Obey Fate: Fated Duet: Book Two Read online

  Aria: Us. I did it for us, Cade.

  Us. There’d never be an us again. I knew that. But it didn’t mean I liked it.

  Chapter Two

  ARIA

  Everything weighed me down as I walked down the school hallway and toward my locker. I had to pass Cade’s classroom on the way, but I tried not to look because, if I did, I wouldn’t be able to keep the mask on my face I’d perfected since yesterday.

  I was doing this for him. I was making sure my demons didn’t catch him because he didn’t need my darkness in his life. So I’d do what I always did. I’d pretend everything was okay. I’d go to class, I’d run on the track, and I’d be the best student I could be.

  We were only three months into the school year and already so much had happened. Life could change in an instant. I knew that better than anyone else, which was why I was doing all of this. I wouldn’t let Cade take the fall for something we’d both taken part in.

  I opened up my locker, put my books away, and grabbed my lunch. Any other time, I would have met Hope, and we would have sat under the bleachers, but things had changed—I’d changed them. I’d cut everyone off. I’d pushed Hope away, scared she’d see through everything that was happening, but now it was time I fixed what I’d broken.

  Pulling in a deep breath, I pushed through the students milling in the hallway and kept my head high as I moved closer to Hope’s locker. I had no doubt she wouldn’t let me get by easily. I had some explaining to do, but I wasn’t sure how much I’d actually divulge. I couldn’t tell her everything. I couldn’t tell her what I’d been doing to myself, but I could skirt around it. I could amend what I was telling her and give her the cut-down version.

  I swallowed as I halted behind her. “Hope?” Her back straightened at the sound of my voice, her shoulders pulling back, but she didn’t turn to face me. “Please, Hope. Can we talk? I’m…I’m sorry.”

  She slammed her locker door closed and spun around. “Sorry? Are you serious right now, Aria?” I opened my mouth to reply, but she didn’t give me the chance. “You’ve flat-out ignored me for weeks, and now you think you can just come up to me and say sorry and everything will be okay?”

  “I…” I frowned as a sinking feeling washed through me. Her face was angry, but that didn’t hurt. It was the sadness echoing in her eyes that gutted me completely. “I’m really sorry, Hope. I’ve had some things going on and—”

  “Like what? Knocking Jasmine out?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You could have told me you were going to do that. I didn’t even get to see it.”

  My brow rose, my lip quirking at the corner. I wasn’t sure how this was going to end, but the fact she was pissed about what had happened with Jasmine was a good sign. “You’re mad because you didn’t get to witness me hit her?”

  “Hell yes, I am! She deserved it, and I missed it.” She threw her hands up in the air. “What the heck happened, Aria?”

  I blinked several times, knowing exactly what had happened. I was trying to feel something—anything—and I had for a few minutes. When Jasmine had hit me back, she’d allowed everything to come rushing forward. It had only been a glimpse, much like yesterday with Cade, but it was enough to keep me going.

  “I’m not even sure where to start,” I told Hope, genuinely not knowing. She was my best friend, but I hadn’t treated her like one. I’d let her fall by the wayside and allowed myself to drown in my own sadness instead of reaching out to her. I hadn’t been able to perfect my mask, but now I didn’t have a choice. “Can we go to the bleachers and I’ll explain?”

  Hope narrowed her eyes at me, and I wiped my sweaty palms on the side of my jeans. She was making me nervous with her long pauses. I hoped she would give me the chance to explain, not only because she was my best friend, but because I missed her. I missed her constant rambling. I missed how she’d distract me.

  “Fine.” She puffed out a breath. “But don’t think you’re forgiven. I expect the full story, missy.” She pointed at me in warning, and I nodded. I’d tell her as much as I could without destroying myself in the process. “Come on,” she said, her voice sounding bored, but I could see the small lift of her lips as she spun around.

  Hope was a forgiving person, sometimes too forgiving. I’d witnessed over the years when she’d let things go and forgave people too soon—like her own parents—and I’d told her she shouldn’t keep doing it. She needed to put her guard up sometimes. The problem with Hope was she never had her guard up, and now, it would help me. Her being so forgiving would allow me to be her friend again.

