Cole glances over his shoulder and waves, they scream even louder. I shoot him a look.
“What?” Cole chuckles. “Can’t handle a little emotional, mental or whatever that is, support?”
He sounds like Liam with that mess. Again, my chest tightens, and I press a hand there, thinking I need to visit him again. Yesterday he was knocked out on drugs, but I stayed the entire time. I fell asleep for a short while only to wake up with him staring at me, texting on his phone with one hand.
“Besides, you’re the one who did this, called the boys to play. You could’ve told me in confidence that we were playing hoops. Now, you’re most definitely not in the right frame of mind to actually show the fuck up.”
“I did show up,” I growl.
Lies.
“You know what I’m fucking talking about. You didn’t bring your A-game, son.”
“I am playing with my fucking A-game.” No, I’m not and Cole calls bullshit.
“Maybe your fucking fifth-grade A-game.” He shakes his head. “This is pathetic.”
And with that, Mark, one of our teammates passes him the ball and he shoots without hesitation, just to prove a fucking point.
“If you want a time out to pull yourself together or to locate your balls, just let me know.”
“Come on, J!” Casey shouts from the bleachers, her crop top revealing her tanned belly. In her mind’s eye, she thinks she looks attractive but instead she looks like a hooker on a slow night. “You can do this!”
“Even Casey’s cheering for you,” Cole mocks, laughing.
“Yo, Fitz!” Jared calls, a frown on his face. “Where the hell is your game today?”
“Told you,” Cole whispers. “Kids are calling your ass out.”
“I know, won’t let that happen again,” I grumble.
And true to form, for the rest of the game, I don’t let Cole or any one of his lackeys pass or shoot.
All I can see in my head is my car going up in flames, Liam’s battered and bruised body lying there like he was dead. Mia bawling her eyes out, like she was hurt when she wasn’t.
That girl is a fucking pretender and the fact that she just rolled up into my house, with her sad eyes and burden lurking in their depths, making her fucking bed with the devil, that pisses me off even more.
But I play the game. I manage to shoot more, but in the end, we lose.
“Better luck next time, boys,” Mark snickers. “You know, when y’all finally find your game.”
“Word of fucking advice, Mark, ride this high as long as you possibly can,” Jared and Will counter. “Once on the losing train, always on the losing train.”
“So, Fitz, how’s Liam doing?”
The boys all look at me, and the bleachers fall silent, everyone straining to listen. I didn’t say a single word to anyone at school today, only went because I fucking need to graduate and attendance is mandatory, no matter who the fuck you are.
“He’s recovering well,” I say, keeping my head. “Shithead should be here causing trouble in no time.”
They all laugh in relief, clapping each other’s shoulder but Cole just watches me. I ignore him.
“So, the police are going to get her, right?” Mark questions, an angry look on his face. “The bitch who hurt Liam.”
“Who?” I frown.
“The chick from Clintwood who did it, the one you embarrassed on Saturday, before the race,” Mark explains, waving his hands in the air. “You know, bitchy attitude, small and sexy but really fucking evil.”
Mia?
“What did she do?” I tense up, my voice dropping low to a dangerous tone and I see them all perk up and stand at attention. The girls all fall silent again and from the corner of my eye, I see them coming closer, obviously sensing the danger in the air.
“Well,” Mark stutters now, looking at the boys for help. “It’s just that—”
“There’s a rumor that Montague bitch hates you guys so much for what you did that she had someone mess with your car.” Jared steps up, cutting Mark off.
The fuck? It’s already out there?
“I mean, everyone thought you were the one who was going to race but Liam did instead, in your car, which means she was targeting you for what you did to her.”
I stand there, watching them like I’m about to rip their heads off. Cole glances at me and we both have one question.
“Why would anyone think she did something to my car?” I question, my voice low and quiet.
“Uh…” Mark stutters again, sensing the ripe danger in the air. “Well because there’s also another rumor.”
“What rumor?” I step closer to him, looking down at him. He might be Liam’s friend, so he feels somewhat comfortable around me, but he’s fucking scared of me, and he knows I’d beat the truth out of him before I even think of his petty friendship with my brother.
“Didn’t you hear?” Casey starts, biting her lip as she looks at me. “A bomb was put in that car. And she did it.”
Silence falls over the group and all eyes train on me, watching me, waiting to see what I do with that information.
I know how I handle this will either dispel these fucking rumors—and I need to know where they’re coming from—or add more fire to them.
The last thing I need up my ass is this damn conspiracy, that’s actually true, to be public. We don’t need that steam because when I finally deal with the assholes responsible, and I have an inkling who is, I need that shit to be under wraps too or it’ll come back to bite me.
“A bomb?” I mutter, looking at Cole. “You’re saying she planted a bomb? How do you think a pea-sized brained girl like her would plant a bomb?”
The guys start laughing but Casey watches me.
“She’d do it,” she starts. “From what I hear about her, she’s quite the bitch with deep pockets and connections. If she wanted to teach you a lesson, she would without blinking or losing an eyelash.”
I don’t miss the hostility in her voice or the way she peers closer at me, as if looking for traces of Mia on my skin. What she doesn’t fucking know is Mia’s poison, transferred from that first kiss three years ago, now runs through my veins.
