by S. J. Sylvis
“I don’t want to hear a single word out of your mouth right now. Get inside so we can figure this bullshit out with you racing like you’re trying out to be on the Fast and the Furious cast. I need to get home and get started on the other part of my life where I have papers to write and decorations to make!” I stepped aside to let him walk up to the cabin. Eric was outside now, and everyone but me had smiles on their faces. Even my best friend.
“Oh! And you need to do your homework, too!” I shouted as Ollie began walking past me. “I know you’re smart enough to be in senior-level classes, but you can’t get away with not doing your homework...not if you want to keep those scholarships promised to you next year.”
A deep chuckle hit my ears as I stared at his back. He looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “You just can’t help but care about me, huh?”
“I do not care about you!” I do. Even more now because he kept swooping in, saving the day.
I rushed past him, still trying to keep a tight grasp on my anger that was washing away, when he snuck a hand around my waist. A gasp caught in my throat when his palm connected to my hip. His minty breath hit that tender spot right below my ear. “Say it like you mean it, Piper.”
My mouth was suddenly glued shut. All eyes were on me, and yet, I couldn’t say a single thing. Ollie chuckled again as I pushed his hand off me.
There. Now I can breathe.
I stormed past all my friends and went right to the kitchen and flung myself onto a barstool.
It was time to get my head on straight and focus on the bigger picture. So what, Ollie gave me butterflies. So what, he made my heart stop. So what, he held me last night while I cried. And so what, everyone knew what I was hiding.
I couldn’t focus on that. Not right now.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ollie
Sinking down onto the barstool, a smile overtook my face. I couldn’t help it. Seeing Piper all riled up, a glint in her eye as she stewed in her annoyance for me, made the world seem right again. Like it was spinning the proper way on its axis. Like global warming was nonexistent, and we’d have sunshine-filled days for the rest of eternity. Piper had fought this connection we’d had since day one, and I proved to her today that the fighting was over.
Yes, she was annoyed with me.
Yes, she smacked me on the head.
Yes, she was sitting with her arms crossed over her perky chest as it heaved up and down. But... She didn’t deny it. She didn’t deny that she cared about me, and suddenly, the future didn’t seem so dull anymore. My problems seemed to fade. Fuck Tank, and fuck having a different dad than my brother.
Piper cared about me.
“So, are we gonna figure this shit out, or are we all gonna sit in here and explode from the rising tension you two have compiled up together?” Eric lazily leaned back onto the counter, picking at the label on his beer. I glanced at the clock. 2:43. I watched as he tipped back the bottle and chugged it like it was water. What the hell was going on with him? I pushed back my concern for later, after my own shit was handled.
“Can someone fill me in?” Christian leaned forward on the bar top and propped his elbows up. “Right now, all I know is that my girl dragged me to the place she grew up, and we had a lengthy conversation with a fucking shit-bag about her mom, and I’m still feeling the after-effects of anger.” He turned to me and Piper. “How the hell are you two involved with that guy?”
Christian leveled me with a glare, and I held it. I loved my older brother, and I knew in the past I’d given him absolutely no reason to think I could handle shit on my own, but he had no fucking idea. He was going to be pretty pissed when he found out I’d been racing. He was going to demand answers, wondering how I’d gotten roped into all of this.
My eyes shot to Piper for a moment. Her long hair was pulled into a ponytail, her face free of any makeup and, ironically, clear of flaws. She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, and I never thought girls were pretty. They were hot, bangin’, fuckable. Baddies. I didn’t use words like pretty to describe a girl. But fuck me, Piper was pretty.
“Ollie!” My eyes flung to her. “Pay attention.”
I cleared my throat. “My bad. What?”
Christian repeated himself. “Ollie. What the fuck is going on?”
