Whatever We Are: A Highland Springs Romance (Whatever Series Book 3) Read online

  “But you settled for Bret.”

  “No.”

  “I knew you were faking. You and Tucker aren’t really dating. You’re just pretending so you could snatch the title away from us. And now you’re trying to take my man away.”

  “That’s ridicu—”

  “Admit it. You’d do anything to stop me from getting what I want.”

  “I’ve never stopped you from getting what you want. Your life is golden.”

  “Oh, please, our whole lives you’ve tried to ruin things for me.”

  “Name one.”

  “The night of the wreck. Maybe it wouldn’t have taken eight years for Bret and I to get together.”

  “Huh?”

  “If you hadn’t insisted we leave when we did things might have turned out differently.”

  Liza thought her head would explode. A throbbing pain started at the base of her neck and crept up toward her brain. It was so sharp she grabbed her head and doubled over. What was Diana talking about?

  “Let’s go, Liza.” Tucker came into the room and slipped his arms around her, helping her to stand up.

  “That’s all you’re going to say? Your girlfriend just made a pass at Bret.”

  “I didn’t make a pass at him. It was the other way around.” Bret slunk toward the door, eyes cast toward the floor. “Tell them, Bret.”

  “Come on.” Tucker wrapped his hand around her shoulders and steered her toward the door.

  “I was waiting in here for you. When I heard the door open, I closed my eyes and raised the sprig over my head.” She did just that—reenacting the scene as it happened—while her brain pulsated. “Then this asshole kissed me.”

  “Is this true, Bret?” Diana asked the question like a school teacher questioning an unruly student.

  “Tell her the truth.” Liza glared at Bret, willing him to be a man and state the facts.

  “Yes…” Bret gathered Diana in his arms. “Let me splain. I wanned to prove this relazionship is a scam. They’re faking, like you said. The way she kissed me back proves it. Once a tease, always a tease.”

  “I should’ve known you were faking. Why would you do that to me, Lizard? You know how much we wanted to be Mr. and Mrs. Claus.”

  “For the love of God, would you stop calling me Lizard?” When Liza shouted in Diana’s face, stars sparkled in her vision. A scene flashed in her mind, like a quick movie clip, of Diana in the backseat of a car with Bret. Was her memory from the night of the wreck coming back? If only she could remember everything.

  She turned her attention to Bret, slumped against the doorframe. “I didn’t kiss you back. Let’s get that straight right now.”

  She then looked to Tucker who had said very little. “Tucker, you have to believe I didn’t kiss him.”

  “Oh, please. You can stop the act. Always so dramatic.” Diana forced her way between them and Bret, and looped her arm through his.

  Liza turned into Tucker and tugged on his red velvet lapels. “It’s not an act.” The creases around his eyes and his furrowed brow sent a chill of fear down her spine. Had she held out her love for him so long that he believed she’d willingly kissed Bret? They may have entered into this under false pretenses, but there was nothing fake about her feelings for him now. She was sure of it. “Tucker?”

  His lips curled into a wry grin and his gaze softened as he leveled her wig on her head, giving it a gentle pat before turning her around to face Diana and Bret. “I’m not exactly sure what the hell went on in here…” His arms enveloped her from behind and his cheek pressed to hers. “…but there’s nothing artificial about the two of us except these costumes, isn’t that right, babe?” He kissed her cheek and gave her padded waist a squeeze.

  “That’s right.” Liza turned in his arms and pressed her thick, puffy dress into his heavy velvet coat. “Give me a kiss, Mr. Claus.” She draped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a slow, sultry kiss. Diana drew in an indignant breath. Catching Diana’s outrage through the corner of her eye, she ran her hand down his back, letting it rest on his well-padded butt. Let her get a good look at their kiss—there was nothing fake about it.

