Breaking Fences (The Breaking Series) (20 page)

Kevin came back with our drinks, and I downed mine again. I could feel the buzz building, slowly but steadily, and if I kept drinking at this rate, I would have to be carried to my dorm. And since I didn’t have anyone to do that, I should stop.

“I’m going to buy a bottle of water,” I told Phoebe.

She nodded and I zigzagged through the crowd. I stepped off the dance floor and the maze opened up a little bit, but I halted. Garrett was seven or eight feet from me, beside a table where Jonah and Jeff and some other guys and girls were seated. Wearing the same barely there outfit as her sisters, Jennifer from ATN stood in front of him, her hand on his arm, and her chin turned up to him.

I ordered myself to breathe, and keep going. A step at a time. I could do this.

One step. Two steps. Three steps.

Not resisting the fight in me, I kept checking on him, afraid he would wind his arms around Jennifer and lean over her. He nodded to something she said. She blabbed, and he took a sip of his drink—whiskey, I would bet—before looking around. As if pulled by a magnet, his gaze fleeted over me, but he did a double take and paused, narrowing his eyes at me.

Heat crawled across my cheeks and I turned my head, pulling the blond hair to hide my face. I joined the line and prayed for the line to move fast.

Why was I so afraid he would recognize me? Did I think he would tell the others it was me? Not really. I mean, I would like to think I knew him well enough to trust him with that, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t really know him that well.

I paid for my water and turned around, focused on not looking his way, not wondering what he would do to Jennifer, not caring either. As soon as I reached Phoebe, Kevin, and his friends, I shoved my water bottle into a guy’s hands, grabbed Phoebe’s half-full glass, and downed it, knowing Kevin would have given her spiked punch.

With wide eyes, Phoebe leaned close to me. “Hmm, what happened?”

“Saw Garrett talking to Jennifer.”

“Oh.” She smiled at her boyfriend. “Baby, could you please refill our glasses?”

He shot me an annoyed look before smiling at her and nodding. He said something to the guys, and then disappeared through the crowd.

“Tell me,” Phoebe asked.

Rage and jealousy surged through my veins as I told her how he was flirting with Jennifer, but he looked at me as if he knew me.

I had no right to feel this way, but it hurt. Seeing him flirting with some girl hurt. I wanted to write a sign that said “unavailable” and hang it around his neck. However, the sign was a lie. Just because I was drawn to him, just because I felt something for him, didn’t mean he wasn’t free to flirt, kiss, and do whomever he wanted to. He was completely and absolutely free.

When Kevin returned with the drinks, he gave one glass to Phoebe and one to me. I sipped it while dancing—and scanning the crowd for Garrett—because I really didn’t need to be drunk in less than thirty seconds.

A shove pushed me forward, and I bumped into one of Kevin’s friends.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, stepping away from him.

I turned to yell at whoever had pushed me, but froze when I saw it was Jonah and Audrey.

He took a step away from her, and she grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

“Come on, Jonah,” Audrey said, her voice slurred. “You can’t just not want me anymore.”

“Why is it so hard to believe?” he asked, his tone harsh.

With a grin, she gestured to herself. “Have you seen me?”

He rolled his eyes and started moving again and looking around as if searching for someone. He hadn’t taken three steps before Audrey stopped him again. “Audrey, let me go.”

Audrey dropped her hand from him and put them on her waist. “She’s not here.”

“Who?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“Do I need to say her name? That Brazilian slut.”

“How do you know?”

She shrugged. “I would have known. I know almost everyone here, and they would tell me if she had come.”

I pulled my huge blond hair over my face for good measure and continued listening.

“What’s your interest in it?” he asked.

She leaned closer to him. “So you won’t fall into temptation.”

He showed her that same cocky smile I had seen before. “She’s the one all over me, Audrey.”

I gasped. If the music from the band weren’t loud enough, they would have heard me. I pressed a hand to my mouth.

“You have to back off, Jonah. I don’t care about any of it.” She clutched his arm. “Please, give up. Tell the others you’re out. Don’t ruin what we have.”

“We have nothing. We haven’t had anything in a long time.”

“We could have again. Remember? It was great. So good. Please, don’t sleep with her.”

“Enough.” He pulled his hand away. “Go bother someone else. I want to enjoy this party.”

He walked away and she stood there, watching him, her eyes filling with tears. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but just when one expected the impact and the screams, she took a deep breath, wiped her hands under her eyes, and strolled the opposite way, her head high.

Shocked, I finished my drink.

“What the hell was that?” Phoebe asked me, right behind my shoulder.

“I have no idea,” I said, turning to face her. She stared at my face and handed me her untouched glass. “You didn’t drink anything.”

“I’m not much of a drinker, and I know you probably need it right now.”

I did need it. Without ceremony, I took the glass from her, and drank half of it in one gulp. “Thanks.”

She smiled. “Anytime.”

By the … how many drinks did I have? Not sure. But it was not even midnight, and my head was buzzing. I laughed. In Brazil, parties started at midnight, and I couldn’t remember one time that I went home before the sun was up. This was quite different.

It was nice though, to drink and forget. To let the alcohol take over and be someone else, do something else. To forget who I was, to forget everything.

Maybe I should do it more often. Invite Garrett to the lake late at night with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Would he refuse that?

And that was not forgetting him.

Another shove sent me, once again, into one of Kevin’s friends. A little tipsy, I clutched his forearms to steady myself. Almost instantly, his arms were around me. He smiled. Poor guy, I didn’t remember his name. I smiled back, but retreated, not wanting to give him the wrong idea.

Seriously, now I needed water this time. Otherwise, I would be too careless and someone would find out about me. Or I would trip on my own feet and I would reveal myself. Yeah, not what I wanted.

