Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 (19 page)

“I’m
not sure yet,” Kacie tells him, reaching back for my hand. She must be getting
ready to fall apart, so I stand up and wrap one arm around her waist. I feel
her body relax into me.

“I’ll
take care of it. I promise,” Danny says sympathetically.

“Thanks,
Danny.”

“No
problem.” He smiles at her.

She
spins around to face me. “Thanks,” she whispers. “I’ll be back.” Kacie unravels
herself from our embrace and darts away from all of us.

When
I go to follow her, Jade grabs onto my arm. I wasn’t even aware she stood up
and came to this side of the table. “Give her a minute.” Only because she knows
Kacie better than I do, I listen. I watch my girl go down the steps of the
large deck, walk across the grass, shed the white dress she was wearing, and
stand at the edge of the pool. After a few deep breaths, she dives in and swims
for the opposite end. Everyone already in the pool casually moves to get out of
her way. I walk over to the railing of the deck where I stood earlier and watch
her.  She’s making her way back to the end she dove in from when Jade
joins me. “She’s letting you in,” Jade announces.

“What
do you mean by that?”

“Kacie
hasn’t allowed anyone to do that in a really long time. Jake was probably the
last one.”

“I
still don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Jade
smiles as she watches her friend. “Kacie has this defense mechanism where she
doesn’t let anyone see her for who she really is. She keeps everyone at arm’s
length. No one is allowed to get too close. She’s afraid of someone else
hurting her.” That sounds familiar.

“Someone
else?”

“Her
fucking parents. She gets burned by them enough. She doesn’t need it from
anyone else,” she clarifies. “Then there’s you, Mr. Pierce. I have no idea what
you did or what you said to her, but she’s letting you in. You should feel
privileged. I really hope you care enough to want her. You have to accept
all
of her. Even her flaws and insecurities.”

“I
don’t believe she has any flaws.” Then I ask, “Do you think she wants something
more than just this friendship bullshit with me? She keeps saying she can’t get
involved because of her parents, but I don’t see her acting the way she does
with me with anyone else.”

Jade
starts laughing. “That’s my Kacie!” She doesn’t answer my question, though.
“How would you feel if she wanted more? Would you be able to give it to her?”

“Are
you kidding? I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. Jade, you can judge me
all you want based on how I used to be, but that guy took a hike the first time
I held her in my arms. I’m not going to rest until Kacie is mine. I’m just
afraid if I push her too hard or too fast, she’ll run.”

“She
may try to run no matter how slowly you go about it. It’s just a matter of
whether or not Kacie is worth chasing. Sometimes that’s what it takes for her
to see how much you care about her.”

“Thanks,
Jade. I actually feel a little better.” I go around her to go to the pool. I
want to be there when Kacie is ready to get out.

“Hey,
Evan!” Jade calls from behind me. When I look back at her, she’s smiling again.
“Just between us, I think she’s already yours. She’s just not ready to admit it
yet.”

“I
hope you’re right,” I say before making my way toward the pool.

On
my way by the table, I grab a towel from one of the piles that Meg had set out
for everyone to use. Kacie is just getting to this side of the pool when I sit
down and put my feet in the water. She sees me as soon as she comes up for air,
then tilts her head back into the water to fix her hair. Does she really think
I give a shit what her hair looks like while she’s in the pool? Once she’s
satisfied with it, she makes her way over to me.

“Trying
to show up everyone around you?” I tease her.

“Only
you,” she jokes back. “Come in. The water’s beautiful. Besides, you’re all
sweaty.” She proceeds to splash water up at me.

“No
way. You’ll make me look bad,” I say, looking down at my clothes. “I
will
drown your ass for wetting me. You know that, right?”

“You
won’t even be able to catch me,” she says as she comes over in front of me.
Feeling her hands on my legs reminds me of last night at the club. She runs her
fingers under the edge of my shorts. “Are you going to leave me in here all by
myself?”

I
motion for her to look at the pool filled with about fifteen other people. “You
aren’t by yourself.”

She
doesn’t turn away from me. “But I want you to come in with me,” she says with
eyes I can’t deny.

“Fine,”
I cave. I pull my shirt off over my head and empty the shit out of my pockets
without standing up. After pushing my stuff away from the edge of the pool, I
drop lightly into the water next to her without make a splash.

