Crashing Into Love (34 page)

She nods. “Oh, yeah, and I’m sure your BFF is dying for it. I know I would be.”

She steps closer to me as I pull out my phone and text Cassidy.

Where are you?

The blonde nuzzles against my neck and presses her tits to my chest as Cassidy’s response comes through. Blondie has no idea that there’s no competition between the girl who wants to get laid and the one being stood up by an asshole.

He’s late
.

“No shit,” I grumble, then text her back.
I’ll come get you.

The blonde pushes the phone down to my side and presses her lips to mine. I’m right there with her, sucking the beer from her tongue as she grinds her hips against mine, getting me hard as a rock.

My phone vibrates again. I tear my lips away and read Cassidy’s text.

He’ll get pissed.

No shit he’ll get pissed. The douche hates me, as he should, because when you treat my best friend like shit, you’re in my sights, and when it comes to Cassidy, my trigger finger is itchy. I text her back.
I’ll send Delilah.
Delilah’s my twin sister. She’s standing by the back door with her fake boyfriend, Frank, looking bored to tears. Our parents are so conservative they’ve freaked her out about coming out, so she pretends to be straight, and Frank is her beard. I told her a hundred times that college is the time to let it all out and explore. Experiment. But she’s convinced they’ll somehow get wind of whatever she does, so she’s never taken the chance. There’s no arguing with Delilah when she’s set her mind on something, and it pisses me off that our parents have this hold over her. Like it’s any of their business who she wants to be with. I know they would never accept the lifestyle she wants. Delilah’s decision to hide her sexual preferences may not be what
I
think is best for her, but I’ll support her no matter what. The truth is, sometimes parents suck.

Blondie pushes the phone down again and kisses my neck as the phone vibrates.

“Are you going to keep texting?” she snaps.

“Yeah. Are you going to keep sucking my neck like a vampire?” I don’t have time for this shit. Girls are a dime a dozen, but Cassidy’s been screwed over for too long, and I’m getting more pissed by the second.

I read her text.
Thinking…

What the fuck?
Thinking?
I grab the blonde’s arm and turn her toward Carter. She wraps her arms around his neck. No one ever said college girls were discriminatory.

“Carter, take care of her, would ya?”

Two sheets to the wind, Carter sways as he asks, “Where you goin’?”

“Picking up Cass. I’ll catch you later. Make sure you get a ride home. I don’t want to read about your ass splattered all over the road.”
See, Dad? I do listen
. I shove my hand in my pocket and whip out my keys. Cassidy can’t miss this graduation party. This is supposed to be our big celebration, the end to four years of studying and all the bullshit that goes along with it. We made it. We graduated! We even made it through the boring ceremony. She’s earned it. My parents made me and Delilah go to the ceremony. I didn’t want to walk the stage, but they paid for college, so...They made a big deal out of graduation and even invited Uncle Tim, my father’s best friend, who handles the bookkeeping for the Taproom, the bar my parents own in Harborside, Massachusetts. Even though he’s not a blood relative, we’ve always called him
Uncle
Tim. I guess it’s fitting that he’d be at our graduation. He’s known us since we were born, and he went to our high school graduations. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they brought Aunt Lara and made her suffer through it, too.

After the ceremony my father reiterated the same twenty-minute diatribe about driving drunk that he’s given us a million times before, only this time it was complete with statistics about the number of kids who die after graduation parties. Give me a break. I was so relieved when they finally left to drive back to Connecticut an hour ago. I’ve got all night to celebrate with no driving in sight until tomorrow. My shit’s already packed, and tomorrow morning, after I nurse a hangover for a few hours, Delilah and I will head home safe and sound.

I text Cassidy again.
Stay put. We’re coming to get you.

I’M SO MAD by the time Wyatt picks me up, I can barely see straight. I slide into the backseat and growl. Yes, growl.

“Thanks, you guys,” I manage. I reach for my seat belt, trying to avoid Wyatt’s gorgeous green eyes, which are currently filled with venom. He hates Kyle, and right this very second, I don’t blame him.

“What’s his excuse this time?” Wyatt asks as I click my seat belt into place.

I shrug. “Working late. He has my apartment key. Would you mind if we swing by to pick it up?”

Delilah turns around, tucks her blond hair behind her ear, and looks at me like she feels sorry for me. Her green eyes are almost as pretty as Wyatt’s, only his are a shade darker, and when I look at him, there’s always mischief playing behind his eyes. Delilah’s are…I don’t know…more innocent, I guess.

