Death of a Waterfall (The Hayden Falls Saga) (3 page)

Teghan smiled.

"I figure we can take a bite or two then just push the rest of the food around our plates and make it look like we're eating."

"Thanks," she said. She was grateful for his conspiratorial attitude. Not many people, other than Trevor, really understood how she felt when it came to dealing with her family. From the outside, her family looked normal, maybe even perfect, but from the inside, it was a hot mess worthy of their own weekly soap opera.

"Okay, so tell me again, who are all these people?" he asked with a laugh.

"Well, the guy Alex is talking to, that's Trevor. He's my brother and Alex's best friend. Sitting next to Trevor are my parents, and next to them is Annabelle's father, and then Annabelle is right here."

"Annabelle is Alex's ex?"

Teghan stared at him. Was he serious? Wait, how much did Donnie know about Alex and his ex? Obviously, not everything because he was under the very wrong assumption that Annabelle was Alex's ex. She avoided his probing gaze. "If you're Alex's roommate, why were you at HFU today?"

"Alex's car wouldn't start. He needed a ride. Said he had something important to do for his ex."

"That was nice of you," she said.

Donnie shrugged. "He offered me free food. How could I refuse?"

Teghan laughed. "I think you got a bad deal considering the company." She inclined her head slightly toward the opposite side of the table and grinned.

"I think the company is absolutely fine." He swept his gaze downward over Teghan's body and back again, landing on her eyes.

She sipped her water, hoping the icy coldness would freeze her rapid heartbeat and cool her heated flesh. "Give it time," Teghan said as she listened to her father drone on about his recent trip to Comic Con. It was hard to ignore, considering how loud and animated he was. He always talked like that though. Mom always said it was because he was a lawyer and he was trained to talk like that. Teghan found it annoying more times than not.

"Sounds like it was one hell of a trip," Annabelle's father said once Rob stopped to take a breath.

"It definitely was," Rob said.

Rachel huffed. "Maybe for you," she said. "The leather from that Catwoman costume chafed my skin."

"But you looked damn sexy, especially when you started to snap that whip." Rob leaned over and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, so gross," Teghan said, making a face.

Trevor flung his head back and laughed.

"Only you would find that funny, Trevor," Teghan said. Her face became warm as she searched for a way to escape.

"You're on your own next year," Rachel said with a sweet smile.

Trevor laughed harder. He folded his arms over his stomach and put his head on the table. "I'm sorry," he breathed. "I was just picturing Dad dressed in tights and a cape with a big R written across his chest."

"You're an idiot, Trev." God! Why did her family go out of their way to embarrass her? Maybe she could slip out of her chair unnoticed and hide under the table.

"Personally, I think it'd be fun to go," Alex said.

"My uncle use to go to Comic Con every year," Donnie said. "Although he preferred to dress like Spiderman."

Teghan cupped her hand over her mouth. She was surrounded by geeks. And if she wasn't so totally embarrassed by the entire situation, she might be able to see the humor in it. Maybe.

Rob glared across the table at Trevor. "That's enough," he said.

"Sorry, Dad," Trevor said.

Their food arrived before anything else could be said. Teghan didn't speak much during dinner. She was too focused on eating and getting the hell out of there. Every so often she'd glance over and catch Alex looking at her. He would smile and wink. Each time, she'd quickly look away. And then there was Donnie beside her, whose mere presence was unsettling. He was just so damn hot and he took all of her family's antics in stride, as if he'd been dealing with all of them for years. She liked him. And that was bad considering he was Alex's roommate. She set her fork down and sat back in her chair. Then she caught her brother's eye. He had that look that was pure mischief. Trevor curled up the corner of his mouth, winked at Teghan and slowly turned toward Alex.

"Alex, you should come hang out this weekend. I don't have to leave for college until Monday," Trevor said. "You can crash at the house."

"That's a great idea," Rob said, loudly clapping his hands together. "And you can stay for Sunday dinner too."

Alex cleared his throat and looked at Teghan. "You okay with that?"

The table fell silent. Teghan felt a heat wave pulse through her body and erupt on her face as she searched for an answer that would satisfy him without hurting his feelings. Her instant reaction was to say, "Why would I care? I'm not going home this weekend anyway." But she refrained because that would be rude and would give her father a reason to raise his voice. "Uh, sure." She wiped her mouth with a napkin. Teghan wanted there to be no doubts in Alex's mind that hanging out with Trevor was in no way a date with her or an agreement to be friends. "Annie and I are going to be busy this weekend anyway."

"Oh yeah? Doing what?" Trevor asked as he propped his elbows on the table.

"Trevor," their mom said. "Get your elbows off the table."

Teghan grit her teeth as Trevor dropped his elbows from the table. She could always count on him to make an awkward situation unbearable. "We're going to check out a sorority party or something."

"I'm not spending thousands of dollars for college so you can party," Rob said.

"Dad." Teghan sighed and shook her head. "You can't expect me to live in that dorm forever. Annie and I are just going to check things out."

"We'll talk about this later," he said before excusing himself from the table.

"What about you, man?" Trevor asked Donnie. "We gonna see you this weekend, too?"

Teghan watched as Donnie looked to Alex for an answer. She could tell from the scowl on Alex's face he wasn't happy with the idea. She couldn't help but wonder why.

"I've got no other plans," Donnie finally said.

"Sounds like a good time to me." Trevor grinned.

~ * ~

Two cannolis and an hour later, they were finally leaving. Teghan said a quick goodbye to her parents and Trevor before leaving with Annabelle. Alex and Donnie followed them out of the restaurant. They stopped in front of Teghan's car. "I think it'd be best if I didn't hang out with you this weekend," Teghan said to Alex. "Have fun with Trevor though. He's really missed you." She opened the driver's side door and started to climb in.

