Caught Up in You Read online

  “Yeah,” she said. “He’s alright. He said he’ll call when he wants us back at work. The news is saying it could be two weeks before Baylor Grove is back up and running. I don’t know how I’m gonna make it with no money coming in.”

  “Tell me about it.” I only had about five-hundred dollars to my name. Without work, that would dry up quick.

  “So you didn’t answer me—where the hell are you?”

  “Moore Lake.”

  “Moore Lake?” Livvy repeated. “Who do you know in Moore Lake?”

  I looked both ways and then crossed the street. “Myles.”

  “Downstairs neighbor Myles?”

  “That’s the one. It was either Masonville with David’s creepy cousin, the high school shelter, or Moore Lake with Myles.”

  “Well, damn…” Livvy laughed into the phone. “You give him the key to your chastity belt yet?”

  I sighed. “I’m not even sure why I’m friends with you sometimes.”

  “Someone’s cranky,” Liv said. “So seriously, why are you with him?”

  “It just happened,” I said. “He told me I was coming with him and for some un-fucking-known reason I just went along with it. That was only bad decision number one…”

  “Yeah, it must suck hard being all alone with your hot neighbor.”

  “You have no idea,” I said. “That’s how I ended up making bad decision number two.”

  “If bad decision number two involves you turning him down when he tried to get with you,” she said, “I may have to rethink our friendship.”

  “Total opposite.”

  “Opposite…” Livvy paused as she put the pieces together. “He turned you down?”

  “Yep.”

  Livvy gasped into the phone. “Details. Now.”

  “I made a super lame attempt at kissing him.” I cringed at what an ass I’d made of myself. “He wasn’t having it.”

  “Huh, you’re the least sexual person I know.”

  “Wow thanks…”

  “I just mean I know you,” she said. “You never would’ve gone there if he hadn’t done something to get you all wound up first.”

  “He drifted into my personal space a little…”

  More than a little. Making me sit on his lap, holding my body against his, whispering in my ear—yeah, he’d definitely given me enough rope to hang myself.

  “Don’t stress about it. He obviously just needed fuel for his ego.”

  I laughed instantly. “I don’t think he has any issues with his self-esteem.”

  “Exactly—the guy knows he’s hot shit. He couldn’t stand that he’d finally met a girl who wasn’t throwing herself at him. He pushed your buttons to prove he could have you if he wanted.”

  “Maybe…”

  If Livvy would’ve said that the first day I met Myles, I would’ve completely agreed. I wasn’t so sure now. He was an asshole, there was no denying that. But now that I’d spent a little time with him, I didn’t think he’d just lead me on for an ego stroke.

  “It’s the middle of summer and Moore Lake is one of the biggest party spots around,” Livvy said. “There’s a shit ton of guys there—go snag one.”

  “Sure, because a random hook-up will solve all my problems.”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  The conversation continued heading downhill until I finally ended the call. I walked to the little downtown area of Moore Lake checking out the stores. It was smaller than Baylor Grove—definitely more of a tourist town than a place where people lived all year-round.

  Trendy bars and souvenir shops lined the main street. Livvy was spot on about it being a party town. Most of the people I saw looked to be in their early twenties and were walking around in bathing suits and beach wear.

  Since I had no idea we were going to a lake, I hadn’t packed my bathing suit. I strolled through one of the little shops looking for a cheap one so I could at least hide out by the lake during the day.

  It was clear the store tailored their selection to the younger crowd. I was looking for a one piece suit but all they had were skimpy bikinis. I ended up buying a hot pink two piece and a black tank top with Moore Lake across the front to wear over it.

  I noticed a little drug store on the next corner. Myles needed medicine for his arm and considering the great job he’d done taking care of the gash right after it happened, I knew he probably wouldn’t get it himself. I started for the store, figuring if I got it for him he’d have one less reason to come out of his room.

  The store was old and things weren’t shelved in any particular order. I walked up and down the aisles looking for ointment. It actually looked like whenever they got something new in stock they just put it on whatever empty shelf they had available.

  “Need help finding something?”

  “Ointment.” I turned around and found myself face to face with a blond girl who couldn’t have been more than twelve.

  “Sure.” She smiled at me and started down the aisle. “What kind?”

  “Antibiotic ointment,” I said, following her. “Like for a cut.”

  She stopped at the end of the row and pointed. “We have a few—there’s even one with stuff in it that numbs the pain.”

  “Does it work?”

  “Sure does,” she said, “my mom used it on my little brother last week when he skinned his knees —it took the pain away fast.”

  “Nice…” I thought about the way Myles had been all over me and then shoved me away once I took the bait. Relieving his pain was the last thing I cared about. “I’ll just take a tube of the regular stuff.”

  The girl led me up to the cash register and went behind the counter. “I’ve never seen you around.”

  “This is my first time in Moore Lake.”

  The girl punched the price into an old fashioned cash register. “Are you on vacation?”

  “Not even close.”

  “So where are you from?” she asked.

  I pulled my wallet out. “Baylor Grove.”

  “Quit with the interrogation.” A blond guy who looked like he was in his early twenties came up behind us and made his way around the counter. He stopped next to the girl and nudged her with his elbow. “Beat it—you’re not even supposed to be working the register.”

