The Last Thing (17 page)

“He never hurt me though. He loved me. I masked his flaws
with his obsessive need for me. I was the only one who could ground him. I always
chose to see the good in him. I thought it was exciting. There
was
good
in him though. I don’t want you to think badly of him.”

Due to my lack of relationship experience, I didn’t
understand how she could ignore such large flaws, but I let her continue.

“After he went off to college, things must have gotten worse.
We lived hours apart, but we visited each other every month. I could feel him
drifting away… I should’ve seen the signs, the depression, the drinking, but I
didn’t. He was stressed from the pressures of school, football scouts, and his
parents, but I thought things were okay...I wanted to believe that we were
okay.”

As she spoke, I studied her body language. There were secrets
untold, but what were they? She had been oblivious to it all, she had really
loved him. Something had changed her. I had to know what it was.

“Go on, dear. Don’t stop. I’m not going anywhere.” My ears
perked up as she continued with her story. She kept her eyes closed refusing to
look at me as she talked.

“Then one night, at the end of his sophomore year, he called me
while drunk. He kept crying and said all of these things that didn’t make
sense. He kept talking about killing himself and…and… he scared me, so I got in
the car and drove to his frat house. It took me over an hour to get there, but
by the time I’d made it to his place, he was unrecognizable. Somehow, I
convinced him to get in my car, and I drove us home. I don’t remember much else
after that.”

“We were arguing about something, and I must of lost control.
My car swerved off the road and we went flying from the bridge into the lake. I
woke up as the car was filling up with water, and I vaguely remember trying to
convince Bash to get out, but he just sat there. I remember my seatbelt was jammed,
and I was so scared. I don’t remember much else. Did I give up and swim to the
surface? Did I fight with him?  For the life of me, I just can’t remember. What
little I know resurfaced while in treatment. Someone found me on the bank the
next morning. I had two broken ribs and a concussion.”

I ran my fingers down her chest and along her ribs.  This is
where she had been hurt.

 “After he died, everyone blamed me. They said I ran the car
off the road in a jealous fit. I murdered him. Did I lose control? I don’t
know. I don’t know why I couldn’t save him. I don’t even know if I tried. I was
the only one there. I should have saved him.”

 I couldn’t take anymore. Her story broke me inside. This was
the pain she carried around every day.  She blamed herself for killing her
boyfriend. It intrigued me how she couldn’t quite remember what had happened,
but stress could cause one’s memory to black out. That was why she’d run away.
That was why she was so afraid to let me in. All the talk about me eventually
leaving her, this was all his doing.

“Quinn, it wasn’t your fault. Don’t let those people make you
believe anything but the truth. You’re a good person.”

“You hardly know me.”

“I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on you. It wasn’t your
fault.”

“I know that now, but it took two psychiatrists and an
attempted… suicide to pull me out of the funk. Bash’s parents tried to sue me.
Our friends blamed me and stopped talking to me. Shit, they even wrote news
stories on me. Reporters tried to figure out if I’d killed my boyfriend. My
parents got a divorce, and lost everything because they had to pay for my
medical and lawyer bills. Everyone that cared about me was hurting. I began
avoiding life. Then I moved out here, it was supposed to be a fresh start.”

“Suicide? Oh God- Quinn”

 I rolled her over so that she was on top of me. I couldn’t
say anything to make her feel better. That was something she had to figure out
on her own. From the way she spoke, she wanted to believe it wasn’t her fault.
She’d do anything to convince herself of that.

I ran my fingers up her body and breathed her in. I didn’t
care what problems she had. I wanted to heal her. If someone had asked me a
month ago if I would have stood by her side after this, I would have laughed in
their face. I never made the time for anyone else’s problems but my own. This
moment, this exact second, that instance would change me forever. The moment I fell
in love with Quinn.

Quinn

I
couldn’t sleep, my body felt wide-awake, even though the moon was still high in
the sky. Carefully rolling off Chase, I threw on my robe and made my way
downstairs to the kitchen. The sun wasn’t up, but it had to be early morning. 
Lying with Chase had been wondrous, but my mouth was dry, and I wanted a drink.
 Spilling my past to Chase had been a huge breath of fresh air. I could
breathe. I was more alive. The kitchen light was still on, and I was surprised
to see Ginger sitting in the kitchen counter with a pint of rocky road in her
hands. She always ate rocky road when she was upset.

“It’s me,” I said, trying not to scare her with my presence.
She peeked up from her snack and waved at me with her spoon.

“Can’t sleep?” she asked.

“Nope.” I walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of
water. After taking a long swig, I hopped up on the counter next to my cousin.
Ice cream wasn’t the only thing she was indulging in, I noticed. A half-empty
bottle of tequila sat next to her.

“Everything okay?” I asked her. She was still dressed in a
cocktail dress and her hair fell down in waves along her shoulders. She must
have just gotten home. She sighed and took another bite of her ice cream that
she promptly chased with a shot of tequila.

“Man troubles,” she said with a slight slur. I could smell
the alcohol on her breath, mixed with a bit of sweetness from the chocolate.

“Barrett?”

“Isn’t it always?”

“Anything I can do?”

“Yeah, you can stop asking so many damn questions.” She put
her ice cream down beside her and rubbed her temples firmly. “Ugh…Sorry, I’m
just in a bad mood, Quinn. On a lighter subject, was that Chase’s car parked
outside?” She raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

“Maybe…” I said with a childish giggle.
What the hell. Did
I just laugh like a schoolgirl? What is wrong with me?

“Good. A few girls at work were bitching because he stopped
returning their calls. Stupid whores. You may have snagged yourself one of the
few good guys out there.” She gave me a wink before standing up to put her ice
cream away.

