Linden: Rocking Pleasure: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 3) (31 page)

“
Are you insane, dude?” Linden yells.

Hesitantly, I walk to the door to see what’s going on. And what I see makes my blood curdle: Delsin has Linden by the collar, and Linden is trying to wrest himself free of Delsin’s grip, but the skater is stronger. Linden’s lip is bleeding.

“
DELSIN
!” I scream in my hoarse voice once I’ve managed to shake off my shock.

Linden looks at me. “Thally, please, I need to speak to you.”

Outside, Gavin and Alexis suddenly appear and try to pull the two struggling men apart.

Delsin looks at me, nods, and lets go of Linden. “Don’t you ever show your face around here again, or I’ll beat it to a pulp for you,” he says. Then he turns away and comes to stand by me. “Do you want to talk to him?”

I shake my head, and Delsin puts an arm around me to lead me back inside.

“
Thalia, please, let’s talk about this!” Linden says behind me.

I force myself to ignore him until Delsin closes the door behind us.

“
What was that?” Cami asks. She’s just emerged from the kitchen.

“
Nothing, Caramel. I’ve got it under control,” Delsin says. “You want me to bring you upstairs, Thally?”

“
I was going to drink something, and maybe not spend the entire evening hiding alone in that room,” I explain. He nods and gestures to the kitchen.

“
Delsin, what was going on outside?” Cami probes.

“
It’s nothing, Caramel. I just taught that damn pop star a lesson he won’t forget very quickly.”

“
What did you do to him?” she asks. She sounds pissed.

“
He hit him, Cami,” I interrupt, “and if he hadn’t, I probably would have.”

“
Are you out of your mind?” she barks at Delsin.

“
I was angry,” he defends himself. “The dude shoved me first, and I just retaliated. Hey, he broke your best friend’s heart, so it’s only fair I spice up his pretty face!”

She rolls her eyes. “I hope, for you, that the cops don’t show up on the doorstep.”

“
I don’t think they will,” I say calmly and head to the kitchen. I open the fridge to grab a cold can of Sprite. After I’ve taken a sip, I sit down at the counter. My fingers trace the lines the condensed water makes on the outside of the can.

Cami sits down next to me. “Do you think he’s going to leave again?”

“
I don’t know, but I know that I don’t want to see him.”

“
I’m not trying to take his side,” she says cautiously, “but is it at all possible that this was a ruse planned by his ex and his manager? A conspiracy, you know? Who knows how crazy these people can get?”

“
I think Linden knew what was going to happen, otherwise he wouldn’t have acted so different last night. It was as if someone had flipped a switch. No, I don’t want to see him anymore. I want to focus on my classes and spend the summer at home.” I manage to say it with some conviction.

“
You’re going to spend summer break in Austin?” she asks.

“
Yes. I have to work at my dad’s company to pay off my debt,” I explain. “He’s given me quite a lot of money.”

“
Delsin?”

“
I’m here,” he says with a salute.

“
Would you come with me to visit my mom?” Cami says. “She keeps asking when she’ll see us again, and I promised her I’d come this summer. If Thally’s also going to be there, we won’t be alone in Texas. We could also ask Ave and Dale if they want to come, too.”.

“
Cami, I won’t have a lot of time to hang out with you guys,” I warn. “I really have to work, except for the weekends.”

“
Doesn’t matter. I mainly want to go because of Mom and Buck.”

“
And probably also because of Steve,” Delsin grumbles.

“
He’s still no more than a friend,” she counters.

“
Yeah, and my name is Santa Claus.”

“
Hi, Santa,” I say, and I feel a smile coming on.

“
You’re wearing a red baseball cap, so it could be true,” Cami adds, rolling her eyes.

“
I could sew a white bobble on the top; then it would be almost perfect,” he says dryly.

“
If only you knew how to sew.”

“
Jesus, woman, you’re really too much,” he growls and leaves the kitchen.

Cami giggles and stares at his retreating back. “I’m sorry,” she says to me, “but we keep having arguments about Steve.”

“
It’s okay. Delsin’s jealousy is the best proof of how much he really loves you,” I state thoughtfully. “I wished Linden felt something like that for me.”

“
Do you love him?” she asks softly.

“
Yes. We hardly know each other and yet I’ve fallen in love with him. Do you know what he told me when I said we were immature for falling in love so quickly?”

“
What?”

“
He said that he loves a lot of small things about me. That I love listening to the rain. That I cry more at happy endings than sad ones. That he knows I’m about to put my head on his shoulder when I tuck my hair back behind my ear. He literally told me that he loved those things.” I feel the tears threaten to well again. I put my head on Cami’s shoulder instead. “It hurts,” I whisper.

“
I know, but that’s going to pass,” she murmurs. “You know that, too. At some point, you’ll be able to pass him on the street again and feel nothing. It’s going to get better, Thalia.”

“
I hope it gets better soon.”

“
The jerk is still camping out in the front yard,” Delsin snaps, sticking his head into the kitchen again and then disappearing.

I rise. “If he’s come all the way here, maybe I should go out and meet him face to face. That way I can hit him, too.”

“
Are you sure?” Cami asks.

I nod slowly. “Yes.”

“
Okay. Otherwise I would have taken care of the beating he deserves.” She smirks. “But you should splash some cold water on your face, because you look like you’ve been crying for hours.”

“
Well, that’s because I have. He should see how I feel because of him.” I take a deep breath and walk to the front door.

In the hallway, Avery tries to take a baseball bat out of Delsin’s hands. “Dude, you can’t beat him with that! You’d go straight to jail for a thing like that.”

“
This is my property, so I can do as I see fit to get him to leave it,” Delsin objects.

“
That may be the case in Texas, but not in Florida,” I interrupt them. “Just be there in case I need you, okay?”

