by S. J. Sylvis
Then Hayley interrupted, “Doubt it. He’s a fucked-up guy. I’ve heard stories. I don’t even know how the police haven’t put him away for good.” Which was exactly why Ollie needed to get away from him, too.
Hayley scoffed. “Oh wait, I know why he hasn’t been put away… It’s because the system is completely unreliable—at least where I come from it is.”
Silence encased the room, all five of us sorting through our thoughts. But then Eric’s chuckle cut through and cut the silence in half. “Does anyone else think it’s funny that we’re a bunch of rich, privileged kids who can’t even pay off a drug dealer? Why did our families choose now to rein in our spending? It’s fucked.”
I shrugged. “I’ve never really had free range.”
Ollie cleared his throat. “I spent most of what I had saved on the turbo to race.”
Christian pointed at him. “I fucking knew you put that in there for a reason.” He used air quotes. “‘Just a tune up,’ my ass.”
That smug grin worked its way onto Ollie’s face, and I found myself staring, lips parted and all. Once he flashed his blue eyes over to me, I quickly turned my head.
“Okay, so.” Hayley got up from the barstool and began pacing the kitchen, her Converse slapping the floor with each step. “There are a few ways to make fast cash. The first thing we need to worry about is paying back Tank. The next will be to distance ourselves from him—especially you.” She gestured to Ollie, but he didn’t say a word.
I opened my mouth to include what Tank had said—that he was wanting to work something out with Ollie after the money was paid back, but the clipped shake of Ollie’s head in my direction had me waiting. I quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed. Christian and Eric were looking at Hayley, not paying Ollie a bit of attention. My eyes crinkled. Why? Why didn’t he want me to say anything?
He lowered his gaze and chucked an eyebrow up. He shook his head again.
Fine.
Hayley dove deep into her knowledge of fast cash-making—something she had probably learned when she was in foster care.
“First, there’s drug selling. Obviously not the best choice, especially in this situation.” Eric snorted as she continued. “There’s an underground fight club that I’ve been to a time or two, but it’s sketch, and it’ll raise questions when one of you has bruises. Headmaster Walton won’t let that fly.”
I shot up from my seat. “No one is fighting to pay back my brother's debt. No way.” I could hardly fathom the thought of Ollie, Christian, or Eric throwing punches and possibly getting hurt for me or Jason.
Christian rolled his eyes. “As if anyone could get a hit on one of us.”
“Truth,” Ollie said as he leaned back in his seat.
He and his brother pounded knuckles, and Hayley laughed. The Powell boys. So smug.
“Then, there are the street races, but you’re already doing that. So, it’s out of the running. The only other way is possibly charging admission.”
“Charging admission?” I placed my hands in my back pockets, rocking back on the heels of my feet. “For...?”
Hayley grinned. “Parties. It was done all the time at Oakland High. Gabe always begged me to go with him, said he’d pay my way in.”
Christian popped his knuckles, and I understood why. Gabe. Disgusting pig.
“We can’t do that,” I started. “People already know Eric’s cabin is the place to be. What are they gonna think when we charge them to get in?”
Ollie clicked his tongue as he nudged Christian. “Let’s do it at our house. People will fucking go crazy if they get to see the inside of our house. A party at the Powell house? Everyone will be there. Fuck-boys and all.”
“Have you ever had a party at your house?” I asked, looking back and forth between them.
“Never,” Ollie answered. “You and Hayley are the only two girls that have ever been there. And not a lot of guys have been, either. Except for Eric and Taylor.”
Christian rubbed along his jaw. “It could work. When? We have to make sure Dad won’t be home.”
Eric popped up. “How about after the winter formal? Make it an after-party. Get some underclassmen to take admission, charge all the rich fucks $20 to get in. I’ll supply kegs. I’ve got a guy who owes me.”
