Forever Together (Forever Love #2) Read online

  "I don’t see what you and Liv are so pissed about, it’s me that should be fucking pissed at you guys."

  "What the hell have we done?"

  "You said that it was a shit idea to stage a run in and I think it went pretty perfect so you two were fucking wrong."

  "Perfect, huh? Liv said you tripped Cindy up."

  "She fell and I caught her. I should get some kinda hero medal." Liv just officially lost her spot on my friend list.

  "Whatever man. I’m going, there’s really no point in this, it’s like talking to a tree." Noah says and I’m grateful that this lecture wasn’t as long as the previous ten fucking thousand I've had to suffer through in all our years of friendship. "Just stay outta trouble." I can hear him sigh through the phone. "Oh what’s the point? You ain't gonna listen for shit anyway." He finally gets it!

  "See ya man."

  "Yeah, yeah." Those are his parting words as he hangs up the phone. Must be all of the stress from this wedding shizzle he’s got going on.

  "Well, Brian." I look down at my new number one friend. "Looks like it’s just you and me for the rest of the day, buddy."

  I get into my truck and place him in the passenger seat, strapping the belt over him. I don’t see how it’s any kinda protection. I wonder if maybe I should get him one of those car seats kids have. That’s definitely a thought.

  As soon as I hear the roar of the engine, I clench my hands around the leather steering wheel and bite on the inside of my lip. I could totally check in at Cindy’s, make sure she’s ok after her near fall earlier. I take a deep breath and relax. No, for once I’ll listen to Noah and give her some space. Though how much more of it she needs, I don’t know, I mean she’s had fucking six months of space, wasn’t that enough? Just the memory of the feel of her in my arms, all warm and soft has me tempted to throw caution to the wind and just go and get her.

  I look down at my phone still in my hand and I’m sure an evil smile overtakes my face because I just had the most kick ass idea ever. I scroll through my contacts and come upon the one who I know will definitely help me. Pulling the phone to my ear, I wait.

  "Hello." A voice answers.

  "Hey Deena, I need your help." Yep, this is definitely my best plan yet.

  Chapter 5

  Cindy

  "Are you ok?" Liv asks as I stir my coffee for what must be the ten millionth time.

  "Sure, yeah. So tell me about your wedding plans."

  Liv soon starts telling me about flowers and confetti and cake samples and all of the other stuff that apparently goes into a wedding. My mind can’t grip onto anything she’s saying though. It’s too busy stuck on what happened earlier. Though time has moved on since then, my brain is still stuck in his arms on the sidewalk.

  Liv hasn’t mentioned me trying to escape and as soon as we sat back down in Annabelle’s, she acted as though Brady was never even here. I wish I could forget but I couldn’t. The memory of being held in his strong arms against his hard chest, the way his brown eyes penetrated me. It’s all I could think about. When I fell, all I kept wishing for was for the ground to swallow me up whole. When his arms grabbed onto me and stopped me from smashing my face against the concrete, I didn’t know whether to be relieved or pissed. Pissed that I had the worst luck that in running from my ex-boyfriend I fell over and the same person I was running from had to rescue me from breaking something, namely my face. The way it felt being in his arms though, it was indescribable, like coming home.

  I was busy trying to think of ways to make myself invisible when I thanked him and then his next words just sent me into a complete tailspin. When he said "I'll always catch you", I just about melted on the spot. They were the same words he said to me at Tucker's graduation party, when he told me he'd love me always and we'd be forever together. I could almost cry with how happy we were back then, how much we had to look forward to. And that look he gave me when he said it was as if he was looking into my very soul. One thing is for sure, Brady obviously has the same effect on me he always has and that’s something to be wary of. Brady Cooper has wreaked havoc on my heart too many times to count, I don’t know if it would survive him again. No, I know for a fact that it would never survive him again.

  "Cindy, Cindy are you even listening to me?" Liv's voice startles me and I shoot my head up to see her with her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised and a small smile touching her tips. "I hope you're thinking of something good."

