The Vincent Boys Collection Read online

  “Oops,” she said loud enough for her audience to hear before spinning around on her heels and strutting toward her adoring crowd.

  I stood there debating how to handle this. Kayla said I needed to get tough, but the fight was gone out of me. I just wanted Beau to come home. I reached up and wiped away the Coke in my eyes and smoothed my saturated hair out of my face. Then, without giving anyone the satisfaction of any reaction, I headed back to the double doors leading into the hallway. I could go home now. This was a good enough excuse.

  The door opened before I could get to them and my eyes met Sawyer’s. His blue eyes I’d once loved widened in shock as he took in my appearance. It wasn’t his fault. Not really.

  “Excuse me,” I said as politely as I could, and stepped around him and headed down the hall toward the office. Even though I could feel his eyes on me, I didn’t look back. Maybe this would be a final straw for him. Then again, maybe not.

  Chapter 23

  BEAU

  Dear Beau,

  I miss you. I miss your smile. I miss your laugh. I miss the way you look in a pair of jeans. I miss the wicked gleam in your eyes when you’re up to no good. I miss you. Please come home. I think about you all day and night. It’s really messing up my sleep, you know. I lay out on the roof last night and thought about all the nights we’d lain there and looked at those same stars. Back before life got all screwed up. Back before I chose the wrong Vincent boy.

  Sawyer will forgive you. I think he’s realizing what he and I had wasn’t love. Not real love. He didn’t know the real me, and I’ve found out I didn’t know the real him. The things I loved about him aren’t really holding up anymore. He isn’t you. He never was. But then, there can only be one ridiculously sexy bad boy in town. I believe it’s a quota thing. I’m teasing. You’re not bad. You have so many good qualities. I admire you. I wish everyone saw the Beau I see. If they only knew how truly special you are . . . Please come home. I can’t say it enough. I miss you.

  I love you,

  Ashton

  She misses me. I want to go back and take her away. Snatch her up and run. Facing my uncle now, knowing he’d never once even tried to have any relationship with me, wasn’t something I could do yet. I wanted Ash though. She could hide away with me. If I asked, I didn’t doubt she would come. But I’d pulled her into an awful mess already. I couldn’t hurt her anymore. She had the safety of her home; parents who loved her. She didn’t need to lose them. They were important. They were a gift. Things I’d never had, and I’d be damned if I ruined them for her. Instead of turning on my phone and seeing the text messages she’d sent me, I tucked the letter against my heart and closed my eyes. For now this would have to be enough. Maybe Momma would have another letter for me tomorrow. I liked knowing Ash was going to see my mother when I wasn’t there. Momma said they’d been talking. She’d decided Ashton wasn’t so bad after all. The admiration in Momma’s voice only made my chest ache more. Ashton Gray was too good for me. But I wanted her anyway. She wasn’t the selfish one. I was.

  ASHTON

  “Don’t drop one. The damn things cost too much,” Honey called from the kitchen.

  I stood drying shot glasses and beer mugs before putting them away behind the bar. I’d started coming here after school every day to bring Beau a letter and see if Honey had heard anything from him. My frequent visits had started growing lengthy, so much so that Honey had started putting me to work. I had gladly accepted. This way I could talk about Beau to someone who would listen and not have to go home to my bedroom, alone.

  “Tank takes five dollars outta my paycheck every time I break a glass. Knowing damn well and good those things didn’t cost no five dollars apiece,” she grumbled, walking back behind the bar from the kitchen, carrying another rack of cleaned mugs and glasses.

  “I’m being careful,” I assured her as I put the mug into the rack under the counter.

  “Good. Now, tell me ’bout this locker business again,” Honey said as she picked up a glass and started drying it along beside me.

  “They’re just putting sticky notes and ugly letters on my locker, threatening me and stuff. It’s silly. Other than the time I was shoved into the locker and hit in the head, I haven’t suffered any injuries.”

  “And that sorry sonuvabitch ain’t stopping them from treating you this way?”

