by London Casey
“Yeah,” Maddox said. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“You did this?” Tate asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“The buildings on the sides and stuff?”
“Yes,” I said again.
“Damn, that’s cool,” Axel said in his really rough voice. “Where’s that going, Tate? Your office? Home?”
Tate looked around. Then he looked up. His eyes went wide. “Right there.”
“Where?” Maddox asked.
“Above the door,” Tate said.
“Here?” Prick asked.
“Yes,” Tate said. “Fuck yes. So anyone who’s here can’t leave without seeing where this all started. For all of us. Give me a ladder, a hammer, and a nail.”
Max and Prick did just that.
To my shock, Tate climbed up the ladder with the picture in his hand. He stood on the second-to-top rung and balanced the picture on the top of the ladder and the wall. All I could imagine was the picture falling and the custom frame shattering on the floor.
Tate smashed the nail the into the wall and hung the picture up.
“It’s crooked from down here,” Prick called out.
“I bet you’ve heard that before,” Axel said.
Everyone—including me, the construction guy, and even the accountant—all burst into laughter.
I thought I saw Prick blush for a quick second before he went to get himself a drink.
Tate came down the ladder and moved it out of the way.
He pointed to it. “That’s the best thing anyone has ever gotten me.”
“Not a chance,” Maddox said.
“I mean it,” Tate said. “When I started St. Skin, I maxed out every credit card I had. I applied for a shit-ton more cards, and anyone that approved me, I maxed them out too. That’s where St. Skin started. And look where it is now.”
Prick appeared with his arms full of drinks. Everyone took a bottle, twisted off the caps, and threw them to the floor. I stepped back, put my beer on the floor, and got my camera ready.
“This next chapter is for you,” Tate said. “I don’t like being filthy-rich alone.”
Everyone laughed.
He raised his beer.
They all raised their beers.
I started snapping pictures.
I got some really good shots of the guys.
They all drank and then they all stood there. In weird silence.
Tate grinned.
“We doing this?” Prick asked.
“Doing what?” I asked.
“Cheers, drink, break this place in,” Maddox said.
Tate looked at the construction guy. “You don’t mind a little mess, do you?”
“As long as you keep paying me…”
“Tate, we need to talk about this budget,” his accountant said.
“Fuck the budget,” Tate said.
Maddox winked at me. “Get that camera ready, sugar.”
Tate lifted his bottle again. They did it again.
I was ready.
Tate gave a three-count, and they all slammed their bottles to the floor.
Glass shattered, beer sprayed, and they all cheered.
Fucking crazy and wild bad boys…
I was a little drunk.
Maddox had my hand and pulled me into the one room. I laughed as I stumbled, almost dropping the drink in my hand.
“What are we doing?” I asked.
Maddox spun me around, then shut the door and locked it.
“This is my room now.”
“Your room?”
“We’re all getting our own room at both shops. So we can spread our work out a little more. So I claimed this one.”
“I like it.”
“I like you,” Maddox said.
He grabbed me and kissed me. “I love that you’re here, sharing this moment with me.”
“I’m paid to be here.”
“I like that,” Maddox said. “You’re on company time, and I’m going to be on you.”
I burst out laughing.
Maddox slid his hands up my body and touched my face. “I’m not lying, sugar.”
“I know you’re not,” I said. I grabbed at his shirt. “How did we get like this?”
“Like what?”
“So broken and now so whole.”
“Fate,” Maddox said. “The one thing I fought against for way too long.”
Maddox kissed me.
I spread my hands against his shirt, feeling hard muscle through the cloth. “Hey…”
“Hey, what?” he whispered.
The beer was making my head spin a little bit. “Everything I told you so far.”
“What about?”
“There’s more to the story,” I said. “Things I haven’t said.”
“Okay. Do you want to tell me right now?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I looked up at Maddox. “It’s really bad. What happened. What I did.”
“What you did?” he asked.
“What I did.”
Maddox ran his thumbs across my cheeks. “I still stand true to you, sugar. When you’re ready to talk, I’m here. And I will never judge you.”
“I never meant for Mitch to step in and do what he did,” I said. “It just happened out of nowhere. I fell into a bad habit.”
“That’s okay. You’re with me now. Nothing bad is going to happen.”
“But before that…when I was with Lance. It was so serious. I was younger, you know?”
“Who?” Maddox asked.
“I never told you his name, did I?” I sighed. “I probably never talked about him. His name was Lance.”
“Lance?”
“Yeah, Lance,” I said.
“Lance,” Maddox repeated. “What kind of car did he drive?”
“What? You want to know about his car?”
Maddox took his hands away from me. “Just answer the question, Hazel. How much did you know about him?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “And his car…”
“It was sleek black. Annoying-looking. Loud, too.”
“Wait, what?” I asked. “How did you…”
Maddox looked at me. I looked at Maddox.
“And he died in a car accident,” Maddox whispered. “Right?”
