13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lacey

"Let me get this straight: you invited your new boyfriend and school rival to come support our lacrosse game today?"

Wesley blinks, his face breaking into a dimpled smile, "That's fucking sick."

Trip rolls her eyes, "A lot of people come to the season opener. Just because we aren't competing against Silverwood doesn't mean their students can't show up here."

My brother leans over and tugs the lacrosse jersey his girlfriend is wearing. Trip's jersey is identical to mine except for Wesley's player number engraved along the back. The school's trademark tiger roars from the bright orange material, and as cheesy as it sounds, it really does add to the excitement of game day .

"But think about the implications of this monumental event. Two rival schools coming together over one couple." Wesley pretends to wipe away a tear, "Billy would be so proud."

Trip wrinkles her nose, "Billy?"

"Shakespeare, of course."

I laugh and Trip shakes her head with an exasperated sigh. She looks very pretty today, her wavy hair falling loose over her shoulders instead of pulled back in her standard style of ponytail. The makeup sparkling around her eyes helps to draw out the unique grey colour, and if I had to guess, I would say her roommate probably helped her out with that.

Trip is many things, but makeup inclined is not one of them.

"Always so dramatic." She scrunches her eyes in a fake scowl, one that never fails to put a grin on my brother's face.

"You love it." Wesley plants a kiss on her frown line before giving me a quick hug, "I've got to go help Nico set up, but I'll see your gorgeous faces later."

I smile, "We'll be cheering from the bleachers."

"With the rival." Wesley wiggles his eyebrows, "If anything goes wrong today, I'm blaming him. Feel free to quote me on that."

Trip rolls her eyes, "Skylar doesn't even play lacrosse."

"Doesn't matter. I blame the rival either way." He blows her a kiss and pivots, disappearing into the crowd to rejoin his teammates. Trip watches him go with a smile, and I have to bite back one of my own .

When Wesley brought her home to meet the family over winter break, it took less than twenty minutes for her sarcasm and awkward social interactions to win over my parents.

He needs someone who helps ground the outgoing social persona he loves to show off, and that person just so happens to be the lovely girl beside me.

"Ignore your brother. Everyone is excited to meet Skylar." Trip gives me a shy smile, "It will be nice to meet someone from another school. Taber can be a bit suffocating sometimes."

"It sure can."

There's an excited buzz in the air as students flutter past, the bright orange and black merchandise showcasing a school spirit that is admirable for a university this small. Lacrosse is one of the more popular teams here, but it still amazes me that so many people would willingly give up their weekend to go watch strangers chase after a ball on a field.

"How are you feeling?" Trip swivels her head, searching the crowd for Skylar even though she doesn't know what he looks like.

"Nervous." Raking my gaze over the Taber students around us, I feel butterflies take flight in my stomach, "I'm worried he's not going to like it here."

After experiencing the hostility of Silverwood students that night at the bar, I'm scared that Skylar will arrive with a bad impression already ingrained in his mind. My brother jokes about his rival status, but at the end of the day, Silverwood is Taber's biggest rival. And like it or not, our schools have competed for the top spot in lacrosse for years.

"I don't think that's something you have to worry about. From what I've heard, Skylar sounds like a thoughtful young man."

I laugh softly, "He is very thoughtful. Kind, too."

"Can't ask for more than that." Trip gives me an understanding smile and a question bubbles up on my tongue.

"How did you know when you were ready? For your first time, I mean."

Her eyes widen, "Like sex?"

My head drops in a nod, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Well…" Trip hesitates, a pink flush creeping up her neck, "Wes is the only person I've slept with."

Oh God.

I grimace, trying to erase the mental picture, "Sorry, that was a really personal question, you don't have to-

"No. It's okay." Trip tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, "It's kind of weird because it's your brother, but basically we had a conversation about trust and what he could do to make sure I felt safe and comfortable. As for how I knew I was ready for sex, I guess I didn't really, it just kind of happened."

"Did you feel comfortable?"

"With Wes? Always." Trip smiles, "He kept stopping to ask if I wanted to keep going and I started to hit him."

"That's… cute. "

I shudder, wishing we weren't talking about my brother. Trip catches my reaction and laughs, "Maybe not from a sibling perspective, but it was cute."

"I'm glad it was a good experience."

"Me too. I hope you get the chance to have a good experience as well." Trip pulls a face, "Not with your brother, though. That would be sad for me and gross for you."

Smothering a gag, I shake my head, "I think it's time to change the topic."

"Agreed." Trip starts to giggle and it doesn't take long for me to join in.

"Did I miss something?"

I turn and see Skylar watching us with bright eyes. A wide smile breaks free as I throw my arms around his neck, pulling him close.

It seems silly to miss someone when you talk to them every night, but somehow my heart manages.

