Falling for Hadie (16 page)

The truck came into view and there were two guys standing by it. One was tall and broad-shouldered, while the other guy was of medium height and build. It took me a moment to register that Hadie was sitting on the ground, curled up next to the truck.

“Come on, babe,” the taller one was saying, “
You said you wanted to have a good time.”

“N-no,” Hadie
said, her voice a little groggy. “Just stay away from me.”

The two guys lo
oked at each other, and the shorter one spoke. “I thought you said she was going to be fun.”

“That’s what I thought,” the taller one said with a shrug. “Whatever. Let’s just leave her
here and find another girl to have fun with.”

“They were wrong about her being easy,” the shorter guy said. “She’s just a fucking tease.
Stupid bitch.”

“
Say that one more time and I will fucking kill you.”

Both guys turned around at the sound of my voice, looking equally startled. The shorter one spoke, holding his hands up in defense. “Hey, we didn’t do anything to her. She was like this when we got here.”

Advancing forward, I grabbed the shorter guy by the collar of his shirt and pushed him hard against the back of the truck. “You really expect me to believe that you prick? I just heard everything you assholes were saying. Get the fuck out of here or, I swear to God, you will regret ever being born.”

The guy swore in pain and scrambled away from me as I released him, fear visible on every inch of his face. B
oth guys shot me looks of pure loathing before disappearing through the trees.

“Oh my gosh, Lincoln!” Mariah squealed from behind me. “That was so badass! I think I just fell a little bit in love with you! Did you see the way those chickens ran off? So pathetic.”

I drowned out the sound of her voice as we both went over to Hadie. The only thing that mattered was that she was okay. I’d been lucky that those guys hadn’t bothered to fight back, because I’d been completely outnumbered and I wouldn’t have been able to beat them.

Hadie raised her head and met me with a wide-eyed stare. “Lincoln? What are you doing here?”

“I came here for you,” I said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you okay, Hairdresser?”

She smiled at that and glanced at Mariah. Then her face crumpled and the tears started spilling out. “I was so stupid. I shouldn’t have gone with those guys, but they said we were going to have fun and that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to forget about you because you were so mean to me yesterday. And Bennett was with another girl and I was alone as usual, and I just wanted someone to want me and…”

Believe me, I wanted to tell her that I wanted her, but not like this. Not when she was drunk, incoherent and rambling. Okay, so she was always rambling, but this wasn’t the right moment to tell her how I felt.

“Hadie, sweetie, it’s okay,” Mariah said, pulling her friend into her arms. “You’re alright now. Lincoln saved you and we can forget about this whole thing. Except for when I see those two assholes next and kick them somewhere they’ll never forget.”

Hadie’s eyes flickered over to me again and she sighed. “I was just so sick of being the pathetic, frumpy girl who couldn’t get a guy and…”

“Hey, shh,” I said, placing a hand on the side of her face. “You’re not pathetic. You are beautiful and you are confident and you know what you want in life. Everything you do amazes me. Everything you say resonates with me. Don’t ever tell yourself that you’re not good enough. You are better than good enough; you are perfect.”

Hadie’s eyes never left mine, but even in the darkness I could tell that a scarlet flush was spreading across her face. I didn’t know if my words had truly registered with her drunken mind, but I sure as hell hoped so.

Mariah cleared her throat. “Wow, I suddenly feel like the third wheel again.”

Feeling embarrassed, I looked away and stood up. “Come on, I’ll take Hadie home.”

“No, that’s okay, I can do it,” Mariah insisted, looking nervous.

It took me a minute to realize that her insistence was because she was concerned about her friend and didn’t trust me enough to leave me alone with her. Hadie somehow came to the same conclusion about Mariah’s uneasiness towards me, or maybe she was just rambling again. It was hard to tell.

“No, no, no, you go and kiss Connor. Lincoln can take me because he owes me. And if he tries any funny business, I’ll bust him up.” She wasn’t in any condition to bust me up, but I didn’t point that out for the sake of getting into an argument with a drunken girl.

