I lean back into Reese, letting his hands rub me. Explore me. And then he turns me around and kisses me again, and it’s all I can do to not drop to the floor right there on top of him. His breath tastes like wine, and I go after it, trying to draw as much of it into myself as I can. His hands move everywhere, and I don’t stop them. Reese is willing to tell me the truth. And Shayne has lied to me. Shayne is with Chloe. Shayne doesn’t want me.
“Yes, Persephone. Be mine. I’ll love you forever. Protect you from your mother. You’ll never have to go back with her. We can be together always. Side by side.” His lips move to my neck and then farther down, pushing aside the strap of my shirt.
But when I see him, the top of his head, the color of his hair, I know I’m not ready. I moved too fast with Shayne which it turns out was a huge mistake. And I don’t want to make that mistake again.
“I can’t.” I force his aroma from my nostrils and speak the words as flat as I can.
Reese keeps kissing. Rubbing. Ignoring me.
“I’m not ready.”
He looks up, and his hands stop. “Great Zeus. If you’re not ready, then I don’t know who is.”
I shake my head, my brain and my body fighting inside me. Wanting him. Not wanting him. “I’m not ready. I need time to think.”
Reese drops his hands, and his face hardens. “When then?”
I shrug, taking a step backward. Away from his smell. “I don’t know.”
Our eyes meet, and Reese looks hard at me. “Don’t take too long.”
I close my eyes and shake my head. “I won’t.”
And then he moves toward me again and kisses me. I fight to keep the smell from overpowering me, but the kiss is deep and sweet, and I don’t pull away.
But he does. “Something to remember me by.” He steps back, moving toward the door and opening it. “If you need me, just call my name. I am at your disposal.”
When the door finally closes behind him, I fall to the ground, trying to get a hold on the flood of emotions moving through me. I want Reese so badly, yet I want Shayne, too. But Shayne doesn’t want me. It’s Chloe he wants. Not me. Chloe.
I throw the door open once Reese is gone to try to clear the air. As his scent evaporates, I’m convinced I must be crazy. I don’t want Reese. Reese cannot be trusted. He’s drugging me with his scent. That’s all it is, just more lies. It’s an entire world that can’t be trusted, and I’ve fallen into it.
Chapter 40
Blame
I run back into the school because I have to talk to Chloe. I refuse to believe what Reese said about her and Shayne, but I just have to hear it from her lips.
“meet me in the auditorium,” I text her. They don’t use the eco A/C in the afternoon to cool it, so no one will be there.
“k,” she texts back. Just like that.
I sit on the stage and wait for her. She looks up at me when she walks in and smiles almost like the old Chloe I used to know. The happy Chloe who took me to get a tattoo. The one who tied a present for me with a red ribbon. I try to smile back. My heart knows Reese’s words can’t be true, but lingering thoughts in my mind keep making me think what if.
The curtain’s drawn, and it’s hot as a sauna, but we have the entire place to ourselves. My stomach convulses every time I think about bringing up her and Shayne, about confronting her—especially since she seems so normal now. But I have to.
She beats me to the punch. “So, Piper, is there anything you’re not telling me?” She says it so normally, like we’ve been hanging out as if nothing’s happened. As if the last time I saw her she hadn’t told me she killed Randy Conner’s dad.
It’s a fair question. But in my defense, Chloe has not been in any state to tell anything. I’ve wanted to tell her everything. To have her help me. Give me advice. Things that friends do.
“Like what?”
Chloe reaches behind her head, untying her gray bandana. “Oh, I don’t know. Has anything unusual happened recently?”
She knows. Has Shayne told her who I am? Have they really been together? Blood rushes to my head, pounding in my ears. But I keep my face as normal as possible.
I purse my lips. “Why do you ask?”
Her eyes flash to me, and for a split second, I see the ghost Chloe inside. The one who nearly died at the creek. But then it’s gone, and this new deceiver Chloe is back. “I just heard a couple things, that’s all.”
I try to keep my expression from changing. “From who?”
“That guy, Shayne.” She reties the bandana, but it’s off center. Chloe never ties her bandana off center.
My heart stops when I hear his name. “What did he say?” I realize I’m holding my breath, waiting for her to answer.
“He said you’ve been keeping secrets from me.”
“Secrets?” I whisper the word in response.
Chloe nods. “Yeah, secrets. Like things you should have told me.”
I shake my head and push the image of Chloe and Shayne out of my mind. It’s not real. “You haven’t been around, Chloe. You’ve been sick or not taking my calls. It’s like you’ve been a ghost.” And now the ghost is gone—replaced by some alien creature that looks like Chloe but acts nothing like her.
“It doesn’t matter, Piper. Best friends don’t keep secrets.” Her eyes rip into me when she says it, and what I thought was a smile turns into a sneer.
I stand up, taking a few steps backward. I’ve had just about enough of the whole world turning crazy on me. It was bad enough when Chloe acted like a phantom. Now I almost wish I hadn’t saved her. “Who are you to talk about keeping secrets? You’ve been sleeping with my boyfriend.” I spit out the lie to test her.
Chloe laughs, showing her teeth, and I hate her.
“Your boyfriend. I don’t remember Shayne saying he was your boyfriend. And anyway, you’re the one who went on a date with Reese. You knew I liked him, yet you still went on the date.”
My heart sinks. She doesn’t deny a thing. Doesn’t even flinch. Her lack of denial confirms every worst fear I have. Was this all my punishment for going on a date with Reese? Is this how Chloe has decided to get even? I can’t trust Chloe, and I can’t trust Shayne, and I can’t trust my mom. And I sure as hell can’t trust Reese; he scares the crap out of me.
Chloe stands and pulls off her bandana. She tosses her head and shakes her hair until it’s fallen into loose waves around her shoulders. And then she begins to rub her hands up and down her sides. “He’s so perfect and so warm. God, he makes me feel so good.”
I stare at her, unable to move my eyes. They’re glued on her like I’m being forced to watch an execution. I think Chloe’s gone crazy.
“He told me he loves me.” Her hands glide over her hips, and she sways to unheard music. Images of Chloe and Shayne, naked and lying together, flash before me. They’re wrapped around each other. They’re kissing. He’s running his hands through her hair. He’s moving on top of her. I want to banish the images, but they hold their position.
I want Chloe to die.
And then she looks at me and smiles, her hands caressing herself, as if she’s imagining Shayne’s hands on her. Rubbing parts of her I know he’s rubbed. Her eyes close, and her lips part, and I think of his lips kissing her. Lips I thought only wanted to kiss me.
“He wants me so much, Piper.” She licks her lips and her teeth. “Do you know how good it feels to be wanted so badly?”
I thought I did. I thought that was how Shayne wanted me. But Chloe’s taken every bit of that dream and smashed it under her foot.
“And he’s promised me the world, Piper. All for me. He’s perfect. Do you know what he said to me?”
I don’t want to know, but the words escape anyway in a voice so soft I wish she doesn’t hear it. “What?”