Fighting Fate (18 page)

“Keg’s this way,” Toni said as she set Sarah’s arm free.

“Okay,” Sarah said as she continued to follow her. She assumed Toni was headed to the kitchen.

“Hey!” A masculine voice said from behind her. She felt strong fingers clasp her around her bicep. She was spun around and she found herself looking into a familiar, handsome face. Dark eyes leered at her from under chunks of dark bangs that hung over them.

Toni turned around when she realized Sarah had stopped. She grinned absentmindedly at Sarah and the guy that had attached himself to her. Then she gave Sarah a little wave. “I’ll talk to you later,” she said. She stumbled away, disappearing around the corner in search of more beer.

“You are the last person I expected to see here,” Darren said as he moved in close.

Sarah wrinkled her nose because he reeked of alcohol. And something else that she didn’t even want to hazard a guess at.

“Hi, Darren,” she said conversationally. She tried to remain polite even as she tried to slink away. The door Toni had gone through was only ten or so feet to her right. If she could just get back to Toni, she could be the one t [ bet so latch onto
her
arm this time.

“Not so fast,” Darren said as he snaked an arm around her waist.

“I need to find my friend,” she said as she strained against his grip.

“I’ll be your friend,” he said with a lecherous grin.

Sarah wrinkled her nose up in disgust. “No thanks.”

Darren’s grin slammed into something else. He pushed her roughly down the hallway, the opposite direction that Toni had gone. He used his body to shove her along. “Why not? I’m not good enough for you?” She would’ve lost her balance but he was suddenly gripping her by the elbows, pushing her into the wall at the end of the hallway. “If you can slum with my brother, you can slum with me,” he hissed in her ear.

She turned her head away from him and struggled in his grip.

“Please just let me go find Toni.” She worked at keeping her tone calm because predators could smell fear, right?

He kept her elbows pinned to the wall. It amazed Sarah how he could look so much like Cole and be so completely the opposite of him at the same time. Her heart began to pound in her ears and dread burned through her. She didn’t want to cause a scene. She didn’t want to scream and draw attention to herself. But if she had to—

“Darren.”

Darren grunted in annoyance. His face was in Sarah’s hair, nuzzling the area right above her ear. She wanted to gag.

“Get your hands off her.” Cole’s voice was calm and he almost sounded bored.

Darren released his grip on Sarah’s elbows but not without giving them a good, hard squeeze first. She let out a yelp and Cole clenched his jaw.

“You never did like to share,” Darren mumbled. “One of these days, we might just have to change that.” As he walked past Cole he turned and shoved him roughly from behind.

Cole must’ve been expecting it because while he stumbled, he managed to catch himself on the wall. He glared at Darren over his shoulder once he recovered completely but his brother didn’t look back. He turned to Sarah, looking her up and down and then gently grabbed her by the wrist. Without a word, he led her back down the hallway.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Cole finally growled as he led her out the back door.

Sarah’s heart thumped erratically. “You have?”

“Yeah,” he said over his shoulder as he led her down the steps into the dark backyard. “Toby was telling people he saw you walking up the driveway. I thought he was bullshitting but then I realized he has no idea that...” He cut himself off to glare at Sarah.

“I’m here,” Sarah said meekly. Toby was Mike’s younger brother. He was her age but he seemed to be following in his brother’s footsteps because he was repeating his freshman year. Sarah hadn’t noticed him when she was walking up. Then again, she hadn’t been looking for him.

Cole stopped at the bottom of the short, cement steps.

“Where are the rest of your clothes?” he demanded as he released his hold on her.

“This is all I wore,” she indignantly replied. “It’s the same thing all of the other girls are wearing. In fact, it’s more than some of them are wearing.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re not those other girls,” he grumped. “If I had a jacket with me, I’d be covering you up with it.”

“Cole?”

“What?” he snapped.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Yes,” he said as he took off again. She took off after him.

“I mean, no,” he said. “I’m just…” He stopped abruptly and she bumped into him. Without looking at her, he scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m confused,” he mumbled as he threw his head back.

“Because…?”

“Because,” he pointed a finger at her and his tone was harsh, “you’re not supposed to be here. You’re not supposed to look like that.
Ever
.”

What was that supposed to mean? “Why not?”

“People are looking at you! Guys like Toby are looking at you.” He tossed his hands up in the air. “My
brother
was pawing at you!
You
,” he said in a voice thick with accusation, “are not supposed to be all sexed up like this!
You
are supposed to be Sarah. Just sweet, innocent Sarah.”

She frowned because the way he’d said ‘sexed up’ didn’t make it sound like he thought that was a good thing.

He shook his head, looking perplexed. “You shouldn’t be here by yourself. Hell, you really shouldn’t be here at all.”

“I came here with Lacie.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure about that? She’s not doing a very good job of keeping an eye on you.”

“I don’t need her to keep an eye on me,” Sarah said defiantly.

“Really? So you didn’t need me to rescue you from Darren?”

She snapped her mouth shut because there was no good answer to that question.

“Have you had anything to drink?”

She shook her head.

“Good,” he said as he grabbed her by the hand. He took off again, this time rounding the back of the house, pulling her to the front.

“Why?”

“Because, I have,” he said in a voice full of annoyance. “You’re going to need to drive yourself home. Right now.”

She dug in her heels, pulling them to a stop. “I don’t want to go home.”

“Fine,” Cole said harshly. “But you’re not staying here.”

Sarah glanced around and realized a few people had stopped talking to look at them. She realized Cole’s volume might’ve been turned up a little too loud.

Lacie stepped out of the circle of people she’d been talking to. She pointedly looked at Cole and Sarah’s joined hands. Sarah’s heart lurched as Lacie sauntered forward.

