CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

COLE

She’s sick.

She’s twisted.

She’s fucking perfect.

I sit next to her in a booth as she speaks across the table to Becky, and all I can think about is what she said to me in the car. How she would kill someone. How she would cover her tracks. And how she saved our asses by burning Jeff’s body. Had we been that sloppy? Had we not covered our tracks well enough? I would hate to think that Jerrold went to where he buried Aimee’s body and thought to look next to her. That he would have found him and seen him covered in our blood. Would he have suspected us right off the bat? If Eli were still alive, then I would say yes without thought, but he’s not.

But to suspect us? That’s not possible. We were careful. Deke and I had picked him up outside his favorite bar that night. Threw him in my trunk and met the guys on the Lowes estate to carry him up to the cemetery. He had taken a cab to the bar, so we didn’t need to mess with his car. As far as the police know, he got lost or mugged on his way home. Even this city has streets that you don’t go down alone after the sun sets.

“Cole?” Deke snaps my name.

I look up at him. “What?”

“You okay?” he asks softly so the girls can’t hear him. They’re in their own world talking about some shit girls talk about.

I run a hand through my hair. “We’ll be back,” I say to Austin and Becky and slide out. Deke follows me without thought.

“What is it, man?” he asks when we walk outside.

I stop in front of my car and turn to face him on the sidewalk. “Do you think we covered our tracks well enough with Jeff?” I ask.

He snorts. “Don’t let Shane get to you, man. All that shit he was saying last night didn’t make any sense. He’s just scared …”

“This has nothing to do with Shane.”

He frowns. “Then what does it have to do with?”

“I was talking to Austin—”

“Austin?” he interrupts me. “What does she have to do with this? You think she’s gonna go to the police?” he asks.

I shake my head and take a step back from him, running a hand through my hair again nervously. Then I start pacing the sidewalk.

“Cole.”

I stop and look up at him.

He has a sly smile on his face. “She’s getting to you.”

“No, she’s not,” I say like he asked me a question.

He snorts and crosses his arms over his chest. “Becky was right.”

My teeth clench. “No …”

“She said that it’s more than you’re letting on.”

I roll my eyes. “Deke, come on.”

He steps into me. “It’s okay not to want to use her.”

I shake my head. “She is nothing more than part of the game.”

“You’re not in the game,” he says matter-of-factly. “You have your eyes on Austin a hundred percent of the time, and although I don’t have a problem with it, it’s blinding you.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I growl.

“It means you’re not seeing the big picture, Cole.” He sighs heavily. “Kellan is up to something. That night at the clubhouse, I baited him to see what he would do, knowing you would test him. And you did. Even though he didn’t fuck her right then and there, he still failed.”

My body tenses at the thought of Kellan wanting her in any way. “I know!”

“He may want to fuck her, but he wants her gone more. And when he realizes what I’ve figured out.” He smiles, and I wanna slap it off his face. “That she means more to you. He’s gonna take you up on your offer to fuck her, and when you tell him no … He’s gonna make a move.” My hands fists. “Shane can’t decide what side of the fence he wants to be on when it comes to her. And Bennett … is just, well, Bennett. In his own world. He’s not a threat to her. Yet. But we both know that he would take her out without a thought if he felt she jeopardized—”

“I know all this,” I snap, interrupting him.

He glares at me. “Then you need to decide what she means to you. Because I see it all fucking coming to a head. Not soon but eventually, and you’re gonna have to pick a side. Save her. Or kill her before the others do.”

“And you?” I demand. “Where does she stand with you?”

He uncrosses his arms and places them in his pockets. “She’s my girlfriend’s best friend and my brother’s girl.” He looks me in the eyes. “I do what you say. Whether that means protect her or kill her, so her blood isn’t on your hands, is up to you.” And with that, he turns and walks back into the restaurant.

AUSTIN

“So what are you guys doing tonight?” Becky asks me.

“Nothing—”

“We’re going to a movie,” Cole interrupts me as he slides in next to me.

“Really?” she asks excitedly.

I eye him skeptically.

He places his arm over my shoulders and pulls me to his side. I hate that my body instantly softens. “Really,” he says, looking at her.

I’m about to open my mouth and say no when he continues. “We are taking Lilly to see the new Disney movie. She won’t leave me alone about it.” My heart melts a little bit at the mention of Lilly. “You guys wanna go?” he asks.

Becky looks at Deke. He shrugs. “If that’s what you want—”

“Yes. We’ll go,” she interrupts him.

Deke looks at Cole and smiles. “I can drive if you want,” he offers.

Lunch went well although I was tense for most of it. Cole is acting differently, and I can’t figure it out. And Deke kept staring at me with a smirk on his face like he knew a secret. It put me on alert.

“What’s wrong?” Cole asks while he drives me home.

“Nothing,” I lie.

He looks over at me and snorts. “Your knees haven’t stopped bouncing since we left the restaurant.”

I slap my hands on my thighs to help tame them. “Why am I going to the movies with you?” I blurt out.

He frowns. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“We don’t do that.” When his frown deepens, I add. “Date.” This isn’t even a real relationship. He told me I was his, and no one else will date me. I kinda have no other options.

“I promised Lilly yesterday I would take her to the movies tonight, and I figured you’d want to come. Is there a problem?”

