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Chapter Eleven
Malcolm
Five Years Ago
The party was loud when we arrived, and it flitted through my mind briefly that I would rather be on the beach, watching the waves roll in and pretending to count stars while Nala laid next to me, telling me about everything I’ve missed in the last few months.
She was worried about Ashton again. In her last phone call, she had told me about the pills she found in Ashton’s backpack, the diet ones that were meant to increase energy, and decrease appetite. For an already-underweight girl, it was like a fast ride to a heart attack.
“I know I need to tell Brooks, but it feels like betraying her. Should I tell her I know first, and see what she says?”
From my hotel room thousands of miles away, I shook my head. “It’s not betrayal if you’re trying to keep her from hurting herself, Nala.” Her sigh had been heavy, and in that moment I’d wished desperately for just a day to be home so I could sit next to her. Just twenty-four hours so I could help her get through this.
Because I couldn’t, I had to talk—not my strong suit—and make sure she knew it wasn’t on her. “You can’t do anything more than you have, Nala.” When she didn’t respond, I pushed harder. “Only Ashton can save herself—you can be there, you can do your best to talk to her, but the rest is up to her.”
Her voice was quiet when she spoke next. “Miss you, Mal.” The urge to get on a plane right then and there was so strong I had to get off the phone. Why her words were still with me, edged so deeply inside of me I could feel them, I didn’t know.
She’s a kid. I’ve reminded myself of this at least a hundred times in the last few months. Like my sister. Except, it didn’t feel familial, the way I cared for her, and that scared me enough that I went out looking for a girl to bring home every night I was on the road, hoping that just one would wedge themselves into my heart the way Nala had.
But tonight, I wasn’t looking for a different girl, because I was back in San Diego for a few days. I hadn’t planned on going out at all, but Brooks had mentioned the party, and Nala said she had plans when I called her, so here I was, a cup in my hand, offering a head nod at every person who passed by or stopped for a photo or to talk.
I wasn’t as good at the chitchat as Jacks, mainly because I wasn’t as good at talking in general. Tonight, I was even more on edge because after months of scenes similar to this, I was fucking over it. Which was bullshit, because I was almost eighteen, and only two years into my pro-skate career. I was an emancipated minor, only months away from being a legal adult, with cash to burn, the freedom to burn it, and no one to report back to. No way I was upset about being at a party with loud music and willing girls who were already lining up to get a piece of me.
Except…I was sick of it, because there was only one girl I had planned on seeing tonight, and she had blown me off.
Angry for no good reason—not completely unusual for me—I drained my cup and set it aside. “I’m out,” I told Jacks. A look around showed me Brooks was MIA with his current girl at the moment. Jacks wasn’t far behind, since he barely looked at me when I left, too entertained by the blonde with her lips at his neck and her hands at his belt.
Fucker.
Pushing through the throng of bodies, I ignored the people calling my name, and dislodged the hands that latched onto me, tugging at my shirt until I heard the seams pop. Irritation building, I pushed even harder, scattering people to the side who weren’t fast enough to get out of my way, forcefully rejecting girls and their advances, knowing that if I didn’t get the fuck out, and now, I was going to punch some poor idiot for nothing more than being in my fucking way.
By the time I reached the door, I was ready to tear it off its hinges in order to get outside. Before I can, it swings open, and suddenly, Nala was there, filling my vision, and taking my breath for entirely different reasons.
Holy. Fucking. Trouble.
Before I pulled my shit together, she launched herself at me, arms going around my neck while she held on and surrounded me, overwhelming my senses with coconut and sea water—two scents that would always make me think of her.
Like that, the roar of my blood quieted, and my anger dissipated, until all I could feel was goddamn relief that she was here, holding me, welcoming me home with her arms around my neck and her hair brushing my cheek.
Christ, I was so sunk, and I had no right to be.
Easing back, I set her down and put my hands on her shoulders, ignoring the quick punch to the gut when I ran my eyes over her from head to toe. Bad idea. The worst.
She was wearing a red shirt that hung off both shoulders, curving around the gentle swell of her breasts, and falling loose to her hips, where her cutoff jean shorts rested. Their pockets were hanging below the tattered hem, enough holes in them to see straight through to the bared skin of her upper thighs, which was just as smooth and warm as the rest of her legs that were left on display all the way down to her fringe-lined sandals.
There were approximately a thousand bracelets on one ankle and both wrists, and she was wearing more rings than she had fingers. Colored stones swung at her ears, every now and then flashing through her mass of curling blonde hair.
Looking at her, I couldn’t help the widening of my eyes, or the tightening of my body, and I felt like a goddamn bastard.
Fifteen, I reminded myself, she was fucking fifteen. Why that no longer felt young, I couldn’t say.
“Surprise,” she said, a shy smile creasing her face.
Fuck yeah, it was. “I thought you had plans.” My voice was gruff, and I wanted to blame it on the heat from the room, or the smoke coming from several people, but I knew, deep down, I knew it wasn’t, because looking at her had me thinking all sorts of things I had no business thinking.
Nala just smiled. “Yeah, I had plans to surprise you.” Then she looked at the door and back to me, her brow creasing. “Are you leaving?”
Not now, I wasn’t. I glared at a couple of idiots who ogled her as they walked by, and then I tugged her inside, making sure to keep my hand on the small of her back. “Did you come here alone?”
