All the Little Secrets (English Prep 2)

I cleared my throat. “My bad. What?”

Christian repeated himself. “Ollie. What the fuck is going on?”

My breath seized to come. Did I tell him the truth? Did I tell him I’d been racing for months, and I stumbled upon little miss Piper and all her baggage, and that was how I got roped into this? He’d surely understand why I was helping her. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that the five of us sat around our kitchen table, assembled our group, and tried to come up with ways to help Hayley with her shit, but this was going to open up so many questions. Questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

“It’s my fault.”

I paused, flicking my eyes to Piper. Her voice was so strong. So sure of herself. It was hard to believe the night before she was curled in my arms, crying.

A light cough came from her as she cleared her throat. “I asked Ollie to go with me to meet Tank so I could hash out a deal in order to pay him back. That’s when Ollie offered to race for him. Tank bets on the races, and he gets a certain percentage of the money pool—even more so if he bets and wins.”

My girl. Coming in clutch. I almost wanted to raise my fist with triumph.

Christian’s eyes were in slits. “Pay him back? For what?”

Hayley was biting her lip, looking from Piper to me. I wasn’t sure if Piper had told her the truth. Or maybe they didn’t even get to that part. Piper's secrets went deep. Just like mine.

“My brother.”

Christian’s face flattened. “You have a brother?”

“Exactly my reaction,” I said, still a little confused by the revelation. The girl was constantly alone. There weren't even photos up in her house of him—or anyone, really.

“Yes. And he’s into some bad shit. Like dealing for Tank. Except, my brother didn’t deal the last batch of drugs—or batches, if it’s any correlation to the amount of money he owes. If I’m guessing correctly, my brother kept all the drugs for himself, thus not being able to pay up.”

“And if there’s one thing I know about Tank,” Hayley whispered, “it’s you don’t fuck with his money. My mom made that mistake once.”

An eerie feeling came over the group. Even Eric stood up a little taller.

Piper swiveled on her barstool, now facing Hayley. “Did he do something to you?”

Hayley pulled the hair tie from her hair, letting her dark hair down. “No! You know I don’t take shit from people. But my mom had to repay him…”

Piper quickly got up and wrapped her arms around Hayley, resting her head on hers. “I’m sorry I brought you into this.”

A tug in my chest had me looking away. God damnit, Piper was too sweet.

“Do not apologize to me. You almost died because of me.”

Piper giggled. “We’re kind of a fucked-up batch.”

Hayley shrugged. “Makes life exciting.”

Oh, yes. Real fucking exciting. I love when my heart almost stops beating at the sound of their screams. The night they were run off the road was still alive and well in my brain. I’d never felt fear like that. Ever.

“I think there is an obvious solution to this problem.”

The four of us swung our gazes to Eric. He was still casually leaning along the counter, now holding an empty beer bottle.

“What’s that?” I asked, resting my arms along the counter.

“Piper. Aren’t you rich? I’ve seen your house. And your car. Why can’t you just pay him off?”

“It’s over ten thousand dollars,” Piper announced, her head dropping with defeat. “It was twenty.”

Christian cursed under his breath. “Twenty? Fuck. How much drugs did he use?”

Piper’s face turned pink, and I shot him a glare.