I Promise You (Dare, #2) — Chapter no 6

CHAPTER SIX

COLE

SITTING IN THE WAITING room, we’re all restless at this point. Becky cries, and Deke tries to console her. Bennett sits with his head down and his arms crossed over his chest. I’m pretty sure he’s passed out. I just got off the phone with Blanche and told her that I didn’t know when I would be home and to take Lilly to her house later on today. I don’t want my sister alone with my father during this time.

I look up from my phone when I see Shane entering the double sliding glass doors. Shooting to my feet causes Deke to look up. He does the same.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I snap.

Bennett does a little snort, waking himself up. His head pops up, and he wipes some drool off his chin with the back of his hand before he too stands. “What’s going on?” he asks roughly before clearing his throat and trying to focus his eyes on his surroundings.

I look at him. “I don’t know. You tell me.” What all did he say to Shane?

He holds his hands up when he sees Shane standing there. “I haven’t said anything—”

“I saw the news,” Shane interrupts him and then looks at me. “Hours ago.

I’ve been calling you guys. Why aren’t you answering?”

I don’t respond. He should know how to take a fucking hint. Also, I didn’t have my phone while I was being interrogated. I left it with Deke on purpose, knowing they would take it from me while I was in custody. He didn’t give it back until a few minutes ago for me to call Blanche.

His jaw clenches at my silence, knowing he’s not gonna get shit from me.

He takes a quick look around the waiting area, and then asks, “Where’s Kellan?”

Silence follows again. Shane steps up to me, his eyes narrowing. “Where.

Is. Kellan?”

I take a step toward him, closing the small distance. “Why don’t you ask —”

“Cole!” Deke interrupts me and yanks me back by my upper arm. “I’ll

talk to him.”

“It’s none of his business,” I snap.

Shane lets out a rough laugh. “Did you make him disappear, Cole? Is that why his phones are off, and he’s nowhere to be found?”

“He fucking shot her!” I yell.

Bennett walks over to Shane, grabs his shirt, and all but drags him out the double doors.

Deke comes to stand before me. “You need to calm down, man,” he whispers harshly. His eyes search the room, probably looking to see how many people are watching us. “Cole?” I stare past him to the door. He reaches up and slaps my face. Not hard enough to hurt but enough to get my attention. “Listen to me! If you make a scene and get kicked out of here, then that’s it. You’re done.” He places his hands on my upper arms. “The police are just looking for a reason to lock you up, so keep your shit together just a little longer.”

“What is going on?” Becky asks, confused about what just happened.

I shove Deke out of the way and storm out the sliding glass doors to see Shane and Bennet walking down the sidewalk to the side parking lot. “Did you fucking know what he was gonna do?” I demand.

They come to a stop, and Shane spins around to face me.

“Shit!” Bennett hisses under his breath.

I storm over to them, coming face to face with Shane, and shove at his chest. “Did you fucking know?”

He stumbles backward but gets his footing before he falls to his ass.

Bummer.

I hear the doors slide open behind me. “Cole, don’t—”

“No,” I interrupt Deke. “If he wants to be a part of this group, then he’s going to fucking tell me.”

“Group? What group?” Shane demands, throwing his arms out wide.

“You guys have completely lost your fucking minds.”

I fist my busted knuckles. They sting, but I’m ready for more. “No!

Kellan lost his mind the moment he decided to want what was mine!”

He throws his head back, letting out a loud laugh that makes my brows rise. He knows something. When his eyes meet mine again, his laughter dies. “She was never yours. His plan all along was to make her his.”

I go to jump him, but an arm wraps around me, and I’m hauled backward. “Cut it out!” Deke growls in my ear. “You’re causing a scene!”

Then he whispers, “He could be lying just to get you wound up.”

I shake him off but make no move to kick the shit out of Shane. I don’t wanna make a scene. I just want answers, and I’m used to getting them with my fists.

Bennett stands beside Shane. “He remembered her,” Shane spits out. “He wanted her! He was only fucking Celeste for his own revenge on Bruce!”

“What did Bruce do to him?” Deke asks.

He laughs, shaking his head. “It doesn’t fucking matter. None of it fucking matters anymore.” Then he turns and walks away, and I allow it.

