Chapter 11
Eleven
GIA
How did this happen?
Gia stared in shock at the waist-height bushes, which mocked her with their bright colors. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected when she came up here, but finding a whole bench and new shrubbery hadn’t been it.
How the hell did the bench get up here, anyway? And who the hell brought it here?
The leaves rustled in the gentle breeze as if mocking her ire. The bench itself wasn’t the issue. It was a fantastic view from this vantage point. And clearly it made a great spot for a picnic, judging by the half-eaten sandwich she’d spotted next to Jake.
She wasn’t sure exactly why seeing the vibrant flowers upset her, only that she hadn’t expected it.
Right where those bushes now taunted her was the spot where she’d seen Thao last. Past the bundle of thorns and vines was a drop directly into the water below.
For the past decade, the image of what her brother looked like right before he disappeared forever still tormented her.
The sheer terror in his eyes when he realized his fatal mistake had branded itself onto her psyche.
She could never forget it as long as she lived.
The strangled scream she’d let loose as he fell, moving too slow to save her twin.
Her worst nightmares could never compare to the reality of the moment. Of her failure.
In seconds, he had vanished. Almost like the lake had swallowed him whole. A freak accident changed all of their lives.
Thao’s absence left a gaping hole deep inside of her. It had never gone away. She’d only learned to work around the growing emptiness inside of her. Admittedly, her idea of coping hadn’t been so healthy in the past, but she was learning.
What is life but trial and error?
Jake’s fingers tugged on her hair, pulling gently at her scalp. The movement was both comforting and grounded her in the present moment. In a rush of awareness, as the cold wave washing over her retreated, she realized how close she sat to her sworn enemy. And how she’d allowed him to touch her.
This anger was familiar. It was comforting and justified. She leaned into it, letting it make her feel alive when otherwise she was a walking zombie.
Funny how one person could do that to her. Of course, it had to be Jake.
There was no way she could forgive him for what he had done to her. The night she snuck into his window, she’d been wanting to escape from the oppressive mood. It had felt like a suffocating weight was holding everyone down. She couldn’t face her parents’ disappointment in losing their only son.
It should have been me.
Thao deserved to live the rest of his life. He would have been an amazing artist, doctor, or whatever he set his mind on becoming. Whatever it was, she knew he would have changed people’s lives for the better.
Unlike her.
Her only legacy was a path of destruction. She destroyed everything she touched.
It was like bad luck followed her everywhere, waiting for the moment to drag her down and reminding her of how unworthy she was.
Every time she thought her luck was changing, something awful would happen.
Like when she was about to head off to college, only to lose her twin.
Or when all of her hard work seemed to pay off, but she became ensnared in a cycle of drug abuse.
After clawing her way back to sobriety, she thought the tides were finally changing with this new role, only to find it was yet another horrifying catastrophe.
Those thoughts still whispered to her sometimes. Especially when she wasn’t paying attention or during an attack. It had been the reason why she snuck out of her house during her brother’s funeral and walked the distance to Jake’s.
The reason she finally acted on her crush.
At first, he’d resisted, but she climbed onto his lap and kissed him until he couldn’t say no. She hadn’t known what she was doing, but she figured with all the romance movies she watched, it couldn’t have been hard.
What she hadn’t expected was the way she’d felt when their lips touched.
Her nerve endings felt electrified as a zap of intense pleasure traveled from her lips straight to her core.
It had made her feel tingling and achy for something.
Her inexperience on the subject had been frustrating, but when she’d instinctively rocked her hips to ease the ache, she’d felt something hard between her thighs.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Gia whipped her head to glare at the offending owner of the husky voice.
“You need more than just a penny to hear my thoughts, buddy,” she spat, trying to melt him with the heat of her glare. It was too bad she didn’t have laser eyes. She could do some actual damage to the bane of her existence.
“Oh, really? How much more do I need?” Jake untangled his fingers from her hair and crossed his arms across his chest, eyebrow raised in challenge, the corner of his lip upturned. She had the urge to smack the smirk right off his face.
“You couldn’t afford it.” Turning her nose in the air, she moved to turn away, except something caught her eye. Halting, she turned her body toward what had caught her attention.
