Destructive Silence (The Destructive Series) (5 page)

“Yeah, let’s drop these bags off in your car and get something to eat before we go.” She demands, exhausted from carrying her multiple purchases.

“Sweet, I’m starving!”

“So, what are you in the mood to eat?” she asks.

“Hello, do you even have to ask?” I act stunned.

“I wasn’t sure if you were in the mood for our signature salad again.” She says defensively
, dropping her shopping bags into my trunk.

“Of course I am. I think I can eat it every day. Then again, I would probably have to work out a lot more too.” I laugh. We walk into Chevy’s Fresh
Mex and the hostess seats us quickly. The waiter takes our drink orders and allows us time to peruse the menu. “Really, Becca? Don’t you think they should recognize us by now? Do we really need a menu?” I ask surprised.

“Well, I guess they want to make sure we have a menu in case hell freezes over and we change our minds.” She replies smiling.

The waiter comes back with our drinks. “What can I get you ladies to eat?” he asks.

“I’ll have a tostada salad with chicken and your vinaigrette dressing on the side.” Becca responds pulling her phone out of her purse.

The waiter turns to me. “I’ll also have the tostada salad but without meat, hold the guacamole, and I’ll use the sour cream as my dressing, please,” I say handing him the menus.

I situate myself in the chair, finally finding a comfortable position, because I’m still slightly sore. When I move to take a sip of my soda, I notice the look on Becca’s face. “What?” I ask.

“Um, it’s a text from Lucas.” She says softly.

“Okay.” I say and then it dawns on me. “Oh
... did he mention something about Caine?” I ask wincing at the possibility.

“Um
... yeah. You could say that,” she says playing on her phone.

“What are you doing? Becca? What are you telling him? What are you not telling me?” I ask her desperately.

“Simmer down now. See for yourself,” she says handing me her phone.

Lucas: 
Sunday 1:28pm: 
Becca, sorry to ask this, but Caine is going insane. Where is Lacey?

Becca: 
Sunday 1:32pm: 
At lunch with me. Why?

Lucas: 
Sunday 1:33pm:  C
aine is pissed and needs to speak to Lacey ASAP.

Lucas: 
Sunday 1:34pm: 
Can I get her phone number?

Becca: 
Sunday 1:36pm: 
I’ll ask
.

I hand Becca back her phone. I feel sick. All of the happiness I felt
, and the torture I put my feet through today during retail therapy just went right out the window. I can feel my blood pressure increase. “Becca, I can’t talk to him,” I tell her softly shaking my head and feeling the panic begin to build inside of me.

“Lacey, wait a minute
. Why can’t you talk to him?” She stops to gather her thoughts. “Maybe he wants to see you again. He doesn’t have to be a one-night stand.” She shrugs.

“Becca, you know why. I think I’m going to be sick. I cannot...”
The sound of another text coming in interrupts me. “What does it say?” I impatiently ask.

Lucas: 
Sunday 1:44pm: 
Where are you having lunch? Caine will not stop pacing my room.

“Um, Lucas wants to know where we are,” she says.

“Oh my God. No! No! No!” I shake my head. “Don’t you dare tell him! He’ll ask questions, Becca. He’ll demand I tell him why I left. I don’t want to talk about it. Besides, once he finds out the truth, he will never want to see me again,” I say dejectedly.

“Are you serious Lacey?” she asks amused. “You honestly think if he knows, he won’t want to see you again? Have you lost your mind?” she asks sarcastically.

“Becca please, I’m begging you,” I plead.

“You know I love you my bestie
, but maybe this is the best thing that could happen,” she claims, while typing something on her phone. Another minute and she sets her phone down and looks up at me. “Lacey, I’m sorry. I think this is in your best interest.”

“What’s in my best interest? Did you give him my number?” I ask.

“Maybe.” She shrugs.

“Ugh Becca,
besties are supposed to have each other’s backs. I cannot believe it,” I tell her, pulling my phone out of my bag.