Because my biggest battle is waiting behind me, lying in a hospital bed.

And although I’ve never had to pick my battles before, I know that she is the one I want to win.

_______________

It’s been six hours since she called me, and the clock on the wall reads a little after five a.m. Shelby notified us when she was out of surgery, but I haven’t been able to see her yet. All I can do is sit here in the waiting room and pray that Shelby can pull some strings to get me back there to her room.

If not, I’ll have to sneak my way in. I’m not above breaking a few rules to see her.

Becky lies passed out in a seat across from me with Deke’s jacket over her like a blanket. Bennett sips on his third cup of coffee. He reappeared alone after shit went down outside and never mentioned Shane after that.

And I haven’t cared enough to ask. Deke is to my right on his phone when a familiar voice comes through the silent waiting room.

“Cole! Oh God, Cole …” Austin’s voice cries out.

“What the fuck?” I demand as my head snaps over to look at him.

Deke silences his phone and shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“What the fuck was that?” I question stupidly. I know exactly what it was. And I wanna kick myself in the ass for forgetting about it until just now.

He sighs. “It was the recording of you guys in the bathroom the night we went to the party to get Austin. The video popped up on my Facebook.”

Four months ago

Deke and I come up to Nate Wax’s parents’ house. I sit shotgun in his Range Rover as “Born Ready” by Zayde Wolf plays. This party I’ve heard about for the last two weeks looks to be in full swing. Deke got over a hundred invites to it on his Facebook. The GWS are invited to every party, but that doesn’t mean we go. When we decide to show up, they consider themselves fucking lucky that we grace them with our presence.

“What’s the plan?” Deke asks. He showed up at my house while I was doing some laps to show me a pic of the girls out at a party. “We gonna drag her out kicking and screaming?”

Good question. And I don’t really have an answer at the moment. I told her not to go to this fucking party! And what does she do? Whatever she wants! She’s gonna learn real quick that this shit doesn’t fly with me. “No, that would defeat the purpose of proving to everyone that she belongs to

me.” She has to come willingly.

“True.”

“Here.” Getting an idea, I dig my phone out of my pocket and hand it to him.

“What am I gonna do with this?” he asks, looking down at it.

“Just be ready to record.” I’ll figure something out. Everyone needs to know that she’s mine, and nobody better fucking touch her! What better way than to blast it to the ones who always have their faces in their phones?

“Okay. What exactly?”

I look back over at the mansion and find myself smiling. I’m gonna teach you a lesson, sweetheart. One that you won’t forget. “I’m about to up the

game.”

“Meaning?”

“She’ll challenge me.” I know her well enough to know she’ll push me especially if she’s drunk. And not like it’ll be hard for her to want me. She begged me to fuck her just last week at my party. That video is still getting hits from what Deke showed me yesterday. “Record whatever you can get, then send it to yourself. Depending on what she does, you can upload it

tomorrow.”

He nods. “And Becky?”

“What about her?” I ask. She’s not my problem. In fact, she’s my help. I climb out of his SUV but smile to myself. “Actually, you should make your move.”

“What? She’s with David.” He shakes his head.

“I heard he dumped her over winter break.” I may not talk to people, but that doesn’t mean I don’t listen when they’re running their fucking mouths.

“Really?” he asks excitedly.

I just nod. Not like it mattered. She wasn’t faithful, but only me and a few others know that. One more loose end I can tie up between Austin and me.

Her best friend dating a GWS? She’ll still feel outnumbered. It won’t take long for Deke to convince Becky to love him. I know Deke Biggs. He’ll pull out all the stops. And Austin will have no one to help her escape me.

Present

“Delete it,” I snap.

When I had him record us together, it was to prove to the school that she belonged to me. I wanted to degrade her as part of my plan to destroy her.

But now? Everyone knows she’s mine. And after Kellan mentioned how he had got off so many times listening to it, I want it gone. I didn’t really know she was going to let me fuck her in the bathroom when I walked into that party that night. Shove her up against a wall and make out with her? Yes!

But fuck her? She surprised me when she allowed me to go that far, but of course, like the jackass I am, I didn’t stop it. I wanted her. There was no reason to deny it at that point.

