I had no idea how she could run that fast on the beach.
I opened my mouth to yell for her, but that was pointless.
She was gone.
And she had earbuds in her ears when she ran by me.
At the same time… what the fuck was the point of that?
To remind me that she could run fast? To remind me that she was still near me?
My heart climbed into my throat.
There was nothing I could do about Gia right now.
I turned and walked back to the beach house.
I climbed the steps of the deck and went inside.
There was a note from my mother.
She had gone out already.
And she wasn’t planning on coming back tonight.
It was nice of her to leave some money on the counter, but I still had plenty of money hidden under my bed.
I threw her note out and the doorbell rang again.
I let out a yell when I heard the noise.
All I could picture was Noah sending me more flowers.
But it wasn’t flowers. It had nothing to do with Noah at all.
It was Val.
Gia’s mom.
“Winter,” she said. “I was hoping to see you.”
“Me? Why?”
“I wanted to check up on you,” Val said. “Haven’t seen you…”
“Oh. Right. I’m fine. Just, you know, womanly issues.”
“I have a remedy for that,” Val said. “I wish I knew. I could have made you a drink. It tastes really bad but it’s worth it. Takes the cramps away instantly.”
“Oh, wow. Well, thanks anyway.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Val asked.
“I… well… how’s Gia?”
“Gia?” Val asked. “She’s out for her run.”
“Yeah. I saw her. This time I didn’t try to chase her. Learned my lesson.”
Val smiled. “She’s something else, isn’t she? And don’t mind her lately. She goes through her ups and downs. I’ve been helping her. Just give it time. She’ll come around.”
I nodded. “I hope so. I do miss her.”
Val sighed. “I’m sorry about that. Just be there for her.” Val took a deep breath. “Anyway. I just wanted to check on you. And, honestly, I hope you don’t give up on Gia. She means well. Don’t hate her.”
“I don’t hate her,” I said. “I haven’t been feeling good myself.”
“Okay. Good. I feel better now. If you ever need anything for cramps or headaches, I’ve got you covered. I love your mother but she doesn’t believe in my stuff. She’ll just take the pills and drugs and be happy. Which is fine. I just think there’s other ways around it.”
“Thank you. Again. Thanks.”
Val put her hands together and backed away.
I shut the door.
The last few days had been really weird.
Today was even weirder.
The weirdest part of the day was how lonely and quiet it was for me.
No calls. No texts.
No seeing my mother.
No other surprises from Noah or Easton.
No word from Xavier either.
Gia… Talon…
The list went on and on.
I sat outside and read a book for a little while.
I ate when I was hungry.
I drank when I was thirsty.
The hours moved by at a steady pace.
Like the waves of the ocean and time were linked up.
It was right about when I had that thought I realized I was slipping.
Seclusion was not my thing.
I caved and got myself a real drink and grabbed my phone to text Gia.
We really need to talk.
I sent the text and waited.
I finished my first drink and she never replied to me.
So I helped myself to a second one.
Then I sent her another text.
You have no idea what this all means to me. This isn’t a game, Gia.
That text was sent.
And Gia never replied to that one either.
I took that as all the answer I needed.
I worked my way into a third drink and when I got tired, I went to my room, drink in hand, talking to the walls, giggling, and crashing down to my bed.
When my eyes shut, they… shut…
I fell asleep, hard.
I could feel my body sleeping hard.
I could almost hear myself snoring.
I even dared myself to have that dream again, but it never came.
There was no dream.
The first time in days where I didn’t have that awful dream of being in the hallways of BFH.
It was a glorious sleep.
One that was interrupted by the buzzing of my phone on the nightstand.
I lifted my head and felt like someone punched me in the forehead.
The worst part was that it was just after eleven.
That meant my sleep schedule was going to be messed up for the rest of the night now.
“Shit,” I whispered.
I saw the text message and groaned.
It was from Talon.
Need to see you.
That was followed by another one.
On my way.
Then a third one was waiting too.
I’m here.
I jumped up at that text.
The room spun for a second as my fingers tried to find the phone screen.
I groaned.
And I heard a noise behind me.
I looked over my shoulder…
Talon was in my bedroom.
I stood and turned.
I threw my phone to the bed and looked down at myself to make sure I was properly dressed.
Luckily I had gotten tipsy enough that I kept all my clothes on when I crashed to the bed.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped.
“I sent you a text, darling,” Talon said.
“You sent three.”
“So?”
“All at once?”
“No. Check the time.”
I leaned forward and looked down at my phone.
Talon had sent the three texts at different times.
I must have been sleeping so hard the third one was the one that woke me up.
Which was good.
Last thing I needed was Talon in my room while I was sleeping.
You never knew what a Troc was capable of.
I shivered.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Haven’t heard from you,” he said. “Haven’t seen you either.”
“Aw, you miss me?”
“Something like that,” he said.
“I’m never going to fuck you, Talon.”
“I didn’t come here for that, Winter,” Talon said. “Plus, you look like hell right now. Were you drinking?”
“No.”
Talon pointed to the glass on the nightstand.
“That’s water,” I said.
I grabbed the glass and downed the vodka in it.
I wasn’t sure why I felt like I had to prove myself to him.
The vodka burned and I coughed.
Talon laughed.
“Yeah, I get it. I sometimes choke when I’m drinking water too.”
I lifted my middle finger at him.
He climbed onto my bed, on his knees.
He was so bad and inviting.
A bad boy dream. The worst kind of guy to get close to.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I told myself at least I wouldn’t get hurt by him.
I shook my head.
“What’s wrong, darling?” Talon asked.