Dared (Boneyard Bad Boy #1) Read online

  It was safe to say that there were not many women in this world that I had respect for. My mother had my mind so fucked up, I wasn't sure if any woman would ever be able to repair the damage.

  “Yea. Actually, I have a huge favor to ask of you. I have this meeting I have to be at and I need you to pick someone up for me from the airport.” I found it odd that she intentionally avoided eye contact with me. I was beginning to wonder why she was acting so strangely.

  I nudged the journal out of the way and propped myself on the edge of the old wooden desk.

  “Okay, Marie. Who do you want me to pick up?” I folded my arms across my chest as I waited for Marie to answer my question.

  Rolling her eyes before meeting mine, she exhaled before she replied.

  “Summer. She is moving back. She will be staying at the Lakeside house while she gets settled in.” Her eyes locked onto mine, trying to gauge what I was thinking.

  “Dammit, Marie. Did you tell her I am the one picking her up?” I stood up and began to pace back and forth. It had been a long time and she just hit me out of left field with this shit. We both know this could go south real fast.

  “Well... not exactly, but I am sure she won't mind. I really have no other option, I can't cancel this meeting.” she pleaded.

  “Fuck. I am the last person she would want to see. She is going to be pissed. I hope you know that.” By this point, I am pacing the back office. I don't even know how I feel about seeing Summer again. This was a door that had been sealed for years, and I was in no way prepared for it to be opened.

  “Well, she will just have to deal with it. I mean I don't understand what the big deal is anyways. You two were best friends your whole lives. Just because things didn't work out with y'all eight years ago is no reason to hold a grudge. The both of you need to just let go of the past and figure it out.”

  “Fine. I'll pick her up. Just write down the flight arrival time and the gate for me.” I shook my head as I walked out of the office. I can't believe the situation she was putting me in. It was easy for her to say to let the past stay in the past. She didn't really know all of the history between Summer and I.

  My head was in total mind-fuck mode now. Summer Montgomery was coming home. The thought of that idea made me feel like I was eighteen again rather than twenty-seven. I wasn't sure how this was going to play out but I knew one thing. I needed a stiff fucking drink.

  “Yo, Cash! Want to hit the bar tonight?” I yelled at Cash as I picked up my truck keys and nudged my appointment book into the drawer of my station.

  “Yeah bro. How about eight?” He flipped through his schedule before looking over in my direction.

  “Alright. See you there.” My head hung down in deep thought as I made my way to the front of the shop.

  “Everything alright?” he called out from behind me.

  “Ask me that tomorrow.” I shook my head as I stepped out into the parking lot.

  My head was all over the fucking place.

  I was eighteen the last time I saw Summer Montgomery. We had grown up neighbors most of our lives. As children, we spent almost every day playing outside our houses. She was the only girl to ever get me to lay my hands on a damn Barbie doll. Then again, Summer had a way of always talking me into shit I wouldn't otherwise do. I think I was about thirteen, the first time I realized that I was in love with her.

  She was bossy, outspoken, and always had to be right. There was no other girl as pig headed as her. That was one of the things I loved most. Our friendship was different than most. We fought about everything. No matter what we did it always became a competition between us. There was this one summer I met her out back in the field behind her house. My mother had been on a bender and I poured her vodka out while she was passed out on the couch. When she awoke, she saw the bottle in the trash and immediately smacked me so hard across the face, I flew into the wall, leaving me with a black eye.

  When Summer saw my face, she put her hand on her hip and shook her head. She grabbed me by the jaw and inspected my eye thoroughly. She took me by the hand and marched me back home and right there in front of my mother, Summer Montgomery grew herself the biggest set of balls I had ever seen on a girl.

  “Mrs. Cole. I am sure you are well aware that there are laws against child abuse, and I realize, that while you may not care about those laws, I care about Damien. So if I see him with another bruise on his face like this, I will personally come over here while you are passed out on the couch and make sure to give you a matching one with that bottle of vodka. I hope I have made myself clear. If you think that you will touch me, I will make sure that my poppa comes over and give you a real good talking to.”

  “Get out of my house you little shit, and don't come back running your damn mouth at me. Why I oughta—” Summer, leading me by my hand, tore out of the house faster than dirt. We didn't stop until we were back in the field. Both of us heaving and out of breath, we just fell to the ground laughing until tears replaced the sound of my laughter.

  “Damien, don't worry. You always have me.” She lay her head beside mine and just held my hand until my tears ran dry.

  Growing up through junior high, I was a scrawny kid with the most awful bird legs. Many times I went to school in dirty clothes because my mom was usually passed out and there were no clean clothes. I was picked on and made fun of for years. Yet, Summer remained at my side, ready to fight my battles with the school bullies. I loved the strength and courage she had.

  By the time I reached high school, my body began to fill out. I worked out lifting weights during the summers, and was determined that I was going to take my life into my own hands. At the start of Freshman year, girls began to notice me. After years of feeling unwanted, I latched on to the attention they showed me. Often times, I began to ditch Summer to make out with one girl or another under the bleachers.