Mariah and I helped Hadie to her feet, and she stood there for a second as she swayed on the spot. Then she fell forward and her head hit my chest.

I quickly grabbed her to steady her and she snuck a peak at me from benea
th her long lashes. “Your chest is like Superman’s,” she commented.

“Uhm…”

“Sweetie, are you sure you want to go with him? I don’t care about Connor…” Mariah said, still holding onto Hadie as though she was afraid to let go.

“I trust him. He’s my friend.”

Mariah fixed me with a glare. “I’m counting on you to get her home. If she doesn’t call me in thirty minutes to let me know she got home alright, I’m going to hurt you, is that clear?”

I nodded, actually intimidated by the severe glint in Mariah’s eyes. She came across all outgoing and fun, but when it came to her friend’s safety she was scary.

“I’m not like those jerks,” I reassured her. “I’ll make sure she gets home safe.”

Mariah’s expression softened and she gave me a tight smile. “Take care of her, Lincoln.”

“I will,” I promised.

Hadie

Mariah walked back into the woods to kissy face with Connor, who was on the basketball team and had great legs. Hah! Connor…couldn’t he tell that Mariah had a huge, raging crush on him? Guys were stupid like that. Lincoln was stupid.

“You’re stooopid,” I said, because it was important he know.

Lincoln raised his eyebrows and stepped away from me, his hand still wrapped around my wrist. “Hadie, I better get you home. You need to sleep this off.”

“No!” I wrenched myself out of his grasp and stamped my foot. “You didn’t ask me why you’re stupid.”

Lincoln sighed and massaged his temple with his free hand. “Fine. Why am I stupid?”

Glad that he was playing along, I poked him in the chest with a finger. “Because you acted like a jerk at the diner yesterday. I thought we were supposed to be friends, but you made me feel like I was worthless.”

Lincoln dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry about that, I really am. I just…I was having a bad day and I didn’t expect to see you there. I know I acted like a complete ass.”

His face was downcast and his lips were in a semi-pout. I wanted to reach out and kiss him. I wanted to run my hands over that amazing body I knew was hiding under his shirt. I wanted to…

“Hadie, what are you doing?” Lincoln sounded panicked, and I looked up in surprise.

“Huh?”

Wordlessly, he looked down and I followed his gaze to find that my hand was under his shirt and I was pressing against him like I wanted him. Okay, so I did want him. Who wouldn’t want him?

His body was hard underneath the shirt and I pressed my hand against his stomach, relishing the smooth skin. “Is it so wrong to want you?”

Lincoln swallowed, and he actually looked scared of me which made no sense at all. Weren’t guys all about having sex?

“I-I can’t do this with you, Hadie. I need to take you home now.”

Without saying anything else, Lincoln tightened his hold on me and pulled me past the cars until he finally stopped at a light grey SUV. He opened the door and waited until I had climbed in before going around to the other side.

As he got in, my mind was a blur of different emotions. Lincoln didn’t want me. He had rejected me just like Bennett had. What was wrong with me? Was there a sign hanging over my head that said ‘DO NOT DATE THIS GIRL’? What made it alright for these guys to lead me on and then not want me? Why did they feel like I was beneath them and not good enough to date?

Moments ago, Lincoln had said that I was perfect. How could he say that only to reject me when I made my feelings for him clear? I was exhausted with all the double standards and the lies. I was angry at how he acted around me. I was angry at myself for feeling so strongly about him.

Normal people yelled and screamed when they were angry. I cried.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Why are you crying?” Lincoln sounded alarmed, but I didn’t care. He deserved to feel bad.

“You’re such a damn liar,” I said, frowning at the slur in my voice. Why did I sound like a complete floozy? I hadn’t had
that
much to drink, had I?

