I bite my bottom lip, trying to hide a smile.
“Yeah, only because your favorite position is doggy style,” Deke quips.
Everyone laughs, and my heart beats faster.
Cole just snorts, giving me his back and walks off with the bottle in his hand. I reach up and wipe the alcohol off my chin and stand. I shouldn’t have come. It was a bad idea. I just wanted to party and be around my sister, but she hates me. Not sure why. We’ve never been close, but it’s been worse ever since she noticed I had a thing for Eli.
“You okay?”
I look up to see David walking over to me. A quick look, I see my sister is by one of the tables making a drink.
I nod, crossing my arms around my stomach. It’s on fire from those two drinks I had. “I should go home.” He frowns. “I’ll find a ride.”
“Nonsense.”
“Yeah, I shouldn’t have come.”
He looks over my shoulder at the bonfire where I was sitting a moment ago. His jaw tightens. Everyone hates the GWS. They are their own group, and they don’t allow anyone into their stupid club of dares and illegal activities. Pretty sure the only way you get in is if you beat the shit out of someone. But they no longer take new members.
“Come on.” He throws his arm over my shoulder. “You can hang with us.”
I groan. “It’ll just make Becky mad.”
He snorts. “She wanted you to come.”
The question is why. She never wants to hang out with me. What would make this night any different?
We come up to the table, and David speaks. “Hey, babe, hand me that drink you just made.”
She turns around. “Why?”
“Your sister needs one.” He holds his hand out.
She eyes his hand and then the drink. She spins back around, giving us her back. “Babe …”
“Here.” She hands it to me, cutting him off, then smiles. “I topped it off for you. You’re welcome.”
I look down at it to see it’s full of what looks to be water, but the strong odor tells me otherwise. “What is it?” I ask him.
He laughs, pulling me into his side and answers. “A good time.”
Her blue eyes instantly narrow on me, and I pull out from under David’s arm. “What is she doing?” she asks, not even bothering to say my name.
“She’s gonna hang with us,” he answers.
She rolls her eyes, giving me her back, and walks away. “Babe?” He calls after her.
I turn around to go wait for them by the car when I run into a body. “Shit. Sorry …”
“It’s okay.”
I look up into a set of brown eyes, and I feel my breath catch. “Hey,” I say lamely.
“Wanna get out of here?” Eli asks.
My heart begins to pound in my chest at his question, and my hands get sweaty. He’s the only guy at our school who has ever made me feel this way. It’s scary. “What?” I blink. I’m afraid he may be talking to someone who stands behind me, but I’m too nervous to turn around and check. This could be some kind of joke. And I hate the thought of it not being real.
He tilts his head as his brown eyes look me up and down in a way that tells me I should run. No one should look at you like that. The hunger in his eyes makes it clear what he wants. And I want to give it to him.
He reaches down and takes my drink from my hand. Bringing it to his nose, he smells it. “Mmm vodka. My kind of girl.”
I bite my bottom lip and look at my shoes in the sand. Without a word, he grabs my right hand, and I allow him to lead me off the beach and over to his car, praying he doesn’t feel how it shakes with nervousness.
“I’m not sure,” I answer her, pulling myself out of that memory. That was almost two years ago. Right before things went to shit. I’ve tried to forget it, but it’ll never go away. Not completely. It’s just another reason I hate my sister.
“Come on. Invite Seth.” She shrugs. “We’ll sit around the fire, tell some ghost stories, and get trashed.” Lauren wiggles her eyebrows. “It’ll be fun.”
I pull my cell out and send a quick text.
Me: Wanna go to a bonfire this weekend?
He messages me back immediately.
Seth: Of course.
I look over at her and smile, knowing that Seth will never hurt me. Not like others have tried. I trust him with my life. “We’re in.”
DEKE
I open my heavy eyes as I stare out my tinted driver’s side window. Leaning against it, I enjoy the cool glass on my skin. Cole sits in the passenger seat with his back ramrod straight and stone-cold silent.