  I got involved in sports and became one of the popular kids. My reputation with the girls only helped propel me into the in crowd. By senior year, my ego had outgrown the rest of me. I played the girls against one another. Having never really learned the value of women, I treated them like they were a means to an end. The end being a good lay. It was nice, for a change, to have girls throwing themselves at me and I didn't have to work for it.

  Senior year was crazy. The parties and my social life outside of school was rad. There was a point when I thought that maybe I could settle down and actually have a steady girlfriend. There was only one girl who held enough respect from me to earn that place.

  Summer had blossomed through the years. Her dirty blonde hair had been lightened to a beautiful honey blonde by the many hours she spent on the beach as a lifeguard during the summers. The first time I saw her in her cheer outfit there had never been anything more beautiful in this world. Her long blonde hair stayed fixed in a ponytail on her head. Her toned legs were long and lean with just enough definition to the muscles in her calves to make my palms itch to touch them. Those breasts... they were all I could envision when I was home alone jacking off.

  She became the fantasy. Beautiful on the outside and pure goodness on the inside. Well, maybe not pure goodness. That girl was a fucking spitfire. Let's just say that nobody crossed Summer. It didn't matter if you were a chick or a dude, she would hold her own and put you in your damn place.

  We dated briefly senior year and the first month was the best month of my life. I was attentive, respectful, and caring. I was the doting boyfriend. Temptation is a bitch and it came calling. A bitch whose name I still can't remember all these years later.

  I had been out with the guys cruising town on a Friday night when we stopped at the local Sonic. We were all sitting on the tailgate of my buddies truck when a bus of cheerleaders pulled up from a rival school. They were in town for the game that night. This group of girls sauntered over and started up a conversation. Let's just say before they left, one of the girls found her way into my lap and was politely massaging my hard cock through my jeans and whispering
into my ear. I just happened to glance up to see Shavo Montgomery pull in next to us to order. Shavo was Summer's dad and if looks could kill I would not have made it out of that parking lot alive.

  It was a few weeks later when I decided to drop out of school. My mom and I got into a huge fight and she hit me once again. That was the final straw for me. I packed up what I could carry and left. I had no clue where I was heading to, but anywhere other than home was all I could focus on. I was walking through town when I noticed the lights on at Shavo's tattoo shop. I don't know what made me stop that night. Hell it probably was fatigue from walking for hours, but either way, it led me to exactly where I needed to be at that moment.

  I wandered into the shop and struck up a conversation with Shavo. He had known for years the history with my mother. He was sympathetic to my situation and offered me a place to sleep in the back. I would be able to work at the shop and learn the skill in place of paying rent. There were a few conditions on the offer and by the time he left, I had received his message loud and clear.

  I called Summer that night and broke things off. She wanted answers and all I could do was blow her off. When I hung up the phone, the last thing she had said was that she hated me and never wanted to see me again. With only a week left in the school year, I hid out at the shop and by the time graduation came and went, Summer was long gone to New York.

  Life was different without Summer. As the years passed though, I worked myself to the bone to perfect my skill and climb up the ladder at the shop. I looked back at my time with Summer that year as a moment of weakness. Girls like her weren't meant for guys like me. While I thought that I loved her, I wasn't quite sure that I was really capable of love. My mother had probably ruined that for any girl that came my way. So I learned how to satisfy myself with one night stands. I became a self-made manipulator and connoisseur of women.

  Now, thinking about Summer coming home after all these years, I was a complete fucking wreck. Was eight years long enough for her to forgive me? Should I tell her the truth? Would she even want to hear anything I had to say?

  My palms stick together with sweat as I ran my hands together imagining what she looks like now. There was no doubt in my mind that the woman I would come face to face with tomorrow could very easily bring me to my knees if I wasn't careful. I needed a stiff drink. I glanced at the watch on my wrist and decided to hop in the shower and get ready to head out to the bar to meet Cash. I would get there a little early but that would give me a chance to beat Cash to the punch on finding which woman was going to be in my bed tonight.

  ***

  The bar was already packed when I arrived. I elbowed my way through the crowd and eyed a table on the other side of the dance floor. I cocked my eyebrow at the waitress as I pointed in the direction I was headed. She nodded her head and made her way over as the band came to the end of their set.

  “Hey sugar.. What can I get you?” she drawled. Of course I sized her up as I gave her my drink order. Tiffani, as her name badge displayed, was a natural beauty. Nice thick legs accented by the spandex booty shorts. She had curves in all the right places with one hell of a rack. She was definitely a possibility.

  “Starting without me? I see how it is,” Cash chuckled as he pulled up a seat. His eyes darted to Tiffani's ass and back at me and muttered, “I can't say I blame you one damn bit.”

  “I'll take a jack, straight, please sweetheart.” He smacked the waitress on her ass as she headed to get our drinks. From the giggle that escaped her mouth, I could tell she certainly didn't mind.

  “Oh, it's like that fucker. You going to swoop in and try to take what I am working on. Okay. I see how you are doing things.” I couldn't help but let out a huge laugh as Cash feigned hurt.

