Pieces Of You & Me (13 page)

Sure my ensemble wasn’t screaming party mode, but I didn’t look like a bum either. I wanted to recoil and hide from the way she was scrutinizing me, but heck, I didn’t let that happen. No one was going to make me feel like a heel, even if she was looking like a lingerie model.

“Is Greyson Edwards available?” Finally, my voice resurfaced.

She smirked before pulling a cigarette out of nowhere and lighting it before me. “What if I told you that he’s busy looking for the Holy Grail in his bedroom, would you believe me?”

She was definitely fucking with my brain.

“He’s with Cheska.” She glanced behind her back towards the door before eyeing me up again. “You can check them out. I’m sure you’d be more than welcome to join them.” Her eyes gleamed. “Greyson, you have a little girl looking for you,” she yelled without breaking eye contact with me.

Little girl? She was fucking calling me a little girl? Infuriating bitch! I was about to snap out of my shell and call her names when the door was yanked open and Greyson, with smudged lipstick all over his lips and neck, scratch marks on his chest, donning his unbuttoned jeans and glazed eyes, emerged.

It didn’t take a moment to sink in that the woman hadn’t been lying when she’d informed me that Greyson was more than busy earlier.

“Olivia,” was all he said.

He didn’t look surprised, shocked
nor embarrassed. He looked like he wanted to head back inside the room again.

Why wasn’t he reacting? One month ago, he had been all over me, yet now, he wouldn’t even spare me a second.

I ignored the nameless woman who was sucking her cigarette like it was the best tasting thing on earth and focused on what I had come here for. “Grey, I was hoping we could talk.”

“Olivia…”

He sounded like he was running out of patience, but I just couldn’t give up yet. Not yet. “Give me time—just this once. I won’t ask again.” I sounded like a whiny child, but I didn’t care. This was the only way I could get his attention—seeking him out, going out of my way to find him—and if this didn’t work, at least I could wipe my conscience of any doubt.

He studied me awhile, eyes burning deep gold as he bided time. The woman next to him made a noise, but I didn’t break my stare from him. I needed to connect with him somehow, and he looked like he was weighing things.

Finally, when I was about to crumble, he didn’t look away as he addressed the woman next to him. “Go inside. I have to talk to her.” She glanced at Grey then back at me before making a hideous snorting sound and walking off, slamming the door in her wake.

“You want to talk,” he started, his voice vibrated through me as if he was close, whispering the words into my ear, but he hadn’t moved closer to me at all, “here’s your chance.”

Why was I so nervous? And where the fuck was my voice? Even though he was covered with lipstick stains and scratch marks, his presence still affected me greatly. I felt sad… and I badly wanted to reach out to him in an attempt to explain things, although I knew it wouldn’t be of any use. We both had moved on after all.

Curling a strand of my hair to the back of my ear, I searched his eyes, hoping I’d find the strength in there to keep on going. When his eyes kept growing dark, as if he was getting angry, I gathered my wits and found my voice.

“You’ve been missing school and you haven’t been home. I’m worried about you.”

His nose flared, eyeing me like an enemy. “I don’t want your worry—or your pity. Look around you, can’t you see I’m happy?”

No, the last thing he looked like was happy. My heart reached out to him.

Slowly I moved as close as I could get to him. “I’m concerned. Why are you doing this?”

“I’m fine, Olivia. Look at me; don’t I look fine to you?” His tone held sarcasm.

He looked more than fine, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. Obviously this effort had been pointless. What had I expected? Really? After how I’d shut him off, had I expected that he’d roll out the red carpet?

Sighing, I felt the heavy weight on my shoulders. I had wasted time for nothing. “You’re right. You’re okay. Sorry that I even bothered and interrupted your busy evening.”

I spun around, almost running to the door, holding my breath until I was safely out of sight. Maintaining myself long enough not to cry was becoming increasingly more difficult by the second.

If I broke down now, I had no one to blame except me. Besides, why did I feel the urge to cry? It wasn’t as if I was in love with Greyson. I wasn’t, yet the sadness that consumed me was crippling.

What was going on
? I was asking myself the very question when Jet found me again, blinded with tears.

“Hey.” He pulled me against him. “Hey… it’s okay. Breathe,” he coached as I tried to keep my tears at bay. If they fell, I wouldn’t ever forgive myself for crying in the arms of Greyson’s best friend. “You’re safe.” He soothed my back. “Let it all out.”

That was all it took; I crumbled, as much as I didn’t want to. The second I heard his understanding, friendly voice, I was a goner.

Jet led us into his bedroom as I let my frustrations out.

The thing was, however, that one tear wasn’t enough.

I was crying a fucking river.

Chapter 23

Liv

A loud thud, a man yelling, and something being smashed was how I woke up.

I was beyond startled, scrambling out of bed as I attempted to make sense of everything that was happening.

Greyson had pinned Jet against the wall and was choking him with both of his hands, screaming in his face. “You fucking piece of shit! I should’ve known!”

Jet wasn’t fighting for himself, either. Why the fuck wasn’t he fighting him off? He could die… Grey’s hold on his neck looked like he was about to kill him.

“Please, stop,” I squeaked as I ran towards them, hoping to break them apart, but Greyson wasn’t paying attention to me. I had to punch and kick him before I finally got his attention.

And when I did… I wished I hadn’t. Because not only was he looking at me with hate, but he was also looking at me with pure disdain, like I was the worst thing that he’d ever seen.

“
You fucking slept with my best friend!
You fucking slut!” he hissed at me, fuming. His eyes looked wild, as if he was ready to choke the life out of me, too.

I flinched as if he had slapped me. I had been sober last night. Nothing had happened between Jet and I. “Nothing happened, Grey. I swear.”

