Change of Possession (7 page)

I shuddered. “Tug-o-war? You’re serious?”

Jonah came and slapped Steve on the shoulder. “Yup. And Caty and I are gonna pull you guys into the mud.”

Steve led me over to the mud hole, where I stopped at the edge. “Eww… I can’t believe you want me to step in this.”

He laughed again. “Come on, I can’t win without you and if I go down, you’re going down with me.”

“Ugh, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

I rolled the bottoms of my jeans up and took my shoes off, setting them next to Caty’s and Steve’s. There was no way I was going to chance ruining those. Jonah was still getting ready when I hesitated at the edge of the muck.

Cringing, I took my first step and felt the ground squish under my weight. This was definitely not my idea of fun. I hated the feel of it between my toes. I made it over to Steve and he handed me the rope, which I gripped hesitantly.

“I will never forgive you if we fall in the mud,” I told him.

He grabbed the rope behind me and closed the gap so we were closer than I wanted, but at least we weren’t touching. “Then I guess I better not let go.”

Jonah and Caty picked up their half of the rope and Caty laughed. “This is so much fun. We haven’t done something like this in forever.”

I raised a brow at her. “You mean you’ve done this for fun before? More than once?”

They all laughed. Jonah winked over Caty’s shoulder at us. “Alright, girls, this is where we see that I’m the man around here.”

“Big talk, little guy,” Steve said. Even I started to smile. Everything seemed right, normal, fun. Maybe things weren’t as bad with Steve as I thought. Maybe I could let go of the terrible morning I had and just breathe a bit.

Jonah and Caty pulled first; I was totally unprepared for how hard they tugged and almost lost my grip immediately, but recovered and pulled back. Steve surprised me with his strength as he pulled both Jonah and Caty with hardly any help from me. I was calling bullshit on his plea for help. He didn’t need me to win this game.

We pulled together and the fear of falling in the mud made me pull harder. Caty went to get a better grip but slipped instead and she and Jonah both went flying forward. I laughed as I realized it wasn’t me who fell. Jonah helped Caty up, but they were both covered in the dark sludge. Caty’s hair had sloppy piles of it falling out and I laughed harder.

“You think it’s funny? Wait till we pull you over in it,” Caty said as she wiped her face as best she could.

“Oh no, I’m not doing that again.” I wasn’t willing to put myself back in that position. If I didn’t have Steve, I would’ve fallen for sure.

“We can do it,” Steve reassured me with a wink.

“Fine,” I drawled out.

We all gripped the rope again, but this time it was hard not to giggle looking at my opponents, dripping filth. “You and your girl are going down!” Jonah hollered as we all began to pull again.

I didn’t have time to correct his statement. This time was harder. I could tell Jonah was determined to pull me and Steve over. I pulled with everything I had, but I could feel the rope slipping through my fingers. “Steve, ahhh… I can’t hold on.”

Steve reached around my waist and grabbed the rope. “Pull with me.” I tugged as hard as I could. The extra strength wrapped around me momentarily stalled me. I wasn’t prepared to feel him so intimately close to me as he leaned in close to my ear. “Give one good pull. Ready, now!”

We pulled, sending Jonah and Caty back to the mud. I almost died with laughter. Who knew mud or tug-o-war could be so much fun?

Steve hugged me, picking me up and twirling me around. It was the first time I wasn’t appalled by his actions since the night of the bonfire. We laughed together.

Jonah grabbed the rope as he and Caty joined in the laughter. “Okay, one more time.”

I spun around and picked up the muddy rope. “Alright, let’s go.”

We pulled and tugged, but my arms were giving out and I worried about Steve’s. Jonah gave one tough pull and my grip slipped, along with my footing. I fell butt first in the mud, Steve not far behind me. I laughed even harder. As much as I hated being that dirty, it was the most fun I’d had in a long time.

“Brown is very fetching on you,” Steve said as he got up and reached down to help me.

“Gee, thanks. I agree, brown is very attractive.” I picked up a handful of mud and slung it in his direction.

After we all got up, I looked at Jonah’s car and stopped. “Um, how are we supposed to get back? We’re covered in mud.”

“The car can be cleaned,” Jonah laughed. “It’s not the first time we’ve done this.”

