Cole: Ready?
I begin to type out what do you mean but delete it. Instead, I settle on just a question mark.
Me: ?
Cole: A friend of mine is coming tonight. You would make a great friend for her too.
Her?
Me: You don’t have any girls who are friends.
Who the fuck is he talking about? Cole isn’t like the rest of the GWS. He doesn’t hang all over girls. He doesn’t even speak to them. He only shows interest once he decides he wants to fuck you. And then after you spread your legs for him, he moves on. The girls always try to get more out of him, but it never works.
Cole: Her name is Austin. Brunette. Green eyes. Probably wearing something red. Text me when she gets here.
Austin? Who the hell is that? Collins isn’t a big town, but it’s also not tiny. Who the hell is she, and why does he want to know when she arrives?
Me: And why do you want to know that?
Cole: It’s time to pay up!
Fuck!
I take another sip and then pour me a new one. Pay up? How the hell am I gonna pay up with a girl named Austin? What could he possibly want me to do?
I’m downing it when I catch sight of a brunette entering the kitchen. She’s wearing a red sweater that hangs off one shoulder, showcasing a black tank top underneath it with black skinny jeans and matching heels. Her dark hair curls down her back. I’ve never seen her before, so it has to be her. She picks up a red Solo cup and pours some Fireball into it before tossing it back. Then she pours another one. No one seems to notice her, letting me know that no one else knows her either.
I take out my phone and text him.
Me: She’s here. Kitchen.
He reads it but doesn’t respond. I take a deep breath and walk over to her, needing to know as much as I can about her before he comes down here. “Hi.”
“Hello,” she says with a nod of her head. She’s pretty, but I can’t say she’s Cole’s type ’cause he really doesn’t have one.
“I’ve never seen you here before.” I hold out my right hand. “I’m Becky.”
“Austin. And I just moved here.”
How the fuck does she know Cole? “Oh, how exciting,” I lie and grab a new Solo cup. “Are you going to Collins High?” She looks about my age.
“Yep.”
This doesn’t make any sense. Maybe his dad is dating someone, and this is her daughter, but even I know that’s reaching. His father doesn’t really date anyone around here. He just fucks them all. “I’m a senior. How about you?” I pry.
“Same,” she answers and pours herself another shot.
“I wonder if we’ll have any classes together.” Even though I don’t know her, it would be nice to have a clean slate. To make a new friend who doesn’t really know the real me.
“Who the hell throws a party on a Monday?” she asks, avoiding my previous statement.
“Cole Reynolds.” I roll my eyes when I answer, trying to feel her out. I pause to see if she says anything about him, but she doesn’t. So I add, “He and the Great White Sharks do whatever they want, whenever they want.” I give her a fake smile. Fuck the sharks. Well, all but Deke. “But they do throw some awesome parties.”
“Where are their parents?” she asks.
“Never around. They are all socialites in this town with big careers. Always busy and not enough time for their children.” I’m rambling and possibly telling her too much. She obviously knows nothing about Cole and the guys, and she said she is new to town. I take a drink to try to calm my nerves.
Where is Cole? He throws these parties all the time, but he stays up in the game room with the rest of the sharks. They very rarely grace us with their presence, and if they do, he ignores everyone. He thinks he’s fucking God.
“I see.” She nods once.
How does he know her? I’ve grown up with the GWS, and he’s never lived anywhere else. “Where are you –?”
“Austin?”
I look up to see Kellan standing in the kitchen. His brown eyes are narrowed on her, and she arches a brow at his tone.
Fuck …
“Cole is looking for you,” he snaps. “Let’s go.”
She turns back to look at me, rolling her eyes. Her eyes meet my surprised ones, and she asks, “What?”
I just shake my head ’cause I’m not sure what to say to her. Whatever she’s done, it wasn’t good. And they will make her pay for it. She ditches her cup and grabs the bottle of Fireball and walks out behind him.
A phone ringing brings me out of that memory, and I look over to see Austin press answer for her hands-free. “Yes?” she asks in greeting.
