PRES: a bay falls high novel Read online

  PRES

  a bay falls high novel

  Jaxson Kidman

  Contents

  Welcome to

  PRES

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

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  Welcome to

  There were now two sides to me.

  The side that loved and took care of Tinsley.

  And the other side.

  The one that would do anything to protect her.

  * * *

  Written by Jaxson Kidman

  PRES

  She was the dirty, poor girl…

  … now she’s mine.

  You read Tinsley’s story. Through her eyes.

  Now it’s my turn.

  This is about The Rulz. This is about controlling BFH. This is about finding my place in a world where I will do anything to keep Tinsley safe.

  If you think things have calmed down after everything that happened, you’re wrong.

  In some ways… things are just getting started.

  I never thought I’d say this…

  …but maybe it’s time for The Rulz to be cut down to just two members.

  Prologue

  Two things crossed my mind.

  First, I wish I had one of Barr’s cigarettes. Not that I had ever smoked a cigarette in my life, but after everything that happened… and everything that was going to happen… a cigarette wasn’t going to kill me.

  Second, I wish I had Kip’s surfboard. Just to go out there in the waves and see what the fuck would happen.

  Wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.

  Walking into the water.

  Waiting for a wave.

  It made me smile.

  It hurt to smile.

  Not because I was some cold hearted bastard.

  Which I was.

  It was the condition of my face.

  Cuts would heal. Bruises would fade.

  Even if there was a scar or two, at least those scars would come with a story.

  I looked down at my hands. They were the proof that while my face may have been a little fucked up, I still took care of business.

  Business.

  That was a word that came with a lot of heat to it.

  Because there were all kinds of business to take care of.

  Some personal, some not.

  The ocean provided a constant soundtrack… the same soundtrack…

  Hell, I never took the time to appreciate it.

  Even after living here my entire life.

  Born into a world that so many on the outside would do anything to get to experience for one day. There was nothing I could say to that though. I had my own plans for my life. There was no sitting back, putting my feet up, and just watching time do its thing like me watching the waves.

  “What a waste of time,” I whispered.

  I turned and walked through the sand.

  I stuck my hands into my pockets.

  They hurt.

  My face hurt.

  My body hurt.

  Pain didn’t bother me.

  Pain would fade in no time.

  That was its job.

  To come and go.

  And if it got bad enough, we all knew what was waiting on the other side of the pain.

  I paused and looked up.

  It was clear out.

  Dark.

  Stars in the sky.

  The perfect kind of cliché night for myself and Tinsley to walk the beach. Hold hands. Steal kisses. Find a spot to relax a little.

  She was worth wasting time for.

  Yet I was alone.

  Walking the beach alone.

  Lost in thought alone.

  And that was my own damn fault.

  Her words plagued my memory.

  Some things are never going to change, Pres, are they?

  I looked around the empty and dark beach.

  I took my hands out of my pockets and looked at them again.

  Forever within my grasp.

  Then again, what did you expect?

  A fucking happily ever after ending to this shit?

  Chapter 1

  She purred.

  And it made my heart race.

  I loved watching her all tucked in tight, curled up in a ball under the sheets, sleeping peacefully. I didn’t exactly love that she was crashing in Kip’s guesthouse, but that’s where she was happy for now. We had made arrangements to move in together and find an apartment but my mother’s health took a turn. The ALS was just doing what it always does. There was no way I could leave her live in that house alone. She had the best care in the world but there was one factor that would never change.

  My father.

  I promised her I would stay close to the house with her and for her.

  And Tinsley…

  Shit.

  She didn’t hesitate when she told me to listen to my mother. I offered for her to move into the house. Give her her own wing of the house even. Complete privacy. Her own entrance. Her own keypad. Private security. Anything to make her feel safe.

  She refused.

  Why?

  She wanted me to be focused at home on my mother.

  That meant a lot to me.

  And I understood why she was doing it. Her mother was somewhere up north kissing trees, building fires without a flame, counting stars, whatever else she needed to do to keep her veins clean. I respected it, but I hated it at the same time. My mother never touched anything bad in her life other than the occasional drink. And then, bam, one day she tripped and fell right next to the pool. She wasn’t drunk. She just fell. Everyone laughed at her and she even laughed at herself. She joked about having a blonde moment even though she wasn’t blonde. From there, it was nothing but a downward spiral.

  A fast one at that.

  So to make a long story short, Tinsley decided to crash in Kip’s guesthouse. She and Claire were okay but she didn’t want to live there. And nobody could blame her. Not even Claire. She refused to take money or let me pay for a place for her. So Kip’s guesthouse worked. The deal was for Tinsley to take care of the place, she’d live there for free. But only for a little bit. It wasn’t a long term thing at all.

