If You Dare (Dare #3) — Chapter no 4

CHAPTER FOUR

DEMI

THE LOOK ON Deke’s face is priceless. The bastard really had no idea who the fuck I was. How did he not know I wasn’t Becky? I told him earlier that guys only think with their dicks, and I just proved myself right. All he needed was a willing body, and he pounced. It didn’t fucking matter who I was.

My eyes go to Cole who stands next to Austin with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, staring at me and Deke. I smile sweetly at him, but he doesn’t return it because he knows something is up. That’s Cole Reynolds for you. Always fucking watching. Always aware of what is going on around him. He has to be three steps ahead of everyone and ready to pounce if need be.

Everyone else is oblivious to Deke’s unease and my smug smile. All in their own little world talking about pointless shit.

“Aww, man. I’m out.” Austin pouts, crumpling her empty bag of gummies.

“I’ll get you some more.” I take the opportunity to walk away and make my way over to the somewhat long line while everyone decides if we’re going to stay at this pathetic freak show or call it a night. This place just doesn’t do it for me. I like to be scared. I like the thrill—heart racing, paralyzing fear—and this place doesn’t give me that. Throw spiders on me or chase me down with a knife. Hell, lock me in a tomb and make me think I was buried alive. If I wanted to watch a woman being drowned in a bathtub, I would stay home and watch a Lifetime movie about a jealous boyfriend.

I just pull my cell out of my back pocket to check the time when I’m spun around. Deke stands there, glaring down at me. His blue eyes shimmering with rage. Guess the shock has worn off.

“What the fuck was that?” he demands.

“That was an orgasm,” I answer. “Thanks, by the way.” My legs are still wobbly. I had to take a minute for myself after I came. I ran to the bathroom and cleaned myself up the best I could, but my underwear is still soaked.

He shoves his hands through his dark hair aggressively, making it look sexier than it already did. The muscles in his arms stretch his white shirt to the point I think the seams may burst. His arms fall to his sides, and he takes in a deep breath. “Why the fuck didn’t you stop me?” he growls.

That is the million-dollar question. I could have. But why would I? I can’t stand either one of them. I wanted him to think he was getting a piece of his ex. And hell, he got me off. I’m not going to lie, that was a surprise.

Who knew Deke wouldn’t have any problems in that area? I always saw him as just one of the other self-absorbed GWS who only cared about what he got out of it. “I tried to tell you who I was.”

“Bullshit,” he snaps, and the girl behind us narrows her eyes on him.

“You took my gum … then stuck it in your boyfriend’s mouth.” His dark blue eyes widen. “Fuck, your boyfriend …” he trails off.

“Eww,” the girl says in disgust.

I smile. “And?”

“And … and … and fuck, Demi! I thought you were your sister!” His pretty blue eyes look pained as they stare down at me at a total loss.

“Gross,” the girl adds.

I bite my bottom lip to keep from laughing but fail. My body shakes with it. I’ve never seen Deke Biggs so furious and confused at the same time. It’s a good look on him. “You dumped her,” I remind him.

“Yes, but …”

“If I remember correctly, back in Collins, you told her unless she planned on falling to her knees and opening that mouth of hers so you could fuck it, you had no use for her.”

He opens his mouth, but the girl behind us gasps. “You’re such a pig.”

“Then get the fuck away from me,” he snaps at her, then turns back to me. She huffs but doesn’t leave the line. “You were listening to us?” he demands.

I shrug. “Thin walls.” Lie. Of course, I was. My sister was finally getting what she deserved. She’s a manipulative bitch who spreads her legs for anyone with a dick. She’s a male version of them. The GWS. Well, Cole has seemed to change. And the huge rock on Austin’s finger proves that.

“I can’t believe this,” he growls, running a hand down his face.

Placing my hand on his chest, I feel his entire body stiffen. I’m pretty sure he quits breathing as he towers over me. I step into him, pushing my hips into his on purpose to see if he’s still hard. He’s not, and a part of me is disappointed at that. “You liked it,” I tell him, and he says nothing. “You were hard,” I add.

“Demi …” He growls my name in warning, and his chest rises slowly as if he’s finally taking a deep breath.

