Always Too Late Read online

“Nice shorts.” He smirked, pointing at my super short-shorts with cherries on them. I wouldn’t lie; I picked them out solely because of how amazing they made my legs look.

  “Thanks.” I tucked a piece of light blonde hair behind my ear. My heart raced in my chest. Tonight. Tonight, everything changed. I felt it in my gut, whether Mathias knew it or not. He must’ve sensed it because he stepped closer, placing a hand on my waist, just above my butt, and pulling me into his body. He was hard where I was soft, my curves melting into him.

  “Remy,” he breathed my name on a whisper, running his thumb over my bottom lip.

  I moaned, kissing the pad of his thumb. I ran my hands up his chest, twining them around his neck.

  “I’m ready,” I confessed.

  His eyes flashed with desire, but a saw a little worry there too. “We don’t have to—” He started and I shook my head, silencing him.

  “I want this. I’m ready,” I assured him.

  He brushed his nose against mine. “I don’t want you to regret this. To regret me.” His sad eyes met mine, and I understood what he was saying. His own mom didn’t love him, and he was scared to lose me.

  “That’s not happening,” I vowed.

  I never thought I’d love someone the way I loved Mathias. The two of us…we were one in the same. He was my perfect other half. I didn’t know if we’d be together forever, at our age, forever seemed so long, but right now I knew I didn’t want anything but him.

  He cupped my cheeks in his hands, angling my head back. He kissed me long and slow, taking his time. His chest was warm pressed against mine. My heart beat a mile a minute in my chest, and I wondered if he could feel it. It felt like it was going to fall out of my chest and roll away.

  He backed me up slowly, until the back of my legs hit my bed.

  I fell onto it softly, his body rolling on top of mine. He caught his weight on his hands so he didn’t crush me.

  I felt so small beneath him.

  Swallowed whole.

  His lips were soft against mine, but firm.

  His hands skimmed under my shirt, pushing at the fabric, and goosebumps broke out across my skin, making me shiver.

  He noticed and pulled back. “Remy?” he probed, his eyes questioning.

  “I’m okay,” I rushed to assure him.

  He stared at me a moment longer, assessing the situation and my sincerity before continuing.

  He pushed my shirt up farther and I sat up to help him take it off.

  His eyes lingered on my bare chest and I bit my lip.

  “You’re so perfect,” he breathed, his eyes flashing.

  He was on me again in an instant and we sank into the pillows.

  Everything blurred as we removed our clothes and joined. I expected it to be clumsy and awkward, and maybe one day I’d look back and think that, but for now it was perfect.

  “You guys are gross,” Maddox groaned, dropping down into a cafeteria seat across the table from us.

  Mathias removed his tongue from my mouth and flipped his brother off. “You’re just jealous because you don’t have a girlfriend.”

  Maddox picked at his cold school pepperoni pizza, making a face. “How do they expect us to eat this?”

  Ezra, their friend, overheard him as he joined us. “It’s the government. They’re trying to kill us.” He plopped down beside Maddox, across from me. He pushed his floppy black hair off his forehead.

  “The government?” an upperclassman muttered, passing us. He circled back and collapsed into the seat beside Maddox. “They totally are. Did you know they allow rodent hair in peanut butter?”

  I looked down at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I packed from home and gagged. “That’s disgusting.”

  “Who the fuck are you?” Mathias asked the newcomer.

  The guy held out his hand. “Joshua Hayes. I go by Hayes.” He had blond hair and a goofy smile.

  Mathias didn’t take his hand, so Maddox did instead. “I’m Maddox. That’s my twin, Mathias, Ezra, and Remy.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Hayes waved. “I’m sorry to just drop into your conversation, but I heard you mention the government so I couldn’t help myself. They’re all a bunch of crooked shits.” He stood, pushing to his feet. “I have to get to band class.”

  “Band?” Ezra asked. “What do you play?”

