Bayward Street (20 page)

“Come on, want you to meet someone.”

“Okay.”

I looked to find Layla, but Bray had already taken her hostage and was dragging her away with promises of sex on the beach. I was pretty sure he meant the drink, but with Braydon you could never be sure.

“Look after my friend, Braydon,” I called after them. Layla’s laugh danced through the air, but Braydon didn’t even look back, just waving me off with a flick of his wrist.

Heath pulled me in the opposite direction, over to where his friends had now gone back to their conversations after Layla’s loud entrance.

“Payton,” Heath called. A young girl with beautiful long wavy blonde hair turned around with a broad smile on her face. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts that were frayed at the bottom, and what seemed like a one-piece black bathing suit underneath.

She bounced over to us as we approached. “Hey, Fable, right?”

I smiled. “Yeah, nice to meet you.”

Lucas appeared behind her, wrapping his arm around her neck and pulling her back. “This is my little brat of a sister.”

“Oh!”

Payton elbowed her big brother in the stomach, and he doubled over laughing.

“Ignore him, I’m lovely.”

Lucas choked on his laughter. “You just blatantly abuse me, and then try to convince her that you’re lovely? Nice try, sis.”

Their banter over who was the best sibling made me laugh. Eventually, Payton just shoved him away and grabbed my hand, pulling me from Heath’s arms. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”

I looked over my shoulder at Heath as she pulled me back to the house, but he just smiled and shook his head. I missed the connection already, but I guess this was a party.

“No alcohol, Payton,” Lucas called after us.

Payton didn’t look back but held up her middle finger over her shoulder as she continued to drag me away. When we were a far enough distance, she slowed down, and I fell in step beside her.

“Lucas doesn’t let me drink. He thinks I’m too young.”

“How old are you?”

“Just turned sixteen.”

I shrugged. “I guess older brothers are made to be protective.” I’d be a hypocrite if I told her that she shouldn’t be drinking. It wasn’t like I didn’t do it myself. I was actually looking forward to putting a little liquid courage in my body. “How do they get away with having parties like this, and not getting in trouble with the police?”

She snorted. “When you have this much money, you can pretty much get away with anything. Everyone has their price you know.”

Oh, I knew.

Payton stepped up to the makeshift bar where two guys twirled bottles and mixed drinks. “Give me two cosmos,” Payton called over the music which had grown increasingly louder as we’d gotten closer to the house. He nodded and set about mixing our drinks. It wasn’t a minute before one was placed in front of me, the other in front of Payton.

I sipped at it, letting the soothing liquid rush down my throat. It wasn’t strong, and it tasted amazing.

I watched as Payton took a drink of hers and screwed up her nose. “There’s no alcohol in this,” she demanded, glaring at the bartender.

“Lucas said no alcohol for you.” He smirked before strutting off to the other end of the bar.

I managed to smother my laughter with my hand.

“I’m gonna murder him,” she stated, snatching the drink off the bar and muttering to herself as we walked back to the quieter side of the pool where Heath, Braydon, and Layla sat now. “Lucas!”

He turned to us with a wicked grin on his face.

“What is this shit?” she growled, holding up her drink.

“It’s called a virgin cosmopolitan. You know, because it has no alcohol.” Lucas folded his arms across his chest and grinned proudly.

It was when Payton smirked back that I knew he hadn’t won this round. “Thanks for that. The whole virgin concept is foreign to me. Good to know.”

Everyone laughed loudly as Lucas’ face sank and morphed into one of disgust. “You better be joking, Pay.”

She didn’t answer but slipped by him, sipping on her drink with a smile as she passed.

Giggling quietly, I made my way over to Heath. There were several large blankets laid out on the grass. Sam and another of the boys’ friends, Matt, sat chatting with Heath while Braydon and Layla sat slightly back, their heads dipped together in conversation. Heath looked up when he saw me coming, smiling and patting the space between his legs. They were bent at the knees, and he rested his arms on them.

I frowned as I stared at the spot.

Heath frowned back at me. “What’s wrong?”

Holding up my drink with one hand and pointing to the long dress I was wearing with the other, I tried to explain the problem without everyone around us noticing. I was a girl, I should really know how to navigate something like this.

“Pass him your drink and lift your dress while you sit down,” a girl from the next blanket offered with a soft smile.

I did so, passing Heath my drink and lifting the bottom as my dress as I wiggled into the space between his legs. When I was situated, Heath passed my drink back, and I turned back to the girl. “Thanks.”

She giggled. “No problem. Sitting on the ground in a floor length dress can be an art form, but if I looked as good as you did in one, you can bet your ass I’d be saying fuck it and wearing one too.”

It warmed me to hear her kind words. Maybe the kids here were starting to forget and move on. Maybe I was just becoming another kid at the school.