“And …” I lean in, standing up on my tiptoes, and I press my lips to his ear. The smell of his cologne makes my pussy tighten. Deke may be a fucking ruthless dick, but he sure is mouthwateringly delicious. “You would have fucked me if I had told you to.”

He pulls back from me as if I’ve slapped him. He grips my upper arm, his fingers digging into my sensitive skin, and yanks me out of line to drag me behind the vendor trailer. People walk around with their faces painted like skeletons, and girls flaunt their bodies in little costumes to show the sluts they really are, but no one pays us any attention.

I giggle. A speaker on the back of the trailer plays “My Demons” by Starset. “Round two …?”

He shoves my back into the trailer so hard that it takes my breath away for a second and cuts off my words. Pressing his body into mine again, he places both hands flat against the truck on either side of my head. His blue eyes cloud over like a storm moving in on a sunny day and darkening the world. His lips thin, and his chest rumbles against mine with a growl.

A slow warmth runs up my spine and neck, making me hot even though the night air is cool. Deke Biggs has a side I actually like. Who would have known? My eyes drop to the black belt around his dark jeans, and my fingers itch to undo it just to see how far he’d let me go now that he knows I’m not my sister. I have a feeling I wouldn’t have to push him much. My eyes find his again.

“Want me to please you this time?” I lick my lips.

“You will keep your mouth shut!” he orders, ignoring my question.

“About what you heard me and Becky talking about. And what we just did!”

I give him a slow and innocent smile and decide to push him. How much will it take before he snaps? “How are you gonna keep me from running my mouth, Deke?” Lifting my right hand, I run my finger down his shirt. He’s shaking with anger, and his muscles flex. Fuck, his body is as hard as a

rock. I bite my bottom lip and lower my hand to cup his limp dick over his jeans. He doesn’t budge and just goes still as a statue like a minute ago when we were in line. “Gonna fuck it?”

“Jesus!” he hisses. Stepping away from me, he turns away, giving me his back, and grips his dark hair.

A girl dressed as a slutty Little Bo Peep walks by and eyes him up and down while she holds the hand of a guy dressed as the Grim Reaper. Deke doesn’t even look at her. All of his attention is on me, even if he isn’t looking my way. I’d bet anything he’s thinking about what we did when he thought I was Becky. Would he do it again now that he knows it was me?

Absolutely not. And that thought disappoints me.

I smile at the look of him. So undone. Nothing like the pathetic boy who fell to his knees for my sister. “Afraid I can’t keep a secret …”

He spins back around, and his hand wraps around my neck, cutting off my words before I can finish. “You’ll keep your goddamn mouth shut ’cause I told you to,” he growls.

His face is so close to mine that if I puckered my lips, I’d kiss him. I can still smell the cinnamon on his breath from his gum. My thighs tighten, remembering the way he kissed me back in the haunted house. He was rough and unapologetic, and I liked it. He thought I was Becky, and he was angry with her. He meant to hurt her, and that turned me on.

Hurt me, Deke.

“Demi!” He barks out my name when I don’t acknowledge his order.

Slowly, my eyes look over his sharp jaw and parted full lips. He’s so full of rage he’s panting. I think the guy wants to snap me in half. I wonder what it would feel like to have him on top of me, holding me down and fucking me. I’ve heard him fuck my sister, but I thought she was faking it.

She’s always been a good actress.

I could be better.

“Demi, I swear to fucking God …”

My eyes finally meet his, and his words cut off. My heart begins to pound as I stare into the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen. But Deke Biggs is more than just a pretty boy. There’s a darkness that covers him in

madness and lust.

I feel it.

I see it.

I want it.

My silence pisses him off more, and his hand tightens around my throat, restricting my airway.

I don’t fight him. His anger just turns me on, making my already soaked thong even more so. I always thought he was too soft for Becky. The kids in Collins feared the sharks, but that was because of Cole. They were all capable of terrifying things, but Deke and Becky? He was a pussy when it came to her. It was pathetic. Maybe she didn’t challenge him. Not like I can.

She held him back when I would set the monster free.

Chase me.

Hurt me.

Fuck me.

My tongue peeks out between my parted lips, and I run it along my lip.

His eyes follow the movement like a moth to a flame. Just as my lungs scream for breath, and tears begin to prick my eyes, he releases me and steps back. I take a deep breath, swallowing roughly.

“Fuck! You’re underage,” he mutters to himself.

