HARDPRESSED (Ocean Falls Trilogy Book 1) Page 7

  It had been our third date. I was already drowning in this girl, and being the tough guy, show-off that I was, I decided to take her porch stairs three at a time. Five stitches later, and for as long as we were together, she said it was her favorite of all my scars. She said that it was all hers. Just then, though, I don’t think she even realized she had done it.

  When I chanced a glance, she was already gone. Off to her bedroom, I assumed. Movement caught my attention, and my eyes focused just in time to catch Belle’s wink before she slipped out the front door, locking it behind her.

  Presley

  The second Carter and Paisley were out of sight, it hit me. I was so totally and completely exhausted that I could barely see straight. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and made my way back up to the house. I was so grateful I was off the next couple of days; I couldn’t teach a class right then even if I tried.

  I was determined to walk in, throw Greyson out of my house, and sleep for a week or two. All of that changed when I walked in to find him in no better shape than I had left him. Worse even.

  He was back on the couch...sort of. One leg on, the other off. It was like he had fallen backward and just stayed there. Pills. Where was that damn bottle? I was primed to raise all kinds of hell until I noticed his bruises. Bruises that I had given him were really starting to bloom. Guilt blanketed my would be rampage in an instant. He needed sleep. I needed sleep. No harm, no foul.

  With his eyes closed, I laid a blanket over him and had to forcefully right myself as my eyelids were getting heavier. The last thing I remembered was my head hitting the pillow.

  Chirp. Chirp. Ugh, my fucking phone. I hadn’t muted it before I crashed, and now it wouldn’t shut up. I tried several times to bury myself further beneath my covers to drown out the sound but to no avail. I reached out towards my nightstand in search of my phone. Finally! Success! But not before knocking over my water bottle, of course. No matter. I pulled the phone underneath the blanket with me, not yet ready to greet the world. I pried one eye open and peered at the screen.

  Shit! Five missed calls and messages from Carter. Oh God, I hoped everything was alright. I instantly pressed call without even bothering to check his texts first. He answered on the third ring.

  “There you are! It’s about time!” I could hear the smile in his voice. My heart gradually slowed down as he informed me he was just sending pics of Paisley’s one on one encounter with the penguins and that when that was over, she wanted to call to tell me all about it. I grinned into the phone as I reached down to retrieve my fallen water bottle. It sounded as though she was having a blast. She always did, and I appreciated his willingness to share it with me.

  “Can you put her on?”

  His voice muffled briefly, and then I was greeted with the sweetest voice in the world. “Hi, Mama!”

  “Hi, Peanut! I hear you got to meet some penguins today!”

  For the next several minutes, I sat back against my headboard, smiling and listening. Carter had planned ahead, and so not only did she spend the day at the zoo, but she got to hang out with the penguins, as well as feed and interact with the dolphins. She was beside herself.

  I carried the phone with me to the washroom and put it on speaker. I smiled around my toothbrush as she told me the story of Billy, the penguin she had chosen as her favorite and had renamed right then and there on the spot. She yawned a couple of times, and so I knew our conversation would have to pick up later on.

  “I can’t wait to hear more about your adventures. How about I give you a call after breakfast in the morning?”

  “Kay,” she replied, and soon, Carter was back on the line.

  “Is she about to pass out?” I teased.

  “You know it. We’re heading to the front gate anyway. She’ll get a nice nap on the way home.”

  I nodded and grabbed a fresh towel from the cabinet. I was just about to say my goodbyes when Carter cleared his throat.

  “Hey, Presley? It’s quite a drive, and Paisley will be asleep. You know, in case you need to talk.”

  Killjoy. I appreciated it, I truly did, but Greyson was the last subject I wanted to touch upon. And even if I did need or want to vent, did Carter really think he would be the one I would turn to? Just the couple of minutes we all stood in the living room a few hours ago was enough to last me a lifetime. No. I would shower, nudge Greyson out the door, and go on about my day.