I sat off to the side and watched as Steve gathered the rope. Jonah walked over to Steve and they talked quietly. Steve pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Jonah, who quickly stuffed it in his jeans, then gave Steve a friendly slap on the back. They both laughed and headed my way. I couldn’t help but stare at them. My throat constricted as I realized what just happened. This was something that I couldn’t ignore. The warning bells in my head rang so loud I thought I would puke. I wanted to go home. No more chances for Steve, this was all the proof I needed to know he was behind drugging me. My stomach tightened as I stood to get in the car.

I decided I’d better keep my knowledge to myself. I didn’t need a new reason for Steve to try something with me. “I am so ready for a shower,” I said as we left the canyon. I forced a small laugh to keep up the façade.

Caty giggled. “Me too.”

Steve relaxed in the back seat next to me. “So do you have plans for tomorrow? It’s Saturday and we have a game. I was thinking maybe you’d like to come.”

“I’m not sure.” I looked out the window. There was no way I was going to make plans with him again.

He frowned. “I thought everything was okay now.”

“Steve, I already told you I just want to be friends.”

“I know. Does that mean you can’t go to a game and watch a friend play?”

I shrugged. “I’ll think about.”
Psh, yeah right.
Couldn’t Jonah drive any faster?

Six

After taking the world’s hottest, longest shower, I fell to my bed, exhausted. Tug-o-war, or as it should be named, mud-o-war, was fun while it lasted—before the drug deal— but it took four times washing my hair to get all the grime out, and I only fell once. I could only imagine how Caty must have felt falling twice.

I laid there and thought about Vahn and his request for me to call when I got home. I finally relented and picked up my cell, looking at his number and chuckling as I thought about programming it. I quickly saved his name to that number before pressing the send button.

It didn’t get through two seconds of his ringback before he picked up. “Keeley?”

“Yes, Dad,” I joked.

“Very funny. I was worried.”

“Ugh, seriously. You don’t even know me, you can’t be that worried.”

“Just because I haven’t known you your whole life, doesn’t mean I can’t care.”

I twirled my hair around my finger. “If you’re gonna worry about me so much, maybe we should get to know each other. I’ll start. Why are you spying on Steve? For real this time, no roundabout answers.”

“Fine.” He took a deep breath. “A couple of years ago my best friend was pulled into Steve’s life. She pulled away from me, no longer wanting to be seen around me. Everything became all about Steve. One night she OD’d on some drugs. She never used them before she started hanging around him, but it killed her. So now I’m trying to find out how Steve is managing to give out drugs and stay off the radar, especially playing football. It doesn’t make sense.”

The secret pass between Steve and Jonah occurred right away. My mouth went dry. “I’m so sorry.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I understood what it felt like to lose a best friend, but I also knew there was no comfort that anyone could give. “Do you think it’s just drugs that kept her?” I was beginning to understand first-hand exactly how over bearing Steve was. He only new me for a short time and was already possessive. I shuddered thinking how much farther Steve would be willing to go to make me
‘his’
. Could the same thing have happened to Vahn’s friend?

He sighed. “I don’t know. Things happen, like accidents that shouldn’t. Each time they happen, it happens to someone who pissed off someone on the team—usually Steve. I’m not sure what’s going on. I’ve spent the last two years trying to find out, but no one on the team talks. Whatever secrets they have, they’d rather die with.”

My heart sank into my stomach. “Do you think I’m one of them?”

“No. But I also know that once Steve wants you, he’ll pretty much do anything to get you. I’m only telling you so you can get out while you can. I’d hate to see something happen to you like it did to Christie.”

The fact that his best friend was a girl didn’t escape me. “So was she more than just a friend?”

He gave a small chuckle. “No, she wanted other things in life than me. We grew up on the same street, so we knew each other since we were tiny tots.”

I laid back on my pillow. “Okay, next question. Aside from stalking me, what else do you like to do?”

“Fix cars, go out on the boat, paint… The usual guy stuff.”

“Paint? Like paint houses, or pictures?”

He laughed. “Pictures, for sure. It’s just something I’ve always loved to do. I like art and am going for a degree in it. My turn. What about you? What do you like to do besides hang out with a crazy psycho drug dealer?”

