Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,38
up and he had a file about my accident. He made it seem like he was trying to help… but he was scary, Gia. He told me it was my fault. He was adamant about it. I almost came clean that I remembered everything, but I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t trust the guy. Something is… there’s something bigger happening here.”
“Okay,” Gia said. “I would never call you crazy for talking about how you feel. I hate when people do that to me.”
“You’re a really good friend.”
“A best friend,” she said.
“The bestest.”
“That’s not a word.”
“It is now. I don’t care.”
“You’re going to go to that ball,” Gia said.
“I know.”
“And not for the reasons you’re going to try and tell me.” She looked at me. She frowned. Then she smiled. “So don’t lie to me.”
“Is it bad?” I asked.
“Very. You’re getting feelings involved.”
“I know.”
“Winter, you brought me to this spot… think about what made you come here. And think about the memories of this place.”
I nodded. “Hey. Maybe I’m just some broken and unloved girl looking for anything. My mother is a psycho that left us when I was young. She used my father for his money and for a baby. That was her lottery ticket. My father knows he was used and all he wants to do is invent the next dumb thing everyone needs, travel and talk about money. I’m not saying he doesn’t love me, but he loves me from afar. I was raised by housekeepers. And I could never get close to them because they weren’t family. They would come and go because they were employees.”
“And you think this is the right thing to do now?”
“Nope,” I said.
“But you’re going to do it anyway.”
I looked forward. “Yup.”
We went back to the beach houses and went for a run together.
It was a run for me but a jog for Gia. Actually, it was more like power walking for her. She didn’t even break a sweat as I kept trying to catch my breath. I felt like I ran a marathon when it was only one mile.
“How many miles… do you go?” I asked.
Gia looked at me and smiled. “Do you really want to know?”
“No.”
She laughed and sped up.
I grabbed her arm and slowed her down.
My feet slowed and I started to walk.
I took a deep breath and drank some water.
“But it makes sense, right?” I asked.
“What does?”
“What I’m doing. I can’t keep…” I took another breath. “I can’t keep messing around with Talon.”
“Messing around?” Gia asked.
“Not like that. Bad enough my mother laid into me over it.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, shit. I didn’t tell you about this morning.” I took another breath and stopped walking. “My mother knows about Talon. Him sneaking around. She was teasing me about sleeping with him. Which I’m not. That will never happen.”
“Winter…”
“Gia, stop it,” I said. “I am not going to sleep with Talon. I did not sleep with Talon. Just stop.”
“Okay. I’ll stop.”
“What I’m thinking…” I took another deep breath. “Fuck. How do you run, breathe and talk?”
“You don’t,” Gia said. “I run in silence. Earbuds in. Music turned up. Focus.”
“Sorry,” I said. “So I talk too much to run?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, when this is all done, we can run for miles together. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
I caught my breath. “Talon is about violence. Which is fine. But he wants to get into their heads too. The thing is… I’m not going to keep paying him. It’s dumb. So when I go away with the guys to that ball, I get to do it all alone. I’ll get everything I need and then when I come back, I’m good to go. Even if I have to use Talon one more time, fine.”
“Winter, just cut the crap,” Gia said.
“What?”
“You want to go because you want the attention,” she said. “You can’t help yourself. Look at those guys and think about how hot they are. And trust me, they are hot. Everyone knows they’re hot. And the bad boy dangerous side makes them sexy. So I don’t blame you there. But they tried to hurt you. I mean, they did hurt you. They wanted you to die. You can’t just forgive and forget that.”
“I’m not,” I said. “That’s the best part. I’m not. And I won’t. I get to get dolled up in a fancy dress and look fucking beautiful. I get to tease them on so many levels too. They’re going to want me so bad and they can’t have me. You know?”
Gia nodded. “Okay. If you