The road to my house was empty. We had to be sunk. The Feds were giving us a false sense of security.
I parked in the driveway. As I hopped out, the interior of a car parked across the street lit up before going dark. The footsteps were loud in the thundering silence of the neighborhood. I waited on guard. Though I was pretty sure I knew who it was.
“Gavin.”
I turned to face him.
“Special Agent Davies.”
The man, who was around my father’s age, nodded at me. “You can still walk away from this.”
This wasn’t the first time he’d made me an offer. “Can I?”
Though I didn’t want to live the life predestined for me, that didn’t make me a rat. I also wouldn’t send my father to jail. Those hours I’d been in juvie years ago were enough for me to know he wouldn’t survive.
“You can. Just get in your car and go back to your dorm.”
“I can’t do that. Besides, I’m just here to check on my dad. There’s no law against that.”
“Gavin—”
I held up a hand. “My dad is all I have. Would you leave your dad to fend for himself?”
“That’s different.”
Shoving my hand in my pocket, I cut him off. “It isn’t. He needs me.”
I turned from the well-meaning agent.
“Do you really want to give up on a chance to work with Boeing?”
That made me stop. How did he know about that? Slowly, I turned.
He held my gaze like I should read between the words he spoke. “I know about the job opportunity. You have what it takes to make something of your life. Don’t throw it all away.”
There were a million questions to ask. Was there a listening device or a plant in my class? Was he somehow in on the offer as an incentive for me to rat out my dad and the assholes who held his life and mine hostage? In the end, the answers didn’t matter because my actions would still be the same.
“Goodnight, Agent Davies.”
I turned and walked inside while the man behind me sighed. I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. A raid could happen any second. I could be forced face down on the floor and cuffed like a criminal. But I couldn’t turn my back on my father. He’d done something incredibly stupid years ago. And he’d paid for it every day of his life. What Davies didn’t understand was that Dad had done everything for me. They held his life over me when I was old enough to be useful to the family. I was certain they did the same to him using me. Ratting him out would only mean getting us for sure dead. Life in prison wasn’t a cakewalk, but we’d be alive.
The door squeaked, announcing my presence. It was dark inside and I didn’t turn on any lights. Everything I did or said was being listened to, but I didn’t much feel like playing the game tonight.
I found Dad in the basement wrapping stacks of money in Saran wrap. I pointed to the ceiling when he glanced up at me. He nodded and we didn’t speak. He used his finger to indicate the money ready to go.
Silently, I took it upstairs. Though it wasn’t like I was doing anything wrong. People were allowed to have money in their house. There wasn’t a law that stated it had to be in a bank.
I made it to the garage door and opened it. The hinges weren’t rusted like the front and back door. Dad kept this one well oiled. It opened silently as I moved through the house. With no lights, only heat sensors would be able to track me here. I hoped they hadn’t thought us that much of a threat to use them.
The false bottom of dad’s older model pickup truck lay against the wall. A nightlight was plugged in that didn’t illuminate the entire space. It only allowed enough visibility so no one would trip on the tools chest and table I used for working on my Mustang, which was parked in the other slot.
As quietly as I could, I stacked the bills. The hidden space in the bed of the truck was only one stack deep, enough to fool anyone into thinking it didn’t exist during a basic inspection.
Before dawn, the half a million dollars was loaded and ready. I crashed in my old room. Though it took me a long time to fall asleep. My mind kept drifting back to Megan and the hurt expression I’d put on her face.
I covered my eyes with my forearm, hoping to block memories. At four o’clock in the morning, I had a weak moment when I wanted to call and apologize. She deserved that much. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that she wouldn’t appreciate me waking her up.
Eventually, I sank into dreams, or rather a nightmare. Megan stood waving at me with one of her huge smiles until her chest bloomed with red and shock wiped all the happiness from her face.
I woke with my heart pounding, either from the dream or from the fact that Dad stood over me. It felt like it’d been only minutes after my eyes shut. He pointed to his watch.
“You headed out?” I said, knowing I was most likely being recorded.
“The crabs don’t wait.”
There was resignation in his eyes that scared the shit out of me.
“You need me to go with you?” I said, trying to disguise my panic.
Silently, he shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”
“I can go and blow off classes for the day.”
Again, his head swayed side to side.
“I might be old, but I’m not dead.”
What he hadn’t said was yet.
He left and everything in my being wanted to go after him. Knowing him, if I did, he would only say something incriminating to bring down hell on just himself. I had to hope that he could pull this off.
The tricky part would be getting the money out of the truck and on the boat. He’d assured me he had it covered, but wouldn’t tell me how. It was still dark yet. If he wasn’t followed, it would be a breeze. He and I both knew how unlikely that was.
I was on my feet and pounding down the stairs. Dad turned in alarm. We weren’t the touchy, share-your-feelings types. But I hugged my dad for the first time in years.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I whispered in his ear.
