Ten Years Ago
Ava snaked her fingers through Jack’s and squeezed.
“Come on,” she said. “It’s going to be fun.”
His head fell back against the seat as he put the truck in park. Parties weren’t his thing, especially here. He’d only been at Los Olivos High School for five months, so celebrating graduation as the odd man out wasn’t exactly top on his list.
But it was top on Ava’s list, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for the girl who’d made those months bearable.
No. That wasn’t fair. Time with Ava was more than bearable. It was everything that got him out of bed in the morning and kept him from cutting class when he would have been fine taking the GED, even if it meant losing his baseball scholarship. It’s how he endured not being able to play his senior year. And it was the reason that maybe—after college and getting some distance from this place—he’d be able to come back and see it differently.
“I love you,” she said softly, her pale cheeks turning pink as she leaned across the center console and kissed the corner of his mouth.
He blew out a breath and skimmed his fingers through her thick, auburn waves.
“And I know you’re leaving soon for summer training, but I think we should tell my parents about us. Unless—I mean if this is only a senior year thing.”
He tugged her closer, his palm cradling the back of her neck as he brushed his lips over hers. “You’re it for me, Red,” he whispered against her. “But I thought they were still getting over you and Golden Boy breaking up.”
She groaned. “I know you know Derek’s name.”
The corner of his mouth quirked into a crooked grin. “Doesn’t mean I have to say it.”
“You wanted to wait, remember?” she reminded him. “Because my dad is way overprotective.”
Jack laughed, the sound bitter, and his smile faded. “And thinks I’m gonna be like my father. I got it then, and I get it now.”
It didn’t matter that Los Olivos was an hour away from Oak Bluff, Jack’s hometown. News traveled fast when three new students transferred into a school second semester. And a drunk almost killing his oldest son was the best sort of gossip for a small California wine country town.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t have the same fears. The apple usually didn’t fall too far from the tree.
He hadn’t planned on anything more in Los Olivos than biding his time and getting the hell out of town when summer came.
He hadn’t planned on her. So when he’d suggested they keep the relationship quiet—that he didn’t want to make waves in her seemingly perfect life—she hadn’t argued.
She cupped his cheeks in her palms and tilted his forehead to hers. “He doesn’t know you. Plus I’m not good at secrets. Or lying. As soon as he sees how amazing you are, he’ll know there’s nothing to worry about.”
He closed his eyes as she kissed him. Maybe this could be him now, the guy a girl brought home to her parents instead of the one people whispered about when they thought he couldn’t hear.
“I love you, too,” he finally said. “In case you didn’t know.”
He felt her lips part into a smile against his.
“Oh, I know,” she teased. “But I like to hear you say it.”
Both of them startled at the sound of the passenger side window rattling.
“Party’s out back!” someone yelled as another graduate drummed against the glass again.
Ava giggled. “One hour,” she said. “If it sucks after an hour, then we leave. Promise.”
He pressed a soft kiss against her neck and she shivered.
“Anything for you, Red.”
He leaned across her and opened her door. Then he hopped out of his own and met her at the passenger side.
Maybe this was what it had been like for his parents before it all went to hell—when his mom was alive and his dad sober. He couldn’t remember anymore. The past five years couldn’t be erased, but maybe whatever the future held could cushion the blow.
Ava swayed when her feet hit the ground outside the truck, and Jack caught her by the elbow.
“Hey there,” he said. “You okay?”
She forced a smile even as her stomach roiled.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m fine. It’s just so hot out tonight.” Thankfully, that was the truth—even if it wasn’t her truth. “I need to splash some cool water on my face. That’s all. Head out to the bonfire, and I’ll be right back.”
He hesitated, but she needed to get inside—quick.
“Go.” She nudged his shoulder. “I’ll meet you out back.”
“I’ll come with you,” he said insistently, and she could see the worry in those blue eyes.
“Ava!”
They both turned to where a group of girls were coming up the street toward Jack’s truck, her friend Rachel heading up the pack.
“Ohmygod,” Rachel said in one breath. “Please tell me you know where the bathroom is and that you can get me there safely.”
