Burning Barriers (Barriers Series Book 3) Read online

  Nothing is going to bring her back.

  Lucy Wyatt walked out of my life seven years ago, and it was all because of me. I loved that girl more than anything, but I was young and thought I knew everything. All my friends were breaking up with their girls before college, and I followed suit. I wanted to have that college experience without any ties. I was going to party it up with all my new friends who came from somewhere other than Breckenridge. I couldn’t see anything but a good time ahead of me.

  Biggest fucking mistake of my life.

  I realize my thoughts have gone back to that place I hate going when I hear my buddy, Kent, laughing at the other end of the bar. He’s also with a girl he met this weekend, except she isn’t a sloppy drunk at the moment like this chick beside me. I’m not feeling her anymore, so as she runs her hands over me again, I firmly push them back toward her and pull her down to her friend who is with Kent.

  “I’m out,” I tell Kent as he raises his chin to acknowledge me.

  “You taking that one home with you?” he asks before placing his beer onto the bar.

  “No fucking way. She can go home with her friend, or if you want a go at her, be my guest,” I say before slapping him on the shoulder and making my way to the exit.

  The minute the fresh, clean mountain air hits my lungs I feel alive again. The bar scene was suffocating me tonight, especially with the sloppy blueberry inside. Turning to walk through downtown and heading in the direction of my truck, I notice the streets are bustling with people and bikes.

  I’ll be happy when everyone starts to clear out of here and the town quiets down. Parking is always an issue whenever there is a huge event going on, which is why I had to park on one of the side streets away from downtown.

  As I’m about to walk around the front of my truck, I reach into my pocket and fish for my keys. When I look up, I swear my eyes have to be playing games with me. A Volkswagen Beetle pulls up to the four-way stop in front of me, and the person behind the wheel leaves me standing like a fucking scarecrow.

  If I didn’t know any better, I would say the blonde driving that car, tapping one hand on the top of the steering wheel, the other hanging out the window and singing along to what sounds like an Adele song is none other than Lucy Wyatt. I’d recognize that face anywhere. Even with the music blaring through the speakers, I hear Lucy’s voice over the song. The plates on the car are from Massachusetts, and the last I heard from Lucy’s sister, Ellen, she was living in New England somewhere. I’ve avoided her sister for a number of years, simply because she hates my guts after what I did to Lucy that summer after high school. Apparently, according to her, I’m the reason why Lucy hasn’t been home after all these years.

  The minute “Lucy” turns onto the street I’m standing on, her eyes look over to see me blatantly staring back at her. Her eyes grow wider as she glares at me and continues to drive in front of me, nearly hitting the car in front of her. She slams on the brakes, and I watch as her eyes fixate on mine. Horns sound behind her, and the moment is lost as she takes one quick glance back at me before turning down Main Street and out of view. I don’t have any doubt in my mind after what just happened.

  Lucy Wyatt has finally come back home.

  What the ever lovin’ fuck just happened? After days of seeing nothing but flat farmland, I finally pull off the goddamn interstate with the scenic Rocky Mountains as my new backdrop, and just as I turn to head into downtown Breckenridge, whom do I see?

  Jake Fuckin’ Galloway!

  I don’t see my parents or even my big sister, Ellen, first. No, I see Jake.

  God, he looked hot. Why did he have to be even better looking than the last time I saw him? And here I am, driving by him with exhausted bags under my eyes and unkempt hair all knotted and falling out everywhere.

  Nice, Lucy. Real nice!

  Pulling into the parking lot behind the bar where Ellen works, I hang my head on the steering wheel and groan in embarrassment. “Could my life suck any more at the moment?” I mutter to myself.

  Seriously, first, my best friend’s ex-boyfriend attacked me and damn near killed me. Next, all my roommates moved on or out in a matter of weeks. Sam got engaged to that perfect friggin’ cop fiancé of hers. And now, Kim and Rose are searching for a new place to call home in-between their full-time jobs and roller derby tours. Then, there is me. Alone, scarred, and instantly running into the man who filters through my head every time I fuck another guy. I am seriously a therapist’s wet dream.