“Your
form sucks,” she informs me.

“Get
over here,” I say, reaching for her. She doesn’t try all that hard to get away
from me, which is a good thing. The girl really is a much better swimmer than I
am. I probably wouldn’t be able to catch her if she didn’t want to be caught.
Once I’m able to pull her in against me, she wraps her arms around my neck and
holds me close. “What were you saying about my form?” I ask, holding onto her
with one hand and onto the side of the pool with the other to keep us from
sinking.

“It
sucks,” she repeats.

I
turn her away from everyone else and bring my lips to hers. I honestly thought
she’d stop me since there are so many other people near us, but she doesn’t.
She allows me to kiss her and holds nothing back when my tongue parts her lips.
Her hands are suddenly in my hair and her legs are wrapped around my waist.
Fuck! She is going to drive me insane with this shit. One of her hands slides
off of the back of my head, to the side of my neck, and down to the front of my
chest. I’m very curious to find out what she plans on doing with that hand, but
I’ll never know.

Someone
screams “Look out!” and Kacie pulls back just in time for whoever it is to jump
into the pool just a few feet from where we are. She ducks behind me to protect
herself from the wave of water. I spin around to see who is requesting to lose
their life so prematurely. Mike, Danny’s cousin, is breaking the surface of the
water just then. He’s already laughing, so he’s very aware of what he did. The
rest of our friends have made it to the edge of the pool.

“Sorry,
Evan. I tried to hold him back.” Danny is cracking up. “Mike, do you see his face?
You’re in a shitload of trouble, man!”

Kacie
rewraps her arms around me and draws my attention back to her. “Your form got a
little better,” she whispers. As if that didn’t distract me enough, she kisses
me again. She lets go and swims over to the ladder. There’s no way I can get
out of the pool right now, so I just watch her go.

She’s
drying her hair on the towel when Jade and Kyle join us. “Back in the pool,
Foster,” Jade tells her. “They want to play volleyball and I’m not doing it
alone.” I’m relieved that she’s getting back in where she’s at least half-way
covered.

Over
the next hour, most of us played volleyball. All of the girls bailed once the
spiking began and one of them almost got hit in the face. Can’t say I blame
them. It got a little out of control the longer the games went on. They hung
out in the hot tub or at the tables around the pool, drinks in hand.
Occasionally, I’d look over to see Kacie watching us play and she’d smile at
me. It’s amazing how seeing her smile can make me feel so damn good. She
immediately catches my attention when she stands up and starts to walk away. I
swim over to the edge to ask her where she’s going.

“I’m
going to go take a shower real quick. I’ll be back,” she says.

“Hold
on. I’ll come with you,” I tell her and pull myself out of the pool. “Just let
me dry off a minute. I’ll get in trouble if I drip on the floor.”

“You
don’t have to. I’ll be fine.”

“I
want to.” She takes her towel from around her and holds it out to me. “I felt
better with it covering you,” I accidentally say out loud.

Kacie
takes the two steps separating us and lays the towel over my arm. “No one is
looking at me except you.” How the hell does she not notice the dozens of eyes
on her at all times?

“Evan!
Where the hell are you going?” Mike yells from the pool. “You can’t leave.
You’ll make the sides uneven.” I ignore him and take Kacie by the hand, leading
her away from the dickhead who may actually be the only one trying to keep her
away from me.

When
we get to my room, Kacie grabs her bag and disappears into the bathroom. I
consider following her, but don’t want to push my luck today. My heart won’t be
able to take her running out on me for a second night in a row. I rummage
through the dresser drawers, looking for something to wear. The only thing I
find is a worn gray t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Good enough. The sun has
already set, so it isn’t nearly as hot as it was earlier. While I have a few
minutes, I call the club to check in with Keith. He assures me everything is
running smoothly and no one has shown up who shouldn’t be there. I made sure
Joe knew to keep an eye out for the troublemakers from the previous night.

Kacie
is opening up the bathroom door as I hang up the phone. “Feel better?” I ask.

“Much
better. Thanks,” she says, running the brush through her hair. She goes back
into the bathroom and, this time, I follow her. I watch her in the mirror as
she pulls her hair up. She sighs when it doesn’t do what she wants it to, but
doesn’t do anything about it. “You jumping in?”