I sat outside for another twenty minutes this morning with him while he swam, but we didn’t speak. After I had a couple of cigarettes and enough to drink, I left him and went to bed. When I finally woke up, Austin and Lilly were already gone, and he was in the kitchen. He didn’t even look up at me; he just told me we were leaving in an hour to go pick up Bennett at the airport.
So we’re playing hooky from classes today, and here we are, sitting in uncomfortable silence. I don’t know what to say to him. Or what I can do for him. At this point, I’m afraid he’s about to jump off the deep end. And I wish I could say I feel lighter now that he knows Becky was lying, but I don’t. Instead, I feel worse. And I hate that bitch even more for putting us all in this situation.
“Why the fuck did he bring him?” Cole snaps.
I look out the windshield to see Bennett walking toward us and right beside him is Shane.
Well, fuck! I don’t think Cole’s seen or spoken to him since the night at the hospital when Kellan shot Austin.
Cole, Bennett, and I all sit in the waiting room. Becky cries, and I try to console her, running my hand through her hair, but there’s not much I can do or say. Honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t come out to tell Cole that she’s dead.
Cole hangs up his phone with his nanny, making sure she can take care of Lilly. Seconds later, he jumps to his feet, and I look up to see Shane standing in the waiting room. I push Becky off me and do the same.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Cole snaps.
Bennett snorts, waking himself up. He looks up aimlessly and wipes the drool that runs down his chin. He slowly rises to his feet. “What’s going on?” he asks roughly before clearing his throat and trying to focus on his surroundings.
We all look at Bennett. “I don’t know. You tell me,” Cole demands, thinking that Bennett has informed Shane about what Kellan did to Austin.
He holds his hands up when he sees Shane standing there. “I haven’t said anything—”
“I saw the news,” Shane interrupts him and then looks at Cole. “Hours ago. I’ve been calling you guys. Why aren’t you answering?”
I’ve been ignoring his ass. I’m here for Cole and Austin. Anything involving Shane could wait. And Cole hasn’t had his phone. He handed it to me when he willingly got arrested because I didn’t want them taking it away from him. I just gave it back to him ten minutes ago.
Shane’s jaw clenches when no one answers him. He takes a quick look around the waiting area, and then asks, “Where’s Kellan?” Shane steps up to Cole when silence follows, his eyes narrowing. “Where. Is. Kellan?”
Cole closes the small distance between them. “Why don’t you ask—”
“Cole!” I interrupt him and yank him back by his arm. “I’ll talk to him.”
“It’s none of his business,” he snaps at me.
Shane lets out a rough laugh. “Did you make him disappear, Cole? Is that why his phones are off, and he’s nowhere to be found?”
“He fucking shot her!” he yells.
Bennett walks over to Shane, grabs his shirt, and all but drags him out the double doors.
I go to stand before Cole. “You need to calm down, man,” I whisper harshly. I search the room, and thankfully, it’s not crowded this time of the night. But the few people who are in here with us are staring our way. “Cole?” I snap when he stares past me at the doors. Reachi
ng up, I slap his face. Not hard enough to hurt but enough to get his attention. “Listen to me! If you make a scene and get kicked out of here, then that’s it. You’re done.” I place my hands on his upper arms. “The police are just looking for a reason to lock you up, so keep your shit together just a little longer.”
“What is going on?” Becky asks, confused about what just happened.
I ignore her.
Cole shoves me out of the way and storms out the sliding glass doors.
I throw my head back. “Fuck.”
“What is going on, Deke?” She stands.
“Stay here.” I growl and then spin around to run out after him. I walk out to see Cole shove Shane backward. “Cole, don’t—”
“No,” he interrupts me. “If he wants to be a part of this group, then he’s going to fucking tell me.”
“Group? What group?” Shane demands, throwing his arms out wide. “You guys have completely lost your fucking minds.”
Cole fists his busted knuckles. “No! Kellan lost his mind the moment he decided to want what was mine!”
He throws his head back, letting out a loud laugh. When his eyes meet Cole’s again, his laughter dies. “She was never yours. His plan all along was to make her his.”
