Tortured (Cherry Grove Series Book 4) Read online

  When tears start to burn my eyes, I slam my fist against the steering wheel over and over until my entire hand feels like it’s on fire. Good. Physical pain is so much easier to deal with.

  I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. If I’m really going in there, I need to get a handle on myself. When I open my eyes they drift to the door of her shop again. There’s a poster for Walker hanging on the glass. With determination in my step, I get out of the car and walk inside.

  The bell chimes above the door, and I come to a stop at the counter. I spot the top of Tess’s head leaned over a rather large guy in a chair toward the back.

  “I’m all booked today,” she calls over her shoulder. The buzzing of the gun doesn’t stop, and I step closer to watch her meticulously color in a line.

  I run my hands down the front of my jeans and take a breath. “Bishop?”

  The gun buzzes a little louder and the guy in the chair jumps. “Ouch! Watch what you’re doing, will ya?”

  Tess laughs under her breath, wiping the blood with the rag in her opposite hand. “Relax, tough guy. It couldn’t have hurt that bad.”

  His eyes widen and travel over to me with scrutiny.

  The dark hair cascades down her back in waves now. It was always a stark contrast to her porcelain skin and striking blue eyes. That’s what happens when you get your hair color from a bottle, I guess. The colorful tattoos in a sleeve down her arm draw me in next. When I left, she only had a few. Now I think she has more than I do.

  I want her to look at me. I need to see her face so badly it hurts.

  “Bishop, will you please just talk to me?”

  She laughs darkly. “I have nothing to say to you.”

  I sigh. “Well, that’s too bad. I have a lot of things I need to say to you and I’m not leaving until I do.”

  I shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans right as she finally glances over her shoulder at me. The connection was brief, but it was enough to send my heart rate into overdrive.

  She turns back to her client and the buzzing resumes.

  “You should leave. It’s what you’re good at.”

  I grunt in frustration. “You know that’s not true. I didn’t have a choice.”

  The guy in the chair moves to push up from his seat, looking between us. “Listen, if you’re going to have a fight with your boyfriend, maybe we should reschedule.”

  Tess huffs and shoves him back down into the chair. “He’s not my boyfriend, and I’m almost done. Sit down and quit being such a pussy.”

  The large guy begrudgingly concedes and I fight the smile on my face. I like that she still has a spark to her. I also kind of hate it because it’s the reason she’s being so stubborn right now.

  “I’m not fucking around,” I say, stepping closer. “I’m not leaving until you talk to me. I’ll wait outside if you want, but I’m not going anywhere.”

  This gets a reaction out of her. She puts down her gun and rips her gloves off in one quick motion. She takes determined steps toward me and folds her arms when she comes to a stop.

  “You want to talk, Perry? Fine, we’ll talk.” She plasters a fake smile on her face. “It’s real nice of you to show up here two months after you got out of prison. Thanks for thinking of us.”

  Her words immediately make me feel like shit. I know I should have come sooner, but I couldn’t bring myself to face her.

  “I’m sorry…”

  She holds her hand up. “Don’t tell me you’re sorry. I’ve heard that so many times in the past few months that it literally means nothing to me. It doesn’t make me feel any better, it doesn’t change the fact that my entire life was ripped away from me, and it sure as hell doesn’t excuse the fact that you finally decided it was time to grace me with your fucking presence.”

  My eyes cast downward for a moment. I lower my voice. “I loved him, too.”

  Instead of sadness, I see fury in her eyes. I don’t have time to react before her fist flies into my throat. So far, this is going exactly how I expected.

  2

  Sorry, Not Sorry

  Tess- Now

  The pleasure it gives me to hear Perry gasping for air is alarming. I don’t know what came over me, but I don’t feel bad about it. Ben, the guy in my chair, has a look of disbelief on his face as he grips the handrails.

  Still trembling with the adrenaline coursing through my veins, my eyes flick back to Perry. He’s still shaking his head, clutching his throat.

  “Damn, Bishop. You have a good arm.” His voice is strained, but I swear I see him smirk. That pisses me off more.

  “I mean it, Perry. Get the hell out of here.” I point to the door and he shakes his head again.

  “Not happening.” He pops his neck against his hand before landing his eyes on me. A strange feeling comes over me and I can’t bring myself to look away. He was always someone I could count on no matter what, and when I needed him the most, he wasn’t there. I don’t think I can ever forgive him for that.

  Regaining my composure, I square my shoulders. “Do what you want.” I turn to walk back to Ben. “It doesn’t matter what you say. You’re wasting your breath.”

  I reach for my gun again and Ben shoots up from the chair. “No way, Tess. Your way too wound up to be poking at me with that needle.” He draws his hand across his throat. “I’m done for today.”

  My eyes roll. It’s always the largest guys who are the most scared. “Whatever,” I call to him. “Call me next week and I’ll fit you in so we can finish.”

  The door chimes in the background, but I keep my focus on cleaning up my equipment. He was my last appointment for today, so I have little chance of getting rid of Perry by being busy again. It’s been several minutes, but I can still hear his footsteps move across the concrete floors from time to time. Unable to stand it anymore, I get up to see what he’s doing.

