Chapter Thirty-Five THATCH That morning, I had left a sleeping Austin in my bed. My warm bed. She glowed, like an angel, her hair spread across the pillows while her arm was tucked under her head. She was peaceful, like she didn’t have a care in the world. The last thing I wanted to do was leave. God, I hated my life most days, but what was worse? The drama was so completely unnecessary! Dealing with our parents’ messes was like babysitting grown children. Austin’s mom had given me a note with her phone number. It sure as hell wasn’t a booty call. It was desperation. And I’d refused to answer until last night. Until I’d made love to Austin one last time, knowing that I couldn’t truly love her if I kept parts of myself from her—parts of the truth from her. So early that morning, I called her mom and told her to name a place. Not because I wanted to air out all the dirty laundry but because she deserved to know the truth about her husband. And my mother. Pain sliced through my chest. In
Chapter Thirty-Six AUSTIN A loud knocking sounded on Thatch’s door. I opened it and took a step back as Avery held her hand in the air and then sucked in breath after breath before finally stumbling into the apartment. “Hold . . . just one sec . . . can’t breathe.” Lucas followed and shook his head slowly. “She ran.” “She needs to start power walking or something,” I mumbled, biting off a huge piece of a Twizzlers licorice. “Heard that,” Avery said on another wheeze. “And I was worried, okay? You texted me a picture of two MoonPies, a Snickers bar, and a six-pack of Mountain Dew! It wasn’t Diet, Austin.” “Gross, Diet?” I scrunched up my nose. “And why would that freak you out?” “Need I remind you of last time?” She threw her hands in the air. “I had to rescue you from your own filth!” I waved her off. “Well, I’m not in need of rescue, though Thatch did the honors at least a few times this afternoon.” Avery made a gagging noise and then looked around the apartment. “Where is good Thatch
Chapter Thirty-Seven THATCH “What does a nervous breakdown feel like?” I kept checking my watch, and every time I checked, only a minute had gone by. Walgreens was two blocks away. Two! “What the hell? Did they stop to feed the ducks or something?” I paced in front of Lucas while he devoured half a bag of potato chips. “And why aren’t you saying anything?” “One.” He held up a finger. “Because you’ll just tell me to shut the hell up.” He crunched down on another chip. “And two, because I’m ninety percent sure if I say something, no matter how helpful, you’ll just take out your pent-up aggression on me and punch me in the face, and I like my nose. I’m attached to it, literally. So I’ve got nothing.” “I wouldn’t punch you.” “Admit it, you want to punch something.” “Because I don’t know what the fuck to do!” I yelled. “I’m pretty sure Austin’s dad wants to start a smear campaign in order to protect his own ass, and if Austin’s pregnant . . .” I sat and groaned into my hands. “And if she is
Chapter Thirty-Eight AUSTIN We celebrated all night, and Thatch told us part of his plan before disappearing with Lucas for a good hour while I hung out with Avery and tried my best to come up with more ways to take my dad down. Everything Avery and I came up with fell short. Because really, who would believe my mother over the mayor? Especially with proof? People loved a good scandal, and even though Thatch wasn’t actually kissing her, it looked like she was going in for a kiss and they were holding hands. It looked bad. I mean, I knew them, and I’d suspected the worst. The answer came easily enough. In fact, the answer came when Zootopia popped on and Avery made us pause for the Shakira song. “I would kill for a carrot recorder pen.” I yawned and then shared a look with Avery before grinning up at Thatch. “That look scares me.” He scooted away and then narrowed his eyes. “Just what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” “The fact that I’m brilliant.” “I agree with that if I can ad
Chapter Thirty-Nine THATCH “If we didn’t need that bastard, I would have punched him in the face,” I said through clenched teeth as we slowly got ready for bed. The bathroom was large enough for both of us to move around each other, and I kind of hated it, because I liked feeling her warmth around me, knowing that if I reached for her, she’d be there. I’d turned into a complete sap. And I’d never seen it coming. Austin put her hands on her hips and shook her head at me. “You’ve said that . . . at least five times.” “It was true the first time, true this time too.” I looked down at my shaking hands and clenched them into fists. “The fact that he ever kissed you, touched you—” “Whoa there, cowboy.” Austin was suddenly in front of me, tugging me by my hair in a way that drove me wild, pulling me into her arms and kissing my mouth, her delicious tongue sweet on my lips. “I’m yours. Plus . . .” We both looked down as she placed my hand on her stomach. “Now we’re going to be a family. Every