Heath shuffled forward, brushing my hair forward over my shoulder and pulling me back against him. The bare skin of his chest warmed my naked back. I leaned back against him sipping my drink as he went back to his conversation with his friends. They talked about swimming and what their parents were up to in their busy lives. Matt’s dad ran a record label, and Sam’s parents were resort tycoons and owned hotels all over the states, including some of the biggest and most well know places in Las Vegas.

It was strange, though. Even though I didn’t have stories like theirs to compare, I didn’t feel out of place or overwhelmed like I thought I would. I didn’t know if it was because of Heath and the way his fingers gently stroked at my side, or whether it was because I finally felt like I wasn’t the outcast with the dodgy back story anymore. I peeked over Heath’s shoulder to see Layla laughing with Bray, Payton, and Lucas and smiled contently.

I laughed as Payton and Lucas continued to debate who was better, Lay and I cheered as Braydon made an epic bomb off the water slide, and I sympathized with the girl screaming at her boyfriend because she’d caught him making out with someone else.

The spotlight wasn’t on me anymore.

These kids had all moved on.

I was just a normal teenager.

And boy did it feel good.

I watched the crowd, taking it in with fascination as they danced and ground against each other. It was mind boggling just how different this world was to mine. The biggest fear these kids had was whether they were going to be invited to the next party, or if they were going to trip over in their Louis Vuitton’s.

Heath’s arm wrapped securely around my waist, helped to make me feel at ease. For someone who usually kept his shows of affection private, he was strangely confident today. I welcomed it, though. Not second guessing it, but finding comfort in the way he was unafraid of showing how he cared for me.

As my eyes searched the crowd, a familiar glare stared back at me, halting my sweep. She had her hands on her hips, and her eyes were narrowed. I steeled my back, trying not to let Jay’s harsh gaze get the better of me. I needed to let her know that I wasn’t giving this up as easily as she thought.

She wanted to play games with me—threaten my future and my chance at finally having something. What she didn’t consider was the fact that I’d already been through the depths of hell, and Heath and his family had finally given me a reason to fight back.

The thought of being sent back to my father petrified me.

But something else scared me even more.

Losing Heath, and the life I’d started to create for myself.

I managed to hold her gaze for more than a minute before she turned and stomped away, shoving people to the side as she made her grand exit back inside the house.

The noise around me pulled me from my thoughts as the boys all jostled and picked fun at each other, pulling their shirts off like they were ready to head for the slide.

“You’re not going swimming?” I asked Heath when he stayed behind me and didn’t join in. His fingers were twisting through the bottom of my hair. Winding and unwinding as we watched the partygoers dance and drink to their heart’s content.

I turned my body to the side, hating that I couldn’t see his face.

“Nah,” he shrugged. “I’m good here with you.”

“Heath, go if you want to. I’m fine.” Even though I used my sternest voice, he still cracked a smile.

Payton dropped down beside us. “Yeah, go. I’ll stay with her.”

Bray had already stolen Layla, barely allowing me five minutes with my friend before he continued to drag her around, introducing her to anyone that he could. Layla was quick-witted, just like Braydon, and he couldn’t wait to share his new found friendship with anyone who would listen. And with Braydon, that was everyone. Simply because he was Braydon.

Heath grunted in response to Payton’s offer to keep me company. “That fails to make me feel any better, Pay.”

“Heath, go.”

“Come on, man. We’ll go get dressed and show these wannabes what’s really up.” Lucas tossed his swim trunks on the ground next to us, and I looked up and mouthed a, ‘
thank you’
at him.

Heath growled low in his throat, the sound sent tingles through me. “Fine.” Just when I thought I’d won, he grabbed my chin and turn my face back to his, covering my triumphant smile with his mouth. Luckily, I no longer had any drink left in my glass, it dropped onto the blanket as I melted into his arms. His hand slid across my jaw and around to the back of my neck allowing me no escape as he devoured me.

Not that I would have wanted that anyway, suddenly thinking maybe I didn’t want him to go anywhere because right there in that moment was the place I could have quite happily stayed for a lifetime.

“Okay, okay. We get the point, caveman. Her woman, you man. She yours. No touch,” Payton groaned, giving us a gentle shove. The friends around us all chuckled, and I couldn’t stop myself from giggling against his lips as I attempted to pry myself away.

He groaned but finally pulled back, his eyes hot and wild. Heath wanted more, I knew that. So far he’d kept at my pace, never pushing me farther than I felt comfortable. But I knew that after every kiss, I was beginning to want more too. And one day, something would have to give.

The idea of being intimate with Heath excited me in more ways than I expected, but I was scared too.

Scared of how easily it could all be ripped away.

The boys sauntered off toward the house to get into their swim shorts. People stepped out of their way as they saw them coming, except for one person who stepped into their space.

“The bitch is here! Oh, joy.” Payton beamed with fake enthusiasm.

