Catch You If You Fall (Burnouts Book 2) Read online

  Josh pulled her onto his lap on the couch, easily bringing her attention back to him. He nuzzled her ear.

  “Don’t you like the wine?”

  MG looked down in her cup and her heart sank–red wine. There was a short list of stuff she had to avoid to avoid a migraine. Red wine was on that list.

  “It’s from the cellar at the Nugget. I flinched a few bottles last time I was home, and I was saving it for a special occasion.”

  No! She was going to have to drink some of it now. It was probably really expensive wine if he was saving it. And special occasion? Her? Tonight? She took a sip. It was good. Better than any of the cheap crap she had had before. She took another sip and smiled at him and nodded.

  “A woman with great taste in wine.” He toasted her, they clinked plastic cups and she took another drink. It was really good wine. Surely something this good wouldn’t make her sick, and if she just had a little …

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  One bottle down and not a headache in sight. Woo hoo! MG was feeling gooood. As soon as they drained the first bottle Josh scooted her off his lap then pulled her into the kitchen with him to open the second, but they never got that far.

  MG was on a wine-enhanced, hormone-overload mission. She sloppily hopped up on the kitchen counter, wrapped her legs around Josh’s waist and pulled him in for a hot, wet, urgent kiss. She channeled a year and a half of sexual frustration into that kiss, and he responded. They tore at each other’s clothes and only stopped briefly for Josh to pull them into the tiny half bath near the back door and shut and lock the door. Which, in the end was a moot point, because they were anything but quiet.

  They only removed enough clothing to gain access and slide a condom on before he slammed into her, and she moaned out a loud - “yesssss.” She had hoped he would be a wild fuck, and she was not disappointed. He was wild and nasty and as out of control as she was. The months of flirting with each other were the foreplay that pushed them from zero to sixty quickly. He pounded into her, holding tightly to her hips. There was no talking, just a staccato of “oh, god” and “fuck” from both of them as they built to their release. When she was close, MG reached down between them and increased the friction on her clit to push herself over the edge. She threw her head back, hitting a shelf, but not caring as she reached her peak. And then she flew. She reached up and grabbed onto his neck, clinging there as her body rode the wave of relief and pleasure. Sometime during her out-of-body moment she was vaguely aware of feeling and hearing Josh coming too.

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  Josh was faster putting himself back together so he left the bathroom first. While smiling and giggling at the drunk girl in the mirror, MG tried to put the earring back in that Josh had knocked out in the heat of the moment.

  Damn she felt good. Take one massively sexually frustrated girl, add a bottle of fine wine and a beautiful, hot, hard man, and you have one very relaxed MG. She giggled again.

  Her giggling stopped as soon as she felt her body coming down off its sex high and a migraine coming on strong and fast behind it. She was between the bathroom and the kitchen, near the back door, when she felt the first stab. Fuck it was bad. She slumped to the floor, holding her head. Nausea rose up letting her know the wine was coming right behind it. She quickly crawled back into the small bathroom and shut the door and turned off the light. The dark only helped a little, but it was necessary. She felt her way around ‘til she found the toilet bowl, made sure the lid was open, then clung to the cool porcelain for dear life.

  The rest of the night was a blur as she went in and out of blackouts. Daniel was in the bathroom with her, and she might have thrown up some of the wine on him. She vaguely remembered missing the toilet at least once and getting puke on herself.

  She had no idea why, but she and Prada-purse girl sat outside on the back step while it was snowing.

  The last thing she remembered was seeing Josh in the kitchen. He was making out with some girl and her brain barely registered that it wasn’t her or that it should be her. She might have cried.

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  She woke up sweating and floating. The room was too dark to tell where she was. It smelled musty, like a basement, and the pillowcase beneath her cheek smelled of laundry soap and man.

  Despite the residual pain from her headache, she forced her eyes to stay open long enough to adjust to the low light. This was definitely a guy’s room. Band posters hung over walls covered in buckled paneling. She could make out a set of barbells near the closet door and clothes strewn all over the dark green shag carpet.

  Someone behind her moved and her whole body rode a wave. She was on a water bed, or in a water bed--and wearing only her bra and panties. There was no way to gently roll over and see who was sleeping next to her, but she needed to know, so she bit the bullet and twisted around. Prada-purse girl was snuggled under the covers in a small space on the bed between herself and Daniel.

  It was all too much so she closed her eyes, hoping to go back to sleep and wake to something that made more sense.

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  “What time is it?”

  A female voice invaded MG’s half-awake dream.

  “Almost noon,” Daniel’s voice answered.

  Daniel’s voice? What the hell? Why would he be telling time in her dream?

  MG opened her eyes to a bright room with Prada-purse girl and Daniel looking over at her.

  “Morning” Prada girl smiled. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Are you going to be sick again?” Daniel didn’t hide the fear in his voice.

  MG shook her head no.

  “Do you need something to eat?”

  She nodded at the girl who looked way too fresh and pretty. MG felt like a truck had run over her.

  “I’m going to go get us some coffee and rolls.” She got up off the edge of the water bed and Daniel and MG rode the wave of her departure.

