Like the universe is playing some kind of sick joke on me, she’s suddenly not alone. Brady joins her and runs his hands over her shoulders. They move together in synchrony, but it’s clear everything he’s doing is meant to showcase her.
I glance up at the name of the studio and it all comes flooding back to me. An eight-year-old Savi, sitting in my room and telling me about the boy she met at dance. Her teacher’s son. I didn’t like him then, and I sure as shit don’t like him now. Brady Laurence just became another one of my targets.
7
Savannah
I’m getting ready for school in the morning when the doorbell rings. I freeze. The last time someone came here this early, it was a big guy ready to wring my dad’s neck for owing him money. Still, after the second time, I head to the door.
“Savannah Montgomery?” a guy asks, looking down at his clipboard then back up at me.
“Yes?”
He smiles. “We’re here to install a new window. Mind showing me where it’s going?”
“Uh, sure.” I answer hesitantly and lead him into the house.
I’m not stupid enough to believe my father used his precious drug and alcohol money on a new window. The night it broke, he sat in a drunken stupor and watched as I cut my hand on the broken glass and then covered the gaping hole with a large piece of cardboard. No, this has to be the work of someone else.
“It’s this one.” Pointing to the window, I back away. “I have to go to school. My dad is asleep in his room, I think. So just lock the door behind you when you leave.”
He nods and then gets to work, starting to remove the makeshift cover.
I grab my bag from my room and head out to where Brady is already waiting. It’s unusually chilly for a September morning in California, so when I climb into the car, I welcome the warmth. He looks over at me and grins as he puts the car in drive.
“New window?”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Thank you.”
He chuckles at how I already know who’s responsible. “Don’t mention it.”
We pull up to the school a short while later, only to find Kinsley hanging out with Grayson, alone. She’s laughing at something he said as he smokes his cancer stick. A sickening feeling settles in the pit of my stomach at the sight.
“What the hell is Grayson doing with her?” Brady asks.
I roll my eyes and sink into the seat. “I’m pretty sure he’s using her to make me jealous. Though, I don’t think she knows that.”
The bad blood between Kinsley and me goes back for years, which is why no one gets involved or tries to defend her when I treat her like shit. When we were freshman, she saw me as a threat, and in a horrible attempt to ruin me, she told police that I tried to rape her little brother. It was as sick and twisted as she is. Thankfully, her brother denied all allegations, and her parents got her to admit that she made the whole thing up.
After that, I kept to the age-old saying: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. As messed up as she is, it makes more sense to keep her on my side. Otherwise, she’d spend all her time thinking of new psychotic ways to mess with me, and I don’t need her finding out my secret. However, all this shit she’s pulling with Grayson is really pissing me off. She may already think I’m a bitch, but if she keeps this up, she’s going to find out just how ruthless I can be.
THE MORNING IS SO slow that I almost consider trying to leave early. It’s only second period, and I’m doing by best to ignore the unfortunate blast from my past beside me. If he’s trying to be subtle with the looks he’s shooting my way, he’s failing miserably. A part of me wants to snap at him, but I have a feeling it would do no good.
Halfway through the class, I stand from my desk and walk up to Miss Layton. She eyes me curiously, leaning back in her chair.
“How can I help you, Savannah?”
I fake a smile. “Can I have a hall pass? I need to use the ladies room.”
It’s obvious she wants to protest, but she pulls the pad from her desk and signs it anyway. Smart woman. I take the paper and thank her as I leave the room. It’s not that my need to pee is dire, but my need to get some space from Grayson is. When I have people around to distract me, it’s easier to ignore him, but when it’s just the two of us, my focus stays solely on him.
Maybe I could get Brady to pick me up. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s signed me out of school. His mom is on my emergency contact list, and he just acts like he’s picking me up for her. He and I could go back to the studio to rehearse some more. Dancing is exactly what I need right now—to throw my body into the music and forget the world around me.
I finish my business and flush the toilet with my foot, because there’s no way in hell would I ever touch that thing with my hand. As I’m standing at the sink, the door opens, and Grayson walks in. Fucking fantastic. I throw away the paper towel and turn to face him.
“You know, you might be lacking in male genitalia, but the guys’ bathroom is across the hall.”
He narrows his eyes on me, and I think I even see the corner of his mouth twitch—but that could be my mind playing tricks on me. “Funny, because the Savi I knew would turn bright red at the slightest mention of a dick.”
I cross my arms and lean back against the cool ceramic. “That girl is long gone.”
“So I’ve noticed.” He crosses the distance between us and reaches his hand out to brush the hair out of my face. “It’s a shame. She was my favorite.”
He’s so close that his scent overtakes my senses. The smell of smoke masked over by cologne, yet still him. I don’t dare to move as he brings his hand to the back of my neck and presses his forehead against mine. Even after all these years, he’s makes my whole body come alive. Every nerve ending concentrates on his touch. He remains still, his lips only millimeters from mine.
“Gray.” I whisper, but regret the nickname as soon as it comes out of my mouth.
He tenses instantly, and the energy in the room changes. His grip tightens as he pulls back, and the fire in his dark blue eyes sends fear straight through me.
“Don’t call me that,” he growls. “You don’t get to fucking call me that.”
My brows furrow. “What happened to you?”
The dark chuckle that comes from his mouth echoes around the small room. “Isn’t it obvious, Savannah?” My name is like poison on his tongue. “You happened to me. There isn’t a single thing in my life that you haven’t ruined. Broken everything that ever meant anything to me. Now, I won’t stop until I break you.”
His hand clenches around my necklace, and with one harsh pull, he snaps it right off my neck. The one thing I held onto all these years—the only thing that reassured me my life wasn’t always a fucking disaster—is in the hand of the one who gave it to me. As he storms out, I can’t control it as I break down. The tears pour from my eyes as my hand searches for the piece of jewelry I know is no longer there. Somehow, it doesn’t feel like he just took back a gift that meant the world to me. It’s like he’s taking back our entire past together, and I don’t know how to handle that.