Becky sits up and rubs her eyes. “What are you guys talking about?” she asks through a yawn.

We all ignore her. “Delete it right fucking now!” I order.

“I am,” Deke informs me, his fingers rushing over his iPhone.

“What?” she asks, looking back and forth between us. “You didn’t … you didn’t upload that video.” Guess she wasn’t in that deep of a sleep.

He doesn’t look up at her.

“Deke?” she growls. “Tell me you didn’t upload that video!”

He stops typing and finally looks up from his phone. “I did.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I saw it posted on Evan Scott’s page.”

He says nothing. Bennett pretends to be more interested in the ceiling suddenly. I hold in a sigh. This isn’t going to end well, and we don’t have

time for this shit.

“Deke!” She stands, getting aggravated and tosses his jacket to the hospital floor. “Austin asked me if I knew you had posted it, and I said you didn’t. When she argued that you confessed to recording it, I said you must have sent it to someone else to upload. So how can you delete it?”

His jaw sharpens.

She takes in a deep breath. “Deke …”

“I’m Evan Scott.” He drops the bomb.

She just stares at him. Her wide blue eyes are in shock at first, but you can see the anger take over her features. She bites down on her bottom lip, probably to keep from yelling at him inside the quiet waiting area. She may be in love with Deke Biggs, but Becky doesn’t know the real him. No one knows the real GWS.

I wonder what he would think of her if he knew her secret. The only thing is that I’m a part of that secret too.

He stands, pocketing his phone. “Becky …”

She spins around and storms out the double doors, and he goes running after her.

I look at Bennett. “Make sure that video is nowhere to be found.” Deke didn’t get it done.

He nods once and pulls his phone out. “And the other one? The first one of you two when we threw that party …?”

“Make it disappear too.” I want no trace of her on social media. “Hack into her account and delete it.” She may hate me for it when she wakes up, but it is what’s best for her.

Word has gotten out about Kellan being the one who shot her, not me. It’s been all over the news. They have a manhunt out to find him. I turned the TV in the waiting room off hours ago because I couldn’t watch it anymore.

They had taken a picture from her Facebook and plastered it along with the story all over Collins.

Teenage boy sleeping with best friend’s girlfriend and her stepmom. One woman dead and the other in critical condition. No suspects currently in custody.

I almost threw my chair at the TV when I saw that headline. News spreads fast in a town like this, and they always twist the story, no matter

how much they have to lie to do it.

I know firsthand what they will do.

I had laid in the hospital bed hooked up to machines with my left wrist handcuffed to the railing. They acted like I was gonna get up and run out of there after the car wreck. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I didn’t understand just how badly I was injured until I went to stand. The paramedics had ripped Eli from my arms and helped me to my feet only for me to collapse.

I couldn’t breathe. My legs no longer worked, my vision was blurry, and my head began to pound.

They called the headache I got after my car crash a post-traumatic headache, and it was crippling. They said that the adrenaline rush caused it to delay. That was just one of the things wrong with me. They said I had a collapsed lung as well. I woke up hours later in the hospital to the TV playing in my room.

“Three teenage boys dead after allegedly drunk driving.” The reporter stands in the middle of the street, my car still upside down. The flashing lights from all the police vehicles, fire trucks, and paramedics light up the night around her.

“One witness stated that she saw them leave the party where they had been previously drinking at all evening. It’s not clear if they were road racing …”

I close my eyes and try to take a deep breath, but it hurts. Everything

hurts.

“Cole?”

I open my heavy eyes to see my father burst into my room. His eyes narrow on me, and an officer enters behind him. It may be the middle of the night, but he’s dressed like he just closed a multimillion-dollar deal.

“Release him.”

“Mr. Reynolds, I don’t think …”

“Release him right now!” he barks.

The officer unlocks my left wrist. I’m pretty sure they would have cuffed my right wrist if my arm wasn’t in a sling from surgery. They said surgery isn’t usually needed for a broken collarbone, but the way it broke required screws. My now free hand falls to my side. I don’t even have the strength to hold it up. The meds make me sluggish but don’t mask the pain.

