Keep From Falling (Markson Grove Series Book 1) (32 page)

I looked at Parker uneasily, wanting to see what his reaction was to this apparent proposition. A proposition I was used to receiving at the mansion, but one that Parker had made very clear wouldn’t happen anymore now that I was his.

Parker looked as though he might beat the guy to a pulp right there. He clenched both of his fists tightly and opened his mouth to say something, but I quickly interjected.

“Not tonight,” I told the guy, sliding the baggy back his way.

He snorted up the first line and then looked up at me, visibly annoyed. “I was told a bag of MDMA would get me a good fuck tonight. And The Goddess never turns down Molly.”

He was right, as much as I hated to admit it. I had never turned down a bag of MDMA before that night.

“She told you not tonight, so fuck off,” Parker hissed.

The guy ignored Parker and continued to look at me. “I can wait till you’re finished with this douche,” he said, motioning toward Parker.

I bit down on my lip, nervously trying to think of what to say to him to make him leave, but before I had a chance to say anything, Parker had already taken care of it by punching him square in the nose!

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed, bringing my hands to my mouth in disbelief and jumping up from the couch. “I think you broke his nose!”

The guys nose gushed blood all over the table and floor. He got up, hurriedly pushing the sleeve of his hoodie to his nose while glaring at Parker. “What the fuck is your problem?” he screamed, his voice reaching a pitch that I’m sure he was embarrassed about.

“I told you to get lost. She belongs to me. Now fuck off before I break the rest of your face.”

Once the guy stormed off, I turned to Parker with a sigh, “I wasn’t going to get a room with him. You didn’t have to punch him,” I said, deflated by the entire ordeal.

“I saw you eying the drugs, though,” he pointed out. “Don’t tell me you weren’t considering it.” He sat back down on the couch, leaned all the way back, and lit himself a cigarette, something I hadn’t seen him do at The Misfit Mansion since the very first night we spoke.

I shook my head. “I wasn’t. I wanted the drugs, but I didn’t want to fuck him.”

He nodded, took a long drag of his cigarette, and then reached out ahead of him and grabbed the baggy off of the table.

I gasped. In all of the chaos of getting his nose broken, the guy forgot to take his drugs back!

“Now I have the drugs,” he said with a testing look. “What are you going to consider doing with me?”

His face was serious and I could see no sign of joking in his eyes. I shifted my weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, trying to decide what to say next.

“You’re not being fair.”

He tossed the baggy to me and I caught it with both hands. “Then do MDMA with me tonight,” he said.

I shook my head in disbelief. He never wanted to do Ecstasy with me before. He had always been very much against it. “I thought you don’t do E.”

“I don’t do pills,” he returned quickly, knowing that was going to be the first thing I would say in response to his request. “This is pure crystallized MDMA. I will do this with you… If you’ll let me.”

I wanted to say yes, but I was petrified of what might happen if the two of us were both high and out of control on the drug. I didn’t want my first time with Parker to be like that. I wanted us to be sober and with no ounce of numbness taking away any amount of pleasure we would experience from it. Could I tell him that without him thinking that I was a hypocrite?

I sat down next to him on the couch and took his hand into mine. “If we do this, would you be mad at me if I asked you to not have sex with me while we are high? I want our first time to be completely drug-free and not here at the mansion…” my voice trailed off.

His face softened, and he brought his hand to my cheek, looking deep into my eyes. “You know I would never make you do anything you didn’t want to do. Ever. I like the idea of our first time being drug-free. It makes sense for us.”

I smiled, “Yeah?”

He nodded. “I promise that when we have our first time together, when you are completely ready, it won’t be here and we won’t have even one taste of any type of drug in our bodies to make it less than perfect for the both of us.”

I smiled brightly throwing my arms around him. “You are so perfect,” I said.

He smiled back, kissing me on the top of my head. “You’re pretty perfect yourself.”

I jumped to my feet and started toward the stairs, tugging at his arm to follow me. “Let’s get a room then.”

He grabbed his T-shirt hanging off the side of the couch, pulled it over his head, and eagerly followed me to a private room.

“I forgot how much you really cared about me,” I say, still going over the memory in my mind. “You made that promise to me because you knew how much I needed it. How do you know me so well? You know me better than I even know myself.”

“Because I love you. I’ve loved you since the minute I first laid eyes on you and I’ll love you till the day I die,” he replies unabashedly, and as usual, it’s exactly what I need to hear.

Evan

“Sorry I hurt you,” I say to Bree as we lie together underneath my blankets.

She kisses my cheek softly and smiles, “It’s fine,” she says.

“Do you still hurt now?” I ask, concerned.

“I’m sore,” she tells me honestly.

I cringe. “Maybe we should wait a bit before trying it again,” I suggest.

“Maybe a few days,” she agrees, giving me a quick kiss on the lips. “But right now I’m getting dressed because the last thing I want after what we just did is your mom or sister walking in here and seeing us naked in your bed. Not quite ready for that just yet.”

I laugh. “Good point,” I say, reaching for the clothes piled on the floor next to my bed.

Once we are dressed, I make the bed haphazardly and then plop myself back on top of it, resting my back up against the headboard. I motion for her to sit between my legs. “So what kind of movie do you feel like watching?” I ask.

