by Emma Creed
“I invited her to that party tomorrow night, and she’s coming.” My voice is full of excitement, yet Jessie responds with silence. Not what I’d been expecting, but he doesn’t know the whole plan yet.
“I’m gonna make friends with her, Jessie,” I explain, already seeing his face crease with curiosity.
“I’m gonna make her trust me enough to tell me all her secrets, and then I’m gonna share them all with you.” I smile, because hearing it out loud, my plan sounds even more genius than it did in my head. And the way Jessie is struggling to form any words tells me I have his full attention back. His ocean-blue eyes sparkle with interest, and yet he still isn’t smiling.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, like you said a girl like her would see the patch and run a fuckin’ mile.” His reaction surprises me. I honestly expected him to be lifting me off the ground and spinning me by now.
“Which is exactly why my plan is foolproof. You can use what I tell you to get her to trust you,” I explain. “Jessie, you seem mad at me?” I point out, unimpressed by his lack of enthusiasm at my efforts.
“I ain't mad at ya. Just surprised that’s all, you were the one who said she was a bad idea.”
“Well I’ve kept my end of the bargain, so it’s time for you to deliver yours. Now run along, find Daddy and tell him you're taking me to the party tomorrow night.” I know I’m being a brat, especially when I cross my arms and tap my fingers impatiently. But I just love getting under his skin.
“Hayley, no one tells your daddy anything,” he reminds me, before whistling loudly over to one of the prospects. Nyx, lifts his head up from the conversation he’s having with Thorne and Tac, then strides over from the other side of the firepit looking like a cat just crapped on his Cocoa Krispies.
“Nyx, take Hayley home before Prez sees her,” Jessie orders him, and Nyx nods before heading off to get one of the trucks. Jessie looks back at me, letting out a long sigh of defeat.
“Fine, I’ll make sure you get to your party. But I don’t want you saying anything about me to the girl… Maddy. Okay?”
“Of course, I’m on your side remember.” I roll my eyes, another habit of mine that he likes to pretend pisses him off.
“Yeah, thank fuck. Now get on home before your daddy sees you and your ass gets grounded. There’ll be no parties then.” He gestures his head past my shoulder, where Nyx has already pulled up. I smile triumphantly, jumping into the passenger seat without protest, and there’s silence as Nyx drives me back to my prison on the top of the hill.
Ok, so Jessie’s reaction wasn't quite what I’d expected, but the plan doesn’t end there, not for me anyway. Maddy Summers will get to see the real him, and I can guarantee that when she does, she’ll run scared. At the same time, Jessie will learn that he has someone he can always depend on. Someone, who loves him regardless of what he is.
He might actually see me.
After Nyx drops me home, I get changed into something more comfortable and do a little more Facebook research before bed. The girl appears to have a dull life, rarely goes out by the looks of things. The number of followers she has is embarrassing, and she doesn’t even have an Instagram account.
She’s no threat, just a useful stepping stone to getting me what I’ve always wanted. There is something that confuses me though. The way Jessie looked at her earlier, as if he’d discovered some unknown species. Jessie obviously sees something in her everyday looks and the lack of effort she puts into her appearance. Yet, the woman he was with at the club tonight couldn’t have been further away. There was nothing understated about her. Sure, she’d been attractive, but everything about her was unnatural. From her draggy hair extensions, right down to her knockoff Louboutin heels. Her face was so plastered with makeup I’ll bet she’ll look like a kindergartener's drawing by the end of the night.
After finding out all I can from Maddy’s social media. I tire of looking at Maddy Summers innocent fucking face. Slamming my laptop closed, I decide that an early night is what I need.
I’m gonna require all my patience and willpower tomorrow, because tomorrow I’m going to become the best fucking friend Maddy Summers ever had.
That was way too fucking close, if Prez had caught Hayley down here shit could have gone badly. Luckily, he’d been buried balls deep in Haven upstairs in one of the private rooms. I’m about to go back inside when I feel a hand slither under my shirt.
“Come back inside, baby,” Mel whispers in my ear. “There’s a job I need to finish.” Her hand drops under the waist of my jeans.