Cole goes to jump him, but I wrap my arm around him and haul him back. “Cut it out!” I growl in his ear. “You’re causing a scene!” I whisper, “He could be lying just to get you wound up.” At this point, my friends have all taken sides. And Shane is obviously not on Cole’s. Who knows what he is gonna say or do to push Cole to make a move? It won’t take much. It never has when it comes to Cole.
He shakes me off, and I choose to let him go with every intention to jump him if he lunges for Shane again.
Bennett comes to stand beside Shane. “He remembered her,” Shane spits out. “He wanted her! He was only fucking Celeste for his own revenge on Bruce!”
“What did Bruce do to him?” I ask and wonder why in the hell Shane knows this information but not us? One look at Bennett and I know he too knows that secret.
I turn my attention back to Shane. He laughs, shaking his head. “It doesn’t fucking matter. None of it fucking matters anymore.” Then he turns and walks away, and Cole allows it.
Cole jumps out of the passenger car door, bringing me out of that memory, and I get out as well, though much slower. I pop the hatch to my Range Rover when the guys near us.
Shane looks at me and then at Cole, narrowing his eyes, and I hold in a sigh.
“Why did you bring him?” Cole asks, not even bothering to hide his hatred for Shane.
Bennett opens his mouth to speak, but Shane is the one who answers. “I got a message too.”
I scratch the back of my head. This can’t be happening. “From—”
“Evan Scott,” he interrupts me. “It was in a three-way chat with Bennett.”
“You didn’t mention he was in the chat.” I look at Bennett.
“Yeah, well, my mind wasn’t completely alert when I was woken up in the middle of the night.” He glares at Cole. “After I was hung up on, I looked at it again and saw where Shane was also involved in the message, and I called him. Told him the same thing I was ordered to do, which was ‘pack a bag and get his ass to the airport.’”
I grab their luggage and place them in the back and then slam it shut before we all crawl into the SUV. Silence fills the inside of the car, and I can’t take it, so I turn up the radio. “Can’t Go to Hell” by Sin Shake Sin plays.
“So, what …?” Shane begins to ask, but Cole reaches forward and turns it up louder to drown him out.
I take a quick look at Shane in the rearview mirror, and his eyes are glaring holes into the back of Cole’s head.
This should be fun.
We walk into Cole and Austin’s house. “You’re at the end of the hall.” Cole gestures to Bennett. “You’re on the couch,” he tells Shane, not bothering to look at him.
“Don’t you have four bedrooms?” he asks.
“I’m in the other one upstairs,” I answer him. It’s been months since I’ve spoken to Shane. The last time was the night he got into it with Cole at the hospital.
He frowns. “You’re living here?”
“Isn’t that what he just said?” Cole snaps.
Shane drops his duffle bag to the tile floor in the entryway. The motion makes Austin’s damn Halloween ghost go off.
Here we go.
“What is your problem?” he snaps at Cole.
Cole doesn’t waste a second and takes it as an invitation. He’s just waiting to beat the shit out of someone. “You are my problem!” He growls, getting in his face. They’re nose to nose. “I don’t trust you here! Around Austin.”
Shane snorts. “That’s rich. Out of the four of us in this room, you and Deke are the ones whose body count are the highest when it comes to our dead friends. And he’s fucking living here!”
“I trust him.” Cole growls.
“He’d kill Austin without a thought if you told him to.”
Cole goes to punch him, but I push his chest, knocking him out of the way. “Okay!” I say, stepping between them. “Can we at least limit the bloodshed to outside? I don’t want Austin killing me when she comes home to find blood everywhere,” I joke.
No one laughs.
“Come on, Shane.” Bennett slaps him on the back and pulls him out of the entryway, grabbing his bag up off the tile.
Cole goes to walk up the stairs, but I stop him. He looks at me over his shoulder. “It doesn’t hurt to have numbers on our side,” I tell him.
“It only helps if you know they’re with you and not against you.”
