knew he purposely wore it that way.
I approached him carefully.
I had no idea what to expect.
Easton turned and put his feet on a step.
“Sit with me,” he said. “We need to talk.”
My heart dropped down to my knees and bounced back up.
“About what?” I asked.
Easton flicked his cigarette into the sand. “I think you know what.”
Fuck, he knows. They all know. This is crazy. I can’t do this…
I slowly sat down.
The vodka bottle was now like a comfort blanket to me.
The smell of the cigarette smoke lingering in the air tickled my nose.
“I hate to do this,” I whispered, “but… who are you?”
“Noah didn’t mention me?”
“No.”
“He mentioned you to me.”
“Okay. I saw him on the beach before.”
“Yeah, you did. How are you feeling, Winter?”
“Sore. Tired. Confused.”
“Confused…”
“I don’t remember anything,” I said. “I’m assuming we know each other?”
“You could say that.”
“I’m sorry that I don’t remember you.”
“Are you sure you don’t remember me?” Easton asked.
“Yeah… why? Were we dating or something?”
Easton laughed. “Ah, fuck, sweetheart, don’t put that in my mind. I won’t be able to sleep tonight.” He leaned closer to me, his shoulder bumping into mine. “Then again, what we both don’t know can’t hurt us, right?”
My body raged with heat.
Was Easton hitting on me?
And why was my body reacting?
I inched away. “I’m good.”
“Sure you are. So you don’t remember a thing?”
“Nope.”
“You don’t remember last weekend?”
I shook my head.
“You and me, Winter. In the back of my car. I parked somewhere dark with a lot of stars. You made the first move.”
No, I didn’t. You fucking liar.
“Oh?” I asked.
“I fucked you for hours in the backseat of my car,” Easton said.
I swallowed hard. “Really? Wow.”
“You don’t remember it at all?”
“No,” I said. “I have no memory of anything or anyone.”
Easton touched his jaw. “Damn shame. We made a mess of the backseat. I’ve never seen someone so wet before.”
I gasped.
I gritted my teeth.
Me? You? Are you serious, Easton? You think for one second I would let you touch me? You think I would let you fuck me…
“I don’t know what to say to that,” I said.
“That’s my point, Winter. We already did it. So why worry about it now?”
“You really came here to try and sleep with me?”
“I don’t want to sleep with you,” Easton said. “I want to fuck you. Right now. Right here on the steps.”
“I don’t live here alone,” I said.
“Then we’ll go under the deck. Or in the sand. It’s a little uncomfortable with sand getting into certain places, but it’s worth it.” Easton put his hand to his heart. “I mean, look at it this way… the second my dick touches you, you’re going to remember. And if I can bring back your memory, then that’s great. Right?”
“Right,” I said.
Easton stood up and turned toward me.
His… dick… was right in my face.
I put my hands up to block the view.
“Uh, no thanks,” I said. “Seriously. No thanks.”
“So you want to keep your memory gone?”
I looked up at him and curled my lip. “Look, I don’t know who you are. I don’t even know your fucking name. I was in a car accident and I can’t remember a thing. I don’t remember who my friends are. I don’t remember my family. And you’re just going to stand there like that and talk about your dick and wanting to fuck me?”
“You say that as though I’m wrong…”
My memory danced the image of Easton with Noah and Xavier, plotting what they did to me…
Anger bubbled and I felt something gently snap.
Next thing I knew, my hand shot forward and I grabbed between Easton’s legs.
Oh, fuck, what do I do now?
I counted the seconds in my head…
One. Two. Three…
Three seconds of me gripping between Easton’s legs.
And I could feel it moving.
He stared down at me with a smile on his face.
Still trying to catch me in my lie.
When I got to four seconds, I squeezed my hand like his dick was a squishy stress ball.
Easton jumped down the steps and away from me.
“What the fuck, Winter?” he yelled.
“Nope, I don’t remember a thing,” I said.
Easton showed his teeth to me. He was pissed.
I was calm.
A few seconds later, he started to smile.
“You really grabbed at my dick,” he said.
“Is that a problem? You said we’ve fucked before, right?”
Easton kept smiling. He stuck his hand out. “Well, Winter, my name is Easton.”
I shook his hand with the same hand I had grabbed between his legs with.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Oh, it’s really nice to meet you,” he said.