BAD WICKED TWISTED: A Briarcrest Academy Box Set (13 page)

“If love is the answer, then I’m changing the question.”

–Leo Tate

AS I WALKED back to the gym from the park, I wasn’t thinking about the contractors who were there, working on getting the pool in. Nope, I stuck on Nora and how she made me forget every practical thought in my head. She’d driven me insane today at the park, licking that ice cream cone and talking to Cuba. And he’d been all over her, standing next to her, wiping ice cream off her face, grinning at her. Even when I’d been talking to Tiffany, I’d been distracted, watching their annoying flirtation play out.

Nora . . . she did
something
to me. I’d spent half an hour in the shower this morning, jerking off to her, thinking about her big green eyes, how she’d touched my tats at breakfast, the way she smelled like fresh peaches. Most of all I kept remembering her in the bathroom, tall and sexy with breasts perfect for cupping in my hands.

I’d said she was too young, but maybe it wasn’t just the age difference. Because the more I got to know her, the more I saw that the age factor wasn’t the big deal I was making it out to be. Maybe it was a convenient excuse. A part of me knew that besides the age, I simply wasn’t good enough for her. I’d end up treating her like all the other girls I’d known. Like shit.

And I didn’t want to be part of her destruction. Just a number on her list.

My eyes were caught by a camera shop’s storefront, and it reminded me of Teddy. It was sometimes hard to tell how he felt about things, but I’d sensed he taken a liking to Nora. She needed something to keep her out of trouble, and maybe helping Teddy would be good for her.

I strolled inside the shop to check it out. Teddy’d mentioned his sister didn’t have much money to support his film habit, so I looked around and talked to the clerk some about what types of pictures Teddy took. I ended up spending about a hundred bucks on regular film plus some black and white. Knowing how Teddy loved to take pictures, he’d be thrilled with whatever I got because he wasn’t hard to please.

Part of why I’d taken to him so fast was that he and his sister had lost their parents at an early age just like me and Sebastian. Mostly, it was his enthusiasm for life that fascinated me, reminding me how easily we forget the little things we used to think about when we were younger, like a nice sunset or a how great a song sounds the first time you hear it. Even though he had autism, he saw a whole lot more than I did.

When I got back to the gym, I hit it hard even though I’d just had a run at the park, hoping to rid my body of the frustration I’d been feeling, I lifted for an hour, concentrating on my arms, sweating Nora out of my head.

While I was working out, Sebastian came in the weight room, making a beeline for me. “You wanna tell me what that was at the park with Nora?” he snapped, like he was irritated.

I let the dumbbells fall to the floor, their clinking noise the only sound in the room. I didn’t know what to say to him. I’d been out of control in the park. The truth is, trying not to want her made me want her more.

“Leo? Dude, what’s wrong with you?” he asked. “I’ve never seen you get worked up over a girl.”

At least I could answer some of that question. “Nora made a list of bad things to do in her journal. I read it. When I asked her about it, she freaked out and got mad when I tried to tell her to stay away from Cuba.”

Sebastian’s brow wrinkled. “What did it say?”

“That she wants to drink, do drugs, and have random sex with multiple people,” I said, snarling a little on the last part.

“Ah,” he said, sitting down on the bench next to me, his annoyance at me gone.

“And I want to know why. Something’s off about her family.”

He nodded. “Her mom’s a piece of work.”

I agreed. “Look, here’s the thing. I want you to keep an eye on her. Check on her. Call her. Hang out with her. Make sure she’s not doing anything stupid,” I said, not meeting his eyes. I mean, I pretty much sounded like a stalker. Why
did
I care so much about what happened to her? I’d only just met her.

He laughed out loud. “Dude, challenge accepted. She’s gorgeous. And I was planning on hanging with her anyway,” he said as he stood up to go.

He got to the door and turned back around, a serious look on his face. “Technically, she may be younger than you, but I think she’s had to grow up too fast, man. Just like you did.”

A FEW DAYS later, I did something I’d later regret. I called Nora to invite her over to the gym for an impromptu poolside get together with Teddy. The pool had been finished that week, and it seemed like a good opportunity to see if the spur-of-the-moment decision to ask to her to help him had been a good idea. I could already tell that Teddy liked her, but it was important for her to return the feeling. I didn’t know her well enough to judge yet, and I wanted to believe that she wasn’t just another entitled rich girl, but I needed to see her one more time.

That’s the only reason I invited her.

I heard the buzzer peal while we were at the pool. Teddy jumped up from his deck chair and ran over to mine, his Mickey Mouse swim shorts still wet from swimming. His sister had dropped him off with us about an hour earlier, and he’d been in the pool the entire time. He was a good swimmer and had only gotten out when he knew it was time for Nora to arrive.

“Nora’s here. Nora’s here,” he said, walking in circles, flapping his arms a little more than usual.

“You want to see her, Teddy?” I know I did, and I didn’t like it.

“She’s pretty. She plays piano like me,” he said, his voice rising up and down in a rhythm I’d gotten used to with him.

“Come on,” I said with a grin, “you can go with me to let her in.” I handed him a towel and pointed out his shoes. “Go get your flip-flops. I don’t want you slipping on the slick floor in the gym.”