  I shrugged, thinking of Sawyer watching silently from a distance.

  “He’s just like his father. Don’t know why that surprises me. Ain’t gonna help none when Beau comes back. When my boy finds out Sawyer let this happen, he’s gonna be spittin’ mad. I was hoping them two’d mend fences once Beau shows back up.”

  “I don’t intend to tell Beau about any of this. He won’t know it happened, and once he’s back, it’ll have tapered off. That way he won’t have a reason to be mad at Sawyer.”

  Honey snorted and slapped the bar in front of me with her towel.

  “Girl, you grew up with Beau. You should know better than that. He ain’t a dummy. Besides, someone’ll tell him, and when they do, all hell’s gonna break loose.”

  I sighed and picked up the empty rack in front of me to take it back to the kitchen.

  “I know he’ll find out, but I want them to make amends. I won’t ever forgive myself until they do.”

  Honey nodded. “Yes, well, my advice to you is stay away from the boys. I know you think you love my boy, but the Vincent boys are trouble. Both of ’em. They got issues you don’t know about and they need time. You’ll just go messing up their heads. Besides, they run when things get tough. Beau’s a prime example right now. Where’s he at while you’re being treated like a damn scarlet letter’s tattooed on your forehead? And Sawyer ain’t no better. He’s letting a girl take the rap for all this and not saying a word. I love my boy, but he ain’t the kind of guy you plan a future with. You need to move on, girl. Find someone whose last name ain’t Vincent.”

  * * *

  Since I was persona non grata these days, I decided it was in my best interest to bring a sack lunch and go hide in the library and eat. This way I was far enough away from Nicole and her soda to remain nice and dry. No one seemed to notice I was missing—either that or they didn’t care.

  With five minutes before the bell, I stuck my empty lunch bag into my backpack and headed toward my locker. The sticky notes hadn’t tapered off any, which was surprising. I’d made it a point to avoid going to my locker except first thing in the morning and before going home. I just carried all my books around in my backpack. My body was aching from the weight, but I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of turning my back on a busy hallway full of people who hated me. The bruising on my left shoulder from my book strap was nothing compared to being shoved into a locker face-first.

  “The princess has fallen pretty low when she goes to hiding during lunch.” Nicole’s amused tone greeted me as I approached my locker. I slowly lifted my eyes to meet her glare. I wasn’t sure why she detested me so thoroughly. Did she not think I had paid enough already for my sin against her? She stood directly between me and my locker. Stepping around her would be stupid. Instead I waited for her to say whatever it was she had come to say.

  “How does it feel to be pond scum, hmm?”

  I had to bite my tongue to keep from replying, “I wouldn’t know; I’m not you.” In a fight she would bash my face in. Besides, I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing her words affect me.

  “Don’t ignore me,” she said with a sneer, taking a step toward me. I stilled myself. The pure hatred flashing in her eyes was a warning to tread carefully.

  “I just want to get to my locker, and then I’ll go. I’m not trying to cause trouble.”

  Nicole cackled like some deranged witch. “You already caused trouble, bitch.” She reached up and yanked on a strand of my hair, causing tears to sting my eyes from the sudden pain. “You think you’re so pretty and perfect that you can just take whatever you want. Well, I got news for you, chick, you can
’t take what’s mine.”

  Nicole closed the space between us and in one swift move, a shove to my chest, she sent me flying backward onto my butt. Great. I was going to get into a fight in the school hallway, and I hadn’t even done anything. Just what I needed. My parents would be furious if I got suspended. Standing up seemed pointless. I kept my head down and waited for something else to happen. It didn’t take long. My backpack was yanked off my shoulders, and books came pouring down onto my head. I cringed and let out a strangled cry as my head was battered by the heavy textbooks I’d been forced to carry around all day.

  “That’s enough. Move.” Sawyer’s voice silenced the laughter and chatter filling the hallway. “Leave her alone, Nicole. Your beef is with Beau. Not Ashton. I don’t want to see you touch her again. That goes for all of you. Back off. No one here knows what happened, and it’s no one’s business. Stop acting like a bunch of jerks and leave her alone.”

