I Won't Give Up (18 page)

I arrived at the lake house
a little after two-thirty. I pulled into the driveway
and
noticed Garrett’s Tahoe was already in the driveway.

“Surprise.” He
said opening my door, he seemed nervous.

It was a surprise,
I really was hoping for
a little
more time to think before he got here. “Happy birthday puddin’ pop.” I hated when he called me
that.

“Hey you’re early.”
I said trying to conceal my unwelcome surprise.

“Figured I’d surprise you since it’s your birthday. Shall we.” We walked to the front door and I unlocked it but something w
as definitely
off with Garrett and I
couldn’t
put my finger on it
. M
aybe he knew what I was planning
. My anxiety was clawing at
surface
.

“What did you have planned for tonight? I was hoping to make you dinner.”

“Um, that’s fine. I’d like a bath first if that’s okay.” That would give me time to think.

“Okay. I’ll go draw one for you.” He headed upstairs. I followed
shortly after
. He went into the master bath and I heard the water start. I unpacked a couple things that I had brought with me this weekend and grabbed a change of clothes before heading into the bathroom.

“I’ll come check on you in a few minutes.” He said giving me a quick kiss on the lips causing me to tense up; I hope
d
he didn’t realize it. He walked out of the bathroom leaving the door slightly ajar. I stripped quickly before settling into the bubble bath. A few minutes later he showed up with a bowl of strawberries and some champagne.
I blinked, what was he doing…

“I thought we could toast for your birthday.” He said handing me a flute. I accepted it and he placed his on the vanity before stripping out of his clothes and
climbing in with me. I didn’t even register what he was doing it happened so fast.
No, no, no!
I didn’t want this.

“Garrett what are you doing?” I said nervously. He started running his hand up my leg towards my thigh.

“I figured out what you were planning.” He grinned.

“What are you talking about?”

“I figured out that you must
want birthday sex
. A
m I right?”
He had a stupid grin on his face.
What the hell!

“No
,
that’s not what I was planning. Not even close.” I stammered.

“Come on Fiona you’ve been being a tease for over a month now, surely you have some needs that I can take care of then you can return the favor. Plus I’m your boyfriend that’s what we’re supposed to do.” He winked.
Was that the reason he was dating me all along?

“Garrett I’m just not ready for that yet. M
y plan was to go to the pier,
go dancing then get dinner and ice cream, maybe even catch a movie but I was not planning sex.” I started crying.

“Fiona I’m sorry I misread you. I’ll get out.” He hastily got out and dried off
not looking sorry at all. I watched as he put
his clothes back on
looking agitated
.
Not to seem harsh but even if I was considering I would have changed my mind after getting a look at his less than impressive package.

“
When you’re ready
I want to m
ake you dinner tonight.” He
closed the door behind him.

I sat in the bath a little longer trying to first calm myself then formulate a plan on how to break up with him. If I’d had any doubts about my
choice before he certainly changed
my mind after the bathroom episode. I got dressed and headed to the kitchen.
I sat at the breakfast bar and watched him start cutting up
steak
and veggies.

“Sorry stir-fry is about the extent of my culinary skills.
I figured maybe we could make fajitas or something.
”
He smiled at me but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He
had two grocery bags
on the counter;
he
even brought some of his own
supplies, knives and dishtowel
s in particular
.
I
t seemed
odd since this was a fully stocked gourmet kitchen
maybe he was just more comfortable with his own tools
.

“Garrett is everything okay? You seem distracted
if it’s about what happened in the bathroom I’m sorry I gave you the wrong impression.
”

“I’m fine. Just happy it’s your birthday.”
I noticed he didn’t apologize for what happened if anything he was probably stewing.

“C
an
we
still go to the pier late
r? I
t’s supposed to be nice out, not too cold.” I said as I watched him finish chopping. He wiped his hand on one of the towels next to him but didn’t reply.

“
If you want.
” He held a towel to his face.
“
Puddin’ pop does this dishtowel
smell funny?
I don’t want to use it if
there’s something wrong with it, it could make us
sick.
” He held the rag up to my face before
forcefully
covering my nose and my mout
h with it.
I tried to fight him off
.

Everything went black
.

I tried opening my eyes, it was dark; something was covering my eyes. I had no idea where I was. The last thing I remembered was… Garrett. Why? I racked my brain for any insight as to why he’d do something like this; I couldn’t ge
t my head around it. I felt panic and
claustrophobia setting in.

