Breaking Fences (The Breaking Series) (39 page)

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “What is it, then? Why didn’t you want me there, and why did you humiliate me?”

He flinched. “I swear it was never my intention to cause you pain. I never meant to hurt you.”

I heard a succession of footfalls and turned to where I thought it was coming from. It was the end of the parking lot, and there was nothing there, not even a car, except for shrubs and a couple of trees.

To my left, a girl strolled from one dorm building to another. I must have heard her steps and, so confused, thought it was on the other side. My head was so messed up.

I picked up the last book, threw it in the trunk, and closed the door. “You’re not making any sense.”

Garrett pressed his mouth tightly. Finally, he said, “I can’t really explain right now, and we can’t be seen together.”

“Again with that? Go to hell, Garrett. I’m not a call girl. I won’t just be around whenever you want release.”

I started walking away, but he grasped my upper arm and pulled me back, against my car. He leaned into me. “I just said it was more than that, didn’t I?”

“But you also said you can’t be seen with me.”

He dropped his head on my shoulder, and his scent filled my lungs, twisting my belly and weakening my knees.

He lifted his head again, and I could see the frustration in his eyes. “Please, believe me, there’s more to it, but I can’t explain right now. You have no idea how much it pains me to say this, but we have to pretend nothing is going on until you’re back from the holidays.”

“I’m not coming back,” I told him. Surprisingly, my voice was even.

His eyes widened, gleaming with shock. “What? What do you mean?”

“I’m moving back to California.”

“When did you decide this?”

“When I came back from Thanksgiving.”

“But … that was before we slept together. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We weren’t exactly on speaking terms back then.”

“Why are you leaving?”

I snorted. “As if you didn’t know. Audrey and her lies. The many weirdoes who hit on me every single day. Your creepy brother included.” The fact that his jaw clenched when I mentioned the guys hitting on me didn’t escape me. “You tell me you can’t be seen with me, then humiliate me in front of my worst enemy. Shall I go on?”

“So, basically you’re giving up.”

“Right now, coming to this university was a mistake. I should have done what my father wanted from the beginning. Apply to a college there and stay close to home.”

He frowned. “Are you saying I was a mistake?”

I sighed. I could lie, say it was, or be quiet and let him assume he was, but for some reason, I thought he deserved the truth from me, even if he didn’t do the same for me.

“No.” I reached over and cupped his face with my hand. “You were the best thing out of this whole experience.” He turned his face into my hand and placed a soft kiss on my palm. I shivered, fighting to stay strong. “Well, you and Midnight.”

His usual half-grin showed up on his kissable lips. “I’m losing to a horse.”

I withdrew my hand. “There’s no competition there. The horse wins.”

“Hey, now. Let me kiss you, and then you tell me that again.” He leaned into me.

I panicked, but didn’t move.

He brushed his lips against mine, probably making sure I wasn’t bolting. Well, I wasn’t bolting, and to show him, I wrapped my hands around his neck and parted my lips. Almost instantly, he closed his mouth on mine, and his tongue plunged inside my mouth. His hands tightened on my waist, and I wiggled my hips, adjusting them so I could feel more of him. He pressed his hips against mine, his hard rock erection brushing against my core, making me shiver.
Meu Deus
, I would miss this. I would miss him. I would miss the way he touched me, the way he was able to melt me, to turn me into mush.

I would enjoy it while it lasted, because I knew that, after this, after him, I would be lonely for a long while. I couldn’t imagine trying to kiss someone else, trying to be with someone else. Even if I did, I knew it wouldn’t be the same. Garrett and I connected in a way I had never connected with anyone.

I didn’t believe in soul mates. I believed there were a handful of people with whom an individual could be perfect with, but on a planet with seven billion people, a handful was rare to find. However, I had found one of mine and I didn’t want to go after any other. Still, I had to let him go.
I
had to go.

I broke the kiss, panting.

His breathing wasn’t much better than mine, and that made me a little less sad.
Good. Maybe he’ll miss me too.

He pressed his forehead against mine. “Come to the cabin with me.”

A sob made its way through my throat, but I clamped my mouth and kept it in. Here it was again. Didn’t he see what he was doing to me? He just asked me to go
fuck
him, but be quiet about it. To be his obedient whore.

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves, and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Fighting against myself, I dropped my arms from him and pulled his from around me.

“Bia …”

Stepping aside, I flashed him a smile. A sad one. “Goodbye, Garrett.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Thursday was a repeat of Tuesday and Wednesday. I went from my dorm to my finals and back to my dorm. To make things worse, I was eating only snacks or frozen stuff so I didn’t have to go out for meals.

On the bright side, Molly wasn’t around much—probably partying with her bitchy sisters.

Friday, I woke up feeling a bit better. I had one final exam in the morning, and then I was done. I just needed to take the last of my things to my car and drive away, leaving the lies, the heartbreak, and everything else behind me.

I hadn’t told my family about moving back, but I was sure they wouldn’t be opposed to it. In fact, I believed they would love it. I hoped that I would be able to make amends with my father, and everything would be right again.

Except for my heart.

I finished my final exam in record time. I wasn’t doing too well, since I barely studied, but at least I would pass, and then I would study my butt off at the new university next semester to compensate.

I would be fine. I would be okay.

I exited the classroom and noticed several students laughing or gasping at something on their cell phones. What was so amusing? Justin Bieber got arrested again? Or he finally had been deported? Being a foreigner, I hated it when one toyed with his or her permission to be here.