“She would teach me a lesson, huh?” I repeat, eyeing her. “Why?”
“Well, after what happened Saturday night and the way you and Liam gave her what she deserves.”
Almost sinking balls deep in her against a fucking tree? Is that what she deserved?
“Where did you hear these rumors from?” I demand, looking away from Casey, shaking her hand off my arm that she subtly placed there.
“Around,” Jared says looking away.
“Around?” I repeat, mockingly.
“Yeah, dude,” he says. I’m about to punch the shit out of him when Cole speaks up.
“Today was shit but we fucking won, boys. Jared, you’re almost ready to take over,” he laughs, trying to break the tension.
“I’m fucking ready alright.” Jared laughs.
“I said almost.” Cole laughs along as they joke but I know what he’s doing. He’s giving me time to cool off and gather my fucking thoughts. I grab my bag and walk to my car.
“Do you know her?” A nasal voice demands from behind me.
“Who?” I can feel a headache coming on. Every time she opens her mouth, I feel it. Her clinginess is repulsive and uncomfortable. You’d think ignoring her would make her get the hint, and she wasn’t even that good of a lay.
“That Mia girl from Clintwood Academy.” She sighs, trying to make it seem like she doesn’t care but I know she does. “I saw the way you were looking at her and I saw you get in her car on that night. Did you fuck her?”
“I heard your question the first time,” I mutter, thinking of how close Mia and I were to fucking in the dark.
“But, J, you didn’t answer me.” She whines but I keep going, listening to her huffing. “But then I realized you probably don’t know that bitch and you’re planning something to make her suffer fo
r slapping Liam in front of everyone like that.”
I stop, then turn around to look at her. Her eyes widen, then light up in excitement.
“If you’re thinking about it, I have so many plans,” she starts, almost jumping up and down on the spot with malevolent excitement bright in her eyes, making me sick. “I mean, since Saturday, I’ve been trying to get a pin on that bitch like where she lives and stuff because I smell a dead rat when it comes to her. Like a stinking, dead rat.”
“Like you?”
“What?”
“Nothing, but what did you find?” I question, not because I seriously want to know but because I want to see if Casey or anyone else knows everything about Mia or if they know where she’s currently living.
“Well, you won’t believe it!” she starts. “I was going to drop the bomb myself, but I can see the anger in your eyes. You want that bitch to suffer, don’t you, J?”
She drops her voice at a disgusting attempt of sounding tempting and sultry, but it just grates at my nerves.
“Spit it out. What did you find out about her?” I question, almost gritting out the question.
“Oh yeah, so get this,” she starts, stepping closer to me, almost rubbing her silicone tit up my arm. “You know my uncle is a lawyer at Stevens & Merc, right? So he was talking to someone about Nathan Montague and how the man was blackballed. Apparently, he couldn’t get any work in Cali for the past few years, and that he had so much debt that his family was broke.”
I tense up, frowning at her. She takes it as interest and her smile widens. Mia’s dad was broke because he was blackballed?
“Nathan Montague?” I murmur, making sure I heard her correctly.
“Yes! It’s that skank’s father!” Casey laughs, evil mirth in her eyes. “I just found that out today when I asked around. That bitch is living a lie. Wearing fake designer brands and making it seem like she’s on top of the world, but she’s not. She’s nothing but a broke-ass trailer trash slutty bitch.”
Now living in my house, financed by John, but that doesn’t give Casey the right to fucking call her names.
“Last time I checked, you weren’t any better than her,” I growl, stepping closer to her. “So, you don’t get to call her names like you’re all high and mighty.”
Her eyes narrow on me, but she nods anyway.
“Now, you’re telling me this because…?” I watch her as the smile on her face melts and she starts looking uncertain.
“I thought maybe…,” she stutters. “I thought it would be good information for you and that you’d care.”
“I don’t give a damn about her, or her fucking family.”
Casey watches me, then frowns.
“You really didn’t fuck her Saturday night?” she presses, eyes narrowing.
“Casey, Liam was involved in an accident. Do you really think J would be dipping his pen somewhere instead of being at his brother’s side?” Cole smoothly steps in, a charming smile on his face.
“Oh, I guess you’re right,” Casey says, eyeing me, but I ignore her. “Julian does care about his brother and would move heaven and earth to make sure whoever did that to him would get the full wrath of God.”
All eyes turn to me again and I know this is a call to answer. I turn and start walking for my car, ignoring the lot of them.
“We’re going to fucking get to the bottom of whatever happened that night. Whoever’s responsible will pay.” Cole speaks, his voice hard and low. “And my money’s on the damn car itself.”
And just like that, the tension dissipates as everyone laughs. When Cole speaks and I’m silent, they know I’m fucking mad. Besides all that, Cole speaks more eloquently than I ever could and he’s more of a people person.
Cole catches up with me and walks beside me.
“Someone from Clintwood is spreading those rumors,” I start.
“Yup.” Cole nods.
“The phones?” I question, thinking of all the phones that were pointed at Mia and I right before I moved us into the woods.
