Seven (5 page)

I breathe a sigh of relief. My momentary weakness didn’t screw this up too badly, but I shut him down immediately, “I can’t.”

A slight tilt of the head and then, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“No.” I shake my head.

His eyebrows quirk up in curiosity. “Are you a lesbian? Was the girl you were with last week your girlfriend?”

I remain unaffected though he almost sounded hopeful. Like if she was, that I would let him watch “No.”

“Studying to be a nun?” he deadpans but I can see a hint of smile play over his lips.

“No. Not a nun.” I inwardly laugh at the thought of me living in a convent with other celibate women. Living my life for Jesus. I’m far from that. But, like them, I pray. I pray every day that they all get what’s coming to them. That I come out unscathed or with just a few scratches. But, my skin is as thick as steel.

“No boyfriend. Not a lesbian or a nun. So, why not go out with me? I thought we had something.” He leans in dangerously close to me, sending a second round of goosebumps all over my skin. “You know the whole ‘can’t keep my eyes off of you’ thing going on.”

“Because,” I say with annoyance. “I don’t like you.”

He gasps, bringing a clutched hand to his heart. “You don’t like me? How can you not like me? You don’t even know me.”

I shrug and watch his jaw drop to the floor. His eyes stare into mine, waiting for an answer, making me uncomfortable, so I pick up my Captain and Coke and empty the rest of its contents. Even though he isn’t saying a word, I know this isn’t finished. If I remember anything about Casen from high school, it’s that he doesn’t stop until he gets what he wants. If he wants me, then this is far from over.

Without warning, Casen jumps up off the stool and climbs on top of it, making the legs wobble. Shocked, I grab hold of the seat to keep it from tipping over. “Ladies and Gentleman!” he screams from his pedestal. My face burns with embarrassment as the entire bar quiets down. Even the music’s volume has been lowered. This is fucking unexpected. I pull on his pant leg, but he ignores my desperate pleas to get down. This is not how I wanted him to work for my attention. “I need your help!” he continues, pointing a stern finger down at me. “This beautiful, sexy lady refuses to go out with me! There is no boyfriend, no girlfriend, and no convent in her life.”

I can hear a few people chuckle and one woman yells out that he could do more than go out with her. Ignoring her, he continues. “Tell this lovely lady, Embyr, to give me a chance,” he pleads, fingers laced in prayer. Everyone erupts into encouragement for the crazy man on top of a bar stool.

Go out with him.

Give him a chance.

I’ll have him.

All are being thrown my way. “Get down!” I command. He shakes his head no. Exasperated I finally say, “Fine”

Casen bends down, holding the bar for support. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you.”

“Fine!” I tell him. This time, louder.

“Fine as in it’s fine I won’t get down or fine you’ll go out with me?” He smiles.

Knowing I need to do something drastic, I grab onto his shirt and pull his lips against mine aggressively. Cat calls begin all around us, and when his tongue begs entrance between my lips, I pull away and whisper, “I’ll go out with you.”

“She said yes!” He screams to the crowd, making them all cheer.

“Did you really have to do that?” I ask once the crowd quiets down, and he is safely seated on his ass, fresh drink is in his hand.

He takes a pull from his beer. “I did. Now you can’t bail since I have witnesses.”

“Is that your idea of not scaring me off?”

“You said yes, didn’t you?” He smiles.

I give him a fake laugh, shaking my head. “Why me, though? There are tons of women in here who would have said yes without the public display.”

His fingers pull on the label of his beer. “I don’t know. There is just something about you that I really like. I’m drawn to you. Even just seeing you across the bar has been the highlight of my week for the past month. I just feel like we need to get to know one another.”

“And if you don’t like me once you get to know me?”

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

I smile deviously.
Oh Casen. I’m going to destroy you.

The water sparkles like crystal off of Lake Arlington as I wait for Aria to get here. It’s an unseasonably warm day and I should be enjoying the sun, but being back in Arlington Heights just makes my skin crawl. I can’t help the uneasy feeling that settles over me every time I’m here. Even if it is only thirty minutes outside of the city, I still feel safer within the city limits of Chicago. But, every Saturday I come out here for one reason and one reason only.

I can see my childhood home as it backs up to a trail that is two miles around the lake, and try to remember the good times it held . . . up until I started high school. Its green shutters now are blue, and the current owners have added a deck and a swing set for the two little ones they have. I sold the house just after both of my parents passed away, and paid off, not only, all of their debts, but put it towards my college education, as well. It also secured a little down payment for my condo. It was tough for me to let it all go, but I knew that, in order to get away from this town and these people, that it needed to be done.

I went far away from this place after I graduated. I wanted to go somewhere that I could make a safe transition from Annie to Embyr. So, I went to a small college in North Carolina where no one knew my fucking name. It was the perfect place to change everything. Mentally and physically.

I took a lot of time and consideration into my new name. I wanted something strong and independent. Two things I was striving to be, but also something vicious because I knew it needed to signify what I was going to do. It needed to give me strength every time it was said.

One drunken night, I watched the burning wood die in the fireplace, and the name Embyr sprang from my thoughts. It possessed the qualities I wanted it to stand for. And, so began the process of becoming
Embyr Quinn.

