The headlights went dead, and the next thing I knew, one guy was jumping out of each cab and racing for us on foot.
The trucks were left blocking the road and the shoulders, leaving no room for anyone to get through. Ditches lined each shoulder, so driving off-road wasn’t a possibility either unless you had a pretty touch vehicle.
The back doors opened, and two young men rushed inside Michael’s car, laughing and gasping for breath.
“Son of a bitch, that was awesome,” the brown-haired one chuckled, climbing into the back with Damon.
Will slapped him on the back as he went, and then a blond one climbed in, taking my old seat. He pushed his hair back off his forehead and tapped Kai on the shoulder, handing him two sets of keys.
“I set the alarm, so your uncle shouldn’t know the trucks are missing until morning,” he breathed out.
I recognized both of the boys. Simon Ulrich and Brace Salinger, both basketball players at my school.
So that’s what Michael meant by needing the room and making me sit on his lap. We were picking up more people.
I dropped my eyes, narrowing them as I thought about what Brace said. The trucks belonged to Kai’s family. His uncle owned a construction company, and they’d taken the trucks and just planted them in the middle of the road. That was Kai’s prank for the night.
But…
I looked up at Michael, seeing his eyebrows raise in a challenge.
“You’re blocking the road,” I stated, finally figuring it out. “So Fire and Police can’t get back.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “Are you impressed yet?”
AFTER DROPPING OFF BRACE AND SIMON at a local hangout diner, I moved back to my original seat, seeing no logical reason to stay in Michael’s lap. Even though the last thing I wanted to do was leave him.
Unfortunately, I was more afraid he’d have to ask me to hop off, and then I’d be embarrassed that he was forced to ask.
Michael took over driving again, and we cruised back through his and my neighborhood parking alongside the dark, quiet road about a mile from my house. We sat outside a huge iron gate, and I gazed at the tall stone wall, knowing it was the mayor’s house on the other side.
Thunder Bay was a small community, maybe twenty thousand people, not counting the students who commuted from surrounding areas to attend Thunder Bay Prep. Our mayor had held his position for a long time, and as rarely as things changed in our town, it made sense why.
Damon had left the car over half an hour ago as we all sat there with the engine running and the heat on, and I was trying very hard not to ask questions. Like, why were we waiting here? What was he doing in there? And, if it was something bad, should we just wait here like sitting ducks knowing the police might already be on their way?
Of course, several police officers were held up with the fire we’d distracted them with on the other side of town, but there were still a few left in the area.
“Here he comes.”
Kai peered out Michael’s window, and I followed his gaze, seeing Damon hop from a tree on the other side of the stone wall and immediately drop feet first to the ground.
He pulled on his hood and jogged to the car, opening Will’s side and laughing as he crawled over his friend’s legs and fell into his seat in the back.
His cold sweatshirt brushed my cheek, but instead of the cigarette smoke I usually smelled on him, it was a subtle perfume.
“How was she?” Will asked Damon over his shoulder.
“Tasted better than a Popsicle.”
I twisted up my lips. Really? We’d been waiting on him this whole time so he could get
laid?
Over the years, I’d gauged that the guys definitely loved women, and they didn’t hide it.
Being who they were and wielding the power they did, it was never hard to find girls up for a good time, and although I hated to accidentally overhear their comments and discussions and the crude way they talked about various conquests, I also kind of envied their freedom to do as they pleased without judgment.
Would they wait on me if I wanted to go get laid? Would they pat me on the back and ask me how it was?
No, they wouldn’t.
They—or at least Will and Damon—would expect me to be a virgin, only to open my legs for them, and then not whine and cry when they never called me again.
And unfortunately, Michael was very much like Damon.
Never any girlfriends, never any commitment, and never any expectations. The only difference was Michael didn’t talk about his dirty deeds. Damon made sure everyone knew.
“You guys could’ve come up,” Damon suggested. “You like pussy, Rika?”
Anger heated my skin. I pulled my seatbelt back on, not looking at him as I answered. “I’d take one to bed before your dick.”
Will snorted, hunching over, and I heard Kai’s quiet laugh in the passenger’s seat in front. Michael made no move.
But a chill fell on the right side of my face, and I knew Damon was glaring at me.
“So who was it then?” I asked, ignoring his temper.
“Mayor’s wife,” Will answered. “Trophy bitch, but oh so nice.”
Jesus. An older, married woman? Damon had no limits.
“Actually, she wasn’t home,” Damon cut in.
Will and I jerked our heads around, confused. “So who were you with then?” Will shot out.
Damon grinned, and lifted two fingers to his nose, sniffing. “I like virgins. So sweet.”
Kai turned his head, scowling. “You didn’t,” he growled, apparently knowing something I didn’t.
“Fuck off,” Damon bit out.
I pinched my eyebrows together, looking around at the guys. “Who are you talking about?”
Damon held up the same phone Will had recorded the fire on and then tossed it to Will. “I got video,” he taunted. “You want to watch?”
I straightened my back, turning back around. Fucking lowlife.
“You really are fucking stupid,” Kai gritted out again and faced forward.
