Let Me Love You Read online

  Let Me Love You

  Let Me Series: Book Two

  By Lily Foster

  Shorefront Books

  Let Me Love You

  By Lily Foster

  Copyright © 2014 Lily Foster

  ISBN: 978-0-9905941-3-0 (ebook)

  ISBN: 978-0-9905941-2-3 (print)

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any other manner without the express written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living and dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Book Cover Typography: Scarlett Rugers Design

  www.scarlettrugers.com

  Formatting: Polgarus Studio

  www.polgarusstudio.com

  Other Titles by Lily Foster

  Let Me Be the One

  Book One: Darcy and Tom’s story

  Let Me Go

  Book Three: Kasia and Dylan’s story

  Let Me Heal Your Heart

  Book Four: Anna and Declan’s story

  Chapter One

  Rene

  BAM…

  BAM…

  BAM…

  You have got to be kidding me. This was getting to be like a nightly drill. Bleary-eyed, head pounding, I looked over at my clock: 2:30 a.m.

  Here we go again.

  “DARCY! Darcy, open the fucking door. I just want to talk to you. Beth, open the door, you twat.”

  I joined Beth, Caitlin, and Jenna by the front door. “Did you just call me a twat or were you under the impression that your mother was in here?”

  “Shut the fuck up, Beth. Caitlin, come on, open the door for me now.”

  “The only thing I’m going to do is call the cops, Nick. Go. Away!”

  As he started in on the door again I wondered how he hadn’t broken his hand by now. I looked behind me and saw Darcy mouthing the word “sorry” as tears rolled down her face. I whispered, “Darcy, don’t you dare say sorry. It’s all on him. Go back in your room and close the door, we’ll take care of him.”

  She just stood there. When Nick turned his venom on her, as he did every night, I saw her cover her ears to block out his words. “You fucking slut. Who is it? Who are fucking?”

  Finally, Chris and Mac showed up and dragged his sorry ass away. I turned to go to Darcy but she was running into the bathroom, making it to the bowl right before tossing her cookies. Jenna helped her clean up and then took her back into their room.

  This was beyond ridiculous. Darcy was in a constant state of anxiety and we were all lacking a solid night’s sleep running on three weeks now. Finals were coming up. This had to stop. Mostly I was concerned about Darcy. I hated that she wouldn’t step foot into a party for fear of seeing him and that she was always looking over her shoulder. But I have to admit, my motives were also self-centered. I depend on my scholarship which depends on my grades. I needed to study and I needed rest. I couldn’t take any more of this nightly drama.

  The next day when Darcy mentioned that her brother was going to be in town Sunday and was taking us to lunch, I asked her if she would tell him about what’s been going down. “Absolutely not. You don’t know Caleb. He has a terrible temper. I’m afraid if I tell him, Rene, he’ll be facing felony assault charges.”

  I poked her and laughed. “I’m at the point where I’d like to see someone assault Nick. But really, Darcy, this is too much for you. You don’t look well. You’re tired, anxious. I absolutely hate Nick for what he’s putting you through.”

  “I’m sorry, Rene. I know this is hard on all of you too. I’m not sure, I…I just don’t think I can tell Caleb. Maybe I’ll call the campus police today and tell them what’s up. Maybe if they send someone to speak to him when he’s sober he’ll ease off. I’ll definitely do that today.”

  Yeah right, that’ll work, being that the campus police were about as intimidating as a pack of butterflies.

  Caleb

  Well, well, well…what do we have here?

  Lying next to me in bed was Cherry, a very hot redhead from work. Her real name was Christine but she preferred Cherry. She worked with a bunch of guys on a trading floor so she pretty much had to be confident and ballsy enough to carry off a nickname like that. I liked her and found myself hooking up with her every so often. She wanted it just like me: just sex, no drama. Like today, I was meeting up with Sean in an hour and with Cherry I wouldn’t feel bad about waking her up and having her leave.