  “I’m good, Carter, thanks.” I made sure to hold the phone close as I turned the shower on. I had hoped he would take the hint, and he did. After placing the phone back on my nightstand to charge, I went to grab some comfy clothes. When I padded back to the bathroom, the steam had already begun to rise. Perfect.

  Chapter 11

  Greyson

  My eyes peeled open, one at a time, and there was instant regret. I didn’t have the raging headache that I expected, though. Maybe Doc had been wrong. Well, I did recall him saying mild.

  I blinked a couple of times and started to gain my bearings when I heard voices with one voice rising above the other. Paisley seemed to be a happy little girl. I didn’t know jack shit about kids, but she also seemed smart for her age.

  As the fog began to clear, it dawned on me once again. Fuck. Presley was a mom, with fucking Chip as the father of her child. What kind of fresh hell had I stumbled into?

  I replayed the day before over and over inside my jumbled mind. I still couldn’t believe she had hit me. Since I had stepped off the plane, I had had my ass handed to me not once, but twice. What a fucking day.

  The sun continued to peer through the window, and I could hear the shower running. For a brief second, my mind drifted to the feel of Presley’s hair when it was soaking wet. The center of my jeans tightened at the thought. I groaned and forced myself to my feet and to think about something else.

  Coffee. I needed it, and I was sure she would as well. Maybe it could be my peace offering. I didn’t know what kind of mood she would be in when I faced her, but if memory served, and I hoped it did, coffee would be a must. And food. She would need to eat.

  My mind flashed back to the day before when she parted her lips for me, with barely a hint of defiance. It had been so long since I had taken care of her like that. The resentment clawed at the back of my mind, but in that moment, I needed to provide for her.

  I opened her pantry and instantly felt a pull at the corner of my mouth. It felt unfamiliar as I hadn’t had much to smile about in God knows how long. Funny how a colorful cardboard box had broken the pattern, just like that. The coffee finished brewing, leaving the kitchen silent, so it was easy to hear her turn the water off and the shower curtain pull back.

  Nope. I refused to think about it. Instead, I focused on the task at hand.

  Presley

  A long hot shower had been my answer to any problem for as long as I could remember. It worked, too; the tension was gone. I ran a comb through my long locks and with a little detangling spray and a bit of leave-in, done and done. For a brief second, as I took in my reflection, I wondered if I should change clothes. Yoga pants and an oversized Godsmack tee… So. Very. Sexy.

  That thought was immediately followed by another. One that pissed me right off.

  Why the hell did I care? It was my day off! I had nowhere I needed to be, and Paisley was enjoying time with her dad, so I should have been able to just turn my brain off and vegetate for a while, and that required dressing way the hell down.

  “Damn him,” I muttered and reluctantly turned the doorknob. Firm and direct, and then back to my alone time. At least that was what I told myself.

  The house seemed eerily quiet, though it always seemed like that when Paisley was away. No high pitched giggles or tiny feet pattering down the hallway. I missed her, always, but I needed that ‘me time,’ and I’d be damned if Greyson was going to rob me of it.

  As I
made my way towards the kitchen, I thought maybe, just maybe, he’d let himself out, never to be seen or heard from again. Instead, I rounded the corner and was brought up short by the scene playing out in my kitchen. An audible gasp left my lips before I had a chance to stop it. At the sound, Greyson looked up, and once again, the world stood still.

  I wasn’t sure where to rest my eyes so I took it all in, one bit at a time. He was leaning over my small dinette, shirtless, barefoot, and wearing jeans that hung low on his hips. He hadn’t been so heavily inked the last time I saw this much of him. I somehow managed to tear my eyes away from the sight to take in what had him in such deep concentration.

  At a place setting, my favorite ‘not now’ mug sat, filled to the rim. Alongside it was a glass of orange juice, complete with a bendy straw. He remembered.