“Hey
, remember you owe me for picking your sorry ass up in the middle of the night,” she smirks. “And why are you looking at your phone if you don’t want him to call?” she asks raising one eyebrow.

“It’s not that. I don’t know.” I shake my head back and forth. “I just want to know when
, and if he does try to contact me,” I try to explain.

“Mm hmm, if that’s what you say,” she replies. Just then,
I am saved when the waiter placing my blessed salad in front of me. I immediately go to work cutting the lettuce into smaller, bite-sized pieces. I take my first bite determined to keep my mouth full, as much as possible so that I don’t have to talk anymore. Nothing has come through on my phone. Perhaps he isn’t interested. Maybe he wanted my number to chew me out when he has the opportunity. It’s also possible Lucas isn’t allowing him to contact me until he calms down.

By the time I have consumed most of my salad, I feel much better. I am uncomfortably full. I do it every time. I tell myself not to eat until I’m stuffed, but it’s so easy to get lost in this salad. Becca and I settle the bill. “You ready to go home?” I ask her.

“Sure. I need to use the ladies’ room and then we can go,” she says standing.

“Okay, I’m going to wait for you out in the mall.” Becca nods and I make my way out of the restaurant. Distracted by searching for my keys in my purse, I run straight into the poor soul holding the door for me. I look up to apologize, and my heart stops. I’m face to face with a terrifying reality.
Caine!
A very, pissed off Caine. A freaking, smoking hot, pissed off Caine. Oh my God, he is too damn sexy. His eyes are boring into me, making it hard to look away. Lucas is behind him with his hands in his pockets looking very uncomfortable.

“Um
, hi,” I say unable to think of anything else.

“Well hello to you, too, Lacey,” he says, clearly fuming.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Well I don’t know? Maybe I’m looking for you to find out why the hell you left. Why you left without telling me. Why you left without a note. Why you left me no way of getting in touch with you.” He is furious. His temper allows me to break eye contact and gaze down at the floor. I shift my feet uncomfortably, knowing where this conversation is headed. I can’t even look him in the eye, scared
that I might cry. I know what I did was rude and unacceptable; but the actual deed was even more unacceptable. Ugh!

Caine steps in front of me
, lifting my chin with his hand. “Lacey, talk to me, please,” he says moving a strand of hair behind my ear. His temper has clearly come down a notch or two, putting me a little more at ease.

“Caine, I can’t talk about that right now,” I say softly, trying to avoid my emotions getting the best of me.

“I don’t understand Lacey. I thought we were good. I thought you realized last night that I want more. I can’t get you out of my fucking mind. I woke up this morning and freaked out when I found you gone. What did I do wrong?” he asks.
OMG! Did he just say that?
I can feel my legs melting just in his presence.

Taking a deep breath, “It isn’t you, it’s me
, Caine. Literally, it’s all me,” I assure him.

“Don’t give me that cliché crap. Why did you leave?” he strains.

I hear Becca’s gasp behind me. Thank you Jesus! I am so happy for her interruption, although she will be hearing it from me later. I turn around shooting daggers at her. “Hey boys,” she says all sassy.
Bitch.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asks light-heartedly.

My focus remains on Becca. “They are here because you told them where we were,” I te
ll her with a punitive breath.

“Oh, I see. Well in my defense, love, I heard Caine wanted to talk to you,” she says innocently.

“Thanks Becca. You’re the best bestie,” I say sarcastically, with sneering eyes. She laughs and waves me off as if I’ll quickly get over it.

“Uh Lacey, can we go somewhere to talk?” Caine asks, interrupting my thoughts of avenging Becca.

“Er... I don’t know where we can go.” I look around.

“Come
on; let’s go sit on one of the benches outside.” He points outside and grabs my arm as he begins to walk toward the exit.

“Um, okay
... Becca?” I probe shakily.

