Graham (Scandalous Boys Book 2) (7 page)

She pulls me over to the far corner near the door and restrooms and snarls, “What is your problem?”

“You need to stay the hell away from him. Trust me on this.”

She eyes me up and laughs once. “Trust you? Are you kidding me? You tell me we should steer clear of each other. You kiss me in your room, push me away, and tell me to leave. Fine. I’m a big girl and can totally handle being rejected. What I can’t and most certainly will not handle is you parading around my place of work with your little skanky door prize.” She turns to leave, but I latch on to her wrist and tug her closer to me. “Let me go.”

“No.”

Her glare is set on me. “I don’t get this. Why are you doing this? A decent guy, who isn’t playing games with me, asks me out for freaking coffee, and you have to ruin it? Why? I didn’t stomp up to your date and start acting like a raving lunatic. Why aren’t you with her?”

“Oh, he’s playing you, all right. Do you know what he’s good for?”

She gives me a coy smile. “Sex?”

“Is that what you want? Someone to bend you over a table? Because we can arrange that.”

“That’s rich, coming from you. The same person who basically spat in my face when I threw myself at you the other day. Stay the hell out of my personal life. You’re no longer welcome near it.”

I don’t let her go even though she’s fighting to break free. I know it’s causing people to stare at us and possibly wonder if they should step in or call the cops. “What do you know about him, Sarah?”

“I don’t know much, but that’s the point of dates, right? To get to know the other person. So if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get back to Tucker.”

I shake my head. “Don’t go back to him. Not until I tell you why you need to stay the hell away from him.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Sarah, I’m not jealous. In a week, you’ll just be another number to him. Well, depending on how fast you give it up to him. He won’t call, probably won’t even remember your name. But you do whatever you want.”

“Good. Maybe I want that.”

I shake my head. “You know what? Go for it. He’s known for telling girls he’s sterile, by the way. When they end up pregnant, he claims they’re whores and it’s not his. One of the girls he got pregnant was Ginger Fields. You remember Ginger, right? You two hung out a lot in high school. He told Ginger he wasn’t raising some slut’s kid. Does that sound like someone who’s willing to do the whole wine-and-dine thing with anyone?”

Her eyes are wide. “Ginger? I thought she moved away.” She shakes her head. “Maybe you have him mistaken for someone else.”

“Pretty sure I don’t. His nickname from most of the females in this town is ‘Tucker the Fucker.’ Don’t believe me? Ask Madison what any girl from our school thinks about Mr. Tucker over there. In fact, he took Emily’s virginity. Want to know what he said to her?” She doesn’t respond. “He said she was just a thing to pass the time. The dude is a walking tool-bag.”

She looks back and then faces me again. “But he … ”

“Seems nice? Sure. Don’t they all?”

She glares at me. “It takes a player to know one.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit right now. I was the loyal one in our relationship.”

“Keep on opening up that wound,” Sarah growls. “If this is the only reason you came down here then I’m sorry you wasted your time. And shouldn’t you be getting back to your own date?”

“Jasmine decided to have a threesome with Justin and Alice, but none of that really matters.”

“Sarah?” Tucker calls as he walks toward us.

Her name coming from his mouth grates on my nerves. I grit my teeth. “Sarah, we need to go,” I insist.

She blinks. “Graham, I can handle this myself.”

“Look. Madison, will murder me if she finds out I let you go out with this tool. You don’t have your car here, do you?”

“No. But I can’t leave with you. Just go.” She starts to pull away and walk back to that piece of shit. But I won’t let her go back to him. I grab her wrist and yank her into my arms. She gasps and starts to say something, but I close my mouth around hers to silence her words.

“There you are,” I hear Tucker say. I smile against Sarah’s mouth. “What the fuck is going on here?” he snaps.

I believe the girl is moving on. Why don’t you do the same, fuckwad?

Sarah’s yanked away from me, but she doesn’t look happy about it. That, or she’s really pissed at me for kissing her. She narrows her eyes as her cheeks turn bright red. “This isn’t what it looks like,” she mutters.

“Oh yeah? ’Cause it looks like”—Tucker shoves my shoulder—“this asshole is here to win you back or something. What’s the matter, man? Did she tell you your dick wasn’t working for her and dumped you? You couldn’t fucking handle her being with a real man, huh? So you decided to come down here and steal her back. Is that it?” He shoves me again.