  The sun was streaming through my windows. I still wasn’t used to the remote control function that shaded over the floor-to-ceiling windows in my apartment and since I liked getting up early anyway, I really couldn’t be bothered. I looked her over for a minute, her curly, auburn hair in stark contrast to the white pillowcase, her fair skin was creamy and soft. She was stunning and lush, like the subject of a Titian painting. I rolled the sheet down slowly, taking her in, and then gave her a playful spank. “Morning, gorgeous.”

  She arched her back into me, for what, another spank? When she didn’t get one she groaned, “Oh my God, what is it, like six-thirty? I’ve got to start making my way back home at night so you don’t wake me up at the crack of dawn. Like most normal people, I like to sleep in on the weekends.”

  “Sorry, babe, I’ve gotta start my day.”

  She rolled over on her side to face me, smiling, palms together underneath her cheek. She looked angelic and I laughed to myself thinking that she was anything but. My body started to react to her. I was considering texting Sean to cancel. “What are your plans, Caleb?”

  “I’m supposed to be meeting a friend for a run and then I’m heading up to Boston for the night. One of my old roommates is having a thing.”

  “Kind of thing you need a date for?”

  Ugh, I hoped she wasn’t starting to feel attached because I certainly was not. She just killed my boner. “No, babe, it’s not that kind of night.”

  Cherry stretched lazily and then made her way towards the bathroom. She wasn’t shy about prancing around naked and had no reason to be. When she came back out fully dressed, she smiled at me and grabbed her bag. “All right, I’m outta here. See you Monday.”

  Back to business as usual. She seemed fine or at least she was good at pretending.

  Sean and I ran along the reservoir. It was a great day. The sun was shining and Central Park was more crowded than normal with people biking, running or walking their dogs. You could feel that summer was right around the corner. I was up for a long one but Sean looked like the run was kicking his ass. “What’s up, Sean? You hurting?”

  “Fuck, yeah. I feel like I’m sweating Jack and Cokes right now. You drank as much as I did last night. How are you ok?”

  “Dunno, just feel fine.”

  “Did you leave with that girl from work again? That’s like three times in one month, right?”

  “Yeah. She’s great but it won’t be happening again. She kind of insinuated she wanted to tag along with me to Boston tonight.”

  Sean was laboring to breathe as he plodded along. “Would that be so terrible? She’s hot.”

  “Yeah, but she’s not like that to me. She’s not someone I’m ever going to feel anything for. I don’t want to string her along.”

  “Oh how I wish I could go back to those days. No strings attached, just sex.”

  “You’re full of shit, Sean. You love Maggie. You wouldn’t hit a Penthouse Pet if she was right in front of you begging for it.”

  Sean laughed as he said, “I know, but sometimes I like living vicariously through you.”

  On the drive up I started wo
ndering to myself why I wanted Cherry to leave so badly this morning. I did prefer my relationships on the casual side. There had been girls I’d dated for a while but it never really went past three or four months. That was my limit. That’s when they seemed to want something more serious and I started itching to get out.

  I made it up to Boston pretty quickly. As I pulled into the driveway I laughed as I took in the scene. My college roommate, Drew, and his wife, Chloe, were in their front yard. He was pruning branches and she was pulling weeds out of the flower beds. How fucking domestic. “Look at you two!”

  They got married last year, the first of my friends to do it. Chloe was a great girl and she made Drew really happy. They had just bought this house in a suburb outside of Boston. Drew shrugged off his gloves as he said, “Don’t laugh, Caleb. This will be you one day soon, whether you believe me or not.”

  We went inside and I had to suffer through the grand tour. As they were yammering on about kitchen remodels, Drew finally noticed me downing my beer. “Chloe, stop, I think we’re boring the shit out of Caleb.”

  I opened my eyes wide to feign shock. “No! What were you saying? The benefits of granite over marble? Totally engrossing, go on, please.”