A smile drew on my mouth. “Guessing you’re not her biggest fan either?”

“Apart from her posse of princesses, I don’t think Jay has any fans,” she replied dryly.

A lot of people stopped to view their interaction like this whole party had been the side show and now they were onto the main event.

Jay was wearing a gold bikini—no surprises there—and six-inch heels that I wondered how she managed to walk in, around a slippery pool no less.

I couldn’t see Heath’s face as his back was to us. Her face was different. It wasn’t smug and confident like usual. Her bottom lip was stuck out in an uncharacteristic pout. She reached out to touch his arm, and I raised my eyebrows when he didn’t shake it off. Lucas gave him a shove and Jay nodded sadly as she watched them disappear.

Jay’s eyes drifted over to where we were, searching. And I knew exactly what for. When they hit me, they brightened, and a smug smile burned through me before she turned on her toes and continued back through the crowd.

Just like for the boys, people jumped to move out of her way. But it was for a different reason. They didn’t respect her like they did Heath and Lucas, they feared her. And with a dull ache beginning to form in the back of my legs, I knew exactly why.

“Let’s go get a drink while the boys are distracted,” Payton said, pulling at my arm. Not sure whether she was trying to distract me, or simply just wanting to finally get one over her older brother, I let her once again drag me to the bar.

The bartender mixed our drinks and placed them on the bar for us. When he turned away, Payton reached over the bar and grabbed a half empty bottle of vodka. I laughed as she tucked it under her arm and strolled away.

“Fable!” Layla jogged over to me. “Braydon and Heath are gonna race down the slide.”

She pointed to the hill where the two brothers were climbing. They tested each other with light shoves and laughter as they made their way to the top.

There was only love between those two. They weren’t really competitive, but I guess they really had no reason to be. They were close, closer than a lot of siblings, hanging out with the same crowd and stuff, but they both had their own thing.

Braydon was into football. Heath was a swimmer. Both vastly different sports, which required different techniques and training. They never competed against girls either. Braydon was the ladies’ man, where Heath was quiet and subtle in the way he cared for someone. They were both passionate about right and wrong, but that wasn’t a competition, that was something they joined together in. A connection they had because of the way they were brought up.

People started gathering around the pool, hollering for each of the brothers and shouting out who they bet would win.

Braydon turned around and lifted his hands in the air, boosting the noise of the crowd as he flexed his muscles. Heath took the opportunity to shove his brother, laughing as he stumbled but caught himself before rolling down the hill.

Everyone laughed.

Payton, Sam, and Lucas stood behind us. Not really paying attention as Lucas threatened to tell their mom about the bottle of alcohol she was holding.

I giggled softly knowing that Lucas really didn’t want to get her into trouble. He was just trying to watch out for her. I think she knew that, and she wasn’t afraid to give back just as much as she got, throwing in her own threat about telling his dad that Lucas had a threesome in his dad’s bed.

I was just about to turn around and join in the teasing when a body hit me at full force, throwing me through the air. My leg hit the side of the pool, and I cried out.

“Fable,” Layla’s screams filled my ears before my body hit the water. The air had already been forced from my lungs, and I had no time to even take a breath before my body went under.

Shock was the first thing to hit me as I sunk through the blue haze. I didn’t know where I was or what was going on. It was then panic took over. My body realizing that there was no air and that was when I began to twist and struggle. The fabric of my dress twisted around my legs and pain shot through my leg as I fought to somehow push myself to the surface.

I’d never learned how to swim, I was just thrashing around, and my body was confused. I didn’t know which way was up anymore.

Was I just fighting myself into a watery death?

Noises, splashes filled the water around me, and my lungs finally gave in, my mind screaming at me to just breathe. I choked, water going in through my mouth and my nose.

I was going to drown.

I was barely aware of what was going on as something hit me from behind, pushing me through the thick liquid. Someone grabbed at my arms, dragging me with them.

Air hit my face, and my lungs spewed the water from my mouth, gasping and choking as it fought to fill them with oxygen and expel the water that had seeped in.

My eyes watered as I tried to open them and make sense of what was going on around me. There were crowds of people standing at the edge of the pool, their faces were mostly blurred, but there was the odd look of horror that I caught as who I had now identified as Lucas pulled me to the edge.

“Breathe, Fay. Breathe,” Heath’s soft voice was breathless, but he still managed to soothe me, and he pressed against my back, forcing me against the pool wall and holding me there. Lucas pulled himself out before taking both my hands and dragging me up until my knees hit the concrete.

I collapsed on the ground, my body convulsing as more liquid forced itself out of my body. I saw Layla’s face first as she dropped her body down next to mine and pulled my wet hair away from my face. “Let it come out, the water needs to come out.”

I did, and she didn’t even move away as I vomited up bile and pool water right next to her.