  I let out a small nervous laugh that comes out more like a strangled moan. I pick the spoon up again and drop it into what I’m sure is now cold coffee and start stirring again before Liv's hand clutches onto mine in a bid to halt it.

  "You wanna talk about it?" She asks and I tense. There is absolutely no way I want to talk about it.

  "No." I squeak.

  "Ok." She shrugs and leans back in her seat.

  "That’s it? You’re not gonna start shaking me and demanding for me to talk?"

  "Nope, that wouldn’t work anyway. I trust that when you’re ready to talk about it you will."

  I nod as if that makes perfect sense when in fact, it makes no sense at all. Shouldn’t she be forcing me to talk about it? Shouldn’t she be telling me to get a grip and pull my head out of my ass? Strangely, I think I would have preferred it that way. At least then I wouldn’t have to try and dig my way out of this by myself.

  We sit in silence for a few minutes and though I think it’s incredibly awkward, Liv doesn’t even seem to notice or at least I don’t think she does.

  "So, what colors did you say you're using again?" I ask, not able to handle the quietness for one second longer.

  "Oh, silver and mint."

  "Mint?" That sounds kinda icky.

  "It sounds totally ugly but actually it's pretty damn amazing. I had to pick quickly since Pam had her heart set on pink and I'd rather jump in the damn river than have that. Don’t worry, your dress is totally cute and with your hair it's gonna look even better."

  "I’m not sure about this whole being a bride-"

  "Too bad." Liv interrupts. "You're being one and that’s that."

  "What if I hadn’t come home though? You would have had a bridesmaid’s dress for nothing." I point out.

  "If you hadn’t have come home then I would have just gone and got you from LA myself. Hell, I’m kinda bummed that you did come back since I haven’t got an excuse to just go to LA now." I laugh at Liv's reasoning. I can just imagine opening the door to her and Trina and them sticking a sack over my head to kidnap me.

  "I’m sorry that you had to miss out on a trip to LA to abduct me." I quip.

  "Ah I think I can forgive you, another coffee will go a long way."

  "Got it." I say, standing up from the table, just as the bell over the door rings.

  "For fuck's sake." Liv mutters and I tense up. Surely he’s not back again. Nobody can have that much bad luck, not even me.

  I turn around and frown on seeing who is standing at the counter putting their order in with my sister.

  "I see you don’t hold grudges." I say sarcastically with a raised brow.

  "That douchebag deserves it. Unfortunately, you're not the only one who came back to town for the Summer." The pissed off look on Liv's face has me trying to restrain the urge to burst out laughing.

  I can certainly see why she’s so annoyed with him. The guy definitely has a talent for rubbing people up the wrong way, myself included, and I usually like everyone.

  "I said a double shot latte. It’s hardly fucking rocket science." His voice is still as smarmy as ever.

  I’m too busy watching Chris Lyons harass my sister that I bang my hip into the corner of a table. Seriously, I’m like a walking disaster. Of course my high pitched yelp just brings attention to me and he spins around and looks at me from head to toe. I can’t help but tense up at the way he looks at me. It’s been two years since high school and I like to think I've at least matured a bit. This guy is obviously exactly the same.

 
"Cindy Martin." He states in that slimy voice of his that immediately makes me want to wash my ears out.

  "Chris." I say shortly.

  "Where’s your bodyguard?"

  "Bodyguard?"

  "Usually you got that dick Brady following you about, or was it you following him?"

  I let out a wary sigh. The guy was a dick to me in High School but you'd think he would have grown up a little by now.

  "I see someone’s mind is still back in Franklin High."

  "Whatever." He turns back to Avery who looks like she’s about to dump the coffee all over him. Now that I'd pay to see. "What are you waiting for?"

  I can practically see the anger coursing through Avery’s veins as she looks at Chris. My sister somehow managed to get all of our helpings of Italian fire. I almost expect her to reach over the counter and throttle him, I know I wouldn’t blame her. Instead, she takes a deep breath and turns around to the huge coffee machine that’s on the counter on the back wall. Seems even a sixteen-year-old can act more mature than the moron standing next to me.

