Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (115 page)

She could feel him getting hard again after a few minutes of heated making out and knew it was time to go, or she was going to end up in his bed again and end up getting kicked out of school.  Though a glorious night of sex like they'd had earlier might almost be worth it she thought.

She shook her head as she got up and grabbed her purse and he said "What?"

"Nothing.  We've got to go.  I've still got that walk after you drop me off."

"There's supposed to be some back trail through the woods that would get you a lot closer.  We'll have to check it out sometime." He gave her a dirty grin. 

"I'm not going to bone you in the backseat of your car when you've got a perfectly good bed." 

"Doesn't it make you hot to think that some other voyeur could be watching us get it on?"

"No.  Get your damn shirt and shoes on so we can get the hell out of here."

"I thought you liked me better without it." He gave her a fake pout.

"I like you best with nothing on, but that's not the point.  That loopy bitch Marcune gets a hair up her ass sometimes and patrols the halls at night.  I really don't need to get on her bad side."

"Tease." He picked up a ragged t-shirt off of the floor and pulled it over his head. 

He slipped his feet into a pair of slippers and pulled her with him towards the door.  His car took three times to turn over before it would start.  When he pulled out of the driveway she heard a knock in the engine that she knew hadn't been there previously.

He turned down the dark road to the school.  "What else did you do to this damn thing?"

"Baby, I don't know.” His eyes turned dark as he cranked the window down and lit a cigarette.

They were both quiet as he drove, lost in their own thoughts.  He pulled over to the side of the road a few minutes later.  It was closer than he normally dared to take her.  The lights from the school were clearly visible up ahead. 

He leaned over to kiss her as she opened her door.  "You be careful, darlin."

"Always."

She put her arms around him.  She didn't want to leave him tonight she thought.  He made her feel safe and protected, wanted and special; something that she hadn't felt since she was a young child in her father's arms. 

And there was something in the air; almost a sense of foreboding, like something was going to happen and it wasn't going to be good.  She didn't want to lose him, not when she'd just gotten through the last few days of hell without him.  Maybe she did love him she thought.  Then shouldn't she tell him? 

"Tony I.  .  ."

He put a finger to her lips and shook his head.  "Shh Tor, it's okay.  You don't have to say it.  I know you're not ready.  Go home darlin’.  Get some sleep."

"Okay." She yawned.  "I can't come by tomorrow.  I've got a test to study for, but I'll come by on Saturday okay?" 

"I'll be waiting." He gave her his usual cocky grin. 

"Goodnight Tony.  Drive safe."

"Goodnight baby."

She turned to wave as he drove away, and then hurried in the chilly night air around to the back door of the school.  She breathed a sigh of relief as she shut the door to her room quietly behind her, glad that she'd made it.  But she was glad she’d left, glad that she reconciled with Tony.  Not to mention the sex she thought. 

She'd heard somewhere that really good looking men were supposed to be lousy in bed.  But that sure as hell wasn't true in Tony's case she thought.  Tony was gorgeous.  He was sex personified and he was going to spoil her in bed for any other man.  No man could stand up to Tony in bed.  If she could find one that did, she'd really never leave his bed. 

Pervert, she thought to herself, as she slipped into bed.  Then she thought I am so tired.  She was asleep within minutes. 

Chapter 9

Friday passed in a blur.  Late Saturday evening Tory sat on her bed, quiet tears rolling down her face.

She brushed back the tears, and wished she could have a cigarette.  She still had the pack in her purse.  It was over half full, but it wasn’t like she could crack a window and light up with everyone there.  No, what she really wanted was a joint she thought.  No, what she really wanted was Tony and that was the source of all of her troubles. 

Tony and that ass Jude she thought.  She wanted to break something. 

She hadn’t thought things could get any worse, and then they had.  There had been rumors going around that she’d slept with someone else and that someone was going to tell Tony. 

She now wondered if Jude had started the rumors and asked Molli to spread them.  It seemed pretty ironic that Molli remained oblivious of what had gone on between Tory and Jude, especially after what Jude had told Tony.  She sighed, and thought back to what had happened between her and Tony that evening. 

