“Are you okay?” Ava questioned me.
I had chuckled out loud at the thought of having loved ones.
“Yeah, I’m just hungry,” I told her.
“Me too,” Micah added.
Ava seemed to shift in her spot.
“My dad said he was going to grill some steaks. You guys are welcome to come.”
Both Micah and I looked at each other, not wanting to turn down her offer right away. Ava was oblivious to us and instead was furiously typing on her phone.
“We don’t want to impose,” Micah said.
“It’s all good. I just told my dad you guys were coming over.”
Both Micah and I looked over at each other, and I got the feeling he was feeling weird about this dinner. I felt guilt, which was funny. It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t like her dad—I genuinely liked the man. He’d helped me out in more ways than I could ever imagine. Because of him and the work he’d allowed me to have, I could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel I had dug for myself. I didn’t know how cool Ava’s dad really was, but I imagined he wouldn’t be as accepting of the fact that I didn’t only want to fuck his daughter but her best friend too.
“I’ll follow you guys home. Micah, you can ride with Ava.”
“Stay right behind me.” Ava pointed a finger at me, and I saluted her.
I got in my car and tried not to think too hard about what just went down. Either we were being watched closely so whoever was fucking with us could get our reactions, or we had some room to breathe before the following message.
The biggest power plays our stalkers had were mind-fuck games.
As promised, I stayed on Ava and Micah’s tail while driving toward her place. The town had become brighter since Halloween night. More people and businesses were leaving lights on in hopes of keeping monsters at bay. It was comforting not to be in the dark at night.
My phone started to ring, and I picked up, thinking it was Ava or Micah wanting to make a last-minute pit stop.
“What happened?”
“What happened?”The voice that replied was not Ava’s nor Micah’s.Fuck.I hadn’t been thinking much of Ricky anymore.My mind had been on other things. I knew I could miss a drop, maybe two, but three in a row was bound to get suspicious.
When I called in a favor with Lorenzo Rivas, I wanted to plead for help, but what was the point of getting under one lord only to go to another? Shit was shit no matter which way you saw it.
“Hey, Big Dog, long time no talk.” I tried to play it off, but my heart started to beat faster.
He let out a humorless chuckle. “You’ve been blowing me off, Cruzito.”
Ricky wasn’t just stating a fact. It was a threat, and I hated him for it. I hated that he preyed on helpless kids to make his empire. If I could go back in time, I would have never taken his so-called help.
“Naw, school just got a bit busy with midsemester finals coming up.” The lie flowed easily from my tongue.
“So now you got time to do a run?”
I didn’t want to.
“I’m at your disposal,” I bit out sarcastically.
At this, he did chuckle wholeheartedly because we both knew it was true.
“Don’t forget how you can afford that education you seem so proud of.”
I ignored the dig. “When and where?”
“Four a.m., the day after tomorrow. Meet Jorge at that quack church. Instructions will be given there.”