It felt like he was leaving with a death sentence.
He clapped my back and said just as softly, “No matter what happens, know that I’m so proud of you.”
Then he was gone. I stood staring at the closed door and listened as the garage rose, waiting for the sounds of sirens or shouts from police. But nothing came.
An hour later, Dad hadn’t called to say all was okay. Then again, he didn’t normally. We had to act like everything was normal. So I went back to the school and onto class.
Later that day, I got a text from him saying that he’d gotten the five bushels for the market. Everything had gone as planned though we weren’t out of the water. The boss would eventually call on us again. The job Dad did was never-ending.
I pushed through Tade’s door.
“You in?”
There was a bonfire in the middle of an empty field near the school. I wanted out of my head and to stop thinking about Megan and her gorgeous curves.
He nodded. It wasn’t like there was much to do around the school. We walked over. It wasn’t too far and we passed Megan’s dorm on the way.
She wasn’t there because she stood in the field near the glow of the fire with that dude I told her wasn’t good enough for her. He stared goofily at her, annoying the hell out of me. I had the urge to punch him in the face as his eyes kept darting to her tits.
“What happened?” Tade asked out of nowhere.
He’d caught me staring at her.
“She’s not for me,” I muttered and took a swig of my drink, keeping my eyes on her.
“Then why are you staring at her?”
The plastic cup I held crushed in my hand. Foaming beer ran through my fingers and I tossed it into the nearby bin.
“When you admit you’ve got it bad for her friend, we can have sharing time,” I said before adding, “This party blows.”
The thing was if I had it bad for Megan like he implied, he was in the same boat. He’d been staring at Reagan as much as I’d b
een checking out Megan.
Though Megan hadn’t noticed me, all her smiles were for that asshole—or tosser, as Tade called them from his time living in England.
I walked away before I caught a murder change. Somehow I bet that would be bad for my resume. The beer soured in my gut but I went and got another.
Then I watched like the masochist I am because I couldn’t force myself to leave.
21
megan
One thing good about Noah: He was actually interested in more than my boobs. He hadn’t once glanced at them, not that I noticed at least.
“Do you really think sexy sells?” he asked.
We’d been talking about my senior project.
“That’s what I’m set out to prove. But maybe I’m wrong.”
His cute surfer boy looks should have me panting. They didn’t. It was hard enough to ignore Gavin, who had arrived a short time earlier.
“If you need a stats guy, I’m your man.”
I pointed at him. “That’s right. You’re a statistics major with a minor in econ.”
“You remembered.”
His smile was nice and should have been blinding. What was wrong with me? Why did I have to like a guy who didn’t think I was worth his time?
“I did,” I said.
“Is there something going on with you and that guy over there?”
Why did I look? It was like my eyes were laser guided to Gavin. He captivated my attention like he had used some lovesick potion on me.
His expression was smug yet bored. Our eyes connected and he didn’t look away. He brought his cup to his mouth and continued our stare down.
Somehow I managed to break his spell. “Who?” I asked, feigning innocence.
“The good-looking one that can’t keep his eyes off you.”
I blinked. Did he just call him good looking?
“You’re into him?” I asked tentatively.
The space between his brows wrinkled. “No. I’m just man enough to admit when another guy is attractive.”
Gah, he even sounded like a surfer. But I could respect his view.
“The answer to your question is no. There’s absolutely nothing going on between us.”
As the words slipped off my tongue, Derrick approached.
“Can I talk to her for a second?” he asked Noah.
“Sure.”
Then Noah walked off. So much for being a man. He didn’t even ask my opinion on the matter.
“Are you with him now?” Derrick asked.
I let my mouth fall open. “Seriously? I believe we’ve had this conversation before.”
“We never finished it.”
I couldn’t fake shock. I was amazed at his brazen behavior.
“Well, here’s the replay. That’s honestly none of your business,” I said.
If I thought he would get it and walk away, I was so wrong.
“It is when you know I want you back.”
His accusatory finger aimed in Gavin’s direction. At least that time I didn’t look.
Frustration curled my fist. I forced a smile with teeth.
“Sounds like a personal problem. You should probably get that checked out. I hear they have counselors available twenty-four seven for delusional people.”
I spun around and got a face full of beer when I bounced off a wall of muscle. Something like a squeal crossed with a groan escaped my throat. I looked up to the heavens and saw the devil himself. I pulled my wet shirt away from my skin with pinched fingers.
“Is there a problem?” Gavin said, but not to me.
I wanted to stomp my feet and curse the ground he walked on.
“No man, no problem,” Derrick said in defeat.
What a wimp. He must have walked away because Gavin’s head bent to stare down at me.
“Wet?” He had the nerve to smirk at me.
I growled as words failed me and I couldn’t express how ticked off I was.
Next thing I knew, he tossed his empty cup in a bin and then reached for the hem of his Henley shirt. It was over his head and held out to me in offering seconds later.