  Just a stay and go kind of thing.

  Which was why, in the closet, Tinsley had bags of clothes. Nothing was hung up. Nothing was put into drawers either.

  She was hell bent on finding a way to take care of herself.

  It made me love her even more.

  And it pissed me off because I wanted to spoil her rotten.

  To her, me spoiling her was watching some terrible chick movie, eating popcorn, and falling asleep in my arms. Or turning off the lights and getting a flashlight to tell scary stories. Or having me chase her down the beach after midnight when things could get a little crazy.

  That was the shit money could never buy. The shit she wanted.

  The shit I was willing to give her.

  But there was more.

  I reached for her shoulder and leaned down to the bed to kiss her cheek.

  She groaned.
<
br />   Under the covers… well… there was nothing on her under the covers.

  I smirked, knowing all I had to do was peel those covers down.

  One touch… one place…

  My phone buzzed from the bed.

  It was a thumbs up from Barr.

  My lip instantly curled as I stood up from the bed.

  “I love you, sugar,” I whispered to Tinsley.

  She didn’t move an inch.

  Which was good.

  There were now two sides to me.

  The side that loved and took care of Tinsley.

  And the other side.

  The one that would do anything to protect her.

  * * *

  4 good junkie cunt love call

  I had to see it for myself to believe it. Even if that meant walking into the jackass football team’s locker room shower. I had been the only one dressed and not a single person said a word to me. Brando just gave a head nod. A sign of respect. Knowing he had his guys ready for what needed to happen.

  They chirped more than a bird on a perfect Sunday morning.

  It was almost sad to see.

  Then again, it kept me from wasting time.

  Barr sucked on a cigarette as we were parked next to the beach.

  The orange and red glow of the dashboard of my SUV were the only lights.

  “We can’t kill him, Pres,” Barr said.

  “Fuck that,” Kip said. “We can make it look like an accident.”

  “Alive means talking,” I said. “Talking is good. Keeps our message clear.”

  “I’m over it,” Kip said. He cracked his knuckles. He rocked back and forth like an actual junkie. “I want to fucking get messy.”

  “You need to get laid, bro,” Barr said.

  I started to laugh.

  “Hey, fuck off, Pres,” Kip said. “You’ve got it whenever you want. And right outside my fucking house too. That shit’s weird.”

  “Want to know what’s weird?” I asked, turning my head.

  “What?” Kip asked.

  “When the cleaning lady comes and gets all the sheets… my stuff is on Tinsley’s sheets and your stuff is on yours… it’s like a jizz party.”

  “Oh, fuck,” Kip said, shaking his head.

  “That’s nasty,” Barr said. “You should… wait. Shit. There he is.”

  I turned around and my hands grabbed the wheel.

  Sure as fuck, we were told the truth.

  The exact time and location.

  It wasn’t someone Brando was going to miss either.

  Just some scumbag third string receiver looking to swing his dick in the locker room.

  Now he was going to have to face the Rulz.

  I threw open my door as Barr grabbed my arm. “Hey. You sure?”

  “I’m fucking sure,” I said.

  “Let’s get this shit over with,” Kip said.

  We all climbed out of my SUV and walked down to the sand.

  Kelvin lived near the beach with his doctor parents who were rarely home. Not that I gave a shit about his personal life. The only thing I gave a shit about was him walking into the locker room with a marker and writing what he did. Even going as far as finding out the name of the place where Tinsley’s mother was staying and putting that number on the wall too.

  The three of us hung back a little on the beach and took our time to catch up to Kelvin.

  Kip tried to take the lead, but I put my arm out and stopped him.

  I nodded to Barr.

  He took a drag of his cigarette and jogged forward.

  He caught up to Kelvin and bumped shoulders with him.

  “Holy shit!” Kelvin yelled. “You scared me…”

  He turned and faced Barr.

  Barr flicked his cigarette away and said, “Damn. Sorry about that.”

  Kelvin turned his head and saw myself and Kip approaching.

  His eyes went wide.

  That would have been a good time for him to start running. Or start begging.

  Instead, he nodded. “Hey, what’s up, guys?”

  “Guys, huh?” I asked. “Just a few guys hanging around on the beach.”

  “Midnight walk,” Kip said. “My favorite.”

  “Yeah,” Kelvin said. “So what’s up?”

  Barr grabbed Kelvin’s right shoulder. “Fuck, man, there’s some shit happening in the locker room. Chattering.”