Saved by the drunk friend.
“See?” Ava said to Jack, grabbing Rachel’s hand. “I’m not alone. See you in five minutes.”
He ran a hand through his overgrown blond waves, then kissed her on the cheek.
“Five minutes,” he relented. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
She nodded, afraid if she opened her mouth again her lie would be exposed. Instead she and Rachel ran for the front door of the house up the drive.
Once in the bathroom, she dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and emptied her stomach.
“Damn,” Rachel said. “I thought we prepartied too much.”
But Ava hadn’t had one drink that night. And this was the fourth time this had happened in the span of a week.
She grabbed a wad of toilet paper and wiped her mouth, then flushed and turned toward the sink.
“Yeah,” she said absently. “Too much prepartying.” She cupped cold water in her palms and drank, then thankfully found a tube of toothpaste in the medicine cabinet. “I’ll see you out there.”
She slipped out of the bathroom and into the small hallway off the foyer, heart hammering in her chest.
She pressed a palm against her flat belly. She would have to take a test to confirm, but she was already over a week late. It looked like she had something to tell Jack before they broke the news to her parents that they were dating.
“There you are,” a voice crooned from the end of the hall.
Ava rolled her eyes. “Not now, Derek,” she said, attempting to push past him as he came nearer. Instead he backed her into the corner where the wall met the doorframe to the guest bedroom.
“Not funny,” she said, trying to slip out from where his arm palmed the wall above her shoulder.
“I miss you,” he said, his breath tinged with the scent of liquor.
“You’re drunk. You always miss me when you’re drunk.”
His free hand cupped her breast and she swatted it away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
But he wasn’t deterred. This time he pressed the length of his body against hers. “Come on, babe. I know how much you like taking in strays, but enough is enough. Two years, and you never gave it up for me, but you give it up for that trash from Oak Bluff?”
He ground against her pelvis, pressed his fingers hard against the base of her throat. He was too close for her to knee him in the balls—too big to push away.
“Stop it, Derek.”
Golden Boy. Right. Nothing could be further from the truth.
She pushed her palms into his chest, but he wouldn’t budge. It only made his weight against her feel heavier, his fingertips on her skin pressing harder.
Over his shoulder she saw Rachel step out of the bathroom. The girl caught Ava’s eye and grinned, then pressed her fingers to her lips in a promise to keep quiet as she started backing away. After all, Ava and Derek Wilkes had been the couple most likely to—well—everything just before the holidays. Until she wouldn’t give him what he wanted for Christmas. To Rachel this probably looked like reconciliation.
“Rach—” she started, but Derek shut her up by pressing his lips to hers.
This wasn’t happening. Except it was. So she bit down on his lip.
“Shit!” he growled, backing away and swiping the back of his hand across his mouth, his skin smeared with blood. “You little—”
He reached for her again, but his hand never made contact. In a blur, someone slammed Derek up against the adjacent wall.
“She said stop, asshole.”
Jack was seething, something dark and dangerous in his eyes.
“Thanks for breaking her in for me,” Derek said with a sneer. “But I think I can take it from here.”
Jack slammed him against the wall again.
Derek laughed.
Ava yelped, and Jack’s eyes met hers.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Let’s just go.”
But then his gaze dipped to her collarbone. She ran her fingers over the skin, wincing when she felt the beginnings of bruises.
That was all it took for Jack to lose his focus—and for Derek to throw the first punch.
Ava watched in slow motion as Jack’s head snapped to the side and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. And then before she knew it, Derek’s head crashed into the wall as Jack’s fist collided with his face again and again until blood poured from Derek’s nose and a group of guys Ava hadn’t seen arrive were pulling Jack from his limp human punching bag.
She hadn’t even known she was screaming until the commotion settled and one of the guys let go of Jack to keep Derek—now unconscious—from crashing to the floor.
Jack stared down at his bloodied knuckles, then up at her, his eyes wide with horror.
“I’m him,” he said softly—like he hadn’t meant anyone else to hear but himself—as sirens wailed in the distance.