  His eyes are fixated on the wall of photos I have out front. They’re sporadically placed behind the chairs in the waiting room. Most of them are of art shows and conferences Walker and I either went to or competed in. The others are of us. By us, I mean everyone how we used to be. Walker, Jeremy, Perry, me, and even that bitch Sloan. There was a time when you were unlikely to get a photo of Perry without Sloan. That’s the only change I can be thankful for.

  He stands by one of them longer than the others. It was the summer before we lost Jeremy and all of us were down at the lake for the weekend. That was the best summer of my life, and I’m pretty sure he’s thinking the same thing.

  “We never did get that golf cart out of the lake,” Perry says with a small laugh, motioning to the picture.

  I bite my lip so I don’t smile. “Yeah, well you were the one who drove it there. I’m surprised you didn’t drown.”

  “I almost did,” he says, turning to me. His eyes are lit up with amusement and for a brief second I forget why I’m mad at him. That second passes quickly. I turn my eyes to the floor and cross my arms.

  Perry steps around me and stops in front of the one from their senior prom. I wasn’t a senior, but Walker took me as his date. He also took me for the next two years after that until I graduated. I know for a fact Perry is focusing on Sloan. If I remember correctly, they broke up that night at the after party—and got back together about three days later.

  I don’t notice Perry move closer until I feel his hands on my arms. I look up and his eyes are searing down at me. “Can we go outside and talk about this? Please, Bishop.”

  Reluctantly, I nod and he follows me through the shop and out the back door. There’s boxes piled up from my recent shipment I haven’t gotten around to cleaning up and several chairs are scattered around from when we used to sit back here after closing.

  I decide I can’t sit and turn around to face him. He immediately reaches into his pocket and pulls out his pack of cigarettes. After lighting it and taking a drag, he hands it to me.

  I shake my head. “No, I quit.”

  His eyebrows rise. “Really?
Good for you.” He takes another drag and smirks at me.

  “I’ve been getting rid of a lot of things that are bad for me.”

  He laughs, but not out of humor. “Are you insinuating I’m one of those things?”

  I shrug.

  “I guess I deserve that.” He takes another drag and continues to stare at me. I wish he would stop looking at me like that.

  Throwing my arms out to my sides, I face him. “You got me out here. Say what you need to say so you can leave.”

  “Is that what you really want? For me to leave?”

  The pain is evident in his voice, but I pretend not to care.

  “Yes.”

  He’s quiet for a moment and I notice his jaw ticking away. It always does when he’s thinking about something he wants to say. He never was very good at being open about his feelings — well, except with me.

  “I’m sorry, Bishop. I know you don’t want to hear that, but I mean it. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to make up for something I can’t change. I can’t fix what happened and it fucking kills me.”

  His face is getting redder as he struggles to get out each word a little more than the last. The growing lump in my throat is getting harder to swallow, but he keeps going.

  “And I wanted to come.” He steps closer, but doesn’t reach for me. He pulls his hands into his chest and his beautiful face twists in agony. “I wanted to come every single day, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know what to say to you and I was terrified if I saw your face I would lose it altogether. So much shit is messed up right now, and I’ve never felt so lost.” He releases a long sigh, dropping his hands to his sides. He laughs bitterly. “And I know it’s not fair for me to feel that way when you’re the one who is suffering the most, but I miss him too. I miss him every day.”

  As hard as I fight it, a tear falls down my cheek. I angrily brush it away. “Well, you know what?” I move closer so I’m inches from his face. “If it would have been Sloan, you couldn’t have stopped me from getting to you. That’s what hurts the most.”

  He grabs my wrist as I turn away from. “You’re all I have left,” he whispers.

  Ripping my hand from his grasp, I narrow my eyes at him. “You should have thought about that before you broke my heart. We were always there for you.”

  When the word ‘we’ comes out of my mouth, I stifle another sob. For so long I was a ‘we’. Now, I’m all alone in this world, and the only person who can change that doesn’t seem to get it. It’s not about saying the right thing or pointing fingers as to who’s at fault—it’s about loyalty. Loyalty to those who mean the most to you and facing it together, even if it’s hard.

  “He loved you,” I whisper. I turn for the door again and pause with my hand on the knob. “We both did.”

  Leaving Perry in the alley, I lock the door behind me. I fall against it and slide down until I hit the floor, pulling my knees into my chest. The tears won’t stop now. I cry for Walker and how much I can’t do this on my own. I cry because I’m scared if I don’t my mind will be too numb to feel anything else. And I cry for Perry, because despite everything, I need him now more than ever. Now I have to find a way to let him back in before I fall completely apart.

  For the most part, I’ve avoided going to places where I might run into people. I hate the way they look at you. It’s always the same, no matter what the tragedy is or who it happened to. They used to do it because of Jeremy, and it made me so mad. Pity doesn’t make anyone feel any better, it just amplifies the hurt we have inside. It makes it real if other people can see it just by looking at you.

  I’m speeding my way through the aisles at our local drug store when I spot someone I absolutely don’t want to see. I duck into the laundry section right before her eyes connect with mine.