A brown plaque was in the middle of the bench where Jake’s arm had been resting. It wasn’t the plaque itself that caught her attention, but the sight of a familiar name. Her lips parted as her eyes roamed over the plaque disbelievingly.
In loving memory of Thao Lien
1997-2015
Someone had donated a bench in honor of her brother. People hadn’t forgotten about him.
Tears welled in her eyes as she brought her fingers to gently graze the raised words.
“Who…?” Dumbfounded, she turned her gaze to Jake, who had been watching her closely. Grief strangled her voice. All this time she thought she was alone in grieving Thao, but here was the physical reminder that she wasn’t.
“An anonymous donor had it installed a few years after the… accident.” His voice was curt, as though he were battling his emotions.
A boom of thunder sounded in the distance. Turning their attention to the darkening horizon, she gleaned from the ominous dark clouds that a rainstorm was imminent.
A fast-moving thunderstorm, by the looks of it.
“Fuck. We should get going.” Jake jumped from his seat and held out his hand to her. For once, she agreed with him.
She glared at the offending appendage and slapped it out of her way. Jake’s answering chuckle only made her want to slap him across the face next, but she refrained. Barely.
Shivering at the sudden drop in temperature, she stood on shaky legs and marched down the trail without a backward glance. She’d have to come back another time and spend some time with Thao. The bench’s appearance was puzzling.
Maybe Minh knows who donated it.
“You’re not going to wait for me?” Jake’s shout could barely be heard over the wind and the pounding in her ears.
“Nope!” she shouted over her shoulder and flipped him off.
Jake was a big boy. He could handle himself.
It didn’t take long for Jake to catch up with her. She heard his footsteps trailing behind her. He kept his distance, which she was thankful for. Spending time with him made her feel irrational. Out of control.
Two things she hated feeling, because they usually sparked unhealthy habits.
The sun was quickly disappearing from the sky as the storm clouds advanced over the lake. Not for the first time, Gia wished she’d at least brought a raincoat. There was no way she’d make it back to the car without getting soaked.
As if answering her thoughts, a loud boom reverberated overhead, followed by a streak of lightning. Within seconds, the clouds burst open, unleashing a torrent of rain pounding the ground.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Gia paused in her angry march and screamed at the sky as the ice-cold rain pelted her. The torrential downpour drowned her voice out. Growling at her bad luck, she moved to continue walking down the path when the flood stopped abruptly.
Curious, she looked up to see a black umbrella held high above her head. Trailing her gaze up the muscled forearm attached to the umbrella, she found herself staring up into twinkling blue eyes.
“Forget your umbrella at home?” His impish tone made her teeth ache with the urge to snap at him, but unfortunately, it seemed she was at his mercy for the time being.
She could have been stubborn and continued her trek in the rain, but the idea didn’t appeal to her.
Besides, she didn’t want to get sick on top of all the other things going on in her life right now.
Rolling her eyes, she bit her tongue so she couldn’t bite his head off. Sniffing in indignation, she muttered a thanks before they walked side by side the rest of the way. The mostly downhill walk should have been faster, but it felt like hours as they walked with only a foot of space between them.
She blamed the wetness still clinging to her skin and the chill in the air for the goosebumps erupting over her body. It was definitely not her body’s reaction to his proximity.
His intoxicating scent mixed with the rain was absolutely not making her core clench with need. It was most definitely indigestion. Or period cramps.
Fists clenched, she folded her arms across her chest to hide her peaked nipples betraying her. The damp material made her top cling to her skin obscenely. She really should have brought a jacket. Or an umbrella.
“This means nothing, you know.” She gave him a side-eye before keeping her gaze determinedly ahead of her.
“Of course not.” His cool response grated on her nerves.
Nothing ever seemed to ruffle his feathers.
While her body was a riot of opposing emotions, he was completely unaffected.
Come to think of it, the only time she’d seen him not composed was when he’d spotted her bruises.
What else would it take to shake Jake’s control?
She bet he was a control freak.
Does that obsessive need for control also happen in the bedroom?
Mentally, she slapped herself on the forehead.
Stop it, Gia.