by Max Henry
Hard hands shunt against my chest. “You mean if you want to put your sister first.”
“What if I do?” I regain my footing and close in again, yet she holds me at bay with a firm forearm to the gut. “She’s family, Greer.”
“And for that reason, I’ll never be able to compete.” Her nostrils flare, and the sunshine in her irises darkens to dusk.
“You’re the only one making it a competition.”
A sad smile plays at her lips. “No, Colt. You did. You’re the one pulling away from me because of it.” She wipes the side of her thumb under one eye, and it’s then that I realise I’m the thing that hurts her most. “Hot and cold, I can’t keep up. All I know is that whether Lacey asks or not, you’ll always put her needs over mine.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” But I do.
Wasn’t I the one who planned to leave? To take off and leave them both behind because I don’t know how to balance them alongside my guilt?
“Tonight, we work together for the sake of our friends,” Greer demands with cool detachment. “After that, you have a choice to make.”
“Don’t do this.” It dawns that I’ve lost all semblance of domination over her as my shoulders slump. I can’t lose her. Nobody else can dive into the abyss of my heart and make it look like paradise the way she does. “Don’t put conditions on what we have.”
“Why not?” Her arms band across her chest, her strength fragile. “You did.”
“Greer.”
“Once the party is seen to, I’m going home. You have until I board a plane to wherever the hell they want to send me to decide if what we have is worth destroying your life for.”
“A relationship with you wouldn’t destroy it,” I urge.
“Then why the hell do you try so hard to avoid one?”
TUCK
“I want you to know I appreciate having you there for my daughter through this,” James says, leaning against the weatherboards of the old villa. “I’m only now deepening my relationship with Lacey and, Lord knows, there is a lot that she still doesn’t share with me.” He runs a hand over his hair, mirroring how awkward I feel receiving this heart-to-heart. “Just, thanks for being her rock.”
“I’m glad I can be here to help,” I say honestly. “I’m sorry that it came to this.”
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s nothing.” He waves our whole situation off as though tomorrow we’ll all be lining up to play a friendly game of footy. “I need some advice on another subject, though.”
“Sure.” I frown, thumbs through my belt-loops to save my arms from feeling redundant at my side.
“Colt.” James holds my gaze. “He grows up in a different world to the one I had. I was much the same as you.” He grins. “Rooting around on my motorbike and creating mayhem wherever my friends and I went.” His face falls dour again as his thoughts return to his son. “I don’t know how to manage the stresses Colt has. I don’t know what he needs at his age. Only how I coped now, which, if we’re frank, is barely.”
“Can I speak openly?” I itch for the security of my hat and the familiarity of a horse at my side.
“Of course. That’s what I ask for.”
“I think, Sir.” He opens his mouth to protest, yet I hold a hand up to silence him. “I don’t feel right calling you James; there isn’t the right respect given.”
“Fair enough.”
“I think, Sir, that he’s lost his sense of identity. He struggles with his self-worth because he tied it so tightly in what he was in Riverbourne.”
James folds his arms, frowning. “You speak as though this is something you’ve experienced.”
“To a degree.” I shrug. “After my mother passed, it didn’t feel right being the troublemaker I was before. It seemed … disrespectful to her memory. I struggled with that. I wasn’t used to people wanting to be around me for who I am, not what I was up to.”
“How did you get past it?”
“Stopped fighting to return to someone I’ll never be again.” I reach out and finger the oval leaves of a shrub beside the house. I haven’t spoken this openly with anyone about the hole my mother left. “I could never be my mum’s little menace anymore. I had to become a man and be there for my dad.”
“You skipped the transition,” James muses quietly.
I nod. “I suppose so.”
“Thank you for sharing that with me.” He clears his throat. This stuff is awkward for guys, and as much as I hate that stigma, I understand it.
It’s hard to remain a steady source of strength for those around you if you allow your weaknesses to surface like chinks in your armour.
“If you don’t mind me asking, have you discussed this with Kurt?” His steady gaze is curious without judgement.
It encourages me to answer honestly. “He doesn’t ask, so I don’t say.”
“I think he cares, though.”
And therein lies the truth. My dad does care about me, even if he struggles to translate that into physical action. He loves me, has always been there when I truly needed the help, all while quietly encouraging me to gain my independence.
Perhaps that was his idea of doing the best he could? Making me resilient to the utter heartache and loss he felt when his companion died?
I can’t believe I’ve never seen it that way before.
“Thanks, Sir.” I give James a tight nod. “This helped me too.”
“You’re welcome.” His head turns at the sound of a vehicle slowing for his driveway.
We both stand in silence and watch as Maggie’s mum pulls up to the house, window down. “Is my daughter here?”
“She was, but she left a little while ago,” James says.
“I think you’ll find her at Beau’s,” I fill in. He can have a go at me for it later.
“Thanks, love.” She expels a laden breath, seemingly staring at nothing.
“Trouble?” James asks.
She shakes her head, plastering one of her genuinely warming smiles across her lips. “I can’t sit idle while they deal with this,” she explains. “Maggie was adamant that I didn’t need to get involved, but I couldn’t forgive myself if I weren’t there to protect her from something preventable, you know?”
