Beautiful Illusions (32 page)

I float back to the party. I’m not sure my feet ever hit the ground. The only downfall is that I never had the chance to tell Ace how I feel. And I damn well plan on rectifying that in just a little while. I scan the blooming crowd for Brylee, but there’s no sign.

A pair of arms circle around my waist, and I spin with a smile.

“That was fast,” I say, and my smile glides off when I see Warren’s bruised face. “Shit!” I jump a little at the sight.

He tightens his grip over me. His lids hood low with a snarl locked on his lips as the stench of vodka washes over me.

“What were you doing at the boathouse tonight?” His demeanor hardens as his fingers dig into my waist. “Neva says you’re fucking him. Is that true?”

“You’re drunk. Let go.” I squirm out of his arms, and Warren reels me right back.

“Tell me right
now
,” he roars it over my face, making my skin vibrate in rhythm to his disdain for me. The veins on either side of his neck extend, thick as cables.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know in the morning, when I know for a fact you’ll remember it.”

I break free and run all the way home—right up into my bedroom to wait for Ace.

My father’s cologne swims through the air as a seam of moonlight bisects my room, exposing a small white rectangle lying on my pillow. I close the door and head over without bothering with the lights. My fingers glide across the cool envelope as my mother’s familiar handwriting greets me.

Happy 21
^th
birthday, Reese!

I pet the soft skin of the paper and pretend it’s my mother’s hair. She wore it long, and when I played with it, I pretended I was combing through silk.

The seal parts for me all the way across without a single nick to the envelope. I slip the letter out and float it between my fingers. In just a little while, Ace will be here. He said he’d gladly read them with me. How much better will it be to read this while nestled safe in his arms? I slip the letter back into the envelope and tuck it under my mattress for safekeeping, right along with the “special recipes” I’m more than ready to read.

The curtains to my room billow like ghosts as the night breeze sails in. I can’t wait for Ace to arrive. And the fact I get to share my mother with him on my birthday is the icing on the cake, quite literally.

Kennedy was wrong. I can have my cake and eat it, too. After all, it is my birthday.

I lie down and drift to sleep to the sound of people laughing, and shouting, music blaring in my honor from the lake.

Ace will be here soon. And it’s a dream within a dream.

Time passes as I writhe over my sheets lost with Ace in my nocturnal wanderings. I can practically feel his hot lips racing up my neck, his heated hands tracking down my hips then melting lower still.

“Ace,” I whisper as my lids flutter. The hands, the body pressed over mine is real.

The strong scent of hard liquor pulls me out of my slumber, and I struggle to get my bearings on reality. He yanks at my dress and tears off my underwear.

“Ace?” I pull back in a panic and knock into the headboard.

“Try again. It’s the other man of your dreams.” Warren plunges his tongue down my throat, and I twist my head away.

“Get off.” I push him up enough for the moonlight to gloss over his skin.

Warren’s shirt is off, and I don’t see any shorts on him either—he’s naked, and proud, and judging by the liquor store he ingested, totally wasted.

He lands over me like a stone and gathers my wrists high above my head.

“You think I’m just going to let you turn me down while you whore around with Waterman?” He says his name like it’s a joke. “I fucking hung around for you.”

“Get the hell off or I’ll scream.” I struggle to break free from his grip. “My dad is going burn you alive if he finds you in here.”

Warren clamps his hand over my mouth and works my dress up over my hips.

“You want to scream?” He works my legs apart with his just as my phone buzzes from the dresser.

“Ace,” I moan through his fingers.

“What’d you say?” His voice rises in agitation.

I can feel his hard-on grazing over my thigh and my entire body palpitates with fear. Warren tightens his hand over my mouth until he’s covering my nose, and I can’t breathe.

Shit.

The sound of my name being called softly from outside startles him, and he pauses from his moronic efforts.

I shake my head free from his grip.

“Ace!” My voice shrills through the room, and I hope to God someone, anyone other than Warren heard.

“You fucking little bitch.” His mouth slides over mine in a sloppy kiss, and I squirm until my torso falls off the bed. I yank my legs from underneath him and the rest of me sails to the floor.

“Shit.” He lands next to me as I crawl away on all fours. “Damn bitch.” He catches me by the waist as I let another cry rip from my lungs.

I knock the end table onto his back as I make a break for the window.

“Ace!” I scan the darkened patio below as I fumble with the screen.

Warren yanks me away, and I tear the screen right off the window as he slams me against the wall. I press my hands into his chest as he crushes against my body—his eyes alive with his demented lust.

“I thought you were waiting for me,” he grunts, pressing into me with all his strength. “You said you weren’t
ready
.” He hoists up my thighs around his waist, and my head slams against the wall. I can feel his hard-on graze against the most intimate part of me, and I let out a cry as a wave of nausea cycles through me. “Well I’m ready for you, bitch.” He crashes his mouth to mine, and I turn my face.

“Don’t do this.” It rips from me, broken and childlike. “You’re drunk. You’re not this person, Warren.”

He tries plunging himself into me and spears up my stomach instead.

The door bursts open.

“Reese?” Ace bolts over.

He plucks Warren off me, and I crash to the floor.

“Thank God.” I stumble to my feet.

Warren and Ace wrestle and throw punches in the dark, kicking and grunting until Warren slams Ace into the wall. Ace flips him over, and they both sail right out the window.

