Hidden Barriers (21 page)

Lucy stops chopping her peppers and drops the knife onto the hard granite. “Damn it, Sam! Please don’t tell us you’ve already fucked this up with him.”

I quickly walk over beside her and run my hands through her ponytail. “Calm down, Luce. We had a little issue earlier today, but I promise we’ll work on it.”

Lucy turns to face me, giving me a narrowed eye, unsure of whether or not to believe me. “You better be telling me the truth, because if I find out you’re lying, I will hurt you.”

I laugh in her face, thinking there isn’t any way she could possibly hurt me on or off the track. “And how, may I ask, do you think
you
could hurt me?” I question as I grab a pepper slice from the cutting board, popping it into my mouth.

A sly smile spreads across her face as she responds, “Oh, you know, I’ll just make that banana crème pie Kim bought for you today disappear.”

My eyes enlarge in horror at the thought. “You wouldn’t dare!” I exclaim.

Lucy’s evil grin curls more upward before she says, “I would dare, so I better be seeing more of Mr. Police Officer or a lot of your sweets may go missing.”

My phone chimes from my bag as I walk backward to grab it. “You are evil, Lucy. Pure evil!” Grabbing my phone from the side pocket, I glance at the screen to see a text from Drew.
My face instantly pales as the words sink in immediately.

Stone’s parole hearing was bumped up to next Tuesday. Call me if you need me at all.
Love you.

My legs give out from underneath me as I sink to the floor. My eyes remain fixed on the screen as the words continue to repeat through my mind.

Bumped up.

How is that possible? Arms quickly wrap around me as I stare at nothing. The girls are saying something, but I don’t hear them. Someone grabs my phone from my clenched hands, and I see Lucy moving about in the kitchen, but I’m still not listening to anyone or anything.

Next Tuesday.

He can be on the streets again next Tuesday, and there is still the smallest of chances he will be looking for revenge on me. After next Tuesday, if he is released, what am I going to do to make sure I never run into him again? The fear of the unknown causes my body to tremble in fear.

I have no idea how, but Josh’s voice invades my thoughts from the other night in my bedroom, and I feel myself calm just thinking about him. Before I know it, I’m in my bed with Rose stroking my hair while Lucy is on the phone with someone in the hall. My eyes grow heavy, as Josh’s face is the last vision I see before falling asleep.

I pull my car into her driveway, noticing the lights on in the house and an unfamiliar car parked outside. I don’t give it a second thought, because honestly, I just don’t give a rat’s ass. She needs to understand what we had before is over, done, finished.

Turning off my Jeep, I get out and briskly take the steps to reach her front door. Ringing the doorbell at least ten times, I see a flurry of activity through the frosted glass of the door and her voice coursing through the air. “I’m coming! I’m coming!” she wails while moving quickly until I know she’s at the door. She pulls the door wide open in a hurry, and her face immediately stills at my presence.

She stands there, wrapped in a bed sheet, clearly naked underneath. Her hair screams
I just got fucked
. “Josh, what are you doing here?” she questions as I make my way into her foyer. “Oh, I don’t know, Tarryn. From the looks of you, I should be asking you how many other guys you’ve been fucking on top of just me, but I couldn’t care less about that right now.”

“Josh.” She shuts the door and moves closer to me as she adjusts her sheet so her tits are propped up for my viewing. “You know you can’t just stop in whenever you feel like it. You never responded to my text. I figured you blew me off again, so I called someone else to come over. I’m sure he’d be willing to share or join in, if you want him to. I’m always up for adding some new kink to the bedroom.”

“Enough, Tarryn!” I roar as my voice echoes throughout the cathedral ceiling. “What part of ‘we’re done’ didn’t you understand days ago?” I continue as my pulse races, and my tone deepens. “I told you to never text me again, that I’ve moved on. Then, today you send me another text and that picture on my phone. Never again! You got that, Tarryn? From here on out, you’re blocked from my phone. I’ve found someone else, and from the looks of it, so have you.” I laugh with an edge as I glare at her.

Movement at the top of the staircase withdraws my attention from the conversation with Tarryn. A man stands there wearing only his boxer briefs, leaning against the wall with his shoulder. “Everything okay down there, Tarryn?” he asks.

Tarryn turns to look up at him. “Yeah, Luke, everything is fine. I’ll be back up in a minute,” she answers.

Luke moves slightly before gesturing his pointed hand toward me. “He’s not joining us, is he? I mean, I’m all about trying new things, but
that
, is not going to happen, Tarryn.”

