Saving Sloan (Sloan Series Book 2) (13 page)

“I know, but I want to go. I have a project due in Biology soon, and I need to finish it.” A project with Ray. That wouldn’t be weird at all.

“And you promise me if you get anything out of the ordinary, you’ll call me and the police, right? Don’t try to do this on your own, Sloan. I love you and want to help.”

Sloan nodded, knowing full well she wouldn’t call. If she got a note, it meant she wasn’t crazy and someone was out there with very intention of hurting her. Someone who could make good on the threat to hurt her mother. Sloan couldn’t take that chance.

“Good.” Her mom smiled, unaware of her daughter’s deception. “Now, I called and told them I’d be late. I’m the manager. I get a few perks now and then. I’ll try to be home early tonight. Around four or five, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Her mom left after a few more short pleasantries, leaving Sloan alone to think. Thinking wasn’t a great thing to do so she decided to go ahead and go to school. She grabbed her keys from the stand beside the front door, making sure the door was locked. Pausing for a second, she listened for the delivery man to come again.

Nothing.

Okay. Good. That was good, right?

She grabbed her backpack and went to the back door. For a second, she hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. Something or someone could be back there. The flowers, a note, a homicidal maniac for all she knew.

Something else was behind that door. A memory. The memory of Aaron’s lips on hers. How he bent down to take her, how his lips were warm and comforting, passionate and strong. When he held her tightly, she wanted to stay there forever.

And that scared her more than any roses or threatening notes ever could.

With all her heart, she didn’t want to pick between the brothers. Selfishly, she still wanted them both. Ray for his kind thoughtfulness. And Aaron for his strength and honesty — and boy was he honest. Honest to a fault.

A new pain overtook her chest. One she wished would go away. Pain for having to hurt one brother and excitement for what could happen with Aaron.

If anything was going to happen with Aaron.

“Get over it!” she demanded herself, shaking her head. “You have more important things to worry about than who you want to kiss.” But kissing Aaron was a much better thing to think about than a possible psychopath after her. However, not by much.

She locked the door behind her, glancing over at the concrete wall Aaron had pressed her against.

Again her chest ached, but for a different reason.

After what seemed like an eternity, she made it into her car and shut the door. No flowers in there either.

Strange.

Okay, so no flowers at her front door. None in her car. On Monday, they were in her locker, so maybe they would be there today.

All the way to school, she tried her best to focus on just driving, the songs on the radio, and clearing her head. It was Wednesday. Normally, she didn’t hate Wednesdays. They weren’t like Mondays. And since there was no school on Friday for prom, it was technically Thursday. Something to be happy about.

Most girls at school were head-over-heels excited about the prom. Not her. She hadn’t really had time to think about it. She had her dress — a red-sequined one with an asymmetrical sleeve across one shoulder and a slit just above her knee. And her shoes — sparkly silver ones. And she knew how she’d wear her hair — pulled back with small braids in two barrettes on each side.

She’d look decent. Fabulous even. But now it would be weird since she’d kissed Ray’s brother. Why couldn’t Aaron have waited until after prom? That would have been swell.

And then there was the countdown. The roses were counting down to prom. The “fall” would happen at prom if the notes were right. What type of fall, she didn’t know. It would be nice to know, though. At least she could anticipate it, strange as it would be. It was the unknown that got her. The not knowing where the roses were, what the note said, or who sent it were fraying her nerves.

Then again, if she listened to one theory, no one was sending them to her. She’d made it all up in her crazy little mind. That was one theory she couldn’t get behind. She’d seen the flowers, hadn’t she? Smelled them. Read the notes. Talked to the man who’d delivered them — though he had acted funny. Could her mind have thought of something so elaborate? Had she been that traumatized by what Boyd had done to her? Or had her brains been scrambled so badly after she whacked her head?

Her head ached just thinking about it. Her first instinct was to grab some medicine from her backpack. Then she remembered how tired she’d been after taking it and how fuzzy it had made her eyes. She pulled into the parking lot and drove past all the other cars to her spot in the far back corner. It was stupid. They were over-the-counter pills, nothing to hurt her. Her eyes had been fuzzy because she’d been tired. Nothing else. Certainly not the pills.