I laugh at that. “I’m not even a year younger than Becky.” Our mother couldn’t keep her legs closed for long after she had my sister. Less than eleven months after Becky was born, I arrived. A month early.

“That’s not the point,” he snaps and spins back to me. He points his finger in my face as though I’m an unruly child.

The thought pisses me off. He thinks he can treat me differently than her, but what makes her so goddamn special and me nothing? I’ve never been close to my sister, but I’ve hated her the last couple of years. Ever since she tried to take something from me, I vowed I was going to make her pay. No matter what I had to do, I was going to break her fucking cold, dead heart.

And this is it. The man standing in front of me is what I’ve been looking for. He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m about to make him exactly what I need.

The last piece in my own personal game to destroy my sister. So, instead of showing my anger, I give him a soft smile.

I open my mouth and lean forward. He stands before me; body stiff and eyes wide as I take his pointed finger into my mouth all the way up to the knuckle. The same one that still tastes like me because it was just inside me twenty minutes ago. My eyes stay trained on his, and I watch as his pupils dilate when I wrap my lips around his finger, then run my tongue along the bottom and slowly suck until it pops out. Then I lick my lips. “Wanna kiss me now, Deke?”

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t even blink. Blue eyes burn into mine, and there’s a tic in his jaw. My eyes drop down to his jeans and bingo! He’s

fucking hard. Because of me.

“Deke?”

He jumps at the sound of his name before looking away from me. Cole stands to the right, behind the trailer with us, holding Austin’s new bag of gummies in his hand. “Everything okay?” he asks. His blue eyes narrow in suspicion as he studies us.

Deke doesn’t answer. Instead, he just storms off, leaving me against the truck without so much as looking back.

Cole watches him leave, then his eyes come back to mine, void of any emotion. For as long as I’ve known him, unless he’s angry, he looks bored.

I always thought he and Deke could pass as brothers, but where Cole is lean, Deke is bulkier. They’re the same height with blue eyes and brown hair, but Deke’s is a little darker. They’ve worn the same cut for as long as I can remember—short on the sides, long on top, and spiked to perfection. It was the GWS way. It’s as if all the guys on the swim team at Collins High said let’s look the same and make the girls beg us for attention. It worked.

Fucking bastards.

I push off the trailer and wink at him as I walk by. “It was good seeing you, Cole.” Then I laugh.

BECKY

I look up from my phone just in time to watch Deke storm by us. I spin around to see Demi also walking our way with Cole right behind her

carrying Austin’s gummies.

What is she doing with him?

“What’s wrong with Deke?” Austin asks Cole with a frown as she looks over her shoulder and watches him stomp away from us, headed toward the

parking lot.

Yes. We’re leaving.

My sister was wrong earlier when she said I hate anything scary, but I didn’t correct her. She’s just a bitch who likes to piss me off. I came tonight to get on Deke’s good side. He almost kissed me in the kitchen back at Austin’s house, and I know he planned to seduce me.

Of course, I’m going to lie down and give it to him. Deke and I have this love-hate kind of relationship. Even back when we were fucking and I had a boyfriend, I knew I loved him. I just couldn’t be with him and him alone. It was … complicated. Now things are in damage control. I fucked up, and I’ve got to redeem myself.

It’s possible, but it’ll just take a lot of work. Possibly a lot of time on my knees. But a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.

“We’re leaving,” Cole snaps. He takes Austin’s hand and begins to drag

her toward the parking lot.

I start to follow them.

“See you later, sis,” Demi calls out.

I turn and give my sister a tight smile. She stands with her arms crossed over her chest and a fucking smile on her face. What the fuck is she up to?

Ignoring her, I toss my hair over my shoulder, then I turn and walk off after them.

By the time I make it to Deke’s Range Rover, he’s already got it started and shifted in reverse. I jump into the back seat behind him. The tires grip the gravel, and he backs us out of the spot.

Austin pouts beside me. “I really wanted to do the blackout attraction.”

“We’ll come back,” Cole promises.

I’ll make sure to stay home for that one. Putting myself in a situation where I can’t see is not my idea of fun. Especially with Deke.

Austin shoves some gummies in her mouth and then pulls her cell out of Cole’s hoodie pocket that she’s still wearing. “Have I shown you Lilly’s Halloween consume?” she asks me.