“Yeah.
Want to stay in here and keep me company?”

She
rolls her eyes. I’m blocking the doorway, so she has to wait for me to move
before she can leave. “I’m really glad you came to my house today,” Kacie tells
me, placing her hands just above my wet shorts. “Thank you for not letting me
sit home alone.”

I
rub the backs of my fingers along her cheek. “I won’t ever let you be alone.”

“One
of these days, you’re going to realize I’m not worth the effort and walk away
from me.”

“There’s
no way in hell that will ever happen.”

“I
really hope not,” she says softly, then leaves the room.

After
my quick shower, I emerge from the bathroom only to find Kacie sound asleep on
the bed. There’s no clock in this room, but I remember when I called Keith that
it was just before ten. I switch off the bathroom light and stroll over to
where she is. Lightly rubbing her arm doesn’t cause her to stir. “Kacie,” I say
her name softly and she still doesn’t budge. She is laying on top of the comforter
and I’m afraid she’ll get cold if she stays like that all night. The closet out
in the hallway has extra blankets so I go get one to cover her up. Once she
looks comfortable, I crawl in bed next to her. For a little while, I watch her
sleep, but not for long. As much as I want to stare at her beautiful face until
the sun comes up, my eyes won’t stay open for one more second.

Kacie

Being
fully aware you aren’t in your own bed before you wake up has the potential to
be a scary thing. Not that it’s happened to me, but I’ve heard people talk
about how awful waking up with a stranger is. However, realizing the person
lying next to you is one of the sexiest guys you have ever met sure does turn
that fear into something else. It’s probably not a good thing to start the day
off by being all hot and bothered by someone you aren’t ready to sleep with
yet. Well, technically, I’m more than ready, but the anxiety of him being
finished with me the second after we finally have sex is eating me alive.

I
try to force my eyes open to get the day started, but I’m so comfortable.
Slowly, my legs stretch out below a cozy blanket as my back straightens against
the rock hard abs of Evan Pierce. His hand slides from the mattress in front of
me, along my lower abdomen to my hip. From there, he pushes it down my leg as
low as he can reach while burying his chin in the crook of my neck.

“I
was beginning to think you were going to sleep all damn day,” Evan utters in my
ear.

“If
you stay right there, I just might,” I answer, snuggling in even closer to him.

The
bed shakes when he laughs. “I have no problem keeping you company if this is
where you want to stay, but I thought you might want to go somewhere with me
today since it’s my day off,” he says.

I
jump up to a half-sitting, half-lying position. “What’s today?”

“Uh…Monday?”

“The
date. What’s today’s date?”

“The
twenty-seventh, I think,” he says, looking at me like I’m a lunatic.

“Shit!”
I jump out of bed and start to hunt for my stuff. “I have to go.”

“Go
where?” Evan asks, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

My
bathing suit is still in the bathroom. I go to retrieve it and rush back into
the bedroom to stuff it in my bag. “I just have to go.”

Evan
gets up off of the bed and walks over to me. He wraps his arms around my waist,
pulls me to him, holding me in place. “Calm down and tell me where I’m taking
you.”

“Home,”
I try to say calmly.

“Why
are you in such a rush to get home?”

“I
have somewhere to be. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep here last night. How could
I have forgotten?”

“Hey,”
Evan says, spinning me around. He grabs ahold of both sides of my face and
lowers his head to look right into my eyes. “Where do you have to go, Kacie?”

Slowly,
I inhale deeply, then exhale. “Today is my grandfather’s birthday. I have to go
to the cemetery. I promised Gram that I would never miss his birthday.”

“Do
you have to be there at a certain time?” he whispers.

“No.”

“So,
how about we go downstairs, eat some breakfast, then I will take you to the
cemetery. I promise to have you there before lunch.”

“You
don’t have to do that. It’s your day off. Go do something. I’ll just go by
myself.”

“I
want to spend my day off with you, if that’s okay?” He removes one hand from my
face, only to brush away my hair that has fallen forward.

“You
have nothing better to do?” I tease.

“Nope.”
He smiles.

“You
have a very boring life, Mr. Pierce.”

“I
used to, but then you walked into it and it’s been total chaos ever since.” My
favorite sexy grin appears on his face and my heart weakens. If he wants to
spend his day off with me, who the hell am I to deny him?