  Chloe pushed on my chest playfully and laughed. “Shut up, Caleb. I know that it’s totally lame but I don’t know what’s happening to me. I find this stuff exciting lately…mortgage rates, kitchen remodels, best school districts to live in. Am I getting old?”

  I grabbed her in for a bear hug. “No, Chloe. You’re perfect, totally age appropriate. It’s me. I’m never going to mentally age beyond twenty-one.”

  Drew frowned. “Just so you know, Chloe is making it her mission to hook you up with a bride. I’m sorry but she has three single friends coming tonight and she talked you up to all of them. Hot rugby player, big finance guy, swanky loft apartment in Manhattan…”

  “As long as I can hit all three of them at once, Chloe, then I don’t mind.”

  She flicked a bottle cap my way; she had pretty good aim for a girl. “Once a pig, always a pig.”

  The night was bearable. There were a lot of people there so I didn’t feel like Chloe was setting me up on some lame blind date. I doubt she’d ever do something that cruel to me. I did wind up sharing a bed in the guestroom with one of the eligible bachelorettes, Emily. But when she pulled the “I really like you” stuff when I was kissing her and trying to get her out of her panties, I decided it wasn’t worth it. We kissed and groped and then I rolled over and got a good night’s sleep. Thankfully, she pulled an early exit and I didn’t have to put up with a very awkward kitchen scene the next morning. When I went down for coffee it was just me and Chloe. “Good night?”

  “Emily’s a nice girl but there’s nothing there for me, you know?”

  She looked at me apologetically. “I know you’re not hurting for female company, Caleb. I didn’t mean to make you feel like my mission was to set you up. I think Drew is a little annoyed with me. He thinks you’ll never come up here again after last night.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “No chance, Chloe.” I did my best rendition of the Terminator as I assured her, “I’ll be back.”

  “Good. Drew misses you.”

  “Come down to New York this month. Or better, in July we’ll head down to my parents’ place at the beach.”

  “Definitely. How is Darcy doing? She’s a sophomore now or a junior?”

  “Sophomore. I’m going to head over there and take Darcy and few of her roommates out to lunch before I head back.”

  “Ok but you’re not leaving before you help Drew move some furniture. I have to take advantage when I have two able-bodied guys in the house.”

  After moving a fucking truckload’s worth of furniture I needed another shower and then I made my way over to campus. For a minute I thought to myself that Darcy was lucky. I wouldn’t mind being back here again, reliving my college days. But on second thought…been there, done that. Life was good now.

  Darcy and three other girls were waiting for me at the only semi-upscale restaurant on campus. It was there solely for the purpose of feeding the professors and the parents visiting their kids.

  Seeing Darcy was always like breathing fresh air. My little sister was one of the true joys of my life. From the time we were kids, both Luke and I felt it was our mission to look out for her. We carried her everywhere until she was far too big for that type of treatment and no one—I mean no one—ever looked at that girl crooked without hearing from one of us. Though there were few people who ever had a negative word to say about her because she really was a nice, down to earth kid. Darcy was someone who always rooted for the underdog or made the class outcast her friend so that no one else would mess with them. As she got older and more beautiful, our role changed to making sure her boyfriends were cool and making sure all of my friends knew she was off limits.

  I kissed Darcy’s cheek as I came up behind her. “Hello, Sis.”

  She jumped up and gave me a bear hug. Darcy would always be a kid to me. “Caleb, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever! Hey, what took you so long? We’re starving!”

  “Sorry, ladies. I got roped into moving pretty much all of Drew’s furniture. What’s up, Jenna? Long time no see.”

  “I’m good, Caleb, how about you?”

  “Excellent. A little tired from last night, and hungry, but I’m good.”

  Darcy finished the intros. “Caleb this is Caitlin and this is Rene.”

  “Hi Caitlin, hey Rene. Good to meet you.”

