Fire In Her Eyes (20 page)

“Yeah, you wouldn’t go anywhere without her. I was having a bad day the last time I saw you. You left her with me so that I would feel better. I felt so horrible when dad died and my mom told me I wouldn’t ever see you again.” Mason’s eyes are a little watery. It’s a strange thing to see on him.

“Well, you got her back to me. That is all that matters.” I reach into the box for the pictures and I let out a gasp when I see my mother’s face. She is sitting in the picture with a man who looks almost exactly like Mason. “You look so much like him. It’s crazy.”

“Mom says I’m a spitting image.” He looks down at his phone before standing up. “I have to be somewhere. I just wanted to leave the box with you. I also wanted to tell you that, Dylan was caught attempting to rape another girl a couple towns over. He’s not going to be able to make bail this time.”

“What?” Spencer and I exclaim at the same time. Mason nods his head. “The girl has a boyfriend who got worried when she didn’t come back from the bathroom. Found her knocked out in a backroom and him trying to rape her. There’s no way he
will
get out this time. They know he is a danger to society.” He shrugs his shoulders like this should be a well-known fact, which it should.

“Are you sure you have to leave?” I ask, hopeful. I want him to be around. He is my brother I never knew I had.

“Yeah, I really do. But don’t worry, I’ll be around.” He gives me a small smile before shoving his hands in his pockets. He then turns around and heads out the front door.

“I can’t believe that you are related to him. You are like polar opposites.” He wiggles his eyebrows to let me know that he is kidding. I smack him playfully on the shoulder before we settle back into the c
ouch and look at the pictures.

*****

“Do you think that she will be okay?” I ask Spencer later when we are laying in his bed watching TV.

“Who, Mom?” I nod my head to answer. “Yeah, she will be. She was right though, she has a way of picking out men. I think the only nor
mal guy she ever dated was Mike
.”

I laugh softly at his explanation. “That’s good. He never married, you know. We should get them back together.” I wiggle my eyebrows.

He chuckles and shakes his head. “What about your brothers?” He has a serious expression on his face, which is a striking difference from the laugh he just let out.

“What about them?”
I really don’t know. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not all that close to them. Sure they are protective of me, but that is about it. They don’t seem to want to have much to do with me.

“You think they are going to fight for your dad?” He places his hand in my hair and starts running his fingers through the straight locks.

“Yes. They weren’t there. They didn’t listen to
what he said. It won’t
seem real to them unless they hear the tape.” I sigh and snuggle closer to his che
st. “I don’t blame them, though
. I wouldn’t believe it unless I heard it myself.”

“Yeah, me too. You think you will ever make up with Carter?” I look up at his perfect face and smile at the way he even cares to ask me these questions.

“I hope not. That bitch can go to hell. I spent the better part of my life making her feel better about herself. The second I need her for anything, where is she? Nowhere to b
e found. That’s not friendship.
It’s a freaking babysitting job.” We both chuckle at that. “When do you go back to school?” I start to freak out on the inside, thinking of him leaving me. I know that he needs to finish school instead of sitting around here taking care of me.”

“Umm...I don’t.” I blink up at him and wait for him to go on. “I’m going to go online. Got it all set up, actually. I can’t leave my mom right now. It just wouldn’t be right.
She will need to find somewhere
to live and all that jazz.”

“She can stay with me. My brothers don’t want to live here. I don’t think I will have to fight them for it. If they do, I can play the sweet, innocent little sister card.” I smirk at that and Spencer just rolls his eyes.

“I’m happy you are staying, though. If it’s not for me.”

He laughs hard at that. “I’m staying here for you, mostly. I just didn’t want you to think I stayed just because of you. I just got you back to where I want you, didn’t w
ant you to run screaming to the
hills.

“I wouldn’t have done that!” He gives me a pointed look. “Okay...maybe I would have. We will never know now.” I smile really big and give him a peck on the lips.

I get up off the bed and start walking for the door. “Where you going, baby girl?” He leans up on his elbows, watching my ass as I take steps.

“To go get registered for online classes. I want to get a degree too, you know.” I get to the door and open it. Before I walk out I say, “You can’t have all the fun. Though I think we will get tired of each other in about five seconds.”

“I could never get tire
d of you, baby girl. You’re my
everything.” I don’t think he has any idea what he just did to my heart.

“That’s good to know. I guess I kind of like you.” He scowls at me and gets up off the bed.

When he gets to me, he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into his chest. “Kind of?” He lowers his mouth almost to mine, but doesn’t kiss me. He then goes for my neck, but doesn’t touch any of my skin with his lips. No, he just blows warm air on my skin. It’s kind of erotic.

I keep waiting for him to actually kiss me...somewhere, though he looks like he is just out to torture me. “Fine, I fucking love you, Spencer Grady!”

He chuckles and finally kisses and nibbles my neck before moving up my jaw line. When he gets to my lips he hoovers over them and whispers, “I love you, Harley Maxton, and I always will.” Then his lips finally meet mine and I feel like I am
exactly
where I am meant to be.

The End

Amanda Heath lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and young author. She is also the author of This Beautiful Thing.

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Sneak peek of Shanora Williams new contemporary romance Hard To Resist.

Releasing March 16, 2013

Natalie Carmichael thought that Bryson Daniels would be her world. She planned a bright future with him, cherished four years with him, and couldn't have been any happier, but during graduation night, all of that changes.
Natalie walks in on Bryson cheating on her. One month after catching him in the act, she finally decides to make an escape by leaving for Florida.
She wants to start over, have fun, and be free while also finding a way to mend her broken heart but when she meets Nolan Young, her single-life escapade doesn't last for very long. She tries to stay clear of Nolan and his desires but it's impossible for her. Nolan will do everything that he can to have her as his own, but will Natalie accept Nolan along with the problems of his past? Will she let someone else into her heart that may be even worse than Bryson?
For Natalie, Nolan will be something completely new to her. And for them both, their desires will be completely hard to resist.