“I understand.” Lacey’s dad pushes off the house and moves toward the car. He stops with both arms rested on the roof to lean down and chat through the window. “I’m meeting Kurt shortly to head over to the Archerson’s place. You can hang around if you like?”
“Are you sure I wouldn’t be in your way?”
“Honestly, we could use the help. Sometimes a mother’s touch is what kids need when they feel like their world falls apart.”
The truth of that statement strikes me like a barb to the heart. I turn away, intent on heading inside to ease my pain the best way I can—with Lacey.
“Tuck.”
I turn back at James’ request. “Yeah?”
“Message Beau and get them over here, would you?”
“Sure.”
“And round up your other friends, too. Johnson and …”
“Ed,” I finish. “Do I say what for?”
He shakes his head, stepping back from the car. “I’d like them all here. That’s all.” He dismisses me by turning back to Maggie’s mum and saying, “Park up and join us inside, Charlotte.”
I climb the porch steps with my phone already in my hand. Lacey stumbles back when I open the door.
“What did he want?” Her hand loops through my free arm, tugging me after her as she scurries back to her room.
I abandon the message I have half typed and chuckle. “Nothing you need to worry about. Can you message Maggie and get her to bring Beau here?”
“Why?” She drops to her bed, tucking long legs beneath her.
“Your dad wants everyone in one place. I’ll call Ed. Find out where the fuck he is with Johnson.”
“Sure.” Her thumbs already fly over the screen. “Done.”
I’ve barely br
ought Ed’s number up. It never ceases to amaze me the speed addicted people can use their devices.
“Lacey!”
She jolts at her father’s voice, sliding off the bed. “Back soon.” Lacey’s socked feet pad lightly down the hall. “Coming, Dad.”
I refocus on the phone at my ear in time to catch Ed’s greeting. “What’s going down now?”
“Aw, come on. Don’t be like that,” I tease, quietly pissed at his impatience. “Lacey’s dad wants us all at her house.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know. Just come, okay? Johnson still with you?”
“Yeah.” His hand muffles the receiver. “When do you need us? We’re kind of busy.”
“As soon as.” I bite back the urge to ask him why he’s suddenly so fucking difficult and distant. “See you when you get here.”
I disconnect instead. This day is turning out to be one hell of a revelation more than I expected—and not for the person I thought would be most affected.
Lacey glides back into the room as though floating on cloud nine, barely concerned, it seems, with what we face tonight.
Meanwhile, I lean against her dresser, quietly going out of my goddamn mind.
“All good?”
“Mm-hmm.” She presses her lips together, checking a reply from who I assume is Maggie and giggling. “Mags will be here soon with Beau. They’re arguing over who’ll drive at the moment.”
Stubborn idiot. He’s too proud for his own good.
“You okay?” Lace asks, her brow pinched while she regards me from a spot on the end of her bed.
I nod. “Will be once the day’s over.”
“He doesn’t know,” she whispers.
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Anymore.
Lace pats the bed beside her. “Then come tell me.”
I choose to stay standing. I feel as though I’m more in control when I assume a dominant stance such as this. “Run me through what your plan for the night is.”
Her joy evaporates, vanishing before my very eyes. “I hadn’t thought about it in much detail.”
Indicating to the darkening sky outside, I ask, “Don’t you think it’s about time to?”
Her head turns, eyes void of any traceable emotion while she studies the dimming light. “Mandy wanted me to race—”
“I can sort her out.”
“—but it’s what Amber wants with me that I can’t figure out.”
“You’re a pawn in her stupid game, just like the rest of us,” I explain. “She’ll use us to make herself look powerful and then toss you aside.”
“How, though?” Lacey’s firm gaze finds mine. “What is she likely to do?”
I shrug, genuinely unsure. “On the surface, it looks as though Amber will use Dee’s party as a popularity vote.”
“But why invite Riverbourne if she didn’t intend to target me? I mean, isn’t she choosing Portside?”
“I guess. But what’s the point of using you if you’ve already cut ties with them? Doesn’t that make you kind of last week’s news?”
She flashes me a sly smile. “Nice.”
I shrug. “Stating the truth, baby.”
“They must be willing to get involved for revenge. And Amber gets the by-product of humiliating me for her own retribution.” Lacey captures her bottom lip between her teeth, head hung while she fidgets with the seam on her socks. “The Chosen loathe that I escaped punishment, and Amber must hate that me coming here split your friends apart.”
“It didn’t.” Her vulnerability undoes me. I cross the room and drop to my haunches before her. “Whether you came here or not, we all would have grown apart anyway. It’s just what happens when people grow up and start separate lives.”
“So, Amber is undecided,” she cries, exasperated. “But I’m still with the Chosen being after revenge. They weren’t able to pin Gayle’s harm on me, and before that, I had the Patreon site with Willow—” Her hand slaps to her mouth.
I chuckle at her distress. “I know, baby, and I don’t care about the site.”
“You don’t?”
I shake my head.