The five of us waited and thought for a moment. I did the math in my head. There were easily two hundred people that would come. Predominantly, the senior class and most of the juniors—that was Ollie’s class, after all, even if it didn’t seem like it since he was in the majority of our classes.
This was much safer than anything else Hayley laid out on the table. If we raised $4,000 at the party, plus another night of racing, we’d be almost to the end of the debt. Then, this would be behind us. Jason would be free to, hopefully, get the help he needed, I could focus on normal high-school things like my college acceptance letters and hanging out with Hayley, and the best part—Ollie would be away from Tank. That was, as long as I could get it through his thick skull to stop racing.
“Let’s do it,” I announced. Certainty had my chest blooming like a flower. Yes. This will work.
“Ollie and I will come by after the races and set up while you guys are at winter formal.”
Ollie’s neck moved so fast in my direction I heard it pop. “Fuck no. You are going to winter formal, and you’re not coming to the races again. I told you yesterday I didn’t want you there, and you came anyway, and I ended up pulling you out of Tank’s fucking trailer afterwards. No.”
God. Was that just last night?
My face instantly grew warm as I shot him a glare. “You aren’t the boss of me, Ollie. And not to mention…” I walked over to him and shoved a finger into his chest. “You banned everyone from taking me to winter formal!”
I forgot I was supposed to be mad at him for that. But lately, it was hard to be anything but grateful since he kept being Mr. Nice Guy and saving the day. It was becoming harder and harder to stay on the other side of that line, especially when I kept getting a glimpse of the true Ollie. He was no longer hiding behind the secret winks and agitating remarks or flirting with girls across the room and staring at me while he did it. Ollie was letting me in, and I secretly loved it.
Ollie grabbed my finger and clutched it within his palm. Skin on skin contact shot sparks to my fingertips. “You’re going to the winter formal. You”—his grip grew firmer—“Are. Not. Going. To. The. Races.”
“Ugh!” I ripped my finger out of his grasp, feeling myself becoming submissive again. We were so hot and cold. Ollie and I were either stuck together like a magnet to metal, or we were two ends of a battery. On or off. There was no in between.
Ollie’s cheeks were becoming red with hidden anger. His bossy side came out in full force. “Eric will take you to the winter formal, right?”
My face fell. Was he serious? No.
Eric shrugged. “I’m cool with it.”
I’m cool with it. Yes. That was what every girl wanted to hear from their date.
“He’s cool with it?” I shot Ollie a look. “What are you? My handler? Not only do I find out you banned guys from asking me out, but now you’re forcing me to go to the dance with your best friend? You’re acting like you're my father or something. Picking my dates out for me now?”
Eric mumbled under his breath. “Why am I always in the middle of this shit?”
Hayley and Christian silently laughed.
“Hey, someone’s gotta do the job. Your parents couldn’t care less.”
“Oh, don’t act like you care or like you’re protecting me by warding off other guys. You’re just making Eric take me so you can make sure I don’t show at the races again.”
Why was I being so difficult about this? That pesky guilty feeling was creeping in again. Ollie and I had gone head to head many times in the past. And sure, he banned other guys from taking me to the dance. But…look at him. He’d been there for me when I needed him. Maybe this was just his way of keeping me safe.
“As interesting as this drama-fest is…” Eric waltzed past us to go lie on the couch in the den area. “Let me know when y’all are finished and what time I should pick ya up, Pipe. There’s no way you’re going to the races. I’m with Ollie on this one. You simply cannot be trusted.”
My mouth dropped. “What! Why?”
Eric’s dark head of hair popped up for a moment. “You know why.” Then, he flopped back down on the couch and started looking at his phone.
I did know why. I lied last night and told him I saw Madeline climbing on the back of some guy's motorcycle, knowing very well it would make him bolt. Madeline was not, in fact, on someone’s motorcycle.
It did, however, prove that Eric was keeping secrets of his own.