My breath seized to come. Did I tell him the truth? Did I tell him I’d been racing for months, and I stumbled upon little miss Piper and all her baggage, and that was how I got roped into this? He’d surely understand why I was helping her. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that the five of us sat around our kitchen table, assembled our group, and tried to come up with ways to help Hayley with her shit, but this was going to open up so many questions. Questions I wasn’t ready to answer.
“It’s my fault.”
I paused, flicking my eyes to Piper. Her voice was so strong. So sure of herself. It was hard to believe the night before she was curled in my arms, crying.
A light cough came from her as she cleared her throat. “I asked Ollie to go with me to meet Tank so I could hash out a deal in order to pay him back. That’s when Ollie offered to race for him. Tank bets on the races, and he gets a certain percentage of the money pool—even more so if he bets and wins.”
My girl. Coming in clutch. I almost wanted to raise my fist with triumph.
Christian’s eyes were in slits. “Pay him back? For what?”
Hayley was biting her lip, looking from Piper to me. I wasn’t sure if Piper had told her the truth. Or maybe they didn’t even get to that part. Piper's secrets went deep. Just like mine.
“My brother.”
Christian’s face flattened. “You have a brother?”
“Exactly my reaction,” I said, still a little confused by the revelation. The girl was constantly alone. There weren't even photos up in her house of him—or anyone, really.
“Yes. And he’s into some bad shit. Like dealing for Tank. Except, my brother didn’t deal the last batch of drugs—or batches, if it’s any correlation to the amount of money he owes. If I’m guessing correctly, my brother kept all the drugs for himself, thus not being able to pay up.”
“And if there’s one thing I know about Tank,” Hayley whispered, “it’s you don’t fuck with his money. My mom made that mistake once.”
An eerie feeling came over the group. Even Eric stood up a little taller.
Piper swiveled on her barstool, now facing Hayley. “Did he do something to you?”
Hayley pulled the hair tie from her hair, letting her dark hair down. “No! You know I don’t take shit from people. But my mom had to repay him…”
Piper quickly got up and wrapped her arms around Hayley, resting her head on hers. “I’m sorry I brought you into this.”
A tug in my chest had me looking away. God damnit, Piper was too sweet.
“Do not apologize to me. You almost died because of me.”
Piper giggled. “We’re kind of a fucked-up batch.”
Hayley shrugged. “Makes life exciting.”
Oh, yes. Real fucking exciting. I love when my heart almost stops beating at the sound of their screams. The night they were run off the road was still alive and well in my brain. I’d never felt fear like that. Ever.
“I think there is an obvious solution to this problem.”
The four of us swung our gazes to Eric. He was still casually leaning along the counter, now holding an empty beer bottle.
“What’s that?” I asked, resting my arms along the counter.
“Piper. Aren’t you rich? I’ve seen your house. And your car. Why can’t you just pay him off?”
“It’s over ten thousand dollars,” Piper announced, her head dropping with defeat. “It was twenty.”
Christian cursed under his breath. “Twenty? Fuck. How much drugs did he use?”
Piper’s face turned pink, and I shot him a glare.
“Okay.” Eric threw his bottle in the trash, a clank of glass hitting glass echoing throughout the cabin.
“So? You don’t have that much money? Don’t your parents give you money?”
Piper looked uncomfortable, and I almost took the reins from her. Seeing her fold into itself drove a knife into my gut. It bothered me. My blood was spiked with an overpowering need to protect her from everything in the world—even Eric’s invading questions.
“No. She doesn’t have—"
Piper quickly interrupted me, so I let her finish. “My parents watch my money very closely. After my brother started to spend all his and steal from them, they took total control. They’re afraid I’ll turn out like him, too.”
Eric met her eye, and after a few seconds, he nodded. “Okay, well…” He switched his attention to me and Christian. “What about you two? How much do you guys have? Your dad watches your money, I know, but maybe if we compile it all. And Hayley? You just got a shit-ton from your dad, right?” He shrugged. “I don’t have much. Family drama. Daddy-o is icing me out. And no, I don’t want to fucking talk about it. But I’ll give what I can.”