  "So?" He asks, facing me again while propping an arm on the counter. Obviously pretending he's not there isn’t going to work for me.

  "So what?"

  "Where’s your boyfriend slash bodyguard?" His face scrunches up as if just the thought disgusts him. I don’t know why Chris would care seeing as though we graduated two years ago and I haven’t even laid eyes on him in almost that long.

  I simply shrug seeing as though not only do I not feel like talking about mine and Brady’s relationship, or rather failed one, but I don’t want to get into any type of conversation with this guy. I’m almost tempted to look towards Liv. Maybe if I gave her a pleading look she would come over and rescue me and maybe even hit him again. Before I even have a chance, a cup is slammed onto the counter, causing me to jump.

  "They broke up." Avery grounds out and those three words make my heart plummet to my toes. I know it’s true but hearing it doesn’t get any easier. "Now, if you don’t mind you need to move along. You should be either waiting at the end or at a table anyway, not here." Her brown eyes are almost black; a sure sign of how pissed she is.

  The minute she mentions about mine and Brady’s lack of relationship, Chris' eyes seemed to bore into me. His whole attention is on me, so much so that he completely ignores Avery’s cold, yet biting tone. Instead of annoyance or hostility that I usually see directed at me from his blue eyes, it’s been replaced with something similar to... Interest? Eww I hope not!

  Just as he straightens himself up and stands away from the counter, I hear the clicking of Liv's orange courts. I turn towards her, the white high-waisted skirt she’s wearing swings around her legs as they move at super speed. She dodges every table corner with dignity, unlike me. Her eyes are trained on the person standing next to me.

  "Well, I better go." Chris says, looking back towards the bubbling ball of rage heading this way. "Looks like you got a new bodyguard now." And with those parting words he strides to the door, right past Liv and leaving his untouched cup of coffee behind.

  "What did he want? Was he bothering you?" Liv asks, laying a hand on my arm.

  "God knows." I shrug with a little shake of my head.

  "He’s such a dick."

  "He was asking about me and Brady." I swallow the lump that fills my throat on uttering his name out loud.

  "Mmm." She narrows her eyes and if I wasn’t looking for her reaction I probably wouldn’t notice. "Come on, let’s get another coffee. I gotta load up. Who knows when the next cup I'll get will be."

  I nod and shove down all thoughts of Brady, Chris and everything else and just focus on the here and now for once. I've got my best friend back and maybe being home isn’t so bad. After all, I've already hit rock bottom and the only way is up, right?

  ***

  The ringing of my cell phone interrupts the conversation Liv and I are having about wedding dresses. I glance down at the screen to see my Mom's name flashing across and roll my eyes before pulling it up to my ear.

  "Hello." I answer, leaning back against the comfortable seat in Liv's Mini.

  "Hi honey. I was just wondering what time you were gonna be back. Your brother's coming for dinner tonight and you haven’t seen him since Christmas." Though I know my Mom doesn’t mean to, her words cause a pang of guilt to run through me. I really have neglected my friends and family over the past few months.

  "I’m on my way back now. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes."

  "Oh good. Does Liv want to stay for dinner?"

  "Liv would you like to stay for dinner?" I ask with a sigh and a roll of my eyes.

  "No thank you Mrs. Martin, I've already got plans." She shouts.

  "You hear that?" I say into the phone.

  "Yes. Oh I do like Liv. Listen, I'll see you in a bit."

  "Ok, Mom. Bye." I say, and disconnect the phone before she even gets a chance to reply.

  "Parents huh?" Liv says, giving her own eye roll.

  I nod and lean my head back, closing my eyes. I feel better than I have in ages. It’s been a full day what with seeing Brady and Chris and Liv turning up, but it’s been a good one nonetheless. After coffee we went browsing through the few stores Franklin has to offer before walking and talking through the town square. We never got into anything heavy but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders just by having such a casual conversation. It was my first taste of normality in months.