“You
want chaos? I’ll give you chaos.”

“Great!
Just what I need,” he says, turning away from me to collect his shirt from the
floor.

“How
come you didn’t mention your tattoo when you asked about mine the other day?” I
wonder. I noticed it yesterday at the pool, but forgot to bring it up when we
were alone. He has a Celtic cross on his back, over his right shoulder blade. Through
the cross and in script font, it reads “RIP Brother”. I walk up behind him and
run my fingertips over it as he stands up. “I love it.”

Evan
throws his shirt over his head and turns to me. “Ethan had the same one, in the
same place. He actually drew it. He wanted us to have the same one. You know,
the whole twins thing. I had the rest added the day after his funeral.” He
shrugs. “Sometimes I forget it’s there.”

“It’s
kind of cool that you guys got the same tattoo,” I smile at him.

“Come
on. I’m starving,” he says, ushering me out of the bedroom.

It
dawns on me that if Evan comes to the cemetery, it may be difficult for him.
“Evan?” I spin to face him. “Maybe I should just go alone today. I don’t want
being there to upset you.”

He
winks. “I’m going.”

We
walk into the kitchen to find our friends. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be
here. The chatter dies as soon as we enter the room and all eyes shift to us.
Jade is standing over the stove making French toast. I could smell it as I was
coming down the stairs. That should have tipped me off that Jade was here. She
opens her mouth first, “That must have been some shower you went upstairs for
last night since neither of you were seen for the rest of the night.”

I
turn to Evan. “You stayed in the room even though I fell asleep?” I ask in
disbelief, not caring that everyone is listening.

He
walks by me and picks up a piece of bacon from the platter in the middle of the
table. “I didn’t want you to be alone in a strange place if you woke up,” he
replies, crunching on the bacon.

“How
sweet!” Meg calls out from next to Jade. “That definitely gets you off of my
shit list for missing the rest of my party.”

“It
was very sweet,” I acknowledge, trying to hold back a smile.

“I
call bullshit,” one of the guys who played volleyball with them yesterday
remarks. I think his name is Justin, but I could be wrong. “He totally hit it.
He’d be in a bad mood if he didn’t get any after all that flirting she was
doing.”

Before
one of my infamous comments comes flying out of my mouth, Evan is around the
table and has this guy up against the wall on the other side of the room. He’s
desperately trying to get out of Evan’s grip, but is unsuccessful. Any other
time, I’d be shouting for Evan to let him go. Justin, or whatever his name is,
deserves what he gets for being an asshole. “Apologize to Kacie. Now!” Evan
growls at him with clenched teeth.

“I’m
sorry!” he yells. “I’m fucking sorry, okay?!” Evan appears to accept his
apology. He lets Justin go and starts to walk away. “My bad. Guess I was wrong.
There’s no way he got any with
that
attitude,” the idiot mumbles too
loudly.

Perhaps
Justin should have waited a little longer before opening his mouth. Evan was
still close enough to him that all he had to do was turn around and swing. His
fist connects with Justin’s jaw before he even has the chance to move. Then
commotion ensues. Danny and Mike jump up to separate the two of them, while Meg
is screaming for them to get the hell out of her house before they break
something. The other girls around the table scramble to get away from all of
it. Some of the guys stay in their seats, either laughing or shaking their
heads in disbelief, and others get up to help out the Rodriguez’s. I notice one
thing out of the ordinary in this short skirmish…Jake. He’s just sitting there
with his hand on his head, his elbow resting on the table in front of him. It
looks like his eyes are forcefully closed.

Within
seconds, a few guys are helping Mike get Justin out of the kitchen, and Danny
wrestles with Evan until he settles down. “I’m good. Let me go,” I hear Evan
telling him. Eventually, Danny frees him, and Evan comes running over to me.
Grabbing onto my hips, he says, “I’m so sorry you heard and saw that. Are you
okay?”

“You
just punched someone in your aunt’s kitchen and you’re asking if I’m okay?” I
wonder curiously.

Evan
grabs my hand and draws me over to the side where no one can hear what he’s
saying. “I don’t want you thinking one fucking thing he just said is even close
to the truth. I promised you nothing had to change between us and I meant it.”
He looks more upset now than when he was fighting with Justin.