Lincoln moved in his seat and I looked over to see that his entire body was angled towards me. His brow was creased as he watched me with somber blue eyes. “What have I lied to you about? Everything I’ve told you has been the truth.”

“You just told me that I was perfect,” I said, brushing away my angry tears. “But then you turn around and tell me that you can’t do anything with me. What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m tired of guys giving me mixed signals! I’m tired of crushing on you but having to pretend that I’m not!”

There was a silence as Lincoln stared at me, a stunned expression creeping onto his face. His eyes searched mine and he pressed his lips together when he could tell that I was being serious. Of course I was serious—I was drunk, not deranged!

“You…you’re crushing on
me
?”

I rolled my eyes. “Why is that so hard for you to believe? Have you seen yourself? Do you ever look in the mirror?”

Lincoln’s eyes were so full of hurt and devastation that what I’d said had made him look that way. He dropped his head onto the steering wheel and didn’t look up as he spoke.

“Hadie, there is so much I want to tell you, so much I have to tell you, but this isn’t the right time. Not when you’re probably going to forget most of this conversation tomorrow. I’ve been so selfish and so weak around you. I’ve let my guard down—I’ve let you in. When I look in the mirror all I see is my life falling apart. That’s how everyone treated me in New York. That’s how I expected everyone to treat me in Statlen, but instead I met you.”

His words were so cryptic that I had no idea what he was talking about. All I knew was that something was tearing him up inside and I wanted to comfort him. My head was buzzing as I reached over and placed a hand on his cheek. He stared back at me with burning eyes as an unspoken connection passed between us.

I ran my hand through his short hair, letting it drop down to his face before I grabbed a fistful of his shirt. My head was fuzzy but I knew what I wanted to do. I would never have been brave enough to do this sober, but that didn’t seem important right now. What seemed important was holding him, touching him, being close to him.

Lincoln’s eyes widened as he stared down at my hand, and his face looked torn as though he didn’t know whether to pull me into his arms or push me away. “Hadie, I…”

Not letting him finish his sentence, I pushed myself off the seat and onto his lap. The steering wheel dug into my back as I reached down and adjusted the seat so that it slid back and gave me more room to move around. Being of short stature was convenient, especially in situations like this one.

I placed my legs on either side of him and tugged him towards me. Our faces were inches apart, his eyes guarded as I inhaled his masculine scent, eliciting a shiver down my spine. God, he smelled good.

“Hadie, you need to stop. You’re drunk; you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said, actually sounding scared.

Lincoln placed a gentle hand on my arm as if to brace me, but I ignored it.

“I don’t care if I’m drunk,” I said, a stubborn edge to my voice. “One of us has to stop denying this thing that’s between us and if it has to be me then so be it.”

I clutched the back of his head and pulled him towards me. Our lips met, mine insistent and his reluctant, and I put all of my energy into making him kiss me back. Lincoln didn’t respond at first and I was worried that I had completely misjudged his feelings for me.

Was it possible that I’d thought he liked me when he really didn’t?

It was weird having this one-sided kiss and I was about to pull away when I felt Lincoln’s lips move against mine. His tongue slid into my mouth and massaged against mine, and I moaned as hot and cold tingles erupted all over my skin.

Lincoln let out a low growl and grabbed my hair, pulling me closer. Lost in the kiss, I didn’t notice that he had opened the driver’s side door until I felt the cold air seep in. Startled, I glanced at him in confusion, but he only smirked back at me.

Still holding onto me, he climbed out of the car and supported my weight as I wrapped my legs around his body. He stumbled around to the side of the car and opened up the back door. Leaning over, he lay me down on back seat and clambered in after me, slamming the door shut.

My heart was racing as Lincoln pulled off his shirt and looked at me with hunger in his eyes. Even in the darkness I could see the rise and fall of his chest, as though his heart was beating just as erratically as mine. With each breath the hard, toned muscles on his chest rippled, and all I wanted to do was run my fingers over them.