Redemption and Regrets (Chastity Falls, #4) (9 page)

I slowed my pace as the red brick buildings came into view. I didn’t expect to see her, not really, so my eyes almost bugged out of my head when I spotted Cara exiting the glass doors with the creep from the bar hot on her heels. Not wanting to be seen, I ducked behind some bushes to watch her. She looked pissed as she marched down the path. The guy yelled something, but Cara didn’t stop, so he picked up his pace breaking into a jog.

Cara spun around, and with her hands firmly on her hips, she glared at him before unleashing her short temper on him. The guy obviously knew it was coming; he threw his hands up in defense, attempting to pacify her, but it didn’t work. Like at the bar, something about their exchange bothered me. They were obviously more than acquaintances, but it felt more personal than just friends. The same jealousy I’d experienced watching them at The Grove burned through me, and when he reached out to touch her, my fists clenched at my side.

‘Get off me,’
I thought I saw her yell, all up in his face, as much as someone standing around five inches shorter than her adversary could. But the guy didn’t back down. He grabbed her arm and held Cara in place, forcing her to listen to him. Her eyes widened with something. Fear? Alarm? It was enough for me. I broke my cover and jogged over to where they stood. Cara noticed me straight away, surprise registering in her features.

“You need to back off.” I angled myself to face the guy, ignoring Cara for now.

“And who the fuck are you?” The dude’s eyes narrowed, but his grip on Cara remained. My eyes flickered to where his hand curled around her arm and back to his face. “You need to let go of her, now.”

“Bra-”

“You know this dick?” The guy addressed Cara, and I felt her tense beside me. Something must have passed between them because he released her and dropped his hands to his side.

“You should stay out of things that don’t concern you. I’ll catch you later, Cara.”

His warning rolled off me, and I didn’t take my eyes off him until he disappeared back inside the building.

“What the hell was that?” she hissed, and I turned to Cara and frowned. She was pissed at me? “I had it under control, Braiden. You shouldn’t have done that. Shit.”

Unfamiliar emotions rushed through me, and I didn’t know what to say. So I shook my head, drove my hands in my pockets, and started walking.

“Wait, Braiden, just wait,” she called after me, and I stopped. What the hell was it about her that had me so confused?

“I’m sorry, okay.” She stepped around me and smiled up at me. “Thanks, for what you did. Jason gets a little carried away sometimes.” Her eyes moved past me, and I wondered if he was watching us.

“He your guy?”

Green eyes snapped back to mine. “Who? Jason? No. No! It isn’t like that. Listen, I can’t talk now, but later? Our spot?”

Our spot?
Why was that like music to my fucking ears?

“Eight?”

“Eight.” Cara nodded and headed back to her building, while I stood there, in the middle of the campus like some pussy-whipped punk, wondering what the hell had just happened.

~

W
hen eight o’clock finally rolled around, I was ready to combust, and as if the short blonde wasn’t enough to contend with, Jack Doyle hadn’t called me like he was supposed to. So much for being their secret weapon—apparently, I was so important that no one thought to keep me in the fucking loop.

The stadium was cloaked in darkness, and I blended into the black backdrop as I headed for the back of the bleachers again.

“I wondered if you were going to show.” Cara was sitting on the last row with her hoodie pulled her over her head to keep out the cool breeze.

“I keep my word.”

She shrugged and nodded for me to take a seat beside her. “I brought coffee. You want?”

“Sure.” I helped myself to one of the cups and took a swallow. “So no Jason?”

“He doesn’t know I’m here, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“And he needs to know where you are at all times?”

“It’s complicated.”

Wasn’t it always? I didn’t get involved with girls for this exact reason. They
were
the complication. Just look at Ana and Jackson. He was a goner the second he’d laid eyes on her at the freshman orientation party. He hadn’t known back then that I knew he felt something for her, but I saw it. She was bad news, but her pretty face and the black shadow hanging over her blinded him.

I didn’t let myself fall for all of that bullshit. I fucked and moved on. Sometimes, a girl was worth keeping around if she was extra special in the sack. But a relationship? No, thank you.

“Where have you gone?” Cara stared at me as if I’d grown a second head.

“Just thinking. Thanks for the coffee.” I tipped the cup in her direction before taking another swallow.

“So that’s it? You’re not going to push me for answers?”

“About Jason? No, I’m not going to push you. We all have secrets. You keep yours, and I’ll keep mine,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

“He’s a family friend,” Cara said propping her feet up on the bench in front. Just like she had that first time. “My brother, of sorts, I guess. He thinks he can boss me around, stick his nose in my business. I hate it. It’s always been that way ever since I was just a girl.”

I didn’t say anything. She obviously needed to get this off her chest, and if I was being honest with myself, I wanted to know about her. About her past.

About Jason.

“My dad is way overprotective. He didn’t want me moving away for college. We argued ... a lot. I threatened to go anyway, so Jason was the compromise. If I agreed with us going to college together, Dad said he would give me his blessing to live on campus.”

“Sounds like a pretty shit deal.”

Soft laughter filled the air and I relaxed back onto my arms. “It’s not too bad. I got to come to Pacific and study art. They have a great program and all I’ve ever wanted to do is paint. Jason mostly stays out of my business. He’s studying business.”

“Good for him,” I shot back unable to hide the bitterness in my voice.

“Hey.” Cara nudged my shoulder with her own, and my stomach dipped. Only last night I’d had a hot chick almost naked offering it up to me on a plate and Cara was able to elicit more feeling from me with a simple touch of her shoulder. I was officially losing my fucking mind.

“The freedom is ... well, it’s fucking awesome. Growing up with a dad like mine wasn’t easy. He still thinks he can tell me who I can and can’t date. I mean I’m twenty for Christ’s sake. But what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right? I got pretty good at sneaking out when I was younger. The habit kind of stuck.”