  “Mom is in the stock room. I was only helping…” The little girl scooted down the counter. “She’s from Baylor Grove. That’s where the tornados were.”

  The guy flashed a smile in my direction. “Its five dollars and twenty-nine cents.”

  “Here,” I said, holding out six dollars to him.

  “If you’re from Baylor Grove then you must be staying at the Franco place.” He took the money and opened the register. “I saw Myles Franco going into the market yesterday afternoon.”

  “Yeah.” I’d been wondering where he’d gotten the food for dinner. Thanks to drugstore guy I had my answer. I couldn’t help wondering what else he knew. “You’re friends with Myles?”

  He nodded. “I know his whole family—parents, sister, cousins… They’ve been coming here for years.”

  I was finally standing in front of someone who knew something about Myles that didn’t live in Baylor Grove. It took all I had not to start asking questions. Luckily, the girl started talking before I had a chance to slip into nosy neighbor mode.

  “Did you see the tornados?”

  I shook my head. “I was in the basement.”

  “Are you here because your house was messed up?”

  “My house wasn’t hit all that hard. Baylor Grove is pretty much unlivable right now though because of the damage to the infrastructure,” I said, holding my hand out for my change.

  “It’s been all over the news.” His eyes traveled across the scars on my palm and inner arm as he dropped the coins into my hand. “That must’ve hurt.”

  “It did.” I looked into my purse as I prepared to lie. “I leaned on a window and it broke. I fell on the glass.”

  “Bummer…” He slippe
d my antibiotic ointment into a small brown paper bag and held it out to me. “It could’ve been worse though, right?”

  I took the bag and started for the door. “Absolutely.” If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that things could always get worse.

  “I’m Jake,” he said, walking around the counter.

  I pushed the door open and glanced back at him. “Thanks for the ointment, Jake.”

  “Wait up…” He called as he followed me out the door. “That was the part where you were supposed to tell me your name.”

  I put my sunglasses on and turned to him. “Brantley Prescott.”

  “So you’re staying at the Franco place,” he said. “Does that mean you’re dating Myles?”

  “No, it doesn’t,” I said, crossing my arms, “and didn’t you just give that little girl shit for interrogating me?”

  “My sister doesn’t ask the right questions.” He leaned a little closer. “Now if she was asking things like how long you’re gonna be in town and if you’re busy tonight, I wouldn’t have stopped her.”

  I rolled my eyes behind my sunglasses. “Wow—I bet you own at least one t-shirt that says tourist trap…”

  “I might,” he said, smiling widely. “Wanna come back to my place and look through my drawers?”

  “That was just straight up cheesy,” I said, laughing. “You get a lot of mileage out of those lines with the girls from out of town?”

  “If you wanna call it mileage, then yeah.” He grinned a little too proudly. “Look—it’s got you talking to me, doesn’t it?”

  “Good point,” I said, starting down the sidewalk.

  “Hey—” He hurried up next to me. “You're so hot you made me forget my pick up line.”

  “I work in a pub. I’ve heard them all—including that one. Hell, I could probably teach you a few.”

  “Is that an offer?” Jake pointed at the little bar next door to the drugstore with patio tables lined up on the sidewalk. “We could have a drink and compare notes.”

  “Sorry—not old enough.”

  “Not an issue.” Jake motioned for me to follow him. “Unless Myles is waiting for you.”

  I immediately shook my head. If there was one thing Myles definitely wasn’t doing, it was waiting for me.

  He turned his hand over. “Then what’s your hurry?”

  I pulled out my phone and discovered it was only six o’clock. I had plenty of time to kill before I could legitimately go to the cabin to go to bed.

  “Why the hell not…” Being hit-on with horrible pick up lines was still better than getting back too early and having an awkward run-in with Myles.

  Jake pointed at the patio. “Just grab a seat. I’ll go snag us a couple of drinks.”

  I claimed the table as Jake went inside. I’d never actually sat at a bar as a customer and drank before. Usually I’d just throw a few back with Livvy while we were cleaning up after close.

  “I wasn’t sure what you’d like,” he said, placing a bottle in front of me. “You seem like a beer kind of girl.”

  I took a sip and nodded. “You can’t go wrong with beer or whiskey.” I thought about the beer I’d served Myles and retracted my statement. “Almost, anyway…”

  As we sat talking, I sized up Jake. He was pretty cute in a boy next door kind of way. He wasn’t much taller than me, so maybe five foot eight, with brown eyes and short blond hair. It was easy to tell he spent a lot of time outside by his perfectly tanned skin. He didn’t have any visible tattoos or piercings. All in all, he looked like the stereotypical small town guy.

  Four beers in, Jake had his chair scooted over next to mine and was getting a little more personal with his conversation. I could tell he thought he’d won me over and that by the end of the night I’d be going home with him. That wasn’t happening, but I wasn’t ready to burst his bubble just yet—not until I got what I wanted out of him.

  As the night wore on, my reservations about pumping Jake for info about Myles had dissolved. I was searching for a way to work it into the conversation when Jake did it for me.