  The one that I thought she introduced as Rene was, shit, just beautiful. Sounds corny but she took my breath away for a second before I recovered myself. Dark, silky chestnut brown hair, hazel-colored eyes that were more greenish than brown, and olive-tone skin with a light smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. She was wearing a fuzzy sweater that was moving off her shoulder on one side revealing a lacy white bra strap. The fabric of her top showed off the sweet curve of her breasts. As Darcy was sitting there yapping about something I wasn’t really catching, I found myself thinking about biting her right around where that exposed strap was.

  “Caleb? Jeez, are you even listening to me?”

  “Sorry, Darce, I had a late night. I’ll be more coherent after we eat.”

  The girls were fun. You could tell they were a tight group. I figured Caitlin for a sparkplug, quick-witted and a little rough around the edges, despite her obvious wealth. I wasn’t super observant but things like three hundred dollar shoes and the name of the prep school she attended in Virginia didn’t escape me. Jenna I already knew well; she was like Ethel to Darcy’s Lucy. She had been spending weekends at our house since the beginning of freshman year when she and Darcy first met. Now Rene, she was kind of quiet during lunch. I’d dubbed her the mysterious one. I laughed to myself because I knew I was calling her mysterious only because I, for some crazy reason, desperately wanted to know more about her. I was having thoughts about her that were ridiculous and likely due to my slightly hung over state.

  I excused myself to use the men’s room. I was surprised when I came out to see Rene standing there waiting for me, looking around nervously.

  “Are you all right, Rene?”

  “Um, is there anyone else in the men’s room? I need to talk to you but Darcy will kill me if she knows.”

  I took her hand to pull her back in with me and was startled at the reaction my body had when I touched her. After I locked us in I asked, “What’s up?”

  “Darcy has been having a hard time. She doesn’t want you to know but I think she’s in over her head. Nick, the boyfriend she broke up with, has been harassing her.”

  “How?”

  She looked uneasy. “Um, well, he calls her all the time, screaming into the phone, he comes over drunk at night banging on our door, yelling at her. Dan, Jenna’s boyfriend, has beaten him senseless twice but he still keeps on coming. We had to call the campus police last week when he was trying to push i
nto her room in the middle of the night.”

  I could feel my face turning red, my fists and jaw clenched tight. “Where does he live?”

  “Caleb, you can’t tell her I said anything. Darcy’s trying to handle this on her own but it’s affecting her. She’s really anxious and jumpy.”

  I was trying to be kind but I was getting impatient. “Please just tell me exactly where he lives, Rene. I won’t let on that you told me anything, trust me.”

  She swallowed nervously and said, “He’s in Turner Hall, 213.”

  “Program your number into my phone so I can call you if I need to.” As I was handing her my phone I was confused for a split second…did I just ask for her number? But then my thoughts quickly returned to the matter at hand. “Thanks for telling me, Rene. You did the right thing.”

  I sent her back then and splashed some water on my face so that I didn’t look like a complete maniac when I returned to the table. My eyes met Rene’s fleetingly when I approached but she quickly averted her gaze, looking down at the table. “All right, I’m heading back to the city soon. Darcy, hang back a minute so we can talk.”

  She smiled so sweetly at me that it broke my heart. I knew some of my friends hardly interacted with their sisters and I could never understand that. Darcy was like the best part of me and I felt so protective of her. The thought of some piece of shit making her feel scared ate me up. As the girls left we settled into easy conversation. “So, Darcy, is there anything new and exciting with you?”

  She smiled broadly. “Yes, very exciting! I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I met with my advisor the other day about studying abroad next semester. It’s kind of late to be approved for it but since my grades are strong they’re going to let me go.”

  “Wow. What brought that on?”

  She knitted her brow for a moment and then smiled again but the smile was forced. “My Spanish is pretty good now and if I spend a semester in Spain I think I can become fluent. It will look great on my med school applications.”

  “Any reason in particular you want to leave here?”

  “No, it’s just a good move for me. I’m excited about it Caleb so don’t rain on my parade. It’s totally safe there. I’ll be in a dorm. There are two girls I know from school that are going. I’m planning to take side trips all over Europe with them too. It’s going to be great.”