I refrain from sighing. This is her life now. Lilly and Cole. Cole and Lilly.

I really like Austin, even if I was forced into a friendship with her. She was fun and always up for a hit or a drink. But now that we’ve moved to Texas, she’s changed. Ever since she almost died, Cole keeps her on a tight leash. As if someone still plans to hurt her. She waits on the guys and Lilly nonstop. She makes them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She takes Lilly to and from school. I popped by yesterday when I knew the guys were in class to ask if she wanted to go to the mall, and she turned me down. She said she had to finish laundry and then clean the kitchen. All before running Lilly to

ballet.

She has become a fucking mom.

It’s a total disappointment.

I honestly don’t know how she ended up with Cole. Well, that’s not the truth. I’ve read her deepest, darkest secrets. She doesn’t know that, but what’s that saying? What you don’t know can’t hurt you? She’s so full of life, and Cole is just a black hole.

He’s hot. I’ve always had a thing for him but never went there. His loyalty to Deke is unwavering, and I have a fear of being alone with him.

The guy has death vibes, and I don’t want to die.

I thought she could change him, but I think he ended up changing her more. But my question is why? Is it because of money? She came from a poor druggie mother. Her father was wealthy, but she didn’t have access to it until she came to live with him at the beginning of this year. I’m not sure what she plans on doing with her life. Be his fucking housewife? Raise Lilly and whatever kids they plan on having?

She could be a stay-at-home mom and live whatever kind of life she wants because he has money too. His mom died when he was twelve, and she left him her millions when he turned eighteen. If I was Austin, I’d have jumped on that too. Hell, her engagement ring is around fifty thousand. I know because I googled that shit. It’s some kind of rare ruby. Talk about a reason to lie down and spread your legs. The sad part is her expectations are so low that she would have been fine with a rubber band. She has no idea how much it cost him, and she would never ask him because she couldn’t care less. And he’d never tell her because that’s just Cole.

“It’s a bee.” She beams, showing me the picture.

Lilly’s standing in a dressing room with a bumble bee costume on. Her blond curls up in pigtails and her hands on her hips.

“Adorable.” I nod my head as if I fucking care.

“Isn’t she?” She tilts the screen toward her and smiles down at it.

I roll my eyes and look out the window. I was supposed to move in with them but decided against it after Deke told me Cole ratted me out. He disclosed to Deke and Austin that I was the one driving the car the night their three friends died. He also snitched that I was fucking Eli. Well, that was only half the truth. I hadn’t quite made it that far yet.

That fucker.

He only ever does shit in his best interest. After Deke told me he had enough information to bury me, I decided against living under the same roof

as a killer. I chose to move in with my mother and stepdad. And of course, Deke moved in with them instead.

It’s not awkward when it’s just Austin and me, but whenever Cole is home, I tense, waiting for him to get me alone and tell me he’s going to make me pay for the lie I told him. When I lied that I was pregnant.

Junior year

Cole’s car is upside down. Smoke makes it hard to see anything. My

entire body aches, and I feel dizzy.

“Eli?” Cole coughs. “Mad … dox?”

Pain slices through my stomach, and I cry out.

“You okay?” he asks, coughing again.

We’re both hanging upside down—our seat belts keeping us in place. The smoke has cleared, and I can see that the entire windshield is gone. I feel blood running from my nose. “I don’t know … what happened,” I cry. One minute, I was driving, then the next, the car was flipping.

“We gotta get out of the car,” he says. “Eli? Landen?” he screams, making me flinch.

I sob. What did I do? I’ve been drinking, but I don’t feel drunk. Had I had too much? I thought I could drive.

I hear Cole feeling around, then he places his hand on the ceiling and releases his seat belt. He falls on his face. “FFFUUCCCKKK!” he growls.

He gets out of his broken passenger side window and stumbles over to my side. He gets down on his knees and looks at me through where my window once was. “Cover your face.” He stands, kicking what’s left of the big pieces off the edge. “I’m gonna have to undo your seat belt. Put your hands on the ceiling.”

I continue to sob as he gets me out. I fall to my knees and grab my stomach. My crop top is ripped, and I’m bleeding. My hands shake.

“Eli? Maddox? Landen?” He calls out, but no one answers. “I gotta call 911.” He pats down his pockets. “Fuck!” he growls when he can’t find his phone.