“Why does he have your key?” Delilah asks. “I thought he had his own.” She’s tall and thin and so naturally pretty I’m sure girls want to hate her when they first meet her, but the minute she speaks, you just can’t. She’s too sweet and genuinely caring to hate.

“He lost it, so I gave him mine. He was supposed to come get me, remember?” It’s a lie, and I hate lying to them. He took my key because he’s crazy jealous. Hopefully, I can just run inside and Kyle won’t ask about how I got there, but I need my key. Kyle thinks if I don’t have my key, I won’t leave the apartment because I won’t be able to get back in. He’s taken my key before, and I usually just roll my eyes at his stupidity. I mean, I get it. His dad cheated on his mom, so he has trust issues, but come on. I’d never cheat. I’ve never cheated on a boyfriend in my life, not that I’ve had many boyfriends to cheat on.

Ten minutes later Wyatt parks behind the furniture store where Kyle works. “Cass, you sure he’s working? The lights are off.”

When he says my name, it’s softer, buffered from the tension I see in the bunching of his shoulder muscles.

“Yeah, they closed at eight, and his car is right there, so he’s probably just clocking out.” I unhook my seat belt and stare at the dark building, glad Wyatt is with me because for some reason, it looks dark and eerie.

“I’ll go with you.” Wyatt opens his door. “I’ll be right back, Dee.”

I get out of the car thinking about how much I love when he calls Delilah
Dee
. They are really close, and given their strict parents, I have no idea how they both turned out so awesome. Their parents love them so much, they do
too
much for them, whereas I think my parents love me, but I’ve always felt kind of like a third wheel. Wyatt’s parents called and checked on them before practically every test and afterward to check on their grades. It drove Wyatt and Delilah nuts, and while I get it, it sure did magnify how hands-off my parents are. They make sure I have what I need, but that’s about it. Who wouldn’t feel like an imposition or an afterthought with parents who went to Europe for the summer and missed their only daughter’s college graduation? I guess I’m used to it, so it doesn’t really bother me as much as it did when I was younger. They’re even not openly affectionate toward me, which might be why, after two years, I still haven’t told Kyle that I love him, even though he tells me all the time. Or maybe it’s because I’m not really sure what being in love feels like. I know it’s different from just loving someone, but I’ve never felt the kind of passion I see in movies—or the love I see my parents lavish on each other. It’s like my parents use up their love on each other and there’s not much left for me.

We walk across the dark lot, and I notice Wyatt doing that thing he does, where he scans the area like he’s Chuck Norris readying for a battle. He’s always done it. Even as a kid. Actually, maybe that’s a throwback from his parents always telling him and Delilah to be careful of…well, of everything under the sun.

“We should use the delivery door. He always tells me to go to that one.” I knock on the heavy metal door, and we stand there in the dark listening to each other breathe for what feels like half an hour. I knock again and stuff my hands into the pockets of my hoodie.

“Sure he’s here?” Wyatt asks again.

I nod toward his car at the other end of the parking lot.

“Why do you let him get away with this shit?”

The muscles in Wyatt’s jaw bunch as he clenches his teeth. I know how much he hates Kyle. It’s not like he tries to hide it, but Kyle has redeeming qualities. When he’s with me and it’s just the two of us, he’s affectionate and caring. He can be funny and he’s really smart, which I admire. When we go out together, he’s attentive and fun, even if mildly possessive. I know he loves me. He just gets jealous, especially of Wyatt because we’re so close. Thinking about it makes my stomach hurt. When Kyle sees me with Wyatt, he’ll bitch a blue streak. Not in front of Wyatt, of course, but I’ll hear about it later for sure.

Wyatt shifts his eyes to Kyle’s car, then pulls on the metal door, which swings open and surprises us both. The inside of the building is dark. Wyatt shrugs and waves a hand in front of him, like I should go on in.

“Will you wait for me here?” I wish I knew where the lights were.

“I’m coming with you, Cass.”

He steps inside, and I press my hand against his chest, feeling the wall of muscles beneath my palm. Wyatt’s built like one of those models you see in Abercrombie ads, six foot two of sculpted, tanned perfection. As we’re having our little stare-off in the doorway of the furniture store, it occurs to me for the hundredth time that it’s no wonder Kyle is jealous of him. Wyatt is totally hot. But he’s also my best friend, and we’ve never crossed any lines between friendship and something more. I’ve never really gotten that flirty vibe from Wyatt before, at least not the same vibes he gives off to the girls he sleeps with—those vibes that heat up a whole room and steal my breath just thinking about how lucky those girls are.