“Oh, that’s fine honey. Take your time. We’ll be in here. You can call me when you’re done, bestie,” she says all innocently.
Bitch.

Caine leads me to the far bench overlooking a desolate parking lot with a thick, lush forest as its backdrop. “Caine, I’m sorry for running out on you,” I begin, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible. I start twisting my fingers to ease my nerves.

“I don’t understand. You say I didn’t do anything wrong, but something caused you to leave,” he says.
Dammit
. I hate talking about this.

“There are just some things you don’t know about me. That’s all,” I say. He moves to take my hand in his, causing me to flinch.

“Really, Lacey? Last night, we did a lot more than hold hands,” he says. I close my eyes to get my thoughts together.

“Caine, what I did last night, I’ve never done before. Ever,” I admit.

“Well, it’s not like I go around having one-night stands either,” he shoots back.

“No, you don’t understand. I’ve never had a one-night stand before because...
because I’ve never...”

Caine cuts me off. “What? Are you saying you were a virgin?” he asks completely shocked. I close my eyes, not wanting to digest the gravity of what I gave away. I nod
, unable to say the truth. Caine inhales a deep breath and exhales slowly. We sit for a moment. He still has my hand but his grasp has increased. “Do you regret it?”

“Um, I don’t know,” I answer him honestly.

“I understand. I’m sorry, Lacey. I had no idea. I cannot believe I was so stupid for not figuring it out,” he says, hunching over, as if defeated.

“Caine, you had no way of knowing. It’s not like you had to break through something.” I shrug.

“But there wasn’t any blood. I thought if you were a virgin there would be a lot of blood,” he says, with a confused look. I smile.

“Are you saying you have never taken someone’s virginity before
, mister?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.

“Well, thanks to you, I don’t know what the hell to think.” He relaxes.

“Caine, there isn’t always blood. It depends on a bunch of things, primarily the female’s anatomy. I had a horrific accident when I was younger on my bike that ripped my hymen, causing me to bleed. That is probably why there was no blood last night.” I try to assure him.

“Oh, wow. That doesn’t sound pleasant,” he pipes in.

“Uh, no. It hurt like hell,” I tell him.

“How did it happen?” he asks.

“Well, I was riding my bike with my shoelaces untied – a big no-no according to my parents. Anyway, my laces got caught in the spokes and before I realized how tangled they were, I tried to remove my foot to get off the bike. My shoes were too far tangled for me to successfully put my foot on the ground. I tried to brace myself for the fall but my body was twisted. My bike hit the pavement first, and then I landed with a small portion of the seat invading me,” I explained.

“Oh my
God Lacey, that’s horrible. I’m sorry that happened,” he says.

“Yeah, well the worst part was my father having to take me to the ER because my mom wasn’t home. It was quite embarrassing,” I say shyly.

“Well, I guess that explains the lack of blood,” he says. “But, you haven’t told me why you left,” he finished.

“Caine, I don’t know why. I just did,” I tell him looking away.

“Lacey, you’re lying. Don’t fucking lie to me. Why did you leave?” he asks with some of his earlier anger returning.

I take a deep, calming breath, close my eyes, and gather the courage from wherever I can find it. “Caine, I’m sorry I left last night without letting you know. It was wrong, but I was scared, embarrassed, and most of all, ashamed.” He looks at me with furrowed brows trying not to
let my confession hurt him. “Please understand. I wasn’t ashamed of you. I was ashamed of myself because I used you.” Pain replaces the hurt on his face. “Before you get upset, let me finish.” I take a deep breath. “When I was little something happened. I had a great family, or so I thought. One day, mom dragged my sister and me to her parents; it was just like every other time we went to see grandma and grandpa. Mom had to help grandpa repair part of the chicken coop in the backyard. It was hot that day and I couldn’t stand the heat, so I stayed inside with the air-conditioning.” I pause, remembering each room had its own unit to keep the small three-bedroom home cool from the Florida summer heat. After taking another deep breath, I continue.