“Ah, my friend, Zeke. What can I do for you, young man?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“I need to talk to Patience,” I said with some force.

He needed to know I was serious.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I asked Patience to stay away from you and I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from her. Plus, she’s not here.”

His eyes remained on mine while he shut the door in my face.

Two weeks later, I still hadn’t heard from Patience. She wouldn’t return any of my phone calls and she never texted me back. Megan wouldn’t even tell me anything about her. It was the worse two weeks of my life, and no amount of beer or drugs would make it better.

Twenty-Two

Patience

It had been two weeks since I last saw Zeke and I was miserable. The sick part was I honestly had nothing to be upset with him about. Technically, he hadn’t done anything wrong, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him. I was hurt and my world was slowly crumbling in on me.

My mom was dying, my father wasn’t my father, and the one person in the world that made everything feel better had hurt me worse than I’d ever been hurt. Life was looking pretty bleak, but instead of falling apart, I kept myself together, smiled on the outside, and went through my days like I had before. School, practice, and games—they’re what got me through. I played harder than I ever had before and kicked so much ass on the field that my teammates were starting to call me the beast.

I quit reading his text messages and even started ignoring Megan. I was in a bad place and had no one to help me out.

When I wasn’t at school or doing soccer stuff, I was with Mom. She was still occasionally having a good day here or there, but it wasn’t looking good.

Finally, after weeks of lying low, Megan showed up at my house.

“What the hell is up with you? I haven’t heard from you much in weeks and Zeke won’t leave me the hell alone,” she said as she flopped on my bed.

“Nothing. I’ve just been busy with school and stuff. Plus, my mom’s not doing very well.”

She changed her attitude quickly and just like that she got over me being absent from her life. I loved that about Megan. She was so forgiving and understanding.

“So what’s the deal with you and Zeke?” She grabbed a bottle of my fingernail polish from my dresser and started painting her nails.

“Nothing. We were friends and now we’re not.”

I didn’t want to talk about it and I was hoping she’d drop it. Yeah right.

“He’s a mess, Pay. You should talk to him. He says you won’t answer his texts or phone calls. What did he do?”

“He didn’t do anything. I just have too much going on in my life right now to worry about guys. Especially one like Zeke.”

She left an hour later with a promise that I’d go to The Pit with her the following Saturday night. When Saturday finally came, I went to her house and got dressed. My dad had still been lying low, but I didn’t want to walk out of the house with tight clothes and makeup on, just in case he changed his mind about not messing with me.

“Make me as sexy as you possibly can,” I said as Megan did my hair.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Absolutely.”

I left Megan’s house in a tight denim miniskirt, six-inch heels, and a halter-top that left nothing to the imagination. I felt like a naughty sex kitten and I meant to play the part right in Zeke’s face for the entire night. I wasn’t usually a revengeful person, but I wanted him to feel what I felt when I walked in his room and found him with her.

When we finally made it to The Pit, I didn’t feel my usual discomfort, which was weird considering what I was wearing. I’d gotten used to the place and the people. We went straight to the bar and ordered drinks and then we made our way to the stage.

Finn was belting out a Three Days Grace song and the crowd was eating it up. The minute my eyes landed on Zeke, I felt warm all over. Seeing him so close made me realize how much I missed him. I watched his fingers move across his guitar and I felt joy when I saw he was playing the guitar I’d given him.

He looked up from playing and scanned the crowd with the angry glare I’d come to love. At first, his eyes scanned right over me, but I knew the moment he realized I was in the crowd. Zeke never gave anything away, but I knew he’d seen me.

I drank, danced, and had a blast with Megan. The entire time, I could feel his eyes on me and I loved it. I could feel his gaze crawl across my flesh and it was turning me on. It was the weirdest thing, but I was definitely getting turned on.