I heard Ollie sigh from beside me, and I peered up at him. He inched his head to the door. “Come on, I'll drive you home, and you can continue yelling at me the entire way. It’ll be loads of fun.” His cheek lifted as he stood up and walked out the door. My mouth was still set in a firm line when I glanced at Hayley leaning back into Christian’s arms. They were both grinning like fools.
Everyone thought this was amusing.
I did not.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ollie
Look at her. All hot and bothered. Her cheeks were a rosy color of pink, and her eyes appeared feline, like she had morphed into a sneaky cat who was ready to give me cat-scratch fever. I paused, watching her stomp down the cobblestone drive. I’d gladly welcome Piper’s nails digging into my back.
The door of my Charger swung open, and Piper angrily got in. She used too much force putting her seatbelt on, and the only thing it did was make me laugh.
I loved seeing her like this. I loved getting a rise out of her. It excited me that she was all worked up again.
I quickly backed out of Eric’s drive and headed toward my house. Piper had no idea we were making a pit stop, but she’d soon find out.
The whistle of my turbo filled the air as I went around the bend in the road. Piper refused to look in my direction, so I laid it all out for her.
“Listen, I’m sorry.”
Her head snapped over to me, her hair whizzing past her face. “You are not!”
I shrugged slyly. “I mean, I am in a way. I was being selfish when I told the team to back off, and you didn’t deserve that. But you’re right. I’m more not sorry than I am.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and my eyes dipped down. I swore, the inside of my Charger grew ten times hotter with my eyes on her.
Piper appeared to be letting her resolve fall, though. Her arms were crossed, sure, but her chest wasn’t rushing with hidden anger. She glanced out the side window, and I almost begged her to put her attention back on me. I wanted to feel the way I felt when her eyes found mine. But she was refusing to look, because if she did, she knew I’d see right through her facade. The guise she used was a poor attempt at concealing what she really felt.
I stared out the windshield, smiling on the inside. “You like it.”
Piper’s leg stopped bouncing, and when I looked back at her, I could see her eye peeking at me from the corner.
“You like the thought of me not wanting someone else to take you to the formal. You like that I wanted you to myself.”
Her neck started to get red, and it was all the confirmation I needed to keep going. My hand tightened on the steering wheel, and I threatened my dick to stop getting hard.
But fuck, did I want Piper in the worst of ways. And it was true. I did want her all to myself.
Piper’s demeanor changed fast. She was now staring at me, leaning a little bit closer to the center console. “Is that why you did it? So you could keep me all to yourself? Or is this just another twisted way to pick on me?”
My nostrils flared, and I had the urge to whip the car over to the brim and tell her every last thing that was going through my head. Of course I wanted her to myself.
“This isn’t me picking on you.”
“Isn’t that what you do, though? Get off on picking on me and getting me all riled up? You’ve only been doing it for months now. Flirting with girls and winking at me behind their backs.” She huffed and pulled herself away. “What are we? In elementary school? Picking on your crush.”
Oh, this was much more than a crush.
I swore under my breath as we began pulling through my gated neighborhood. The whistle of my turbo lessened as I crept past the large homes.
“What are we doing here? I thought you were taking me home.”
As soon as I pulled up into the empty garage, I put my Charger in park. “I need your help with something.”
She glanced around the garage. “Okay. What?”
“Come on. I’ll take you home right after so you can work on your paper.”
I climbed out of my Charger and waited for her to follow, knowing she would. I glanced at the time on my phone. My father was long gone now, and hopefully, Christian wasn’t coming home soon. But that was why I had Piper with me.
She could keep watch as I dug a little deeper into my parents' past, hopefully finding out something that would answer the questions constantly floating around in my head.
It was easy to get lost in Piper’s problems, and it was easy to bury myself in things that served as a distraction: girls, partying, racing. But I knew the time would soon come that I had to face my brother and dad. There would be many more slip-ups, and I couldn’t keep shit locked away forever. I did, however, need to get my head on straight. I needed to collect myself. I needed answers.