“Have you dropped her off yet?” Cole’s voice fills the SUV.
I roll my eyes and block out their conversation. While Cole told her and Deke that I was driving when we wrecked, he also told them I was forced to befriend her. She might have easily forgiven me for that, but if she knew the other things I did, she’d probably kill me. If Cole didn’t beat her to it.
“Thanks,” I mumble as she drops me off. I walk up the stairs to my mother’s house and walk inside. I make my way up the left staircase to my room when I hear a man whispering.
“Yeah, I told you later.”
I come to a stop and look over the balcony to Demi’s room. Her bedroom door is cracked open. I tiptoe over to it and peek in. Seth stands at the end of her bed, pacing with his cell to his ear. “I’m only gonna be here for an hour. Then I’ll meet you there. Okay. See you then.” He pockets his phone just as my sister exits her en suite bathroom. Looking over at her, he plasters a smile on his face.
I yank back so they don’t see me and run over to my room, softly shutting the door with a smile. Well, isn’t this interesting?
CHAPTER FIVE
DEKE
I SIT AT the kitchen table with my head down and the lights off. It’s gotta be almost two a.m. After the incident at Silence, we all decided to go home. Well, I stormed off to my Range Rover and the ones who rode with me followed. No one argued or asked what was wrong. I think they could feel the tension and the change in my mood.
I didn’t say one word on the way home.
And thankfully, Becky didn’t linger. I didn’t want to be around her. My plans for the night had backfired, and I had a hard time wrapping my mind around that.
I went straight to my bed, but when I couldn’t sleep, my ass came down here and sat. My mind’s running circles around itself, getting me nowhere.
The lights come on, and I lift my head to see Cole walking to the fridge wearing his black board shorts with a towel hanging around his neck. His shorts and hair are wet, letting me know he’s already been in the pool.
Grabbing two bottles of water, he sets one in front of me before falling into the seat across from me. I refrain from sighing. Usually when he’s up late like this, he heads straight back up to his room to be with Austin as soon as he’s done with his laps.
But once again, tonight proves to not be on my side.
“What’s going on?” he asks.
“Nothing.”
He snorts and twists the lid open on his bottle. “Really? You think I’m gonna believe that bullshit?”
I don’t answer.
He takes a drink and then sets it back down. “You’re fucking Demi.”
Jesus! My teeth clench, and my eyes meet his, but I don’t say anything to that. It wasn’t a question.
He nods once, taking my silence as confirmation and then takes another drink. “Does Becky know?”
If I wasn’t so pissed, I would laugh at that. Instead, I shove my chair back and jump to my feet. “It was an accident.” Was it? Even that sounds like a lie to me. I knew something felt different, felt off, but I kept going with a smug smile of satisfaction on my face, thinking I was really winning and had got one over on her.
But instead, Demi Holt fucked me. Just not in a good way.
Leaning forward, he places his forearms on the table. “How do you accid
entally sleep with someone?” he asks curiously.
“I thought she was Becky.” She had acted so willing in this very room just hours before that, that I didn’t question her decision to spread her legs for me after going three months without even speaking a word.
Guys only think with their dicks.
Yeah, Demi, I did. But I was hard for your sister, not you, you little bitch.
His brows rise to his hairline. Then he sits back and pushes his wet hair off his forehead. “How did you …?” He pauses, searching for the right words. “I didn’t know you and Becky were still fucking.”
“We aren’t!” I begin to pace. “At Silence, right before the lights shut off, we got separated. I thought I was with Becky. Long story short, I finger-fucked her right then and there while the power was out in the hallway. Then after she came, she split.”
“That’s why you were so surprised when I told you that we had been outside for a while.”
I nod. “That’s when Demi showed up, and she had my gum. I started to panic. Then I followed her over to get Austin’s gummies, and she confirmed it was her.”
“Shit,” he whispers.
I nod. “Yes. Shit is right.” I look at him. “I called her Becky. She had every chance to stop me, and she didn’t. Why the fuck didn’t she?” I demand as if he has the answers.