Chapter Forty AUSTIN I didn’t want to dance around anything, so when I walked up to my house—the house that I was going to be moving out of as soon as this all blew over—I felt empty. Kind of like, the home I’d grown up in hadn’t really been a home, just a place to put my things. I’d always felt empty in this large house; I just never realized how empty until now. I expected some sort of sadness, another emotion, something. Instead, it was like I was walking up to a stranger’s house. Thatch’s apartment felt more like a home, and for the first time since finding out about my dad and his mom, I was justifiably sad. Sad that my dad had done this to our family. Sad that he felt the only way to cover his ass was to blame someone he should be protecting—my mother. And just sad all around that although I was bringing a life into the world, as far as I was concerned, if he didn’t apologize, he wasn’t going to share a part in it. By the time my hand reached the doorknob, I almost itched to knoc
Chapter Forty-One THATCH “I think I may puke,” Austin said at my side. She was dressed in a gorgeous black gown that hugged her every curve. It was lacy, and it was really messing with my head, since the lace gave glimpses of her creamy skin. If our driver stared at her one more time, I was going to punch him in the face. I’d gotten really territorial all of a sudden. Hell, I’d always been territorial where Austin was concerned; I’d just never wanted to act on the feeling as much as I wanted to right now. “You look awesome,” Avery encouraged. She was sporting a short red dress that kept hiking up enough to cause Lucas to have trouble breathing every few seconds when he looked down and did a double take. We decided to rent a limo to drive us to her father’s fund-raiser. Rather than hide out while news went wild. It only made sense to show our unity and strength. It had been a week since the news hit about me and Austin’s mom, and the fervor hadn’t died down, but without any more proof,
Chapter Forty-Two THATCH I was too excited to sleep. By the time eight a.m. rolled around, Austin was still sleeping, and I was trying to make coffee without dropping cups and running into walls. I was dead on my feet and so thankful I had taken the day off. With a yawn, I was just getting ready to grind some coffee when a hard knock sounded at my door. I knew that knock. Just like I knew who would be on the other side. And suddenly the tension was back in my shoulders as I rigidly made my way toward the door and opened it, expecting to see the usual—my father, red-rimmed eyes, swaying unsteadily on his feet, smelling like whiskey, and shouting about how my mom and I ruined his life. Instead, I found my dad. Completely. Stone-cold. Sober. Showered. Dressed. He looked like the dad I remembered. His hands shook as he held out a newspaper and pointed at it. “You did this?” Shit. “Yeah.” I swallowed the guilt and pushed it away completely. “It needed to be done.” “Closure,” he said after a
Chapter Forty-Three AUSTIN His mouth. Why would I ever want a job? Sex with Thatch. That was my new job title. He was probably just trying to distract me from watching the news, since my dad’s face was all over it right along with his mom’s. Every time I tried to reach for the remote, he slapped my hand away and started kissing me. “Focus on us. Focus on this,” he’d say over and over again, loving me with his mouth, holding me, touching my stomach. So I listened. But it was time. And it was like we both knew we needed to face it, to watch the news a
nd see what happened once the story hit. I grabbed Thatch’s hand and rose from the bed, leading him out into the living room and pointing at the remote. “They’re still our parents,” I whispered. “Yeah, they are,” he echoed, and then hit the power button. It was breaking news alright. But it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought. I mean, it wasn’t like he was guilty of embezzlement. Speculation said that the affair had been going on for years. I knew
