by Henry, Max
Piercing green eyes swing my way as I approach with my satchel before me like some lame attempt at a shield.
“I need to go. Talk later.” Christian smacks End, pushing off the car as Tuck and I near. “Look at you,” he croons, appraising my attire. “Sexiest little cowgirl I’ve ever seen.”
“Christian,” I grind out. “Still the same sexist pig you’ve always been.”
He chuckles darkly, pocketing his phone. “Colt is right; you’ve changed.” His smile fades faster than the autumn daylight. “And who’s your friend?”
“Tuck Brallant.” He steps forward, offering his hand.
Christian doesn’t take it. “Your parents are inside,” he says instead, gaze sliding back over to me. “Dad is discussing options with Constable Hayseed in there.”
“I’m sure he has an actual name,” I snap.
“Eh.” Christian shrugs. “All these hicks are the same to me.” He glares at Tuck. “Inconsequential.”
“Watch yourself,” Tuck warns.
Christian huffs, amused, before sliding his lecherous gaze back over to me. “I apologise for leaving you without a ride,” he says. “Although it seems you were well looked after all the same.”
“You were supposed to pick me up?” Colt telling me to head out to the gate suddenly makes sense. “Why?”
“I was asked to, but you know.” He shrugs. “I never was one for favours.”
“Well, in that case, don’t let me hold you up from whatever you were doing.” I sling my satchel over my shoulder. “I’ll head in and find them myself.” Christian buries his hands in his pockets, watching me closely while I turn to thank Tuck and send him on his way. “I’ll be fine from here. Thanks for walking me in.”
“Mmm,” Christian murmurs, leaning forward to get in our space. “Sounds to me like the lady wants you to leave, country boy.”
Tuck visibly bristles, his jaw hard and brow firm as he focuses intently on me. “Call me if you need a lift out of here.”
“I will.”
“No,” Christian says with a laugh. “You won’t.” He turns to Tuck, arms folded over his black wool coat. “I’ll take care of what’s ours.”
“Yours?” I snort. “Since when?”
“Since you stripped down to your cute pink bra and panties and went night-swimming in my pool,” he leers, taking far too much delight in this.
My cheeks flame. I didn’t know he saw that. It was one night—a single evening of carelessness—and I thought the boys were upstairs when us girls went for a dip.
“Gave me a fucking boner for weeks,” he groans, eyes closed.
“Go away, Christian.” I refrain from spitting at his feet. The guy disgusts me. “I’ll see you later,” I mumble to Tuck before taking a wide step to avoid Christian’s touch.
Tuck’s firm grip snags me by the arm; his strength whips me back around to face him so hard that I crash against his body. My hands search for something, anything to steady myself on. All I find is the hard planes of his waist. His core stiffens when he sucks in a sharp breath; my own lodged in my throat at the feel of his forearm tight against my back.
“I’ll call you tonight?” He gazes down at me with a fire burning behind the rich caramel of his eyes.
“Sure.” Perhaps then he can explain his ridiculous mood shifts.
“Everything will be okay.” He lifts a hand to my face to trace a tender line from my temple to jaw. “First offence usually means a warning.”
“He trashed Johnson’s—”
“Ssh.” Finger to my lips, he silences me with a crooked smile. “I know. I’m trying to ease your mind, woman.”
“Fun time’s over,” Christian calls out behind us. “Time to get your hands off her.”
I don’t dare a peek in the direction of the truck to see what the others do. I want to get lost in Tuck, right now. Stay here in his warmth and forget about the fresh hell that awaits inside the station.
Reluctantly, Tuck lets me go. I keep my hands on him to show that despite what Christian says, I’m not done yet. I want to have more. I ache to see what he would have done next if it were just us out here.
It seems I don’t need to wish too hard.
