Burning Barriers (Barriers Series Book 3) (3 page)

The minute “Lucy” turns onto the street I’m standing on, her eyes look over to see me blatantly staring back at her. Her eyes grow wider as she glares at me and continues to drive in front of me, nearly hitting the car in front of her. She slams on the brakes, and I watch as her eyes fixate on mine. Horns sound behind her, and the moment is lost as she takes one quick glance back at me before turning down Main Street and out of view. I don’t have any doubt in my mind after what just happened.

Lucy Wyatt has finally come back home.

What the ever lovin’ fuck just happened? After days of seeing nothing but flat farmland, I finally pull off the goddamn interstate with the scenic Rocky Mountains as my new backdrop, and just as I turn to head into downtown Breckenridge, whom do I see?

Jake Fuckin’ Galloway!

I don’t see my parents or even my big sister, Ellen, first. No, I see Jake.

God, he looked hot. Why did he have to be even better looking than the last time I saw him? And here I am, driving by him with exhausted bags under my eyes and unkempt hair all knotted and falling out everywhere.

Nice, Lucy. Real nice!

Pulling into the parking lot behind the bar where Ellen works, I hang my head on the steering wheel and groan in embarrassment. “Could my life suck any more at the moment?” I mutter to myself.

Seriously, first, my best friend’s ex-boyfriend attacked me and damn near killed me. Next, all my roommates moved on or out in a matter of weeks. Sam got engaged to that perfect friggin’ cop fiancé of hers. And now, Kim and Rose are searching for a new place to call home in-between their full-time jobs and roller derby tours. Then, there is me. Alone, scarred, and instantly running into the man who filters through my head every time I fuck another guy. I am seriously a therapist’s wet dream.

When the hell does this get better for me?

Grabbing my purse and pulling my keys from the ignition, I slide out of the car and plant my Chucks onto the ground before stretching my arms over my head.
Damn, it feels good to get out of that car.
I love my VW, but it’s been a long, cramped trip. Regardless if I just saw Jake, I’m happy to be out of that car and back home with family where I can hopefully relax and heal from a very traumatic few weeks.

After a short walk through the energetic downtown area, I finally make my way to Oliver’s. Ellen has worked here for years. She says she loves meeting the tourists and getting paid to basically talk all night with friends and strangers. That’s my sister, the social butterfly. I can’t say I’m any different. We were two peas in the same pod and inseparable growing up. She was devastated when I just up and left here, but she understood. She said if Jake ever showed his face around her bar, he’d be wearing his drink instead of sipping it. Fortunately, from what I heard years ago, he avoids her like the plague.

As I pull back the front door and make my way inside the bar, my eyes instantly see my other half chatting behind the bar. A smile sweeps over my face when I realize how much I’ve missed my sister. Ellen’s eyes move from the guy sitting at the bar when she sees me walking toward her.

“Oh my God, Lulu!” she shrieks, dropping her towel onto the bar and running around it before mauling me in a huge hug. Sometimes I think she forgets how strong she is. “I can’t believe you didn’t call me, Lulu.” Ellen pulls back from her embrace to look at me.

Damn that childhood nickname. “Ellen, stop with the Lulu. I’m not fifteen anymore. Plus, where’s the fun in ruining the shock of surprising my sister at work?” I tease. Ellen’s eyes instantly well up as she pushes my messy hair away from my face and her fingers brush over the scar on my neck. My parents said Ellen came close to needing professional help after she heard about Stone’s attack, which is why they didn’t allow her to come out to Massachusetts while I was in the hospital for a few days. My sister and I haven’t seen each other in nearly two years, but we’ve always been closer than close, even if it meant video chats online every other night since I left.

Ellen sniffles as she pulls her hand away from the scar, lowering both of them so she holds my hands in hers. “My baby sister has finally come home. Surprise or no surprise, you’re here and alive. I couldn’t care less about anything else right now.”

She pulls me back to the bar area before telling me to take a seat while she tends to the other customers. As I sit at the bar, I glance over at the guy Ellen was talking to before she saw me walk in. I watch as he eyes me from the side while taking a pull from his beer bottle. From the other side of the bar, I hear Ellen call out my name asking what I want to drink.

“Water and a shot of Café
Patrón
,
if you’ve got it?” I ask, hoping to hell she’s got any form of top shelf tequila. After the last few days, I need to just relax and get wasted tonight. Well, not too wasted, especially on tequila. The last time I drank that stuff I became so horny that I nearly… well, let’s just say things happened with a guy, and I’ll just be keeping that a secret.