She had been on her way to Tony's house when her phone had rung.  She said hello.  Tony had responded but then he just sat there for a minute or more, not saying anything.  She had checked her phone to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.  When she’d put it back to her ear he was talking, but she soon found out that it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.  Jude had showed up at his house that day and bragged about how they’d slept together.  Tory had tried to explain to him, but that had just seemed to make it worse.  Tony had asked her how she could stand to look at herself in the mirror after he’d told her he loved her when she knew what she’d just done with Jude.  She’d started crying then and had blubbered like an idiot and told him that she loved him and that she was sorry and she’d do anything to be with him.  Tony had gotten quiet for a minute.  Then she’d heard him snort a line of coke.  He’d come back on the phone and told her that he didn’t think they should see each other anymore and hung up on her.

She’d been so upset that she’d thrown her phone on the side of the road and stepped on it over and over again.  That meant that she’d had to call Lindsey and give her some excuse about how
her phone had broken and ask for a new one.   But while a conversation with Lindsey was usually the crappiest part of her day, especially when she was asking for something, it hadn’t compared to what she’d went through with Tony.  Why was it that just when she realized she loved him, Jude had to step in and screw it all up she thought?  Not that it hadn’t been her fault as well for being so stupid as to sleep with him. 

She’d thought that she’d lost all of the pictures she’d taken of Tony when she’d smashed her phone.  But then she’d dug around in her drawer, thinking that she needed to do a little spying to take her mind off of everything.  She’d been going through her pictures trying to come up with a good target when she’d run across a picture of Tony.  He was shirtless and barefoot, standing in his front yard, drinking a beer and smoking a joint.  She wanted to laugh when she looked at the picture because he was so casual about smoking dope right in the open.  But instead it had almost made her start crying again and she felt like she hadn’t really stopped since she’d gotten back to her room. 

She took one last look at the picture of Tony that she'd sat on her desk and then turned it over with a sigh and returned it to the pile of pictures stashed in the back of her underwear drawer.  She slipped her feet into her shoes, dug a cigarette and lighter out of her purse and slipped out her door and down the hall, heading out to the woods to have her smoke. 

Chapter 10

The rest of the week passed uneventfully.

She spent the weekend in her room, existing on junk food and soda, wanting a cigarette but being too lazy to sneak out and have one.  For the first time in a long time she didn't want to know what she'd come upon in the woods.  She didn't give a shit who was screwing who, who was pregnant, who was snorting coke, and she sure as hell didn't want to run into Jude and Molli.

She wasn't sure she'd be able to stop herself from doing something stupid to both of them. 

Tory rolled over on her bed and wondered if she should call her dad.  It had been a while since she'd spoken to him.  It was good to hear his voice.  He was still her father, the only parent that gave a shit about her, though he'd certainly done a crappy job of showing it the last few years. 

But she didn't think she had a calling card with any minutes on it and without her cell phone.  .  .  She'd just have to wait the million years that it took her mom to send her a new phone.  She really missed Rebecca all of a sudden.  Maybe she would give her a call when she got her new phone, too.  They hadn't talked in a while.  Last she'd heard Rebecca had a hunk of a boyfriend, who had been accepted to some prestigious college, so Rebecca was working her butt off so that she could get into a college nearby to be with him. 

At least Rebecca had plans she thought, knew what she wanted to do with her life, even if it did seem to revolve around some guy.  But shit, who was she to talk?  Her plans had revolved around Jude hadn't they?  Wanting to get him out of this town, daydreams about gorgeous children running around, about her doing everything she could to be a better mother and wife than Lindsey ever had.  And then Tony.  What would a life with Tony be like she wondered? 

Would he be selling drugs while she was in school?  Would their kids be at day care while she worked and he sold meth to crazy tweakers?  Or would he give up his "business" if she got pregnant and work at a legitimate job? 

She couldn't imagine Tony as a pencil pusher, going to work in a suit and tie.  Then again she couldn't imagine him in a lame uniform working at a fast food joint either.  But she'd never know now would she she thought?

She figured it was better to leave it alone for the time being, let him cool down for a while.  Maybe give Carl a message to pass on to him about her phone being broke.  Give him a call when she got her new one, or maybe drop in on him before she left town for winter break.

It depressed her more worrying about Tony not wanting to see her.  Since it was Sunday afternoon she shut out her depressing thoughts by taking a nap. 

The next few weeks passed quickly.  She was surprised when her mom sent her phone express delivery and she received it less than a week after she'd broken her old one.  She'd spoken with her father briefly though it had been a rather disappointing conversation.  He could tell her that he loved her and missed her in his letters, but over the phone it was like he shut down emotionally.  She almost felt that it was painful for him to speak to his own daughter.