I can’t figure out what her angle is. Demi doesn’t like me enough to talk to me, let alone allow me to finger-fuck her in a public place. It doesn’t make any goddamn sense. Then she acted like I could have fucked her while we stood behind the trailer. And the problem? I wanted to! Fuck, I thought about it. That alone makes me want to throw fucking bleach in my eyes in hopes to erase the memory. I’m still thinking about it.
“So what’s the issue?”
“It’s Demi!” My eyes bug out as if that’s enough reason to panic. He just stares at me. So I add, “She’s underage.” That’s just one reason out of many why this is so fucked up.
“Legal age of consent in the state of Texas is seventeen.” He shrugs before taking another drink. “She’s seventeen.”
She is but … “How do you know that?” I ask, coming to a stop. Since when does Cole know Texas law?
A dark look clouds his eyes when he answers. “My dad brought it up back in Oregon regarding Austin and me. And after what I saw between you and Demi earlier, I looked it up. Just to make sure she couldn’t get you in trouble.”
Even he thinks she was setting me up for something. The sad part? I fell for it. Who knows what I would have done if he hadn’t shown up when he did. I run a hand through my hair. “That fucking bitch played me. Then she laughed. As if it was some kind of a game to her.”
“What are you gonna do about it?” he asks.
Placing my hands on the table, I lean over and look down at my best friend. “I want to show Demi just what kind of game I like to play.”
A slow smile spreads across his face, the one that tells me he’s up for whatever I wanna do. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. Whatever Cole is dealing with right now, this could be his distraction. I’m always willing to help my friend out.
He nods. “Let’s play.”
That bitch doesn’t wanna fuck with me. I’ve got all kinds of tricks up my sleeves. I watched the look of satisfaction in her eyes and her smug smile when she sucked on my finger. Fuck, it made me hard. And I tried so goddamn hard not to think about it. Not to feel it. But in the end, she won that round. She thinks she can push me to touch her, to fuck her? She’s about to realize she can push me, all right, but it won’t get her the result she wants.
DEMI
I lie in my king-size bed, my back leaned against the padded white headboard while I watch the documentary Serial Clown Killer on YouTube. A serial killer who lived in Illinois known as Pogo the Clown. Hired to perform at birthday parties, he would sexually assault the boys, strangle them with rope, and then bury their bodies under his house. He was put to death in 1994 after being found guilty of thirty-three counts of murder.
Murderers and psychopaths have always fascinated me. I’ve always wondered how a mind of a serial killer works. What makes them want to kill? And what makes them choose their victims? How do they not get caught? I can see someone getting away with one or maybe two, but more than that? Thirty-three fucking murders before finally being arrested. No way. That would never happen these days. The technology we have now would make it difficult for anyone to slip through the system.
That’s what you think, my mind taunts. You know a killer, and he’s not locked up in prison or on death row.
Deke told on himself. I overheard him confess what he did to my sister three months ago. I’ve never cared for the bastard, but it made me respect him a little.
I lean up against my bedroom wall at my father’s house, listening to my sister and her boyfriend fight. He looked pissed when he stormed into her room and ordered me to leave.
“I’m sorry …” she cries out.
“You will be,” Deke says, and I snort.
I quickly place my hand over my mouth, hoping they didn’t hear that. But honestly, come on? What the hell would he do to her?
“Please, Deke,” she begs, and I roll my eyes at the desperation in her voice. “It’s not like you haven’t kept secrets from me.”
“What I did was none of your business,” he replies simple as that.
It’s how all the sharks work—they can do whatever the fuck they want.
“You lied to me!” she screams. “You killed Kellan!”
Whoa! What the fuck? His friend Kellan has been missing for two months now. After the news broke of him shooting Austin Lowes and killing her stepmom, the authorities have had a manhunt out for him but haven’t had any luck finding him. Now I know why.
“I did.” He doesn’t deny the lies. “Want to know the truth, Becky?” I press my body more into the wall to listen since he’s lowered his voice. “I’m a murderer,” he admits with no shame. “I’ve killed five people.”