“Please wait here.” I don’t feel like dealing with Kyle’s jealousy.

He pushes past me with a
yeah, right
narrow-eyed stare. “Let you go into a dark building by yourself? I don’t think so. Come on. Let’s find him and get the hell out of here. We have a party to go to.”

I roll my eyes, because as much as I want to spend my last night with Wyatt and Delilah before I take off with Kyle to spend the summer with his parents on Martha’s Vineyard, I’m not really in the mood for a party. And as we walk down the dark hallway, I get more irritated by the second. I hate that Wyatt has to rescue me again after Kyle left me hanging. Wyatt never seems to mind, but still.

“Where is he?” Wyatt snaps. “And where are the lights in this place?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s in the office.” I point down a hall and hear a loud bang. I gasp and grab Wyatt, who does what he always does when I’m startled, or when I’m sad, or when I want to talk about something important. He drapes an arm over my shoulder.

“Really, Cass? It’s a furniture store. They’re probably moving furniture.” He leads me down the hall and slows as the noises become clearer.

My stomach clenches tight. “Is that…?” Moaning and sex sounds? I stand there for a second, my jaw hanging open and my heart slamming against my chest.

“Stay here.” Wyatt stalks ahead of me with his hands fisting at his sides, and all I can think about is that Kyle will get pissed if employees are fooling around in the store. He’s so careful about making sure everything is perfect, staying late for inventory when other employees don’t show up and setting up the displays by himself in the evenings so no one else has to miss out on studying or late classes. I guess he won’t have to worry about that now that school is over.

Wyatt stops in front of the stockroom door and holds a hand up for me to stay put. As Wyatt pushes the door open, it dawns on me that Kyle hasn’t returned my last text. I pull out my phone and scroll through my texts. I must not have felt the text come through.

Hey, babe. Gonna be late. Shipment just came in.

That’s when I recognize the sounds and realize who’s behind that closed door. With my heart in my throat, I reach for Wyatt as he steps into the room and flips on a light.

“What the fuck?” Kyle yells.

Wyatt turns and grabs me by the shoulders before I can get into the room.

“Go out to the car, Cassidy.” Wyatt’s face ices over and just as quickly turns threatening, which I know is not meant for me but for Kyle.

“No. What’s he doing?” I push against Wyatt, but he’s too strong, and he pushes me backward.

“Fucking Wyatt.” Kyle sounds pissed and out of breath.

“You don’t need to see this. Go to Delilah.” Wyatt pushes me out of the doorway and into Delilah’s arms. I didn’t even know she’d come into the building. I can’t stop the tears from escaping or my limbs from fighting as I try to get into the room. “Kyle!”

“Fuck. It’s not what it looks like,” Kyle hollers.

Delilah peers around Wyatt’s shoulders. “Oh my God.”

“Take her out, Dee. Now.” Wyatt’s eyes narrow. His tone leaves no room for negotiation.

I twist out of her arms and burst past Wyatt into the stockroom. Oh my God. I can’t breathe. Kyle and some whore are scrambling to put on their clothes.

“Who are these people?” the girl screeches in an annoyingly high voice as she wiggles into a skirt.
Bitch
.

I’m frozen in place, shaking all over, trying to process what I’m seeing. Somewhere deep in my head a spear is tearing into the knowledge that the guy I gave my virginity to, the guy I trusted with my heart, the guy I spent the last two years of my life with, is
fucking
some other girl like I don’t exist.

“Dee, take her outside. Now.” As Wyatt grabs my shoulders and guides me back into Delilah’s arms, my eyes lock on Kyle. His face is beet red, but it isn’t his face that makes me feel like I might puke; it’s his limp dick, sheathed in a condom.

“You fucker! You asshole! How could you—” I can barely hear myself scream past the rush of blood in my ears. Everything seems like it’s in slow motion. Kyle’s mouth is moving, but I can’t hear a word. Wyatt is in front of me, holding me back. Kyle spreads his arms out like he can somehow explain it all away. My legs turn to rubber, and I feel Delilah dragging me backward. How can this be happening? After two years, how? Why?