  We walked side by side down the hall and out into the quad. Cheerleaders and football players were being rowdy, but for what felt like the first time, we went by unnoticed. Not one of them looked at us, and none of them said a word. We were invisible.

  The track and field were empty, but I couldn’t stop my gaze from wandering over to Cade’s office windows. I couldn’t tell if there was anyone in there, but I didn’t need to remember what we’d done inside those four walls. The way he’d touched me. The way he’d kissed me. The way he’d made me feel—like I was the only person in the entire world he cared about. There was nothing like it, and I was under no illusion I’d ever feel that way again, not without Cade.

  “Hey!” Hope’s hand waved in front of my face. Her head turned to see where I was staring, and then she looked back at me. “Hmmm…I think someone needs to start talking.” She raised her brows, waiting for me.

  I swallowed and nodded. I did need to start talking. I needed to tell someone what was going on. I needed to share what I’d done and the way I felt. I needed my best friend.

  “Come on.” I grabbed her wrist and searched around us, making sure no one would be able to hear us, and then pulled us under the bleachers. There was a reason we found this spot—for its inclusion. No one would know we were here, and more importantly, they wouldn’t be able to hear.

  We both settled on the dying grass, and I placed my lunch on my lap. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to eat, not until I told Hope everything I could. “I lost my virginity,” I blurted out at the same time she was taking a drink of her water.

  Water spurted out of her mouth as she choked, her eyes watering as she stared at me. “Holy shit, Aria. Give a girl some warning.”

  My cheeks burned. “Sorry. I just needed to get it out.” I let my shoulders sag, already feeling like some of the weight had been lifted off them.

  Hope blinked and then her brows lowered. “Wait, wait”—she held her hand up—“you need to start from the beginning.”

  I bit down on my bottom lip and looked above me to the underside of the bleachers. I wasn’t really sure what the beginning was. I suppose it all started with my dad—all roads seemed to start and end with him. “So…I met Cade when I was eight—”

  “Cade?” Hope shouted as she dived at me and grasped my arms. “As in Mr. Easton?” Her eyes were as wide as saucers, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

  “I…yeah.” I pulled in a breath and held my hand up so she wouldn’t interrupt me. She slowly backed away, so I continued, “I had a huge crush on him back then, but I hadn’t seen him since I was thirteen. And then he just…turned up here.” My pulse thrummed when I thought about the first time I’d seen him in class. I had no idea we’d end up where we were now. “We…I…damn, I can’t even explain it. I fell in love with him, Hope. I…he…”

  “Oh my god, you’re having an affair with a teacher.” She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked around us. “This is so scandalous.” Her lips spread into a wide grin her hand couldn’t cover.

  “Was,” I told her. “I was.” I cleared my throat, determined to be able to get this all out. “Long story short, he ended it and then a load of crap happened.” I blew out a breath and started to mark things off with my fingers. “Mom and Sal got engaged, I got into a fight with Jasmine, we moved from the apartment and into a new house, and then…” My eyes filled with tears at the finality of what had happ
ened yesterday. There was no going back, not now. “Miss Simmons caught us kissing in his classroom yesterday.”

  “What?” Hope leaned forward again. “I thought you said he ended it?”

  “He did but…” I couldn’t tell her why he’d kissed me in his classroom. I couldn’t explain to her what I’d done to myself in the school bathroom. That part would stay secret—it would always stay secret. Only a small shuffle had the cut on my thigh stinging, and it was enough to get me to focus on what I had to say. “We kissed after class, and Miss Simmons walked in.”

  “Holy. Shit.” Hope fell back a little and stared at me, but her eyes weren’t really looking at me as opposed to looking through me. “Jeez, Aria. You’ve had a shit load happening, and all I wanted to tell you was someone asked me on a date. Now I feel stupid for being pissed that you ignored me.”

