I groaned.
It was late, and she and I weren’t chatty. What the hell did she want?
Sliding the screen, I answered. “Yeah?”
“I have something for you,” she sang, her voice slow and sultry and way too unnerving.
I straightened my shoulders, tensing. “I’m sure I’m not interested,” I said flatly, turning on the shower.
“Oh, you will be.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I’m at Madoc’s house. Hurry or we’ll start without youuuu.”
Jesus. I wasn’t one to judge, but K.C. could be a little stupid sometimes. Right now, however, she just seemed drunk.
“Put him on the phone,” I ordered, my patience circling the drain.
I heard her giggle before the rustle on the other end.
“Dude, just get over here,” Madoc laughed, keeping his voice low. “You’ll want a piece of this.”
What the fuck? “Of K.C.?”
“What?” Madoc got defensive. “K.C.’s awesome. She got you a present. He’s waiting in the hot tub right now. I’ll give you a hint. His name is Nate.”
My pulse throbbed in my throat, and my face got hot.
“So get your fucking ass over here!” he shouted at me and hung up.
Oh, man. I breathed in and out, wanting to laugh and kick something at the same time.
Okay, I guess K.C. wasn’t stupid, after all.
I had no idea how she wound up with Nate—and at Madoc’s house—but it was perfect.
I would pound the shit out of him for myself, but I’d kill him for Tate.
When I thought of how she’d cried, having to face her father last week. Or of how I’d escorted her to every class to make sure no one said shit to her.
Every tear down her face, every shake of her chest, and every time she’d closed her eyes in embarrassment was pain that I’d caused. Nate and Piper didn’t have a problem with her. They retaliated against me.
I walked into the spare bedroom and shook my brother awake. “Wanna go pick a fight?”
After we’d gone into Chicago today for Tate’s present, he’d crashed at my house. Even though I hated that he wasn’t with us, I was relieved his foster parents were lenient with the visitations. He’d slept over every night this week, driving an hour to school every day.
“Hell, yes,” he mumbled groggily and got out of bed.
He pulled his hair back into a long ponytail, and we both slipped into our Trent trademark black hoodies before walking out the door. My mom was asleep, and I briefly thought of trying to grab Tate and take her along, but it was better that she stayed home. No use taking the chance of getting her into more trouble.
We climbed into my nearly repaired Boss, and set out.
Jax yawned at my side as we cruised the slick, black streets to the other side of town.
“You don’t get in until late, and you’re always up early. You need more sleep.” I tried to catch glimpses of him out of the corner of my eye.
He shook his head. “You should talk. I wake up to you cussing in the fucking shower at two a.m. every morning. You need to go grab that girl and take her for a nice, long drive tomorrow. I’m sure she’s hurting for it as badly as you.”
I narrowed my gaze out the window but couldn’t keep the laugh out of my voice. “It wouldn’t make any difference. I’d still need a cold shower. When you’ve got someone you love, you always want more.”
“Oh, Jesus,” he whined. “Just don’t get her name tattooed on your body, please. The only chick’s name a guy should ever have tattooed is his daughter’s.”
I shook my head but couldn’t help the vision of a little brown haired girl with storm-blue eyes riding on my shoulders someday.
Jesus Christ.
I stared out the window, trying not to think about how my ideas of my future were changing.
Jax and I drove the rest of the way in silence to Madoc’s house, which was about ten times classier than the neighborhood Tate and I lived in.
Don’t get me wrong. We lived in a great area. Lots of well-kept houses, parks, and cozy neighborhood block parties.
But Madoc? He lived in a place too rich for the town’s lawyers and doctors. It wasn’t a place for just professionals. It was a neighborhood for surgeons and corporate CEOs who kept their families hidden away while they worked in Chicago.
Driving up to the 12-foot black metal gate, I punched in the code.
During the day, there was security on duty to check visitors in and out, but at night, the staff was spread thin and usually spent their time patrolling the community in their SUVs.
The gate hummed as it swung open, and I slowly descended the perfectly paved street leading into the Seven Hills Valley.
After a few houses, we turned into Madoc’s driveway and curved around the loop in front of his door. Hopping out, I slammed the door shut and clenched my hands, trying to get psyched up. I still wasn’t sure what my plan here was, but as usual, I dove head first and acted like I knew what I was doing.
When in doubt, stick to what you know.
I heard Jax fall in behind me, and we both walked into Madoc’s house and charged through the foyer toward the back.
Really, it was a mansion, but Madoc corrected me on that term years ago. It was a house…or else.
He never bragged about his position in life or his money. If he did, we wouldn’t be friends.
“Hey, dude. ‘Bout fuckin’ time.” He jogged up to meet us in the hallway. He wore ridiculous black and gray plaid board shorts and his blonde hair, slicked back, looked like he’d just been swimming. But the rest of him was dry.
Halloween was in two days, and it was freezing, but Madoc’s Jacuzzi would make the weather tolerable.
I stopped in front of him. “So he actually came into your house?” I asked.
Nate knew Madoc was my best friend. After the video, I didn’t think Nate was so stupid that he would trust breathing the same air as Madoc.
He smiled. “That’s the awesome part. He thinks this is K.C.’s house.” His eyes gleamed like he was so proud he fooled Nate. “K.C. was out tonight and ran into him. She cooked up a scheme and texted me. I told her to bring him here. He hasn’t even seen me yet.”
He shrugged his shoulders and waited for me to respond.
I held back, not sure about how far I wanted to take this. I had shit to lose now, and for the first time in a long time, I cared about where my life went.
Jax cleared his throat at my side. “Leash a little tight, Jared?”
Leash?
Fucking little shit.
I cocked my head to the side and shot him a look, but he just smiled and looked away.
Jax knew everything that had gone down with Nate—he was helping with the video after all—and while he gave me a hard time about my attachment to Tate, he was on our side. He wanted to see that asshole pay as much as we did.
Stalking down the hall through the kitchen, I felt Madoc and Jax fall in behind me.
I spied K.C. and Nate through the glass doors, carousing in the hot tub, before I walked out and interrupted his relaxed little world.
“K.C., out of the hot tub.” I jerked my head to the side.
“Wha—” Nate started.
“Don’t talk.” I cut him off.