The Devastation You Reap by Tracy Lorraine

4

Leon

Her judgmental comment rubs me the wrong way as she looks at my car with her lip curled. She seems to think she knows me and I'm sure that this image right now doesn't help, but she knows fuck all.

Well, that's not entirely true. She knows more about me than almost anyone on the planet but she doesn't seem to remember that right now, which is perfectly fine with me. It actually works in my favor because if she knew who I really was then I'm sure she'd never willingly give me the information I need. This way though, despite the fact she wants nothing to do with me right now, is perfect.

She might think she can stand up to me, stick by her little rule of no football players. It might have worked for her so far, but her little run of staying away from the likes of me is firmly over because she's not getting away now that I've found her.

"Got a problem with my car, Red?" I ask, caging her against it, leaning in enough to get another hit of her coconut-laced scent.

"W-what are you doing?"

Her eyes are wide, her face pale as I lean in closer.

"You smell like coconuts," I tell her, my hand lifting to her hair once again. I can't help it, it calls to me every time it falls across her face as if she's using it to try to hide behind.

"I-it's my s-shower gel," she stutters.

"Do I make you nervous, Red?"

"You terrify me," she blurts out, and I can't help but smile at her knee-jerk response.

I've spent no more than thirty minutes with her tonight but I've already learned so much about her. The most important being that if I want her to speak her mind then I need to push her out of her comfort zone, make her uncomfortable.

"I know that feeling," I confess, holding her eyes so she knows that I'm serious.

Reaching for the door handle, I lean in closer, my chest brushing against her breasts. She sucks in a sharp breath and it tells me everything I need to know.

"You know," I whisper in her ear. "I spent all night regretting walking away from you."

"You're a liar," she breathes.

"Is that right?"

I stand back to full height, keeping my forearms on the roof and her tiny body caged between me and the car.

"You were horrible to me last night."

"You interrupted and messed with my head," I admit, hoping that giving her a few of my truths will help her to trust me. "I wasn't really into it with Charlie."

"Funny, because she sounded very invested."

"Trust me, Red. If I really wanted her, I'd have had her long before you barged in on us. But one look at you, and she lost what little appeal she had."

Her chest heaves as she continues to stare up at me. The small crease between her brows is cute as hell as she tries to convince herself that what I'm saying is true.

"You were right, I was struggling to… get it up, as you put it. Until I saw you."

"Oh God," she whimpers, her tiny palms pressing against my chest as if she stands any kind of chance of pushing me away as I crush her against the car. "L-Leon."

"Just proving a point, Red."

"Y-you’ve got nothing to prove to me. I don't care about whether you can or can't perform."

"You mean… fuck?" I growl.

Her eyes darken momentarily before her anger takes over and her lips purse.

"Whatever. Can you get off me now?"

I smile down at her, seeing right through her little innocent look. I know for a fact that she's about as ready for more as I am. But I'll play along, for now.

I'm more than happy to continue this little game to get what I need because I fully intend on getting some serious benefits out of it before we're done. And I can guarantee that that little innocent twinkle in Macie's eyes is going to be obliterated by the time I'm finished with her.

"Sure. Whatever you want."

Pushing from the car, I open my passenger door and gesture for her to get in.

I can tell from the hard set of her shoulders that she's not happy about getting inside, but I think she's aware that she has little choice. She either gets in willingly or I'll put her in there myself.

She lowers her head, keeping her gaze on her feet as she decides against arguing and making this harder than it needs to be and drops into the seat.

"See, it's not that hard to let me be a nice guy, is it?"

"Jury is still out on how nice you are."

With a smile, I jog around the hood of the car and climb in with her.

I realize the second I close the door behind me that I've possibly made a mistake because the only thing I can smell is her.

My fingers wrap around the wheel, my knuckles turning white with my need to get exactly what I need out of this woman.

Focusing on keeping my breathing steady, I reach out and press the ignition letting my baby rumble to life beneath us.

"Oh my God," Macie squeals as I tear from my parking space next to the sidewalk and shoot off down the road.

"I promised you a wild ride, Red. I suggest you hold on."

"I didn't think this through," she whispers as she white-knuckles the seat.

"You walk this regularly?"

"E-every week," she admits.

"Don't you have a car?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

She might be covering up who she really is, but I know for a fact that she's got more than enough money to own a car.

"Yes. I just prefer to walk."

"Right."

"Is wanting to do my bit to help the environment so bad?" she snaps, her sudden frustration coming from nowhere.

"Whoa, did I say there was?"

Releasing the seat, she folds her arms over her chest. "No. Sorry. I'm used to people judging me."

"Ironic seeing as you've spent all night doing that to me."

She glances over at me, her lips parting to argue but she hasn’t got a leg to stand on and she knows it.

All too soon, I'm pulling into the parking lot for her dorm building. It's full of cars but there's a brand new baby blue Mini at the other end of the lot that I already know is hers.

"That yours?" I ask, parking in the space beside it.

"Uh…" Her brows pull together in confusion.

"It is, isn't it?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that?"

I shrug. "Dunno. Just looks like the sort of car you'd drive. Brand new, top of the line. You a secret millionaire or something?"

"It was a gift," she lies.

"Aw, Mommy and Daddy send you off to college in her?"

"Something like that," she mutters, undoing her seat belt and reaching for the door handle.

"So I'll pick you up tomorrow night for our date?"

She lets out a long breath as if she'll magically find some strength from somewhere. Not that it matters if she does, she's not going to get out of spending more time with me.

"I'm not going out with you, Leon. Whatever this is," she says gesturing between us, a look of disgust on her face at the fact we're merely sharing the same air. "It ends the second I walk away from you."