  “Never, dude. I just don't work at grandpa speed. You, bro, are slow. Clearly if you wanted her you would have already had that in the bag. So what's up with you tonight?” he replied as he eyed the crowd.

  “Shit. You remember Summer?”

  “You mean THE SUMMER?” he asked as his eyes went wide with excitement waiting on my lead.

  “Yeah that one. Well, she is coming home tomorrow. Her mom wants me to pick her up at the airport.”

  Tiffani placed our drinks on the table as she slid a folded napkin over to Cash. I watched as he opened the napkin with a shit eating grin plastered across his face. He tucked the napkin in his pocket before looking back up to catch me watching him.

  “What?” he grinned. “It just comes natural.” he winked before he threw back his whiskey.

  “So how long is she in for?” Cash asked.

  “She is moving back,” my brows furrowed as the words spoken out loud seemed to make this shit more real.

  “Ohhhh....” he exaggerated his mouth in an open circle as he drug the word out.

  “Yeah. That.” I turned my glass up and chugged the remainder of my Jack down. The slow burn spreading a blanket of heat across my chest.

  “So. What are you thinking?”

  “Well, I am thinking I need to figure out what the fuck I am going to say and do. I mean its been eight years. Do I just let the shit go and not say anything? Do I wait and follow her lead? Man, I don't know but I know I am feeling all kinds of fucked up about this situation. I just don't know what it's going to be like after all this time.”

  “Well bro, I would just act like yourself. Follow her lead and don't put too much pressure on yourself. I mean all you can do is go with the flow.”

  He had a point. I damn sure wasn't going to let this shit ruin my night. My eyes followed a cute little brunette making her way to the bar and I excused myself from the table to order another drink and go introduce myself.

  Chapter Three

  Summer

  “So when do you leave?” Michelle asked as she plopped down on the old worn out couch we had picked up at a local thrift store not long after we moved in. Michelle was my roommate and one of the few people I had allowed myself to grow close too since being here. She was an intern at Cosmopolitan Magazine. A New York native and aspiring fashion designer, we clicked instantly when we met at a Cosmo party five years ago. Michelle tried her best to convince me to stay in the New York but my mind was made up. I was done being blinded by the lights of this city.

  “In the morning. My flight leaves at seven. My mom has a job lined up for me as a receptionist at the tattoo shop. I know it's not the most ideal job, but I need a total change. Besides, it could be interesting. Something completely different from modeling. We see how well that has turned out for me. I want a fresh start and now I have one. She has a rental property that she just finished renovating that she is letting me live in for as long as I like.”

  “This sucks! I'm going to miss you, but I want you to find happiness again. It is out there. And if you have to go to Texas to find that, then I am all for it. Just promise me that you will keep in touch. And if things don't work out, you always have a place here to come back to.”

  “I will definitely keep that in mind. I know I have to find myself again and figure out what the next chapter in my life is.” I contemplated this realization. Until Cameron, I had not dated anyone since my senior year in high school. I always put my dreams first and my personal life took a back burner to work. I was never one to buy into that whole “I need a man to complete me” bullshit. I have always stood on my own two feet and did a damn good job at it. But I would be lying if I said Cameron didn't break my heart. I fell hard for him from the moment we first met. Now I have to figure out how to put the pieces back together. There was no better way to do that than to get back to my roots. It was so unlike me to tuck my tail and run but I feel I had accomplished everything I set out to do here and this life was beginning to take its toll on me. I was going home forever changed by the hard truths that this lifestyle came at a price.

  “I understand. Who knows maybe you will find Mr. Right and settle down in little suburbia and have the perfect happily ever after that you so deserve. Cameron will just be a di
stant memory.” Always the optimistic one, Michelle firmly believed love could heal any and all wounds. I, on the other hand, didn't really know if I believed in love anymore. If I hadn't been so blinded by love, I would have seen through all the warning signs with Cameron and saved myself a lot of pain. I wasn't so sure that I still believed in happily ever after. I was learning that getting caught up in fairy tales could be very disappointing.

  “I want to thank you for always being here for me. For being a friend when it mattered the most. I can't tell you how much it has meant to me. I love you and you better promise you will come out to Texas to visit me.”

  “Oh girl, you know I will. I will have to come see what those cowboys are all about. Now come give me a hug.” I gave Michelle a quick hug and jumped off the couch. I needed to get some rest for the trip tomorrow.

  “Alright. I am off to bed. I won't see you in the morning before I leave, but I will call you when I get settled in. I promise.” I headed off to bed, doing a last minute sweep of the bedroom I had spent the last four years in to make sure that I had collected all of my things. I made sure that the room had been cleaned and vacuumed earlier in the day. Michelle had a new roommate lined up to move in on Monday. I would miss the tiny apartment and the good memories it held. I stood there looking out of the window at the city lights below. I was ready to leave this place and all the ugliness it held behind me.

  ***

  The alarm sounded at five am. I hopped out of bed and turned the shower on. I had about forty-five minutes to get dressed and get out of the door in order to make it to the airport on time. The hot water felt so good against my skin, almost as if it was washing away the final remnants of this place. I felt myself start to actually relax even though a part of me was still a little anxious about going home.