me.”

“Oh he like pegged you dead to right when he like told Candice how you were. Like you’re a player. Only like sleeping with girls to like get what you want!”

“You don’t know me!”

“You were like happy and content with me until like the ice queen rolled in the door. Now, like you can’t get away from me like fast enough. You’re probably like kicking yourself in the ass for like not holding out to wait just one more day. Like you could have had her without like having to cast me aside. Then again, that like probably doesn’t bother you at all.”

He looked around, trying to shush her, since she was yelling. “You’re bein’ a drama queen.”

“Like I’m being a drama queen?” She yelled, not caring who heard. “That’s because like you’re a dick! I can’t believe I fell for like all your bullshit.”

“Hey, I never promised you shit! I told ya that I wasn’t signin’ up to be your boyfriend either.”

“
After
we like had sex you told me that bullshit! If you like told me that before like you never would have made it to my bed!”

“You took it for more than it was that’s on you, not me. However, ya need to get a grip on yourself.”

“So like what now?”

“Let’s just say your subscription expired an’ leave it at that.”

She blinked. “What?”

“You got the Justice treatment for one night an’ that’s more than most girls can claim. It’s your claim to fame.”

“Well like your idea of justice and mine are lacking.”

“Whatever. I didn’t hear ya complainin’ last night.” Turning, he walked back out to the others, reclaiming his seat under Amber, pulling her back in his lap. “Okay, where were we?” He looked at Mark. “Oh, what took ya so long to get here? It’s not that far from the river, it’s like two miles?”

Settling back in his lap, Amber smirked. “Our hero had to take his sweet ass time. We spent three days watching him and Trina play in the water. One day watching him and Trina in the trailer. Then the fifth day, we had to wait for Trina to wake up.”

Rachel stormed through the door and outside on the porch, slamming the door behind her.

Noticing the tension, Alex continued slowly eating her food, savoring every bite. “You know, you never realize just how good something is until you don’t have it for a while. These eggs are like heaven.”

Shaking his head, Trevor grabbed a few things off his plate and stood. “You ain’t right, dude.”

Justice shook his head. “Just leave it alone, Trev.”

Trevor walked out to join Rachel. He sat on the picnic table next to her. “Are you okay?”

She wiped the tears, smirking with a shake of her head. “No, like I’m pissed at him.”

“I take it from your actions an’ the conversation in the kitchen that you two hooked up last night?”

“Like yes, we did. It wasn’t like the best sex I’ve ever had, but like it wasn’t bad. Five minutes before they walked in the door like he was in the kitchen trying to like get me back in his bed. The minute they like walk in, he’s totally done with me. He told me like my subscription ran out. Like what the fuck is that shit?”

“I’m sorry he hurt you.”

“It’s my fault for like buying into his bullshit.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but in your defense, he’s a world class player. Zach had him pegged when he ranted an’ raved to Candice about what a player he is. He sometimes promises girls everythin’ under the sun to get in their pants. Then makes up some excuse an’ moves on to the next. It’s like he won’t be happy until he’s slept with every girl.”

“Like why is he like that? Did he like have a bad childhood or something?”

“Believe it or not there’s a history to his madness.”

“Like I’m dying to hear this.”

“Not many people know this an’ please don’t tell ‘im I told you. He had ‘is girl he was crazy about. We’re talkin’ over the moon in love with this girl. He wouldn’t stop talkin’ about ‘er. They moved in together an’ he told all of us ‘at he was ready to get married. He wanted to have a couple o’ kids with ‘er an’ have the white picket fence, an’ the whole ordeal.”

“So like what happened?”

He sighed. “He caught ‘er cheatin’ on him with his best friend. So he lost his girl an’ his best friend at the same time. That’s hard on a guy. Since then he doesn’t fall in love. He guards his heart an’ he uses women. When he gets too close to one, he makes up some excuse an’ bails onto the next.”

“So like because one girl fucked with his heart like now he fucks with everyone else? Oh, let me guess. Like the girls he likes are the kind like Erica and… like… what’s her name… Amber?”

“Yep. He’s been known to get a little serious at times, but not many after her. Yes. It is always the drama queen. The harder the challenge, the more she challenges him, the more he wants ‘er.”

She nodded, sighing deeply. “He’s like a huge ass. He like used flattery to get to me last night after Brandon and Candice like hooked up.”

“I’m not.”

“I didn’t like say you were. Like I said Justice is an ass.”

“I know, ya keep talkin’ about Justice, but ya didn’t even look at me as an option for you to hook up with. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but everyone’s startin’ to pair off now.”

“Like, I didn’t know you even liked me.”

Rolling his eyes, he turned facing her. “I’ve been tryin’ to get closer to you since day one. Why do ya think I turned myself into your assistant when you’re cookin’? I was always helpin’ ya clean up the dishes.”

“I like thought you just liked to cook and clean.”

“No, it was my way of gettin’ closer to ya.”

“Well like you could’ve just come out and like said something you know!”

He shrugged. “I thought ya had a crush on Brandon an’ I wasn’t about to step on my boy’s toes like that.”

She blushed softly, looking down at the ground. “I didn’t like even know or things would’ve like happened a lot differently.”

“Well, now ya know. How about you an’ I start spendin’ some quality time together an’ see where this goes? You’ll see I’m not a bad guy once ya get to know me.”

