Give Me You (23 page)

“I’m sorry.” Katie aims the apology in my direction. “Skylar, you know the rules. Fallon’s ready to leave and you are her escort for the evening. Otherwise she’s within her rights to retract her bid.”

Skylar narrows his eyes on both of them. “Fine by me. I can match her bid.”

Katie looks deflated and dead on her feet when she lets out a sigh of exasperation.

“No. It’s fine,” I say, not wanting to cause Katie anymore stress when she’s been so nice to me. “I’m about to head up to bed anyways.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Skylar tells me before kissing me firmly on the forehead. “Promise.”

No one’s ever kissed me there before and it makes my entire body tingle. Probably silly considering where he had his mouth this morning but there is something about his gesture that touches me deeply.

Before I can recover, they’re gone and I’m left with Katie and a room full of strangers.

“Where’s Skylar’s room?”

“Second on the left across the hall from mine,” she tells me. “And seriously, Fallon is nothing to lose sleep over. She’s old news and believe me when I say Skylar moved on a long time ago.”

I hope so.

But hours later when I’m laying in Skylar’s bed surrounded by the scent of him, I can’t stop the worries from coming.

It’s almost three in the morning. Most of the nearby clubs close at two. I checked online one of the dozen times I checked my phone.

No messages. No calls. No texts. Not a word.

I swallow hard and stare at the darkened ceiling. The half-empty bottle of wine I’ve been working on alone mocks me from the nightstand.

Fuck it. I’ll blame the alcohol.

I pull Skylar’s contact info up and my phone and call him. It goes straight to voicemail.

So either his phone is dead or he declined my call.

My first message is tame.

Hey… Worried about you. Hope everything is okay.

My second is less so.

It’s nearly four in the morning so I’m going to crash. Guess you’re busy. Good night.

When the sun starts coming up I’m hurting like hell, the bottle is empty, and I still haven’t gotten a single response from any of my texts or voicemails.

Hey, Sky…super bummed that you never made it home last night. I was hoping we’d have breakfast together again. You weren’t the only one who wanted seconds, but maybe you were just teasing. Lying naked in your bed all night made me so wet, I was hoping you’d help me out with that but I guess I can take care of it myself. Hope you had a good night.

I disconnect the call, hating myself. Tears of anger and disgust prick my eyes.

Never again. I swore up and down I would never be this girl again.

First order of business, get out of his damn bed.

Second order, stay out of it.

T
he hospital lights are glaring and adding to my skull-shattering headache.

Fucking Fallon.

Part of me wanted to just drop her off at the ER and go home, but I can’t stop thinking about Corin and how she would feel about me doing something that cold and callus.

The club start closing and I couldn’t find Fallon anywhere so I had to enlist the help of security. They found her covered in her own vomit barely conscious in the ladies room.

I rub my hand over my eyes as the sun comes up. Alcohol poisoning, they said, and a negative reaction to the cocktail of narcotics in her system.

It’s like high school all over again.

She wakes up when the nurse comes to take her vitals around seven. My phone has been dead for hours and I’m praying Katie was able to keep Corin company all night.

There aren’t enough flowers in the world to fix this and I know it.

“You’re here,” Fallon rasps out. “Guess I partied a little too hard last night.” She has the nerve to smile like this is cute somehow.

“Yeah. But you’re awake now so I’m going. The nurse on duty last night called your parents and they said to call when you’re discharged and they’ll send a car.”

“Skylar, wait. Please?”

I hang around until the nurse is finished with the blood pressure cuff. “We’ve been through this more times than I can count, Fallon. How much longer are you going to keep doing this to yourself?”

Tears fill her eyes but I became immune to Fallon’s tears a long time ago.

“I want an answer. Is this how you want to live your life forever?” I shake my head. “For fuck’s sake, Fallon. You paid twenty grand for what? So I could have a front row seat to this shit? I already caught acts one and two in high school. Thanks.”

“Who’s that girl to you? The redhead? I want to know.”

I feel my eyebrows lift. “This is about Corin? That’s who you’re going to blame last night’s bender on? Really? Because you’ve been doing this as long as I’ve known you and you never even met her before last night. So sure, let’s blame it on her. A random girl you’d never met pushed you over the edge. What the fuck ever.”

“She’s not random to you, Skylar. I saw you. You seem like a completely different person around her. Why? What’s so fucking special about her?”

“Everything,” I answer without thinking. “Everything about her is special and you and I have been done for a long time. You need help, Fallon. And I hope you get it. I really do. But I can’t help you. I tried, remember? Your parents tried. The therapists have tried. And I’m sure they’ll keep trying. But I can’t do this anymore.”

She screams my name as I walk out the door. I lean against the wall and try not to be affected by the sound of sobbing.

On my way out of the hospital I use the phone at the nurses desk to call her dad at work. I had to call it so many times when we were dating, I have his direct line memorized.

“This is Jack,” he answers after the receptionist puts me through.

“It’s Skylar Martin.”

“Hey, Skylar. How are you? Your dad and I played golf last week and he mentioned—”

“I’m fine. But your daughter isn’t. Fallon’s at University hospital. Don’t send a car to pick her up this time. Come get her your fucking self, Jack.”

Corin is gone when I get back to my house.

I’m not even surprised.

Once I plug my phone in and it comes back to life I hear her messages.

I hurt her last night. Repeatedly. The pain is evident in her voice.

The last message is hot as fuck but out of character so I know it was meant to be a jab to let me know what I was missing. I know, all right. I want to choke Fallon. And her shitty parents.

I want to grab my stuff and head back to campus but I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.

I’m going to sleep for a while. And them I’m going to head back to SoCal and grovel like I have never groveled before.

S
ince the weekend that never should’ve been that resulted because of the bet that shall not be mentioned, I’ve been able to successfully avoid Skylar. Luckily this semester we don’t have any classes together.

He took up residence in my mind for a while though and I failed a quiz in psych and a midterm in Calculus and decided then and there I would not throw away something I worked hard for just because of a boy. Been there, done that. Not going back.

I start work at the diner and get in touch with Skylar’s friend Jax. I am now out of the dorm room I couldn’t afford on my own thanks to him subletting to me for nearly half the price. I changed the locks the day I moved in. If I can keep up steady tips I’ll be able to afford a tutor for Calculus.

Skylar calls at least once a day and texts several times but I ignore it.

It is what it is.

I’m familiar with the cycle we were on. Selfish, hurtful behavior, apology, forgiveness, repeat.

Pass.

Layla checks in occasionally but I don’t offer much. Just listen about the awesomeness that is Spain and a community service project she’s working on. Reassure her that I’m fine.

I celebrate my twentieth birthday alone in my apartment with a cupcake from the diner.

And I am fine.

Until I’m not.