I open my mouth but then close it. Not sure what to say. “No,” I say when I come up with nothing. “I like spending time with Lilly.”

He smiles. “But not with me.”

Is he being playful?

I don’t say anything to that because I’m not sure what I like at this moment. He’s got my mind twisted. He’s a killer. He’s been nothing but a dick to me. But then I find out he has this heart that is so big he would rather the entire city hate him than soil his friend’s reputation. Then, of course, Lilly. He thinks the world of her. Raises her. And then there’s the sex. Fuck me! The sex. It’s amazing. Sex with Martin was slow and soft. He was always high, and I was always on top while he played some slow blues music. Sex with Cole is crazy and animalistic. Makes me wanna play some hardcore metal and have his hand wrapped around my neck.

“Your phone is done charging,” he says, unplugging and handing it to me. I go to reach for it, but he pulls it away. “Why do you have the retina scanner on it?”

“It came with the phone.”

He comes to a stop at a red light and looks over at me. “The real reason, sweetheart.”

“Just give it to me,” I bark.

He places it in the side of his door. “When you can be truthful, I’ll give it back.”

“Cole,” I growl.

“Austin.” He smiles.

I don’t like this new playful Cole. It’s annoying. “You don’t get to do this,” I snap.

“Do what?”

“Not tell me anything but want me to tell you everything.”

“So there is a reason you use the retina.”

I sit back in my seat and the light turns green. He doesn’t go. The car behind us honks its horn. I turn around to look as the guy swerves around us. “Cole. The light is green.”

“I know,” he says simply.

Another car honks its horn. “Well, why are we just sitting here?”

He yanks the emergency brake up and crosses his arms over his chest. “We’re not moving until you tell me why you have a retina scanner on your phone.”

Another car honks and flies by us. My teeth clench. “You are such a dick.”

“Call me whatever you want, sweetheart. I always get what I want.”

A car passes by, and the passenger sticks his right hand out flipping us off. Thankfully, Cole’s windows are blacked out so no one can see us. Finally, the light turns red, and I just stare straight ahead. I remain silent as does he. I pray that he goes through the stoplight the moment it turns green again. But he stays put.

Fucking bastard.

I let out a long breath while cars pass us once again. “I walked into my bedroom one day and found Phillip going through my photos. Photos that I had taken of myself and sent to Martin. After that, I knew I needed to put a lock on it that he wouldn’t be able to guess. Retina scanner was the best bet.”

He tosses my phone to me, and it hits the door. Then he releases the emergency brake and throws the car in gear and squeals the tires as he takes off, barely making it before the light turns red again.

I look over at him as he drives like a maniac now through traffic. Cutting cars off and tailgating. “What is your problem?” I demand.

He slams on the brakes at another red light. I can see his jaw tighten.

“Why do you make me tell you things and then get mad at me? If you don’t want to know the answer, then don’t make me tell you. It’s not that hard of a concept,” I snap.

He remains silent, and I look down to turn my phone on. It starts to ding instantly with notifications. I open my Facebook page and see I have over a hundred new friend requests, which is a surprise. But only one stands out. Cole Reynolds. His profile pic is of us. I’m sitting on the counter at his father’s house, and he’s standing between my legs, kissing me.

I ignore it and go to my pictures. I scroll through them, looking at the ones I have with Martin. Each one makes me angrier and angrier that I haven’t heard from him.

I click on his page. His profile is still the same picture it has been for two years now. Him standing with his surfboard on the ocean. I scroll down through his posts and see that he is still addicted to the games. He likes to smoke weed, sit back, and play on his phone. I see he was tagged in a picture just a few days ago. The person doing the tagging is a girl. She has short brown hair and light brown eyes. His lips are on her cheek and her hand is on his chest. But there’s no caption.

I swallow, hating the feeling that he is with someone else so fast. I’m not gonna say I thought we would get married, but he was a big part of my life. And then, boom. Nothing. It hurts.

It’s not like Cole and I are anything important. Like I wanted this relationship with him.

I unfriend Martin, exit his page, and go back to mine, deleting every picture he was in.

Cole pulls up to my house, and I open the passenger door to get out. “Austin …” He grabs my upper arm.

I swing my head around to glare at him. “I didn’t delete them for you.” Then I yank my arm free and get out.

_________________________________

Sunday evening, I find myself back at the clubhouse with the guys to do another dare.

I sit on the couch with Cole to my left and Deke to my right. We haven’t spoken much since yesterday afternoon. We went to see a movie last night, but the best thing about movies is that you can’t talk during them. Then afterward I told him to take me home. He didn’t argue even though earlier in the day he had told Celeste I would be staying the night with him. I think he knew I was pissed and didn’t wanna to fight with me over it.

“So who’s up?” I ask.

“Cole,” Deke answers.

“Don’t make your dare illegal,” Cole warns me without looking my way. And I know it’s for my sake, not his.

I ignore him.

Like last time, Shane passes out pieces of paper and pens. I write down a dare and put it in the bowl.

I peek over at Kellan standing by the table, and he’s staring at me. I look away.

Cole gets up and goes over to the bowl. He draws out a piece of paper and silently reads it to himself at first. His jaw sharpens and nostrils flare. His eyes instantly go to Kellan who smiles back at Cole, then looks back at me.

“I dare you,” Kellan says to Cole with a sinister smile on his face.

I swallow nervously.