I stared at him in the front, wondering why he was so angry. Damon had pissed me off with his stupid remarks, but why was Kai annoyed with him? What could be worse than the wife of the mayor?
And then my eyes rounded, finally realizing who they were talking about. The only other person that lived in the house besides the servants.
Winter Ashby, the mayor’s daughter.
Shit. That was his prank? Screw the mayor’s daughter?
No wonder Kai was pissed.
But before I could confirm that’s who they were talking about, Damon took out his cigarettes and called up front, “Let’s go eat,” he suggested. “I’m fucking hungry.”
And Michael, who’d been silent the entire time, hesitated only a moment before shifting the SUV into gear and pulling back onto the road.
Cranking up the radio to Jekyll and Hyde by Five Finger Death Punch, Michael took us back into town and parked right in front of Sticks, a favorite hangout, bar, and pool hall frequented by nearly every kid in town up to the age of twenty-one. They served alcohol, but unless you were of age—or a star basketball player—you didn’t get served.
It didn’t matter, though. The music was great, the atmosphere dark, and it was big enough to accommodate plenty of people. It was the place to be if you wanted action on a Friday or Saturday night. Every time I’d tried to join my friends, though, Trevor showed up and hovered, so I rarely came.
We stepped out of the car, and I combed my fingers through my hair as I walked around the back of the SUV to meet everyone on the sidewalk. Damon flicked his cigarette into the street, and I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to keep warm.
“Fuckin’ Anderson,” Kai said under his breath. “I can’t stand him.”
I followed his gaze through the windows, immediately looking away again as soon as I saw who he was talking about.
Miles Anderson.
I stared at the ground, letting my ha
ir fall over the side of my face, covering it. I couldn’t stand him, either.
Uneasiness settled in my muscles until they were so tight and tense that I thought they
would pop.
“Asshole’s been talking shit since we graduated,” Damon added.
I could tell none of them really liked the new captain of Thunder Bay’s basketball team. Miles had taken over after Michael graduated, and he enjoyed no longer living in his shadow. He resented the Horsemen’s power, charisma, and reach, and after they’d left for college, he wasted no time in trying to claim what was once theirs.
The only problem was he sucked as a captain. The team had a horrible year last year, and the more he failed, the more he pushed to prove what a man he was.
I shivered, forcing thoughts of what happened last spring out of my head. He might be the only person worse than Damon.
I eyed Michael, trying to hide my concern. “We’re not going in there, are we?”
“Why not?”
I shrugged, looking away like it wasn’t a big deal. “I just don’t want to.”
“Well, I’m hungry,” Will chimed in. “And there’s tail in there, so let’s go.”
I stared down the sidewalk, blinking long and hard, in part for his crass remark and in part because I refused to budge and didn’t want to explain why.
I had to endure Miles’ presence at school, but I wouldn’t on my free time.
I felt Michael approach. “What’s the matter with you?”
His hard tone sounded impatient. Why wouldn’t it be? He never coddled me.
I looked up at him defiantly, shaking my head. “I just don’t want to go in. I’ll wait for you guys out here.”
Damon shook his head, looking at Michael. “I told you,” he complained. “Fucking complicated.”
I heaved an aggravated breath, staying frozen in my spot. I didn’t care what Damon had to say about me. I cared more about not having to look at Miles Fucking Anderson and him knowing he’d gotten away without a scratch.
He always had that power over me now.
But then I gasped, sucking in a breath as Michael grabbed my upper arm and force-walked me behind the SUV. He threw me off, letting me go, and I backed into the car as he advanced.
“What,” he growled, “is your problem?”
A lump stretched my throat, and I chewed on my lip, not really wanting the rest of the guys to know.
Fat chance.
They followed us over, around the car, and stood next to Michael, staring at me and waiting.
Great.
I let out a sigh, squaring my shoulders and just blurting it out. “Miles Anderson slipped me a spiked drink at a party last spring.”
I stared at the ground as they all just stood there, not saying anything.
Last March, I’d gone to a St. Patrick’s Day party at a senior’s house, and of course, I hadn’t gone alone. Noah and Claudia came with me.
We hung out, we danced, I had one drink, and the next thing I knew I was being slapped awake by Noah in a bathroom as he stuck his finger down my throat.
Maybe the guys didn’t think that was a big deal. Who cared about some idiot girl that got roofied?
Michael shifted, inching closer. “What the fuck did you just say?”
I shot my eyes up, my blood heating at the sight of his cinnamon eyes looking like he wanted to tear me limb from limb.
But I stayed strong. “Astrid Colby, his girlfriend, actually did it,” I explained. “She gave me the drink, but he was in on it.”
Yeah, any confidence Michael had in me was probably gone now. I was weak, stupid, and a waste of time.
“What happened?” he demanded.
I swallowed through the lump in my throat, my voice shaky. “I went down quick,” I told him. “I barely remember anything. All I know is what Noah told me. He’d broken down the door to a bedroom in the house where the party was. They had me on the bed, and my…” I paused, my stomach rolling with the thought as my eyes burned. “And my shirt was open.”
Michael hesitated a moment and then pressed. “And?”