“I think she’s up.”
I heard a male voice say.

“Keep her quiet.”

I fell into blackness again.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Drag Me To Hell

Cooper

“We need to talk!” Riley hissed. I
already
knew what was going to happen. I wanted to run after Fiona but I knew her well enough that would just make her push me further away so I decided I’d try and talk to her later
,
plus I owed Riley enough to let her vent.
She stormed through the door
off the cafeteria that led to a square outside filled with tables.

“Sorry.” I said. I wasn’t really sorry.

“You’re a real asshole!” She slapped my face. I guess I deserved that. “I thought you liked me.”
She was really pissed.
“I do. You’re a real nice girl Riley but you knew how I felt about Fiona
.” I ran my hands through my hair trying to think of what else I wanted to say.
“T
hat’s why I never let things get carried away with us.
I thought I could get past her but I can’t. You’ll make someone real happy one day Riley, I’m just not your guy.
” She’d practically hand delivered her vi
rgini
ty on a si
lver platter a handful of times.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you shouldn’t just throw yourself at any guy,
we could have had sex then what?
Save yourse
lf for someone that you love that
loves you back.
Again I’m sorry about what you
saw
but it’s all true.
”
I turned and walked away needing to get myself in check.
I
really
royally
fucked up today. I’m
was almost positive that
everyone in Prescott now
knew about
it
too
. What a
great first impression I’m making.
When the final bell rang
I decided I was going to just hop on my bike and
take a nice long ride to
try and
clear my head
. Maybe I could come up with a plan to get Fiona
to talk to me
maybe I should give Luke a heads up, maybe he could talk some sense into her
.

I started
towards
the outskirts of town when
I hit a flat open stretch of road.
I gunned the throttle and let the bike do what she did best, fly, well not literally but I wa
tched as the speedometer climb
steadily to a buck twenty before I let go and
went back to a steadier speed.
It was a beautiful fall day the leaves were all shades of red and orange.

I couldn’t believe she was dating and Garrett.
It felt like a knife had been stabbed in my heart.
I was
seriously
hoping that Fiona
would
to break
it off with
him
tonight
, she looked so torn earlier but I think part of her already knows that the two of us are inevitable
.

I
stayed on the road
until I
just about
ran out of gas. I looked up and saw the sign
. I
actually ended up about
only a few miles
outside of Lake Winona. Wasn’t this where Fiona’s lake house was?
Maybe something or someone was pointi
ng me in this direction. My mom maybe.

I pulled into the gas station and went in
side
to pay.

“I’ll have $10 super on pump 3 please.” I handed the clerk my money. “
By any chance d
o you happen to know where the Prescott estate is on the lake?”

“Sure everyone knows where it is.
” He looked at me like I was stupid.
“
You take the main road out there until you hit the blinking light, then make a right and follow it all the way to the end there’s a gate there
,
that’s the one. Can’t miss it.”

“Thanks.” I gassed up and headed to the lake house.

Maybe if I Garrett saw me he’d back off.
The gate was open and
Fiona’s car was in the driveway,
maybe I beat Garrett here. The thought made me happy, I’d have a chance to talk her alone, maybe get her to see my reasoning.
I
cut the engine and
walked up the cobblestone path to the front do
or and knocked. The
light
s
were on but no answer so
I walked around the side of the house and pee
ked in. There was definitely no one home. M
aybe they went out for dinner.
I could see after looking inside why Fiona loved it so much, a little piece of tranquility.

I decided to
camp out until they got back.
I sat on
the swing on the front porch and
waited
. A
nd waited. I finally decided to text her and see where they were and when they’d be back.
I looked at my watch; s
till no answer and
I sent it over an
hour ago.
I’d been sitting here for over two hours.
Panic was starting to set in
; maybe they’d been in an accident or something. I decided to call Luke and see if he’d heard from her, maybe they’d had a change of plans.

“Hello.” Luke answered.

“Luke
,
its Cooper.”

“Hey man
,
what’s up?”
“Nothing. Have you heard from Fiona?”

“No. She’s at the lake house.”

“No
,
she’s not. I drove out here
by
total coincidence
and I’ve been waiting for over two hours and nothing.
I’ve tried calling and texting her
but she’s not answering normally she texts me right back even if she’s pissed. Besides h
er car’s here and the
lights are on but no one’s here
.
”