The secrets were only just beginning to spill.
Chapter 14
Wes
I stood in the hallway and waited.
Henders saw me and gave his obligatory head nod and I showed my hands in innocence and peace.
Things had a strange sense of calm which was never a good thing.
I rolled with it though, nodding at Leo and Flynn as I pushed from the wall and started to walk toward the front door of HCH.
Outside, I pulled my sunglasses down to my face and jumped up on the pitch-black railing and waited again.
“What are we doing?” Leo asked.
“I’m just keeping a promise,” I said. “You two go to the shop. We’ve got work to do.”
They left and I grabbed my phone and called Ryker.
“What up, cuz?” he said.
“Moron,” I said. “Need you at the shop in a little bit.”
“Was already planning on dropping by,” Ryker said. “Walker has some shit to do though. I think he’s working hard on this one chick. He’s going to casually drop by where she works. Corner her.”
“Romantic,” I said. “That’ll win her heart over.”
“You know him. He believes in wearing them down.”
“How sad.”
“You’ve seen him. He’s ugly as fuck.”
“He’s your brother,” I said.
“Different mother.”
I shook my head. “See you later, Ryker.”
My eyes moved to the right and I saw Aira exiting the building.
I moved from the railing and stood tall, watching her.
She was in between Kailey and Charlotte.
She looked at me and offered a quick smile.
I walked right toward them and blocked their way.
Kailey and Charlotte froze in place, each of them reaching for Aira as though I was going to hurt her.
I didn’t give a damn what they thought about me. My eyes were locked onto Aira. And I kept my gaze at her. She was in jeans again, like she had always been. Except for the night before. When I found what she had done to herself. And don’t think for a second that shit slid to the back of my memory either. Aira was too beautiful to be hurting herself. Hell, nobody should ever be hurting themselves.
After everything I had to go through with Noelle…
“Stop by the shop, darling,” I said to Aira. “Bring your friends if you’d feel safer.”
I looked at Charlotte.
She held her gaze at me.
“Flynn will be there,” I said with a smirk.
Then I looked at Kailey.
I kept the same smirk.
“Got something to say, Wes?” she asked.
“Nope. Nothing to say or see,” I said.
“Fucking asshole,” Kailey said as her cheeks turned red.
I moved out of the way and watched the three of them walk away. I stared at all their asses, one at a time, nodding as I knew already that Aira had the nicest one.
They could say what they wanted and call me what they wanted and they would be right all the way.
But my promise to Aira was the same.
I was going to protect her from everything.
Including herself.
But I wasn’t sure about protecting myself from her.
The shop was in full swing. Jett stood just outside the garage talking to some guy. They shook hands and Jett grabbed the guy’s shoulder and nodded.
When Jett turned, he pointed at me.
“What did I do now?” I asked.
“Nothing. Stay out of trouble today?”
“For the most part,” I said. “You know how it goes. Trouble finds me.”
Jett laughed. “There’s a lot of bullshit here with that comment.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Guy was cleaning out his uncle’s storage unit and found two bikes. Most of it in pieces. Wanted to know if I’d look and see if it’s worth fixing up.”
“Nice. You going to tell him it’s worth shit and then fix it up yourself?”
“That would be wrong, Wes.”
“Like Pop didn’t build the business off that kind of stuff?”
“I know nothing of that,” Jett said. He playfully punched my shoulder. “How’s your love life?”
“Love life?”
“Come on, Wes. The second you whispered Aira’s name, there were little red heart bubbles floating out of your eyes.”
“Not a chance.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah it is. Why would you even bring that up? You know that we were friends when we were younger. And you know how this town is. All I did was try to check up on her.”
Jett laughed. “It’s okay to feel something. You know that, right?”
“Oh yeah? You want to talk about feelings? Do I even need to say someone’s name to you?”
Jett curled his lip. “Don’t think I’m above kicking your ass, Wes. I love you, but I will destroy you.”
“See, there’s where my issues come from. Nobody around me has ever had a good thing going.”
“Pop did.”
“With how many women?”
“True.”
“And you?”
“I’m not worried about that,” Jett said. “You shouldn’t either.”
“Right. You can throw it at me but can’t hear it.”
“You’re a kid, Wes.”
“Far from it, Jett. You’re more of a kid than me.”
“Yeah?” he asked. “Tell you what then. You go into the office and deal with Pop and invoices and ordering and paying all the bills. And I’ll go talk to the pretty girls walking this way.”
I turned my head and saw Aira.
Walking with Kailey and Charlotte.
They stopped at the far end of the paved lot.
Kailey crossed her arms, still pissed at me and the world because of her Tiny Tits. And Charlotte played with her hair, trying to make it look good for Flynn.
Aira hooked her thumbs to the straps of her bag and looked scared as hell to be approaching me.
I reached for a cigarette and lit it.
Jett smacked me on the shoulder.
