Untouched (Bay Falls High, #1)(41)

I moved away from him and made it two steps before he grabbed me by my arm.

Really tight.

But not in a hurtful way.

It was… protective.

“You don’t need that shit in your life, Ti,” he said.

“What shit? Three assholes fucking with my life?”

I looked back at him.

He curled his lip. “It’s not your problem to keep her veins clean.”

Barr let my arm go and reached for his cell.

I slowly walked away, looking back over and over, trying to make sense of it.

He had so much power.

And maybe a little of that over me…





thirteen





“Can we speak for a second?”

Claire stood high above me as I sat at the edge of the pool with my feet in the water.

“Of course,” I said.

I started to move but she put a hand out. “Don’t move. Enjoy the pool. I never use it. It’s just for show.”

“Okay.”

Next to me my phone screen lit up with a text from Gi.

The hottest rumor going around BFH was my tongue fucking episode with Barr.

I was now suddenly two levels higher up on the social rich bitch food chain.

Gi said I was a god with nice tits.

Iris even text me saying me and her were now best friends.

But they didn’t know the truth behind that kissing.

“Your mother reached out to me,” Claire said.

“Oh?”

“You two had a fight over the phone?”

“Something like that,” I said. “She called me and… I’m used to it. I shouldn’t have answered. But…”

“It’s your mother,” Claire said.

“Yeah.” I took a deep breath. “Look, she gets like this. I’ve been through the process before. More than once. I know anything she says right now isn’t really her.”

Claire shook her head. “You are such a strong and beautiful person, Ti. You know, I think back to when you were younger and it really hurts that I didn’t have the chance to raise you.”

That comment was half comforting and half awkward.

So I smiled.

A foolish smile.

Claire cleared her throat. “Hey. I just wanted to tell you she reached out to me. To apologize for whatever was said. I guess they were trying to switch rooms for her and she got upset. She said she’s staying put and everything is the way it’s supposed to be. That whatever she said to you was a rumor.”

I nodded.

Fucking Barr… he made one phone call to cause this mess and then made another to fix it. And I still couldn’t stop thinking about his lips against mine. Or his tongue…

“Are you okay?” Claire asked.

“Tired,” I said. “It’s really nice out here. It’s sort of putting me to sleep.”

“Good. Of anyone I know you should be the one relaxing.”

“Well, here I am,” I said. “Hey, Claire, would you mind if I invited some friends over?”

“Of course not,” she said. “My rules are what you would expect them to be.”

“I understand.”

I grabbed my phone and one text later, Gi and Iris were on their way over.

It felt weird meeting them at the front door of Claire’s mansion. This wasn’t my home. This wasn’t my life. But these were my friends. Sort of.

“What a fucking place,” Iris said as she looked around the foyer.

“And where do you live?” I asked.

“Not like this,” she said. “But we are right on the ocean. Can’t complain.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Gi said. “She’s filthy rich.”

We stopped in the kitchen to get something to drink. And then it was out at the pool where I tried my best to explain the whole Barr’s tongue versus my tongue situation.

I sat on the top step of the pool while Iris leaned against the railing. Gi sat with her legs crisscrossed, leaning forward, mesmerized by the story.

I left out a few details here and there.

“You kissed him for revenge,” Iris said. She slow clapped. “You are amazing, Ti.”

“I don’t feel it,” I said. “I feel dirty.”

“But a hot kind of dirty,” Gi said. “You seriously walked right up on one of the Rulz and went for him.”

“Kind of,” I said. “He took control…”

“Expected,” Iris said.

“So what now?” Gi asked. “I mean… what now?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Trust me. It’s completely and utterly nothing. I just wanted to prove my point that I wasn’t someone they could just push around.”

“Oh, Ti, I think you’re in for a rude awakening,” Iris said.

I wanted to know what that meant but before I could speak again Claire came out to the patio.

“Whoa, look at you,” I said to her. “You look amazing.”

“In this?” she asked, playfully throwing out her right hip.

The red dress looked almost painted on her curved body.

Her makeup matched the dress and she looked like something we’d get done for prom.