Now it was the 20th of December.  While all the other girls were getting ready to get the hell away from Crestview Academy for three weeks, she was dreading going home.  She'd just gotten off of the phone with Lindsey, telling her that she was going to stay at school another couple of days to catch up on studying so she didn't need to buy the bus ticket until Friday

What was she going to do now she thought?  She could probably call Jude, since Molli had left after lunch.  But she didn't feel that desperate.  And she was still apt to slug him after he'd told Tony that they'd slept together. 

What she was going to do was swallow her pride and give it one more try with Tony.  And if he rejected her again, then she really would be desperate she thought.  She didn't think that she could stand going home and putting up with Lindsey and Langston without having gotten laid first.

Her heart was beating fast as she headed out the door, brushing past girls that were lugging out bags like they were going home for three months instead of three weeks, when she just had her duffel bag and her purse.  She dialed Tony's number and wondered if it would be better if he did answer or didn't.

His cell number rang two times and then switched over to a message about the number being disconnected.  So he'd changed his number she thought. 

She thought that he still had a house phone, at least last she knew; though that was seemingly forever ago.  She found the number on a crumpled piece of paper in the bottom of her purse.

She stepped out onto the road, and seeing no cars in sight, she pulled out Tony's number and squinted at it, the light of her phone barely enough to make out the fading digits. 

She dialed slowly, walking and finishing her smoke.  It rang and rang at the other end.  At least it wasn't disconnected she thought. 

After at least fifteen rings, a voice said "Hello?"

"Tony?"  It almost didn't sound like him. 

"Tory?"

"Yeah Tony I.  .  ."

Then it sounded like he dropped the phone and it went dead.  She called again and got a busy signal.  He'd taken the phone off of the hook she thought.  He'd sounded strange on the phone though and she was a little worried.  What if something bad had happened to him?  If Tony was sick or hurt, she couldn't leave him there by himself.

The thought that he probably still had his cell phone and could dial 911 if he needed to briefly passed through her head but she brushed it away as she hurried towards his house.  By the time she got there she was running. 

His car was in the driveway.  It looked like he'd had another accident.  The damn thing was worthless now, probably wouldn't start she thought.  His front door was ajar, and the kitchen light was on.  She could see the light from his bedroom.  His house was in a state of total disarray; worse than the last time she'd seen it.

There were dirty dishes crusted with food piled in the sink.  The living room TV was frozen on a bloody scene in a video game, one of the controllers looked like someone had stepped on it, and there were porno mags sitting open on the couch. 

She heard a quiet moan from the bedroom and hurried towards the room, thinking that maybe Tony was hurt.  She peeked into the room cautiously, and saw that the moaning was coming from the TV.  He'd brought the TV in from the other room and there was a porno flick on the screen. 

"Tony.”

Other than the flicker of the TV the room was dark.  She flicked the light switch and nothing happened.  She looked towards the bed and saw Tony sitting up, not looking at her, not looking like he knew she was there.  Oh crap she thought what if he was dead?

She hurried towards the bathroom and turned the light on, leaving the door wide open so that she could get a better look at Tony.  "Tony," she said again. 

He grunted.  At least he was alive she thought.  His eyes had drifted closed by the time she reached him.  She shook him gently, then more firmly.  He looked up at her and blinked. 

"What?" His eyes closed again. 

"Tony are you okay?" 

He was naked, the bed sheets in a tangle on the floor, a fifth of whiskey half empty on the table, a cigarette smoldering in the overflowing ashtray, a used syringe on the nightstand.  She noticed the tourniquet still tied loosely around his arm.  She moved past him to extinguish the cigarette, and untied the tourniquet and tossed it aside.

She wanted to cry.  He'd lost weight, and she could see obvious needle marks on his arms.  His arm was bruised like he'd missed the vein a time or two.  He hadn't moved when she'd rid him of the tourniquet and now he was breathing heavily through his mouth, obviously asleep. 

She wanted to crawl into his lap and tell him how much she loved him.  Sex wasn't on her mind at the moment and normally she wouldn't be thinking of anything else with him nude before her.  She shook him again.  He looked up at her with suspicion in his eyes. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Tony, baby.”  Then she did crawl up onto his lap.  "Wake up honey.  Look at me.  I want to help you Tony.  I love you and I'm not going to let you do this to yourself.  I don't care if you hate me.  I'm going to get you help."

"How the fuck can you help me Tory?" His eyes were closed again.  But his arms had closed around her when she'd moved into them, almost as if by instinct.