  “Tess?” Sloan calls to me. She hurries in her espadrille wedges as fast as her perfect tanned legs will carry her. “I thought that was you.” She smiles at me like we’re best friends. But that was never the case.

  I force one back and use my polite voice. “Sloan, so nice to see you.” I nod to the basket draped over my arm. “I’m running a little behind on time though.”

  When I try to walk away, she grabs my arm. I look down at her hand like I want to tear it off. She pulls it back and runs it through her white, blonde hair with a small laugh.

  “Sorry, I just need you to confirm the flowers for Saturday. Daddy says you didn’t get back to him yet.”

  I almost roll my eyes. It’s really unfortunate that the only florist worth a shit in a sixty-mile radius is her father.

  With a sigh, I shift my basket to the other arm. “I’m sure whatever he picks will be fine. That’s not really what my main concern is right now.”

  That’s when she does it. She gets that look on her face and I want to punch her. Not as bad as I want to punch Perry again, but the urge is strong.

  She bites her lip, glancing around for a moment. The enormous diamond on her finger sparkles against the florescent lighting.

  “Have you talked to Perry?” she asks.

  I laugh once. Obviously Sloan has no idea the strain we have at the moment and I’m not about to sit and explain to her the reason. So I lie.

  “Of course.”

  She tilts her head, her voice almost a whisper. “Well, how’s he doing? I heard he got out a couple months ago.”

  “Why don’t you ask him yourself, Sloan?” I can’t keep the irritation out of my tone. I feel like I’m sixteen again and about to be the in-between for one of their epic fights.

  “Never mind,” she blurts, shaking her head. She plasters on another megawatt smile. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  I give a thumbs up. “Will do.”

  As soon as she turns her back, I flip her off. I don’t care how pissed I am at Perry, that girl is evil. You protect the ones you love, even when you hate them.

  3

  Stay True

  Perry-Then

  After slamming the cooler shut, I stomp over to Jeremy and slap him upside the head. “Hey, genius. We need ice in the cooler unless you plan on drinking warm beer all weekend.”

  Jeremy rubs his head and narrows his eyes at me. “No shit. We’re stopping at the gas station on the way to the lake.”

  “All right then,” I grumble, leaning back against the Jeep.

  Jeremy continues moving things around in his duffle while eyeing me from time to time.

  “What’s up your ass? I thought you were excited to go to the lake for the weekend.”

  I flip my ball cap around and lower my shades. “Yeah, well, Sloan’s being a little bitch and as of twenty minutes ago—she isn’t coming.”

  “Fuck her, bro,” Walker proclaims, draping his arm over my shoulder. Jeremy tosses him a cold beer and he catches it with his free hand. He then opens it with his teeth, spilling some on me in the process. I growl under my breath.

  “Sorry, man,” Walker says with his signature grin. Walker is always smiling. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, or how much trouble we are about to be in, you’ll always see Walker standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face. I wish I had the strength to be that happy all the time.

  Jeremy stops loading the duffle and looks up at me. “Okay, now I kind of want to know. What happened? You two were practically fucking against the side of my house earlier this morning when we were packing up Tess.”

  I light a cigarette and exhale through my nose. “Your guess is as good as mine. She was going off about some party at Johnny Tate’s and how everyone is going to be there and how we never do what she wants to, and blah, fucking, blah.”

  “Johnny Tate is a douchebag,” Tess says from behind me as she hoists her bag into the back seat.

  “Thank you,” I say, pulling her over to me. I squeeze her against my side. “I’m glad someone around here understands what I’m going through.”

  Jeremy rolls his eyes, but I catch something different in Walker’s. Jealousy maybe?


  I remove my arm from Tess and press redial on my phone. I’ve called Sloan about ten times in the past ten minutes, so I’m about due for another. When it goes straight to voicemail, I throw it as hard as I can into traffic. We are parked along the side of the highway while we reorganize all the baggage. Apparently that won’t be necessary since Sloan is no longer coming.

  “Are you going to get that?” Walker asks, glancing at my phone lying in between the yellow lines.

  With a sigh, I start to walk over to retrieve it. Right when I’m about to step on the road, a semi-truck blasts around the corner nearly knocking me off my feet. I clutch my chest and watch in horror as the wheels shatter my only means of communication. I might as well be dead.

  “Great,” I cry, throwing my hands up. “That’s fucking great. What if she calls?”

  I face my friends as each of them avoids eye contact with me. I plant my hands on my hips. “None of you want her to come?”

  More silence.

  “You know what,” I say, taking determined steps to the jeep. I grab my duffle from the back and drape it over my shoulder. “Then I’m not going either.”

  “Ah, come on man. Of course we want her to come,” Jeremy chimes in. He pulls his shoulder-length hair into a bun and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I hate when he does that. He looks like such a tool.

  “Yeah,” Walker adds. “We’ve been planning this trip for weeks, and now that Tess is finally fifteen, she gets to come with us. It’ll be fun, with or without Sloan.”

  Tess is leaning against the passenger door pretending to look disinterested. Her dark hair is braided up her head and twisted into knots sticking out at the sides. For being late summer, she still doesn’t have much of a tan, but the glow she does have makes her eyes sparkle against her skin.