Her smile softens into sheer adoration. “Well, the Chosen don’t know. I never told anyone at Riverbourne it was me. They thought I transferred there simply because my mother wanted me to.”
“And you became one of the most popular girls there,” I expand. “Could that have any bearing on this bullshit tonight?”
“Maybe.” She shrugs, brow hard while she studies my face. “I didn’t hurt anyone directly.”
“But people resented who you were, right? Especially the girls. You lot are naturally bitchy when it comes to attention.”
“You aren’t making me feel any better, Tuck,” she drawls.
I reach out and still her hands, linking my fingers through the back of hers. “It’s history, Lace. I want you to prepare for whatever might surface tonight, is all.”
“I have to stand up to Libby,” she murmurs. “If I want to earn everyone’s respect, I need to show them that I have their best interests at heart.”
“What if this isn’t about you, though?” I tug at her hand to urge her to look at me again. “You’re not the only one who hurt the students at Riverbourne.”
She frowns.
“Colt,” I prompt.
“No.” There’s no hesitation in her abrupt answer. “What he did is small change. They wouldn’t come after him like this; he didn’t mean as much to them as I did.”
“This is where our opinion differs, babe.” I take a moment to search for a way to resolve this, but as usual, I come up stumps.
She tells her brother off for carrying guilt the way he does, and here she sits before me doing the same thing. Undo this war of the classes, remove Libby from her throne, and would it change a thing?
Unless Lacey shakes her guilt, in her mind, it will always be about her.
“You’ve got to let me help you with this,” I urge. “I understand what you think you need to do, but I don’t want you to get hurt in the process.”
“I need to do this myself, Tuck.” She cradles the side of my jaw with one hand. “It’s important you let me stay in control of my choices, okay?”
I don’t say a thing. How can I when I don’t agree?
“I just want to put this to bed and start over here in Arcadia. Is that too much to ask?”
“No.” I stand, pulling her up with me so we can switch positions with her seated on my lap, back to my chest. “You will start again, baby.” I press a kiss to the juncture of her neck and shoulder. “We need to take things one day at a time first is all.”
“The days all feel the same, though.”
The sadness in her tone rips my gut wide open. “I know it feels like that, but trust me, there’ll come a day when all of this seems so much less important.”
“I’m taking your word on it,” she mutters, squeezing my hands where they rest over her stomach. “But only because it’s you, and I trust what you say.”
My heart clenches at the sincerity in those words.
“However long this damn road is,” I promise her. “You’ll never walk it alone.”
COLT
Shoulder to shoulder with Christian and Barrett, I stand at the picture window and watch as Christian’s old man pulls his Bentley around the circular drive. He phoned to say he was on his way, but it seems the man must have been halfway here when he made the connection.
Jet-black tinted windows and custom black rims give the vehicle an ominous edge that matches the owner beautifully. Kitted in a crisp charcoal suit, Derek steps out of the car and reaches up to straighten his lapels.
“It was good while it lasted,” Barrett states dryly.
“Oh, get over yourself,” Christian snaps on my left. “The old man’s not here for you.”
“If you insist.” He backs away, soon replaced by Arthur, while Derek takes a moment to study the array of vehicles parked in his driveway.
“I won
der how it went,” Arthur muses, arms folded over his chest.
“You’ll find out in a few moments.” Christian backs away to greet his father, leaving me alone with Arthur.
“I didn’t share that image with anyone else,” I cede. At first, it was fun watching him sweat. But as the weight of Greer’s ultimatum grows by the hour, the joy has long since left.
“Thanks.” He draws a deep breath before adding, “I don’t hold it against you; what you did with Libby.”
“I’m honoured,” I sass, unable to help myself.
He should be angry. I fucked his girlfriend for crying out loud.
“Still think you’re a fucking tool,” he clarifies. “But you got me out of a one-sided hellhole relationship the easy way, so thanks.”
“Any time.” I smirk, knowing I share the sentiment.
She took what she needed from me, well aware I deluded myself into thinking the affair benefited me in any way.
That woman is the epitome of a black hole. I should offer her up for scientific study.
“Gentlemen,” Derek greets as he enters the room, grappling for the last threads of authority.
It’s sad, really. He’s more than likely the laughingstock among his friends, so he lords what’s left of his influence over teenagers who have no choice in the matter.
“Greer.” Derek nods to the familiar face. “And?”
“Willow.” She steps forward, hand outstretched.
“Pleasure.” He gives it a gentle pump and frowns. “How do you fit in if you don’t mind me asking?”
“The social media campaign was my doing.”
Derek’s chin lifts while he regards her slowly. “Interesting.”
“Her doing, but my idea,” I clarify.
Like fuck, I’ll let her take all the heat for it. Any retribution can be earmarked and posted my way, thank you.
“Is that everyone?” Derek leans forward to look out the window, driving home the point about the cars.
“Yes, Father.” Christian hands him a scotch. “Sit down and tell us what the hell is going on.”
He eyes his son a moment and then opts to let whatever rebuttal sat on his tongue go. “I spoke to the Prescotts.” He chooses to settle himself beside Greer.