He slipped his shoes on, and we went to the front door. She was waiting, wearing a breezy, white dress, looking innocent. Yet, she wasn’t was she? She’d told me she’d been with other guys before, and I wondered how many. Fuck it. Why did it matter anyway?

I unlocked the door and let her in, noticing her slightly cool demeanor. Had I been too hard on her at the park? Maybe it was none of my business what she did with her life, including who she fucked. Yeah, I needed to let her live her life. She was nothing to me but a way for Teddy to expand his song selections and make our band better.

Teddy ran right up to her. “Nora, Nora! This isn’t band practice. It’s to see if we like you. Leo isn’t sure you’ll work out.”

My stomach dropped, realizing I shouldn’t have said so much in front of Teddy earlier when I’d been talking to Sebastian.

Nora laughed, her eyes dancing. “Teddy, I can tell already that you and I are going to be best friends.” She gave him a big smile and me an amused smirk. “Tell me what else Leo says,” she said, walking over and tentatively crooking her arm through his and heading out through the patio doors to the pool area. I found myself pleased at her reaction. With Teddy, you had to get that he didn’t hold back when it came to what he said. You had to roll with it ’cause social cues and niceties meant nothing to him.

As soon as we stepped out into the hot August sun, Sebastian yelled for her to get in the pool with him and Vixen. I stood there not sure what to do now that she was here. I hung back, watching as she pulled her dress off, revealing a bright orange bikini. It wasn’t too revealing; it covered her full breasts and her pert ass, yet I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I thought about the piercing she’d gotten last week. I wondered how it would feel in my mouth, how I could use my tongue on it to make her hot and wet. Pissed at my wayward imagination, I forced my eyes back to the pool, where I caught Sebastian checking her out, too.
Fuck.
Stupid, asinine idea to be around Nora in a bikini. Maybe we should have just had a band session. At least then she would have decent clothes on.

Teddy’s bony frame jumped back in, and she dove in after him, her body knifing through the water. While they swam, Sebastian and Vixen set up the net for a volleyball game as I sat and played my guitar, working out the beat to a new song I was working on. I stared at Nora while I strummed the chords, wondering what had happened to her to make her snap. Just looking at her, you’d never guess she had problems. She seemed confident, poised, and perfect, even though I knew from her list she hated that word.

Sebastian called out for me to play volleyball. I grimaced, dreading the thought of being too close to Nora. Whatever. I could stay away from her in the water, right?

“Who plays who?” Teddy asked, clutching the ball, his eyes darting between us, never landing too long on one person.

Before I could make a suggestion, Sebastian gave me a little grin and said, “You take Nora and Teddy, Leo. That way it’s the old geezers versus the babies.”

“You’re only a year younger than me,” Nora told Sebastian, her smile infectious and just for him. Had she ever smiled at me that way? She shrugged and swam over to my side though, and I tried to keep my eyes from caressing over her exposed skin. It was a normal reaction to a beautiful girl in a wet bathing suit.

Nora and I played, working well together, me covering the long serves and her guarding the front of the net. We kinda made up our own rules, being lenient with Teddy who would sometimes get upset if his balls didn’t make it over. Nora fell right in with us, encouraging Teddy to keep on trying, laughing good naturedly when we made a mistake.

I thought I might get out of this unscathed. Then everything fell apart when Sebastian served the ball, and it went up and over, heading for the vague area between me and Nora. Neither of us called it, yet both of us rushed toward it until we were right on top of each other. We both jumped at the same time, the waves of the water pushing the front of her body tight against my chest. I tried to get the ball while at the same time pull away from her, but I only fumbled it, feeling it tip off my fingers and veer off somewhere behind us. I grunted and fell back, my hands reaching out to keep her from falling, but I only tugged her down with me. We both went under with her on top of me, our bodies pressed together and our legs intertwining. It probably only took four or five seconds for the whole crash to play out, yet it seemed to move in slow motion. And as we both sank down to the bottom, I kept my eyes open, even though the fresh chlorine burned like hell. I wanted to take her in without her knowing; I wanted to see her face. She was as mind-blowing underwater as on top, looking like a real life, long-haired mermaid that I’d like to push up against the pool and kiss the hell out of.

We both came up gasping for air and she laughed, and I laughed too, and whatever anger we’d felt at the park drifted away. The sound of Sebastian and Vixen trash-talking us faded away, and I couldn’t see or hear anything but Nora. And with that came a feeling of being trapped and suffocated by something beyond my control. I got scared.

“I’m getting out,” I said, abruptly, swimming past her, trying not to notice her confusion.

Her face dropped, but I didn’t let it stop me. I left her there in the pool and went back to my lounge chair. Sebastian pestered me to get back in, calling me a baby for going under and getting water up my nose, but I ignored him. I dried off and picked my guitar back up, getting back to my song. After a while, they got out, and Nora announced she was leaving.

“Why are you leaving?” I blurted out, not sure why. I wanted her to leave.

“I have a Princeton application I’m supposed to have filled out. I need to work on it,” she said, nibbling on her bottom lip, like the thought of doing it made her anxious.

I nodded, but it was automatic, just going through the motions, because when she’d said Princeton, I saw how vastly different we were besides the age thing. She had a big future ahead of her at some ivy league school while I’d never finished because I’d been busy turning a run-down gym into a profitable money-maker to support me and Sebastian.

“Have you come up with an idea for your tattoo yet?” I asked her, setting my guitar down.