Denial (42 page)

“Shit. You’re fucking high.”

“Whatever.”

He tries not to laugh and fails. “Well, since you can’t get too mad at me, I have a confession to make regarding your phone.”

“Tell me you didn’t crack the screen.”

“I did not break it. But I snooped through it.”

My mouth spreads into a wide grin. “Why did you do that?”

“I guess because I missed you a lot yesterday.” That insecure face of his is so frigging cute. But my melty response is distant. This sucks.

“Me too.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I almost knocked on your door a hundred times.”

“I would have opened it.”

“I know. That’s why I didn’t.”

“Maya, I am so sorry about what happened in that playroom.”

“Me too. I never would have asked you to do that.”

“It was my fault. I should have been absolutely clear on what you were thinking. I just didn’t want to hear you say it.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“How can you say that?”

“I would have left. I would have wanted to stay, but I would have actually walked out the door and we never would have seen each other again.”

“That probably would have been better, Maya. For you.”

“No, you’re wrong. He would have fed me some bullshit excuse and I probably would have ate it. But mainly, I would have missed out on this. On you.” I grab his hand and kiss his fingers. He looks at me sheepishly. “What?”

“I sort of… downloaded all of your pictures onto my notebook. And read all of your texts. Like, every single one of them.”

I can’t believe it, but I wouldn’t even be mad if I wasn’t doped up. “That’s pretty fucking cute, you know. Stalker-y, but cute.”

“Stalker-y, huh?”

“Yeah, and I’m swearing a lot more since I’ve been around you, too.”

“I did notice that.”

“And I should be mad, because I bet some of those pictures were very—”

“Yeah, they were.” He winks at me, a hint of my favorite cocky smile playing on his lips.  “And you didn’t send them to your boyfriend.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why were there so many pictures of you on your own phone? Some of them were too far away to be selfies.”

“
Piper
,” I whine. “She uses my phone constantly and is always taking pictures of me, especially when I’m drunk. And since I can get really hot when I drink, I’m also pretty naked. I practically never take pictures, I don’t even know what’s on there.”

“You should clean house.”

“Oh, my God.” I blush. “Weeks later, I’ll find one and yell at her, but that just eggs her on more. Shit, were there any videos?”

He frowns at me guiltily. “I’ll delete them, I promise. I just needed something to remember you by, in case you ran out of here screaming and I never saw you again.”

“You can keep them.”

“Why is she always using your phone? Why doesn’t she gather this incriminating evidence of your nudity and drunkenness on her own?”

“Because even though she
loves
them, she is super paranoid about smart phones, amongst many, many other things. The government tracks you by them or something.”

Surprisingly, he doesn’t laugh. “Really.” It wasn’t a question, and I can see the wheels turning. “Does
Luke know about this paranoia?”

“Yes. What are you thinking?”

“Nothing. Well, something, part of the plan. I’ll tell you eventually.”

“Okay, what the hell does my crazy best friend’s paranoia have to do with anything? I have to know.”

“Is it still considered paranoia if you’re right?”

“Oh, geez. Not you too.”

“Ok, not the government, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Actually, I should look into that.” He’s completely serious. I roll my eyes at him, then stiffen up. Shit. “Roll your eyes until you’re dizzy, Maya. It doesn’t offend me at all, and I’m never hitting you again.” Isaac leans forward and kisses me softly. “I’ll go get the phones.” He comes back with five, which he spreads out on the table, pushing mine towards me.

“No missed messages or calls?”

“Are you kidding? Your protective roommate has sent at least one hundred very amusing and colorful text messages since you’ve got here. I thought I had a bad mouth.”

“I would love to hear y’all have a conversation, I really would.”

Out of nowhere, he grabs the back of my head and kisses me, pushing his tongue into my mouth. It takes a second in my inebriated state to respond. By the time I do, he’s pulled away.

“I take it the drowsiness is finally setting in.”

“A little, I guess. Why?”

“That accent is
going to make my dick explode one day.”

My cheeks get hot and I stop scrolling through what I’ve missed on my phone. “Oh.”

He shakes his head, his hair flinging wildly until he takes a deep breath. “So I’ve seen those messages, and you’re seeing them now.”

“Okay…”

“And I’m 100% positive that Luke’s seen them all too.”

“God knows what she’s been saying to him. He’s probably blocked her by now.”

“That’s not what I mean. He’s been reading yours.”

“What?”

“He can read every message. He knows who is calling you and whether or not you answer, and if he wanted to, he could probably get a transcript of the conversation. He knows where this phone goes. And if you dial it, he will probably call you. Well, actually, maybe he wouldn’t because then you’d be suspicious. But he would know, and he’d call me or my father to see if anything has gone wrong over here. Or, worst case scenario, they’ll send someone to check on us.”

3
3

I am really glad I took that whatever the hell it was because he is totally serious. My hands still start shaking though. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How the hell can he do that?”

“He probably couldn’t on his own. But it’s one of the many services my father provides to his friends to manage their favorite toys.”

“How long has he been watching me like that?”

“I have no idea. Probably for as long as you’ve been with him.”

I’m
awake now, my pulse racing.
Oh shit. He knows.
“What about other means of surveillance?”