Skylar wraps his arms around my waist and presses a soft kiss against my neck. I close my eyes, finally feeling a little bit more complete.

Trip clears her throat, "You must be Skylar."

Gently pulling away from his embrace, I shoot her an apologetic smile, "Skylar, this is Trip, my brother's girlfriend. We were just talking about their sex life."

He glances at her, "That's unfortunate."

Trip laughs, "It really was. Nice to meet you, Skylar."

"Likewise. "

He brushes white hair from his eyes and my gaze drops to the plain black t-shirt he's wearing. The material hangs loose off his slim frame, but my attention snags on the piece of paper pinned to the middle of it.

A delighted gasp escapes me, "Did you draw that?"

"I didn't want to show up without some show of support."

"I love it."

I lean in closer, admiring the fine lines of the tiger crawling along the paper. It's an exact replica of Taber's mascot, the predator's mouth open in a fierce roar that our lacrosse team is known for making before each game.

He shrugs, "You're welcome to have it after the game."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

A ping sounds and Trip quickly pulls out her phone, "It looks like my roommate has secured our seats. We should probably head over there before she scares away more students."

Skylar tilts his head, "Is your roommate scary?"

"Only when she wants to be." Trip blows out a breath, "Game day tends to bring out her competitive side. And that is terrifying."

I laugh, reaching over to take Skylar's hand as we start the trek to the stadium. He observes the mass of students cutting through the manicured lawns without a word, his grip on my hand tightening the closer we get to the stadium.

"Have you ever been to Taber before?" I ask the question as the massive bleachers rise up above us, the stream of students merging together to slip past the entrance .

"It's been a while."

We flash our student IDs and follow the sea of orange and black up the stairs to the bleachers. Trip leads us past the main stretch of wooden benches to the row closest to the field. Skylar's hand slips from mine as we walk towards the platinum blonde wearing tiger striped face paint.

Stella lets out a shriek when she sees Trip. I laugh, watching the tiny ball of energy bounce from side-to-side. Cody leans forward in his seat to throw me a wave and I return it with a smile.

"Skylar, meet Stella and her boyfriend… Skylar?"

I whip my head around, searching for the boy who had been right behind me two minutes ago.

"What's Skylar Vin doing here?" Stella frowns, pointing over my shoulder to a figure heading in the opposite direction.

"He came with me."

I turn to go chase him down, but a small hand grabs my arm.

"Do you know who he is?" Stella looks at me with wide eyes, "The Vin family is bad news, Lacey. You do not want to be a part of that."

Trip frowns, "Do you mean Vin as in Vector Vin?"

"That's exactly who I mean." Stella shakes her head, "He's the guy who put our captain out of commission last year."

Cody pipes up from behind her, "All things considered, I think I did pretty well."

"You are not helping, Ellsworth."

He grins, "Just making sure you get the facts right. "

Stella shoots her boyfriend a glare before turning back to me, "He doesn't belong here, Lacey. Let him go."

"No." I shake off her hold, refusing to let another person make snap judgements about the boy I love, "I know exactly who Skylar is."

Stella opens her mouth but I beat her to the punch.

"He's my friend."

And then I turn and run after him.

Skylar

He's here.

The one with a kind smile. The one who got trampled because my brother can't control his temper.

The fallen captain is here.

My feet propel me forward, desperately trying to get away from the people holding my last name accountable. The moment I saw Stella O'Brien, I knew it was all over. Lacey was finally going to discover the violent reputation my brother has thrown over the family name.

Nausea creeps up my throat when I think about the injuries Vector left on Taber's lacrosse captain this time last year. It took Cody six weeks to recover from the cracked ribs and the pictures of his broken cheekbone had me throwing my sketchbook across the room.

My brother is a fucking monster.

All the men in the Vin family are monsters .

The sharp sting of self-loathing fills every pore as I hurry away from the stadium. The last time I was here, Cody got carried out on a stretcher while my brother got slapped with a couple of anger management sessions.

It was wrong every way you looked at it.

"Skylar, wait!"

Lacey's voice rips through the crowd, and my steps falter. I can hear the distress in her voice and it makes me sick knowing I put it there.

I glance over my shoulder and find Lacey running towards me. Ducking my head, shame heats my cheeks as I back into the shadows of a nearby corner.

Lacey draws to a halt in front of me, her breathing heavy and uneven from the spurt of activity. Keeping my head down, I lower my gaze to the purple laces of her sneakers.

"There you are."

She reaches out to touch me, but I quickly pull away. Silence falls between us as I bore a hole into her shoes, the pressure in my chest building with each inhale.

"Skylar. Can you look at me?"

When I don't move she lets out a soft sigh, "Alright. Can you tell me why you won't look at me?"

I swallow, feeling the nausea return, "I don't want to see you look at me like everyone else does."