“Haha. For your information, I don’t usually talk with strangers, stalkers, or drug dealers; you all just kinda showed up.”

We talked until my eyelids drooped. By the early morning hours I knew his favorite color, animal, and that he hated sports. We stayed away from our pasts, which was great for me. The less he knew about that part of me, the better I felt. I wasn’t ready to divulge my personal nightmare yet. I knew he had a past as well, but for the time being, it was perfect being at that—in the past.

I didn’t want to hang up, but neither did he. I wasn’t sure if I fell asleep before we hung up or what, but when I awoke, the phone was still in my hand, close to my ear. I smiled and couldn’t help but giggle. That was the best night I ever had. Vahn was so perfect. Well, at least in my mind he was.

We made plans to actually meet the next day, and I couldn’t wait. Despite all the stranger danger warnings my parents installed in me since birth, I was flying off the edge and jumping right in. Vahn was taking me out on his boat. If my parents, especially my dad, found out about my plans about meeting some strange man, they’d kill me. My heart raced a bit as I called for a cab. I couldn’t really believe I was doing it.

My anxiety level was over the top and I started having second thoughts. I gripped my cell in my hand contemplating whether or not I should cancel. After everything I’d been through in the short amount of time in Utah, maybe this wasn’t the best idea. I sucked in a sharp breath and stuffed my phone in my pocket. No. I wasn’t going to let Steve and all his bullshit ruin my life—I could do that all by myself.

After waiting for what felt like forever, the cab finally pulled up and I darted out the door. The ride to the Salt Lake Marina wasn’t too bad, but the smell of fish was horribly strong in the air.

I paid the driver and got out. There was a nice cool breeze coming in off the lake. Letting out a long deep breath, I walked out on the dock and looked for his boat. He said it was The Lady Violet, and that it was his dad’s and he named it after Vahn’s mom. I thought that was sweet, but Vahn closed up about it so I figured his family was a sore subject.

I wrung my hands as I strode down the dock. What was I doing? I was insane and glutton for something bad to happen. I stopped and hesitated. It wasn’t too late to turn around and go home.  I twisted on my heel to see if the cab was still there. My shoulders slumped, it was gone and all hopes of leaving vanished. After a small pep talk, I told myself it would be okay, then continued walking.

Off to my right I saw The Lady Violet and stopped. She was a good fifteen feet from stern to heel, and I was in love with her.

I closed my eyes and relished the peaceful memory from my childhood to take over.
The sound of my dad’s voice filled my ears as I giggled beside him. It was the first time he let me steer the boat. His face told me everything—he was proud of me. His instructions kept me from feeling overwhelmed as I grasped the wheel with small eight-year-old fingers.
I opened my eyes to stare at the white boat again. It was so much like my dad’s that I felt in tune with her already.

I heard footsteps on the deck of the boat on the other side of the wheelhouse and held my breath. I wasn’t ready. I painted picture in my head of who Vahn was and I didn’t want to ruin it. And then there was me. What if once he really saw me, not just from a dark parking lot, but really saw me, he wouldn’t like me? I wasn’t the most beautiful girl. Self-consciously, I pulled my shirt down and sucked in my stomach, trying to hide some of my curves.

I saw him before he saw me and I froze. I couldn’t breathe or move even the slightest of muscles. It was him. Of all people in the world, Vahn was my mystery guy. I stood there taking him in when he saw me. His half smile was sexy and just like in the classroom, I melted, right there on the dock. Everything inside me tingled and my stomach filled with butterflies. He had shades on that reminded me of aviation sunglasses, but they totally fit him.

“It’s you.”

He jumped down from the boat and walked over to me. “I wanted to tell you, but I thought I’d wait and surprise you.”

“Do you know how many times I wanted to say hi to you?”

He laughed. “No, not really. But I saw you flirting with me yesterday morning.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

“I did not. You smiled at me first.”

“What about last night? I distinctively remember you starting the flirting last night.”

I was still trying to process that Vahn was
him
, and that he was the one who saved me the night I was drugged. The one who warned me, the one who continued to warn me. The one I stayed up all night talking to. My heart raced faster than I ever thought possible.