With a tug of his hand, Tuck brings me back to his firm body, crushing me against him as he leans over to claim my mouth. I lose my next breath, passing it to him as he angles his head to take the kiss deeper. My lips tingle, body alive and in tune with desire. I swear I drop a gushy sigh when Tuck pulls back, but how would I know for sure when with my eyes closed, I trap myself in the feeling of bliss a little longer.
“Go on,” he says with a pat of my arse. “Get.”
“You’ve got some nerve,” Christian scathes, placing himself between Tuck and I after I back toward the station door.
“Nope,” Tuck replies with that carefree chuckle that I love. “I do believe I have your girl, though.” My smile fades. Was that…? Would he…? No. No way. “She,” Tuck reinforces, pointing toward me, “is mine. Not yours. Got it?”
“We’ll see about that.” Christian scowls, top lip pulled up as he turns his back to Tuck. “You might be able to take the girl out of the city, my friend, but let’s see you try and take the city out of the girl.” He closes in behind me and, to my disgust, thrusts his hips close enough to crash into my arse.
I reach out and shove him in the chest, making Christian stumble while he laughs hysterically at his joke.
Tuck’s hands fist at his sides. Johnson steps out of the truck.
“Go,” I call out. “It’s fine.” My stomach drops. “I used to deal with this every day. It’s honestly nothing new.”
Nope. The only thing new around here is that this time, I’m not laughing about it.
Since Colt is seventeen, he will be charged as an adult. And unlike Tuck assured me, he won’t be let off with a warning. In fact, Johnson’s dad is the one who presses for the maximum penalty—jail time—as opposed to the lesser fine.
Cue Derek Mayberry.
“Rest assured, Alicia,” he tells Mum. “Colt won’t step foot anywhere near the penitentiary.”
“Regardless,” she says with shaky tones as we exit head toward our respective cars. “He now has a permanent record.”
“For a minor charge.” Derek frowns. “If he keeps his head down for the next three to four years, then it shouldn’t harm his employment opportunities too significantly.” Derek turns to Dad. “You have a think about what I offered.”
“Sure.” Dad steps forward and pumps the man’s hand.
I glance to where Christian stands behind his father. The regal-looking jerk blows me a kiss.
For a guy who hates my guts, he sure seemed intent on keeping me away from Tuck and within his control. I feel like a pawn in a game I don’t understand.
“Lacey!”
Shoot. “Coming.”
Christian laughs as I skip after my family. I ignore his taunt and head for where everyone surrounds Dad’s economical Kia.
“It’s been a confronting day,” Mum snaps as she tugs open the passenger door. “But we all need to keep our heads on for Colt’s sake.” She lays a sickly-sweet look on my brother after we climb in the vehicle.
I lean my temple against the cool glass of my window, allowing my mind to take me back to that brighter, warmer place—Tuck’s arms.
“What did Derek offer you?” Mum asks of Dad as we reverse out of the park.
I glance away from the building and toward Colt.
“He thinks we should sue for emotional distress. Make a case against them to either have Colt’s charges reduced or dropped.”
“I don’t need to be babied,” my brother snaps. “I can face up to my actions, you know?” His stern glare slices between our parents.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mum bites back. “Do you have any idea how this scars your reputation?”
“My reputation is next to ruined anyway, thanks to Dad.”
I catch our father’s eye in the rear-view as he
speaks. “What happened to me has no bearing on any of you.”
“Bullshit,” Colt snaps. “You lose your job, and suddenly here we all are living like the damn Beverly Hillbillies.”
“Colt!” Dad roars.
Mum reaches across to subdue our father. “What I’m concerned about is how much more of an impact this town will have on our kids.”
“We’re in the car with you,” I sass. “You don’t have to talk as though we’re not here.”
She continues unaffected. “Maybe this shift wasn’t such a good idea.”
Dad’s head whips toward her repeatedly. “What else did you think we’d do? This was the only job I could get so soon after the court case and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see you running out the door to seek out a career.”
Mum jerks her hand away from his arm as though he physically slapped her. “Have you tried to find work in Riverbourne since taking this job?”
