by Mae Doyle
I made her get in the car. I made her ride with me.
It may have been the accident that killed her, but I murdered Tiffany.
“You’re not stupid,” Elle begins, but I cut her off.
“You know what? This was fucking dumb. I don’t want to talk to you. If you ever tell anyone about this, kitten, I will kill you.”
Her eyes flash, but she doesn’t respond. I realize that she’s heard this threat already so many times. You can only be threatened a certain number of times before it wears off.
Ted. That fucker has threatened her and her mom more times than she can probably count.
And then I started doing the exact same thing.
Fuck. I’ve got to get out of here.
“I need air.” I push past her and throw the door to the classroom open, stumbling out into the hall. Bending over, I grab my stomach and take deep breaths.
That was too much. I shouldn’t have let myself get so close to Elle.
Without turning back and looking in the classroom, I walk down the hall. I’m shirtless and barefoot, but I don’t give a fuck. Nobody here is going to say anything to me. Nobody besides Elle has the balls to call me out on anything, and I left her behind me.
There’s no looking back now. Right?
***
“You sure that this is what you want to do?” Teague leans over the center console to look past me at the house. The lights are all off and it’s completely dark inside. At 2 am, I expect nothing less, but sometimes people do stupid shit.
Like right the fuck now.
“You pussing out?” I can see Teague shake his head out of the corner of my eye, but I don’t turn to look at him. “What about you guys?” I raise my voice. “You two gonna be pussies with Teague?”
“Man, I’m not pussing out.” Teaque slaps the dash of my car to emphasize his point. Robby and Brett laugh in the back.
Good. They’re fucking idiots sometimes, but I know that they have my back. At least, they fucking better.
“Okay then. Let’s do this.” I convinced Bethany to have Elle stay over at our house tonight. She should be passed out in bed with her, which means that there’s no risk of accidentally running into her or waking her up.
The four of us climb out of my car and quietly shut the doors before we walk across the driveway. There aren’t any streetlamps on the street and everything is pitch black except for the light from the moon. I don’t want us to use flashlights unless absolutely necessary.
Getting caught would be terrible. Accidentally waking up Ted may be even worse.
The back door is wide open, just like Elle said. Apparently, Ted doesn’t like to sleep with all of the doors shut.
“Do you know where their bedroom is?” Robby’s so close behind me that he’s practically breathing down my neck. I shoot him a withering look that he can’t see.
“Obviously, you fucking genius. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be risking this. But I want you and Brett to stay outside the house to make sure that nothing goes south. Teague and I will go in.”
Teague follows me when I push the door open a bit more and slip through. We’re both quiet in the kitchen and feel our way around the counter and to the door. “First room on the right,” I whisper to him as we start up the stairs.
The first stair squeaks. “Dammit,” I mutter under my breath, standing still, but nobody comes. Teague wisely steps over it as he follows me up the stairs.
Once on the landing, I hesitate a moment. I know where to go, and I know what we have to do, but I’m risking a fuck ton to be doing this.
All of this for a girl who has the face of my dead ex. She’s barely spoken to me since we fucked in the classroom last week. She has no idea I’m here.
Teague gently pokes me in the back, and I nod, pushing open the bedroom door.
Moonlight falls in the window and lands in a strip across the bed. Ted’s on the side closest to us. There’s a phone on the bedside table and a glass of water, but I don’t see any weapons.
Good.
When I point to the other side of the bed, Teague immediately walks around it and stands over Elle’s mom. She’s sound asleep on her back, her hair spread around her head, and she doesn’t move. Ted, on the other hand, shifts a little as I walk up to him.
“Ted.” I get close to his face and whisper his name. When he doesn’t respond, I try again. “Ted, you old fuck, wake up.”
His eyes fly open and he gasps when he seems me just inches from his face. I see when he reaches out his hand to grab for his phone, but I’ve already moved it from his bedside table.
“Get up, you asshole, we have something to talk about.”
Carefully he flips the covers off of him and slides his legs out of the bed before glancing at his wife. Teague is standing over her, ready to act if she wakes, but she doesn’t move. I shake my head at him, and he focuses on me before standing up.
He’s wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. From the way Elle described him and how he acted the first time I met him, I expected him to be a larger than life monster, but he’s not. He’s just a pathetic man who beats his family and abuses her.
“Downstairs. Go.” I prod him in the back and follow him as he walks out of the room and down to the kitchen, being careful to keep an eye on him so that he doesn’t try to break away and run. Teague is right behind me, a large knife in his hand.
“Listen, asshole,” I say, when we’re all in the kitchen, “you need to cut your shit out.” I turn on the kitchen light so that I can see him better. He looks cocky, but I can tell that he’s scared. Good. He should be. He leans against the counter, trying to act casual, but when I walk towards him, he flinches.
I’m in charge here, and he needs to learn that.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He looks confident and arrogant and I hate him for it.