“You’re starting to freak me out, Maddox,” I said. I was sobering up really fast. “I’m not lying, either. This isn’t a funny.”
Maddox shook his head. He touched my face again. “No, it’s not funny at all, Hazel.”
Then he backed away, turned, and left the room.
I spun around.
What the hell had just happened? How the hell did he know so much about Lance?
I hated myself for being drunk because I couldn’t think straight.
Then something hit me. Something Maddox said a while back.
When he was telling me about Ava and his best friend. I asked him if he got to deal with the guy who had been hurting his girlfriend.
“That’s the even more fucked up part, Hazel…because that same night, he died too.”
I felt like the room ran out of air.
I hunched forward.
My mind was starting to piece it all together.
My life and Maddox’s life changed on the same night…
40
MADDOX
YEARS (AND YEARS) AGO
There wasn’t a thing to do. I hated being outside. I hated being at school. I didn’t need school. I was going to ride my dirt bike professionally. I was going to do jumps, tricks, and all kinds of cool stuff. I was going to be famous, too. Really famous. And have lots of money. Then I could do whatever I wanted. I could go wherever I wanted.
Everyone could kiss my ass.
Ass.
My face burned when I thought of that word.
That word would get you a meeting with Mr. Anderlyn, the principal.
I collected a bunch of rocks and sat against a brick wall and started to stack them up. The other ki
ds were playing. Kickball got intense, but that was stupid. Someone brought a football, but only the rich kids were allowed to play. Girls played hopscotch. The big kids dared each other to make it across the monkey bars without dropping.
Me?
I just did my own thing.
My record of stacking the rocks was eight. Then they’d topple.
I restarted the stacking and made it up to seven.
That’s when a foot came swinging by and kicked the rocks away.
“Hey!” I yelled.
I looked up and saw a new kid standing over me.
“Hey yourself,” he said. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“What’s your name?”
“Maddox.”
“Maddox. That’s kind of stupid. Hey, Maddox, dare me to punch one of those kids over there? The next one that touches the football. Dare me?”
“Not really. Why?”
“Just dare me.”
“Okay. Fine. I dare you.”
“Cool,” the new kid said.
I watched as he walked across the playground lot. Slowly, I pushed against the wall and stood up.
The new kid walked right into the football game as the ball was thrown.
A kid name Timmy caught the ball. Someone touched him with two hands, ending the play.
Then the new kid hit the football out of Timmy’s hand. Before Timmy could say a thing, the new kid punched Timmy in the eye! Right in the eye! Timmy fell back, and everyone rushed to help him.
“Maddox dared me!” the new kid yelled.
Then everyone looked at me.
I gasped.
The new kid laughed.
He walked right back to me, strutting like he owned the lot. Which he would, someday soon.
The new kid stuck his hand out. “You and me, Maddox, we’re going to best friends.”
“You blamed me for that,” I said. “You’re a jerk!”
“I’ll get in trouble, not you. But they all think you made me do it.”
I looked around. Everyone was looking at me, whispering.
Suddenly, I was the baddest kid in school.
I looked at the new kid. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lance,” he said. “And we’re going to rule this school and this town together, Maddox.”
And he was right.
And about eight years later, he would no longer want to be called Lance…his new name was Night.
41
MADDOX
PRESENT DAY
I felt like I was in a tunnel. I heard the music. The laughter. I could see everything, but I focused on the door. I had to go back and get Hazel. She was drunk and couldn’t drive. I had no idea that bomb was going to get dropped on me, though.
The boyfriend that hurt her when she was younger was the same guy that was sleeping with my girlfriend. The same guy that called himself my best friend. The same guy who put Ava into such a mental state that she felt her only way out was to jump to her death.
Lance was Night.
“Hey, brother,” a hand grabbed my shoulder.
I turned and threw the palm of my hand.
I hit Tate in the chest and shoved him back.
“Jesus,” Tate yelled.
“Don’t sneak up on me,” I said. “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Tate asked.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Prick said, quickly getting between us. Prick looked at me. “You okay?”
“No. I gotta get out of here.”
“Are you drunk?”
“No. I’m fine. I have to go.”
“What happened? Where’s Hazel?”
I looked back.
I gritted my teeth.
“Just do me a favor,” I said to Prick.
“Anything, man.”
“Come with me,” I said. “Open the back door and let us sneak out.”
“Why?”
I looked at Prick. “Do this for me. She’s really drunk. And she’s emotional.”
“Fuck,” Prick said.
I had to go back and get Hazel.
When I opened the door to my room, she was on the floor, crying, curled up in a ball.
I hurried in to get her. I dropped to my knees and grabbed her arms. “Hazel, come on. We have to go.”
“You walked away,” she cried.
“I had to,” I said. “For a second. Do you realize…”
Hazel looked at me. Her green eyes laced with tears. “I realize…he hurt me, Maddox. Just like he hurt Ava. That could have been me. But I stood up for myself.”