Staring back up at the guy, I say, “Don’t worry, dude. I’m just leaving. She’s all yours.” I turn back to Tarryn, pointing a finger at her. “You don’t
ever
attempt to get in touch with me again. Do you understand? I’m not coming back here, so you better go play nice with your little friend upstairs ‘cuz this ship has sailed.” Walking to the front door, I hear Tarryn clear her throat just as my hand is on the handle.

“I hope she’s worth it, Josh.”

I turn my head slightly in her direction. With scorn laced in my tone, I reply, “She’s worth more than you and your house full of money and pretentious life any day of the week.”

I hear her gasp at my insult, but never turn back to look at her face before shutting the door behind me and getting into my Jeep to return home.

For the most part, the drive back home is quiet. I have a missed call from Courtney that is rather vague. Something about thanking her later, but for whatever reason, I have no idea. I continue to drive around town for a while just to clear my head and try to think of the best way to
fix the mess I’ve created with Sam.

Nothing I’ve been thinking will be enough to make her forgive me. I wanted to call her almost immediately after getting back into my Jeep after leaving Tarryn’s, but I knew in my heart she wouldn’t want to talk to me.

As I’m about to pull onto Main Street in downtown, my phone lights up, and Sam’s name flashes across the screen. My eyes narrow, thinking I must be seeing things. I never would have assumed Sam would be the one to call me, not after this afternoon.

After sliding my finger across the screen, I place the phone to my ear. “Hey, Sam,” I answer, not knowing quite what else to say.

An unfamiliar voice comes over the line. “Josh, it’s Lucy. Listen, I think Sam might really need you, and with her brother too far away right now, you’re the only one who knows what she’s been through with Stone. Can you come by the house right now?”

“Lucy, what happened? Is she hurt?” I stammer, not allowing her time to respond. “Fuck. Lucy, hang tight. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, okay?” I’m pretty sure I hung up on the poor girl, but at this point, I don’t care. I punch the Jeep into gear and fly in the opposite direction I was heading simply because Sam needs me.

I dream that Stone finds me. Out of the blue, he’s here. His piercing eyes stare back at me as he slithers to me like a snake. My body can’t move. I keep trying to move my legs, but they won’t budge. In a flash, he’s beside me, and I scream. I scream as if my life depends on it, but nobody is here to help me. Stone breaks out into a cold laugh as his hands creep back to my neck. “I came back to finish what I started.”

My breathing escalates, and my arms flail. I’m suddenly immersed into a full-blown panic attack until a soothing voice filters through my dream. “Sam, wake up. It’s just a dream. C’mon, Sam. Wake up.”

Josh?

All of a sudden Stone disappears from in front of me, and the voice keeps calling for me to wake up. My eyes flutter open, and I’m back in my darkened room with only the table lamp glowing. Then, my eyes focus on the man hunched over my bedside. His voice is what brought me out of my nightmare. He reaches out to gently push a stray hair from my face. “There she is. I was wondering when you’d wake up.”

My eyes blink rapidly as I realize in that moment, I need him in my life more than I ever knew. He was here when I needed him the most. How could I have ever pushed him away so quickly? I was too quick to judge before I knew all the answers. “Josh? You’re here?” I ask, slowly sitting up in my bed.

“Yeah, sugar, I’m here, and I’m not leaving until I know you’re all right,” he replies as he lowers himself to sit on the edge of my bed.
“Why are you here? I mean, how did you find out?” I question, knowing I haven’t talked to him since he left Vines.

“Lucy called me a while ago. I came as soon as I heard,” he says as he pulls his gaze away from me, resting his elbows on his legs and bowing his head. Rubbing his hands over his face before he turns slightly, he still doesn’t look at me. “Sam, about earlier. You have to know I never meant for you to find out that way. I know I should have told you about Tarryn beforehand, but I wasn’t thinking. You just—you mean so much to me, and I couldn’t ruin what we had.”

“Josh…” I start to tell him about Courtney explaining everything, but he reaches out to grab my hand, stopping me before I can continue.

“Sam, please let me get this out before you say anything more. I know I screwed up, and I know I handled this whole thing with Tarryn the wrong way. But, after tonight, I promise you she won’t be a problem for us anymore.”

“What did you do Josh?” I curiously ask.

“I just came from her house after setting things straight. I promise she’ll never call, text, or do anything after tonight. I told her I found someone else who means more to me than anyone I’ve ever met, and I wasn’t about to have her around to screw it up again. What you and I had meant more than a couple of nights with her. Shit, that is so clear to me now that I can’t believe I screwed up what we had.”

I lean forward to move closer to him. His head moves to watch me attentively. Resting my hand on his, I say, “What we
have
.”

“What?” he questions, not understanding the meaning behind my words.