“Good luck, Wes. She’s going to fuck everything up.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said.
“Your heart’s racing and you’re hard as a rock.”
I stupidly looked down at my jeans, just in case.
Jett started to laugh.
He clapped his hands as he walked away.
Fuck him.
He was the only person who knew what I had once felt about Aira. To the world, I projected her as the girl next door. The pretty, good girl who knew nothing bad in life. The girl who wore dresses all the time because Mommy and Daddy wanted to parade her around town like the little rich girl she was.
But only Jett knew the truth.
And when she left, I didn’t like it. I got into a lot of trouble. A lot of fights. I hung around older kids and tried to put myself into bad positions. And Jett was always there to rip me out of the flames before I got burned up for good.
Aira was here now.
I wasn’t sure why.
But I’d find out eventually.
“Are they afraid?” I asked Aira, pointing to her friends.
“No,” she said. “I think they’re mad at me for showing up.”
“Because you listened to me,” I said.
“Just curious what you wanted.”
I turned my head and saw Flynn wiping his hands. I whistled and gave a nod toward Charlotte. He threw the rag down and ran toward her.
The way he scooped her up and spun her around and kissed her…
I reminded myself I needed to focus on keeping Aira safe before anything else.
I closed in on her and whispered, “Did you do anything to yourself last night?”
Her face turned white. “That’s what you wanted?”
“Want me to ask it in front of everyone? Because I will.”
; “Screw you, Wes. You’re not who you think you are to me.”
“Wanna bet?” I growled.
“So you told me to come here to make me feel like crap?”
“You feel like crap? Because I called you out?”
“You know what… see you around, Wes. Thank you for being there last night. But even still, it wasn’t your business to be there or find anything out about me.”
Aira started to back up and I thought about my next move.
I looked beyond her and heard the sound of a motorcycle.
It was a growling engine and the ride came flying around the corner and through the lot of the shop. Flynn blocked Charlotte out of the way while Kailey had to fend for herself and step back to be safe.
Aira turned just in time… in a bad way…
The motorcycle was speeding right toward her.
I wrapped my arms around her and spun, basically throwing her out of the way.
Ryker turned and cut the back wheel of his motorcycle to the pavement, like a show off asshole.
I looked at Aira. “You okay?”
“Who is that?”
“My cousin,” I said. “And I’m going to kill him.”
I ran over to Ryker as he took his helmet off. I smacked it out of his hand and shoved at his chest.
“What the hell?” he yelled at me.
I made a fist and put it to his jaw. “You riding like that? Like a damn fool. You almost hit her.”
Ryker turned his eyes away from me, then back at me. They went wide.
“Is that…”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Don’t make me knock your two heads together and then kiss and make up,” Jett called out.
I moved away from Ryker and showed my hands like I had done back at school.
Damn, everyone wanted a piece of me it seemed.
“Hey, little Aira,” Jett said and waved.
Aira’s cheeks turned red. “Jett. Hey.”
“You’re all grown up now, huh?” he asked. “Where have you been?”
“Traveling the world to find myself,” Aira said.
“That so?”
“No,” Aira said. “How have you been?”
“Living the dream,” Jett said. He looked at me. “You two dumbass punks done fighting?”
“We’re good,” I said.
“Perfectly good,” Ryker added.
I looked at him.
He touched his matted down hair and then made a move to get by me to go see Aira.
“Haven’t seen you in years, babe,” he said.
“Easy,” I said to Ryker.
“What?” he asked.
“Ryker and Walker,” Aira said. “Wow. You two were the worst.”
“Walker still is. I grew up.”
“Not by much,” I said.
“Why aren’t you in Hidden Creek High?” Aira asked.
“He went to jail for murder,” I said.
“What?” Aira asked.
“Dude,” Ryker said. “He’s full of crap. I go to Tech. Piggy bank isn’t big like you all here.”
“I was just getting ready to leave,” Aira said.
“Still chasing her away, huh?” Ryker asked me.
I had given Ryker busted lips and black eyes over the way he ran his mouth about Aira and he still did the same thing.
“Let me walk you to your friends,” I said to Aira.
“Hey, wait a second,” Ryker said.
He reached for Aira’s arm. His fingertips grazed her skin.
I want to kill him.
“What are you doing later?” he asked Aira.
“Why?” she replied.
“Wondering if you wanted to grab a bite with me?” Ryker asked. “I can pick you up on my ride.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” I asked.
“What?” Ryker asked. “Did you finally make your move or what?”
Aira laughed.
I pulled my fist back and felt something grab my arm.
“Not today, Wes,” Jett’s voice said. “We need everyone alive and not bleeding to finish up work here.”
Ryker cackled and walked backwards. “Keep it in mind, Aira. You can end up with a real Jackson man.”
I gritted my teeth.
“He’s fucking with you,” Jett said in a low voice. “He knows.”