“And they didn’t get that far,” I assured, knowing what he wanted to know.
No, I hadn’t been raped.
“Noah had noticed me being led upstairs with them,” I explained, “barely able to walk, and thankfully he got there before anything else happened.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” he threw back, accusing me.
My chest shook, and I blinked away the tears pooling.
But it was no use. They came anyway, and I couldn’t look at any of them as they started to fall.
“What the fuck is the matter with you?” he yelled in my face, and I winced. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I did!” I cried, glaring at him through blurry eyes. “I told everyone! My mother called the school, and…”
I trailed off, clenched my fists under my arms.
“So help me God…” he warned when I didn’t finish.
I filled my lungs and forced the rest out. “And your father is partnered in three real estate ventures with the Andersons, so—”
“Goddammit!” Michael tore himself away, turning from me as he swore.
Kai shook his head, heat turning his dark eyes fierce. “Unbelievable,” he gritted out.
I didn’t need to explain further.
Yeah, I’d tried to fight back, tell my mother, the Crists, the school, even Trevor…but in the end, even despite the protests of my mom and Michael’s, the business relationship between Michael’s father and Miles’ parents was more precious than my honor.
Miles was told to stay away from me, and I wasn’t permitted go to the hospital to take a drug test for evidence. The incident never went to the police or even left our respective homes. I had to look at him every day in school, knowing what he almost did to me and wondering, if he and his girlfriend had raped me, would I have seen any justice then?
I bowed my head, trying to hold back my silent sobs. God, I wanted to kill him.
“Stop crying,” Damon ordered, glaring down at me.
He then looked up at Michael, his eyes narrowing. “What are we going to do?”
What are we going to do? What could we do? Even if the Horsemen had power in this town, they didn’t hold any over their parents. Evans Crist had convinced my mother not to publicize the issue, and what was done was done. Astrid and Miles weren’t going to be investigated, and if they were, there was no evidence now anyway.
Unless….
Unless that’s not the kind of payback Damon was talking about.
Michael breathed hard, shifting back and forth, and then his eyes fell on me.
And I saw his chin lift and his eyes turn resolute. “Ask her.”
I stilled. What?
He cocked his head, daring me as the rest of them slowly turned to me and waited.
What the hell? What was I supposed to do?
And then I realized what Damon had just asked. What are we going to do? It was my decision.
They’d all had each other’s backs tonight, and now they had mine. But they weren’t going to do my shit for me.
No, Michael never would. He’d never handled me lightly, and he was going to make me deal with this. And if I didn’t, I may as well have them take me home now.
I bit down, glaring through the windows of Sticks again. Miles leaned into his girlfriend, wrapping her thighs around his waist as she sat on a stool, and kissed her while pawing her breast. She giggled, and he backed away with a smug smile on his face, having no care in the world as he walked up to the bar and got a pat on the back from a teammate on the way.
I glanced at Astrid again, seeing her laughing with her friends and fluff her long red hair.
They thought they’d won. They didn’t fear me.
And I locked my teeth together so hard it hurt.
I didn’t know what I was doing, but fuck it.
Rubbing my knuckles along the corners of my eyes, I wiped
away any remaining tears, making sure my mascara hadn’t run.
Grabbing the back of my sweatshirt, I pulled it over my head, slipping my arms out, and tossed it to Kai. I mussed the hem of my tight, gray tank top, bringing it up to show an inch of stomach, and fluffed my hair, trying to give it some temporary volume or sexy chaos or whatever.
“After you see me take him into the bathroom,” I told them, checking the rest of my clothes, “give me a minute and then follow.”
And then I looked up, checking for confirmation that they’d heard, and froze.
“What?” I asked in a low voice.
Four sets of eyes stared, their intense gazes falling down my body as if they’d never seen a girl before.
Kai tried to look away, but he kept stealing glances with narrowed eyes, as if he were almost angry, and Damon looked at me like I was naked.
Will’s eyebrows rose, and then he shot Michael a look, forming an “o” with his mouth and blowing out a long breath.
But turning my eyes on Michael, I saw his jaw flex and his fists clench. Who knew what he was thinking, but he looked mad. As usual.
I rolled my eyes at them.
I guess it felt kind of good. In fact, I hadn’t thought about my scar one time since I’d come out with them tonight. I never felt sexy, but what I liked even more was that it didn’t take much to get their attention. No mini-skirt, barely any make-up, and no games. I just took off my sweatshirt, and suddenly I wasn’t a little girl anymore.
Of course, that fact wasn’t difficult to forget when the tank didn’t leave much to the imagination with the low-cut neckline. And given the temperature outside, I didn’t even want to know what they could make out through the fabric.
Forcing a huge-ass smile to psych myself up, I grabbed Will’s flask out of his hands and spun around for the door.
“Hey!” I heard him bark behind me.
But I was inside before he could protest further, the door closing and leaving them outside.
The warmth of the pool hall, smelling of wood and hamburgers, greeted me as soon as I walked in, and despite the warmer air, the change in temperature made my sensitive skin tingle. I felt my nipples grow harder, and my hands shook.
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