  When the hell does this get better for me?

  Grabbing my purse and pulling my keys from the ignition, I slide out of the car and plant my Chucks onto the ground before stretching my arms over my head. Damn, it feels good to get out of that car. I love my VW, but it’s been a long, cramped trip. Regardless if I just saw Jake, I’m happy to be out of that car and back home with family where I can hopefully relax and heal from a very traumatic few weeks.

  After a short walk through the energetic downtown area, I finally make my way to Oliver’s. Ellen has worked here for years. She says she loves meeting the tourists and getting paid to basically talk all night with friends and strangers. That’s my sister, the social butterfly. I can’t say I’m any different. We were two peas in the same pod and inseparable growing up. She was devastated when I just up and left here, but she understood. She said if Jake ever showed his face around her bar, he’d be wearing his drink instead of sipping it. Fortunately, from what I heard years ago, he avoids her like the plague.

  As I pull back the front door and make my way inside the bar, my eyes instantly see my other half chatting behind the bar. A smile sweeps over my face when I realize how much I’ve missed my sister. Ellen’s eyes move from the guy sitting at the bar when she sees me walking toward her.

  “Oh my God, Lulu!” she shrieks, dropping her towel onto the bar and running around it before mauling me in a huge hug. Sometimes I think she forgets how strong she is. “I can’t believe you didn’t call me, Lulu.” Ellen pulls back from her embrace to look at me.

  Damn that childhood nickname. “Ellen, stop with the Lulu. I’m not fifteen anymore. Plus, where’s the fun in ruining the shock of surprising my sister at work?” I tease. Ellen’s eyes instantly well up as she pushes my messy hair away from my face and her fingers brush over the scar on my neck. My parents said Ellen came close to needing professional help after she heard about Stone’s attack, which is why they didn’t allow her to come out to Massachusetts while I was in the hospital for a few days. My sister and I haven’t seen each other in nearly two years, but we’ve always been closer than close, even if it meant video chats online every other night since I left.

  Ellen sniffles as she pulls her hand away from the scar, lowering both of them so she holds my hands in hers. “My baby sister has finally come home. Surprise or no surprise, you’re here and alive. I couldn’t care less about anything else right now.”

  She pulls me back to the bar area before telling me to take a seat while she tends to the other customers. As I sit at the bar, I glance over at the guy Ellen was talking to before she saw me walk in. I watch as he eyes me from the side while taking a pull from his beer bottle. From the other side of the bar, I hear Ellen call out my name asking what I want to drink.

  “Water and a shot of Café Patrón, if you’ve got it?” I ask, hoping to hell she’s got any form of top shelf tequila. After the last few days, I need to just relax and get wasted tonight. Well, not too wasted, especially on tequila. The last time I drank that stuff I became so horny that I nearly… well, let’s just say things happened with a guy, and I’ll just be keeping that a secret.

  Ellen pours my shot and fills the glass of water, placing it in front of me moments later. I run my finger over the rim of the shot glass containing the brown liquor. I dip my fingertip before bringing my finger to my tongue just to tease myself with what’s about to warm my entire body.

  I grab the shot glass at the base and tilt my head back, feeling the liquid gold flow d
own the back of my throat all the way into my stomach. God, this shit is good. As I place the empty glass back onto the bar and slide it toward my sister, I catch the dude next to me still staring out of the corner of his eye. He places his cell phone down after typing what appears to be a text on the screen. Now that the liquor is warming my blood, I feel the need to speak up. If there is one thing I’ve learned after these past couple of months, it’s the fact I have to face my issues head-on.

  “You gotta starin’ problem, asshole?” I demand from my seat as he chokes on his beer.

  He brings the bottle back down to the bar and turns his bar stool to face me, but not before I hear Ellen scold my name in warning.

  “It’s okay, Ellen. She clearly doesn’t remember who her friends used to be before she just took off seven years ago,” he sarcastically says. Squinting my eyes, I try to process how this asshole even knows me, let alone was my friend from years ago. “You don’t remember. Do you? Does the name Sean Jones ring any bells?”