“Good girl.”

With my face at this level, I could see Payton sitting on the ground just behind Layla. Lucas was now crouched next to her, assessing her body. Blood welled from grazes on her knees and on one of her hands. My mind couldn’t make out what was going on, though. Why was Payton hurt?

Layla moved to the side as Heath dropped down next to her, his hair dripping wet and his face one of absolute shock.

There was another splash, and it didn’t take long for Braydon’s voice to fill the silence. “What the fuck happened?” I wanted to tell him I was okay, but my body was completely drained, and I couldn’t even lift my head from the hard concrete.

“Bray, it’s all right. She’s okay,” Layla told him softly, jumping to her feet to intercept him as he popped out of the pool.

“Baby,” Heath spoke quietly to me, his hand reaching out and brushing against my cheek. “Just breathe. Breathe with me.”

I watched as he inhaled deeply, imitating the way he filled his lungs. I spluttered as I tried to exhale, gagging.

He brushed my cheek again, but I could see his concern begin to morph into anger. “What happened?” he snapped, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Someone pushed me, really hard,” Payton answered as my mind was too focused on breathing and being alive.

“Who?” he snapped loudly so that everyone could hear.

The only sound that could be heard was the music still pumping in the background.

“I don’t know, man. We were all watching you two and then Payton flew forward, knocking over Fable.” Lucas tried to explain the confusion.

“Heath, we need to get her home. We can deal with this later,” Layla said, the voice of reason.

It was strange because Heath was usually that voice. The clear-headed one, the one who knew what to do in a crisis. But when my eyes met his, all I could see was anger.

“Yeah.” He hooked his hands under my knees, and one went around my back as he lifted me off the ground. People parted for us as Braydon, Layla, Payton, and Lucas all followed us out.

He loaded me in the front seat of his car, and I looked out the window to see Braydon and Sam talking by the front door. Braydon was talking fast, and Sam nodded, patting him on the back as he turned to go back inside.

Heath drove me home after a short detour to a doctor’s office.

The doctor rushed us through and checked me over.

She said events like I’d been through could be dangerous, as if there’s still fluid in the lungs I was still at risk of drowning even hours later if they didn’t get it out.

After a checkup, she’d decided that the boys had managed to get me out of the water pretty quickly and that my body had rejected what it needed to.

Heath was silent, his hand resting on my leg as we pulled up the driveway. Braydon, Lucas, Layla, and Payton were already at the house waiting for us.

Heath jumped out and jogged around the car to open my door. He helped me out and kept his arms around me as he led me upstairs to my room. I went straight to the bathroom. Dropping the towel I had wrapped around me as Heath turned on the shower. As much as I felt I’d seen enough water today, my body was frozen, and I just wanted to get warm.

“Get in,” he murmured, his hand reaching out to lift my dress.

I jumped back. “Heath, it’s okay. I can shower myself.” My throat was scratchy and raw, and it still hurt a little to talk.

“I’m not leaving you in here alone. I don’t know what might fucking happen.”

I knew he was worried, but I wasn’t ready for him to see the marks that Jay’s first attempt at hurting me had caused. “Please, Heath. Not right now. I don’t have the energy.”

He frowned and for a minute I thought he might refuse.

“Girls!” It was only a few seconds before Layla appeared in the doorway, she was with Payton in my room, patching her grazes. Unfortunately, she was a pro at that, having grown up with a father like she did. Layla looked between us worriedly as steam began to fill the room. “She needs someone to stay with her in case something happens. Can you bring Payton in here while you do that so she’s not alone? I need to call Mom.”

“Yeah, sure. It’s probably better to do it in here anyway so I can wash her knees.”

I silently thanked him with my eyes, and he pressed a light kiss to my forehead before slipping passed Layla and out the door. Payton stepped inside not long after and closed it behind her.

“We won’t look.” She smiled, and they both turned to face the door as I stripped out of the white dress and climbed into the shower, pulling the shower curtain closed. The water was hot and stung my chilled skin.

“I didn’t know you couldn’t swim,” Payton said softly.

“It’s not something I usually lead with when I meet new people.”

She cleared her throat. “I would have jumped in if I’d have known. I thought you’d just pop up again.”

“Payton, it’s okay. You got hurt, too. You couldn’t have jumped in.”

“Heath looked like a superhero.” Layla giggled softly. I heard someone sit on the toilet seat and the tearing of Band-Aids. “Heath heard me scream, and saw the splash from all the way at the top of the hill. He flew through the air so far I thought he might land on you.”

“Lucas didn’t know what was going on, until he saw Heath shooting down the slide so he jumped in, too.”

“I wish I’d seen it.” Backing up under the spray of the water, I closed my eyes, and the warmth rushed over me, and my body began to thaw.

“I think I know who did it,” Payton muttered.

I was pretty sure I knew too.