“Gonna buy water,” I told Phoebe before sashaying through the crowd.

I tried not looking around but that was impossible.

Jonah was right in front of the stage with Jeff and two other guys. Audrey was with Sarah, Molly, and two other girls from their sorority near the table/bar, watching Jonah, of course. And where was Garrett? He had probably left with some girl by now. Maybe Jennifer.

I pressed a hand to my belly, feeling sick. Jeez. I never felt sick. The line to buy a bottle of water was too long, and I would never drink it before this sick feeling left me. Literally.

I turned to the left and rushed to the corridor leading to the bathrooms. I pushed inside the women’s bathroom, which was full, of course, and headed to the sink. I cupped my hand under the faucet and drank tap water. Not the best, but it would have to do.

Some girls stared, and I was glad I was wearing a mask and wig. If they had heard Audrey’s lies, and almost everyone on campus had, they would know who I was, and if they saw me, nearly drunk, trying to abate my sickness with tap water, more lies would ensue and tomorrow everyone would have heard, what? That I tried to fuck a guy in a corner, and when he said no, I was so hot, I went to cool down in the ladies’ restroom. I bared myself and practically laid over the sink.

Credo.

I drank slowly but steadily, taking deep breaths between each swallow. Soon, the sickness was gone. However, my head was nowhere near clear yet. Without rush, I exited the restroom and turned back to the party. I could endure the rest of the night now; I just couldn’t drink anything else.

Once back in the ballroom, I paused. My head wasn’t good, and I still felt tipsy. Maybe it was time to leave.

I turned to the end of the room with the intention of walking around the outer walls, close to the curtain-closed windows. It was darker and had less people, which was odd since, hmm, shouldn’t there be couples making out in the dark? I wouldn’t mind them; I just wanted to avoid the crowd. I took a step into the darkness and halted.

Garrett stood before one of the large windows. The curtain was pulled to the side enough for a thin streak of moonlight to seep in. With his hands on the windowsill and his torso slightly forward, Garrett looked up. To the stars? The moonshine illuminated his face, creating shadows under his chiseled jaw and chin.

I sucked in a sharp breath.
Meu Deus
, he was handsome.

His kissable lips seemed relaxed into his usual half-smile, as if he enjoyed being here, away from the others, and admiring the night sky. I could bet his hazel eyes were bright, and I ached to check them out. To check all of him out.

The old Bia would have walked to him, hooked her hand on his neck, and pulled his mouth to hers, and she knew he wouldn’t resist her.

Warmth spread through me, followed by my old boldness. The old Bia wanted to break free. She wanted to take down the fences, if only for a moment.
He won’t know it’s you
, she said.

She took over me and I didn’t even fight it.

I marched until I was standing two feet from Garrett. Noticing my presence, he whirled to face me.

“Um, hi,” he said, frowning. “Do I know you?”

I stepped into his personal space and looked at him, loving how tall and wide he was compared to me. I kept out of the moonlight, hoping it was enough for him not to see my eyes—which were a dead giveaway of who I was. The mask didn’t hide their unique color—and slid a hand around his neck. Even in high heels, I was still shorter than he was, so I tugged him down. He resisted.

Oh no, he wouldn’t. I scratched my nails on his nape, and he took a sharp breath. The frown deepened, and he turned his face to my arm. He closed his hand around my forearm and pulled it closer, making me lose my grip on him. He inhaled before placing a soft kiss on my wrist.

I shivered and warmth ran low in my belly.

Slowly, he turned his eyes to mine, and placed my hand back around his neck. However, he didn’t move. Not to me, not away from me. He just stared at me, his eyes darkening, his chest rising and falling faster.

I tried it again. I took another step, pressing my body to his, and tugged his neck down. This time, he met me halfway. I brushed my lips against his, and shock raked my body.
Meu Deus
, if a simple peck could do this to me, what would happen if—?

His hands landed on my hips, his fingers digging into me through the fabric of this ridiculously heavy dress, and his mouth claimed mine. His lips were soft but demanding, and I wanted to give him all he asked. I parted my mouth, and his tongue took charge, drawing a moan from my throat. Groaning, he deepened the kiss and whirled us around, pushing me against the window and trapping me with his hard body. One of his hands slid up, purposely brushing against my breast—and making me gasp in his mouth—before continuing up. He clutched my shoulder, wedging his fingers under the dress. That simple touch, his skin grazing mine, sent another powerful jolt down my spine. I entwined my fingers with the hair on his neck and snaked the other hand around his back, pulling him closer, as if there was any space left between us.

Garrett propped his knee between my legs, but the full skirt of the dress caught in the way, and suddenly, I wanted it off. The dress was not helping! He bit my lower lip, sucking hard, and I thought I would melt at his feet, because there was no way this was real. It felt too good, too right.

He dragged his mouth to my jaw. His lips and his hot breath on my skin were a deadly combination, and I was ready to combust. I clutched his shoulders, arched my back, and threw back my head, granting him access. He planted a kiss on my neck and inhaled, sending another shiver sweeping through my body.

Then he whispered against my skin, “You’re so sweet, Bia.”

I froze. What did he say?

Noticing my tension, he straightened to look at me. There it was, written in his eyes. He knew. He knew who I was.

My throat went dry. I dropped my hands from him and stepped back.

He held on to my waist. “No, Bia. Wait.” I pushed his hands away and continued retreating. He reached for me, but I raised a hand and he stopped.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I wanted to scream at him, but scream what? I had been the one who came to him. I buried my face in my hands, mortified. “
Meu Deus
.”

Now he had proof that I was the slut Audrey painted me as.

His hands enveloped my wrists and pulled my hands away from my face. “Don’t hide.” He didn’t let go of my wrists and drew me closer. “Talk to me.”