I nodded.  His face flashed through my mind. The man who was
asleep in my bed, he was thoughtful. So far from the man who had called me his
‘little party favor’. 

Something vibrated in the distance making Ginger cry out and
slam the fridge door.

“That sound has been bugging the shit outta me for the past
hour. What in the hell is it?” she stomped into the living room and began
looking around. “It has been vibrating constantly over and over….” She tore
through the couch cushions while huffing.

“Ah, ha!” she cried out holding up a small smart phone. She
waved it at me mockingly.

“Not mine,” I said, noting its bluish color. Mine was purple.

“Idiot didn’t put a lock on it. Hmm… oh, it’s Chase’s phone.”

“He must have dropped it.”

“Uh huh.” She continued to stare down at it.

“Don’t go through it, Ginger. That’s rude.”

“Well, it’s in
my
house. Finders keepers.”  With a sly
look on her face, she began pushing buttons. Invading his privacy felt wrong,
but, I had to admit, I was a bit curious. Looking at someone’s phone was like
reading someone’s diary. She was obviously drunk and didn’t know what she was
doing so I put my hand out to grab the phone from her.

“You’re drunk, Ginger. Don’t go through his phone,” I warned.
As usual, she didn’t listen.

“Some girl named Lena has been messaging him all night
begging him to come over. She won’t give up, will she?”

“Lena?” I asked. The name wasn’t familiar. Chase had never
mentioned her before. I struggled to control my wandering thoughts, but
jealousy had already reared its ugly head. Our relationship was new, but Chase
had given me nothing but reasons to trust him.

“Oh, crap. It’s Lena Flatt.”

Okay, now I was totally confused. “Who is Lena Flatt?”

 My question caused her mouth to drop open in disbelief.

“Lena Flatt, named one of the thirty people under age thirty
to watch? She plays Carrie on
Timelines
?” She shook her head at me as if
I should know this. Did she forget that I’d spent the past year hiding under a
rock?

“Sorry. No.”

“We were both in the article. She is one of those singer
turned actress type. She’s such a whore!”

“And you think he’s still sleeping with her? I thought you
were pro-Chase. You told me he was one of the good guys.”

“I do, but it’s the girls you gotta watch out for. Give them
the chance, and they will stab you in the back. Stupid bitches. Wanna read?” She
shook the phone out in front of me.

As tempting as it was, I couldn’t betray Chase’s trust like
that. Not after last night, the way he hadn’t pried into my past. He’d accepted
me. All of me. I shook my head. “No way, I won’t invade his privacy like that.
You shouldn’t either.”

“Good,” said a voice from behind me.

 I spun around to see Chase standing there. His pants hung
low on his hips, and he was shirtless. My eyes trailed up his perfectly tanned
skin to see him glaring at Ginger. The slightest bit of sweat gleaned from his
brow.

“You’re the one stupid enough not to lock it,” she said
tossing it into Chase’s hands. He caught it effortlessly and slipped it into
his pocket.

“I know that you’re dealing with trust issues between you and
Barrett, and so I’ll let this slide. Lena is an old friend. There’s nothing
going on, anymore.”

He had said
anymore
. That meant something had
happened. Chase had many girls in his past, but having it right there out in
the open felt as if someone socked me in the stomach. I struggled to breathe,
to do anything except have a panic attack right here in front of Chase.
One,
two, three….breathe….

Ginger dropped her head in embarrassment. “Fuck! Barrett has
me so worked up tonight.”

I wished that she would find someone who’d appreciate her.
Someone, anyone who would treat her the way she deserved. She stumbled past the
two of us, but I put a hand out to stop her.

“Wait, Ginger. Are you going to be okay?”

She gave me a tight smile. “Yeah. I’m fine. See you in the
morning.”

 As she walked by Chase, she stuck a finger out and poked him
in the shoulder.

“Don’t you hurt her,” she threatened. “Or I’ll cut off your
balls.”

 Chase scrunched up his nose at her and sniffed the air
slightly. “Damn, Ginger. You stink like tequila.”

“And you both stink like sex,” she shot back and pointed at
the two of us.

 Mortified, I tightened my robe. Chase laughed off her
comment, but didn’t say a word. My face had to be a bright red. When she left
the room, Chase wrapped his arms around me and placed a kiss on my cheek.

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

“You keep talking to me like that, and pretty soon I may just
believe it,” I whispered.  Did he know how much his complement meant to me? I’d
always been the one to build Bash up, never the other way around.

“What are you thinking?” Chase asked me. He bent down somewhat
so that he could look me in the eyes.

“For the first time ever,” I said, “I can think about Bash
and it doesn’t hurt like hell.” It was nothing like the pain that used to
engulf me.

“That’s a good sign, right?”

I wasn’t sure. My psychiatrist would think so. Deep inside, this
was a betrayal. Happiness was something to be earned, and I wasn’t quite sure I
deserved mine yet. There was no way in hell I was about to explain that to
Chase, so instead I nodded.

“I’m glad because you shouldn’t avoid the past.” He kissed me
once more then scooped me up in his arms. “The mother of my child needs a full
night’s sleep.”

“But I’m not sleepy,” I complained.

“Well then, I guess I’m gonna have to wear you out all over
again,” he whispered into my ear. A shiver ran down my spine as my mind
wandered to memories of what he could do to me, and he carried me up the stairs
to do just that.

Chapter Ten

Chase

The morning sun shone through the large windows, causing me
to roll over and bury my face in the pillow. It was bright, too bright and it
had to be late. Quinn was lying beside me and from the sounds of her steady
breathing, she was still asleep.  I sat up and watched her body rise and
fall. Her brown hair fell across her face, and the sheet was entangled around
her body in the sexiest way possible. What a sight.