I’ve
definitely considered how my flirting would impact Evan, so I can’t say what
this bastard said didn’t get to me. If Evan knows this is bothering me,
however, he’ll go nuts. “I know,” I lie. “I’m just worried about you.” I lift
up his hand to inspect it. “Does it hurt?”

He
throws his arms around me and kisses my head, almost in relief. “I’m good,” he
harshly breathes out.

“Evan,
come eat before it gets cold,” Jade calls to him, setting a plate on the table.
When he hesitates, I incline my head, motioning for him to go ahead. He does
and I walk over to Jade, who’s returning to her position in front of the stove.
“You alright?” she asks quietly.

I nod
and glance over at Jake. “What’s wrong with him?”

Jade
knows who I’m talking about without raising her head. “He got hammered last
night, hence the reason we’re still here. Kyle told Jake he was sober enough to
drive, but Jake didn’t want anyone else driving the Camaro.”

“What?
He never has more than a beer or two. Why the hell did he drink so much?”

“Do
I really need to answer that question?” Jade asks sarcastically, as if the
answer was obvious.

“Yes.
What the fuck happened?”

“The
longer it took for you and Evan to come back outside, the more he drank. He
kept looking up at the door, wondering where you were.” She gives me a look
suggesting she isn’t buying the story of me falling asleep last night.

“I
did not have sex with Evan,” I say, becoming exasperated. “I fell asleep while
he was in the shower. He didn’t have to stay with me.”

“Poor
Evan,” she taunts me. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” My best friend isn’t very
smart sometimes. “Seriously, Kacie. How do you not feel my brother’s eyes on
you all the time? I swear, when you’re around Evan, you go into this zone where
he’s the only one you see.”

“Jake
is not always looking at me,” I argue. “And you make it seem like I’m a
horrible person. I’ve told him repeatedly there will never be anything between
us. If he doesn’t know that by now, it’s on him.” I don’t mean to snap at Jade,
but this repetitive nonsense about Jake and his feelings is pissing me off.

“I
don’t think you’re a horrible person,” she clarifies, reaching for a plate from
the stack next to where we’re standing. “I’m just saying that you will probably
always mean a little more to Jake, regardless of your feelings for him or who
you’re with.” Jade places the French toast from the pan on the plate. “After I
finish up here, I’ll get him to take us home and we can go to the cemetery. I
didn’t forget about Grandpop’s birthday.”

“Evan
is taking me.”

“Home
or to the cemetery?”

“To
the cemetery.”

“He
is?” she wonders with a grin.

“When
I woke up, I sort of freaked out,” I explain, scratching my head. “Evan asked
what was wrong. I told him about the promise I made to Gram and he offered to
take me after breakfast.”

“He
totally deserves to get laid for that,” she starts to laugh. I smack her arm,
making her laugh even harder.

“I
can’t stand you,” I complain, taking the plate she’s holding out to me. She’s
lucky I’m hungry or else she’d be wearing this yummy French toast.

***

Evan
carefully drives along the dirt path that leads to my grandparents’ final
resting place. The whole ride over, he allowed me to sit silently with my
thoughts, not pushing to start a conversation as most people would have done to
ease the awkwardness. It was bothering him to see me like this, though. Out of
the corner of my eye, I could see him constantly looking between me and the
road in front of him. He was probably debating whether or not he should drop me
off at my house and let me come by myself. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he
did.

I
point where he should stop and he applies the brake just past their headstone.
As I go to get out of the truck, I tell him, “I won’t be long.”

He
takes my hand in his before my legs swing over the seat to slide down. “Take as
long as you need to. I’m not going anywhere.” I smile to express my gratitude
and descend from the high seat, closing the door behind me.

Rounding
the back end of the truck, I hear the closing of the driver’s side door. Evan
meets me right before I get to my grandparents. “You don’t have to be out here.
You don’t want to see the blubbering mess I will become in about thirty
seconds.”

“I
don’t want you to be alone,” he says in his domineering tone. I take a few
steps and he places his hand on my back for support.

Looking
at my last name carved in the stone sends shivers down my spine. Will it ever
get any easier to come here? My eyes begin to blink rapidly to fight the
moisture building inside of them. The lawn must have been cut recently because
there is yard debris covering most of their headstone, as well as the others
surrounding it. Immediately, I kneel down and start to brush it off with my
bare hand.