Then again, maybe her liver would appreciate it if she gave it a rest and didn’t take headache medicine at the first sign of pain. At least see if it would go away on its own.

Sloan grabbed her bag and water bottle before getting out of the car. Most everyone else had made their way up the hill to the school. A few stragglers and latecomers mingled in the parking lot at ten till the bell. She had become one of the latecomers this week. It wasn’t like her. When she’d ridden with Mackenzie, they’d always been early. A fact she appreciated when she walked past her best friend’s car. Always there, always dependable. Maybe Mackenzie would know what to do about Ray and Aaron. Maybe she’d have a second or two to talk to her about it before Ray joined them for lunch, if Ray even ate with them today. He seemed pretty irritated last night.

With everything rolling in her mind, she walked in a daze to her locker. On autopilot, she pulled out her books and paper she’d need for the next few classes like normal. She didn’t see Darcy nor did she care where she was. She felt defeated and just wanted to get through the day without anything happening.

Was that too much to ask?

Sloan made it to Biology without looking one person in the eye. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed like she’d been the first day she’d come back with the huge, hideous scar on her cheek. This was more of a not-paying-attention-to-anyone thing.

If Bigfoot had walked by, Sloan probably wouldn’t have noticed.

All she wanted was her seat in Biology, her water, and her headache medicine, and everything would be right in the world — for the next hour anyway.

Darcy Perry greeted her at the door by nearly running into her. “Watch it, Sloan!” she yelled, wiping some water she spilled on herself off.

It woke Sloan from her autopilot. She blinked a few times and saw the damage she’d done. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you.”

“Obviously.” Darcy shook water from her hands. “Thinking much?”

“Yeah. Just… I’m sorry.” She sidestepped and got around Darcy and into the room where everyone sat, staring at her.

To go from not paying attention to anyone to seeing everyone was jarring. She could feel her cheeks getting very red, and she walked with her head down as fast as she could to her seat. When she got there, she threw her bag down and hid behind her hair.

Good glory. What a day.

“Are you okay?” Ray asked behind her, making her jump.

“Yeah. Just been a long morning.” Sloan swiveled in her seat to see him. Ray’s baby blues popped, thanks to a short-sleeved shirt the same color. His blond hair looked messier than usual, and he had on a wooden cross necklace she’d never seen on him before. “I like it.” She pointed to the cross.

He took it and examined it. “I bought it Sunday. You know… after.”

After he got saved. She remembered. It had been a big week for him too. “Know when you’re getting baptized?”

He shook his head. “Haven’t talked to the preacher. Soon, you think?”

“Probably. You might want to wait until it warms up. The creek gets cold during the winter.”

“Said the girl who got baptized in August.” He grinned, making her feel better. He didn’t look as hurt as she figured he would be. That was good. She didn’t think she could handle it if he hated her. She did care for him, very much. He was one of her best friends.

“Just worked out that way. But I have to say, the water was pretty warm. Felt good when I got dunked.”

He laughed. “Divine intervention.”

“Maybe.” She smiled back. He didn’t seem too upset with her. A big contrast from last night. Maybe he’d gotten over it.

He chuckled and leaned his head closer to hers, his elbows rested on the desk. Suddenly, he got very serious. She didn’t like it. “Aaron’s going to go to the flower shop this morning to see who ordered the roses sent to you. That’ll help us a lot.”

It made her sick to think about it. Part of her wanted to know, and part of her was scared to death to find out. It made it that much more real.

“Did you get any roses today?”

“Not yet.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“I guess.” Was it? Or did it mean he just had something different planned for her today?

Ray did something she never expected. He took her hand and rubbed his fingers over her knuckles. Her body froze and goose bumps formed where his fingers traveled. It felt nice. Loving. Scary as all get out. “It’s going to be okay, you know. I promise. We’ll figure this out.”