  He remained still, never spoke a word, but his brows were raised as if looking for me to give the okay for him to continue. I took a step closer to peek into the two large mixing bowls that sat in the center of the table. Before I knew what was happening, my vision blurred, and I had to furiously bat the building moisture from my lashes.

  The largest of the two bowls held what had to be two whole boxes of Fruit Loops. The only remaining cereal pieces in the second bowl were blue and green, my favorites.

  We had only been dating for a couple of months when Greyson showed up a little early one morning before school. He sat in utter confusion as I proceeded to pour a bowl of my favorite breakfast cereal and then pick out all but the blue and green ones. There was no particular reason; it was just something I had done since I was a kid. Until that day, though, I had never done it in front of a boy. I remembered chancing a glance at him as I sifted through the sugary rainbow, and instead of judging me, he flashed a grin, a little wink, and set to helping me. Once we had the cereal properly separated, we sat in comfortable silence, took our bowls, and dug in. That memory had laid dormant until now.

  “Hey, Presley. You okay?”

  All I could do was nod in response. Somehow, I managed to put one foot in front of the other and accept his invitation. If he noticed the tears that threatened to fall, he didn’t say as much. Instead, he turned to the fridge, and I took that opportunity to quickly wipe my eyes. God, I was such a sap.

  I cleared my throat, straightened my back, and searched for my resolve to tell him to hit the road. Instead, a chuckle left my lips as he turned, a carton of almond milk in hand and a look of total disgust and uncertainty on his face. “The fuck, Pres?”

  I would love to say that I was vegan, vegetarian even, but nope. I didn’t have that kind of willpower. I didn’t like the idea of cow’s milk, though, and almond was all Paisley would drink as well. Turns out, I was hungrier than I thought. The awkward conversation would have to wait.

  I didn’t hesitate, I dug right in. Greyson, on the other hand, poured the milk but took his good ole sweet time bringing the spoon to his mouth. Instead, he smelt it, studied it. He even looked cautious, as though it was capable of biting him first. He was still very cute. I hated myself for thinking it. He would hate me even more if he knew. Cute to him was the absolute worst. If he only knew, I held that quality in the highest of regard.

  Chapter 12

  Greyson

  I couldn’t cook for shit, but Presley knew that. Thankfully she wasn’t the type who had to have a hot breakfast. Fruit, cereal, and yogurt had always been her jam, and by the looks of things, it still rang true. Hopefully, she still ate her cereal the same way. Otherwise, I was gonna look like a dumb ass.

  I looked up to find her standing just inside the kitchen. I hadn’t even heard her walk in. She didn’t yell at me to get out, but she didn’t seem all that pleased to see me either.

  I started to say something—what, I didn’t know—but then I caught a glimpse of moisture filling the rims of her eyes. She was angry. For as long as I’d known her, if you pissed her off, the tears would come, which in turn would only piss her off further. Not knowing what to say or do, I did what I do best; I ignored it and turned to the fridge in search of some milk. Almond. Of course. What the hell, it wouldn’t be the worst thing I’d poured down my throat.

  Apparently, the mental struggle was painted across my face, which seemed to amuse her. She almost laughed. Almost. Her table was small, and once I sat down to eat, my knees brushed underneath. I guessed that if it really was just her and her little girl, along with the occasional psycho best friend, it was plenty. Something just didn’t add up, though. Chip came from money, a shit ton of it, so why didn’t he have them set up on the rich side of town, that gated community out by the river?

  I had so many questions, most of which I had zero right to ask. Part of me feared that she wouldn’t answer. Or worse, that she would. Sugarcoating was never her way.

  I still wasn’t sure about this almond milk thing, but my stomach started to grumble. Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all. Once my spoon started to scrape the bottom of the bowl, I pushed my chair back and headed towards the pantry in hopes of finding another box.