“What are we doing, Ollie?” Piper’s whisper floated throughout the hallway as she followed me past my bedroom and Christian’s.
I spun around quickly, startling her. “I’m taking you to bed; what does it look like?”
Her rosy lips parted instantaneously with the widening of her eyes. She tripped over her words. “You’re… Wh-wha…what?”
Oh shit. Was she down for that?
I snatched the hat off my head and ran my hand through my hair, tugging on the ends slightly to keep me level-headed. “I’m kidding.”
Her face flamed, and I had to turn around so I wouldn’t change my mind. Jesus Christ.
“I knew that.”
I couldn’t fight the lift of my cheek as I threw my hat back on. I cleared my throat before saying, “I need you to keep watch.”
We stopped in front of the very last door at the end of the hall, and silence encased us.
“What am I keeping watch for? What are you doing?”
Well… Here goes nothing.
“I need to go through my parents' things, and I don’t want Christian to come home and see me. It’ll raise questions that I’m not ready to answer.”
Piper’s eyes ping-ponged between mine. My pulse mimicked the little drummer boy’s drum. Thump. Thump. Thump. I bet if she looked hard enough, she could see it thumping along the side of my neck. Nerves started to eat away at me. I suddenly felt vulnerable, which, in the end, only made me feel weak.
“Why aren’t you ready?”
I blinked. “What?”
“You’ve been keeping this secret for how long?” Her eyes darted away momentarily. “Since that night.”
That night.
Images and lost feelings came crashing through my head as I dipped my gaze down her body—tight jeans; loose, off-the-shoulder shirt; tiny glimpse of her lacy bra strap visible. I swallowed back the urge to palm her hips and pull her body into mine.
“I’m just not ready. You should know that better than anyone.”
Piper took a step toward me, and my vulnerability increased. I took a step back. Everything in my body grew tight. I didn’t like this. The roles were reversed. Piper somehow was driving into me, causing my resolve to fall without even touching me. Her rosy lips beckoned for me to spill every last secret I had.
And fuck me. I wanted to tell her everything.
I wanted her to be my clutch. My anchor. I just wanted her.
“What do you think will happen?” She took another step closer, and I clenched my jaw. “What are you afraid of?” I felt suffocated. Like her hands were around my neck, ready to squeeze.
My mouth was sealed shut. Nothing would come out. What do you think will happen? Fuck. Bro, just say something so you can move past this conversation.
My hands began to shake by my sides. I wasn’t sure what would happen. I didn’t know how Christian would react when he found out. Would our father lie? Would he and Christian go at it again once we knew the whole story? Where exactly was my real father?
Piper’s voice grounded me. “You know Christian loves you no matter what, right? You’re his brother regardless. It doesn’t matter if you have different fathers.”
My stomach burned as if I’d gotten kicked. I placed my hand on the door jamb to keep myself steady.
I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. I didn’t want to look up and see Piper’s doe-like eyes staring back at me. I didn’t want her words of encouragement or her comfort. She saw me. I was split wide-open for her to see. I couldn’t hide behind a witty comeback or a sly smile.
“Whatever,” I mumbled, quickly unlatching the door to my parents’ room to escape. “Knock twice if you hear Christian come home. This won’t take long.” Then, I slammed the door shut, pressing my back along the wood.
It felt good to be alone and away from Piper’s prying eyes, but at the same time, it felt lonely.
I cursed under my breath and counted to ten, staring at the ceiling.
Being in this room always made me a little edgy. I used to come in here for comfort, to feel closer to my mom, to feel less alone when Dad was gone and Christian was closing himself off, but now it just made me tick.
I zeroed in on the untouched vanity. Everything was still the same as it was the last time I was in here, which wasn’t much of a surprise. As my feet carried me over to the dainty piece of furniture, something foreign came over me, and I froze, my hand outstretched toward the little drawer that had changed my outlook on everything.
Fear.
I was afraid.