Chapter 6 #2
“I don’t know how she got you to do it, but whatever she said is probably a lie,” I warned him.
He shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not.” He started his bike and revved the engine. “Don’t worry your head about poor little ole me, Mr. Rowen. I know exactly who I’m dealing with.”
“This isn’t a game,” I snapped, pissed that this punk was being so nonchalant about all of this.
“No,” he smiled. “It’s an audition, and I plan to get the part.”
“What fucking part?” I was already on leave, so what did my language matter?
His smile widened, “Any part she’s willing to give me.”
He slipped his helmet on and started his bike.
“You’re making a mistake,” I growled.
His voice was muffled, “And what a fan-fucking-tastic mistake it’s going to be.”
I felt a burning sensation in my gut and an urge to punch him. I was angry at Taryn, yet I couldn’t ignore her beauty—a beauty I had begun to notice involuntarily a few months earlier. Was my anger due to his attitude or because he was free to act on his feelings while I wasn’t?
As Beck rode off, I stood alone in the lot, the truth settling like a weight I couldn’t shake off.
Every bit of this had been about revenge. And I had been bested in a war I didn’t even know I was fighting by an eighteen-year-old girl.
I should’ve left, but I didn’t. That was the first mistake.
The second was following Taryn when she left the building.
“Stop, I want to speak to you,” I called out.
Taryn smirked but didn’t slow.
Of course the fucking brat didn’t. She cut around the side of the building like she owned the ground under her feet, as if the world bent just slightly in her direction.
I was starting to believe that it usually did.
I caught up to her near the entrance to the parking lot and pulled her into the trees, grabbing her arm and yanking her back harder than I meant to.
She jerked away from me, not appearing the least scared. “You don’t get to touch me,” she said flatly.
“Funny,” I snapped. “I haven’t before today. But that didn’t seem to stop you from throwing accusations around.”
Her eyes flashed, and she smirked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I stepped closer to her, crowding her against a tree. “I don’t believe you.”
Her chin lifted. “I don’t give a damn what you believe, Lucas.”
My hand came up, closing around her throat—squeezing, and I felt her pulse jump under my fingers. “It’s Mr. Rowan to you.”
The air shifted, and her breath hitched—not with fear. But with something that I didn’t want to name.
“Careful,” Taryn said, her voice lower now. More intense. “This isn’t helping your case.”
I leaned in.
Close enough to feel the heat of her breath.
Close enough that if I moved an inch—
“I don’t give a single fuck,” I smiled slowly.
Her lips parted in surprise.
My grip tightened around her throat even more, and her breath hitched.
“How do you like not having control?” I breathed the question inches from her mouth.
I saw the desire in her eyes, and everything changed.
My anger didn’t disappear; it shifted.
Turning into something sharper. Hotter. More dangerous.
“If you’re trying to prove something,” she murmured, “you’re doing a terrible job.”
I almost laughed.
“Yeah?” I leaned in just a fraction more.
The smell of her coconut lotion invaded my senses, and my dick pulsed.
Her hand came up—gripping my wrist, not pulling it away, just there.
“You need to let me go,” Taryn’s voice was shaking now.
Not in fear, but in want.
I felt precum leak out. The high of having her at my mercy was going to make me cum in my pants like a schoolboy.
The thought snapped me back to my senses, and I suddenly released her and stepped back.
Taryn sucked in a breath like she hadn’t realized she needed it. Her eyes were still locked on mine.
Then she smiled slowly, “Stay away from me, Mr. Rowan.”
It didn’t sound like a warning. It sounded more like a dare.
I stared as she walked away. Had she been at my mercy or had I been at hers?
I didn’t call Adrian first.
That was yet another mistake I made today.
Maybe he would’ve talked me out of it if I had.
I sat in my car for a long time before dialing, the stadium lights glowing behind me. Ben Calder’s name stared back at me from the parent contact list in my email.
I told myself I was doing the responsible thing.
I told myself I was concerned.
The phone rang once.
“Calder.”
No greeting, just his name.
“Hello, Ben. This is Lucas Rowen, Adrian’s friend. Taryn is in my history class.”
A pause. “I know who you are. What’s this about?”
“I’m concerned. She stole a copy of the biology exam, and I thought you should know.”
This was a mistake, but I was in too deep now.
Silence stretched, dense and unreadable.
Then Ben laughed.
Not really amused, but not in surprise either.
“Don’t worry. She’s already being punished for something else. I’ll make sure to add to it for this.”
Fuck. I shouldn’t have called Ben. The memory of that eight-year-old girl flashed through my mind. I was enraged at the adult Taryn, but that little girl made me feel guilty about what I was doing.
“Maybe after the game, all three of us can get together and talk.” I desperately tried to think of a way to undo what I’d done. “I know she’s been under a lot of pressure—”
Ben interrupted me, “She won’t be there.”
I felt my heart drop.
“Mr. Calder, I’m sure this can be worked out.”
I heard a click and knew the asshole had hung up.
“Fuck!” I lay my head on the steering wheel.
I took a moment to calm down, then dialed Adrian. He’d know what to do. He hadn’t talked to Taryn in years, but I knew he kept track of her.
Creepy bastard probably watched her through her laptop’s camera.
“What? I’m extremely busy.”
Typical Adrian. Short and to the point.
“I fucked up.” I ripped off the Band-Aid.
“Lucas—”
I interrupted him. “It’s bad. And I need your help to fix it.”
“Lucas—”
“You’re going to be pissed, and you have every right to be.”
“Would you shut the fuck up and listen!”
“Well, that’s fucking rude.” Typical Adrian.
“I’m monitoring the meteor shower.” His voice was clipped.
“Really?” I huffed out a breath. “That’s why you’re blowing me off.”
Sometimes, I couldn’t believe our friendship had lasted all these years.
“Yes.”
The bastard hung up before I could say another word. Why the hell was everyone hanging up on me today?
Fuck Ben and fuck Adrian. I’d figure something out.
I started my car. Maybe tomorrow I’d make my way out to the Calder’s. It would probably come back to bite me in the ass, but even though the little brat deserved whatever Ben had planned, I couldn’t help feeling like I should check on her.