Following Me (23 page)

Devon knew that look anywhere. 
She was lying.  Everyone was lying to her.  It was only fitting, considering
she was lying to everyone else, too.

“Hadley, come on.  I know you too
well.  What happened?” Devon prodded.  She took a chance and reached out to
touch Hadley’s hand.

Hadley flinched but let her take
it.

“You can tell me what happened.”

“I wasn’t in a good place the
night it happened.  I was trying to stay off of it for the show.  It was…bad. 
Then, he kept acting so funny, and he made some fucking cocky remark.  I
freaked out and started yelling at him.  I don’t know, Dev.”  She stared at the
ground with an expression on her face like she did know.  “I think he might be
cheating on me.”

Devon stared at her with her
mouth hanging open. 
Garrett?  Cheating on her?  No. 
That didn’t make
any sense.  That just didn’t add up. 
When would he have time to do that? 
He
worked all day when he didn’t live in the gym.  His body was a testament to his
dedication in that area.  The only other time he was awake and not with Hadley
was when he was goofing off with Devon late at night.

Also, how could Hadley even
freak about him doing something like that when she was doing drugs and hiding
it from him?  Okay.
  Devon would give Hadley some credit.  Devon would
freak about that too, but it was kind of hypocritical, not that she would ever
say as much to Hadley, who looked devastated.

“Oh, Hadley, no way.  How could
you think that?  He’s so into you,” Devon said.

Hadley shrugged.  “I told you. 
He’s been acting so weird.  I thought he was just as into me as you said, but
lately, he hasn’t wanted to come to bed with me.  I mean…fuck, we haven’t had
sex in two weeks. 
Two weeks!
  We used to not be able to go two days!”

Devon didn’t want to think about
Hadley’s sex life right now.  Hers was nonexistent at the moment.

“You guys have both been under a
lot of stress.  I’m sure it’s all just a misunderstanding,” Devon said, trying
to reassure her friend.

“If you knew anything, Dev, you
would tell me, right?” Hadley asked, staring at her straight in the eye.

“Of course!” Devon said
automatically.

Hadley looked at her for a second
before nodding and looking away.

“Maybe you’re right,” Hadley said
finally with a heavy sigh.  “I have this Fourth of July dinner with Garrett and
his family tonight.  I was freaking out about it.  I even considered
canceling.  I don’t know.  His family is even weirder around me.  I wish you
could come with,” she said impulsively.

“I have to work,” Devon said,
wanting to be as far away from that get-together as possible.  After a day like
today, she would prefer to be in bed before the fireworks.

“You think it’ll all be fine?”
Hadley asked.

“Just be yourself.  How could
they not love you?”

“You’re right,” she said, regaining
the strength that Devon had always loved about her.

“But I wouldn’t…use anything
before you go,” Devon cautioned.

Hadley shook her head.  “I
wouldn’t.”

Devon really wanted to believe
her.

SWEAT BEADED ON Devon’s temple, and
she wiped it off her forehead and out of her eyes.  The party had been going on
all night, and it was nice to loosen up and get lost in the music and dancing. 
She hadn’t partied in so long, and she couldn’t resist when Amy had actually
invited her out.  Either Amy was getting over her hatred for the new girl, or
Devon had just been there long enough that she wasn’t considered the new girl
any longer.

People were packed into the club,
shoulder-to-shoulder, many even closer than that.  The music was earsplitting
while the crazy lights traversed the warehouse-sized room before they
alternated to strobe lights.  Everything began moving in slow motion.  She
hadn’t had much to drink, but she was dizzy from dehydration and the energy in
the room.  Her tank top was sticking to her back, and she had long since pulled
her hair up off of her neck into a ponytail.

God, I need another drink,
she
thought.

Her eyes moving around the room,
she took in as much as she could from her vantage point, but it only ended up
being the two feet circling her.  Amy had to be somewhere inside the building. 
How had she lost track of her?

Well, she knew how.  There were
too many damn people in the place.  It was easy to lose one person, especially
when that person was as short as Amy.  Still, Devon should have been better at
keeping track of Amy.  Devon didn’t like being alone in dark places.  Whether
she was surrounded by people or in a back alleyway at night, she was still
alone.

She craned her head to look for
Amy, but she was having no luck.  It felt like more and more people were being
crushed into the space. 
How was this in line with the fire code?
 
Surely, the place would be shutdown soon.

Walking in the direction of the
bar, Devon tried to find Amy in the crowd.  Seriously, it was getting harder and
harder to maneuver through the room, and she had to elbow people out of the
way. 
This wasn’t okay, and it wasn’t fun.
  They shouldn’t let any more
people in.  Things could get out of control.

Devon looked up over the heads of
people in front of her and sighed.  It felt like she was never going to reach
the bar.  There was a huge line anyway.  She thought maybe the restroom would
be a better alternative.  At least there, she would have some privacy.