“Nice work!” Lacie cooed as she came up to Sarah’s side. “You were able to find him. Good luck holding onto him.” She winked at Sarah as she continued to sashay past.

Cole stared at her for a moment, his face a question mark. “What was that about?”

She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant but her voice sounded squeaky and pathetic in her ears. “I don’t know.”

He took off again, towing her along. When they spilled out onto the gravel road, away from the house and away from the majority of the people, he kept walking until they reached her car. When he finally turned to face her, she could barely make out his features in the light beaming down from the moon.

He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you come here
looking
for me?”

Her cheeks were on fire again. Her whole body was heated with embarrassment. She found herself wishing she would just spontaneously combust. She simply wanted to vanish, anything to get her out of this humiliating moment.

As fast as his anger had appeared earlier, it dissipated.

His tone was light and had a teasing edge to it as he leaned into her. “Sarah.”

She could smell alcohol on his breath but she had no idea what kind it was. It wasn’t sour and stale like the stench emanating from Darren. She thought he looked sober enough. But what the hell did she know? He was right. She really didn’t belong here.

Or maybe she did because suddenly his hands were on her hips. He was firmly holding her in place. As if afraid she would bolt. His cheek rubbed against hers and his li [rs nt>ps brushed against her ear. “I asked you a question. Did you come here looking for me?”

He pulled away again but only so he could look her in the eye. She swallowed and all she could do was nod. In the moonlight, she saw a smile slowly spread across his face. The ground began to tilt beneath her feet. The whole world had begun to spin out of control on its axis because she knew right then, everything was about to change.

“Why were you looking for me?”

“I don’t know,” she said, struggling to form the words.

“That’s not an answer. Tell me why.”

“I wanted to see you.”

“Why?”

She shook her head. She couldn’t say it.

“
Why
?”  His fingers dug into her hips. Not painfully but possessively.

She shivered in the darkness. She wasn’t sure if it was because the night had taken on a damp chill, or if it was because Cole was only inches away from her.

“Tell. Me. Why.”

She placed her hand on his chest. When he didn’t protest she slid it up further, until it was at the base of his neck. It could’ve been her imagination but she was sure his breathing suddenly quickened. With more daring than she ever dreamt she possessed, she titled his head toward hers.

When he finally gave in and kissed her, she kissed him back tentatively. Not like she didn’t know what she was doing but more like she hadn’t had a whole lot of practice doing it. He let out a groan as he stumbled backward, landing against the side of her car. His hands slid around her thighs and cupped them from behind. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted up and swung her around, placing her on the hood.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in closer. His hands slid up to her sides, settling on the smooth skin that was exposed now that her shirt was hitched upward. As his tongue explored her mouth, his fingers explored the exposed skin at her waistline.

She had only kissed one other boy before and it had felt nothing like this. That had been clumsy and awkward. With Cole, after only a moment she felt as though she were tumbling into an abyss of sensation. And she never wanted that fall to end.

Chapter Thirteen

Lacie had been wrong on her timeframe. For nearly eleven blissful months, Sarah had had Cole by her side. Too bad she’d been right about the rest of it. He had tossed her aside. And Sarah did regret the day she ever chased after him.

But Cole was right. Life is too short to live with regrets. She didn’t want to feel hurt and angry anymore.

The next morning, she blew out a sigh of relief when she heard his truck rumbling down the driveway. He’d finished the roof last week—with the help of one of Tom’s crew. Yesterday he’d started tearing off the siding. She knew he was going to be on his own again for a day or two, until Tom scrounged up a spare hand.

She didn’t know a thing about shingles but she’d had her dad come over to inspect the finished project. He’d been impressed. Sarah had been relieved. Cole had been meticulous in his work.

After yesterday, she had feared he wouldn’t come back.

After he had walked out the door she’d set to work painting the kitchen in an effort to stop thinking about him. An absolutely impossible task when he was just a wall away. Not long after that, she felt her anger begin to fade. She had finally, after all this time, gotten to have her say. She felt better for it. She realized she had cut him off before he really had a chance to explain himself completely.

He had given her just a tiny glimpse into his life. There was so much more that she didn’t know. So many missing years. She wanted to hear about them.

But more than anything, she knew that life was too short. The photo on her dresser was a constant reminder of the limited amount of time one has. It shouldn’t be wasted. She’d spent eight years being mad at Cole. She didn’t want to be mad at him anymore. She didn’t know what it was that she did want. She just knew it wasn’t that.

By the time he’d left for the day, she’d been sorry to see him go. She had cleaned up her painting mess, debating the entire time whether or not she should go outside and talk to him. But she’d procrastinated too long and then he was gone. It was just as well. Though she’d calmed down substantially, her emotions were still running high. There was always the c c alo long andhance he’d say something to set her off. That was why she’d marched upstairs in the first place. She’d been afraid of saying something damaging that she wouldn’t be able to take back.

So that morning, when he showed up, she was relieved. She couldn’t work up the courage to tell him that right away, though. By the time the lunch hour rolled around, she knew she had better say something before she procrastinated another whole day away.

At promptly noon, she saw him come down from the scaffolding on the backside of the house. She traipsed out onto the porch. She lifted her hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. Cole came around the side of the house. He was tugging off his work gloves when he spotted her. He slowed his pace, eyeing her warily.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi.”

“Would you like to come inside and have lunch with me?”

He looked at her for a few prolonged moments. Perhaps he thought she was teasing. Or that he had misunderstood. When she waited patiently he nodded.

“Yeah. If you’re sure,” he said as he headed her way.