I looked at the painted nails and perceptive eyes. “You know you need to explain this to us, right?”
I bit back a sigh and lowered my eyes. “Not now.”
He didn’t bother to hide his exasperation with me. “What if she really doesn’t have anywhere to go? You can be cold and mean when you want, but I’ve never seen you be heartless. And to a girl at that.”
He had no idea. Heartless was easy when it came to the girl I’d just turned my back on. She was the one who taught what that word meant in the first place all those years ago.
I barked out a dry laugh. “She brings out the worst in me. Let’s talk about everything later.” Much later. I’d worked hard to put the past behind me.
I needed Ollie to be out of sight and out of mind like she’d been for the last five years. If she wasn’t, she was going to consume my every waking thought and moment the same as she had when we were young.
I had too much to lose to let Ollie in my front door or back into my life.
I’d fight tooth and nail to keep her as far away from me and mine as possible.
And I had no intention of losing to her again.
Ollie
“Went about as well as expected, huh?” I looked up and took the bottle of water my boss-slash-new-best friend was handing down to me. I was sitting on the stairs that led up to her funky vintage shop, which, like most businesses around campus, existed inside a converted Victorian.
I was so lucky when I stumbled on that Help Wanted sign a few weeks after I came to this small college town. When I got here, I had to scramble to put together anything resembling basic necessities because I left that too big house in such a rush. Luckily, this little shop had plenty of fun, funky secondhand offerings for really reasonable prices. Otherwise, I would have had to go to class in my bathrobe. I was also fortunate that Mercer McKay, the owner, and I clicked right away. When I saw that she was hiring and asked about the job, she didn’t hesitate to offer me a part-time job, partly because she was nice, but more because she knew I was desperate to be here. I wouldn’t bounce on her if schoolwork got overwhelming and intense. I was reliable, which I’d proven to her time and time again. Over the summer, she let me crash in one of the back rooms that she’d set up as a bedroom while I put my plan in place to move into Huck’s fortress. The room was approximately the size of the walk-in closets back in that house I never thought I would escape, but it was infinitely more comfortable. Nothing at that house had been pleasant or homey. I hated that my mother refused to live anywhere else. We might not have been able to afford anything in that tiny New England town, but we could’ve lived elsewhere. My mom was too attached, too committed to serving a family that hers had worked for over generations. She felt she owed them, even more so when my father took off before I was born, leaving her alone and terrified. Huck’s grandparents let her live in the small servants’ quarters and paid for all her medical expenses, as well as my primary education, as long as she agreed to stay on staff and help with their son’s children. She was a housekeeper and a nanny, but really, she acted like the only real mother those boys had. She practically raised all three of us on her own, and it wasn’t until she was gone that I realized one of the main reasons she sacrificed her life and her own happiness and fulfillment was because she wanted to make sure I was guaranteed a better life than she had. She suffered so much solely so I could succeed.
I pulled at my curls with one hand and squeezed the bottle of water with the other as Mercer took a seat next to me. She had her hair pulled up in twin pigtails, and her bright, vibrant makeup always made her look like a kid playing dress-up. I knew she was nearly a decade older than I was, but she looked like she could be my younger sister. Her carefree and easygoing personality made her seem more youthful than I ever felt. I was honestly envious of her ability to see the good in everyone and the positives in any situation. Mercer wasn’t really a hipster or a new-age hippy-type. She was simply someone who marched completely to the beat of her own drum and didn’t care at all what others thought of her song and dance. She was quite possibly the happiest person I’d ever encountered, and I knew I wouldn’t have made it when I showed up at this school without her to lean on and confide in.
“I mean, I got tossed out on my ass as expected, but Vernon was nice enough to let me leave my stuff in their garage.” I didn’t have much, but what I did have was precious to me, and I wasn’t going to leave it behind.
“You knew he was the nice one going into this. You should’ve tried to work that angle even more.” All of her stacked bracelets jangled and clicked together noisily as she reached out to pat my back in a conciliatory manner. “You knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but you took the first step, and you need to give yourself credit for that. Now that Huck knows you’re here in the same city and plan on going to the same school, things are going to get interesting.”
I groaned and pulled harder on my hair. “I don’t want interesting.” I’d had that, and it had gone horribly wrong. “I want boring and safe.” I wanted what normal was supposed to look like.
Mercer patted me a little bit harder and sighed. “So, what’s the plan now? You’re sort of at a legal stalemate. You have a legal right to live there, and he has the right to go to the authorities and claim you’re a stalker. His evidence that you may be a stalker is pretty weak, but your name goes in the legal system here regardless.”
I closed my eyes and held the water bottle to my forehead. “Huck was always really good at backing people into a corner.” Only, I’d never been one of the unfortunate ones before.
“He didn’t seem even a little bit happy to see you after all this time?” Mercer kept her voice low like she knew she was tiptoeing across very dangerous territory.
Huck had looked as far from happy as one man could. He looked horrified. He looked angry. He looked traumatized. And he looked… so fucking handsome.
He was breathtaking these days. He’d grown up so well that he was almost unrecognizable. If I hadn’t peeked at him on the Internet, there is no way I would’ve recognized him, even with those golden, glowing eyes of his. I’d always been the taller of the two of us, and now he practically towered over me. He looked slick and stylish and not at all like the boy I used to play in the dirt with and chase up trees. He no longer looked like a kid all our rich classmates would tease and torture to gain favor. He used to run around in torn t-shirts and faded jeans. The jeans and t-shirt were still there, but now they fit him perfectly and molded to muscle he hadn’t had before. He’d also added scrolling artwork to his skin along with the bulk. The tattoos weren’t all that surprising since Huck had always been rebellious and wild. I wasn’t expecting the fancy haircut and expensive brand name clothes, though. The Huck I knew used to mock the amount of money the people around us wasted to look just like everyone else. At one point in my life, I understood every single move he made; now, I had no clue what he was thinking and was surprised how easily he turned his back on me.
I knew I was a reminder of things better left forgotten, but I’d been sure that once we were face-to-face, all the good memories we’d made as two misunderstood kids would be enough to replace the biggest, baddest memory that tore us apart.