She turned to walk the other
direction and slammed right into a meaty guy who glared at her as she lost her
balance and tumbled to the floor.  Someone stepped on her hand as she tried to
get up.  Devon swore and hissed, pulling her hand away from the ground so no
one else could do the same thing.  She stood as best as she could, cradling her
aching hand.  Pushing through people with one hand pressed between her breasts
to keep someone else from smashing into it wasn’t easy.  All it did was cause
people to unknowingly smash into other parts of her.  She hadn’t made it more
than a few feet toward the restroom, and she had already been elbowed in the
arm, gotten her foot stepped on, and been drunkenly body slammed, knocking the
breath out of her.  The club was getting dangerous.

As a space opened in the crowd,
she took advantage, rushing forward through the throng of people.  It got her
closer to the restroom but not close enough.

Then, she felt it—eyes on the
back of her head.  She didn’t even know how it was possible.  Hundreds of
people were in the place.  No one could be focusing that intently on her, but
she could
swear
that someone was watching her.  The feeling crept up her
spine, forcing her to move faster.  She didn’t know where Amy was, but getting
away from this place felt like it made more sense than looking around for her.

Finally bursting off the dance
floor, she rushed past the huge line of people waiting for the restroom.  They
all cussed at her as she passed them by and walked to the front.

“Just checking my hair.”  Devon
looked over her shoulder and rushed into the restroom before someone could say
anything further.

As soon as she walked through the
doors, she felt water underneath her heels.  As she slid across the floor, she
tried to right her balance, but instead, she crashed down on her hands and knees. 
Devon cried out as pain shot up her arms and legs.  Shock hit her like a tidal
wave.  Her right knee had taken most of the impact, and it was on fire.  She
was sure that she had broken the skin.  Tears rushed to her eyes as the pain
hit her full-on.

How can I be so clumsy?
she wondered.

Devon wondered if anyone would
help her.  She wasn’t sure if she could stand by herself.  When she dragged her
eyes up from the floor, she noticed that she wasn’t in the restroom of the
club.  She was in a beautiful all white bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and a
walk-in shower.  Her heart raced as she took in her surroundings.

“Aww, what did you do to
yourself?” the all-too-familiar voice asked.

Her body rattled, Devon slowly
stood, using the bathtub as leverage to hoist her up.  She felt the blood from
her knee trickle down her leg, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. 
Without another thought, she sprinted as fast as she could toward her pursuer.

He chuckled and moved out of the
way.  Then, he approached her and pushed her back with just enough force to
send her stumbling toward the snowy white bed.  She could have avoided the bed
if he hadn’t been at her side.  He grasped her wrist, swung her arm behind her
back, and pushed her into the bedspread.

She tried to scream through her
tears as he all but pulled her arm out of its socket.  The pain in her shoulder
was so blinding that she bent easily at the waist, forgetting about her hurt
knees.

“Let go.  Let go.  Let go,” she
muttered, trying to ease the pain off her shoulder.  “Please.  Let go.”

“Isn’t this what you want?” the
voice asked.

With a chill running through her,
she softly said, “Please let go.” She didn’t even know if he could hear her.

A hand came up and fisted in her
ponytail, yanking her head back roughly. As he pulled her off the bed by her
hair, she squeaked as he tugged some of the strands out.  He released some of
the tension on her shoulder, but he tightened his grip on her wrist.  She was
already starting to lose blood circulation in her fingers.

He brought her head back toward
him but kept her facing the wall.  He whispered in her ear, “You don’t really
want me to let go.  Do you?”  His voice was gruff but seductive.

She felt some her shoulders
loosen, but her heart was still racing.

“I don’t want to let go, so I
don’t see how you would want me to.”

Devon trembled in his twisted
embrace.  She tried to clear her mind.  She needed to go blank.  She needed to
forget since she couldn’t stop it or fix it.

This is my fault.  Why did I
think I could run away?  I brought this on myself,
she thought.

He lifted
her skirt and pushed her back over the bed.

DEVON AWOKE WITH a start as someone
shook her shoulder.

“Dev, wake up,” Garrett said,
shaking her again.

“I’m awake,” she said hoarsely.

She was having a hard time
thinking or even breathing right now.  Garrett was hovering over her bed, and
he reeked of alcohol.  She was glad he had awoken her, but after that dream,
the smell of alcohol was the last thing she wanted to wake up to.  The
nightmares had never gotten that far before. As the reality of what had
happened sank into her, she realized she had always woken up terrified before,
but now, she wasn’t sweaty or crying or shaky.  She felt numb.  This whole
time, she had been letting her walls crumble all around her, but with the
memories of that dream, she had tightly locked it all up again.

“Have you been drinking?” she
asked just so he would stop staring at her in the darkness.  She needed to
compose herself.