“I think like you’re a great guy and I’d like that a lot.”

“Good, after we’re done buildin’ trenches, maybe we can sneak off an’ watch a movie?”

“Like that sounds like a great plan.”

The two walked back inside holding hands and sat at the table. Trevor sat down in the chair and pulled her into his lap. She smiled wrapping her arms around his neck.

Justice chuckled as he saw the two of them, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Sloppy seconds, bro.”

Candice snapped her head to Justice, glaring at him. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“What? I wasn’t talkin’ to you.”

“No, because there’s no chance in hell that I would ever sleep with the likes of you. Any girl that does isn’t totally there,” she turned to Rachel. “No offense.”

She smirked, kissing Trevor’s cheek. “None taken. It was like a lapse in sanity for the moment.”

“It must’ve been, but at least ya leveled up with Trevor.”

Justice shook his head. “Look, I didn’t make any promises to her. I’m a free agent. I can see anyone I want an’ do whatever I want.”

“Zach, I owe you an apology.”

He smirked, looking between the two. “Why’s that?”

“You were right on when you described Justice. I totally threw you under the bus and blamed it on your jealousy.”

Mark looked around curiously, from one to the other and back again, stopping on Trevor. “Wait, I’m confused. What’s goin’ on here?”

Alex shrugged. “It sounds like a bunch of drama to me.”

He smirked. “Recap for those that just walked in. Okay. Zach an’ Candice were together in the beginnin’. Justice decided that he an’ Candice should go to Walmart to see if everythin’ happenin’ here was the same in town. Newsflash, it was. Some bitch bit ‘er in the store because he wanted to get more supplies. While she was recoverin’, Zach tried to blow her head off an’ threatened us four at the same time. Told us to move or else. After she recovered, she broke up with Zach. He thought it was because o’ Justice, which confused the rest of us. He accused Justice o’ bein’ a player an’ told Candice she was stupid for buyin’ his shit. Not the smartest thing to tell a girl. Well, he went to stab Justice, but stabbed Candice who ran between ‘em. She hooked up with Brandon, though they aren’t sharing bodily fluids, just yet. Justice an’ Rachel slept together last night because he told ‘er how much he liked ‘er. Then five minutes before you guys walked in, he was tryin’ to get ‘er back in the sack. Now that the ice queen sat in his lap, he tells Rachel her subscription ran out. He was rude tellin’ me I’m goin’ for sloppy seconds an’ now Candice sees that Zach might’ve been accurate in his assessment o’ Justice.” He looked around the table. “Did I miss anythin’?”

Candice chuckled, shaking her head. “No, you pretty much nailed it, except for how he was hitting on me on the way to Walmart.”

“Well, I didn’t know that part. You didn’t tell us about that.”

Zach blinked. “Yes Candice, you didn’t tell
any
of us about that.”

She shrugged. “After I got bit, I figured nothing else mattered. I was going to die.”

“You managed to take away my I told you so that you had coming, but seeing as how you finally see him for who he is, you’re forgiven.”

Mark winced, shaking his head at Justice. “Jay, that wasn’t cool. Ya didn’t have to go there.”

Brandon nodded. “Yeah, that was totally rude an’ uncalled for. You’re just bein’ a dick, though I don’t understand why.”

Candice glared at him, pointing her finger. “No, he was born that way and he can’t help it. It’s like he’s wired to be all about himself. Even when he was trying to save Erica, all he kept thinking was how she was going to thank him.”

Sophia slammed her hand down on the table, causing everyone to jump and look at her. “That’s it!”

Looking over surprised, Montana reached for her hand, kissing the top of it. “What’s it, baby?”

“Candice hit the nail right on the head an’ I didn’t see it until right now.”

Everyone turned to look at Candice who shrugged. “I did? What did I hit?”

“Yes you did! God, it’s been starin’ me in the face this whole time an’ I couldn’t see it. I kept askin’ myself why Erica died, but you survived. It’s like been eatin’ away at me.”

“I’m still not following. Care to fill the rest of us in on your train of thought?”

“Erica, rest ‘er soul, was about Erica. She wasn’t nice to anyone an’ always looked out for number one; bein’ herself. She didn’t wanna go in the room at all. Not even when she found out she was possibly infected with a contagious virus. She kept tryin’ to get out an’ didn’t care if she infected the whole house. In fact, she probably would’ve infected us so she didn’t have to go through it alone.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like Erica.”

“However, when Candice got the virus everythin’ was different. She willingly went into the room on the first day because she was concerned about what could happen to us.” She looked at her. “You’ve been takin’ chances with your life just to help us, to protect us as best as ya can. Regardless if ‘at help is gonna be the end o’ your life.”

She blushed. “You make me sound like I’m a hero, but it’s not like that. I just do what needs to be done. I look out for others because that’s just who I am.”

“You’re modest too.” Smiling, Sophia looked around the room stopping on Mark. “You’ve been savin’ ‘ese girls who ya just met, protectin’ ‘em, keepin’ ‘em safe above your own sake. I think ‘is virus turns ya into the inner monster or hero you have inside ya. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”

Alex winced, sipping on her coffee. “Wow, it’s even scarier when the monsters we fear are none other than ourselves.”