“I’m good. Go see if Chop needs you for anything,” I tell her, untangling her arms from around me before I head back into the club.
“Chop… really?” she calls out from behind me.
“You all of a sudden getting fuckin’ picky?” I spin around and snap at her.
“I just thought, well you’ve only been using me lately, so I figured that maybe...” She twists one of her synthetic hair strands around her finger in a failing attempt to be seductive.
“You figured what?” I choke out a laugh. “That this was some kinda exclusive arrangement, that I’d wanna make an old lady out of ya?” Mel pouts her botched, collagen-filled lips together
“Go find Chop,” I tell her again, shaking my head.
I walk across to Grimm who’s sat at the firepit, at least I can guarantee he won’t try and talk to me. Sitting beside him, I take the half empty bottle of Jack he offers and knock back a good mouthful.
Maddy Summers, I shouldn’t be surprised that her name is every bit as pretty as she is.
Hayley’s plan is impressive. I’ll give her that much. Maybe she did have some of her father’s traits after all. Before, I’d been pissed at myself for wanting to know everything about the girl, there was fuck all I could do with the information anyway. Hayley’s plan gave me options.
So why ain’t I keen on letting her go through with this whole fake friendship thing? I push away the thought that when it comes to her, the timid little creature may have rooted something inside me that resembled a conscience. I take another mouthful of Jack before handing the bottle back to Grimm. Standing up I pull my sorry ass together, leaving to find Prez and hoping Haven has done a decent job of putting him in a good fucking mood. Because I needed to convince him to let Hayley go to that god damned party.
Hearing Jessie pull up, I rush out the door, smiling wide when I see him sat waiting for me in his truck. His head shakes with disapproval as I walk towards him, but he’s still grinning, so I take it as a good sign.
I’ve spent the whole afternoon getting ready, balancing myself somewhere in the middle of Maddy sickly sweet, and the club slut look, and I wonder if Jessie will notice.
The purple, halter-neck dress I wear is short, so short that it sits just under my ass cheeks, but my hair is loose over my shoulders, and my makeup understated so I have that whole Maddy-au-natural vibe about me.
“Your daddy see you leave lookin’ like that?” Jessie scrolls his eyes over me, half smirking.
“Sure,” I lie. As if there was any chance of me leaving the lodge if Daddy had seen me.
“And he’s cool about you heading out dressed like it?” His head cocks to the side doubtfully.
“Says I’m in safe hands.” I shrug hopping in and buckling up before he can argue. I try hard not to focus on how gorgeous he looks with his shoulder-length hair pulled back into a ponytail and his facial hair a little longer than usual. Rough, just how I like him. He wears his cut over a plain white T-shirt and those jeans that I love that hang slightly too low off his waist.
“So are we picking up your ‘friend’?” he asks sarcastically as he pulls off.
“No, she’s gonna meet us there.”
“Correction, she’s meeting you there, I will be parked outside,” he reminds me of his terms and conditions. Killjoy.
“You could just come in you know. Enjoy the party. Who knows we may be able to find you your very own club slut replic
a,” I tease, with just a hint of malice.
“Hayley, you shouldn’t have come down to the club the other night, Prez made it clear it ain’t the place for you to be hanging around.” His tone is serious now, and he must pick up on the awkward atmosphere it creates because he quickly picks the mood back up.
“Besides I hardly think I’d fit in with your preppy friends.” He smiles, his eyes falling to the leather cut that fits against his body.
“Nothing's stopping you leaving that in the truck. Tonight you could just be Jessie Donavon. Regular twenty-two-year-old guy who attends regular parties.” I may sound like I’m joking, but I’m really not. Nothing would make me happier than him losing his cut and forgetting about club rules, even if it was just for one night. To pretend along with me that the chance of us was even remotely possible, that we could go to a party, drink, and dance, maybe even make out like normal kids our age.
“Darlin’, you know you’d only get this cut off my back if you pried it from my cold, hell-bound body. Ain’t gonna be taking it off for no one. I am who I am, and those who don’t like that ain’t worth my fucks.” Jessie shrugs his shoulders and winks irresistibly before turning his attention back to the road that leads into town.