  Daniel reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out some cash. “Alex, here.” He tried to hand it to her.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got my credit card. Be right back.” Alex walked out of the bedroom, then MG could hear the back door shut and her car start in the driveway outside Daniel’s window.

  MG shut her eyes to hide her shame. “I puked on you, didn’t I?”

  Daniel rubbed his eyes then pushed his hair back off his forehead. “Yeah, but don’t worry about it.”

  MG rolled over and hid her face in his pillow.

  “Migraine, huh?”

  She must have told him last night. She nodded her head, face still in the pillow.

  “I have an aunt who gets ‘em. I know they suck.”

  MG breathed a little easier but still couldn’t face him.

  “I’m sorry about Josh.”

  For a second she had no idea what he was talking about, then the image flashed in her mind of Josh making out with some blond girl in the kitchen. Ouch. Now her heart hurt as much as her head.

  “Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything?” She turned her head to the side so he could hear her.

  He breathed out a sigh. “No, I didn’t, but he only did it to you to get back at me.”

  She was really lost now. What the hell had happened last night? She rolled over so she could see Daniel, and the water in the bed rolled with her. She had to hold on the side rail for a moment to get her equilibrium back. “What do you mean to get back at you?”

  He looked away from her, up at the ceiling, but she could still see his pain. “He hooked up with my girlfriend … to get back at me for running the band my way.”

  Oh, my, god. This wasn’t happening.

  “I mean ex-girlfriend,” he added, as he pulled a tee shirt over his head, avoiding looking at MG.

  Most of this made sense now, why she was here, half dressed, in Daniel’s bed. But Alex, where did she come in?

  Daniel left the room for a minute then reappeared carrying MG’s now clean shirt and jeans. He set them on the end of the b
ed.

  “Alex tried to get the stains out of your shoes, but she didn’t have much luck.”

  MG looked down at her pink chucks with red wine puke stains on one side.

  “Why? I mean, who? Is Alex a friend of yours?”

  “I had seen her around school, but no, I didn’t really know her ‘til last night.”

  Daniel sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. “I think she is the president of Josh Hagan Haters.”

  MG wasn’t sure if he was serious. Did that club really exist?

  “She’s his ex--or at least one of them. You and her were having a good time comparing notes about what an asshole he is when you were sitting outside.”

  “Why was I sitting outside in the snow with her?”

  “You said you needed to go outside, so she went with you and sat and talked to you. I thought maybe you knew her before last night.”

  MG shook her head and shrugged. “No, but damn, that was nice of her.” MG looked down at her clean clothes. “And you.”

  He shrugged it off. “I told you. It’s no big deal.”

  When they heard the smooth purr of Alex’s no-doubt expensive car pull up outside his window, Daniel got up off the floor.

  “I’ll let you get dressed.”

  He shut the door behind him to give her some privacy.

  Chapter 13

  The Moreland rumor mill took on international dimensions as word of the party spread during spring break. There were some great versions going around. MG’s favorite was that Josh had a foursome with her, Daniel’s girlfriend, and Alex. Chances were that Josh started that one himself.

  The Monday after spring break, she went to Music Theory class and sat in her usual seat. She didn’t want anyone to think she needed to run or hide from him.

  They were never really a couple, and they had both used each other for a hot quickie, so she couldn’t fault him for that part of the night. But what he did to Daniel was shitty. And knowing that Daniel was a townie made it all the shittier. The party was a big deal to her, but only because it changed her view of both guys. She now saw Josh as a spoiled child who played dirty when he didn’t get his way, and Daniel as a musician who had to work with that spoiled child. The jury was still out on Austin.

  Then there was the fact that Josh didn’t help her out at all when she was dying of a migraine. Not that she would run toward someone who was spewing red wine and lying on the floor crying, but he could have at least checked on her.

  He slid into his seat at exactly two o’clock and gave the lecture his rapt attention for the whole hour; a child and a coward. She took the opportunity to study him. Sure, he was hot, no denying it, but knowing what was behind those good looks made him so much more resistible. Nice house, but nothing inside.

  He caught her staring and looked back for a moment. She wasn’t sure if there was an apology or remorse in his eyes, but it didn’t really matter. She had become Josh Hagan proof.

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  She ran in to Alex on a beautiful, spring Wednesday afternoon. The girl continued to shock the shit out of her.

  “MG, you need to come with me.”

  “I do? Where are we going?”

  “We are going to celebrate spring, the Alpha Chi way.” Alex was in one of the rich-girl sororities. Most of the sororities were full of rich debs, well, except the Gammas, they were mostly scholarship girls.

  “You want me to go with you to your sorority house?” MG made it sound like another planet, which it was to her. One populated by girls who would no doubt love to rehash her horrible night.

  “No, I want you to go to my friend Tessa’s apartment and throw back some cosmos while we sunbathe topless on the roof.”

  God that sounded fun.

  So she went.

  And she had the best afternoon she had had in years.

  That afternoon she met all the cool Alpha Chi’s (at least according to Alex): Tessa, Becks, Meegan, and, of course, Alex. It had to be because she came with Alex, but they welcomed her, shared their cocktails and diet munchies, and let her in on all their secrets including a few Josh Hagan stories. Damn that boy got around. She laughed ‘til she cried.