In the flickering firelight, his rock-hard abs lit up one by one. There should have been a law that no one person could be that perfect.
When I met his gaze again, he was watching me. I snatched the shirt from his hands, because also on highlight were my diamond-hard nipples that clung to the wet fabric. I roughly pulled the shirt over my head and it swallowed me up. A smug smile grew on his lips.
“That’s better,” he said.
Then it dawned on me. He thought he had me covered up.
“Did you do this on purpose?”
“No, but now your tits aren’t on display.”
Well, watch this, I thought. His shirt was black as far as I could tell. I cinched at my waist with a knot, then I undid the few buttons at the top, leaving my cleavage to peek through. Though not as much as my V-neck, but enough I felt vindicated.
“Thanks for your shirt,” I snapped. “And don’t expect it back. I’ll consider it payment for ruining mine.”
He didn’t let me get one step before he blocked my path.
“Wait,” he said.
The arrogance was gone, replaced by something else.
“What?”
Couldn’t he tell by my tone I wasn’t in the mood for his shenanigans?
“I’m sorry.”
The apology was so unexpected since he’d taken forever to say it, I stopped.
“Sorry for what?”
He dragged a hand over his hair, making it sexier.
“For everything. You deserve far better than me, like how Tade is all into your friend. He can give her the world. I can’t give you anything. That’s all I was trying to say the other night.”
It would have been so easy for me to forgive him. But I wasn’t sure I believed him.
“You think all’s good now?” I asked.
“Isn’t it? I did what you asked.”
The next words clung to my throat like molasses because in all honesty, I wanted to forgive him. But I managed to get them out. “Not all of it.”
“What else didn’t I do?”
His face was in shadows, but I managed to see the muscles in his jaw clench.
“Just do us both a favor and stay away from me.” All the bravado had left me, but I finished it. “There’s a sweet guy over there who doesn’t think he’s too good for me.”
“Megan.” His voice was strained and pleading. “I said that’s not what I meant.”
“Yeah, so when did you earn the right to decide who’s good or not good enough for me? Because every time I see you, you’re making choices for me.”
His mouth snapped shut as the bonfire became twin mirrors in his eyes. My rooted feet wanted to stay put. But heavy as they were, like cement block, I managed to stomp away. I headed toward Noah, who was by the keg.
22
megan
I awoke to noises in the common area. As my brain came online, I made out Reagan’s voice. Her placid tone probably meant she was talking to her mother, poor thing. The woman ruled her life from afar.
I rolled off my pillow and nearly jumped out of my skin. Last night, I’d barely talked to Noah when I realized he could never be the one. He was a nice guy, but there were no sparks between us. He must have sensed that too as he hadn’t made any moves.
When I’d left, I stupidly checked for Gavin and didn’t find him. Yet when later I’d walked home, there were a few times it’d felt like he was there. Though I’d never spotted him. I’d been so angry that I couldn’t get him out of my head, I’d taken off his shirt and stuffed my pillow in it so I could punch it and get out all my frustration.
Seeing that I’d curled myself around said pillow during the night freaked me out. I could still smell him on the shirt. It was spicy and a little smoky from the fire. I glared at the poor thing I’d given a beating before shoving it off the bed. I briefly wondered what I would do with the shirt u
ntil I noticed the time.
Crapola. Mom would be here soon. I darted out of my room and passed Reagan’s door, which was cracked open. She was on her bed reading a book. Curiosity had me stopping to ask her about what she and Tade had been huddled together talking about the night before.
My girl had done the right thing and apologized. And what did Tade do? He’d asked her out. I couldn’t help hugging her when she said she’d accepted. I felt like a proud mama, like she was taking her first steps.
“What about you and Gavin?” she asked.
I really didn’t feel like answering and waved a hand to dismiss her question. “We shall no longer speak of him.”
“But—”
I shook my head. There were some things I heard about Tade that I wanted to pass on to her. Not that I believed any of it. But I thought it was important enough to share considering her date.
“You’re it,” I said in conclusion. “I see it in the way he looks at you. Plus Gavin even said as much.”
He probably didn’t even realize that he’d given me information I could share with her.
“I thought we weren’t mentioning his name.”
I blinked. “Yeah, forget I said it. Forget him.”
She targeted a finger at my chest. “You still like him.”
“Temptation is overrated.”
“So he’s tempting you,” she teased.
She meant well so I tried not to get annoyed.
“I’m not going there. Besides, you and I have more important things to consider.”
She had absolutely no clue. “What’s that?”
I gave her my best duh look.
“Like, what you’re going to wear?”
She shrugged and said, “Clothes.”
I spent the next half-hour searching and teaching her about the rules of dating since this was her very first one. If I didn’t know her mother, I would have thought her weird considering she was stunning. But knowing her family put things into perspective.
My phone buzzed and I remembered my mother was coming over.
“Mom,” I said into the phone.
“I’m downstairs.”
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