“Scotty assures me that every video was taken care of and that he planted a damn virus or something.”
I look at Cole and he shrugs.
“Ay man, we can’t be too careful. Besides, Scotty knows he can’t lose his best, unbeaten driver.”
Well, he’s going to lose me either way, which means he might be an issue.
“No, dude, he’s not.” Cole chuckles, shaking his head.
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes, but I can say this with certainty. The guy cares for you. And he was asking about Liam.”
“Maybe to save his own skin. Making sure the cops don’t come sniffing around,” I mumble, feeling tired. Then everything Jared and the boys said comes flooding in my mind. “When were you going to tell me?”
Cole doesn’t hesitate, in tune with me.
“After you saw Liam tonight.”
“Why the fuck for?” I stop, and he stops with a sigh.
“Because I know how fucking mad you are.”
“I’m mad all the time.”
“That’s the issue, J. You’re going to go see Liam now, and you’re going to get even angrier. The thing about your kind of anger, bro, is that it builds, and you keep stuffing it in. And let’s not forget about how mad you still are about Aiden…”
“Cole—”
“No, I’m going to fucking finish because I need you to think before you act,” he grits out, watching me with a hooded gaze. “You’ve cared for Aiden all your life, and then for Liam all his life. You’ve been their protector, their fucking monster, the ace in the hole. I’ve seen you fight for them. I’ve stood by you when you went to battle for them but this, this is a fucking war, J. Act accordingly.”
I stand there, breathing hard, listening to every word he’s saying.
“Someone is coming after you and if you stop to think for a second, we both know who the fuck is behind all this.”
Matthews. It’s fucking Matthews.
“They’re together,” I growl, wanting to punch something. “I saw them.”
“I know what you saw, I was there. But that doesn’t mean they’re fucking or that she knows about the shit with Matthews.”
“Then explain how she just happened to park there and rile Liam and I the fuck up?”
“I’ll ask you this and then I’ll leave you the fuck alone, because I want to see Liam too and would appreciate it if you wouldn’t be such an angry asshole and be the smart asshole.”
“What?”
“If she was in on whatever shit Matthews were planned, and if she truly tricked you into a ‘diss fest’, why then did she run to her car, race over and get you to go get Liam, when she knew Liam could’ve been dead and the police could have caught her?”
I stand there, rigid, my mind racing.
“Why would she lie about being his cousin just to get information, telling the doctors and paramedics that Liam’s asthmatic so they’d give him the proper care? Why would she care if she wanted either of you dead?”
“Fucking hell, bro,” I grit out, gripping my hair like I’m going to pull it out. “She sets my insides on fire.”
“I know, dude,” Cole laughs. “I’ve seen the way you look at her. The way you hunt her down.”
I snap my head up and look at him.
“What?”
“J, I’ve been your best friend since forever and kingdom come,” he starts. “I’ve seen the way you looked at her at parties and the way she would quickly run out the door and leave the moment she saw you. Or that one time you went to the Mathletes finals and sat in the very back, just to see her.”
“How the fuck do you know that?” I demand, shocked.
“It was after the pool incident with Aiden and Liam.”
“Fuck,” I whisper. “So, you followed me.”
I should’ve known he’d do that.
I can see the slight guilt in his eyes, but I now he’s not sorry for doing it.
“I
fucking did.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” I say sarcastically.
“You’re welcome boy. But I saw you. I saw the way you looked at her, the way you watched her every move and the way she seemed to know when you’re around her.” Cole turns to walk over to his car but then he looks at me one last time.
“So what?”
“So, you’ve been obsessed with her so much that fate had to mix and conspire to fuck with you. Don’t let that trip you up or make you think she’s bad for you. Though, I think big John and our new step-mommy would have a coronary knowing that the kids are fucking.”
And with that, he throws his head back and starts laughing.
19
As someone who’s generally used to being the center of everyone’s obsession, arriving at school Monday morning was the most painful thing that could ever happen to me. Mostly because all eyes were on me, but this time around for a completely different reason.
Each step I take is analyzed, to the point where they begin to follow me from the moment I step out of my car. I look around discreetly, not really catching anyone’s gaze, but I feel it on me, like sticky, icky glue.
I know there’s talk about what happened Saturday night and I sure as hell know that there’s video evidence circulating somewhere. That’s the fucked up shit about high school. If you get caught on camera, you’ll never live that shit down.
A group of stuck up sophomores stand in the middle of the quad that leads to the front doors of Clintwood, two of the girls are frowning at me, while the rest wave enthusiastically.
I frown and keep going. Is there something in my hair? Not likely because I actually took an hour in my new bathroom with a vanity mirror, the drawers stocked with every beauty product I’ve ever mentioned to my aunt.
Yup, John does get bedroom points. Not that I’m interested in finding out about that shit.
The good thing is Julian wasn’t home the entire weekend. Not since the secret stairs, eavesdropping, naked incident. Not that I was looking for him.
I pass a group of nerds who are in my AP classes, and they nod too, their eyes following me. It feels like every single eyeball in this school is doing just that, eyeballing me.
Devious Kisses: A Bully Enemies -To-Lovers Romance (It's Just High School Book 1) Page 24