It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and, by the time I graduated from college, I was ready to start my plans of retribution.

“Here you go.” Aria’s soft voice breaks into the quiet morning air as she drops a heavy envelope next to me on the bench. I look up, finding her tight, little, eighteen-year-old, flawless body. Her blonde hair is flowing freely in the light breeze, and her blue eyes are crystal clear as though she has slept for hours. Her tiny running shorts match her red tank top, and her ample breasts push out as I watch her pull her hair up into a ponytail. She must be about to go for a run around the lake.

I lift the package and turn it side-to-side, feeling the weight of it. “Did you take your cut?” I ask.

She’s now bent over at the waist (her flexibility beyond anything I could ever do), touching her toes and looking upside down at me. No wonder Wesley couldn’t keep his hands to himself; she’s pretty damn hot. “I did,” she says, standing up and smiling. “I have to admit that I would almost feel like a prostitute, if he didn’t fuck like a stallion.”

Standing up, I nestle the envelope between my side and my arm as I glare at her. “Sometimes we have to do what we have to do, Aria. You don’t have to worry about putting your parents in the poor house for sending you to college now. Plus, besides the fact that he doesn’t even know you are benefitting from this, he should know better. He’s a principal who is fucking a student. You should sleep well at night, knowing you are reaping the rewards of his immorality and getting a good fuck.”

I start to walk towards my car, leaving her to her run. “You still haven’t told me what you’re getting out of this, Embyr,” she says to my back.

I turn around, tilting my head, and smile. “I’m getting the rewards of his immorality that I’m due.” When I get into my car I allow my head to fall back into the headrest.

Think what you want. It was as much Aria’s idea as it was mine.

I slouch down into the driver’s side of my car as I keep an eye on the side doors to the high school. Out of all the men on my hit list, Wesley comes across as the saint. I can’t find one shred of evidence to the contrary. From what I’ve found out, he worked his ass off to earn the job as Principal of the high school, despite all the money his family has.

No parking tickets.

No restraining orders.

None of his ex-girlfriends had a bad thing to say about him.

A fucking saint.

Yeah, right.

There has to be something.

I lean over to bump up the heat, when I see the side door to the school swing open, and Wesley steps out. He’s tall. Six feet two-ish and dark-skinned like the color of chocolate. He reminds me of Taye Diggs with his large lips and smoldering eyes. He looks around the parking lot, turning back to speak to someone behind him. After a moment, I watch as a blonde-haired beauty, who looks to be barely legal, steps out and makes a mad dash. He follows, running after her like she stole something. I watch curiously to see what she has done to make him sprint like he did, but when he reaches her at his car, his arms cage her in and he lowers his lips to the crevice between her neck and shoulder. Her fingers glide over his button up shirt and she grabs onto his tie, pulling him even closer into her.

My eyes widen at their brazenness. There is no way she is a faculty member. She doesn’t even look old enough to vote. Their mouths detach from each other, and his eyes scan the parking lot, yet again, not noticing my car. A wide smile breaks out across his face, and he opens the back door of his car, playfully shoving her inside while he unbuttons his pants in plain sight. I watch her fidget with her own clothes from the back seat, not even bothering to look around. He crawls in on top of her, and I fumble quickly to pull out my phone and snap a few pictures. The door slams shut as he positions himself between her legs. I watch his ass rise and fall at a slow, agonizing pace as he plunges into the teenager. I hit the record button on my phone and watch. After a few minutes, his thrusts get faster. The car starts to shake and from my position, I can hear the girl’s screams of ecstasy. When they are finished and put back together, he steps out of the car, looking to see if anyone is around, oblivious to the fact that I just watched. She follows momentarily behind him, adjusting her clothes and kissing him on the lips. His hand makes contact with her ass and they run back toward the side door.

I watched this happen four times in as many weeks before I caught up to Aria, the student, one day after school at a gas station. She said she was sent to his office after cheating on a test, and he came on to her. Said he would make it go away if she slept with him. So, she did.

When she told me she was eighteen and from a poor family, I knew exactly how to ruin Wesley and his reputation all while supplementing both of our bank accounts. She didn’t even hesitate to go along with my plan.

The first set of pictures was addressed to him at the school. I wish I could have seen his face when he was confronted with image after image of his compromising position with a student. After that, I sent in my demands:
keep paying me through a P.O. Box, and I won’t tell the school board
. It’s amazing though, he didn’t even attempt to stop fucking Aria. By the time I’m through with him, he will be jobless, and have provided enough money to put Aria through medical school.

Why Wesley, you might ask?

Simple. He was part of the PITCREW. Part of the plan. Part of the bet.

And now, he is another one to be crossed off my list.

Throwing the money in the passenger seat, I pick up my cell phone, seeing two missed calls from the police department and a text from Casen.

Interesting.

Casen:
Dinner tonight?

I laugh at his eagerness. If only he would have claimed me before the bet. Maybe we could have worked out.

Me:
Less than twenty-four hours should be a record. Aren’t guys supposed to wait three days?

I put the phone down, looking at my old house one last time before starting the engine. My phone chimes.

Casen:
I know what I want. Send me your address. I’ll pick you up at eight.

Leaving the parking lot, I decide to leave him hanging for a little while. When I get home, I respond.