  “Someone asked you on a date?” I didn’t want to acknowledge what else she’d said, because all it would do was remind us of what happened. I needed to move past the last few months. I needed to pretend none of it happened, both for my head and my heart. If I locked it all away and didn’t entertain any of it for a single minute, then I wouldn’t have to feel the agony at losing Cade. I wouldn’t have to think about the loss I was suffering. I wouldn’t have to remember it was me who drew the final line. It was me who shot the final bullet.

  “Oh my god, yes! So, you know the drummer in Lisha’s boyfriend’s band?” I didn’t, but I nodded anyway. “He wants to take me out for pizza!”

  “Isn’t he, like, twenty-one?” I asked, concerned for her. I didn’t want her to get hurt, not the way I had.

  “Psssh, coming from you who lost her v-card to someone in their mid-twenties.” She had a point, so I kept my mouth closed. “We’re going this Saturday, and gah! I’m so excited.”

  I smiled and leaned back on my hands, listening to her talk about what she was going to wear and what the drummer was like. There was a silver lining to having Hope around. She distracted me, and right then, I needed it more than anything.

  * * *

  CADE

  I picked up my bottle of beer and glanced down at my cell for what felt like the thousandth time. I’d never been impatient, but this was different. I was caught in a trap with no way of escaping and had no idea what to do.

  Willow had talked my ear off in the teachers’ lounge today at school, and I’d felt obligated to sit there and listen to her. All it would take was a few words from her, and everything would be over. She held my life in the palm of her hands, and it was a feeling I detested with a passion.

  There was only one person I could ask for advice, the same person who had been there for me when I’d lost two of my best friends and my girlfriend in one fail swoop. He’d been there when I needed him, but most importantly, he knew about Aria and me.

  Aria…

  God. She’d taken the blame. She’d put it all on her shoulders, and I’d let her. I’d let her dig me out of a hole she hadn’t created, at least not on her own. I was an asshole.

  “Hey,” Ford’s gruff voice greeted. I whipped my head up to face him as he slipped onto one of the barstools. I’d chosen a table toward the back of the sports bar so we could talk properly, but I didn’t want it to look suspicious. I was overthinking everything, I was aware of that, but I couldn’t stop it.

  “Hey,” I grunted as Ford lifted his hand to one of the waitresses. We stayed silent while we waited for his drink, both of us looking up at the screens littering the bar and playing various sports. And when the waitress finally placed his bottle of beer in front of him, I blurted out, “We were caught.”

  Ford’s gaze slid to mine, but he didn’t say a word. He was watching me in the same way he did to everyone else, assessing and reading my body language. Eventually, after what felt like hours but in reality was minutes, he asked, “What happened?”

  “I—” I cut myself off and shook my head. I couldn’t tell him why I’d made promises to Aria in my classroom. I couldn’t tell him why I was so worried about her. It was yet another secret I was keeping, but one I would never tell. “I fucked up. I kissed Aria in my classroom.”

  “Jesus,” Ford groaned and took a pull of his beer.

  “I know. And…a teacher walked in on us.” Ford’s nostrils flared, but it was the only indication he’d heard what I said. “This teacher, she won’t give the hell up.” I drummed my fingers on the wooden table, trying to keep myself calm. “She’s been coming on to me since I started at the school.”

  He tilted his head to the side. “Did she report you?”

  “I…” I blew out a breath, hating the words which were about to come out of my mouth. “Aria took the blame. She said it was all her.” I gritted my teeth and gripped my beer bottle tighter. I hated she’d taken the blame. It wasn’t only her, it was me too. She had enough shit going on, and now there was this added to it. I was meant to make it easier for her, not harder.

  “Of course she did,” Ford grunted. “She’s trying to look out for you.”

  “She doesn’t need to—”

  “I told her.” Ford leaned forward. His attention was solely on me. “I told her what would happen to you. I told her you broke the law. I told her—”

  “Are you kidding me?” My voice rose and caught the attention of some of the people around us, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. He’d crossed the line. There had been a reason I hadn’t told her. My eyes bore into his as I ground out, “Why the hell would you do that?”