Chapter One

Graduation Night

“Are you ready?”

Sighing, I reached for my clutch to pull out some of my best lip gloss. I bought it every time that I would go to Victoria’s Secret. It tasted just like peppermint and the only reason that I kept buying it was because Bryson loved to suck it off of my lips. I shivered just from thinking about Bryson and his velvety tongue. Whenever he would tease me, use his tongue to trace my lower lip, it would be to die for. When he used to use that same velvety tongue to caress it against my ear lobes—oh, God . . . I was in heaven.

I smeared some gloss on my lips then turned to look at Gracey as I pushed the visor of the car back up just as she was pulling hers down. “You’re asking me if I’m ready but you keep checking your face,” I teased, my lips hinting at a sneer.

“I know, I know.” She sighed then reached to fluff her glossy black hair. “There’s just this guy that’s going to be here. I met him at a party last week. He’s really hot—but I forgot his name.” She stole a glance at me, her eyes lost for a moment.

“Does he just want your thong?” I asked.

She grinned. “I don’t know. Maybe I just want his dong!” We both burst into a fit of giggles, clutching ourselves but making sure that we didn’t destroy our makeup with our tears. “But at least you won’t have to worry about that.”

She was right. I didn’t have to worry about sex that night because Bryson was there. He was my boyfriend and, technically, I could have sex with him whenever I wanted and not feel guilty about it. Just thinking of him made me grin.

“Gah, you look like a love-struck idiot when you smile like that,” Gracey muttered beneath her breath before pushing the visor back up and pushing against the passenger door of the car. She shut it behind her but I continued to grin as I climbed out of the driver’s seat. Placing my lip-gloss in my clutch, I turned to face Gracey in her bright orange, skin-tight mini dress. She could have passed for a stripper (especially since her breasts were extra perky and her make-up was a bit dramatic) but she was still gorgeous. Gracey’s skin was flawless with a beautiful light-brown tint to it. Her complexion could have been compared to the color of mocha. She had brown freckles, beautiful hazel eyes, and a body that she loved to work out with.

I locked the car up then walked around the hood to meet her. She studied my creamy white mini dress briefly before turning to face the large mansion that was just a few yards ahead of us, surrounded by cars. “I envy you tonight,” she hissed as we began to walk for the house in our stilettos.

Chuckling, I asked, “Why?”

“Because, you look beautiful and if you want some, you can get some without even trying . . . unlike me, where I have to work for it, you don’t.”

I laughed again. “Oh, trust me, Gracey. It’s graduation night. I’m sure that whoever this guy is that you’re trying to sleep with will be drunk enough for you to drag upstairs and hump for a little while. He won’t mind.”

“Euch.” Gracey’s face pinched. “Don’t make me sound like a tramp.”

“I’d hate to burst your bubble but . . .” She scowled and I gave her a teasing grin. “I’m only kidding, Gracey. I love you and after these four years of working our asses off, we deserve a little fun. High school would have been hell without you.”

“Same here. I wouldn’t have survived biology or history without you as my study buddy.”

I nodded and began to smile but that smile faded as we approached the large oak door. Gracey looked at me, wide-eyed, and we both could tell that it was really going down inside. We could hear it, feel it. Most students of West Ashley High School of South Carolina were there. We had all graduated and we were all partying with no regrets.

“You ready?” I asked, glancing at Gracey who was tugging her dress down.

“Been ready.” Reaching for the door knob, she finally swung it open and it was just like a jungle-gym inside. As soon as we stepped in, people were making out, red cups were spread all over the floor. The lights were dim and the thick stench of sweat and beer filled my lungs. I tried my hardest not to breathe it in as I shut the door behind us while looking up at the spiral staircase that was on my right. There were couples on the stairs, too. They were making out and some I would have thought were having sex by the way their legs were intertwined and their tongues were lodged down each other’s throats.

“I see him!” Gracey yelled over the music. The song changed and as it did, the lights went out, the room grew darker, but the flickers of rave lights began to shine. “I’ll find you later, kay?” she called, already drifting away from me. Nodding, I watched her meet a tall, fair-skinned guy with cropped hair and his lip pierced. He had on a tight black T-shirt, skinny blue jeans, and his arms were toned, as if he worked out every day. He really was hot and now I can see why Gracey was so ready to be all over him.

I pulled my phone out to text Bryson immediately. I knew he was around because he’d told me that he was going to help set up the DJ stand. The guy hosting the party was Bryson’s best friend. Bryson was always at that exact mansion whenever he wanted to make an escape.

I waited ten minutes. I’d even grabbed a drink. But I didn’t get a text back. It wasn’t like Bryson to hold off on texting me—although lately he’d been drifting away from me more and more. Looking towards the spiral staircase, I figured that if he wasn’t downstairs, he was most likely upstairs with his best friend, Mark. I pushed through the thick sea of the crowd, passing by people with their plastic red cups in hand, until I was near the staircase. I hopped up the stairs quickly, stepping between the couples having make-out-sex until it was clear. The music had grown quieter up there but the bass was thumping against the soles of my feet. I passed by the first four rooms until I reached the last one. The last room was Mark’s room and if Bryson wasn’t in there, I didn’t know where the hell he could have been.