  Sean Jones… Sean Jones…Why does that sound so familiar? Oh, fuck!

  “SJ? As in Jake Galloway’s best friend SJ?” I question, wondering if they’re still friends. I mean, why wouldn’t they be? They both still live in Breckenridge.

  “Yeah, as in Jake’s best friend. You know, the friend who didn’t just up and leave him or even call when he needed someone the most.” SJ’s edgy tone leaves me shaking my head in dismay.

  “Where the hell do you get off accusing me of anything? I didn’t break up with Jake. He broke up with me. I don’t think I was the one he needed for anything.” I push my stool away from the bar and stand as close as I can to make him understand I am not about to take any of his shit. A group of people begin making their way inside the bar from the street as I cock a hip out, resting my hand on it as I tell SJ off some more.

  Just as the group of people starts to walk by me to head to the dining area, I glance up and meet a set of big brown eyes looking right at me. There’s a darkness behind them that scares me as much as it entices me. He slaps SJ on the shoulder and stands directly in front of me. The air rushes from my lungs, and I silently try to figure out whether I should run away or jump into his arms. He licks his lips before crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Hey, Luce, didn’t want to stop and say ‘hi’ before?” He winks and smirks as though we didn’t just see each other in passing a short time ago. His voice alone makes my resolve weak and my knees tremble, and the damn tequila is seriously making me want to hump him right on the bar.

  I’m royally fucked.

  “Jake Galloway, you get out of my bar right this minute!” Ellen scolds as she rounds the bar to stand between Jake and me. “I will not allow you anywhere near my sister again. She’s been through enough pain these last couple of months, and the last thing she needs is you rehashing shit from high school.”

  Shit.

  Jake glances around Ellen to look at the weary expression written all over my face and then trails his eyes to the scar on my neck. I watch as his eyes widen in shock, and I see the curiosity sink in. While Ellen and Jake bicker about me already going through enough lately and how I’m only home to get my mind focused again, I can’t stand to be around all of this and try to explain my scars again. Grabbing my purse quickly, I turn and bolt for the front door. Pushing the door wide open, I dodge people all the way back to my car before I stop running. As I rest my palms on the top of my car, I hear the crunch of the gravel behind me, and I know who it is. I’ll never be able to escape him. I’m pretty sure I never did when I left all those years ago.

  “Please, just leave me alone, Jake,” I say, still not turning around.

  I see his tall shadow hovering behind me in my window before he places his long arms onto the hood of my car next to my hands. His lips near the side of my face, and chills run up my spine. My heart races at his closeness, and my knees start to shake again.

  “I know we didn’t exactly get off to the best reunion back there, but I’m glad you’re home, Luce. It’s been way too long.”

  I shuffle my ratty old slippers along the rustic wooden floors as I make my way down to the kitchen toward the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Shoving my arms through my tattered, old sweatshirt, I adjust the hood as I take the stairs of my parents’ small downtown Victorian home. It served its purpose for allowing Ellen and me to grow up in this predominately wealthy community. My dad, a teacher, and my mom, a nurse, worked all those years to pay for a decent life for us girls. I can’t say I didn’t feel bad about packing up and leaving like I did and never going to college, but I’m happy with how my life turned out anyway. Being the educator he is, Dad will never agree. I was happy once I put myself through cosmetology school and was offered a great job at an upscale salon. Hair and makeup always gave me some kind of calming abilities. They have allowed me to make a ton of new friends back home.

  Home.

  Funny. Breckenridge should be my home, but after so many years away, I feel as though I’m a tourist now. The outsider looking in. I mean, I didn’t even recognize SJ yesterday. We used to be pretty close back in high school. Now, it’s as though I don’t know anyone here anymore.

  At this rate, I’m not even sure I’m going to make it the next few weeks here.

  The sound of some ungodly country music filters through the downstairs where I can see my mother slaving over the stove. The aromas of bacon and eggs waft through the air, and I instantly groan and pull the front of my hoodie over my nose.

