should have been enough to put me out well before my normal bedtime, but here I am, seven hours later, and I still can’t sleep. I’ve tried just about everything except going back to the pool house and pouring myself another glass of wine.
Nope, can’t do that.
When I hear Wayne’s car pull up, I just about leap off my bed.
I have to speak to Mom. I have to tell her. Not what I saw—God, my cheeks are burning just thinking about that—but about this. All of this.
She made a mistake.
We’re better off on our own.
I mean, we gave it a good shot, didn’t we? No one will say we’re being—
I get to the landing a moment before my mom and my stepdad come through the front door. I’m about to speak, to tell her I need to talk to her, when…
Wayne grabs my mom’s wrist as she starts walking away. He tugs, and she whirls around and into him like they’re actors on a movie set.
My words die on my tongue.
I watch, open-mouthed and spellbound as Mr. Bale kisses my mom.
He slides her handbag off her shoulder, and the sleeve of her dress comes with it, baring her skin. He kisses her there and then moves his lips to the inside of her throat. Mom makes a sound I can hear all the way up here, and I take a hurried step back.
“Have you considered the repercussions?”
I spin around with a strangled gasp. Josiah’s standing right behind me, so close I can feel his body heat.
What the hell is he talking about? Is he honestly expecting me to rat him out for jerking off? God, I’d die of embarrassment before I’d get a word out.
I shake my head. “What? No. Of course not.” My cheeks catch fire. “Why would I—?”
“Wouldn’t want them finding out about Emma,” he says, stepping closer. My hips thump into the railing behind me a moment before Josiah’s thighs brush mine. “Do you?”
I let out a furious whispered, “I didn’t—”
“Or about the party? Want them to know how you slipped out of the house and got fucked up in a stranger’s place?”
My protests fade. “I wasn’t going to say anything about…you.”
“That’s best.” Josiah’s eyes slide past me. “Besides, it looks like they’ve got their hands full.” There’s such sudden malice in Josiah’s eyes, I can’t help but peek over my shoulder.
Wayne has my mother pinned to the wall, one hand up her skirt, the other grasping roughly at her breast.
“I—”
But when I turn back, Josiah’s gone.
I straighten hurriedly and step away from the landing in case either Mom or Mr. Bale happen to look up. When I realize I’m staring at them making out, I hurriedly look away and head back to my room.
I’m being an idiot.
The only person who doesn’t fit in around here is me. I guess I’ll just have to suck it up like I always do.
Suck it up and move on, Candy.
That’s how the Furey girls roll.
Chapter Eight
Josiah
I’m warming up my muscles for practice when I notice some of the guys bunching up by the touchline. Coach Davis is off to one side, texting on his phone, and hasn’t seemed to notice that practice has all but ground to a halt before it’s even begun.
Working my shoulders, I jog over to the guys, slowing as I get near. They’re taking turns glancing toward the bleachers. I take a look, squinting when the sun hits my eyes. A few students have gathered, but it’s not exactly a crowd. Some kids watch us practice, but others congregate for the sheer hell of it, gossiping or doing homework or shit.
“…behind, those legs nice and wide,” Daniel—one of the team’s fullbacks—is saying. “Maybe even strap her down a little if she puts up a fight or—”
“Oh, she’ll put up a fright,” Eric cuts in with a snort of a laugh. “She’s a cold-hearted bitch, that one.”
A few of the guys laugh in unison.
“Chicks are always bitchy to you,” Sean says. “Me? Five minutes, and I’ll have her number. I get that, my dick will be down her throat by nine tonight.”
More laughter and some guys are leaning over to shake Sean’s hand. Money’s going to exchange hands in the locker room, and it will all revolve around whoever the team’s decided to add to their Hot Enough to Fuck list.
When Eric spots me, he drops his gaze and turns his back on me. “Guys, quit it,” he mutters.
Instantly, my gaze snaps back to the bleachers. Now