"How does everyone else look at you? "

"Like I'm the rival." I close my eyes, feeling the bitter truth penetrate my skin, "The bad apple from a line of rotten seeds. The black sheep from the other side of the tracks."

"Skylar." Lacey breathes out my name but I shake my head.

"They're right, Flower. I'm the son of an abusive man and the brother of a violent one. I just… I just wanted you to see me as just Skylar for a little bit longer."

All along I've been telling her I wasn't a hero. Just the broken toy people use as a cautionary tale. The little Vin brother who has to draw his way through anger management.

The sad fact of the matter is, people like me don't get a happy ending.

Lacey steps forward, her fingers reaching out to caress my face. I press my cheek into her hand, wishing I was strong enough to turn away.

"You've never been just Skylar."

She cradles my face, trying to get me to look at her, "You're the only person I've wanted to talk to since I found your first message. Every week, I would count down the days to my next therapy session just so I could see your writing."

Her words scrape the rough edges of my heart, but I don't raise my gaze from the ground. Being around Lacey has helped me not hate the person I see in the mirror every morning. She's helped me remember just how many parts of myself are still good .

But if she looks at me now, that will all change. Because there is no hiding from the irrefutable stain of the Vin last name. The violence my brother unleashed on Taber's lacrosse field last year.

All because of my silence.

Lacey clears her throat, recapturing my attention, "And then I met you and my world got so much brighter. Finally, I had found someone who wasn't afraid to linger in the darkness. Someone whose secrets were just as heavy as mine."

She runs her finger up my cheek and down my nose, gently tracing my face.

"You don't need to be afraid, Skylar. I don't blame you for what happened to Cody and I don't hold it against your brother either."

I shake my head, "Vector hurt him, Flower."

She sighs, "I know. But that doesn't change the way I see you. And it shouldn't change the way you see yourself either."

Slowly, I drag my eyes over her Tigers jersey and up to her face. Lacey stares right through me, her big green eyes filled with warmth and understanding.

But there's one aspect she doesn't understand.

I open my mouth to tell her the truth, the reason I've carried around so much guilt all these years, when she kisses me.

Pushing me back against the wall, Lacey presses her body against mine, stealing the breath straight from my lungs. Her nails scrape against the back of my neck and my hands instinctively latch on to her waist, pulling her flush against me .

My train of thought gets completely derailed when Lacey swivels her hips against me. Letting out a quiet groan, I scrape my teeth along her bottom lip as my hands trail down to feel the soft flesh of her ass. She grinds against me in response, her tongue tangling with mine as I gently press into her.

Intertwining our fingers, I bring her arms up over my neck before running my hands down both sides of her torso. She shivers against my touch, and I break away to trail my lips along her jaw and down her throat.

"Skylar."

Lacey's nails dig into my shoulder and I freeze, suddenly afraid I pushed her too far.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She smiles at me with flushed cheeks, "But the game is going to start any minute now."

I blink, struggling to process the information when I can still feel Lacey's soft body pressing against me.

She lifts her hand and strokes my face gently, "Do you remember what you promised me last night, Skylar Vin?"

My last name flows out of her mouth like nothing I've ever heard before. There's no contempt, no fear, no hatred. There's just three letters and one syllable.

The lustful thoughts slip away as my body starts to ache for an entirely different reason.

"Yeah."

"What did you promise me?" Her fingers grip my chin, forcing me to look at her, "What you were going to start believing? "

The edges of Lacey's face begin to blur as tears burn my eyes.

"That I'm something special."

A tear slips down my cheek but Lacey catches it before it can fall. Swiping her thumb under my eye, she wipes away the evidence without so much as a blink.

"Say it again."

"I'm something special."

Lacey shakes her head with a sad smile, "Now you just have to believe it."

I stare at her, feeling my chest collapse with the unconceivable notion that she would want anything to do with someone like me.

"If I'm not allowed to thank you then you're not allowed to look at me like that." She taps me on the nose, "Now, I've got to go watch the Tigers play but you don't have to join me if you don't want to."

I hesitate, thinking about the demons waiting for me in the stands. Cody Ellsworth represents everything I've tried to escape this past year. Everything I've tried to forget through art and an endless number of therapy sessions.

But I promised my flower I would be there.

"I'll come." I blow out a breath and loosen my grip on her waist. Too many promises have been broken in my household to throw away another one.

A bright smile flashes my way, officially sealing my fate. Taking my hand, Lacey leads us back to the bleachers that nearly destroyed me the last time .

We fall in step beside each other, our fingers intertwined as I re-enter the rival's spectator arena. The sight of the painted lacrosse field has one last secret bubbling up inside me, but I shove it back down before it can leak out.

I need to tell her the truth, but not today.

I want today to be a good day.