“I’ve checked this place for bugs and cameras the day before we got here, if that’s what you’re worried about. Very thoroughly. There weren’t any, as I expected.”

“You’re sure?”

“We would have known by now if there were, Maya. They would have come a long time ago.”

“Why didn’t you expect any surveillance?”

“Because my father knows that I check. I figured out he was taping me the third time I was training. I also found one in my bedroom at the house. It was one of the few times I’ve ever confronted him.”

“How did it go?”

“Better than I expected. I think he might have even been proud.”

“Proud?”

“Yeah. I must have used just the right amount of assertiveness without offending him. It’s a hard balance to strike. But it didn’t keep him from sending four guys to beat the fuck out of me a week later to remind me not to push him too far.” His demeanor changes instantly. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“How do you know your dad sent them? It could have been random.”

“They never touch the face.”

“So this has happened to you more than once?”

“Actually, no. But it’s a common tactic with these guys to chase off a guy they catch flirting with one of their girls, or if she’s seeing someone on the side, that sort of thing.”

I can’t believe I’m hearing this. “He’s going to kill me, isn’t he?”

“No.”

“So one day I’m just going to be attacked by a pack of goons that beat the shit out me and rape me then, huh?”

“That isn’t going to happen to you.”

“But you’ve seen it happen?”

“I’ve seen it not happen too. It’s complicated. Look, we’re getting ahead of ourselves on a very scary tangent. The point is, there are no cameras here. We came to an agreement, but I still check every time.”

“Piper found one in our living room about three months after I started dating Luke.”
Officially. And you keep too many secrets to know what happened before that.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, she has one of those scanners. We just figured it was her father.”

“Why would you have suspected her father?”

“He’s the District Attorney.”

Isaac’s mouth drops open before curling into a slight smile.
“Your roommate’s father is the District Attorney? Like,
the
District Attorney?”

“Yeah. And her mom’s a S
tate Senator. Drives her nuts.”

“Just how good of friends are you?”

“The best.”

“For how long?”

“Since fifth grade.”

His face fills with enthusiasm. “So that’s why she’s untouchable.”

“Untouchable?”

“Maya, this just got a whole lot easier.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ve been wondering why
Luke put up with her for so long.”

“Who? Piper?”

“Yeah. And there’s no fucking way he’d start monitoring her phone.”

“Hey.” I snap my fingers in front of his eyes. “I’m still kind of freaking out here.”

He snaps out of it and grabs my hands in his, kissing my fingers frantically. “Sorry. I’m a little scatterbrained at the moment.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Are you going to OD?”

“No. But I have before. I’d rather let you see me totally fall apart then pass out on you, Maya. I promise. Come here.”

A ragged sob escapes my throat as I climb into his lap and he folds me into his arms. “Isaac…”

“Don’t cry, baby,” he whispers into my ear, kissing the spot below it soothingly while he strokes my hairline. “It’s going to be okay.”

“How can you say that? He’s going to kill me.”

“There is no fucking way my father is going to let him. Not a chance in hell.”

“Because of Piper’s parents?”

“Yes. Her father is way more important to mine than Luke is. Exponentially more.”

“Really?”

“Oh, fuck yes. Your boyfriend isn’t that high on the totem pole. There’s no fucking way in hell he’ll risk exposing everything because of his broken heart and shattered pride.”

“What do you mean by exposing everything? And please stop calling him my boyfriend.”

“Sorry. I’ve had to remind myself of it constantly since you got here.”

“Exposing what, Isaac?” He’s still so out of it. I do not like this side of him at all.

“This isn’t some quaint underground BDSM club, Maya.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as a ‘quaint’ underground BDSM club.”

“Okay, most people wouldn’t use that term. But I’ve been to a few that are a fucking day at the beach compared to the shit that goes down in my house, let alone some of our clubs.”

“This is not very comforting, just so you know.”

“Shit. We don’t have to get into it.”

“You’re too fucking high, and I don’t like it.”

That crushed him. I can tell by his expression, I’ve never seen him so insecure. “My mix is off. I—” He gets up, turning away from me so I can’t see his face. “I thought this conversation was going to be a lot more stressful.”

His hands are so shaky. I walk over to him, but he shrugs me off. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“I didn’t think I’d disappoint you so soon. Are you going away?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Isaac,” I reassure him, weaseling my way into his arms. “And I’m not angry with you, I promise.” I take a deep breath as he relaxes a bit more. “This is going to wear off by morning and I’m still going to be here, I swear.”

Inhaling deeply, he lifts his face. I gasp when I see his eyes. They’re so wasted and terrified, but still impossibly beautiful. Overcome, I kiss his forehead, soothing his eyelids to shut so I can kiss those and the rest of his entire face twice over until I see just the hint of a smile on his lips and kiss those too.

“Actually,” he murmurs as we pull apart slowly. “I’ll be good in an hour or two. Though I’m probably going to crash before that.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Really, it is. I’m sorry I got pissed, you just weren’t responding to me and it was kind of scary.”

“I’m not like this very much. I usually just take enough to feel normal, not high. It won’t happen… well I can’t say again, but not very often.”

“I’d like that, but I’ll make an exception in my zero tolerance policy in your case, okay?”