I pulled away from Jett and blocked Aira’s view from Ryker.
“Did your cousin just ask me out on a date?” Aira asked.
“Yeah, he did. But don’t say yes. He won’t be able to pick you up later because I’m going to break his legs.”
“You really think I’d go out with him?”
“I don’t know. Would you?”
Aira shrugged her shoulders. “You’ll have to find out later for yourself.”
Now Aira was fucking with me.
I grabbed her hand. “I’ll be by later tonight. You can either come out on your deck or I’ll ring the doorbell.”
Aira’s cheeks burned red again and I let her slip away.
Flynn and Charlotte gave their goodbye kiss and Flynn walked by me kissing the air.
I made fists, tempted to go to Aira and give her a proper kiss goodbye too.
I needed her with her friends. Until I could get to her later.
Keep her safe.
And find out her secrets.
I took a quick shower and flexed my hand under the hot water.
Ryker didn’t get away without a punch to the mouth for what he had said to Aira. It was all in good fun though. We all knew the punishment if anyone got out of line. Some people didn’t understand our tough side but that was their problem. We always took care of business in our family.
Plus, I needed to knock Ryker on his ass to get his attention.
He was to help me protect Aira, which he agreed to do.
Not that he had much of a choice.
I walked down the beach to Aira’s place.
You know I never understood the way Jett had it bad for Julia and did nothing about it. I remembered when Julia married Aira’s uncle. Jett lost himself pretty hard and I never thought Pop was going to hurt someone as much as he wanted to hurt Jett for what he did. Hell, I thought the shop was going to go under at that time too. And the rich sharks were swimming around the shop and the land, hungry.
Why that burned in me I had no real idea, other than the fact that Aira was living with Julia.
I stopped at the deck and reached up, my fingertips touching the bottom of it. I had to jump to get my hands around the pillars of the railing. I pulled hard, doing an awkward pull up. I dangled there as I looked into the windows and the back door of the house, making sure Julia didn’t see me.
It looked quiet and dark so I finished my climb up and jumped over the railing.
I stood there and waited, helping myself to a cigarette as I gave Aira a chance to do the right thing.
By the time I flicked my cigarette away, the door slowly slid open.
Aira stepped out wearing shorts that were not shorts at all. So damn short that I needed another cigarette to calm my nerves. She was in the same hoodie as the night before.
Just the fact that she wore shorts in front of me… that meant something.
“You’re crazy,” she said.
“We know that already, darling,” I said. “I told you I was coming here to check on you. And I’ll do the same thing every night. Same time. Same place.”
“Why?”
“I already told you why.”
She was too far away so I killed the space between us.
I reached down and touched her inner thigh.
She gasped and stepped back.
But she didn’t slap me.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
She looked behind her and looked around.
“We’re alone,” I said. “And I’m making sure you didn’t do anything stupid again.”
“Stop saying it like that, Wes. It’s not stupid.”
“Oh?
Then what is it?”
“Why do you smoke?” she asked.
“What?”
“Why do you smoke?”
“I like it.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“So you like to do that to yourself?” I asked. I felt the anger boiling again. “That doesn’t make sense to me. You’re too fucking beautiful to do that to yourself.”
“You think I’m beautiful?”
I growled under my breath.
“Yeah,” I said. “I do, Aira. And not just the way you look now.”
“Really?”
“Don’t make something out of it,” I said. I moved closer and grabbed the front pocket of her hoodie. “And your legs are killing me. You should show them off more. So stop doing dumb shit to yourself. You think you need to do that? Call me. Talk to me. Find me. Or better yet, I’ll show up in a second.”
Aira slowly shook her head. “You’re just acting like a boy. Saying what you think I want to hear. To win me over.”
“Win you over? I’m not worried about that.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To keep you safe and to kiss you goodnight.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked, fighting back a smile.
I didn’t waste any more breath on words.
I leaned down and put my lips to hers.
There was something soft and perfect about her lips. She didn’t wear lipstick or anything fancy like other girls. Her lips didn’t need it either. I loved the way she tasted and I didn’t feel guilty about helping myself to seconds or thirds.
By the time I got to fourths, I kissed her harder and deeper.
She tasted even better.
And damn did she know how to kiss right back.
I took my right hand from her hoodie pocket and slipped it around to her lower back and pulled her against me.
The kiss took on a life of its own, the sweet sound of our lips hitting and pulling apart mixed well with the ocean behind me.
When I felt my body starting to react, thinking about what’s next, I had to pull away.
I took a deep breath and kissed her forehead.
“Get some sleep, darling. Promise me… not tonight.”
“Okay, Wes,” she whispered in a soft voice that made me want to stay the night. “I won’t do anything tonight.”
I turned and jumped over the railing.
Aira came running to see if I was okay from the drop.
I was fine.
I always landed on my feet.
Hidden Creek Secrets (Hidden Creek High Book 1) Page 10