"I guess I should take you home with me then."

Her breath catches, her eyes flying to mine. Disbelief fills her stare and it's almost enough to throw my car into reverse and do exactly what I said.

"Yeah, that's not happening. We're done, Leon."

She pushes the door open and climbs out.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. Make sure you wear something cute."

"Are you always this… this… insufferable?"

"I dunno. I guess you'll be able to tell me soon enough."

"Argh," she complains but movement outside her dorm building cuts her groan of frustration short. "Goddamn it," she mutters, slamming the door closed, finally cutting off our conversation as she marches toward the guy who's standing by the main door watching us with his brow furrowed in concern.

He points at me as she gets closer, clearly asking what she was doing with me before she waves her hand around, dismissing me as if I'm nothing and disappearing into the building without so much as a glance back in my direction.

"Motherfucker," I bark, slamming my hand down on the wheel as anger surges through me.

Why is it that the one girl I need to get information out of, the one girl I've waited for years to get my hands on, is the only one on the fucking campus who can turn her back on me, turn me down, without a second thought?

I should have known this wasn't going to be easy.

But then I guess nothing that's worth it ever is.

They do say that the fun is in the chase. So I guess I've just got to enjoy the ride before the inevitable devastation at the end.

The guy is still watching me when I finally throw my car into reverse and back out of the space.

It only takes me a few minutes to get to our side of campus and to pull up outside the house beside Luca's car.

Peyton gives me a double-take when I join her, Colt and Evan in the kitchen.

"Whoa, you remembered where you live then," she sasses.

"Funny. Nice to see he's let you out of his bed."

Peyton pokes her tongue out at me while the guys look between the two of us.

"Beer?" Colt asks, throwing a bottle over before I even get a chance to say anything.

"Cheers."

"We're hanging out in the den if you’re down."

I nod at them before they both disappear each with a six-pack in hand.

"How's it going?" I ask, hopping up on the stool beside where Peyton is.

"It’s okay. It was nice to get away this weekend after everything."

A piece of jewelry on her wrist catches my eye.

"He gave it to you then?" I ask, remembering going shopping with Luca when we were kids to pick it out for her sixteenth birthday only for him to never have the chance to give it to her.

"Yeah. He set up a picnic at our place at the end of the beach, it was so sweet."

"What a pussy," I mutter jokingly.

"What happened to you?"

"Met up with some friends, got a little carried away. You know how it goes. I did see Mom before I left so don’t bother getting on my case."

Peyton holds her hands up in defense. "I'm not saying anything."

"How's Libby?" I ask, knowing that she’d have gone straight to see her sister in the hospital the second she got back into town yesterday.

"She's good. Tests and everything seems promising. She's got a little weakness in her left arm, but all things considered, she's been damn lucky."

"That's really good. They gonna be moving her to rehab soon?"

"Probably next week. They're still monitoring her closely."

"I'm happy for you, you know that, right? With Luc, and your sister being okay. I'm glad things are working out for you."

"Thanks, Lee," she says with a soft smile. "What about you though? I mean, you're home so at least you're giving the redheads a rest tonight."

I stare at her in disbelief. "You've been spending too much time with my brother."

"We're worried about you. All that crap with your—with Brett, and—"

"I'm fine, Peyton. You don't need to worry about me."

She scoffs. "Yeah okay. It might help if you talked to us, told us what happened."

"There's nothing to tell." She pins me with a look that makes me feel about two feet tall. She knows I'm lying. Luca knows I'm lying, but for some fucked up reason, they're not pushing me for information.

I'm fucking glad though, because if they knew the truth… if they knew what we'd done to Brett, where he is. Well, they'd probably have me fucking committed.

But they don't understand. Even if I did tell them everything, every dark and twisted truth that I hold inside me, they still wouldn’t understand my need to do what I'm doing.

"It'll all come out eventually, you know that, right? You can only lie to everyone around you for so long."

She's right. Of course she is. But the thought of that happening sends a chill racing down my spine.

Just imagining the way they'll look at me. The disgust, the pity, the attempt at compassion when really, they have no fucking clue what it was like, how each day is a struggle to put the nightmares behind me and live my life as if I'm fucking normal.

My grip on the bottle in my hand tightens as my need to walk straight back out of the house so I can go and feed the beast living inside me with some of the revenge it craves becomes almost too much to bear.

"Whatever," I mutter, pushing my stool back and standing. But I'm not quick enough in my escape and Peyton's hot hand lands on my forearm, halting my movement.

"I'm here, Lee. Luc too. Letty. Aunt Fee if you want someone impartial. We just want to help."

A lump forms in my throat as I stare down at her delicate hand on my tan arm, unable to look up and meet her eyes for fear of what she'll see in mine.

"I know, and I appreciate it."

Without another word, I rip my arm free and march out of the room.

"Everything okay?" Luca asks, turning toward the kitchen as I make my escape.

His eyes hold mine for a beat before he looks over his shoulder at Peyton.

"Yeah, everything's great."

His eyes narrow in warning, but it's not necessary. He should know I wouldn't try anything with Peyton no matter how shit life gets. He still doesn't trust me after the whole Letty thing. I get it. But everything is different now. I'm on the cusp of getting everything I've been craving for years, and there's nothing that's going to fuck that up for me now.

Forgetting about heading for the stairs, I turn back toward the front door and barge past my brother.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he barks, having no choice but to move aside.

I flip him off over my shoulder before storming through the front door and toward my car.

I wasn't going to go tonight. I was going to fight it. But fuck it. A quick visit to see my new pet won't hurt.