I pulled out my cell phone and unmuted it. There were several missed calls and messages, from both Phoebe and Garrett. What the hell? The last one from Phoebe asked me if I had seen it yet. Seen what?

As I exited the building, several students looked from their cell phones to me, and sneered or laughed or snorted. My heartbeat sped. Whatever this was, I knew I didn’t want to be a part of it.

I raced to my dorm, focusing on what I had to do: grab my bags, throw them inside my car, and go. However, I came to a complete stand still when I saw Audrey, Sarah, Molly, Jonah, Jeff, and some others in front of my dorm building.

“There you are,” Audrey said, loud and clear.

Students who came and went turned their heads to her. Apparently, she wanted everyone around us to hear her. Great.

I took two steps toward them. “Let me pass.”

“In a minute,” she said, smiling. “First, I would like for you to see when we deliver the prize.”

“What?”

My cell phone rang. It was Garrett. I pressed the ignore call button and faced Audrey. “Get out of my way before I break your nose again.”

She cringed, touching her nose. Recovering, she smiled and pointed to the phone in my hand. “I bet that was Garrett.” I frowned. She glanced behind me. “And here he comes.”

I turned around. Garrett was running toward us.

With flushed cheeks, he halted in front of me. “Don’t believe anything she’s saying.”

Meu Deus.
“She hasn’t said anything.”

“She’s going to,” he continued. “Please, don’t believe her. Let me explain.”

My heart sank.

“No,” Audrey said, her tone harsh. “I’ll explain.”

“Bia—”

“Shut up, Garrett,” Jonah shouted.

Garrett clenched his hands and took a step forward, but I raised my hand and stopped him before he could jump on his half-brother. It seemed I wasn’t going to escape this. The faster it went—whatever it was—the faster I could leave.

I looked at Garrett. “Let her tell me.”

“No, Bia, pl—”

“You heard her,” Audrey started. “She wants to know, and I’m dying to tell her.”

I crossed my arms and faced her. “Then tell me.”

Her lips curled into a wicked smile. “There was a bet going on since your second or third week here. The guy who was able to take you to bed first would take the jackpot.”

My stomach dropped. Oh, that was why I was constantly being hit on. All those guys wanted the money. What a low move. “Who started the damn bet?”

Audrey shrugged. “I have no idea,” she said in a singsong tone.

I fought the urge to punch her again. “You’re a sick woman, do you know that? Why don’t you mind your own business?”

“But you weren’t minding yours,” she said, losing the smile. “You went after my guy, and of course, being a Brazilian slut, all the guys wanted you. Including mine.”

“I wasn’t yours,” Jonah snapped.

Audrey tsked. “For the moment. Everyone knows we’ll end up together again.” She winked and he shook his head.

“Let’s clarify something here,” I said. “One, I didn’t go after your guy. I never wanted anything with Jonah, not even for a second. He, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to know what the word no means. Two, Brazilians aren’t sluts. Not all of them. Just like not all American girls are saints. I bet there are plenty of sluts around here.”

“But we know you’re one,” Audrey said.

“I’m not!”

She grabbed an iPad from Molly and flipped it over to me so I could see the screen. She pressed the red triangle on the middle and a video started.

I gasped.

A headline appeared for five seconds. “He won,” it read. Then it faded away and an image of Garrett and me appeared, standing almost in this same place, two nights ago.

We were beside my car and someone had recorded us talking. I glanced to where the person with the camera could be. The place where I thought I had heard something, in the back of the lot, near the bushes and trees. I knew there was something wrong.

In the video, I said, “I’m a call girl. I’ll just be around whenever you want release. You want to fuck me again?”

“Yes, a simple fuck,” Garrett said. Then we were kissing against my car. I tried not to look because the memory of that last kiss was still too fresh in my mind. “Come to the cabin with me.”

“Right now,” I answered.

The video ended and Audrey smiled at me.

Blood rushed in my ears and my head spun. Too shocked to do or say anything, I watched as, without ceremony, Audrey grabbed a thick yellow envelope from Sarah and extended it to Garrett.

“Ten thousand dollars to the winner,” she said.

Garrett pushed the envelope back to her. “I don’t want the money.” He turned to me. “Bia, you hav—”

The fact that whoever filmed us had altered what we had said wasn’t the main thing bothering me, the thing hurting me.

“You were in on the bet?” My voice wasn’t much louder than a whisper, and it was laced with pain.

“You kn—”

“Answer the damn question,” I said, my voice firmer. “Were you in on the bet?”

He lowered his gaze. “Yes, but—”

I stepped back as if he had physically hurt me. “Leave me alone.” I faced Audrey and the others. “All of you, leave me alone.”

I stormed past Audrey and Molly, shoving them both out of my way, and marched inside the building. My hands shaking, I fumbled with my keys. It took me a full minute to be able to unlock my room’s door and step in.

I pushed the door back as hard as I could, but it didn’t slam closed.

“What the—?”

An arm was wedged through the crack. Bracing the door, Garrett entered the room. “Bia, you have to li—”

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Please, get out.”

He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, arms crossed. “No. I won’t let you leave until you hear me out.”

I sighed. The beginning of a headache throbbed in the back of my skull. It would be wonderful to drive seventeen hours to California with a headache. Maybe I would drive out of town and stop at an inn to take a nap. Or to cry.

I glanced at Garrett and calculated the possibilities. There weren’t many. Every one of them involved hearing him, because really, he was standing by the door and he was too big for me to try and move him, and if I didn’t want to jump out of the window, I would have to listen to him to get out.