My glance shifted to Jet, hoping he’d back me up, but he was still staring at Grey, looking at him in a different light. “I thought you said you didn’t care about her; that what she does is none of your business.”

What the hell? Why wasn’t he helping? He was making the situation worse.

I yelped as if in pain, “Nothing happened. We were just talking—”

“Get your shit; I’m taking you home,” he addressed me before glancing back at Jet, still infuriated. “You and I aren’t fucking done. We’ll settle this later today,” he said through gritted teeth.

I barely managed to get my purse before he swiped me off the floor and carried me out of there. “Put me down! I need my shoes.” I was trying to kick him, but he held my legs with a tight hold. The more I tried to wiggle out of his hold, the more he grunted.

“Try to move one more time and I swear to God I will bend you over and spank you until your ass is red,” he threatened as we moved past the garden.

He wasn’t joking, and much to my embarrassment, I kept still, knowing that he was just as angry as I was.

After last night, I had vowed to never think of him, yet that was becoming difficult since the man in question was holding me tight with my tiny, jean-clad ass inches away from his face.

Once we arrived at Jet’s now-empty driveway, he reached in his pocket and deactivated his car alarm before dumping me on the passenger seat. He even made sure I was buckled securely before going over to his side of the car.

Without glancing at me, he revved up the engine. If three minutes had been my mark from the house to Jet’s, Greyson made it in over one and a half minutes. The guy was a maniac in the street.

It was a Saturday, so both of our parents were home, however it didn’t faze him because the second he parked the car; he was slinging me over his shoulder again and making his way towards his pool house.

It wasn’t until we reached his place, with me sitting on the couch—still barefoot, mind you—when he finally looked at me…
really
looked at me like he used to.

“Tell me, how the fuck did you end up in my best friend’s bed?”

Okay, he was still fuming, I understood that. I mean, if I had found Liam or him in Josie’s bed, I would flip the switch, too. There was something about his tone, though, that made me somehow think that he was jealous of finding me in Jet’s bed.

“We talked; that’s all.”

I looked away, blushing. The bad ideas that my thoughts conjured up to get a reaction from him were truly awful, but I admitted, I liked getting his undivided attention. Even if he was addressing me with hate-filled eyes, I still had gotten his attention.

Was I becoming pathetic? Double check.

“You’re lying. You’re turning pink.” He crouched down, cupping my chin with his hand, maneuvering it to meet his turbulent eyes. “Tell me the truth. Did you fuck him last night?”

Why did it matter? I was sure he and Jet had shared women. From what I’d heard, that was a common occurrence. Why was I any different?

“And if I tell you I did, what would you do?”

“Don’t lie to me,” he gritted out.
His face was so close, I could almost kiss him.

Staring at his lips, I was almost tempted. “I didn’t. Happy?” I broke our contact, feeling dumbfounded from all these conflicting emotions that were going through me. Liam, then Grey, Liam again, and now, Grey was taking hold of my thoughts.

I was, in short, going out of my mind.

He didn’t respond, so I managed to stand on my feet, hoping to end this madness with him. I didn’t understand him… me… us… it was too much.

“Olivia?” he called after me.

I spun on my heels, meeting his gaze.

“Thank you for not sleeping with him. You can do the rest, but not my best friend.”

Ouch.
It would have been better if he had slapped me. At least I could have felt the sting and reel from it.

“I’ll make sure to try.” Without another word, I gave him a sour smile and walked out of there.

I was grateful that I didn’t have to run into Mom or Brett on my way back to the main house. My stomach was churning, so for the rest of the afternoon, I stayed in bed, ignoring the rest of the world.

I needed to de-stress and the only way I knew how, was to read a great novel, get lost in it and wish that life wasn’t so difficult.

Greyson had turned my world upside down. The question was, would I keep letting him rule it?

***

I avoided the party scene for two weeks. Since Josie and Gavin were progressing steadily, I didn’t feel the need to show my face in the party crowd. Besides, after that incident with Jet and Greyson, I made sure not to stir the pot between friends again.

The two looked like they were on good terms. Jet had tried to speak to me at one point, but I assured him that everything was fine and he had nothing to worry about. As for Greyson, he sure was looking happy. The rumor mill was busy spewing news about his exploits.

One that had really caught my attention was when he was chased down by a cop while racing in the canyons, but for some lucky reason, Grey managed to lose him. It had been one lucky strike if you ask me.

He was still the same. He liked to provoke danger and he was managing quite well in that sector, while my quiet life was suiting me fine. The only light I had was talking to Liam on a daily basis. Other than that, everything about my life was becoming boring.

Grey and I hadn’t managed to speak to each other after that day in his pool house; well, privately anyway. He was civil towards me when our parents were around, but if he could ignore me, he would.

Well, of course, it was only a matter of time until someone broke the quiet stillness of my life.

“Please say you’ll come? My parents won’t let me go unless I tell them you’re there, too,” Josie begged. We were in my bedroom when she’d announced that the gang was planning a weekend trip in Big Bear.

“I’m not sure if I should…” I didn’t want to interfere, most especially since Grey and Jet were going to be there as well.

Josie looked desperate. I was sure since things were going so well with Gavin that she wanted some alone time with him.

“Olivia, come on, girl—you need to have fun. You’ve been hiding for—”

I held up my hand, not willing to hear her spiel on my current situation. Guilt trip much? It worked in her favor. “Fine. Fine. Count me in.”

“You’re the best.” She squeezed the living crap out of me, kissing my face with her heavily coated lip glossed lips.

What were friends for anyway?

“We share a room. Take it or leave it.” That was the only thing I was worried about. I didn’t want to share a room with a random person.

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

There were only three more days until Big Bear weekend happened. Here was to hoping that everything would be smooth sailing.