Ellen pours my shot and fills the glass of water, placing it in front of me moments later. I run my finger over the rim of the shot glass containing the brown liquor. I dip my fingertip before bringing my finger to my tongue just to tease myself with what’s about to warm my entire body.

I grab the shot glass at the base and tilt my head back, feeling the liquid gold flow down the back of my throat all the way into my stomach.
God, this shit is good.
As I place the empty glass back onto the bar and slide it toward my sister, I catch the dude next to me still staring out of the corner of his eye. He places his cell phone down after typing what appears to be a text on the screen. Now that the liquor is warming my blood, I feel the need to speak up. If there is one thing I’ve learned after these past couple of months, it’s the fact I have to face my issues head-on.

“You gotta starin’ problem, asshole?” I demand from my seat as he chokes on his beer.

He brings the bottle back down to the bar and turns his bar stool to face me, but not before I hear Ellen scold my name in warning.

“It’s okay, Ellen. She clearly doesn’t remember who her friends used to be before she just took off seven years ago,” he sarcastically says. Squinting my eyes, I try to process how this asshole even knows me, let alone was my friend from years ago. “You don’t remember. Do you? Does the name Sean Jones ring any bells?”

Sean Jones… Sean Jones…Why does that sound so familiar? Oh, fuck!

“SJ? As in Jake Galloway’s best friend SJ?” I question, wondering if they’re still friends. I mean, why wouldn’t they be? They both still live in Breckenridge.

“Yeah, as in Jake’s best friend. You know, the friend who didn’t just up and leave him or even call when he needed someone the most.” SJ’s edgy tone leaves me shaking my head in dismay.

“Where the hell do you get off accusing me of anything? I didn’t break up with Jake. He broke up with me. I don’t think I was the one he needed for anything.” I push my stool away from the bar and stand as close as I can to make him understand I am not about to take any of his shit. A group of people begin making their way inside the bar from the street as I cock a hip out, resting my hand on it as I tell SJ off some more.

Just as the group of people starts to walk by me to head to the dining area, I glance up and meet a set of big brown eyes looking right at me. There’s a darkness behind them that scares me as much as it entices me. He slaps SJ on the shoulder and stands directly in front of me. The air rushes from my lungs, and I silently try to figure out whether I should run away or jump into his arms. He licks his lips before crossing his arms over his chest.

“Hey, Luce, didn’t want to stop and say ‘hi’ before?” He winks and smirks as though we didn’t just see each other in passing a short time ago. His voice alone makes my resolve weak and my knees tremble, and the damn tequila is seriously making me want to hump him right on the bar.

I’m royally fucked.

“Jake Galloway, you get out of my bar right this minute!” Ellen scolds as she rounds the bar to stand between Jake and me. “I will not allow you anywhere near my sister again. She’s been through enough pain these last couple of months, and the last thing she needs is you rehashing shit from high school.”

Shit.

Jake glances around Ellen to look at the weary expression written all over my face and then trails his eyes to the scar on my neck. I watch as his eyes widen in shock, and I see the curiosity sink in. While Ellen and Jake bicker about me already going through enough lately and how I’m only home to get my mind focused again, I can’t stand to be around all of this and try to explain my scars again. Grabbing my purse quickly, I turn and bolt for the front door. Pushing the door wide open, I dodge people all the way back to my car before I stop running. As I rest my palms on the top of my car, I hear the crunch of the gravel behind me, and I know who it is. I’ll never be able to escape him. I’m pretty sure I never did when I left all those years ago.

“Please, just leave me alone, Jake,” I say, still not turning around.

I see his tall shadow hovering behind me in my window before he places his long arms onto the hood of my car next to my hands. His lips near the side of my face, and chills run up my spine. My heart races at his closeness, and my knees start to shake again.

“I know we didn’t exactly get off to the best reunion back there, but I’m glad you’re home, Luce. It’s been way too long.”

I shuffle my ratty old slippers along the rustic wooden floors as I make my way down to the kitchen toward the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Shoving my arms through my tattered, old sweatshirt, I adjust the hood as I take the stairs of my parents’ small downtown Victorian home. It served its purpose for allowing Ellen and me to grow up in this predominately wealthy community. My dad, a teacher, and my mom, a nurse, worked all those years to pay for a decent life for us girls. I can’t say I didn’t feel bad about packing up and leaving like I did and never going to college, but I’m happy with how my life turned out anyway. Being the educator he is, Dad will never agree. I was happy once I put myself through cosmetology school and was offered a great job at an upscale salon. Hair and makeup always gave me some kind of calming abilities. They have allowed me to make a ton of new friends back home.