  “Someone wrote something nasty in there,” Kip said.

  “Douchebags,” Kelvin said as he swallowed hard.

  “My thoughts exactly,” I said. “Drives me fucking crazy. Makes me want to… run into the ocean naked. Dive head first into a wave. Just to chase away that feeling.”

  “What?” Kelvin asked.

  Barr threw Kelvin toward the sand. “Go swim, motherfucker.”

  “No,” Kelvin yelled. “Fuck. Man. Listen. It wasn’t me.”

  “Now he’s lying,” Kip said.

  “I hate liars,” I said.

  “Okay. Fine. It was me. I did it. I wrote it. But they told me to. You know? Hazing and shit.”

  “Do what I said to do,” I said.

  “Naked in the ocean?” Kelvin asked. “Why? So you could take my clothes?”

  “Mouthy,” Barr said.

  “Fuck this,” Kip said.

  He kicked then hit Kelvin right in the mouth.

  The hit was a little sickening but it got Kelvin to shut up.

  I pulled Kip back. “That’s good for now.”

  I stepped toward Kelvin.

  His mouth was bloody.

  I crouched down and shook my head. “I was trying to be calm and nice. Let you make a fool of yourself in the ocean. But then you had to fuck it up.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kelvin said. “I’ll do it. I’ll fucking do it.”

  “Come on,” I said. “Stand up.”

  Kelvin climbed to his feet.

  I looked down at him.

  He took his hands from his mouth and tried to touch the bottom of his shirt.

  He really thought that’s what I wanted him to do? To swim bare ass naked in the ocean? That would even us up for what he did to Tinsley?

  I shook my head.

  One right hook sent Kelvin back down into the sand.

  “He’s got jelly legs,” Barr said.

  “Good thing I have you two to hold him up,” I said.

  “Fuck yeah,” Kip said.

  They wrestled Kelvin to his feet and I did what I had to do. For the sake of Tinsley. For the sake of the Rulz.

  When Kelvin toppled to the sand again after I gave the signal for Barr and Kip to let him go, I spit on him.

  “My advice is to find somewhere else to go to class,” I said. “Plenty of places online or out of here. Don’t think you want our paths to cross ever again.”

  “I need a cigarette after that,” Barr said.

  Kip’s hands were twitching.

  He looked at me.

  “Go ahead,” I said. “She means something to you too.”

  Kip took his turn, putting his imprint to Kelvin’s face.

  We walked in silence back to my SUV.

  I drove Barr and Kip back to Kip’s place where Barr had his car parked in the driveway.

  We didn’t say a word to one another either as we split up.

  Barr to his car.

  Kip to his house.

  Me to my girl.

  I snuck back inside the guesthouse and quietly washed my hands.

  I had a bag with clothes in it so I changed my shirt and put on some fresh cologne before going back into the bedroom.

  Tinsley hadn’t moved an inch since I left.

  I smiled and sat on the edge of the bed.

  Thought about slowly peeling the covers off her body like I had done before.

  She was so peacefully asleep I didn’t want to bother her.

  I leaned down and kissed her cheek.

  “I love you, sugar,” I whispered.

  “Love you, Pres,” she purred.


  I climbed over her on the bed and slid my arms around her.

  I flexed my fingers and felt my knuckles throbbing in pain.

  That didn’t matter though.

  I had Tinsley in my arms.

  Right where she fucking belonged.

  Chapter 2

  “You going to ride her ass, Pres?” Barr asked from the passenger seat.

  “I’m sure he does that already,” Kip said from the backseat. He leaned forward. “She into that shit, Pres?”

  My hands gripped the wheel tighter. I slowly turned my head and looked at Kip for a split second.

  “What I do with Tinsley’s ass is my business,” I said.

  “Damn,” Kip said. “You got it.”

  “I’m just saying if you’re going to be that close to her, just have her ride with us,” Barr said. “I think I can see what song she has playing on the screen on her dashboard.”

  “Fuck,” I growled. “She doesn’t want me to drive her.”

  “Ah,” Barr said. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Not used to this, huh?”

  “Used to what?” I asked.

  Barr laughed. He lit up a fresh cigarette and shook his head.

  “Look, Pres, it’s simple,” Kip said. “You’re used to having your talons sunk into someone. Fucking deep too.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning you hold on tight and don’t let go,” Kip said. “And usually she goes along with it. I mean, you’re Pres. We’re the Rulz. Anyone who gets close enough is usually starstruck and doesn’t know how to act. Which is part of the fun.”

  “Makes it easier to bring them in and send them away,” Barr said.