“I cost her everything.”
“Will you ever tell me the whole story?”
“Yes, Baya,” he says it sleepy with undertones of grief. His arm wraps tighter around my waist as if I were about to fly away. “I promise I will.”
Bryson
I spend all day Saturday working my ass off at Capwell Inc. trying to get from under the plethora of files Aubree buried me in. I was going to drill her a new one for ratting Baya out to her brother, but since the shit already hit the fan, I thought why make things difficult for myself.
Aubree has made it a practice to accost me routinely ever since we were in high school. I’m sure she can’t understand why I’ve bagged and tagged at least a dozen of her own sorority sisters, and yet I seem to be allergic to her blonde eminence every time she struts in the room. The problem with Aubree is that she would have never understood that she was just another get. She’s the kind of girl who would want to stick around and be “the one,” but I wasn’t feeling it before, and now that I have Baya, for sure, I want nothing to do with Aubree. The truth is, before Baya I wasn’t feeling it for anyone—not even Steph and that’s the reason things went down in flames. But I’m feeling it now for sweet, beautiful Baya. I hope to God she doesn’t hate me one day for trying to make it work with her.
“You’re here bright eyed and bushy tailed.” Aubree saunters into the office with her tits thrust forward, ass out. I swear, half the time she looks like a cartoon character. She comes in for a closer inspection of my scrapes and bruises. “Holy shit.” She gives a little laugh. “Someone had a rough night. Care to talk about it?”
“Not particularly.”
“Your little girlfriend show you who’s boss?” It titters from her like the juiciest piece of gossip.
“Nope.” I lean in my chair and throw my hands behind my neck, affording her the bird’s eye view. “It was her brother.”
Her mouth drops to her feet. “He really did a number on you.” She sits on the edge of my desk, and I avert my eyes at the thought of her getting comfy. “So what happened? Dump the little slut so soon?”
“She’s not a slut, don’t call her that. And, no, I didn’t dump her. We’re still very much together.”
“Hmm.” She makes a face. “I talked to her last week, she still wants in at Alpha Chi.”
I shake my head stymied by this. “She probably likes the idea of having girls around once in a while.”
“You used to like that idea.” Aubree bears into me with a razor sharp stare that threatens to finish the job Cole started.
“People change.”
“Not usually.” She walks out of the room with nothing but the clatter of heels.
Late that afternoon I get home and find Baya sprawled on the couch, reading a magazine. Her dark hair floats around her like beautiful, exotic leaves. The rosy glow in her cheeks makes her look like an angel that just had the orgasm of a lifetime, and suddenly I want to be the one to give it to her, right here, right now.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I say at the peril of my own balls. I have no clue where Cole is. “You want to go for a quick bike ride?”
Baya and I change and head out to our place, the Witch’s Cauldron. I try to race her uphill, but she’s panting pretty bad and struggling. I encourage her to get off the bike, and we walk them the rest of the way.
“You really are a nice guy.” Her dimples press in, and it drives me wild. “Most people would have taken off and waved their victory in my face but not you. You’re a perfect gentleman. I think you’re a rare breed. Any girl would be lucky to have you in her life.”
A pang of grief hits me when she says those last words. I know one girl who probably wishes she never knew me, but, then again, she’s not alive to think or breathe or wish, and that dark cloud of grief settles over me again.
We hit the boulders then climb over into the small clearing where the water bubbles and brews.
“Tomorrow is Halloween.” Baya licks her lips as if she were simply using the holiday as a means of seduction.
Baya could seduce me just by breathing the same air. Come to think of it, there’s nothing about her that doesn’t hold the ability to drive me insane.
She wraps both her arms around my waist. “Do you know what you’re going to be?”
“I was thinking about a pencil, and maybe you could be the eraser.” I give her ribs a quick squeeze, and she bucks beneath me.
“I’d never erase you.” She holds back a smile while taking off her shoes and rolling up her jeans. “How about Bonnie and Clyde?” Baya sits on the lip of the spring and dips her feet into the water.
“How about Adam and Eve?” I ask, plucking off my sweatshirt. “We can get into costume right now.” I keep stripping until she’s standing next to me, amused. “I double dog dare you to join me.”
Baya flicks her clothes off as if there were a swarm of bees nesting in them.