“Sir, your son is under arrest. Once he’s discharged, I will transport him to the police station for booking.”

My father steps up to him, and the officer swallows nervously. “Make this go away, or you will.”

The officer narrows his eyes on my father and goes to open his mouth, but the door opens, and my father’s longtime best friend, Detective Monroe, enters my room. My eyes begin to get heavy. “Officer Lawrence, you may

leave.”

“But …”

“You’re done here,” Detective Monroe barks.

I blink, watching the young guy stomp out of my room like a child not getting his way. I try to keep my eyes open, but my heavy lids won’t stay up.

The drugs they give me knock me out for hours at a time, which is fine. All the TV channels are reporting on my dead friends, and how there should have been four bodies, not three. I can’t help but agree with them.

“You know this isn’t what it seems,” my father snaps.

My eyes close, unable to remain open anymore.

“Liam, Cole gave a statement …”

I try to open them, but they refuse to cooperate.

“I don’t give a fuck what he said. Fucking fix it, or you will find yourself

without a fucking job!”

Then everything goes black.

“Cole?”

I blink, jumping to my feet when I see Shelby standing before me. “Can I see her?” I ask in a rush.

She nods and looks at Bennett. “Austin has been moved up to ICU, which is on the fifth floor.” Then she looks back at me. “I can get you in her room, but just you for now. There is a waiting area up there, though, so your friends can wait there if they want.”

Bennett and I follow her up to the ICU. I send Deke a quick message because he never returned after chasing Becky out of the waiting room.

We drop Bennett off in the waiting area, and then I follow her through a new set of doors. A nurses’ station sits in the middle of the circular room with individual rooms surrounding it. Shelby and I come to a stop, and she

turns to face me.

“I just want you to be prepared.”

“For what?” My stomach drops.

Her blue eyes search my face. “She will have a tube down her throat.

One in her chest and an IV in her arm.” She places a hand on my shoulder.

“She doesn’t look like the Austin you know.”

Anything is better than her lying on her father’s kitchen floor dead. As long as she’s fighting, that’s all I care about.

She opens the door, and I step into the cold room. It’s small. The sound of the beeping coming from her machines bounces off the sterile walls.

Seeing her lying there in the bed, I realize Shelby was right. I don’t recognize her. She looks pale. Bruises cover her once flawless skin from when Kellan slammed her head into the marble floor and choked her. I didn’t see them earlier, but she was covered in so much blood. Now that they have cleaned her, everything is visible.

I walk over and sit down in the chair beside her bed. “When will she

wake up?” I ask roughly.

“We have her in a drug-induced coma.”

“Why?” I swallow over the lump in my throat.

“She has cerebral edema or swelling of the brain. She’s receiving medication in her IV to reduce it. We will monitor her, and once it goes down, we will wean her off the sedation.”

My chest tightens, and my words come out as a whisper. “And if it doesn’t?”

She doesn’t answer. Instead, she pats my shoulder and then walks out, leaving me alone with her.

I grab Austin’s cold hand. It’s so small in mine. I lift it and kiss her knuckles, and it reminds me of that morning on the steps of the church.

How much I hated her then. How much I wanted to see her broken. And look at her now. I almost killed her. I want her to open her eyes and tell me to go to hell, but I’m already there. I’ve been there for a month now while she paraded around with Myers. He didn’t deserve her, but neither did I.

That doesn’t stop me from loving her, though. I’m still being a selfish prick.

I want her. I need her. She must live. For me.

The worst part about it is that she saw this coming. She knew all along that I was going to hurt her that night in my father’s game room when I threw her that party. When I blackmailed her into joining the group.

She straightens her red sweater, and I love that she wore it for me. “But you don’t have a choice about joining us,” I tell her.

She stomps her foot. “Why does it matter so much to you?”

Because we need you. “You’ll have fun.”

“I’ll get arrested. Possibly die.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” I whisper, blinking a couple of times. “I just need you to wake up.” I run my free hand over her forehead. It’s the only place that I can really touch on her face because there’s tape over her cheeks to keep the ventilator in place. “Just wake …” A knot forms in my throat, and I try to swallow it. “And I’ll take care of you.”