  After a long moment, he broke the kiss, keeping her tucked against him. “I’d suggest you get Bret a cup of coffee. Maybe once he sobers up you can get the truth out of him.” He kissed her forehead just below her curly wig and said, “Oh and, Bret, just for the record, Liza has never turned me down. Must have been something about you.”

  “Oh.” Diana huffed and marched out of the room, dragging Bret behind her.

  “We better go, Mr. Claus. I think we’ve got some unfinished business back at the North Pole.”

  Liza winked at him through her wire-rims and slid her hand behind the buckle of his wide, black belt. The headache that had doubled her over had magically disappeared. His arms enveloped her and they laughed when he attempted to grab her bottom, only to get a handful of velvet instead. After a brief kiss, she looped her arm through his and led him from the room. They’d made it as far as the hallway when she remembered her hat.

  “My cap. It fell off when that jerk kissed me.” She hurried across the room and looked along the floor. Tucker joined in the search, finding her hat slowly sinking to the bottom of the fish tank.

  “Do you think any of those fish bite?” He asked looking through the glass.

  “It doesn’t matter. I’ve got to get that hat.”

  “Let me find something to fish it out with.”

  “Very funny.”

  “I’ll get some tongs from the kitchen.”

  “No need. I think I can—” she looked around for something to stand on, spotting a footstool across the room “—get it myself.” She dragged the stool to the tank and climbed up, pulling her ruffled sleeve over her elbow. The water was warm against her skin as she plunged her hand into the tank.

  “Watch out. That one looks hungry.” The thought of a vicious fish sinking its tiny teeth into her hand made her lurch on the upholstered stool. Tucker rushed behind her and held her hips steady as she stood on tiptoe, reaching deep into the bottom of the tank.

  “How’s that?”

  “Just a couple more inches.”

  He lifted her slightly, settling her bottom against his pelvis, giving her better reach into the tank.

  “Better?”

  “I’m almost there.”

  “You two are disgusting!” Diana had returned. With her loud shriek, Liza stumbled and water splashed over the side of the tank.

  “I’m trying to get—”

  “I see what you’re trying to get off on.” Diana stomped across the room and shoved Tucker aside. “First you kiss my boyfriend and then you let Tucker hump you from behind in my sunroom. Do you have any shame?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You. Bent over. Him. Thrusting behind you. You’re sick.”

  “You can’t be serious. I’m getting my—”

  “And you had the nerve to call me a slut, a skank, and every other horrible word. Our mothers always wondered why we weren’t close after the wreck, but out of respect I didn’t tell them all the terrible things you said to me. It was your fault we wrecked that night. You ranting and spouting hateful words to me instead of watching the road.”

  The headache returned and her brain pulsed and throbbed as if it were trying to punch its way out of her skull. She spread her fingers over her scalp and squeezed, applying pressure to stop the pain. The thumping lessened and as it did a scene unfolded in her mind, and her heartbeat pounded in her chest. She remembered. A clear recollection of what happened that night opened up and she could see it all as if it were yesterday. Finally, the missing pieces of her memory were back in place.

  SIXTEEN

  Five days before Christmas, a bunch of high school kids and college guys home for winter break gathered for ice skating and a bonfire along the river. Beer, homemade moonshine, and hand-rolled blunts were being passed around. Bret kept eyeing Liza as she sat
with her friends. He finally came around the bonfire and took her hand, leading her out onto the ice, slipping and sliding across the narrow part of the river to the bank where it was dark and secluded.

  “I’ve really missed you since going away to school. I’ve always liked you, Liza. I think about you all the time.”

  She was floating on a cloud between the shot of apple pie moonshine and his lips kissing the side of her neck. She’d had a crush on Bret Bridges for over a year since they had that art class together.

  “Even away at school, you’re on my mind.”

  “I can’t believe you think of me when you’re surrounded by all those college girls.”

  “None of them compare to you.”