“No.” Dad’s jaw is set firm while he steers us onto the straight that leads home.
“Of course, you haven’t. Because we do whatever you do, right? Our feelings don’t matter.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Colt reaches across the seat and takes my hand in his.
“It means,” Mum growls, “that we didn’t have a choice in any of this. I hate it out here. The kids do too.” I open my mouth to point out that I don’t exactly hate it, yet she drowns out my protest. “Look what the place is doing to our family, James.”
“This was already happening, Alicia, and you know it.” He speaks quietly, as though ashamed to bring it up in front of Colt and me yet also unwilling to let the moment pass. “If our relationship is as strong as it should be, then none of this would matter.”
The relationship he talks about? Yeah. That’s Mum and Dad’s marriage. Colt and I may as well be somewhere else for how involved we are in this conversation—emotionally and physically.
“If our relationship were strong,” Mum retorts on the verge of tears, “then you’d care that your family isn’t happy.”
“I do care!”
“Prove it!”
Colt squeezes my hand. I glance over at him to find my brother smiling. Me, on the other hand, I feel as though a wedge has been slowly tapped into the middle of my heart, and now they try to break the fragile muscle in two. Why is Colt so happy about this? Does he want our parents to split up?
“How was the rest of the day, Lacey?” Dad asks quietly, seemingly trying to redirect the mood in the car.
Unfortunately, I can’t help with that. “We had an assembly about what happened on the field.”
Dad grumbles, apparently frustrated he even has to think about it. “What did they say?”
I glance toward Colt, who now watches me intently. “School formal was cancelled as punishment.”
“They penalised everyone?” Colt asks.
I nod. Mum twists in her seat. “Did they say anything about Colt?” Of course, that’s all she wants to know.
“Not really. But I was called up on stage with a couple of other kids for individual punishment. I have two weeks of detention.”
Mum sighs, flopping to face forward.
Dad flicks his eyes to the rear view. “You were called on stage? In front of the whole assembly?”
“Yeah.”
“Why did they punish you?” Colt asks with a frown, although he still has that flicker of amusement in his eyes.
Why does he enjoy this so much?
“I don’t know.” I tug my hand from his and huddle closer to my door. “I guess because I confronted the Mot—um—girls about it all afterward.”
“You did what?” Mum cries, turning again. “Lacey!”
“What? They’ve harassed us since the day we got here. I’m done with it.”
“See?” Mum states, turning to Dad. “Our kids are targets, James. They aren’t safe here.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” He leans away from her, propping his elbow on the door.
I wait out the rest of the terse ride home, keeping my trap shut until we’re all out of the car and in the house. Colt’s door is open, which I take as my cue to walk straight on in.
“What are you up to?”
He scoots up his bed to lie propped against the headboard. “What do you mean?” Between his hands rests his active phone.
“Who are you messaging?”
“None of your business.”
“You wrecked a damn car at school today,” I snap, hands fisted. “I think it is my business.”
One eyebrow raised, he exhales between loose lips, puffing his hair over his eye. “Whatever. It was me at the station, not you.”
“No. I just got dragged on stage with half the Mavericks and humiliated in front of the whole school.”
He gestures with his head for me to shut the door. I do so, only for the reason that I want to hear what excuse he has for the damn stunt he pulled today.
“Ever wonder where Mum goes when she’s in the city all week?”
“Seeing her friends, I guess.” I shrug. I don’t like this naïve feeling one little bit.
“Wrong.” Colt leans forward, setting his phone aside. “She’s been having an affair for two years.”
What? “How do you know that?” Two years? That would mean… Oh, my God. “What proof do you have?”
“Caught her in the act before we moved out here.”
I want to vomit. No. I want to smack that smug look off his face and then go scream at her. “Why the hell are you so happy about this?” I shriek.
“Ssh,” he urges, patting the air. “Calm the hell down.”