  Feet shuffled all around me and laughter had turned into hushed whispers as the crowd did exactly as Sawyer had ordered. The reigning prince had spoken. It’d taken him a week, but he’d finally ended this. His hand appeared in front of my face, and I stared at it a moment before ignoring it and standing up on my own. I didn’t make eye contact with him, nor did I thank him. His interference was way past due, so my gratitude had expired. I began picking up my scattered books.

  “Are you going to at least acknowledge me?” Sawyer asked as he picked up my backpack and opened it. I shrugged and barely glanced up at him before shoving my books into the bag he held open.

  “You brought this on yourself, you know.”

  That was the last straw. I’d been a punching bag for five days too long. I snatched my backpack out of his hands and glared up into those blue eyes I’d once thought were so beautiful. Now they seemed pale and boring.

  “No one deserves what I’ve been put through. I might have deserved your anger, but I didn’t deserve the entire school’s anger. I did nothing to them. So forgive me if I don’t see how I brought a week’s worth of relentless bullying on myself.”

  I spun around and started heading for the door. I was done for the day.

  “Ashton, wait.” Sawyer jogged behind me and reached for my arm. “Please, wait. Listen.”

  “What?” I snapped, not wanting my escape botched.

  “I have something I need to say. Just listen, please.”

  I nodded but kept my gaze focused on the doors I so desperately wanted to flee out of.

  “I’ve been wrong. Letting them do those things to you all week and saying nothing was horrible. I’m sorry. I really am. In my defense, I’m hurting, Ash. I didn’t just lose you; I lost my best friend, too. My cousin . . . my brother. Everything came tumbling down at once, and I couldn’t deal. I told myself you deserved it, that you could fight your own battles. I guess I kept waiting to see the little fireball I remembered from when we were kids emerge. If I could see her, then I’d understand more why you turned to Beau. But you kept reacting the way my Ash would react. You never fought back or retaliated. You just took it. And God, that hurt so bad. They were hurting you. The girl I’ve loved all my life. I wanted to jump in and protect you, but the image of Beau touching your lips and you gazing at him like you wanted to eat him up flashed in my head and I became furious all over again.” He let out a sigh, and his grip on my arm fell away. “I love you. I know the real you too. You think I don’t, but how easily you forget that I was the one who bailed you out of trouble over and over again as kids. I didn’t ask the perfect Ashton to be my girlfriend when I was fourteen years old. I asked the only Ash I’d ever known. You changed all on your own. I’m not going to lie. I was proud of the girl you had become. My world was complete. I had the perfect family, perfect girl, perfect future. I let myself forget the other girl you once were. Beau didn’t forget her.”

  I swallowed against the lump in my throat. This was the conversation we should have had as soon as Sawyer had come home this summer. Instead I’d run from the truth.

  “I never wanted to hurt you,” I replied as I stared down at my tennis shoes.

  “But you did.”

  Chapter 24

  ASHTON

  One simple honest reply felt like someone had shoved a fist into my stomach.

  “I know you hate me. I don’t blame you. But Beau . . . Beau needs you. Please don’t hate him, too.”

  I finally lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. A frown creased his forehead and he slowly shook his head. “I don’t hate you, Ash. And I don’t hate Beau. I wish he’d come back. When I left the bar Sunday, I didn’t realize he’d make a run for it. I should have, but there was you, and I knew he wouldn’t want to leave you.”

  “He loves you. He hurt you, and he can’t face it.”

  A sad smile lifted the corners of his lips. “No, Ash. That isn’t why he left.” Sawyer glanced back at the now empty hallway. We were late for class, but I didn’t care. I intended to go home, anyway.

  “Come on. There’s something I need to tell you,” Sawyer said as he turned his attention back toward me.

  I followed him outside to his truck. It was odd climbing up inside without him opening the door for me and lifting me up onto the seat. But somehow it felt right. This was how it should have been all along.

