“And you hit him. Are you in trouble?”
“No,” Xavier said. “He won’t remember. And if he does, he won’t say anything.”
“Thank you for doing that. He kind of just snuck up on me and…”
“I saw,” Xavier said.
“Do you… I mean… with us… and Noah and Easton…”
I wasn’t exactly sure what I was asking.
I didn’t have time to figure it out either because Noah and Easton came out of the tent as we began to approach it again.
“Where the hell were you two?” Noah asked, his voice laced with jealousy.
I blushed and was thankful to be covered by the darkness.
“Barry did something stupid,” Xavier said. “I took her for a walk to calm down.”
“You’re the one that knocked him out?” Easton asked.
“Yeah,” Xavier said.
“Shit,” Easton said.
“Are you okay, Winter?” Noah asked.
“I’m fine,” I said. “We went for a walk to the rocks and back.”
“It’s getting annoying in there,” Easton said. “Everyone is drunk. I think we’ve done enough here for the night.”
“I agree,” Xavier said. “I don’t need to get shit for what I did. Especially if Barry starts talking.”
“He’s not talking,” Noah said. “They have him in a lawn chair. He’s sleeping.”
“Good,” Xavier said.
“He’s a scumbag,” I said.
Easton laughed. “Try getting to know the guy.”
“She never will,” Xavier said.
He was being way too protective.
And Noah picked up on it.
Noah got closer to me and touched my right hand.
“Want to just head back to the room?” Noah asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“You don’t want to slow dance with me?” Easton asked. “Just once?”
I smiled. “Fine. One dance. Just for you, Easton.”
“Seriously?” Xavier asked.
I started to blush even harder.
All three were jealous of one another.
Easton put his hand out. “Let’s go, Winter.” He looked at Noah and Xavier. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring her back safe and sound.”
I could feel the hesitation pouring from Xavier as he let my hand go.
The same for Noah.
Easton slipped his arm around my waist and walked me to the tent.
“Don’t worry, Winter,” he said. “If anyone tries to do something stupid, I’ll kill them for you.”
“How reassuring,” I said.
We entered the tent just as the lights began to dim.
The band started to play a slow song and Easton faced me.
His hands touched my sides and pulled me against him.
I put my arms around his neck.
This was crazy.
My body was still aching and reeling from Xavier…
“This life is hard to figure out,” he said. “Sometimes I wonder what it must be like to have no memory.”
“Oh?”
“Just to not know anything,” he said. “To forget all the crap in my mind. It would be a relief.”
“Well, my advice? Get into a car accident. It worked wonders for me.”
Easton laughed. “You’re really special, Winter. Everything that happened and you just go with it. You have a fight in you that’s just… I don’t know. It’s amazing.”
“I just don’t like to give up,” I said. “Or give in.”
“Meaning this cheesy music and my sweet words aren’t going to make you want me?”
“Nope,” I said. “You’ll have to try harder than that.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I can take you down if I wanted to,” Easton said.
“Is that a flirty threat?”
“Maybe,” he said.
He gently kissed me as the band played.
I caught myself getting lost in the moment.
I slowly moved my hands to his chest and pushed away.
“This is way too cheesy for me,” I said.
“Meaning you want me to take you to the room,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
“You know, I appreciate your enthusiasm, Easton. I mean, it’s a bold move to try and convince someone who lost their memory that you had sex with them in the backseat of their car.”
“I know,” Easton said. “I guess it’s only right we make it true.”
“You don’t have a car here.”
Easton touched his chest. “You’re killing me here, Winter.”
I laughed.
He grabbed my hand.
We walked away from the tent.
I was actually kind of killing myself with the way everything was starting to feel.
Chapter 24
two words
I got changed out of the dress, on my own.
The guys all got changed, on their own.
We all said our goodbyes and goodnights and I retreated to the massive bed.
Alone.
I knew I was going to be sleeping alone. But that didn’t mean it was going to settle well within me.
I kind of hated it.
I hated the position I was in.
I hated what my heart felt.
I liked them. I cared about them. I was teetering on a dangerous line that flirted with another L word…
That wasn’t going to happen. Ever.
I curled up under the covers and shut my eyes.
I begged for sleep, but it didn’t come.
Not even close.
My mind replayed the events of the night over and over.
I had an understanding of who they were.
As part of rich and powerful families, they had to show their faces to events like this because it was all about protecting the family brand. Protecting the power over the money.
Noah’s parents had no faith in him. They had no choice but to pretend he was just fine.
Easton was devious. I wasn’t sure what he knew or didn’t. That was just part of his charm.
And then Xavier… the one living in the world of secrets, lies and deceptions.
Again, I didn’t know what he knew or not.
I gave up on sleep a short while later and climbed out of the bed and opened the window.
I moved out onto the ledge on my own and sat there.
There were still people in the tent.
The ball would go on probably until sunrise.
I wondered who was leaving that tent with their spouse or someone else.
And I wondered who actually cared.
Because money and power controlled everything.
Just like what I was dong… it was about power.
I wanted the power over the three of them. I needed the power.
I had a point to prove.
Yet…
I shut my eyes and put my head back.
I slowly climbed through the muck of my memory back to the night of the accident.
It was there clear as day.
Tank stood no chance against whatever had been done to it.
I couldn’t steer. I couldn’t stop.
I had no choice but to go off the road and crash.
I had to jump into the backseat to save my life.
It all happened so fast…
Boom. Crash. Thud. Crunch. Smack.