  “God, Mom, you know I hate the smell of bacon,” I say as my sweatshirt muffles my words.

  “Oh, I must have forgotten. I’m sorry, Luce. It’s been a while since you’ve been home, and you know how your dad loves this stuff.” My mom nervously tries to remove the bacon from the heat.

  Pulling my sweatshirt off my nose, I make my way over to the coffee pot. I grab a mug and start pouring, spooning in the sugar like crazy. My thoughts go to Sam and her sugar addiction, and I wonder how her own recovery is going and what she’s doing. A sudden feeling of homesickness washes over me, and I miss being with my girls.

  Snap out of it, Lucy. It’s time you moved on with your own life.

  As I turn back to see my mom still frantic over the bacon, I walk by her and pat her back before heading to the sliding back door. “Don’t worry about the bacon, Mom. I’m going to sit out in the yard for a little bit and read.”

  “Luce, are you okay? Ellen said Jake came by the bar yesterday.“

  I stop with my hand on the door. My body stills at the mere mention of his name. My mind instantly remembers how much effort it took for me to ignore Jake yesterday and get into my car and drive away.

  Lost in my thoughts over Jake, I never see my mother approach until her hand rests upon my shoulder. I flinch back ever so slightly as my breath catches in my throat. When I see the pain on her face as I pull away, I know I’m still not over everything Stone did to me. It’s obvious there are still some remaining issues that I need to set my sights on in order to allow myself to accept that Stone is dead and I’m alive. I might be a little damaged, but I survived, and that’s what matters most.

  I place my coffee mug onto the counter next to my e-reader and turn to face her. I need to get better, if not for me, for her. I can’t be the one to cause pain to anyone, especially my own mother. Reaching my arms around her waist, I pull her into a hug that I know only she can understand. Her body relaxes, and I feel her hands begin softly running up and down my back.

  “I know I’m not exactly where I need to be, Mom, but I’ll get there. I promise,” I whisper while resting my chin on her shoulder.

  She pulls back, and I see the wetness forming in her eyes. I slowly raise my hands to cup her face and gently rub my thumbs over her cheeks. My eyes meet hers, and I silently tell her I mean what I say. I will not let what happened to me win out over my future. I’m just not sure if a few weeks back in Breckenridge will ultimately be what I need to change all of that.

  I
have to try, though.

  Mom’s lips form a straight smile as she pushes my morning hair away from my face. Before heading back to the stove to clean up, she starts humming a song that only she knows comforts me. The melody of “Landslide” hits me, and my own eyes begin to water, even with a smile on my face. When I was growing up, Mom always sang it to me, and she knew every time I was knocked down, that song brought me back to my feet. I slide open the back door and grab my coffee and e-reader before taking a seat in the chaise lounge on the patio. The sound of trickling water in the creek behind the house is almost as good as a day at the spa.

  A subtle breeze gently whips the aspen trees around me before I hear a knock at the front door. I glance at the time on my e-reader’s main screen before tossing it onto the cushion next to me. Shit. Two hours have passed, and much of my first full day has already been wasted. I must have been completely engrossed in what I was reading. I’ve always been a huge reader. Books allow my mind to go places I’ve never thought possible. Truth is, the books nowadays are like watching porn, but the movies all play out in my head instead. Never in my life have I ever imagined what it could possibly be like to have sex with someone as dominate as this man. Shit, this book has all the scenarios I could only dream of doing with a man. Al Daltrey really knows how to write one hell of an erotica book. Testing The Submissive has my clit tingling and my core dripping from just reading about the two main characters, Abigail and Lewis. It takes one hell of a book to make this sex-crazed chick get all hot and bothered. If ever I meet the author of this book, I’m buying him a freakin’ drink!

  My mind is still distracted by Lewis as I continue to stand and make my way into the house. I figure my mom must have decided to leave me to my solitude out in the backyard. I don’t realize this is not the case until I’m stopped dead in my tracks by a huge wall of muscle currently blocking my way into the house. My eyes trail up to meet his as I take a few steps back.