Page 16 of Always: A Legacy Novel

“How did you get over here?”

Cross sometimes thought—despite Zeke’s father being Wolf—that the guy was dumb as shit. He was a good friend, sure, but dumb. “I’m on my bike, man.”

“No, I meant … do you ever get in trouble when you act like a little shit?”

“Not really.”

“Ever?” his friend pressed. “Because I breathe in the wrong direction, and Dad is on my ass.”

Wolf wasn’t like that with Cross.

Then again, Zeke wasn’t like Cross, either. He didn’t have an interest in the business their families dabbled in. Zeke wasn’t good, but he wasn’t that sort of bad, either.

Cross shrugged under the weight of his leather jacket. “Did you get my shit I asked for?”

Zeke nodded, and pulled open the passenger door of his Camaro. A beat passed before he tossed a black device across the driveway. Cross caught the phone easily enough, and flipped it over in his hands to take a look at it.

All black.

Touchscreen.

Fingerprint password capability.

“Burner, right?” Cross asked.

Zeke rolled his eyes. “I get you what you ask for, Cross. Why do you need a phone, anyway? Didn’t Cal just buy you a new one for school?”

“He spies on it. He didn’t tell me he was spying on it, and that pisses me off.”

“Oh. Well, shit.” Zeke came close enough to put his hand out, palm up. “Two for that, by the way.”

Cross stuffed the new phone into his pocket, grabbed the rolled up bills he had stuffed in there that morning, and paid his friend. “I thought it was supposed to be three-hundred?”

“I got it cheaper.” Zeke smirked. “For free, actually. It’s wiped, though, so no worries. You’re good.”

Cross didn’t care.

He had a new phone.

That’s what mattered.

“So hey,” Cross said, his thoughts drifting back to the dark-haired, green-eyed Catherine Marcello in an instant, “what else do you know about Catherine?”

Zeke passed him a look. “That she’s a lot closer to your age than mine, and that’s enough for me to know to stay the fuck away, man. I’m not into jailbait. Also, she’s Dante Marcello’s daughter. My father would skin me alive.”

Cross didn’t make much time for girls—at least not ones that went to his school. He liked females, sure, but there weren’t a lot that caught his attention enough to actually keep it. Girls his age liked boring things, and he didn’t care enough to pretend to give a shit. Older girls were good for other things, but that’s about all he kept it to.

Catherine, though …

She was kind of like him, with a family like his.

That interested him a whole lot.

Calisto was waiting on the back porch when Cross parked his quad, and dismounted from the bike. “At least you’re wearing your helmet now.”

Cross hung the helmet off the handlebars. “Yeah, well, last month I hit a tree root and went right over the front of the bike. Figured a helmet might have saved me getting knocked out for an hour and then waking up wondering where the hell I was.”

His step-father frowned. “You didn’t tell me you wrecked the bike.”