I turned to look at her and our eyes connected, locking on each other’s. Her cheeks flushed with color and I liked the way it looked against her pale skin. Cara dropped her eyes for a second before they flickered up to my mouth.

“I was pissed when you tried to save me earlier. I don’t need saving, Braiden.” Her eyes didn’t move from my mouth as she spoke, and my heart slammed against my chest over and over.

Cara might not have needed saving ... but I did.

I inched closer to her until our noses almost touched. “I’m not the good guy, Cara,” I warned her.

She should stay away from me. I was no good for her. People got hurt around me.
I
hurt people.

Cara closed the gap, pressing her lips to mine. For those first few seconds, I froze, unable to move. But like a small spark igniting a fire, I became lost in the feel of her mouth moving over mine, and somewhere deep inside me, a switch flipped. Hooking an arm around the curve of her waist, I pulled Cara flush to me, causing her to yelp into my mouth. Our tongues clashed, fighting for control. I could feel her anger and frustration with every lick and touch. She was taking her shit out on me, and I was more than happy to oblige. She tasted too fucking good to stop, like coffee and strawberry bubble gum. I dug my fingers into her waist, needing her to be closer as our lips explored and nipped and dueled for dominance.

“God, I knew we were the same. I knew you understood me,” Cara murmured into my mouth. But I heard her. I heard every damn word, and they hit me like a bucket of ice water.

“Stop, we have to stop.” I released my hold on her and pulled away, putting some space between us. The flush in her cheeks had spread down her neck and I wanted to taste her right where her jawline met the underside of her ear, but I couldn’t.

I wouldn’t.

This had gone far enough. Cara thought we were the same.

We were nothing alike.

She was just a girl seeking independence, wanting to break away from her father’s rule and live her own life.

And I was the guy fathers warned their daughters about.

C
ara blinked at me, rejection flickering in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Shit.” I cracked my knuckles needing to relieve some of the tension. What I really needed was a cold shower. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Shouldn’t have or you didn’t want to?”

My eyes snapped to hers, glaring hard. Surely, she had to know the effect she had on me. Cara’s eyes narrowed back, waiting for some kind of explanation.

“We can’t do this,” I said slowly, making sure to hammer home each word, but defiance schooled her features. “I think we just did,” she replied.

“It won’t happen again.”

“Won’t? Or can’t? What are you hiding?”

I hated that she could see through me so easily. Okay, I’d jumped ship when she had asked about my scar, and even though a hundred different scenarios existed for the jagged line marring my skin, she didn’t know. She couldn’t. So why did it feel like she knew I was hiding things from her to keep her safe?

Safe from me.

“Cara,” I warned. I didn’t want to leave. Not yet. But we couldn’t do that again—whatever the fuck that was because it sure as shit felt like more than just a kiss.

My cell phone vibrated startling us both and I cursed under my breath, retrieving it from my jeans pocket. Jack’s name flashed across the screen, and I angled the phone away from Cara. “I need to take this.” I rose and started down the steps. I didn’t want to answer it until I was out of her earshot, but something made me stop and turn around. “Same time tomorrow?”

Cara pulled her lips into a thin line and I expected to hear a ‘no’ tumble out of her mouth, but the line broke into a slight smile and she nodded.

“Bye,” I mouthed as I jogged down the remainder of the steps and hit answer. “Hello.”

“Braiden, we need to talk.”

~

I
turned the key and entered the apartment.

“I just got home, hang on.” Hitting the light switch, I closed the door and secured the latch. “Okay, you said we needed to talk.”

After I had left the stadium, Jack had made small talk waiting for me to return to the apartment. I’d offered to call him back, but he’d seemed more than willing to chat about mundane things like how was Forest Grove? What was I doing with my time? All meaningless bullshit if you asked me.

“There’s been a complication.”

“Complication?” I was beginning to realize that Jack Doyle was much like my father. He only gave out information on a need to know basis. If he didn’t think you needed to know, he didn’t tell you. It was that simple.

“O’Connor knows you’re out. We’re not sure how, since we covered our tracks. Or, at least, we thought we did. He doesn’t know where you are, but word’s out that you’re walking free.”

“Okay,” I said. It wasn’t any great shocker that he knew. He’d tried to have me killed, so it made sense he had someone watching me. “What do we do?”

“You stay put. Forest Grove is the safest place for you right know. I’m working to persuade my associates to move the timeline forward. The quicker we can move against him, the better. I don’t like the idea of giving him enough time to track you down.”

“And Briony?”

“She’s safe with Luke. Astoria is safe.”

Was it? I didn’t know that because I still didn’t know what the hell I’d walked into. Sure, Jack made it sound like I was a key player—he wanted to bring me into the fold—but something about the whole thing bugged me and like it or not, right now I was his puppet.
Unless you walk away.

“How long?”

“A couple of weeks, at least.”

My mind instantly went to the short blonde I’d left sitting on the bleachers only minutes earlier.

“Luke said you wanted some time. This is a good thing, son. You can take the time you need to make a decision, and then when the time’s right, we’ll bring you back and restore your family name. Your grandfather would want nothing more.”

My chest filled with the pain of being screwed over by Dad—by O’Connor. At one time, being Braiden Donohue was all that had mattered to me. But now?

Now, I didn’t know if it was enough.

~

T
he next day, I walked the streets of Forest Grove trying to get my head straight, but my feet led me in one direction—to the campus. It was easy to blend in the crowds of students moving around the small grounds. My black hoodie faded into a sea of Pacific sweaters and hoodies, and no one seemed to notice the lone guy amidst their ranks.