At first, she didn’t think she could speak. Time stood still and all she could focus on was Ray’s hand on hers. It had always been such a cliché to her, electricity flowing between people, but at that minute, she felt it. How could she feel something for both Ray and Aaron? How could her toes get all tingly and her skin betray her with both of them? She never thought she’d be that kind of girl to lead two guys on, but it turned out, she was. Not because she was being mean, but because she truly, honestly, couldn’t choose between them. She had feelings for both.

“Aaron said he’d send me a text when he talked to the flower shop so we’ll know soon. Then we’ll decide on our next move, okay?”

We’ll decide our next move… like this had anything to do with him. “I’ll decide my next move.” She pulled her hand away from his. “It’s my life, Ray.
My
stalker. I have to decide how to handle it.”

Ray’s face changed from loving to frustration. “Other people in this world care about you, Sloan. You may not believe it, but we do. We want to help. Why do you keep shutting me out?”

She noticed how he changed the last sentence. Instead of
us
, it was me. Why do you keep shutting
me
out?

“Because… I…”

The bell rang, saving Sloan from saying something she might regret later. She turned around and heard Mrs. Knight shut the door. The teacher had her hair pulled partially back with a barrette and wore a pearl necklace around her neck. For such a young woman, she dressed older than most teachers there. Older, but much more stylish. Probably because she wanted to be taken seriously. Her face didn’t look a day over twenty-five.

“Get out your books and pass your homework up to the front,” she instructed, causing Sloan to sit up straighter.

Holy cow! Her homework! She’d forgotten her homework! After all of that trouble groveling and getting it from Darcy, she’d completely forgotten about it! She’d been so sleepy when she’d gotten home, then the letters in rose petals no one else saw, and then the kiss from Aaron, she’d sort of let trivial things like homework go by the wayside.

The now familiar sick feeling invaded her stomach and she wanted to crawl under the chair.

Ray tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned her neck. Laying over her arm were two folded pieces of paper. She grabbed them both, happy for Ray that he’d remembered to do them. When she got them in front of her, she noticed one of the papers had her name on it.

Shocked, she turned half way around.

“Figured you’d forget,”
Ray mouthed.
“My brother has that effect on girls.”
His lip curved slightly before turning his attention back to Mrs. Knight.

Sloan’s heart sank. So the kiss had bothered him. She bet it had been fun at their house last night.

“Thank you.”
She mouthed, hoping to get his attention.

He slid his gaze toward her and then with a quick nod, he focused back on Mrs. Knight.

Sloan turned around in her seat and felt awful. Donna had been right. She shouldn’t have strung both brothers on. Not that it had been her intention, but if she wanted to be honest with herself, she knew she had been. If either brother had gotten a girlfriend or dated someone, she would have been jealous. She couldn’t help it. It was the way of the world, but it wasn’t right.

When this was all over, she needed to have a talk with both of them. She wasn’t entirely sure who she’d choose, or if he would take her, but she knew it was necessary. They couldn’t keep going on like this.

Mrs. Knight lectured most of the class. Sloan tried to take notes, but ended up idly doodling flowers and boxes all over her paper. She didn’t pay much attention to her pictures until Mrs. Knight announced it was time to write down their assignment for the night.

Roses.

She’d filled her notebook paper full of roses.

Because that wasn’t crazy at all.

Sloan threw her pencil down. It rolled over her book and onto the floor. Normally, a pencil dropping didn’t make much of a sound… unless the pencil dropped in a high school classroom with twenty other people being quiet and focusing on the teacher.

Once the pencil echoed through the room, everyone turned her direction.

Everyone.

Tanner in the front row.

Darcy beside of him. She rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning back to the front. Apparently, she was going back to her old self. Who could blame her? Sloan had accused her of trying to sneak into her locker.

“Miss Bridges. Something we can help you with?” Mrs. Knight asked from the front. She clasped her hands together and rocked back on her heels in that annoyed stance teachers use when they are, well… annoyed.

“No, ma’am. It just dropped out of my hand. I’m sorry.” Sloan slid down to get it with her toes.