“No.” Piper shot up quickly. “I need to find another way. I can’t take my friends’ money, and I can’t keep having Ollie race for this psycho. Maybe...” Piper looked down at her shoes. “Maybe I’ll just say fuck it. Jason can figure it out on his own.”
As if she and I were connected, I could feel her pain like it was my own. And if I could, I’d take it all away in a heartbeat. I knew, deep down, she didn’t want to give up on her brother, and who knew what Tank would do if I all of a sudden stopped racing? Fuck. I began to reach out to Piper, not caring that we weren’t alone, but the wobble in Hayley’s voice had us all pausing.
“I—I don’t have much to give.”
We all stared at her, and Christian turned his body completely and had her caged in. “What do you mean?”
Her head dropped, her dark hair almost shielding her. She was cowering, and Hayley didn’t cower.
Piper’s voice was hesitant. “What’s going on Hay? Is everything okay?”
The gulp from Hayley was loud enough for all of us to hear. “I don’t have much money left.”
“How do you not have any money left? You put back some for college in case you didn’t get a scholarship, and you bought your car, but you still had plenty.” Christian’s voice was unsteady. I’m sure no one else noticed. But I did. I knew my brother. I knew when he was seeing red. “Did someone take money from you? Threaten you?”
Hayley’s brown locks flew past her face as she snapped her head up. “No!”
“So?” Christian’s ears were turning red, and I was certain mine were, too. We didn’t take kindly to people fucking with what was ours—another Powell trait, I was sure.
Hayley held her breath, smashing her lips together. Piper inched closer and delicately placed her hand on her shoulder for support. “I paid for my mom to go to rehab.”
My heart jolted. Oh, shit. Christian’s nostrils flared as his fists clenched. I sat back, waiting for steam to come out of his ears. That was one major difference between my brother and me. I could hold my anger in, level out my temper, and think rationally. Christian could not.
“You…what?”
Hayley’s eyes were like glass. Unshed tears were on the brink of her dark eyelashes. “I was going to tell you.”
Christian shot up from his barstool and stormed out of the cabin kitchen. Hayley rolled her eyes, sighing, and reluctantly followed after him.
Piper slowly came and sat back down as Hayley and Christian argued in the other room, loud enough for us to hear.
Piper dropped her head to the counter. “This is all my fault.”
I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t see how any of this was Piper’s fault.
“None of this is your fault.”
A sarcastic chuckle tumbled out of her lips as she sat back up. “How is none of this my fault?”
“What exactly is your fault? Me racing?” I shook my head roughly. “Nope. I was racing way before you showed up. Hayley and Christian fighting right now? Not your fault, either. It has nothing to do with you, really. And Eric and me sitting in here with you, trying to get a hold of this problem? That’s just what friends do.”
Eric nodded silently.
All three of us snapped our heads to the other room as Hayley’s voice rose. “I didn’t want you to try and talk me out of it! It was my decision and my decision alone. I didn’t think you’d understand!”
I cringed when Christian’s tone grew even harsher. “How could I not understand, Hayley? Fuck. If given the chance to get my mom clean, I would have done the same. Don’t you remember that my mom died as an addict?”
My entire body went cold. My chest cracked open, and my heart fell onto the floor for everyone to see.
Christian spoke again, his voice less harsh but still loud enough for us to hear. “I get it, Hayley. I think your mom is a piece of shit and she deserves nothing from you, but babe, I get it. You have to start trusting me. You don’t have to be alone anymore. Why can’t I make you understand that?”
A tremble of pain skittered over my skin, like the whisper of a ghost. Goosebumps broke out along my arms. There it was—that reminder of my mom that I often pushed away so I didn’t have to feel its effects. It was one of the reasons I began to bury myself in girls and partying, only to move onto racing in the end.