She pulls her beautifully messy hair into a high ponytail and then crawls onto the bed, positioning herself between my legs. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and neck, kissing the top of her head lightly.

“My curfew is eleven,” she says. “I don’t think we have time to watch a movie.”

I look at the clock hanging on the wall above my TV. 9:38. “I suppose you’re right. How do you feel about making out a bit more then?” I tilt her chin up with my index finger and kiss her lips as softly as I possibly can. I feel her moan into my kiss, and my lips curl into a tiny smile. I think she feels for me the way I feel for her now.

I’ve been petrified about giving into my feelings for someone again ever since Adrienne completely destroyed my faith in any girl who actually might want to be with me. I’ve wanted Bree for a long time now, but her devotion to Skylar, especially while we’ve been together over these last three weeks, has been gut wrenching. Now she’s finally made her choice and I couldn’t be happier. Skylar is in our past now. Finally.

Bree’s phone starts ringing and she abruptly pulls away from our kiss in order to dig the phone out of her pocket. “It’s Spencer,” she says after she looks at the caller display. She answers it, looking worried as she gets up off the bed and walks away from me.

Judging by how upset he was with the both of us earlier tonight, I’m surprised he’s even calling her. That’s likely what’s going through her mind too. She wasn’t expecting to hear from him this soon.

“Spencer?” She says, her voice cracking slightly.

She pauses as he tells her something that seems to knock the air out of her lungs. I can see the color completely drain from her face. “What?” she gasps. She looks at me for a moment, her features panic-stricken, before turning around and walking even further from the bed. “Can you open the door?” she asks him.

I can see her body shaking in a state of either shock or panic, possibly both. I get up off the bed and move toward her, hoping to comfort her in some way.

“Yeah, he’s here,” she says as I take her unoccupied hand into mine. “Ok, but where are you?”

Another pause.

“What?” She seems to lose her ability to stand as her body tumbles into mine. I stand there beside her, holding her weight against my chest as Spencer speaks for a full minute, each word seeming to shock her even more than the last.

Once she catches her composure, she finally replies. “I’m coming. Wait by that window.”

She ends the call and turns to face me. “Parker has Skylar locked in a room at
The Misfit Mansion
. He won’t open the door for Spencer and it’s locked with a deadbolt.”

I blink my eyes a number of times in surprise but not for the same reason she’s so shaken. I’m shocked that Spencer has just confessed to being a
Misfit
in order to save Skylar from someone all Misfits apparently know to be
hers
. Why would Spencer be so worried about Skylar being locked in a room with Parker? Could Derrick be wrong about what he thinks he knows about them? Or is it possible that Spencer is as much in the dark about those two as Bree is?

My confusion is overwhelming. A part of me wants to tell her what Derrick told me about them so that, at the very least, we can be on the same page with this bomb Spencer just dropped on us. But I know that even if I were to do that, she would never believe me. As they say, seeing is believing, so maybe this is what Bree needs.

“How do we get inside?” I ask as I grab my keys off of my desk and start toward the door.

“Spencer’s going to sneak us in through a basement window,” she tells me.

I nod. I don’t really like the idea of sneaking into
The Misfit Mansion
. After everything Derrick’s told me, the entire place and the people who control it scare the shit out of me, but how can I say that to her without revealing Derrick’s secret? “Ok,” I say eventually, attempting to gather my thoughts. “How are you planning on getting him to open the door if Spencer can’t do it?”

“I’m not planning on asking,” she says as she digs into the bottom of her backpack, intently looking for something. She pulls out a handful of hairpins and shows them to me. “I’m going in without him knowing.”

I arch my eyebrow. “Um… ok.”

“Let’s go,” she says, leading the way out. I follow after her, telling my mom that I’m driving Bree home and will be back soon.

“You pick locks?” I exclaim as soon as we get into my car and have our belts buckled.

“Go,” she demands, ignoring my question.

“Where am I going?” I return, shooting her an angry look. “I don’t know where the mansion is. Did Spencer give you directions?”

“It’s at the end of King Lane. The big white house with the tall hedges in front. Spencer said he’ll be at one of the basement windows in the back of the house. We’ll have to sneak onto the property from the back if we don’t want to get caught.”

I don’t like the sound of that at all. I put the car in reverse and slam on the gas, backing out of the driveway way too fast.

As I put the car in drive and start toward the mansion I turn to her once again. “Were you ever going to tell me that you pick locks for fun?”

“I don’t pick locks for fun,” she snaps, unamused. “I know how to pick deadbolts, yes, Skylar taught me years ago. We’ve only ever used it on each other’s doors, though.”

I exhale the breath I’d been holding in as I anticipated her reply. Thank God she’s not a complete criminal. “I take it Spencer is aware of this little talent. That’s why he called you.”

She nods.

“So why am I going? I heard him ask about me. He wants me there?”

“Well, he’s going to need backup once we get inside… right?”

I nod but don’t reply.

I’m going to rescue my girlfriend’s ex-girlfriend from a guy I can’t stand, who may or may not be trying to rape her, at a place where I might get killed for trying to break into.

Yep, that’s me, Evan Daniels, complete idiot.