  Sawyer pulled out of the parking lot and turned his truck south. Apparently, we were headed out of town for this talk.

  “I went after Beau on Sunday. I knew I’d find him at the bar shooting pool. It’s where he always goes to unwind. When I got there, we said a few things and threw a few punches.” Sawyer glanced over at me and smirked. “I’d like to say Beau looked worse, but we both know I’d be lying. I might have the throwing arm when it comes to football, but he has me beat when it comes to throwing punches. Fact is he could have really put a hurting on me. He spent most of the time blocking my punches.” Sawyer stopped and let out a frustrated sigh.

  I hadn’t seen them fight since we were ten and Sawyer accused Beau of being a troublemaker and dragging me down with him. Beau had gone to slinging punches that afternoon too. Sawyer had ended up with a loose tooth. Luckily, it was a baby tooth and needed coming out.

  “My aunt Honey was there. It was just the three of us. She tried to break up the fight, but we weren’t listening to her. Or, I should say, I wasn’t listening to her. I wanted to see Beau’s blood. You both had denied it, but I knew he’d kissed you. Heck, it’s Beau. I knew y’all had probably done a lot more. I hated knowing I’d finally lost you to him. It was something that always scared me. Even when you two didn’t speak much, he’d watch you, and when you thought no one was looking, you’d watch him. I’m not a complete idiot.”

  “I never thought you were, Sawyer. I lied about Beau, hoping to save your relationship with him. I fully intended to walk away from both of you.”

  Sawyer laughed, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. “You really think Beau was going to just let you go? Not in this lifetime.”

  “He loves you,” I argued.

  “I know. The thing is, he loves you more.”

  I started to shake my head.

  “Ash, Beau wouldn’t have betrayed me if he wasn’t head over heels in love with you. No use in denying it.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. Maybe he was right. I wanted him to be. “What did you bring me out here to tell me, Sawyer?”

  Sawyer pulled over into a deserted parking lot and cut the engine. I waited patiently as he gathered his thoughts together. An empty plastic bag danced in the wind across the parking lot, and I watched it, thinking I knew exactly how it felt. It was on a path it couldn’t control. So was I.

  “Ash, Beau isn’t my cousin. He’s my . . . He’s my brother.”

  I sat there as I let his words sink in. Did he mean in the metaphorical sense? I mean, I already knew he thought of Beau as his brother.

  “I don’t understand,” I finally managed to reply.

  “I’m still trying to understand it myself to be honest.” Saw
yer shifted in his seat and turned his body to face me. “When we were yelling at each other Sunday and saying things we really didn’t mean, or at least that we would take back later, Honey informed us that my dad wasn’t just my dad. But Beau’s dad too.”

  “What?”

  “Honey was my dad’s high school flame. Then my dad went off to college and met my mom his first year in law school. She was the daughter of one of his professors. He fell in love with her and married her. Once he graduated and passed the bar, he moved back to Grove to open a practice. Honey was here still raising hell and breaking hearts, apparently. She and my uncle Mack use to hang out and stir up trouble together. So when she got pregnant with Beau and married Mack, everyone thought the baby was Mack’s. My mom got pregnant with me the same year. She had no idea about Beau and still didn’t until I confronted Dad right in front of her Sunday evening. Dad and Honey hooked up one night in a bar after he and mom had gotten in a fight over her spending too much money on furniture. They were drinking tequila shots, and Dad says all he remembers is waking up the next morning in Honey’s bed. Six weeks later, she was knocking on his door claiming she was pregnant. He didn’t believe her, and or at least he didn’t believe it was his. So my uncle Mack married her. He believed her. Once Beau was born, Uncle Mack threatened Dad with revealing his night with Honey to my mom if he didn’t agree to a paternity test. Dad took one. Beau was his. Uncle Mack said he’d raise him as his own. He was in love with my aunt Honey. Had been since high school. Then you know the story. He died. Honey was the lousiest mother on earth and Beau was left to fend for himself.”