I continue to sob, and he drops to his knees beside me. “Are you okay?

What hurts?”

I look up at him. “I … I …” I don’t know what to say. I can’t get caught with them. Not like this. My father will kill me, and my mother will make me

move to Texas to live with her. And I refuse to give up my life here.

“What is it?” he asks.

Cole is a fucking shark. A twisted soul. But I’ve never seen his blue eyes filled with so much concern. The guys have to be dead. They weren’t in the car with us, and they’re not answering when he calls out to them. And I can’t go down for that. I can’t go to jail.

So I take advantage of this rare side of Cole and wrap my arms around my stomach. “I’m pregnant.”

Silence falls over us. An eerie calmness. Like the calm before a catastrophic storm that is going to level everything in its wake. Fresh tears run down my cheeks, and he places his hand on my back. I begin to shake.

“Go,” he says.

I look up at him. Could it be that easy? I pretend like I have a conscience.

“But …”

“Go, Becky,” he orders. “I’ll take care of this. You need to get out of here.” Then without saying another word, he stands and begins to walk along the street, looking for his dead friends.

I knew if I told him I was with child, then he would tell me to run. I didn’t want to get caught up in that bullshit. My parents would have killed me if they knew I was driving drunk and wrecked Cole’s car. They all thought I was sober, and that’s why I drove. Big fucking mistake. But I wasn’t about to take the fall for it.

But when Cole confessed that truth to Deke, he knew I had lied about being pregnant. Cole hasn’t mentioned that to me yet, which can only mean one thing—Deke hasn’t told him the truth. That’s what gives me hope that we can still have a future. That he doesn’t hate me completely yet. He’s keeping my secret as if it’s his own.

He’s protecting me. A part of him still loves me, and that’s all I need to know to move forward with my plan to win him back.

My phone vibrates, and I unlock the screen to see I have a new message.

You still coming tomorrow?

Me: Yes. My flight leaves at 6:45 in the morning.

I turn the brightness down on my phone, so it doesn’t draw attention.

Do they know you’re coming?

Me: Nope.

Good. I’ll see you then.

I lock my phone and smile as I look out the window. I’ve been back to Collins a few times since we’ve moved to Texas. I hate that place, but I have unfinished business there.

Deke pulls up to Cole and Austin’s house and jumps out, still not saying a word. It’s obvious he’s pissed. I need to try to smooth things over with him. I ignored him earlier when we were with the others at Silence because I didn’t want them questioning me. Austin would be all over that. She still thinks we can work through our problems, but my sister would just tell me I’m a stupid fucking bitch.

They both need to understand that I don’t give a fuck what they think. I don’t want their opinions or need their advice.

We enter the house, and Misty greets us.

Reaching into his jeans pocket, Cole grabs his wallet and pulls out some cash. “Here you go …”

The teenager waves him off. “Mr. Biggs already paid me before you left

earlier.”

“Deke,” he growls.

“It was my idea,” he mumbles before storming up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door.

“Thank you, Misty,” Austin tells her. “I’ll walk you over to your house.”

“I’ll do it,” Cole interjects, and she doesn’t argue.

Austin turns to face me. “Want me to take you home?”

I look up at the top of the stairs and then at her. “Yeah.” Tonight is not the night to try anything with Deke. I’m not in the mood to kiss his ass or suck his dick. Plus, I’ve got an early flight out in the morning.

“Wait until I get back and I’ll drive you guys,” Cole orders Austin.

“I can drive myself, Cole.” She sighs.

Just when I think he’s going to argue with her, he bends down and kisses her forehead. “Hurry back, sweetheart.”

“Deke was being nice tonight.” Austin speaks once we’re alone in her car. “Until he wasn’t.”

“Yeah,” I mumble. “He can be like any other man. Hormonal.”

She laughs. “Things will work out.”

“I know.” Because I’m going to force them to. Just like Cole forced me into being friends with her.

I walk through the back door and step out onto the patio of the Reynolds’ house. I stop when I see Cole swimming laps in their Olympic size

swimming pool. I knew he’d be here. Even before the car wreck, he lived in the water. It’s only been six weeks, but it hasn’t slowed him down. Now he uses it for his physical therapy because he can’t afford to lose his position as captain on the swim team.

