Snake Eyes (The Masks Series Book 3) (17 page)

I don’t understand why you tried to break up with me last night, but we have to talk about this. I’m waiting outside your dorm and I’m not leaving.

I did what?

“Oh, shit.”

I started to hyperventilate as patchy memories from the previous night flashed through my brain. When the hell did I call Eric? Pressing my hand into my chest, I flopped onto the bed and tried to yank on my shoes, my movements erratic and shaky.

“Calm down. You can do this,” Rhodes whispered in my ear.

My response was a few quick puffs of air.

“Did Quella make it onto her bed last night? I thought it would look a little off to actually walk her right into the room. I escorted her from the bathroom to your door but then left, hoping she'd actually make it to the bed and not end up passed out on the floor.”

I glanced at the bed. She was lying face down, fully clothed, her feet dangling over the side.

“Yes,” I whispered, knowing he was trying to distract me in order to calm me down.

“Good. Now I want you to take in a deep breath, nice and slow.”

I did as I was told.

“And then I want you to tell yourself that there are twelve girls who need you to pull this off and that once this is over, you’ll be free.”

I pulled in another slow breath, pressing my lips together.

“And then tell yourself that if you don’t find the courage to do this now, that guy waiting for you downstairs is a dead man.”

My throat restricted.

“Go and save his life, Caity, so that you can be together again once this is over.”

I closed my eyes and dipped my head. “Thank you, Rhodes.”

“I’m here if you need me.”

Eric

I didn’t sleep; I didn’t even try after Caity hung up on me. Instead, I paced my room like a caged animal until I couldn’t take it anymore. The three a.m. sand sprints down the beach were a great way to burn off steam. I ran until my lungs were heaving. My rubber band legs gave out on me eventually and I fell to the sand, burying my cheek into the grains.

I could tell Caity was drunk, which was a shock all its own, but to have her dump me as well, that was a backhand blow I never saw coming.

I didn’t know what the hell was going on with her, but I had to find out and so at five in the morning, after I’d showered and changed, I headed for Caity’s dorm and that’s where I sat for nearly two and a half hours. I had a coffee in one hand and my phone in the other. The minutes ticked by in slow agony as the night sky began to light at the edges.

It was nearly seven-thirty when I saw her approaching. Her skin was pasty white, her expression somber. Large shades covered her eyes. I drank in the sight of her as she checked the street and then crossed, getting into my car without a word.

“Hey.” I cleared the lump out of my throat. “You feeling okay?”

She rubbed her forehead. “I feel like a truck has smashed through my skull and is currently burning its back tires inside my brain.”

I snickered. “The price you pay for getting off-your-ass drunk.”

She bit her lip.

“What’s going on with you? You’ve never gotten drunk before. You don’t even like the taste.”

“I know,” she mumbled. “Quella started buying shots and then everything became a blur.”

“Quella.” I seethed the word.

She jerked to look at me. I wished she’d take off those damn shades so I could actually see her.

“Did you mean what you said last night or was Quella putting you up to it?”

Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Her head flinched to look out the window.

I held in my huff and gently laid my hand on her leg.

“Caity, I don’t think you want to break up with me.”

She swallowed and flicked my hand off her thigh. “You don’t know what I want.”

“I thought I did.”

“Well, maybe you thought wrong. Maybe I’ve just been putting on a show to keep you happy and Quella is helping me to see that I can be whatever I want to be.”

My expression marred with confusion. “I’ve never heard you talk like this before. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“Well, maybe I don’t either.” She threw her hand in the air. “But I do know that I need some space and time to figure out exactly what I
do
want out of my life. I’m too young to be settling down. There’s a world of opportunity waiting for me, and I don’t care that Nicole and Dale are getting hitched. In fact, to be honest, I think it’s kind of insane. They’re like what? Twelve!”

“O-kay.” I rubbed my chin, trying to figure out who the hell took over my girlfriend. “I thought you were happy for them.”

“Of course I had to be happy for them. Can you imagine the hissy fit Nicole would have had if I told her what I really thought!”

The short, snappy sounds punching out of her mouth were foreign to my ears. I didn’t know who I was looking at right now, but it definitely wasn’t the Caity I fell in love with.

“I’m not—” I cleared my throat. “I’m not sure what’s going on here. I don’t know if it’s because you’re hung over or what, but I don’t think we can have a proper conversation with you in such a foul mood.”

Her shoulders tensed and then she crossed her arms tight across her chest.

“Thanks, Dr. Phil, but all I really need for you to understand right now is that I need a break from us. I want space and room to breathe. I don’t want your constant pressure and demands.”

“What pressure?”

“To move in with you! To stop hanging out with Quella! Who can be really fun, you know, if you just give her a chance, something I know you hate doing with people.”

I glared at her.

A huge part of me wanted to explode, tear into her with a verbal venom that would no doubt make her cry. If I was one hundred percent honest, I really disliked the Caity sitting across from me right now. Mean Caity was unattractive.

She glanced over at me, her face paling even further as she no doubt read me. Her lips wobbled, matching the creasing in her forehead. I’m sure there were tears behind those glasses of her.

I went to gently pull them off, but she veered away from me, scrunching herself into the corner.

It broke my heart. She’d never shied away from my touch before and it hurt like a hot poker on bare skin.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve right now, but...I still love you,” I croaked. “I want to make sure you’re okay.”

She gripped her biceps, her fingers pinching in tight. “I’m fine,” she whispered. “I know this seems random and out of the blue, and I’m sorry I’ve kept—” She swallowed, licking the edge of her mouth. “I’ve kept it hidden for so long.”