  Liv pulls in behind my rented Nissan Versa which reminds me that I have to take it back to the rental place in Savannah. I’m not really sure why I even got it apart from the fact I didn’t want to have to drive into town with anyone else. My frayed nerves were bad enough and I needed that hour drive to try and settle them. Now I’m stuck with a car for the next week that’s cost me almost two hundred dollars that I've had to scrimp together.

  "That yours?" Liv asks, as if she can read my thoughts.

  "Uh uh." I sigh. "I’ve gotta get it back to Savannah soon. Hopefully, if I take it in early I can get some of my money back.

  "Trina’s coming to town tomorrow night. She wants to get the bachelorette party details sorted so why don’t we take the car back in the morning and head back with her? I could call the dress shop and get you fitted at the same time."

  "That would be great." I rush out. She’s the best!

  "Ok, how about you pick me up in the morning, around half ten? That way we can get lunch at one of those cute restaurants right by the river."

  I know a huge smile is currently plastered across my face. I can feel my cheeks stretching with the strain. I throw my arms around Liv without even thinking.

  "I’ve missed you Cindy." She says, so quiet I barely hear.

  "I missed you too."

  Tears start to fill my eyes and I quickly blink in a bid to stop them from falling.

  "Don’t hide again, ok? If you need time just tell me and I'll give it to you, but please don’t cut me off. I've been so worried."

  I pull away and look into Liv's eyes. She was worried about me? Now I have no chance of getting rid of these tears and they start to run down my face. I dash them away with my hand and sniffle.

  "Go on in before we're blubbering like a bunch of ninnies." Her voice is scratchy, betraying just how much this whole situation has affected her.

  I throw the car door open and step out.

  "Love ya Cindy." She shouts behind me and I lean down, peering into the car. "I’m glad you're back."

  "Glad to be back. See you tomorrow." I shut the door and jog around the front of the car, waving at Liv as I do. She honks the horn twice as she pulls away from the curb, leaving me standing and watching the little red car drive away.

  The fact that someone was worried about me, that they missed me has my insides turning to mush. I take a deep fortifying breath and head into the house, taking a quick glance at my reflection in the glass on the front door. A girl cannot be walking in with panda eyes. Liv would definitely
not forgive me for that.

  On walking through the door and stepping into the hallway, I can hear a chorus of voices coming from the kitchen. I walk through the den, hopping over discarded Barbie dolls and Sylvanian family furniture. Forget stepping on Lego, you don’t know true pain until you've had a tiny chair sticking into the heel of your bare foot.

  The sight that greets me on entering the kitchen has me rolling my eyes. I sometimes wonder if I was adopted seeing as though my whole family seems crazy sometimes. Avery is sitting in one of the tall wooden barstools, my Dad on one side and Aiden on the other. Luke is standing directly behind her and peeking over the top of her head. They’re all too busy looking at the screen of Avery’s bright pink iPhone to notice that I’m even here. At once, everyone seems to burst out into laughter at something on the screen, my Dad's deep belly laughs louder than all the rest. Luke shakes his head while chuckling and turns towards me, his eyes crinkling at the corners on meeting mine.

  "Sis!" He holds his arms out and grabs me. His six-foot frame towers over my five foot six and his big arms engulf me in one of his bear hugs.

  As the eldest, I suppose it comes with the territory that not only is Luke fiercely protective of all of us but he’s also a natural born leader, which is evident seeing as though he was captain of both his High School and College football teams. Luke was Franklin High's star quarterback back when he was a senior almost five years ago. His picture still hangs in the boy’s locker room along with the trophy from the state championship, the one and only time Franklin even made it to the final never mind won it. It’s my brother's pride and joy and his proudest achievement. This is the South so football is pretty big.

  "How ya doing?" He asks, bending his legs and crouching so he’s at eye level with me, as if looking into my eyes will tell him whether I’m lying or not.

  "I'm good." And for the first time in months, I’m actually telling the truth.

  Seeing Liv has done me the world of good. I don’t feel as if I’m drifting as much. Who knows, maybe seeing Brady had a hand in that too, though I'd never attempt to confirm it. Brady Cooper is a hazard to my health, that much I’m sure of. My reaction to him, to his touch, to him just being near is proof of that.