“What You Deserve” by No Resolve plays through the outside speakers while he swims his laps.

He stops and pops his head out of the water. I know he feels me watching him. I shouldn’t have come, but he’s been ignoring my phone calls. Running both hands through his hair, he steps out of the pool and looks at me.

“Isn’t it too soon to swim?” I ask, sitting on one of the chaise lounge chairs under the awning.

He doesn’t answer. Taking the towel off the table, he wipes his face.

I hang my head. “I’ve been texting you. I came up to the hospital.”

“I didn’t want to see you then, and I don’t want to see you now,” he snaps and rolls his shoulders.

Tears instantly spring to my eyes. “I lost someone too, Cole. Eli was my friend too …” I lie. He wasn’t my friend. I barely knew him, but I’m too ashamed to say that out loud. And now I can’t let anyone find out I was there or what I had planned that night.

“No, you were just another girl he was fucking.”

His words sting, even if they aren’t true. I jump to my feet. “You don’t know …”

He wraps his hand around my throat and pushes me back against the wall of the pool house. He’s in my face, growling, “You have no fucking clue what I lost! What I did for you!”

I take in a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry.” Tears run down my cheeks. I’m not sorry for walking away from the accident. I’m sorry for ever being there. “You shouldn’t have taken the fall.” I’ve never known Cole to be a good guy. I don’t know why he took the responsibility for me that night, but

I know it will cost me in the long run.

“You shouldn’t have been there at all!”

My eyes narrow on him. Then why did he let me walk away? “I was responsible—”

“You wanna owe me, Becky? Huh? Is that why you came here? To tell me that you’re fucking sorry that my friends are dead?” he interrupts me.

I swallow nervously against his hand that holds me hostage. I knew he’d make me pay in some way. Cole Reynolds does nothing for free. Hell,

maybe he saw this coming and knew he could use me.

“I owe you, Cole,” I whisper after a long second, accepting my fate.

“When I need you for something, you will do what I say?” he asks, arching a brow.

I give him a slow nod, and whisper, “Whatever you need.”

“I don’t wanna talk to you or fucking see you until then, do you understand?”

I’ll gladly stay the hell away from him. “Yes.” My shoulders physically shake, and I can’t stop the tears that run down my face.

“Good. Now leave.” He lets go of my neck and takes a step back from me. I rub my sore throat as he turns and dives back into the pool.

“The three of us should get together soon.” She breaks through my

thoughts.

“Three of us?” I ask.

“You, me, and Demi.”

“Why?” I can’t help but wonder. “We never hung out with her back in Collins.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. She just seems … sad. Maybe she didn’t want to move here.”

“She didn’t have a choice.” My mother decided that when I was moving to Texas so was Demi. She hates me for that, but I don’t give a fuck.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll all get together. Maybe have a girls’ night.”

Like Cole would allow her to do that, but I nod. Hell will freeze over before I’ll have a girls’ night with my sister.

Placing my head against the window, I think back to the day Cole decided it was time for me to pay up. My payment could have been much worse than the woman sitting beside me.

I stand in the kitchen of the Reynolds’ house. Cole is throwing a party tonight during Christmas break before we all go back to school in a few days. I was tired of being holed up in my father’s house. I’ve avoided Cole since he wrapped his hand around my throat months ago, telling me I owed him. I knew Deke was going to be here tonight, and I need to talk to him.

See him. I take a drink and set my cup down when I hear my phone go off. I open it up to see I have a text from Cole, and my stomach drops.

Cole: Ready?

I begin to type out what do you mean but delete it. Instead, I settle on just a question mark.

Me: ?

Cole: A friend of mine is coming tonight. You would make a great

friend for her too.

Her?

Me: You don’t have any girls who are friends.

Who the fuck is he talking about? Cole isn’t like the rest of the GWS. He doesn’t hang all over girls. He doesn’t even speak to them. He only shows interest once he decides he wants to fuck you. And then after you spread your legs for him, he moves on. The girls always try to get more out of him, but it never works.

Cole: Her name is Austin. Brunette. Green eyes. Probably wearing something red. Text me when she gets here.

Austin? Who the hell is that? Collins isn’t a big town, but it’s also not tiny. Who the hell is she, and why does he want to know when she arrives?