“Really? No idea? No idea about beating your wife? About abusing Elle?” I walk up to him and reach down, grabbing his cock through his boxers and squeezing hard. He gasps and reaches for me, but I grab his wrist with my other hand. “Maybe if you kept your cock in your pants where it belonged and stopped hitting women, we wouldn’t have to be here.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” he gasps out. “Please, listen.”
I don’t want to, but I let go of him and step back. “This is gonna be good. Lie to me, asshole.”
“She loves it. Elle. She begs me to come to her in the night. I know that she needs me, I,” he says, but I don’t let him finish.
Rage fills me when I hear him talk about Elle – my Elle – like that, and I launch myself at him. He may be older than me, but I’m bigger and stronger than him, and I land on him, fists flying. The sound of his nose breaking under my first punch should stop me, but it only eggs me on.
“Asshole! Liar!” I slam my fist into his stomach and he doubles over, crying out.
“Quiet, now, Clay,” Teague warns from behind me, but I barely hear him. All I can think about is making this asshole pay. He’s done more than enough already, and he needs to suffer for the pain he’s brought Elle.
Ted stands up, panting as he tries to catch his breath. There’s blood splattered down his front and he reaches behind him to grab the counter for support.
I hit him again, this time in the throat, making him fall to his knees. After a minute he slowly stands up, his breathing a gasping wheeze.
“You need to go,” I tell him, once he’s back on his feet. My voice is dark and low. “You need to go and leave them alone, or I swear to God, I will come back and kill you.”
He looks at me, fear in his eyes. Good. This fucker should be afraid of me. I’m the golden prince, and what I say in my town goes.
“Fuck you.” He spits the words at me and reaches behind him for something on the counter. Before he can swing it up and over his head, I’ve tackled him to the ground and have him pinned there, my face inches from his.
“Try again, asshole.”
Chapter 16
/> Elle
Clay wasn’t at school yesterday, and he wasn’t there again today. Normally, I’d be happy to be free from him.
But something feels off.
Ted left town without warning and my mom’s been an absolute wreck waiting for him to get back. He’s not been calling and he didn’t even say goodbye to me.
Normally, he’d want me to give him a special goodbye. Normally, he wouldn’t leave me alone until we were alone. But this time, he was gone before I got home from school. Bethany had driven me to school and then back home after practice and he was already gone.
It was kinda wonderful, actually. Well, except for the park where my mom’s a complete wreck.
Teague has been keeping a close eye on me, which isn’t really anything new, but when I realized that he’s my best bet for finding out what’s going on, I decided to corner him after class.
He turns the corner after me as we both head to the locker rooms, but instead of walking down the hall, I’ve ducked into the door of the science lab. As soon as he catches up with me, I jump out and grab him by the arm.
We’ve never really spent time alone, and I’ve certainly haven’t ever reached out and touched him before, and he starts.
“Elle, what the fuck are you doing? Get to the locker room and change for cheer practice.” He tries to pull his arm away from me, but I hang on.
“Not yet. You have to tell me what’s going on.” Farther down the hall I see Robby and Brett watching us, but they don’t move any closer.
“Nothing that concerns you.” He yanks his arm free from my grasp and turns to me, his eyes dark. “Now get along, little kitten, before something bad happens to you.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” It’s a lie, and he can see right through it. My heart pounds in my chest as we square off in the hall. He’s not as big or strong as Clay, but he’s a linebacker, and I know that I couldn’t hold him off if he wanted to do something to me.
The thought of what Clay would do to him if he were to harm me flashes through my mind and gives me some bravery. Why the hell am I drawing strength from that asshole?
Teague sighs and turns to wave at Robby and Brett, who disappear into the locker room. “Clay’s just laying low for a few days. We paid Ted a visit and he’s just making sure that everything blows over.”
“What are you talking about? When did he talk to Ted?”
I can’t lie, it fills me with some joy to think that Ted and Clay faced off and Ted was the one to leave town, but I’m still not sure what happened. It would explain Ted’s sudden absence, but I’m dying to know what was said.
I’m also dying to know why he would do anything to help me.
“The other night we all went over there and talked to him. Now listen, Elle, you gotta get to practice.” He grabs my arm and squeezes so hard that his thumb digs into my skin. “Don’t tell anyone about our conversation. Clay doesn’t want people to know that he talked to Ted, and you don’t want to bring it up, okay?”
“Were you there?” I know that he and Clay are practically inseparable, and it only makes sense that Teague would go with him. “Did you help Clay?”
Teague pauses for a moment and I think that he’s going to be honest with me, but instead he gives me a shove on the shoulder, pushing me towards the locker room. “Go get changed, Elle. Quit asking questions that you don’t really want to know the answer to.”
I want to argue, but instead I nod and walk to the locker room, him a few feet behind me. I have no intention of actually going to cheer practice, but I’ll let him think that that’s what I’m doing. The door shuts behind me and I wait, counting to thirty, before I crack it open and peek out.
Nobody. Carefully, I slide out from the room and dart down the hall, my heart pounding. I don’t know what Teague would do if he catches me, but I certainly don’t want to find out.
Once I’ve turned the corner, I take a deep breath.