“No! Who is it? Oh my, God. No. Don’t tell me. Yes. Do. Who is it?”
All Colt has to do is smile.
“No,” I say on a guttural groan. “Derek?”
He nods.
“Does Dad know? Surely not.”
This time Colt looks concerned. “From what he said in the car, I think he has an idea, but not who otherwise he would have confronted Derek back at the station.”
We sit in silence for a few minutes while I let the information sink in, assemble, and resonate. Mum has been unfaithful to Dad. After all he’s sacrificed for our wellbeing, she pays him back by sleeping around?
And she wanted me to be like her. Ugh. She disgusts me.
Colt picks up his phone, responding to the ping it gave off. I watch him in my periphery, failing to see what this has to do with trashing Johnson’s truck.
“You still haven’t told me what your game is yet.”
His darkened eyes find mine over the top of his phone. “You want to be back in Riverbourne, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Sort of.” I do. But in a weird way, I also don’t now.
“Well, what do you think will happen if Mum gets fed up with being out here?”
“You’re trying to drive her off to be with Christian’s dad?” I don’t get it.
Colt nods. “Because you know where the kids go when parents separate, right?”
With the mother. “What the hell kind of sick game are you playing?” I say, rising to my feet.
He grins, diverting his gaze back to the phone. “The one where I win.”
I’m left so emotionally and physically drained by the day that I opt for a hot shower to ease my nerves and then flop into bed. I don’t realise exactly how exhausted I was until I wake the next day and spot the missed call on my phone from Tuck.
Plus a message from Maggie.
M: I’m sorry I left you at school. I feel like a bitch now. I was too messed up after that assembly to stick around. Forgiven?
She left straight after? No wonder I didn’t see her anywhere.
L: I’m too tired to argue and a friend would be good about now, so forgiven.
M: Good. Because I’m coming over to kidnap you for the party tonight.
Damn it. The party.
L: I don’t know if I can go.
M: Why the hell not? Because of
what happened at school? Fuck them.
L: No. But yes.
I didn’t even factor that into it. Shoot. My chin quivers; tears hot and fresh at the back of my eyes. I want to feel as though I belong somewhere, and right now, I don’t have a single place to run to. Not home, not school, not my friends.
M: You can tell me about it when I get there.
Ugh. It probably seems so ridiculous to her. Still, the person who I would have trusted with news like this a year ago—Greer—is caught up in the world I want to complain about. I can’t tell her. Maggie’s it.
Although, there is Tuck. I swipe through to his missed Messenger call. No. Boys can’t be bothered with that kind of trivial stuff, though. He’d probably side with Colt and see the detached logic in all of it.
Which leads me to wonder if I wanted to go back to the city so badly, would I have a problem with it? Is that why I’m so mad? Because I want to stay here.
“Dad wants us all at the table for breakfast.” Colt pokes his head in my door.
I nod to let him know I’ve heard, not ready to talk to him yet. I can’t believe he’d purposefully add fuel to the fire just to see our parents’ marriage burn. I never realised he was that damn selfish.
That wealth and privilege mean more to him than family.
I tug on a clean pair of camel shorts and a white slip, throwing my hair into a messy top-knot. I’m the last to arrive in the kitchen, the linoleum cold on my bare feet. The table is spread with an array of eggs, bacon, waffles, and fruit. We haven’t had brunch like this since we left Riverbourne.
Where on earth did Mum get the grocery money for it?
“Sit,” Dad instructs, gesturing to my vacant chair.
I slide into place and set my hands in my lap.
“Your mother and I spoke in length last night,” Dad begins, eyes downcast. “We discussed what would be best for everyone after yesterday.”
“You mean you spoke about me?” Colt digs.
Dad gives him a warning glare and continues. “Your mother and I think it would be best if neither of you associated with any of the students at your school until Colt’s trial and judgment are passed down.”
“What?” I cry. “Why me? I had nothing to do with this.”