Hard to Hold On (27 page)

“Let’s cut the small talk, Natalie.” He brings a hand forth to touch my arm but I jerk away. As I look up, his eyes are wide with a mix of humor. “Do I scare you now?”

“What did you do to me, Tyler?”
My voice is wavering ridiculously.

His head cocks a little.
“How can you remember?”

“I don’t remember. They told me I was bleeding and you left me out there alone.”

With a chuckle, Tyler brings his hand up and runs it across his forehead. Then, unexpectedly, he moves in closer, causing me to take quick steps back until my back hits the nearest wall. He cages me in with his arms and my heart pounds as he looks straight into my eyes. “I didn’t like the way you were all over your ex-boyfriend. Is he even your ex anymore?”

I don’t answer him. I’m too afraid.

“I thought we had more, Natalie. I really did. I wanted so much with you. I actually wanted to
change
for you.” His smile dissolves into a scowl. “But you fucked up. Badly. I don’t handle rejection well.”

“I-I never rejected you, Tyler.”

“You can’t remember, but you did. I asked you to be my girlfriend—to date me—and you said no.”

“What did you do?” I hiss.

“Well, the drug kicked in sooner than I thought,” he says, stroking his chin. “You most likely fell somewhere and got hurt. I don’t know,” he shrugs carelessly. “I stopped walking when I noticed you were getting woozy and could barely stand. That’s when I asked you out and you told me no.” He glares down at me before running a hand across my cheek. “Rohypnol. Ever heard of it?”

I frown. “No.”

“It’s a date-rape drug. Knocks a woman right out. I could have done whatever I wanted to your precious body . . . but I thought it’d be better to just let you go and leave you alone until next time. This is our next time, Natalie. I want you to give yourself to me willingly.”

“You’re fucking crazy,” I spit at him. I shove him against his chest but he doesn’t budge.
I try to duck beneath his arm but he catches me and pins me against the wall again. “Tyler, let go of me.”

“No,” he says, smirking. “I spent all of that time with you. I liked you a lot but you fucked with someone else at
my
fucking party. At a place that I had invited you to. You owe me this much, Natalie.”

“I don’t owe you shit. You think I can’t report you for this?”

He laughs silently, his shoulders shaking. “I’m moving tonight, anyway. I doubt anyone will find me.”

“Is this what you did to
Brittany?” I ask, my voice wavering again.

He laughs
again, taking a small step back. “Brittany was a doll but she started to get interested in someone else. I liked her, too, but unlike you where I’m giving you the opportunity to give yourself to me, I took hers away from her . . . twice. She wasn’t too bright.” I gasp but he shakes his head, placing a finger against the fold of my lips. “I told you there’s just something about you. Something I like. Something different.”

“I didn’t want to be more than friends, Tyler
. You agreed on that—”

“And I could understand it
but what did you think I was really trying to achieve? Did you really think a guy like me was really going to stick with just being friends? Hell no.” His voice raises a notch, turning abrupt. He glares at me and then grabs my wrist. “It’s obvious you aren’t going to do this willingly, so let’s go.”

“No!” I growl, clawing at his fingers. “Let go of me!”

“The more you struggle, the longer I’ll be inside of you, Natalie. Let’s make this as painless as possible.” He pulls me against him and cups my ass with his hand. He aims to press his lips against mine but I shove his face away.

“Tyler!” a voice yells from down the aisle.

Tyler flinches before pulling away from me quickly. My thudding heart comes to a sudden halt as I turn to find who the voice belongs to. Standing down the aisle is Sharon. I can’t believe it. What the hell is she doing here?

“I can’t believ
e you,” she snarls at him, marching down the aisle. She shoves him against his chest and I gasp as I watch tears form at the rims of her eyes. “You swore—you swore you wouldn’t do this again. You’re not Dad. You’re better than him.”

“Fuck you, Sharon. No one told you to come check on me,” Tyler growls.

“I had no choice. I told you to befriend her but I knew you were gonna fuck up again—even when you promised me you wouldn’t.”

“It’s not like I hurt them
after I’m done with them. I’m careful,” he says, laughing. She shoves him against his chest again and he stumbles backwards.

“Get the fuck out of here. I don’t want to rat my own brother
out but I will if it means you won’t stoop down to shit this low again.”

“Is everything alright?” the woman from the front desk asks as she peeks around the corner. I nod a
t her quickly, hoping she’ll get the cue to run while she can. Sharon and Tyler look at her, nodding as well. The woman lingers for a quick second before pressing her lips and going back for the front of the library.

As soon as the woman is gone, Tyler turns to look at Sharon
. For a moment, he’s frozen and his mouth is gaping. He finally adjusts his grey T-shirt and jeans. He rakes a hand through his sandy hair, shaking his head with a deep laugh.

“Un-fucking-believable,” h
e says, still laughing. “Really? You wanted me to help you and I did, but now you’re against me? If anything, you’re just as low as I am, Sharon. Breaking up a happy home—” He stops himself from talking to laugh again. “I’m out of here. It’s not worth it anyway. I have shit to do.”

Sharon and I watch him walk away, still carrying his confidence. I hate myself for falling for his bullshit—for allowing him to even tou
ch me. I should have known he wasn’t looking for anything other than sex. But he was so sweet. Sometimes I felt like he was actually being genuine and trying to win me over. It’s what I get for opening up to people. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m always the one to get fucked over.

Sharon turn
s around slowly, her green eyes soft with guilt. “I-I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’ll be honest. I was just so envious and upset that Nolan was still treating me like trash after spending an entire night with me. I was being someone I wasn’t these past few weeks because I thought I could win him over but . . .,” Her voice drifts as she looks from me to the window beside her. “I’m sorry. Jealousy is ugly and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that Nolan actually deserves to be happy. That whole night he kept bringing you up and I didn’t know how to handle it. I feel so terrible for what I did to him when we were younger. He deserved so much more, but I killed him even more inside. I was a terrible girlfriend.”

