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The second we’re back at school, I march toward the car that’s waiting for me.
It’s mine now. James rocked up the other day with two brand new Nissan Skylines. Conner beamed from ear to ear and snatched the key from him faster than I thought he could move. I, however, turned my back on the whole situation and returned to my bedroom.
The second car still sits in the driveway unused. I refuse to accept his money. He might have helped us out with Donny—how the motherfucker knew what was going on, I have no idea—but I refuse to take his guilt money.
I might live in his house, but that’s as far as this goes. The second I get into college, I’m out of here, and I won’t be looking back. DNA is as far as my connection with him goes.
Shoving the key in the ignition, I twist it and wait for the car to come to life. It turns over and spits a little, but the piece of shit refuses to start.
“Not now, motherfucker.” I slam my hand down on the wheel, throwing myself back in the seat.
I don’t need this right now.
I blow out a calming breath, hoping a gentler approach might work. She’s old, she needs to be treated with care. “Come on, please,” I beg. Holding my breath, I turn the key once more. By some miracle, she comes back to life, and, with a relieved sigh, I make the journey back home.
The house is in silence—exactly as I’d hoped—as I make my way through to the kitchen. There are a fresh batch of cookies on the side. I pile a few up in one hand, swipe a bottle of vodka with the other and go to my bedroom to hide out.
Stripping out of my clothes, I head straight for the shower to wash what’s left of our loss tonight off me. Our opponents’ locker room was shit, and the showers were even worse.
I turn the water as hot as it’ll go and stand under as it scalds my head and shoulders. I barely feel it. The loss isn’t important—it doesn’t matter to me like it does the others. I couldn’t give a shit about winning the championship. All I want is a future. A future away from the Heights, away from the Bay, away from my past and my nightmares.
The thought of walking away and leaving her behind, though? That makes me stop and question everything. Can I really imagine a life without her? I may have only known her a few months at most, but she’s different to everyone else I’ve ever met.
She sees me in a way that no other does. She accepts me, broken, messed-up bits and all.
Is there anyone else out there who could ever do that? Look past the shit I’ve done, both to others and her, and still claim to love me?
I shake my head as the burning water continues to rain down on me.
The guy in her dorm room, and then Conner with his arm around her earlier.
It hits me.
It was him. It wasn’t Hayden. It was Conner.
“Motherfucker,” I yell, planting my fist into the tile beside me.
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m out of the shower and dragging on the clothes I discarded when I walked in.
The house where tonight’s party is being held is only a short distance away, and in minutes, I’m pulling up alongside the other cars lining the street.
Music booms from inside long before I’ve even made it to the front door. There are kids everywhere, but I don’t see any of their faces. I’m too set on locking eyes on the one I want.
People say things to me, but the words pass me by. I’m not here for small talk or to party. I’m here to settle something.
I see his hair first out in the garden. He’s surrounded by others, but when I glance around them, I don’t see Hadley’s platinum hair, so I continue forward.
“What the fuck?” Conner barks as he stumbles forward from where I pushed him from behind.
“Something you need to tell me, brother?”
Gasps and screams sound out around us, but when I look over my shoulder, I notice that people have started to back away. They know we can be volatile. Word spreads around this place quickly, so I’m not overly surprised.
“Uh…” He hesitates, and it pisses me off that he thinks he can get away with this.
“You seem to have taken something that belongs to me.”
“I don’t know what you’re… Oh.” He swallows nervously, and it’s all I need to know he’s hiding something. I know his tells, I’ve watched them for years.