Me: And why do you want to know that?

Cole: It’s time to pay up!

Fuck!

I take another sip and then pour myself a new one. Pay up? How the hell am I going to pay up with a girl named Austin? What could he possibly want me to do?

I’m downing it when I catch sight of a brunette entering the kitchen.

She’s wearing a red sweater that hangs off one shoulder, showcasing a black tank top underneath it with black skinny jeans and matching heels.

Her dark hair curls down her back. I’ve never seen her before, so it has to be her. She picks up a red Solo cup and pours some Fireball into it before tossing it back. Then she pours another one. No one seems to notice her, letting me know that no one else knows her either.

I take out my phone and text him.

Me: She’s here. Kitchen.

He reads it but doesn’t respond. I take a deep breath and walk over to her, needing to know as much as I can about her before he comes down here. “Hi.”

“Hello,” she says with a nod of her head. She’s pretty, but I can’t say she’s Cole’s type ’cause he really doesn’t have one.

“I’ve never seen you here before.” I hold out my right hand. “I’m

Becky.”

“Austin. And I just moved here.”

How the fuck does she know Cole? “Oh, how exciting,” I lie and grab a new Solo cup. “Are you going to Collins High?” She looks about my age.

“Yep.”

This doesn’t make any sense. Maybe his dad is dating someone, and this is her daughter, but even I know that’s reaching. His father doesn’t really date anyone around here. He just fucks them all. “I’m a senior. How about you?” I pry.

“Same,” she answers and pours herself another shot.

“I wonder if we’ll have any classes together.” Even though I don’t know her, it would be nice to have a clean slate. To make a new friend who doesn’t really know the real me.

“Who the hell throws a party on a Monday?” she asks, avoiding my previous statement.

“Cole Reynolds.” I roll my eyes when I answer, trying to feel her out. I pause to see if she says anything about him, but she doesn’t. So I add, “He and the Great White Sharks do whatever they want, whenever they want.” I give her a fake smile. Fuck the sharks. Well, all but Deke. “But they do

throw some awesome parties.”

“Where are their parents?” she asks.

“Never around. They are all socialites in this town with big careers.

Always busy and not enough time for their children.” I’m rambling and possibly telling her too much. She obviously knows nothing about Cole and the guys, and she said she is new to town. I take a drink to try to calm my nerves.

Where is Cole? He throws these parties all the time, but he stays up in the game room with the rest of the sharks. They very rarely grace us with their presence, and if they do, he ignores everyone. He thinks he’s fucking

God.

“I see.” She nods once.

How does he know her? I’ve grown up with the GWS, and he’s never

lived anywhere else. “Where are you –?”

“Austin?”

I look up to see Kellan standing in the kitchen. His brown eyes are narrowed on her, and she arches a brow at his tone.

Fuck … “Cole is looking for you,” he snaps. “Let’s go.”

She turns back to look at me, rolling her eyes. Her eyes meet my surprised ones, and she asks, “What?”

I just shake my head ’cause I’m not sure what to say to her. Whatever she’s done, it wasn’t good. And they will make her pay for it. She ditches her cup and grabs the bottle of Fireball and walks out behind him.

A phone ringing brings me out of that memory, and I look over to see Austin press answer for her hands-free. “Yes?” she asks in greeting.

“Have you dropped her off yet?” Cole’s voice fills the SUV.

I roll my eyes and block out their conversation. While Cole told her and Deke that I was driving when we wrecked, he also told them I was forced to befriend her. She might have easily forgiven me for that, but if she knew the other things I did, she’d probably kill me. If Cole didn’t beat her to it.

“Thanks,” I mumble as she drops me off. I walk up the stairs to my mother’s house and walk inside. I make my way up the left staircase to my

room when I hear a man whispering.

“Yeah, I told you later.”

I come to a stop and look over the balcony to Demi’s room. Her bedroom door is cracked open. I tiptoe over to it and peek in. Seth stands at the end of her bed, pacing with his cell to his ear. “I’m only gonna be here for an hour. Then I’ll meet you there. Okay. See you then.” He pockets his phone just as my sister exits her en suite bathroom. Looking over at her, he plasters a smile on his face.

I yank back so they don’t see me and run over to my room, softly shutting the door with a smile. Well, isn’t this interesting?