  She also saw a side of these girls that she never would have believed. They all seemed so cool and sophisticated when she saw them on campus, like the wildest thing they might ever do would be to wear clashing colors. But here, on the roof, they were rude and raw and hysterically funny. Their talk of drinking, guys, drugs, and sex sounded a lot like her friends from high school, only all done in much classier places with much more expensive liquor.

  MG laid back and soaked it all in. She was finally in, at least for the day. She was in their private world and being treated like part of the group, and she was having a blast. She had left St. Louis with so many plans on how to get to this place with these people. Now here she was, and they were a lot more like her friends back home than she would have ever suspected.

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  Steve pulled the paint tape off the last letter. It had taken him more than a week, but it was perfect. He couldn’t wait to show Amanda.

  She had been watching some decorating show on TV where this lady painted her kid’s name on the wall of the nursery. It caught his attention and he pretended not to be watching, but he made mental notes on each step then he ordered Amanda out of the extra bedroom/nursery for a week as he painted “Meggie” in huge bright pink letters on one wall.

  The apartment manager would probably stick them with a repainting fee when they moved out, but they weren’t planning to do that anytime soon. They were hunkered in under a huge pile of baby stuff, a lot of it with Meggie already written on it.

  After months of hot debate, they had finally chosen the name Megan Miley Shrader. The Miley part still made him roll his eyes. Yes, it was because of Amanda’s favorite actress. She was so goofy sometimes. As long as they just called her Meggie he was cool with it.

  He stood back and admired his handiwork. Amanda was going to freak. He couldn’t wait to show her.

  He checked the time on his cell phone. He still had almost an hour before she would be home. Damn. This was the hardest time for him. He scratched at the patch on his bicep and wished like hell he could either put on another or have a cigarette. He needed to relax, and he had been using cigarettes (and pot) to do that since he was ten years old. Unfortunately, they didn’t make a pot patch.

  He started cleaning up the painting supplies, trying to distract himself because he was determined he would not smoke. He was giving it up for Meggie. The thought of smoke in her tiny baby lungs made him sick. He just needed to focus on that and keep cleaning.

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  He was in the bathroom rinsing paintbrushes when he thought he heard a knock at the door. It got his attention, because no one ever randomly knocked at their door. You had to have a code or a key to get into the hallway of their apartment building.

  Sure enough, he heard it again. He turned off the water and dried his hands on a paint rag before he opened the door.

  He had seen the big, black guy standing there before but he couldn’t remember where. He was dressed kind of preppy, which seemed odd in contrast to his size.

  “Amanda here?”

  “Uh, no. She’s still at work. Do I know you?”

  He didn’t offer his hand to shake. “I’m Trey. I used to work with Amanda.”

  Fuck, now Steve remembered this guy. He had shown up with Amanda at Casey’s house the day they got in a fight. Steve looked down the hallway at the front door to see if it had been left open. Trey followed his gaze then gave him a look that dared Steve to ask him how he got in.

  He wasn’t going to take the bait, but he did have a few questions for this guy.

  “Did you know she’s pregnant? We’re having a girl, due in August.”

  Trey’s eyebrows shot up. “Pregnant, huh?” He looked disappointed but said, “Good for her, I mean, good for you guys.”

  Steve couldn’t figure
out if this guy was there to start shit or not, but he was ready to end this conversation. “Do you want me to tell her you came by?”

  “Yeah.” The pregnancy news seemed to have taken all his bravado away. “Just tell her I came by to say hi and check up on her.”

  “Will do.”

  “And, Steve, right?”

  Steve nodded.

  “Be good to her. She hurts like hell when you’re gone.” Trey stressed his request with sincere eyes.

  So this must be who Amanda cried to at work every time they broke up. She had mentioned that it was friends at work that got her through her hard times. She just never mentioned that her friend was a guy, a big guy, named Trey.

  ♪ ☺ ♥

  Steve forgot to tell Amanda about Trey. When she got home, she did freak (in a good way) about the painting. She insisted on thanking him with an enthusiastic blow job. He didn’t need the thanks, but no fucking way he would turn down a blow job. She drained him of every thought but those of how happy he was and how great things were between them.

  He remembered Trey stopping by when he was at work and called Amanda on his first break.

  “Oh, my god, yeah, Trey.” She seemed happy to hear from him. “He quit to go back to school.” She sounded drowsy.

  “Well, it’s late. Get some sleep. I just wanted to tell you before I forgot.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” She sounded like she might have fallen asleep while still on the phone. Then the line went dead.

  Steve shook his head at some of the stupid stuff he had been wondering about Amanda and Trey since he had gotten to work. All those months of her being suspicious must have rubbed off on him, because he was never this way before her. But she hadn’t sounded guilty at all about this guy on the phone. It didn’t sound like she was trying to hide anything, and he felt stupid for ever thinking that she would. Hell, almost all of his friends were girls (who he no longer slept with), why couldn’t Amanda just be friends with this guy too.