"Teghan, wait," Alex said, grabbing her elbow. "It doesn't have to be this way."

She broke free from his grip. "Yes, it does. I'm sorry." Teghan turned toward Donnie. A knot formed in her stomach when she saw the realization in his eyes. "It was nice meeting you."

Teghan climbed into her car and slammed the door before he could respond. She rested her head on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. The entire day had been a disaster. She'd met a gorgeous guy who had sat through dinner with her family, and she knew she'd probably never see him again. Life sucked. The sound of Annabelle's door shutting had Teghan sitting up and starting the engine. She waved to Donnie and Alex before driving away.

"You okay?" Annabelle asked her.

"Just tired," Teghan said. "You?"

"I'm sure I'm just tired too."

"That's not what I meant," Teghan said softly.

Annabelle wiped a single tear from her face. "Today was harder than I thought it'd be," she admitted.

"Oh, Annie." Annabelle's mother had been killed by a drunk driver a year after they'd moved to Hayden Falls. That was seven years ago. Teghan pulled over, put the car in park, leaned across the seat and gave Annabelle a hug. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Annabelle straightened and wiped her tears. "I thought that getting through high school without my mom had prepared me for today, but…" She shook her head. "I miss her so much."

"I know you do." Teghan didn't know what else to say. Everything that came to mind seemed so crass. She'd never lost anyone close to her. She had no idea what Annabelle was going through or how to comfort her. So she did the same thing she'd done way back then; she simply listened and let her friend cry.

"It just seems like so much has changed lately."

"No kidding." Teghan put the car in gear and pulled back onto the road.

"Do me a favor, Teghan?"

"Anything."

"Try to make things better with Alex."

Teghan frowned. "That's easier said than done."

"Please? For me?"

"Why is this so important to you?"

"Because it is. I miss how close we all used to be, and I can't stand the thought of losing that. It feels like my family is falling apart again, and I don't know if I can survive it a second time."

Teghan looked over at Annabelle and sighed. Annabelle had been one of the few people who had supported Teghan's decision to break up with Alex, and God knows Teghan hadn't made it easy on her. Causing her friend any more pain was the last thing she wanted to do. "Okay," Teghan said. "I'll talk to him this weekend."

Chapter Three

Donnie sat on what CIT considered a bed but in reality felt like a two-by-four frame equipped with a flat air mattress and stared at the blank screen of his laptop. He knew his mother would get upset if he didn't call her soon, but he didn't really know what to tell her. Maybe an email would be easier, he thought. A quick hello and an assurance that he was okay then he could go about his night.

"Yeah, what a night," he mumbled. It was his first night at college and what was he doing? Sitting in his room thinking about his mom. God, could he be any more pathetic? He should be out partying; getting drunk, meeting girls, and forgetting about Teghan. Donnie hadn't stopped thinking about Teghan since he'd seen her on the bench at HFU. The way her hazel eyes had sparkled then burned when she talked about how bad her day had been. He'd never seen anything like it before. And her name. He loved how exotic it sounded. Everything about her was enticing. No other woman had ever had this effect on him--especially not a woman he'd met only twice. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Feel like having a little fun tonight?" Alex asked as he walked into the room, kicking the door shut behind him. He held up two brown paper bags. "I've got beer." He put the bags down on his bed and unpacked them.

"Is that tequila?" Donnie closed his laptop and set it on the foot of his bed.

"Yup." Alex grinned.

Donnie took a bottle of beer from Alex, opened it, and took a long drink. "How'd you manage to score all of this?"

Alex chugged from his beer. He smiled. "I went to high school with the guy who works at the liquor store," he explained as he sat on his bed.

"You know we can get kicked out of the dorm if we're caught drinking."

Alex laughed. "And that would be a bad thing?"

"No." Donnie laughed. "But I for one don't have anywhere else to go, so I kinda need to be careful." That would suck if he got kicked out of the dorm and had to go back to Pennsylvania. Going home was his only option because he didn't have money for rent. The only reason he was here in the first place was because he'd gotten several scholarships and maximum financial aid. Without it he'd be stuck in Pennsylvania at some crappy community college. "We should hit a party. Know of any?"

Alex shook his head as he swallowed a mouthful of alcohol. "You ever play Power Hour?"

Damn. Donnie was hoping they could get out of the dorm and still get drunk. "No. What's that?"

Alex got off his bed and handed the bottle of tequila to Donnie.

"This is it?" Donnie asked. "This bottle is enough for me. What're you gonna drink?"

Alex laughed. "Power hour is a shot a minute every minute for an entire hour." He pulled salt, lime wedges, and two shot glasses from one of the bags.

"Isn't this normally played with beer?" Donnie asked.

"Scared?"

"Ha! Hope you're ready to be embarrassed."

Alex walked to his dresser and pulled out a basketball shaped kitchen timer. He set it for one hour. "Ready?"

"Why the fuck do you have a timer in your dresser?" Donnie liked Alex and he hoped Alex wasn't a weirdo or anything. But honestly, who keeps a timer in their dresser?

"It was a gift from Teghan," he said, sprinkling salt on the soft area of his hand between his thumb and forefinger.

"You like to cook or something?" Donnie mimicked Alex's actions.

"Nah. I used it during practice to time myself."

"Practice?"

"Yup. Varsity basketball for three years," Alex said. "Time."

Donnie and Alex licked the salt from their hands, downed the shot and bit the lime. They simultaneously slammed their empty shot glasses on Alex's desk.

"Woo!" Alex yelled, making a face and shaking his head.

Donnie laughed. He refilled their shot glasses and handed Alex a lime wedge. "You playing on the college team?"