The closer we get, the more nervous I feel. I have no reason to be, I’m a popular student, most probably because everyone knows who my daddy is. They all assume I live a super cool life at the club, when in reality they couldn’t be more wrong. The whole party and drinking thing’s new to me.
Jessie pulls up outside the house, and the music from the party thumps out onto the street. The lawn is already scattered with kids drinking from red plastic cups. There are a lot more people here than I expected to see. Taking a deep breath, I try to hide my unease from Jessie.
“Guess I’ll be seeing you later, come find me if you change your mind.” I fake confidence as I slide out of the truck and start to cross the street to join the party.
“Oi,” Jessie calls after me. I turn, and he strikes me senseless, his elbow resting on the window and a cocky grin seated on his handsome face.
“Don’t get into any trouble, ‘kay, pretty girl,” he warns, still smiling. I roll my eyes before carrying on, sashaying through the people on the lawn towards the house. I wonder if Maddy will already be here, I doubt she’d have thought to show up fashionably late. The girl has already text me twice. Once asking what to wear and then again asking what time I would be getting here.
Jesus she’s needy.
It makes me laugh to think of her and Jessie together, ain’t no way she could ever handle a guy like him.
I’ve been pretending since as far back as I can remember that I don’t know what Jessie is capable of. Mainly for his sake.
He never talks about the club around me, it’s another one of the ‘club rules’. But that doesn’t stop me hearing things.
I listen to the guys working at the garage while I study on the benches in the yard. Hear them say how Jessie gets a kick out of what he does.
The women whisper that he fucks relentlessly after he’s finished an interrogation. I’ve listened for four years. Taken in all the little things that no one would deem relevant and pieced them all together. I know Jessie better than I know myself and I know that just like everyone else, he has a vice. His is infliction.
It didn’t come as a shock, especially as I’d seen it for myself when I was just eleven.
It had only been a week since I started high school and Jessie had been waiting for me by the gate ready to walk me home. I was proudly walking towards him, hoping that everyone would see me leaving with him. That’s when Stevie Fisher purposely stuck his leg out to trip me as I walked past the bench he sat on. I’d ended up in a heap on the floor in front of him. Of course, Stevie and his friends had found it hilarious, laughing at me while I gathered up the things that had fallen out of my hands. I’d ignored the soreness of my grazed knees and struggled holding in tears. I remember how Stevie and his friend's faces froze mid-laugh, how their skin turned white. It caused me to look in the same direction they were. At Jessie, coming towards them, eyes focused on Stevie, his nostrils flaring.
He’d grabbed hold of Stevie by the front of his checked shirt and used it to pull him to his feet. Taking one of his arms, he twisted it behind his back at what looked like a very painful angle, forcing it up so high that we all heard the pop and crack it made when it dislocated from the socket.
Jessie didn’t show an ounce of empathy for the kid who laid screaming in agony on the floor. He just bent down and helped me collect my stuff, walking me out of the gates and back home without saying a single word about what had happened.
Watching him hurt Stevie had made my skin shiver. It wasn’t even what he’d done, which judging on the accuracy of his pressure and timing I could safely assume wasn’t his first dislocation. But, the fact that during his assault I’d seen him smile for the first time since he’d come to live with Mama and me.
I’d never seen him look happy before that day. I’d been imagining it for so long, and it looked so good on him that I didn’t care what had caused it. I wanted to see it again and again, even if that meant getting tripped by Stevie Fisher again tomorrow, and every day for the rest of my life after.
I’d known then that Jessie was different from other kids his age, and never doubted for a second that he would wear the same patch as my daddy someday. He was a natural Dirty Soul.
I scan my surroundings, and when I see no sign of Maddy hanging around outside I head in the house. A group of girls I take a business class with are hanging in the kitchen. They’re nice enough, friendly and bitchy at the same time. But just because I hang out with them at college, doesn’t necessarily make them my friends. They don’t know me, I don’t share any of my secrets with them, and I’ve never told them about Jessie. But I do enjoy laughing at their jokes and listening to their gossip. I also figure that gossiping alongside them stops them talking about me.