"I'll do anything Tony, I swear.  I'll leave as soon as you get help if you want.  Or I'll stay with you.  C'mon babe wake up."

"I'm so tired Tory, just let me sleep."

"No honey.  You're scaring me and I don't know what to do with you.  You can't go to sleep on me now.  What if you don't wake up?"

"Don't be stupid Tory.  I'm fine."

She snuggled her head into his chest, torn.  What if he was right she thought?  She was no expert on drug use.  Should she let him sleep?  But no, she couldn't let him sleep until she knew he was okay.

"C'mon Tony, get up for a little while.  Let me make you some coffee while you take a shower."

He was breathing deeply and she could tell he was fully asleep again.  Damn she thought.  She shook him again, which had no effect.  Biting her lip, she went to the bathroom and ran a full glass of cold water.  She went back to the bed and dumped the whole thing slowly over his head. 

He sat up and blinked at her, looking like he wanted to kill her.  "What the fuck was that for?"

"I need you awake right now Tony."

"Ah hell.” He glared at her.  "I knew I should have started locking my door."

"Your front door wasn't even closed Tony."

"Damn it." He reached for a cigarette.  He found nothing but an empty pack and shook his head.  She reached into her purse and pulled her pack out, taking out two; lighting the first and giving it to him. 

"Thanks," he muttered, not looking at her. 

She sat down on the edge of the bed, lighting her cigarette, unsure of what she was going to say to him.  "I'm sorry for bursting in here, but I was worried about you.  When I called and you dropped the phone I was so afraid that something bad had happened."

"You called my cell?  I think I forgot to pay the bill."

"I called your house phone Tony.  Don't you remember?  You picked up the phone and then dropped it.  Then it was off the hook.  It was like half an hour; forty five minutes ago."

"No Tor." He rubbed a hand over his face.  "I don't remember."

"Let me make you some coffee.  You can take a shower and then we can go get something to eat.  My treat."

"I don't have any coffee."

"We'll go buy some, though it looks like we'll have to walk with the way your car looks."

"I don't want coffee Tory.  I just want to be left alone."

"No Tony.  You've been left alone and look where it's gotten you.  You look like you haven't eaten or slept in days.  Your house is a disaster zone.  Your car is sitting totaled in the driveway and your door was practically wide open.  Anyone could have come in here and you'd never have known until it was too late."

"I shut the damn door after Carl left.  He came over to borrow some rubbers."

"How long ago was that?" 

"I don't know.  Couple hours.  At least someone's getting laid.” He leaned over to put out his cigarette. 

"And you're sure that you shut the door all the way?"

"Yeah, pretty damn sure."

"So then someone could have been in here right?"

"What the hell do you think I've got to steal?  Some cheap electronics and my.  .  .  Oh shit."  He jumped up off of the bed.  "My drugs."

He rushed out of the room and then came back, fire in his eyes.  "They're gone, all fucking gone; besides my stash of weed under the mattress."

"Oh Tony."

She stepped to him and put her arms around him.  He held her for a minute and then pulled back.

"You still got your cell?  I know exactly who did this shit and he's gonna pay."

"Tony, no.  You can't beat this shit out of somebody for stealing drugs.  Even your uncle couldn't protect you for that one."

"Who said anything about just beating the guy?  It's not like I have anything that I need my freedom for." He scowled. 

"Calm down Tony.  We'll sit down together.  We'll think of a way to get back at the guy for robbing you that doesn't involve killing him.  And you've got plenty that you need your freedom for.  You've got your whole life ahead of you.  You don't want to spend your life wasting away in jail."

He was pacing.  She handed him another cigarette, thinking that it might calm him down.  He picked up the whiskey bottle and took a big drink.  "At least then I wouldn't be getting high, right?"

"Right."  Did he want her to agree with him she wondered?  "Why don't you break out the pot?  We'll smoke a bowl.  Then you can take a shower and we'll go get something to eat.  I'll buy.  My dad sent me some money.  I've got part of my allowance left over from my mom so we can go wherever you want, within walking distance of course."

"You can go get the weed.  It's under the air mattress in the other bedroom."

When she got back to the bedroom with the small baggie of weed he was still pacing, looking like he wanted to throttle someone.  She wondered why he hadn't gone out to the living room to use the house phone if he'd been so eager to call the guy.  But then decided he was still a little out of it; though at least he looked more awake.