  “The question is, why wouldn’t you?” he shot back. “Why were you not honest with her in the first place?”

  “Because she’s…fragile.”

  Ford raised a brow and lifted his finger to point at me. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. You didn’t tell her because you wanted to find a way to be with her. Newsflash, Cade, there is no way, and now you’re fucked because someone else knows.”

  I closed my eyes and rubbed my palm over my face. He was right, I hadn’t told her because I always thought deep down we’d find a way to be together. If she didn’t know what could happen, then she wouldn’t protect me from it. It was ironic that now it was precisely what she was doing: protecting me.

  “What the hell am I going to do?”

  “What did the teacher say?” Ford asked, and when I looked up at him, gone was the fury and emotion in his gaze and features, and in its place a mask he’d perfected over the years. He was putting a plan together in his head, finding a way to make something work, but I wasn’t sure there was a way out.

  “She…” I frowned when I thought back to how Willow had acted. She’d taken Aria’s word at face value and not even doubted it for a second. “She…I…I’m taking her out on a date next Saturday.”

  “What?” Ford frowned. “Jesus, how did that happen?”

  “I’m not really sure.” I pushed my hand into my hair and gripped it, needing to feel the burn on my scalp. “I was listening one minute, and then the next she was telling me to pick her up at eight and I…agreed?”

  “So she’s blackmailing you.”

  “What? No, she wouldn’t—”

  “She is,” Ford cut me off and placed his arms on the table. “And you have no choice right now but to go along with it. She has something on you that could ruin everything, and not just for you. Imagine what it would be like for Aria. I get the feeling she doesn’t have it easy in that school, especially after what happened with that girl—”

  “That girl.” I laughed and shook my head, not believing what was happening right now. “That girl is the teacher’s sister.”

  Ford’s mouth opened and closed, but he didn’t say anything. For the first time ever, he was speechless, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It definitely wasn’t a good sign. “The girl Aria knocked out is the sister to the woman who caught you kissing?” Ford said, summing it all up in one simple sentence.

  “Yep.”

  “Well, fuck.” He leaned back, his eyes glazing over. “Then you have no
choice at all. Butter this woman up, make her feel like a million dollars, because there’s no way this won’t come back on both you and Aria if you don’t. I warned you, Cade. You messed with fire, and you’re getting burned.”

  I knew what he was saying, but that didn’t mean I liked it. I didn’t want to be in the situation I was in. Taking Willow out on a date didn’t appeal to me one bit, but he was right, I had no choice. I had to do what was best for both me and Aria. I was doing it for us. Everything I did from now on would be for us, she just wouldn’t know it.

  “I’m so fucked,” I groaned, downing the last of my beer. It wasn’t strong enough for the situation I’d found myself in.

  “That you are, Cade. That you are.”

  “Jeez, thanks, Ford.”

  “What?” He shrugged. “I’m not gonna blow smoke up your ass. You fucked up, and now you have to deal with it. Life isn’t fuckin’ rainbows and unicorns.”

  “I know that.”

  “Do you?” Ford asked. He tilted his head to the side. “Because from where I’m sitting, you’re bitching like a little girl who didn’t get a goddamn pony. You’re a fuckin’ man, Cade. Start acting like one.”

  My heart beat faster in my chest, anger rushing through my veins at his words. He knew I hadn’t had it easy growing up, or while I was away at college. Shitty things had happened to me in my life, but as I sat across from him and really took in what he was saying, I realized I hadn’t had it half as bad as the people who I considered family.

  “You’re right,” I told him, pushing my shoulders back and resolving on what I would have to do. I needed to suck it up and play the cards I’d been dealt.

  “Damn right, I’m right. You need to protect yourself, Cade, but you need to protect her too.”

  “Her?” I asked.

  “Aria. I know you were there when she had that meltdown in her apartment. You heard the shit she said.” A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I don’t know the ins and outs, but from what I can see, she’s fuckin’ lost.” He paused and pointed at me as he stood. “But you can’t be the one to make her find her way. You gotta cut your losses, for her sake and yours.”