  Sitting side-by-side, he kissed her a few times, sweetly, but then more insistent. He rolled her beneath him and kissed her deeply, his tongue reaching toward her throat. He smelled of weed and tasted of moonshine, but in the brightness of the full moon, his eyes glowed like sapphires as he unzipped her wool jacket. With a quick jerk, he unsnapped his coat and tucked it around her.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.” He blew into his palm and slipped it under her thick sweater. Sweetly, gently, he caressed her flat belly, and she sighed against his cheek.

  “You like that, huh?”

  Yes, she liked it. She liked being there with him, kissing him. She answered by pulling him down for a long kiss. This had to be a dream. She was lying on the river bank, under a bright, full moon, making out with the hottest guy to ever graduate from Highland High, a boy who until last year had barely noticed her. Until now, she’d only made out with a couple of guys, and it had never gone further than kissing.

  As if reading her mind, Bret reached behind her back and flicked open her bra strap. His soft, warm hand kneaded her breast and pinched her nipple. Her breath hitched as a hot, tingling sensation responded between her legs. So this was what it was like. She’d heard other girls talk about what they did with their boyfriends, but until now she had only imagined.

  “Are you on the pill?” His question snapped her mind away from the pulsing in her body.

  “What?”

  “It’s okay if you’re not. I’ve got a condom.”

  “But, I—” He plunged his tongue deep in her mouth, halting her protest and popped the button on her jeans, snaking his hand inside her panties before she could stop him.

  This was going too far. They hadn’t seen each other or spoken since last summer. Shouldn’t they go on a few dates, agree to date exclusively, take it slow?

  He spread her legs apart with his knees and his finger slipped inside.

  “You’re so wet for me.” He lifted her sweater and sucked her breast into his mouth. “They all said you wouldn’t do it, but I knew you were a hot little piece.”

  Alarm bells went off. Her pulse thumped in her ears. He nipped at her breast and ground his bulging erection between her legs.

  “Who said?”

  “The guys.”

  “You’ve been talking about me to your friends?”

  “Sure. You want it, don’t you?”

  “Bret, stop.”

  “Oh, no, I know you want me.”

  “Please stop. You have to stop.” She pushed his head away from her breasts and yanked her sweater down over her nakedness.

  “We’re not stopping, you got that?” He pushed up on his elbow and unzipped his jeans. Even in the moonlit darkness, she could read his angry determination. While he pulled his pants down, she rolled out from under him and jumped to her feet.

  “I’ve got to go.” She reached behind and refastened her bra then zipped up her coat. “I’m, um, sorry, but I don’t think we should.”

  “Shit, Liza, you can’t leave me here with blue balls.”

  She wasn’t quite sure what that was, but she wasn’t ready for this, not this way.

  “I like you a lot, Bret, I really do, but we need to take it slow. You know, maybe go out on a few dates while your home on break.”

  “Screw that. If you’re not putting out, I’ll find someone who will.”

  “But, wait, I—” What happened? He started out so sweet, and had even told her he liked her. He walked down the bank and started across the ice. “Bret, wait.”

  “Did you change your mind? Are we going to do it or not?”

  This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. She’d always thought she’d make love for the first time with her husband or at least the man she loved and had a future with. She wasn’t naïve, she knew lots of girls had already lost their virginity, but it had been with their boyfriends, right?

  “I thought so. You’re nothing but a dick tease.”

  Liza dropped to the river bank and sobbed into her hands. She’d had a crush on Bret for so long and wanted him to like her, but not that way. She couldn’t just have sex with him, on the riverbank with everyone nearby, and not before they were a couple. He had rejoined his buddies around the fire. While passing around another joint, their laughter carried across the river and she knew they were talking about her. One of the guys pointed across the river at her and another peal of laughter rang out.

  She wanted to go home, but she’d have to walk past the bonfire to get to her car. How humiliating would it be to listen to their heckles and jeers: “There goes Liza Fisk, little dick tease. Don’t waste your time on her, guys.” Dropping her head in her hands, she let another barrage of tears fall from her eyes.