  “So you’re here with Myles but he’s just your friend?”

  “He’s not my friend—he’s my neighbor,” I said, resting my elbows on the table.

  “That dude was born with a horseshoe up his ass.”

  I raised my brow at him. “Why do you say that?”

  “He got you for a neighbor,” he said, bumping me with his elbow.

  “I should’ve seen that coming…”

  “I’m surprised Myles moved back to Baylor Grove,” he said. “Are his parents even speaking to him?”

  “Yeah.” I only knew that because Myles mentioned he’d been on the phone with them when the tornado hit.

  “Shit, if my parents spent the kind of money it takes to go to Princeton and I got tossed out on my ass during senior year, the cops would be dredging the lake for me.”

  “For sure…” I leaned back in my chair practically speechless. It sounded like he was saying Myles had been expelled from college—Princeton of all places. That’s where my dad had gone.

  I wanted to know more—I needed to know. Prying the reason why out of Jake felt intrusive though. As tough as it was, I set my curiosity aside and changed the subject. I knew what it was like to have a past you’d rather not have people poking around in.

  It was around midnight when I placed the antibiotic ointment on the kitchen table and went into my room. It was hot and I didn’t have the windows open. When I pulled the curtains back, I noticed a figure sitting on the end of the dock.

  I could tell by the broad shoulders it was Myles. He was seated in the same place we’d been the night before with his feet in the water. Without thinking, I headed for the bedroom door. I put my hand on the knob, but stopped myself from opening it. What the hell was I doing?

  I dragged myself back to the window and settled my eyes on him. After telling myself I’d wanted to avoid him all day, the second I saw him I was drawn like a moth to the flame. I knew from the night before if I went anywhere near him I was bound to get burned again.

  As I watched him sitting all alone, I wondered if Myles and I had more in common than I realized. He looked as lonely as I felt most of the time. Maybe Myles had secrets too. Maybe he was just as damaged as I was. I sighed and turned away from the window. Or maybe I’d just had too much to drink and needed to stop overthinking things.

  Myles

  The entire afternoon and evening passed and Brantley never came back to the cabin. More than once I’d started to go into town to see where she was. Each time I stopped before doing it. I’d brought her to Moore Lake with intentions on not even speaking to her unless I had to. I told myself if she stayed in town, then sticking to my plan was that much easier.

  Once again I was wrong. I was getting absolutely nothing accomplished as I sat in front of my computer. The only thing I was successful at was stressing out about where she was and worse—who she was with. I was going out of my fucking mind worrying about a girl I barely even knew. A girl I’d pushed away the night before.

  Finally I gave up and went out to the lake. I thought maybe she’d come out there when she got back. She didn’t. I was fucking things up on every front with her. Each time we spoke I didn’t know how to be anything but a total dick. I couldn’t stop taking out the shitty feelings I had about most girls in general on Brantley.

  The truth was I wanted to know her. I wanted to be close to her. I wanted to trust that she wouldn’t destroy the life I’d finally put back together—or worse, cause me to wreck it again myself. I just didn’t know how to let go of the past and move forward. The only thing I did know was that if I didn’t get my shit together and do something right, I was going to push her away before I even had a chance with her.

  Ten

  Brantley

  The antibiotic ointment was gone when I got up the next morning. I’d slept until almost ten and somehow still felt exhausted. I probably would’ve felt better if I hadn’t b
een up so late listening for Myles to come inside.

  It wasn’t intentional—at least I didn’t think it was. It was more like my brain wouldn’t shut off as long as I knew he was out there. I’d even gotten up a couple of times and peeked out the window just to see if he was still sitting on the dock. It was three in the morning before I finally heard him go into his bedroom.

  Thinking about Myles was the last thing I wanted to do. Unfortunately he was the only thing on my mind. Each time I remembered how he’d shoved me away I got an ache in my chest. I really just needed to get home and back to work. Once I was away from him, I knew I’d feel better about the whole thing.

  I showered and then put on my new bathing suit with the tank top over it. After getting something to eat I was planning to go down to the lake to get a little sun. It’d been years since I’d just chilled by the water and relaxed. I was kind of looking forward to it.

  I was sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal for breakfast when there was knocking on the front screen door. I leaned back in my chair just far enough to see Jake standing there looking like a puppy that followed me home.

  The last thing I wanted was to go to door, but if he kept knocking he was going to wake up Myles. Dealing with his wrath would be much worse than just brushing off Jake.

  “Hey.” I spoke softly as I stopped at the door. “What’s up?”

  Jake smiled at me through the screen. “I saw these and thought about you,” he said, holding up a bouquet of hot pink Gerbera daisies.

  “Oh...” I hadn’t expected anything like that. No one had ever given me flowers before—at least not when I wasn’t in the hospital. “Thanks.” I pushed the screen door open slightly and took the flowers from him. “They’re pretty—thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He looked a little bummed when I stayed inside and let the screen door close between us again. “What are you’re doing today?”

  “I have plans,” I said, glancing down at the bright pink daisies in my hand. I really wished he hadn’t brought them. Accepting the flowers made me feel like I was somehow obligating myself to him.