He didn’t see me. Now I just have to worry about how to get to Clay’s. Before I can worry about that for too long, however, someone taps me on the shoulder.
My heart drops. How the hell did Teague catch up with my that quickly? Before I can even think of an excuse, however, the person speaks.
“And exactly where do you think you’re going? Don’t think that cheer practice is important enough for you?”
Bethany. Thank God.
Slowly I turn around and she releases my shoulder. “I need to go talk to Clay.”
She snaps her gum and eyeballs me before she speaks. Already changed for practice, she looks preppy and hot, but she smiles. “Okay, loser, I’ll take you.”
“Wait, what?” I fully expected her to argue with me about leaving school and skipping practice. “Why would you do that?”
“Well, it’s not because I like you, that’s for damn sure, so don’t get the wrong idea.” She loops her arm through mine and guides me down the hall. “It’s only because I’m damn tired of Clay locking himself in his stupid suite this entire time. If you’re the only person who can get him to come out, then maybe you should come see him.”
Glancing behind me, I check the hall for Teague. He hasn’t come around the corner yet, but I’m positive that he’ll come looking for me to walk me to practice.
“Great, but we better hurry.”
She stops and looks at me. It’s maddening. I want to scream.
“You want to suck my brother’s cock so bad that you are just dying to get there?”
“No! I just…Teague is gonna see us and he won’t let me go.” Someone’s coming down the hall. I can hear their footsteps echoing, but they still haven’t turned the corner. If we hurry, we can make it before they see us.
“I’m just fucking with you, Elle. And fuck Teague. He doesn’t scare me.” She turns and grabs me to drag me through the doors to the parking lot.
***
“There you go, bitch.” Bethany stops the car at the front of her house but doesn’t put it in park or make any move to get out.
“You’re not coming in?” I hesitate, my door on her handle, and look back at her. She laughs.
“Yeah, I don’t want to be anywhere near the two of you. Clay knows that he did something stupid, and for some reason, he put himself on the line for you. I thought he hated you, but you must have some magic pussy or something.” She revs the engine. “Get out of my car.”
I scramble out and barely get free from it before she gases it and tears back down the driveway. Turning, I look at their house. It’s huge and foreboding. Tall windows overlook the gardens, and the front porch steps are lined with huge planters.
I should go straight to the front door and see if his parents are home, but I don’t.
Instead, I walk around the side, cutting through the lawn. I know that Clay has an exterior door from his suite that opens up in the back. I don’t want to see his parents. I don’t even know that I want to see Clay.
I’m terrified, but every time I think about running and saving myself, I manage to put my other foot forward. Slowly I make my way around the house.
I don’t know what I’m walking towards.
I just know that I don’t have a choice.
Clay
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I pause my video game and crane my neck to see who the fuck has knocked on my outside door.
Nobody ever comes around to see me this way. All of the guys know that this is private. I’ve never let a girl come in that door, only out, and that’s when I’m done with them.
There’s only one person who’s stupid enough to try to get to me this way. Kitten.
Elle’s rapping lightly on the glass, her nervous face close to the door so that she can peer in. For a moment, I think about just staying where I am and letting her knock the afternoon away. I love the idea of her out there, trying to get in, trying to get to me.
Sighing, I turn back around and restart my game, but before I’ve played for a minute, she calls out.
“Clay! Ar
e you in there? It’s me, Elle. I need to talk to you!”
Christ, her yelling like that is bound to piss off my parents. Pausing the game again, I toss my controller onto the sofa and vault over the back of it, landing with a loud thud and then running to the door. Her hand is raised to knock again when I unlock the door and yank it open.
“What the fuck are you doing here, kitten?”
Never mind that I’m glad to see her. Never mind that she’s all I’ve thought about since I put myself in exile. I don’t know why she’s here, I don’t know how the fuck she got here, and I don’t like it.
“I…I came to see you.” She glances down but then looks back up, locking her gaze onto mine. “I wanted to check and see if you’re fine.”
I hold out my arms. “In one piece. Bye.” Before I can shut the door, though, she catches it with her foot and then pushes it back open.
Brave little kitten seems to have learned some new tricks.
“What the fuck are you doing now?”
She bites her lower lip. “I need to talk to you. I think that I owe you a thank you.” Slowly she slides in the crack of the door, her body pressing up next to mine as she does.
I feel my cock twitch in my pants, but I try to ignore it.
“I didn’t do anything that you need to thank me for.”
“You did, though.” She reaches past me and shuts the door. Elle’s now so close that I can smell her perfume. As much as I want to lean forward and take another whiff, I hold myself back. “Ted’s gone.” She searches my face for any flash of recognition or surprise.
I stay as neutral as possible. “He seemed like an ass.”
“He is. But he’s also not the type of guy to just leave if he thinks that he has something good going on. You know anything about him leaving?” She steps forward, closing the gap between us. It feels like there’s an invisible line pulling her closer. I have to fight to keep my hands by my side and not pull her to me.
This is Elle. The kitten. The girl I fucking hate.
But right now, I don’t hate her. Right now, I want to pull her to me and feel her pressed up against my body.