  “Electric guitar.” Hayes mimed that he was playing. “I’m a little too rock ‘n’ roll for them but we make it work.”

  Ezra smacked Maddox’s arm and motioned to Mathias, silently communicating.

  Mathias shook his head and mouthed, “No.”

  Ezra argued right back. “Hey, Hayes?” he called when the guy started to walk away.

  Hayes jogged back, his steps light and bouncy. He grinned crookedly. “Yeah?”

  “We have our own band, and we need a guitar player. You interested?” Ezra asked.

  “Hell yeah.” Hayes fist bumped him. “I’m so in.”

  Mathias rolled his eyes and I poked his side. “Be nice,” I hissed under my breath.

  Hayes exchanged numbers with Ezra and clasped hands with Maddox.

  “Welcome to Willow Creek,” Maddox told him.

  I glanced up at Mathias. “You guys finally decided on a name?”

  He nodded. “Yep.”

  “Willow Creek,” I repeated. “I love it.”

  “Where are you taking me, Mathias Wade?” I groaned, trooping behind him through the thick brush.

  He stopped, turning around to offer me his hand. “Be patient.”

  I took his hand and he helped me over a thick root. “If you’re taking me out here to push me off a cliff, just know, I’ll push you first.”

  He chuckled, pushing his way through thick trees.

  They finally opened up and I gasped, taking his hand so I could stand beside him.

  “You can see the whole town from here,” I gasped, bringing my eyes to his.

  We gazed down at the whole city, the river, and the mountains.

  “It’s beautiful.” I felt a little bad for bitching at him now—but only a little.

  His eyes lingered on my face, moving down my neck. “I wanted you to experience what I feel when I look at you.”

  My lips parted at his words. “Mathias,” I sighed, dreamily. He wasn’t usually the most romantic, but when he did things like this, he totally rocked it.

  I laid my head on his shoulder and he kissed my hair. “I love you, Remy.”

  “I love you.”

  If you’d told me a year ago that I’d fall head over heels in love with Mathias Wade, I’d have told you that you were crazy.

  Life is weird like that.

  I stare at the two little lines on the pregnancy test, my heart stopping.

  No.

  I slap a hand over my mouth, running for the toilet. I empty the contents of my stomach.

  I lay against the cold tile, sweat covering my body.

  I roll my shirt up, pressing a hand to my flat stomach. There’s a baby in there.

  Mathias’ baby.

  What was I going to do? We were too young to have a baby. We couldn’t do this, but…but I knew I couldn’t get rid of it. That was still a baby, our baby.

  I began to cry, unable to keep the tears at bay.

  I was scared, terrified, really. We’d been careful, but apparently not careful enough. This was one mistake I couldn’t erase, and I knew it was yet another thing my father would hold over my head.

  I could never do anything right.

  I was a fuck up and that’s all I’d ever be.

  “Rem? What’s wrong?” Mathias probed, staring at me.

  We sat outside during our lunch hour, and the summer sun was hot. School would be over in a matter of weeks and I still hadn’t told him about the baby. Every time I tried, the words would get stuck in my throat. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell him; I was just scared. A baby is a big deal, and while Mathias said he loved me, he was a guy; he could easily run.

&n
bsp; “Rem?” he said again. “You’re not eating.”

  I shrugged, poking at my turkey sandwich. My stomach rolled, threatening to revolt. “I’m not hungry.”

  “I’m starving. I’ll eat it.” Maddox’s hand whipped out lightning fast and he stole my sandwich, eating half in one bite.

  “That’s her sandwich,” Mathias defended, reaching out for my sandwich.

  Maddox pushed him away. “She didn’t want it.”

  Mathias shook his head. “Do you want me to get you something else?”

  “No.” My stomach rolled again at the thought of food. “I’m good.”

  “I need to smoke,” he muttered, sneaking one from the pack. “You want one?” he asked me.