Maddy eventually rocks up about a half an hour later looking sickeningly stunning. All the boys ogling her like they’re seeing her for the first time. I have to give her credit, she certainly looks different. She’s decided to ditch the glasses and wears her hair wavy, flowing down her back. Even her outfit choice isn’t terrible.
“Hey,” she says nervously, as she approaches us. And I fix on a fake smile to greet her.
“Maddy, you made it… Wow, girl, you look awesome.” I pathetically clap my hands together, causing her to smile back shyly. Then I waste no time taking her to get a drink. Time for the real party to begin…
Five drinks later and I’m starting to think the whole getting Maddy drunk plan could have gone better. For starters, I probably should have remembered to stay sober myself. I’ve enjoyed having fun far too much. Now, the music beating in my head doesn’t match the rhythm of the moves my body makes, and I’m a sticky, sweaty mess. I need fresh air, so I grab Maddy off the coffee table that she’s using as a stage and drag her out the house on to the porch.
The fresh outdoor breeze hits me with a rush that makes me even giddier than I’d been inside.
Both of us stumble, bouncing off each other's shoulders as we head for the porch swing and sit down beside each other. We’re still giggling over Rachel Kelly’s attempt to slut drop backfiring massively, resulting with her on her ass, legs in the air—bad night to forget your panties Rachey.
It hurts to admit, but after a few drinks Maddy is kinda fun, not at all what I’d been expecting, but I’m happy to roll with it. At least it will make the whole fake friend’s fiasco a damn sight easier. I notice two guys who were checking us out earlier conveniently make their way out after us and when one of them nods over, I see an opportunity and decide to grab it by the balls.
Without looking I know Jessie will be watching from his truck, he promised Daddy he’d keep his eye on me. There would have been a list of rules, and keeping drunk, touchy-feely boys away from me would be right on the top of it. Jessie isn’t know
n for his tact when getting a message across.
I throw the blonde one a friendly smile, and it doesn’t take long for him and his mate to make their way over. Time for Maddy to meet Prince Charming.
Or not.
I talk to blondie, ask him how college football is going, then act as if I’m fuckin’ interested when he tells me. He talks crap, and I pretend to listen, waiting for Jessie to strike. His friend sits next to Maddy and doesn’t waste any time making a move on her. She gets up from the swing and moves towards one of the porch columns, I’m guessing in an attempt to get away from him, and I can’t blame her if he’s anywhere as dull as his friend is.
He follows her, leaving a space beside me for blondie to sit down, which he immediately takes advantage off. I look down at his hand when it squeezes my knee, and it makes me smile. It won’t be long now.
Blondie must have mistaken my smile for encouragement because his hand starts to travel a little higher.
“You got a beautiful smile ya know,” he whispers in my ear, and my body jolts when I hear metal slam on metal. Looking up, I’m not surprised that it’s come from Jessie’s truck door and all the smugness fades from my smile when I see how angry he looks. Suddenly I panic that I may have gone too far as Jessie paces across the lawn, his jaw tensed tightly, his mouth scrunched into a snarl that would rival a wild animal’s.
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach when he gets closer. Not just because the murderous look in his eyes isn’t on blondie next to me, or the fact that he’s marching straight towards the guy who now has Maddy pinned against the column. It sinks because of what I don’t see, the part of him that’s now missing. Jessie Donavon has taken off his cut… and he’s done it for her.
I watch Maddy arrive from the truck, she’s alone and totally overdone, but at least her dress has more fabric to it than Hayley's does. Her hair is loose and reaches all the way down to her waist. It’s the first time I've seen it that way and I like it a whole fucking lot. She looks real nervous walking along the sidewalk, stopping hesitantly as she approaches the party. At one point I think she might back out, but she manages it all the way to the front door, stopping when she gets there to chew her thumbnail before knocking. I can’t believe what I’m seeing, the door is already wide open, the party has spilled out on to the front yard, and yet there she is knocking at the fucking door, bitch is somethin’ else.