I’m already in a bad mood, and his pushing me around is making it worse. His insults shouldn’t matter. But they bring me back to high school, when Ryan said something similar. I knocked that punk out. I’m going to do the same to this jackass.

I swing a closed fist right into his jaw. He tries to take a swing at me but misses as I duck and jab him again, only this time, it hits him in the ribs. Tucker flinches, and Sarah screams, “Stop it! Oh my God, stop it, Graham!”

I should listen to her. This will get me in a lot of trouble. Tucker takes another swing at me, but this time he connects with my jaw. The sting from the contact flares across the left side of my face. I hit him again. I don’t wait for him to recover and keep hitting him. “You aren’t good enough for her! That’s why I’m down here, you piece of shit!”

Nails dig into my shoulders and yank me backward. I turn to give this person a smackdown for interrupting but lower my fist as soon as I see it’s Sarah.

She’s trembling, her wide eyes staring at me. I know this look—it’s fear. She’s terrified of me. Fuck!

It’s been years since I let myself get this way. My knuckles are sore, swollen, and the skin is raw. Madison and Bryce were the only two people who knew I could explode if pushed. Usually alcohol was involved, but in this case I can’t claim it as an excuse.

“Sarah,” I whisper.

She shakes her head. “Don’t. I’m going to help him first, and then we’re going to talk. Wait outside.”

“I called the cops. Are you okay?” Some short woman with an apron on approaches us. She looks Sarah over and then eyes me up with a scowl.

Sarah nods. “I’m fine. There was no need to do that. He’s leaving.”

The woman walks away, and Sarah snaps at me, “Just go, Graham.”

So I walk out to the parking lot and wait inside my car. Fifteen minutes later, Sarah walks out of the shop and slides into the passenger seat of my car. Her lips are in a grim line. I start up the engine, and instead of heading to her house, I drive over to mine.

When we pass the exit to her neighborhood, she grumbles, “Where the hell are you taking me?”

“To my place.”

“Why? I’m only in this car so you’ll drive me home. I don’t actually want to spend any more time with you. Not after you humiliated me, ruined my date, and for what, Graham? Because we both know I’m not what you want.”

I groan. “Don’t. Right now, I’m trying to drive. I will explain everything when we get to my house. No one is there, so if you want to yell at me or punch me or whatever, you can do that without being interrupted.”

“I’m not going to hit you,” she says in a low tone.

“Well, if you did want to, you could. I would never hit you back. I need you to know that. What I did to Tucker I will never ever do to you.”

She remains silent until I turn onto my street. When my house is in view, she says, “Why did you hit him like that? I thought you were going to kill him.”

“I don’t know. I just … I’m sorry, okay?”

“You scared me.”

They’re the words I never want to hear come from any girl’s mouth, let alone this girl’s. I have to face it though, head-on, and fix it.

Chapter Ten

Sarah

Graham pulls up to his house. I’ve got to be out of my mind to let him talk me into coming here with him.

I open the door and follow him inside the house. My arms are firmly tucked under one another as I plow my way into his living room and slam down into the couch. Graham glares at me while running his hands through his hair. He exhales loudly.

“We aren’t hanging out in my living room. Come up to my room. We’ve got to talk.”

That is the last place I’m going. “No. You want to talk? You can do it here.”

He paces in front of me. “Stop acting like a spoiled brat and just come up to my room. I’m not talking to you in here.”

“Well, I feel safer in here. At least I know you won’t string me along in this wide open room with no doors to shield your dick moves.”

He narrows his eyes a bit and snaps, “Fine. Christ! You win.” He has a seat in the leather recliner at the far end of the room. Good. I can’t stand having him so close to me. I don’t trust my body. My heart pitter-patters wildly, my palms sweat, and my senses are fully turned on by him.

He leans forward, propping his elbows on his thighs. “Listen … I’m sorry. It’s no secret I’m attracted to you, but I’m not going back down that road. Not with you. You lost your fucking chance as soon as you screwed around on me.”

I raise a brow. “I know. So don’t taunt me.”