Ave gives me a warm smile. “I’ll walk out with you. I think I’m the only one who doesn’t want to see Linden six feet under yet.”

“
Okay.”

He follows me outside, where Linden is standing with Alexis and Gavin. “Linden,” Gavin is saying insistently, “we’ve got to go back, seriously. You know tomorrow’s stuff can’t be canceled.”

I clear my throat when I reach them. “What do you want, Linden?”

He turns and looks at me, then swallows hard. “Why did you run away?”

“
Because your manager broke up with me in your stead,” I say. “He tried to give me an envelope full of money so I wouldn’t talk to any journalists about our
affair
. Go home, Linden. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“
Thally, me and Trish are
not
together anymore,” he states insistently.

“
Then it’s strange that neither Pierce nor Trish seem to know that. But now I can see why he was so upset when our little thing made it onto TV.”

Linden sighs. “I went out early this morning to buy this for you,” he explains, taking a small box out of his pocket. “It’s a bracelet engraved with our initials.” He holds out the gift.

I raise my hands as if to fend him off. “I no longer want anything to do with you. Fly back to New York and leave me in peace.”

When I turn away, he grabs my wrist and pulls me back toward him. “Please don’t go. Don’t go!”

I jerk myself free. “Don’t ever touch me again. I want to be left alone.”

But he doesn’t heed my warning. Instead, he pulls me closer and tries to kiss me. I’m not a fan of slapping people, but now I don’t see any other way out. I start hitting him in the face, several times. “You lied to me, you betrayed me and threw me to the dogs! And now you think you can ridicule me on top of that?
I HATE YOU
!” I scream at him.

Avery wraps his arms around me from behind to stop me from going even more ballistic. He lifts me up and pulls me away from Linden. “Calm down. Don’t kill him.”

“
Let me go, Avery, I’m not done yet!” I screech.

“
You should all leave now, because once I let her go she’s gonna scratch your eyes out,” Ave says breathlessly, while I struggle to get free from his grip.

“
Let’s go, Linden. I don’t want to watch you being beat to a pulp,” Gavin interrupts.

Linden gives me a wounded look. “I love you, Thally.” Then he turns around and walks to a black SUV.

I stop struggling and stare at his back. “You should have been honest with me. I can’t believe anything you say anymore,” I say, but he probably can’t hear me. My voice won’t obey me; I can’t yell after him.

Ave loosens his grip slowly. “Promise me you won’t run after him now.”

“
I won’t,” I say weakly.

He lets go of me, and I walk hastily back into the house, straight to my guest room. Tomorrow I’ll go home. It’s great of my friends to be there for me, but I need to be alone and find peace and quiet. Draven and Nate will be at my apartment, but they don’t know how to deal with such drama, so they’ll tread carefully and leave me alone. Maybe I should go home right now. No, I know I’m too exhausted and unfocused to drive a car. I’ve been restless ever since I got here.

I lie down on the bed and close my eyes, but sleep, of course, won’t come. Now that I’ve seen him, the lump in my chest has grown to painful proportions. I don’t want to think about Linden, but our brief history unfolds before my eyes again and again. The memories will kill me.

“
Thally?” Hailey’s voice suddenly interrupts my despondency.

I look up at her. “Hey.” And then I feel the tears start to flow again. “Can you forgive me for being so mean?”

She nods and comes closer, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’ve already heard what happened. I’m so sorry. I really thought he was serious.”

I shrug in an exaggerated fashion. “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Someday, I guess.”

Hailey scoots closer and listens to me explain what’s weighing me down. Then she tells me why she’s been preoccupied recently. She and Logan have problems of their own—he’s taken to staying out late, starting arguments, and rejecting her opinions across the board. He seems to be massively frustrated because he can’t find a new job. Therefore, he’s thinking about going back to Texas. I’m sorry for her, because she used to be very happy with him, but at the moment I can hardly deal with my own situation, let alone give her the support she needs. I’m a loser of a friend right now!

After I’ve told her my entire story, she takes me in her arms and promises to stay with me until I ask her to leave, but I don’t think that will happen any time soon. I’m dog-tired by now, so I slowly close my eyes. Lying in her arms with my head against her chest, I’m suddenly reminded of Linden. He used to hold me like that.

All of this drains me of the last bit of energy and strength. I feel that it will destroy me, but I don’t want to be shattered by this breakup. I survived the separation from Damon, who I loved dearly, so I tell myself I will survive this as well.

I sincerely hope I will.

***

Three days have passed. I’m lying in my own bed, staring at the ceiling. I’ve been lying here since I came back from classes. I managed to evade all conversations with my fellow students, since I don’t want to hear any questions about Linden or why I look so sad.

I remember that back when Cami was first dating Delsin, I’d thought her spontaneous escape to Austin was a little childish, but now I want to do something similar. I just want to get away from it all. My glance falls on my guitar, and I drag myself out of bed to fetch it.

I start to strum it.

“
How do I get through one night without you … How do I live without you, I want to know
,” I sing softly, but that only serves to make me cry again. Still, I persist, because I remember previous times I managed to sing my pain away, sort of. Maybe that will work again.

When I sing the last line, all that’s left of the song is muffled sobbing. Sometimes the memories of the wonderful moments overcome me. Then my heart aches, and the tears start to fall. That’s how I feel right now, and it’s an awful feeling. I let the guitar slip to the floor and hide my face in my hands. I let myself slip from the bed, too, and find myself on my knees on the floor, crying with abandon.

I can’t go on like this.

Someone takes me in his arms. I can smell Nate’s cologne. He holds me without saying anything, simply offering his presence to calm me down.

I cling to him like a drowning woman. “It hurts so badly.”

Nate strokes my hair. “It will pass. Someday it will be okay again. I promise.”