“Okay,” I said. “I know you did. You stood up for yourself. Now I need you to stand up for me. And leave this place. I’m taking you home. You need to sleep this off.”
“I can’t sleep,” Hazel said. “He was supposed to be my boyfriend, but he was with someone else—your girlfriend! Is that why we’re connected, Maddox? Somehow, we both knew, didn’t we? So we could find each other and the truth?”
“Sugar, you’re drunk. I shouldn’t have walked away. I’m sorry. I’m in shock right now. And you’re drunk.”
“I’m not that drunk. I can think clear. I can see clear.”
I put my hands to her face again. I was hurt. I was twisted. I was angry. “Hazel. Please.”
Finally, she started to stand up. I got her to her feet and put an arm around her. I walked her out of the room and to the backdoor of the building where Prick stood, waiting.
“Are you sure you can drive?” he asked me.
“I would never put myself or Hazel or anyone in that position,” I said. “Tell Tate I’m sorry, but I have to get out of here.”
Prick patted my back. “Take care of her, man. Okay? It’s all good.”
“My camera,” Hazel said. “I need my camera. I can’t lose my camera.”
“I’ll get it,” Prick said. “I’ll keep it safe.”
I saw the look on Prick’s face when he saw Hazel. Then he looked at me.
“It’ll be okay,” I whispered. “I promise.”
I was talking to Hazel, myself, and Prick.
Prick shut the door.
I grabbed Hazel.
The next few minutes were fuzzy, but we somehow made it to my truck. I got her inside, where she leaned against the passenger window and cried. I drove away before anyone could chase after me and question me.
Ten minutes into the drive, the crying quieted down. I looked over at Hazel and saw that she had fallen asleep. Hair in her face, huddled up in a position of fear, drunk and asleep. Shit. It was probably better that she was drunk for this.
I stared at the road, wondering how. How did I not figure this out sooner? How could one person like Night destroy so many lives at once? Yet at the same time, if it weren’t for him, the connection between me and Hazel wouldn’t have been as strong.
No matter what it was a fucking disaster.
All those times Night had been bragging to me about keeping women in line…he was abusing not only Ava but also Hazel. And I knew nothing about either. I was wrapped up in Ava. I didn’t know who Hazel was. Meanwhile, Night had everything he had wanted. Women to sleep with. Women to control. And I was too fucking dumb to make the connections and stop him. It was all too late. Ava wrote her goodbye letter to the world and jumped. And as for Hazel…
I looked over at her.
Well, I guess in some sick way, she got lucky. Night was drunk when I went up to the ridge. He was the person I saw take off on the dirt bike. So, he must have taken off, gotten into his car, and driven away. He was about twenty minutes away when he lost control of his car and smashed it into a tree. Hit the tree at just the right spot, too…or the wrong spot, depending on how you looked at it. It was the right speed and the right angle that it killed him instantly. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, big shock there. Because he was Night and because he was drunk and because of his reputation, the case was pretty open and shut. Drunk. Speeding. Hitting a tree. Dead.
I never got a
chance to get him face to face after finding out what he had been doing to Ava. I never got a chance to yell at him. To fucking knock his teeth out. To drag him to the top of that ridge and toss him over.
And the sinking feeling got even worse as I glanced at Hazel again.
She was still sleeping.
But her secret was out there.
When I got back to the apartment, I parked the truck and walked around to the passenger side. I slowly opened the door and let Hazel fall into my arms. She groaned and stirred. She let out a noise that made me think she was going to throw up, so I stopped and held her in my arms for a few seconds just to see what would happen.
Lucky for us both, nothing happened.
I scooped her up into my arms and kicked the door of the truck shut.
I carried her into my apartment and walked her to the bedroom. I gently put her on the edge of the bed and got a glass of water, some ibuprofen, and the trashcan from the bathroom, plus a towel to go under that.
Never in my life did I think I’d be carrying a drunk woman around like this.
But that’s what love could do to a man. And goddammit, I loved Hazel.
I crouched down at the side of the bed and ran my fingers through her hair. I stroked her cheek.
I was so angry. I was as angry as I could ever remember. The images flashing in my mind of the emergency people bringing Ava from the edge of the river. Never seeing her face again. Never getting a chance to go to her funeral and say goodbye. The police harassing me for months. The endless questioning. Being followed by reporters. It was hell for me. Living each day like that.
Standing up, I walked to my dresser and opened the top right drawer. I dug through and found the letter Ava wrote. I touched the envelope and felt my heart sick. I didn’t need to read the letter ever again. Those words were forever tattooed on my mind and my heart. I looked into the mirror at myself.
When everything happened with Ava, I wasn’t a man. I was a boy trying to be a man. My age meant shit. Old enough to buy smokes and get tattoos but not old enough to buy a drink. That fucked-up age in life when things didn’t make sense. When most people were protected by the life of a campus and college and parties and experiences, I was living through the streets, the woods, the trails, on the ridge, drinking, fighting, wondering what I was going to do next.