That scar on my heart was as open to the world as a wound on my very skin, but the other scar—knowing my father wasn’t my real father—was buried deep under the skin. Both scars always snuck up on me and hit me at the worst of times.
“Is that why you’re so understanding of all of this? Why you’re so adamant about helping me?”
Piper’s voice was like a light in the dark. The softness of her words helped soothe the hurt that was cutting me deep. “Is it because you get it? Is it because, if given the opportunity, you’d do the same? You’d try to save someone you love?”
I followed Eric’s body as he quietly left the kitchen, leaving me and Piper alone. I was thankful, because I needed to be alone for this, I thought.
I turned toward her. Her green eyes were locked and loaded on mine, ready to swallow up all my deepest, darkest secrets—and there was no one else I’d rather share them with.
Piper.
She and I.
Me and her.
We understood each other.
A small thud sounded as she hopped down from her barstool. Her feet padded over to me, and before I knew it, she was easing her way in between my legs and reaching her arms around my body. I stilled, not knowing what to do other than to submit to her. I wasn’t sure if there was ever a time that we had truly hugged each other. We’d touched each other before, of course. Just last night, she curled next to my body. I’d even had her naked body in my hands once, but this was different. This was something deeper.
Piper’s warm breath coasted over my skin. “Is that why you’re helping? Is that why you’re racing for Tank? Is that why you’re helping me pay him back?”
My voice sounded like I’d swallowed glass. It was almost painful to talk. “No.” Piper pulled back quickly, her face faltering. “I’m helping because it's you, Piper.” Didn’t she understand I’d do anything for her? Couldn’t she see that she was the first person I looked for when I walked into a room? Didn’t she feel this?
Her head shook back and forth, small strands of her hair falling from her ponytail. “But this is my problem.” Her eyes clenched shut, and suddenly, I was back to feeling cold. I wanted her eyes on me. The connection between us was beginning to be what I lived for. “I need to find a way to get you out of this. I hate that you're involved. I hate that I’m involved.”
“Hey.” My voice was almost merciless. I needed her to understand what I was saying. As soon as she locked onto me, I drove my eyes into hers as I wrapped my hands around her face. “This may have started with you, but I can promise you that it’ll end with me. Tank will have no fucking part in your life, or mine, soon. You got it?”
Piper’s eyes bounced back and forth between mine, and right before Christian and Hayley walked back in the room, hand in hand, she gave me one short nod.
Whether Piper believed me or not, I knew I was good for my word.
This would end.
There would be no more of Piper breaking into trailers; there would be no more of me racing. Tank had no idea…but I was coming for him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Piper
My body felt funny. My head was fuzzy. My blood felt spiked with something potent. There was too much going on, too many emotions over the last day and a half. I was all over the place. Ollie and I kept teetering over the line we had drawn so long ago, and it was doing weird things to my head. I kept peeking at him, my cheeks flaming every time he caught me.
“Well, so now we know that we can’t just pay this guy outright, so we need to exhaust our other possibilities.” Eric rested his elbows on the counter and dropped his head. “So, you owe over 10k, and then once that’s paid back, he’ll just let your brother go? What? Does he have him chained up? Or is your brother just a complete pussy and afraid to leave?”
“He must have something on him. I’m not sure. I know my brother is afraid of him, though.” Ollie didn’t bother looking up. He kept his head straight in line with the cabinets that stood on the back kitchen wall. I wasn’t going to lie; having him sit beside me as I continued talking about Jason made me feel a little better.
“I don’t know how my brother ended up in Tank’s trailer in the first place. I don’t know if someone lured him there. I don’t know if Tank threatened him. But…” My pulse thudded painfully loud in my ears. “He also threatened that he’d feed my brother drugs and blame it on an overdose if he didn’t get his money back.”
Christian hissed, and Ollie stayed still. He didn’t even blink.
“Who the fuck is this punk?” Christian’s hand slapped against the bar top.
“He’s probably bluffing,” Eric said, not worried at all.