  I shook my head, turning him down like I had ever since I found out I was pregnant.

  His brows knitted together and he gave me a funny look.

  “Are you sick?” he asked.

  “No,” I replied, looking toward Ezra. He was busy chomping away at the…actually, I didn’t know what that was. Cafeteria mystery meat for the win.

  “You’re acting funny,” he observed.

  “I just don’t want to smoke,” I snapped, more bite to my tone than usual.

  He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  He stood and snuck off to our usual spot to smoke. It was a little alcove outside that hid you from the sight of the teachers on duty.

  It also came in handy for hot make out sessions and heavy groping.

  Maddox finished my sandwich and frowned at the empty spot in front of him. “I’m still hungry.” I stared at him in horror—I’d just witnessed him eat two slices of pizza and my sandwich. He stood, grabbing his empty tray. “I’m going to see if they have anything left. You guys want anything?”

  Ezra and I both shook our heads.

  Maddox headed inside to get more food. I had no idea where he put it all. He wasn’t a big guy; in fact he was leaner than Mathias.

  Mathias returned, the heavy scent of cigarette smoke clinging to his shirt.

  “I’m gonna be sick,” I cried, jumping up from the table and running to the nearby bush.

  I threw up everything in my stomach, which wasn’t much.

  Mathias came up behind me and grabbed my hair. “I knew you were sick. You’re such a fucking liar, Rem.”

  I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth. “I’m going to the nurse.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No,” I cried a bit too loudly. “No,” I added softer. “They’re just going to send me home. It’s okay.”

  I grabbed my backpack and he watched me go inside. When I glanced back, he looked as helpless as I felt, and he didn’t even know yet.

  Once he did…I feared that look might never leave his face.

  “We’re moving.”

  The words were the final nail in my coffin.

  “W-what did you say?” I stuttered.

  “We’re moving,” my mom repeated.

  Everything spun.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  No.

  The stifling humidity of the summer heat made my clothes stick to my body. I was tempted to take my tank top off and leave myself in my bra and jeans, but I was still on school property, and I wouldn’t put it past one of the teachers to report me, even though it was the last day of school—and after school hours.

  Mathias’ hand was clasped in mine as we walked together.

  My heart beat irregularly in my chest.

  I had to tell him that I was leaving.

  I’d been putting this talk off—and the one about the baby—for weeks.

  But time had caught up to me and now I was left with no choice but to break the news.

  I figured I’d tell him about the move, and then baby. The move wasn’t as bad as the baby, right?

  “Mathias?” I spoke, stopping in my tracks.

  He stopped too and looked at me questioningly. “What is it? You’re not sick again are you? You’ve been looking a little pale.”

  “I’m fine, but there’s something I have to tell you…”

  He stopped and crossed his arms over his chest like he knew whatever was going to come out of my mouth was going to be bad.

  “What’s going on, Remy?” he asked. “Is this some sort of intervention? I didn’t drink that much at that party, I swear.”

  “No, it’s not about that,” I mumbled, thinking about the party we went to last weekend to celebrate school ending.

  I shook my head, tears clinging to my lashes. I never cried, so Mathias knew this was bad.

  “Rem?” he prompted.

  “We’re moving.” I choked on the words like they were something physical lodged in my throat. “We leave in a week.”

  “Moving? Where?” he asked, his dark brows furrowing into a straight line.

  “Arizona,” I squeaked.

  “Arizona?!” he roared. “Next week?! That might as well be all the way across the world!” He threw his arms in the air.

  “Mathias,” I said his name calmly, “we can do the long distance thing.”

  He shook his head roughly back and forth, his shaggy brown hair falling into his eyes. He pushed it back and slapped his baseball cap on backwards.

  “No. No. No.” He seemed to be in a state of disbelief. “You can’t fucking leave me.”

  I closed my eyes. He’d once told me he had abandonment issues. His dad had driven his car into a tree on a drunken binge and his mom was in jail. Even though his foster parents were great people, I knew he feared they’d grow tired of him and kick him out.