  Male voices carried from farther up the river and she saw a group of people skating in her direction. She recognized Tucker’s voice in the group as it drew near.

  “Lookie who we’ve got here. Is that you, Liza?” Tucker skated toward her and away from his friends. “What are you doing here all alone?” He came off the river, walked on blades across the frosty grass, and plopped down beside her.

  “Where’d you come from?”

  “There’s a bunch of us skating below your house. We came down here to get a look at the bonfire. Make sure some idiots weren’t trying to burn the forest down.”

  “There’s a bunch of idiots over there, but they aren’t trying to burn down the woods.”

  “Why aren’t you across the river with them?”

  “I don’t want to be over there.” She swiped her mittens across tear-soaked cheeks.

  “Have you been crying? Come here, little one, tell ol’ Tucker all about it.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to him.

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  “It’s Bret Bridges.” Liza buried her face into his shoulder, drying the last of her tears on his coat.

  “Asshole.”

  “We were skating and then we came over here and were—”

  “Don’t tell me you were making out with that creep.”

  “Things got out of hand.”

  “Did he hurt you? I’ll break his neck.” Tucker stood and started across the river. Liza went after him and grabbed his arm, stopping him.

  “No, Tucker, stop. He didn’t hurt me.”

  He spun around and gathered her shoulders in his hands.

  “What did he do?”

  “He wanted to, you know, go a little too far and when I told him no, he got mad.”

  “Good girl.”

  “No, you don’t get it.” She waved her arms toward the bonfire. “Now he’s over there telling all his buddies I’m a dick tease and won’t put out.”

  “Did he say that? I swear I’m going to crack that boy in two.”

  “Maybe he’s right. Maybe I should have. I mean, I’m eighteen years old, a senior in high school. I’m probably the only girl who hasn’t done it in my graduating class.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “I’m sure it’s true. Listen to them.” She stomped her foot and a loud crack reverberated down the frozen river. “They’re laughing at me and when I go back to school I’ll be gossip fodder. It’ll be all over that I turned down Bret Bridges. No girl in her right
mind would turn him down.”

  “Why? That guy and his whole family are just rich assholes and they don’t care about anyone else.”

  “You don’t get it.”

  “I get it. Let me tell you something.” He tipped up her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You did the right thing. Don’t give it away to just anybody. You deserve a guy who treats you like a precious jewel.”

  “Oh my God, stop, Tucker.” She couldn’t listen to this corny stuff, but as she attempted to skate away, Tucker wrapped his hand around her arm, stopping her escape.

  “It’s true. You are funny and talented and smart and beautiful as hell. You don’t need to have sex with that pervert to prove your worth in this town. You need a guy who will love you and cherish you.”

  “I think I’m going to puke.”

  “I’m serious. Listen to me.” He gathered her face in his hands and leaned closer. “In a couple of years, when you’re older, a great guy is going to sweep you off your feet and treat you like a queen.”

  “Oh, really, and you know this guy, do you?”

  “Yeah, I do.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Me.”

  She wrenched out of his grip and glared at him.

  “Are you drunk?”

  “No, I’m completely sober, unlike that bunch of immature punks over there.”

  “Tucker, you’re my brother’s best friend. Ew, that’s like incest or something.” She scooted backward, away from Tucker who had obviously lost his mind.

  “We’re not related and, yeah, I’m your brother’s best friend. What difference does that make?”

  “You’re like old. You’re six years older than me. That’s weird.”

  “But someday, you’ll be older and it won’t make as much difference.”

  “Ew, no. I could never date you, Tucker. That’s just plain creepy. God, I’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Liza, don’t go.”

  “No, Tucker, leave me alone. Don’t ever suggest we go out again. That’s just, ew, that’s just wrong.”

  She pushed against his plump, protruding stomach and skated away. After crossing to the other side, she met up with her friends and told them she was leaving. Bret’s friends were talking and laughing, and as she passed, they grew silent and watched her walk by.