Epilogue AUSTIN “You’re doing so well.” My father-in-law winked at me and moved around the bed to grab my hand. “How are you feeling?” “Oh, you know.” I clenched my teeth. “Like I’m giving birth to a ten-pound gorilla, but other than that, splendid. Hey, where are we on those drugs?” He grinned, and his expression reminded me so much of Thatch. Over the past few months, father and son had mended their relationship so much that we had family dinner nights, and he’d even paid off every cent of Thatch’s student loans so we could start fresh. The divorce settlement had gone through, and the very first thing his father wanted to do with his money was take care of us. Thatch said no. But his father said it was necessary, and said if we didn’t take the money, he’d just set up a trust fund for the little boy we were about to have. So Thatch took it, and later that night, cried in my arms. Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars’ worth of loans. Gone. Forgiven. Funny how the minute he was able
Acknowledgments I still pinch myself. I love my job; it’s my passion. And I’m so blessed to be able to do it, and so thankful to God for allowing me to do it and putting me on the right path so that a dream could become a reality. To my amazing husband and son, who put up with my late nights and constant craziness over book deadlines—I love you guys. Nate, you are truly the best book boyfriend EVER, only you’re real . . . Wait, you are real, right? Melody, thank you for all your hard work with this manuscript. Courtney, thank you for always being so up for whatever crazy ideas I have and going, “Okay, yeah, let’s do it!” So honored to be a part of the Skyscape team! Erica. Best agent EVER! Thank you for pushing me, and always being such an amazing friend and agent. I love you! Jill—you literally make sure everything is perfect before publication. Thank you for keeping me sane and making sure that every t is crossed and every i dotted. I don’t know what I would do without you as family
About the Author Photo © 2014 Lauren Watson Perry, Perrywinkle Photography A master of lighthearted love stories, Rachel Van Dyken has seen her books appear on national bestseller lists, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. A devoted lover of Starbucks, Swedish Fish, and The Bachelor, Rachel lives in Idaho with her husband, son, and two boxers. Follow her writing journey at www.rachelvandykenauthor.com.
PRAISE FOR RACHEL VAN DYKEN
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—R. S. Grey, USA Today bestselling author, on The Consequence of Loving Colton
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“The Dare is a laugh-out-loud read that I could not put down. Brilliant. Just brilliant.”
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ALSO BY #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR RACHEL VAN DYKEN
The Consequence Series
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The Wingmen Inc. Series
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Curious Liaisons Series
Cheater
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Toxic
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Shame
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Elude
Empire
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When Ash Falls
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Hurt: A Collection (with Kristin Vayden and Elyse Faber)
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Compromising Kessen
Every Girl Does It
The Parting Gift (with Leah Sanders)
Divine Uprising
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2017 by Rachel Van Dyken
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Skyscape, New York
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ISBN-13: 9781477819975
ISBN-10: 1477819975
Cover design by Shasti O’Leary Soudant
To Melody. Without you, this book would have been a nightmare. Thank you for all of your insight!
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Ch
apter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Prologue
Rain dripped from my chin as I banged my knuckles across Thatch’s fancy apartment door.
Over and over again.
Like a crazy person, I smacked my hand against it. Tears mixed with water from the outside streamed down my cheeks.
I was “that girl.”
The one who went to her boyfriend’s apartment late at night, a complete hot mess of emotional chaos.
“Thatch!” I hit the door a third time, my palm stinging from the contact.
Finally, it opened.
Thatch was shirtless and shoeless.
His jeans hugged his body in a way that should have been illegal. Then again, he was a plastic surgeon—perfection was kind of his thing.
Anger surged through me and then . . . insecurity quickly replaced it. Brooke, the girl I had found him kissing, was taller than me, more athletic. She had stripper hair, the kind that just screams extensions, and her face was flawless. Probably along the lines of what Thatch was into. And her body? Let’s say it was made for sin.
And looky here.
A sinner.