I feel a pain in my chest for him. “No one is gonna touch her, Cole. I promise.” He says nothing. “You know I would protect her, right?” Austin is like the little sister I never had. Shelby was always the big sister, and we’re close, but Austin is just different. She’s just like us. Not afraid to get her hands dirty. Where Shelby would run and hide, Austin would jump to be out in the front. And I think that’s what scares Cole the most. He can’t hold her back if she decides to dive in.
He finally nods, and with that, he turns and walks up the stairs.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DEKE
LATER THAT EVENING, we find ourselves sitting in the Range Rover once again. I’m driving down the darkened road as Cole’s cell rings through the silence. He picks it up out of the cupholder and lets out a long breath before he hits answer and places it to his ear.
“Hello?” There’s a pause. “It’ll be late.” Another pause. “Don’t wait up. Love you.” Then he hangs up.
I slide my eyes over to him and see he holds down the power button until it shuts completely off, and then he tosses it back into the cupholder. “Cole—”
“Drop it,” he interrupts me coldly.
My hands tighten on the steering wheel, and I clamp my jaw to keep from telling him he’s making a fucking mistake. Pushing away Austin is not the answer, but we all deal with our demons differently. And Cole is gonna do whatever the fuck he wants.
My phone dings, and I take a quick glance at it. My eyes dart to Cole when I see it’s from Austin. “I need to get gas,” I say all of a sudden, needing to pull over so I can read it.
Cole waves his hand in the air, and the guys mumble an okay from the back seat as if I was asking permission. I wasn’t. Pulling into the nearest gas station, I put it in park and get out, taking my phone with me. I begin to fill up my SUV when I open the message.
Austin: I don’t know what’s up with Cole, but you need to figure it out and tell me what I can do. It’s getting worse.
I run a hand through my hair and let out a sigh.
Me: I’m working on it.
Austin: Are you with him right now? He’s turned his phone off.
Me: Yes, I’m with him.
I top off my tank, and no one questions the fact that I only pumped ten dollars in gas. Or the fact that I just filled up this mo
rning on the way home from the airport.
Twenty minutes later, we pull up to the cabin, and I shut the car off. My lights continue to shine on the little house that the address brought us to at Lake Travis.
“Sure this is it?” Shane asks.
Cole doesn’t answer. He just opens the door and gets out. I make sure to grab my gun out of the center console and tuck it into the back of my jeans. Who knows what kind of situation we are walking into? I’m not gonna go unarmed. And I know that Cole isn’t either. Since the police kept his gun for evidence back in Collins, he’s gotten a new one, and he never goes anywhere without it. I’m not sure about Shane or Bennett. I doubt they’re armed, though, since they flew in today and wouldn’t have been able to carry a gun on the plane with them.
Walking up the five steps, Cole picks up the small flowerpot and grabs the single key. The message we had received told us it would be there. Cole opens the door, it creaks as we step in.
I reach over and flip the single switch on the wall, and it lights up the room. It’s not bad for a cabin. A brown leather couch sits in the middle of the room. It has various photos on the walls of the lake that it overlooks, a TV hangs on the wall. It has a musty smell to it, letting us know it hasn’t been lived in for a while.
Cole walks farther into the small house, and I shut the door behind me.
I follow him into the kitchen, and we all come to a stop. In the middle of the kitchen table sits a glass bowl, just like the one we used to draw our dares from. My heart starts to pound in my chest when I see a folded-up piece of paper inside it.
“Shit!” Bennett hisses softly.
Cole walks over to the table and removes the paper from the bowl. Unfolding it, he looks down at it for a few long seconds. Then he wads it up in his fisted hand and throws it to the floor. “Goddammit!”
“What does it say?” Bennett asks.
Shane just stands there, staring at it on the floor.
I pick it up and swallow when I see it’s been typed. Smart fucker.
“First, there was eight. Then there was five. But you chose to add one more. Now you’ve killed one of you own. Putting you back to where you were before. What would you do if you lost any more?” I read it out loud.
DARE SERIES COLLECTION Page 67