I remain speechless for a second.
I’m not sure what to say to this. “You set me and Tyler up?” I ask.

“I did but I thought
he had changed. He was doing so well by himself over here and he had even told me he had a girlfriend. Of course it was a lie. I used to blame our Dad for screwing Tyler up in the head because my dad went to prison for date-raping but after a while, I realized it’s just who Tyler is. It’s why he moved from California to Miami—to most likely meet hotter girls and manipulate them into sex. He was covering it up so well that I actually believed when he said he was changing. I can’t control Tyler any more. He’s grown and I can’t tell him what to do. I come every month just to make sure he’s okay and I thought he was . . . until I told him to become friends with you. I guess it’s my fault.”

“Wow,” I breathe.
I can’t believe any of this. “I think I just need to go,” I say as I grab for my bag and notebook.

“Just do me a favor,” Sharon says, grabbing arm. By the disappointin
g look in her eyes, I know she’s going to tell me not to tell Nolan but that’s impossible. I’m telling him regardless. “Tell Nolan to whoop Tyler’s ass. Maybe getting his ass beat will get him to stop. Nolan’s never been the one to hold back when justice needs to be served.” She winks and my eyes stretch as I smile at her.

“I will.” I begin to walk off, taking a glance
over my shoulder at her. “You know, sometimes we can’t control who we really are, Sharon. Just be yourself and leave Tyler in the dust. If he messes up, let him suffer the consequences. You seem like a nice girl. Nolan may not be the one but I know there’s a better match out there for you.”

Her lips press and then she winks. She turns around slowly, thinking on my words
before smiling. “Be good to Nolan, sweetie,” she says before turning down the nearest aisle.

I watch her disappear and as it all comes cra
shing down, the only person I can think of to talk to at the moment is my Mom. I have to call her. I need to hear something positive from her. I won’t tell her about Tyler or Sharon. She’ll most likely beg me to come back home. I don’t want to come home because being in Miami feels like home. I just need to vent to her and I’ll do just that to someone who will actually listen to me and offer wise feedback.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Nolan

Mills and I decided to head for the bank to split the money. We settle on half-and-half of course and with my half, I can’t wait to put some use to it. I know with this money, things will start to look up for me. What I didn’t know was that Mills is planning on moving sooner than I initially thought.

“Y
ou and Lorie gonna have babies soon, too?” I ask, attempting to ease into it the best way I can.

He laughs as he opens one of the drawers to his dresser. I lean against the frame of his door and watch as he walks from his dresser to his closet. He shuffles through it until he pulls out a large suitcase.
“No babies. It’s just time for us to actually start living on our own.”

I nod because I completely understand. “All the way to California, though? You get on my n
erves but that’s so far away. It’s definitely not going to be the same without you around.”

“I know.” He drops his suitcase on the bed to turn an
d face me. “You’ll be alright, though. Keep doing what you’re doing now. You’re right on track—just don’t fuck up with Natalie again.”

“I won’t
. I’ve learned a lot this past month. Letting her go is something I never should have done. It won’t happen again.”

“Did she take you back?”

I smirk. “Yep.”

“For good? She’s done with whoever she had on the side?”

“She’s done,” I tell him.

“Good. She’s good fo
r you. Lorie and I decided moving next month is best. I have a ton of shit to pack so it’s best to get started now,” he sighs.

It’s not usual for my heart to plummet for Mills but i
t does. “Next month,” I repeat.

He nods,
shrugging. “Yeah. She’s already found a teaching job over there. I can work for Tike again. He’s been telling me that I should move up to a better position. Thought I’d take him up on it this time. The only reason I didn’t before is because I didn’t want you to be offended by it.” He looks me over, his eyebrow arching. “You aren’t going to cry, are you?”

I shake my head with a dry laugh. “No it’s just going to be weird without you around—I mean you piss me off to no end but
you’re my brother. We’ve been stuck together for years. To split is going to feel . . . different.”

“Trust me, I know,” he sighs. “But this is where you take off. You and me both. This is where we learn. We can’t always be together
but we know where our hearts are. You’re my brother so you know I have nothing but love for you. I know you’ll be fine here with Natalie and if shit starts to go downhill, you call me. If you need advice, pick up your phone. I’ll always have time for my baby brother.” He winks and I nod.

“I guess I love you, too, man.”

“I know you do. Lorie tells me I’m handsome every day. I’m sure you feel the same way. Who doesn’t?”

I laugh hysterically as he winks at me. “Maybe I should
consider you the fag.”

“Ne
ver that, brother,” he chuckles, making his towards his dresser again.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I check it.

Annoying Bitch
.

I walk away from Mills’s room to go for the living room. Pressing the p
hone to my ear, I answer it, my tone irate.

“Nolan,
listen to me. This is important.” The panic behind Sharon’s voice makes me hold back on my attitude.

“What is it?”

“I followed Tyler to school. He’s been watching Natalie from his car and even after she went inside. He’s been sending negative vibes lately so I thought it would be best to figure out what’s going on with him. He’s back at it again—the date rape drugs and things I thought he had given up on. The night at the party, that’s what it was. He put something in Natalie’s drink. He was my main reason of coming to Miami. I had to check on him. He stopped answering my calls a while back when I wanted updates with him and her—”

“Hold on,” I snap, cutting her off.
“He
drugged
Natalie?” I pull my keys out of my pocket and rush for the door. Slamming it behind me, I dash down the stairs of my complex.