  When I turned back to Presley, it took everything I had not to laugh out loud. The girl could eat. She always could, and she was never one to put on a show to keep it girly. She had a piece of cereal stuck at the corner of her mouth. I reached out, but just as my thumb grazed her face, she shot up from her seat. The screeching sound of her chair sliding and ultimately crashing to the floor made the both of us flinch, yet neither of us made a move.

  “Why are you here, Tack?” she blurted, louder than she intended to if the look on her face was any indication.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. No doubt it was Dax. Again. I would have to deal with him soon, or else he’d be back, ready to break the door down. I had to admit, I was curious as to why he hadn’t shown up already. The fucker rose with the birds after all. Maybe he really did think the media had eyes in the area and that he would draw more attention. That was the last thing we needed.

  The idea of some sleazy ass photog lurking around Presley’s place put me on edge, but before I could take a look out the window, she reminded me that I owed her an explanation. What could I say? I hadn’t yet figured it out myself.

  “I can’t take any more bad press, Presley. You know what it could do to my career, my future in the NFL.”

  I could hear the douche-ness in my own ears, yet my mouth just kept on going.

  “This close to the draft, you know how it is. Every single year, there’s always at least one top prospect whose integrity is suddenly called into question. Shit always gets dug up. Haters out there trying to kill a career before it can even begin.”

  Jesus Christ. If only someone would shut me the fuck up.

  “So, that’s it?” Her voice was laced with pure hatred. “That’s why you’re here? To secure your spot in the fucking draft?! What’s wrong, Tack? Scared the sports world would decide to run our little small-town scandal? That you’ll lose millions for whoring out your high school girlfriend and for that girlfriend getting knocked up by the guy you almost ran a train with? God, you are a piece of fucking work. No worries, asshole. I have more important things on my plate. You’re off the hook. So go, get out, and never, ever fucking look back!

  And just like that, things had gone from bad to worse. My mouth had always gotten me into trouble, and truth be told, most of the time, I couldn’t give a shit. But right then, I had to try to make it right.

  My head started to throb, and my tongue felt thick inside my mouth. I felt a tingling sensation run down the back of my neck, and I swore to fuck, if I were to pass out yet again, I’d be done, fucking done. I just needed a moment, some water maybe. Doc had warned me that it could happen, but since I awoke feeling half normal, I figured I was good to go. Now, not so much.

  “Presley, I didn’t mean…” My voice sounded funny in my ears. With clenched fists, she leaned in, but before she could bite my head off, the ringing in my ears grew loud
er. Her angered face softened, and her brows drew together as she reached out and grabbed my forearm.

  In that split second, I was thrown back to the day I met her, the day she tapped me on my bare back. My skin heated under her touch just like it had back then, all those years ago. It was a simple gesture, yet that was all it took. My head began to spin, but I attempted to hold on to what little dignity I had left.

  When I pulled away, I immediately missed her touch. It was as though a bolt of lightning withdrew itself, and I wanted, needed it back. Only I couldn’t act on the energy flowing through me.

  “Jesus,” she breathed, “you’ve got to lay down. What were you thinking?!”

  She pulled and tugged until I finally, I gave in and stumbled behind her as she led me down the hallway.

  “Just lay down, okay? I have things to do today; you won’t be disturbed in here.”

  Her bedroom. No, no, no. Not a good idea. But the thought of sliding in between the sheets that had been wrapped around her slight frame not long ago proved too tempting. For once in my life, I shut my mouth and did as I was told.

  As always, when it came to her, I tried not to stare and again, as always, I failed…miserably. Just like the day we met, she rummaged around, going between her bedroom and bathroom opening drawers in search of any and everything she thought would help me.

  I didn’t want to soften towards her, but fuck if she didn’t make it almost impossible. Of all the women who had come and gone, the so-called ‘friends’ who only wanted fame, none of them, not one, would do half of what this girl was doing for me at that very moment. Dax was really all I had, but he had his own shit to deal with.