“Taunt you? Taunt you! Sarah, you shouldn’t be here! All you talked about was seeing the fucking world and the last thing I expected was to find you here. You’re the only girl I’ve ever said I love you to, and seeing you, it’s like a kick in my balls!”

I stand up. “Oh, like this is a picnic for me? You’re supposed to be in a city hours away from me! I’m supposed to be only seeing you in my dreams, not everywhere!”

“What did you say?” He looks at me with wide eyes.

“N-nothing.”

He shakes his head and moves toward me. “No. You’re not doing this crap. Tell me what you said.” He grabs my hands and gazes into my eyes. “Tell me,” he pleads.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It might.”

I swallow. “I’m supposed to be only seeing you in my dreams, not everywhere.”

“So, you dreamt about me?”

I groan and pull away. He’s smirking. I swear he’s making fun of me. “Yes. Happy?” I snarl.

“A little. Answer me this, why did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Cheat on me, Sarah.”

I tear my gaze away from his face. “It doesn’t matter. It was stupid. I want to go home.”

“I’m not taking you home until you tell me.”

I stare at him. “Why? Why does this even matter?”

“I need to know!” He turns away from me.

“I’m screwed up,” I whisper. “My parents were headed to jail. I got stuck in this place, and my life, my friends were gone. And the last thing I expected was to fall for you. So I ruined us before my life could get worse. But that’s where I was wrong.”

He looks back at me. “What do you mean?”

“It felt like a terrible joke. All this bad shit was happening, and then there was you. Something to brace the fall. I couldn’t let you hurt me first, so I did it. It was stupid. It’ll be a big mistake that I’ll never be able to fix. Ever.” Tears slide down my cheeks.

He walks over to me, keeping a few inches between us, and says, “It never had to be like this.”

“I know that now.”

He nods. “I have to go get some things from my room. You can wait here.”

He disappears up the stairs while I just stand there in his living room.

Being in this house brings back memories. Lots of memories. Like the first time Graham pulled me into his house after school and kissed me senseless against this very wall that is right next to my shoulder. His hands fisted through my hair, and he bit my lip. I was breathless, and then we heard a loud clearing of a throat. We both turned our heads, and I blushed. His mother, who I’d never met until that moment, stood there, arms crossed and glaring at me.

“Hey. Sarah? Hey,” Graham says, shaking me from my trip down memory lane.

I blink. “Hi. What were you saying?”

“I was just calling your name. You looked a million miles away. Wanna come somewhere with me?”

I glance over at the clock and yawn. “Not exactly. I really want to go home and go to bed.”

“I can’t take you home yet.”

“Why?”

He glares at me and huffs. “Because guys like Tucker don’t take kindly to girls ditching them for another guy if they haven’t gotten what they wanted from the girl yet. You, my dear, are still prey to him. He could be waiting for me to take you to your car. Try to talk you into another date. And I can’t have that.”

I roll my eyes. “Graham, I’m tired. I don’t care at this point if he does end up following me to my house and murders me in my sleep. I’m really that exhausted.”

“Come on.” He grabs my hand and leads me up to his room.

I shake my head. “I’m not staying in here.”

“Yeah, you are. I promise everything will be fine.”

But how can he promise such a thing? Everything won’t be fine. My heart is not fine. My senses are not fine. My feelings for him are growing stronger, not dwindling away, so no, everything will not be fine. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

He groans and runs a hand through his hair. “This isn’t up for debate. I can’t take you back to your car and hope you make it to Mr. and Mrs. Issac’s house safely. I will go raving mad with worry, and then I’ll watch the house. The neighbors will call the cops, and I’ll be tossed in the slammer for stalking or something equally insane. All because you wouldn’t just take a nap in my room.”

“Don’t look at me like that.” His scowl disappears. “I can’t be in this room. I can’t be in this house. Graham, I don’t want to be here.” My shoulders sag, and tears gather at my lashes. I don’t want to cry in front of him, but I’m about to. “You were with another girl.”

“I was. I was with a lot of girls after you. I’m sure you were with—”

“No! Sure, I dated a couple here and there … ” Sobs rip through me. “But I didn’t let it go far. My focus is school. It’s the only way out of here and away from things that constantly remind me of what I’m not.”