“I thought you were happy.” I ran a hand through my hair.

“You know me, always putting on a show. You know how I hate to hurt people’s feelings.”

“But not me. You’ve always been yourself around me.”

She pressed her lips together and sniffed. “Which is why I’m saying this stuff to you now. I can’t pretend anymore.”

My breaking heart was shattering, shards of ice tearing through my blood stream. Her words were poison ivy, making my insides itch and writhe. I didn’t want to hear them; I couldn’t quite make myself believe them. 

“This doesn’t feel like you. You’re not like this. You don’t want to be like Quella.”

“People change, Eric.” She reached for the door handle and it took all my willpower not to lock her in the car. If I could only steal her away, then maybe I could talk some sense into her.

I gripped the steering wheel, swiveling my body away from her. I could feel her gaze on me, but I refused to look across.

“I don’t mean to hurt you. All I’m asking for is a little space to think. Please, give me that.”

I had no words. Like hell I could say yes.

Instead, I kept my eyes straight ahead and listened with a sinking soul to the door open and slam shut behind her.

I’d never felt so lost. Even waiting outside Dodger Stadium for my dad hadn’t hurt this much. With robotic movements, I started the jeep and pulled away from the curb, nearly clipping the motorbike behind me. He swore and raised his fist. I ignored him, driving slowly out of the university, toward the beach. I had no idea where to go or what to do. I just knew I had to stay on auto-pilot for as long as I could, because if I stopped to think about what was really happening to me, I didn’t think I could recover.

Caitlyn

By the time I returned to my room, my chest was heaving. I could barely breathe as I barreled through the door and landed on my bed. I clutched the pillow to my chest, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay,” Rhodes said quietly.

“Oh, shut up!” I ripped the earpiece out and shoved it under my pillow.

The door behind me clicked open and my insides skittered, thinking it might be Eric not letting me go.

Whipping a look over my shoulder, my heart slumped.

It was only Quella.

Fresh tears descended and I turned away, propping my chin on my fisted hands.

“What is wrong?” She perched on the side of my bed, looking a hell of a lot better than me. The throwing up probably did her good last night. At least the alcohol was out of her system.

I buried my face into the pillow, not wanting to talk about it, but what was the point of breaking my heart if I wasn’t going to do the job I was meant to.

Loathing tore through me, a black resentment I had to fight to speak past.

I squeezed my eyes shut and thought about those girls. Images of them beaten and afraid forced my head off the pillow and I looked up at Quella.

“Eric and I broke up,” my voice quivered. “And Thanksgiving’s next week and I don’t think I can face my family and tell them what happened.”

“What did happen?”

“I don’t know!” I sat up, swiping at my tears. “I thought things were great and then bam, out of the blue, it’s over. I’m so humiliated,” I ended with a broken whisper.

“
Pobrecita, hombres son pendejos.
”

My brow wrinkled in confusion.

“Men are assholes,” she translated with a shrug, rubbing circles over my back. It was a gentle comfort so I let her keep doing it.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do now.” I rubbed my forehead and sniffed. “How am I going to face everyone? I don’t want to have to explain something I don’t even understand. I think I’ll just lie to my parents and say I’m going away, but actually hole up here for the holiday.”

“No, you cannot do that. You have to get out of here.”

“And where am I supposed to go?”

Quella nibbled the edge of her lip, her sharp nose twitching. I pulled her mask away and fought to keep my expression bland. I was about to get exactly what I wanted.

“Come with me. Celebrate Thanksgiving with my papá.”

“Really?” I touched her arm.

“Of course. We would love to have you.” She smiled.

“That’s so sweet, but I don’t know. I won’t be very good company.”

“I cannot let you stay here. You have to say yes.” She squeezed my shoulder.

I fought a watery smile, going for uncertain a little longer, just to really sell it.

“Come on,
chica
, you know it is a good idea.”

“Okay,” I finally sighed and then sniffed. “Yeah, okay, I’d love to. Thank you.” I wrapped her in a hug and squeezed tight. “Thank you.”

She giggled at my unrelenting embrace. “We will leave next Wednesday. The car is arriving at four.”

I forced a smile, letting her go and squeezing her arm one last time before she got off the bed and snatched up her bag.

“It will be fun.” She smiled and winked. “Trust me.”

As soon as she walked out the door, I scrambled for the earpiece under my pillow and shoved it back in.

“You hear that? I’m in.” I smiled, expecting to hear Rhodes reply. Instead, I got the sharp staccato of Kaplan.

“I told you it would work. Now you better hold it together for the rest of the week. You stay strong and you get this job done. Are we clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Now get your ass to class before people start asking questions.”

I checked my watch and swore, lunging off the bed and snatching up my stuff. My head spun, a wave of nausea surging through me.

“I think I might have to call in sick,” I groaned.

“So pathetic,” Kaplan muttered.

I flopped back onto my bed, holding my head with one hand and flipping her the bird with the other.

One week.

It felt like an eternity. Why the hell hadn’t I waited for the weekend? Why had my stupid, dumb, drunk ass decided to call Eric and break up with him last night? How was I supposed to avoid him until I left?

Sure, I felt sick today, but holing up in my room for the week would not fly.

My mind swirled as I pictured what he was probably going through right now. I wished I could call and tell him the truth, but another part begged that he’d leave me alone.

Tears burned as I curled into a ball on my bed, praying I could survive the week without bumping into the guy whose heart I’d just annihilated.