  “I’m not leaving you by choice.” I reached for him and he flinched away from my touch. “This is my dad’s job, I have to go.”

  A look of hatred settled over his face. “Just go then.”

  “Mathias—”

  “GO!” he yelled right in my face. “I always knew you would! I knew you were too good for me and that’s why I fucked Josie!”

  “What?” I gasped, taking a step back and clenched my heart like I’d been shot. Josie? Josie Miller? The girl that was always batting her eyes at him in our biology class? How? What? When? Why? We spent so much time together, I didn’t see how…

  “You heard me,” he seethed. “I fucked her, because you’ll never be enough for me.”

  Tears coursed down my cheeks at his cruel words. “You cheated on me?”

  I’d fallen in love with Mathias in a way I didn’t know you could at sixteen years old. I’d given him parts of myself I never shared with anyone. He knew everything about me, and right now he was destroying me.

  He nodded, his teeth clenched together. “Did you really think I’d settle for you?”

  I flinched. Those words were like a slap to my face. “I don’t know what I thought.” My voice came out as no more than a whisper. I was normally a strong girl, but right now all my strength had left me. I felt like a piece of me was dying.

  “She wasn’t the only one. There’ve been more.”

  He continued to drill holes in my heart.

  “How many?” I asked, gasping for air.

  “More than you want to know,” he spat.

  “I hate you!” I shouted, a sob cutting through my throat.

  “Good, because I hate you too!” he yelled back.

  “You’re nothing but a lying, cheating, filthy bastard, and I’m sorry for thinking there was more to you than that.” Then my hand reared back and connected with his cheek. My hand left behind a red imprint on his cheek.

  He nodded once, like he was agreeing that he deserved that, and then he turned and walked away.

  He left me standing there, crying in the school parking lot, as my entire world blew up in my face.

  When his body was nothing but a speck in the distance, I whispered, “You’re going to be a dad.”

  Then I fell to the ground in the fetal position and cried until a teacher found me.

  Never Too Late

  Remy and Mathias’ story continues in Never Too La
te. Available everywhere.

  I’d never met anyone quite like Mathias Wade.

  He was brooding and arrogant, but I loved him anyway.

  Together we were wild and uncontained—a hurricane raging.

  Then I had to leave, and words were exchanged that could never be undone.

  But now I was back, and Mathias better watch out, because this bitch wasn’t finished with him.

  Game. Set. Match.

  All is fair in love and war, right?

  Mathias Wade, the lead singer of Willow Creek, is used to getting everything he wants. Except for Remy Parker—the one that got away. Childhood friends that grew into more, Remy was the one constant in his life until she moved away. In anger, he lashed out and broke the only girl he ever loved. With temptation around every corner, Mathias drowns his sorrow in women and alcohol. When the band returns to their hometown for the holidays, the last thing Mathias expects is to run into Remy—but she’s back, and she’s not done with him.

  Remy never forgot Mathias or the pain he caused her. When she moves back to the place she grew up, to take care of her ailing grandma, her heart is set on revenge. She’s determined to make Mathias fall in love with her all over again—only this time she’s going to break his heart.

  But Mathias never stopped loving Remy—and she soon discovers that her feelings haven’t disappeared either.

  Can two people too stubborn for their own good overcome their own demons and find the love they always deserved?

  Chapter One - Never Too Late

  I never thought I’d end up back here.

  Back in the place where my whole life blew up into a million tiny pieces.

  When we drove away with the moving truck in tow, I thought I was saying goodbye to this part of my life forever.

  I’d been wrong.

  Anger simmered inside my veins—anger at the boy I’d loved and lost here. He’d discarded me like I was a piece of trash, just when I needed him most. I was nothing to him.

  Back when we were sixteen, he’d been nothing but a bad boy with a scowl on his face.