Holy shit! The town is afraid of the GWS, yet my sister always bitched about how harmless they were. I knew they were untouchable. Evil. That’s what fascinated me about them the most. They played a stupid game of dare that always went too far and landed them injured most of the time. Or in trouble with the law. But a group of kids whose parents have endless pockets mean you never have to pay for your actions.
“Do you wanna be my sixth?”
She gasps.
And I can just see her body trembling in fear right now.
“You … What …? Why, Deke?” she rambles.
“It doesn’t concern you,” he answers.
She was terrified for a few seconds. Then when she realized he was really going to leave her, she dropped to her knees and sucked his dick like the pro she is.
Why isn’t the guy in jail? I know he had help from the GWS. How did they do it and not get caught? And why hasn’t my sister turned them in? She has to know more than she is letting on. She must have evidence to put Deke and his fucking pathetic sharks away, right? Maybe she’s keeping her mouth shut for Austin since she is engaged to Cole. He was arrested for killing her stepmother and shooting her, but I didn’t believe it. Cole isn’t that stupid or that careless. He’s a fucking time bomb, but he wouldn’t do something to get caught. No, they’re all smarter and more calculated than that. So after being questioned, he was released. And a body was never found to prove what the cops already knew.
I turn off my TV and get out of bed. All I wear is an oversized T-shirt of Seth’s and a pair of boy shorts. I walk down to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and a banana. I notice the clock on the wall reads 10:35. I’m home alone on a Saturday night. My mom and her husband are at some fundraiser for his job in New York, and they won’t be back until Monday. Becky’s out doing who knows who at the moment. She’s never here. I don’t know where she goes or what she does, but I never ask and she never offers. The hired help my mother keeps on the property have been sent
home for the weekend. My only friend here in Texas is at some party tonight that I refused to go to ’cause it’s at some bitch’s house that I don’t like. She tried that I’ll come visit you instead of going shit, and I waved her off. I don’t need her to coddle me. Or pretend she’ll pass up free booze. And Seth is … well, I know he’s busy.
I shut off the kitchen lights and make my way back to the foyer. My mother bought this house after my parents divorced. I was twelve at the time. I managed to stay in Collins until just a few months ago. I hate Texas! I loved Collins, Oregon. It was smaller, but that’s what I liked about it. It didn’t take hours to get somewhere due to traffic. Even though she picked to live in Austin, she associates with the same people: stuck-up billionaire snobs. My mother owns a lingerie line, and she’s in stores all over the world. Some would say she’s a big deal, but I think it’s stupid. She makes slutty little outfits so housewives can dress up to try to seduce their husbands who are already fucking someone else on the side. The ironic part? I bet my life that their “secrets” are also dressed in the same lingerie and look better.
I walk past the round glass table that sits in the middle of the grand foyer and take the right set of stairs to my room on the second floor. I enter and notice that my windows are open. The soft wind blows my violet curtains around, giving my room a cold chill from the outside air. “Hmm.” That’s weird. They weren’t open a minute ago. My bedroom light is off how I left it, but since the window is open, the lights on the side of the house give my room a soft glow.
I walk over to them and look out the open windows. The Victorian mansion sits on five acres in a secluded neighborhood. You have to have a gate code to access the property, so it’s not like you can just pull up to our house. If someone doesn’t have the code or clearance to get in, the guard shack will phone us for approval. My mother thinks she’s some kind of celebrity and needs protection from the outside world.
I look over the manicured lawn. Holly trees line the area below my windows—big shrubs that have pointed leaves on them. I’ve cut myself on their sharp edges before, and they sting like a bitch. I’m pretty sure my mother put me in this room so I can’t jump out and escape. Becky’s doesn’t have anything outside her window, but she’s always been allowed free rein. She comes and goes as she pleases. Plus, when we lived with our father, the parent who wants to be your friend more than a parent, he allowed her to do whatever the hell she wanted. That’s why she begged our mother to stay there when they announced their divorce. Thankfully, my father talked her into letting me stay too. But he was just as strict on me as our mother is.
DARE SERIES COLLECTION Page 60