Crap.

Ace

We plummet through the air, and the look of horror on Warren’s face lets me know this is going to hurt. And, being the nice guy I am, it looks as if I’m about to break his fall.

My back slams into something soft and smooth, and I glide down a three-foot awning and onto an opened umbrella that carefully rolls me to the deck.

“Shit.” I marvel as I land on my feet.

Warren slams face first into the railing next to me and flips backward onto the concrete driveway below. I glance over the rail to see him lying with his arms and legs in the running man position like some cartoon line art of a dead man.

“Fuck,” I hiss as a crowd begins to gather. I hop over the railing and lower myself down to the concrete next to him.

“Ace!” Reese runs out of the house with her father and stepmother in tow, the two of them cinching their matching robes.

“Reese.” I catch her in my arms and squeeze tight. “Did he hurt you?” My lips land over her ear.

“No.” She swallows hard looking over at the crowd in the driveway.

Warren sits up with a blanket pulled tight around his body as Reese’s stepmother tends to the scrapes on his face.

“What happened?” Her father pulls her from my grasp. “Did those two get in a fight? Do I need to call the police?” He glares at me as he says it.

“Yes, you need to call the police,” she pants. “Warren broke into my room and attacked me.”

“What?” Her father repels, clearly stunned as if it couldn’t be true. “Warren was just probably trying to get you back to the party. He would never hurt you.”

“He did. And he’s naked in the event you haven’t noticed.” Reese clings to me even harder. “Trust me, he wanted to hurt me. And if it wasn’t for Ace, he would have succeeded.”

“What was Ace doing in your room?” His eyes widen with disbelief.

“He heard me screaming. Warren was trying to force himself on me. Do I have to spell it out?”

Her father darts his suspicions from me to Reese.

The McCarthy’s waddle over in their slippers. Great. Here we go. Something tells me I’ll be needing bail and an attorney of my own before morning.

“Look”—Reese steps into her dad—“if you don’t call the police, I will. I’m not putting up with anymore of Warren’s bullshit.”

“
Reese
.” Her father grits it out like a threat.

“I’m going to get my things.” She leans into my chest a moment. “I’ll be staying with Ace. He’s the one I care about, not Warren. It was never Warren.” She looks up at me with tenderness locked in her eyes. “I’m in love with Ace Waterman, and I always have been.”

Her stepmother crops up just in time to hear Reese’s declaration, and her face bleaches out. I’m sorry if it’s not the news she wanted, but in truth, it’s exactly what I needed to hear and it feels damn good.

I follow Reese up to her bedroom as she throws a few things in her backpack. She kneels at the foot of her bed and slips her hand into the mattresses, retrieving a small stack of letters.

“They’re from my mom.” She bows her head a moment before stuffing them into the bag. She gets up and lands her arms around my waist. A sad smile pulls on her lips. “Um, I guess I sort of invited myself, but can I stay with you tonight? If not I can find Bry—”

I touch my finger to her lips. “Tonight and forever.” I land a gentle kiss over her cheek and we leave the Westfield house through the back, away from the noise, the accusations and one seriously jacked up Warren McCarthy.

I’m taking Reese home, and I never want her to leave.

The lights are all on at the cabin despite the fact it’s well past two in the morning. As soon as Reese and I walk through the door, Neva wastes no time in scowling at us before barreling down the hall to her room.

“What the hell?” Dad stomps out in his boxers with his BB gun at the ready.

Shit.

I fill him in on what happened, and he heads toward the door and cranes his neck out at the lake.

“I’d better get out there to see if you killed anyone tonight.” He shoves the BB gun in my chest with a wry smile. “How many times have I told you to keep your nose clean? But”—he looks to Reese and his features soften—“I’m glad you’re okay, Reese. I don’t want anyone forcing themselves on you. Excuse me while I throw on some clothes.” He heads back down the hall at a quickened pace.

“Come here.” I press a kiss over her head and lead her to my bedroom. I snap on the tiny desk lamp next to my bed in hopes she won’t see that my closet has vomited out into the four corners of the room. “You can take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“No way.” She rubs her hands up over my back and settles her eyes on me with the look of genuine affection. “If you don’t mind I’d like to jump in the shower—wash Warren off—but when I get out, I want to find you warming the sheets for me.”

“For you? I’d set myself on fire to keep you warm.” I wrap my arms back around her waist and gaze down at her with a pinch of grief. “Tell me what he did to you.”

“Nothing.” Her lips press together, white as plaster. “He tried to kiss me, and I artfully deflected his efforts.” She glances away a moment. “Then he tried to, you know—and he couldn’t.”

“Shit.” An instant rage pumps through me. “If I didn’t kill him, I’ll have to rectify that tomorrow.” I’m not fucking kidding.

“Please don’t.” Her lips curve up one side, and her tiny dimple goes off like a comma. “I don’t want you in prison because then we can’t do this.” She leans up on her tiptoes and lands a careful kiss over my lips. “God—Ace.” Her lids flutter a moment. “You saved me.” She tightens her grip around my waist and gives a hard sniff. “I’d better hop in the shower.” She wipes the tears from her eyes. “I want to scrape him off my body.”

“Take your time.” I land another kiss on her lips, and this time we linger.

“I love you, Ace Waterman.” She blinks up at me with those expectant blue eyes.