Renegade Hearts (Rebels of Sandland 1)

“For the record, I still don’t believe you, but this stays between us. All of it. Understand?”

They all agreed to keep their mouths shut and I sat there, wondering how I was going to avoid Chase Lockwood come Friday night, and how I was ever going to face Ryan again after hearing what Kian had to say.

When Kian finally left with his tail between his legs, probably to report back to his bros, I turned to Liv to let it all out.

“Some friend you are.”

“What?” She batted her eyelids like she was the innocent party.

“First, you offer me up to Chase like the sacrificial lamb-”

“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. It’s one date. You don’t have to marry the guy.”

“Jesus, Liv. You sound like my mother. I’ll be bloody melodramatic if I want to be. I think I have every right to after you’ve just pissed all over my life.”

“Em, you can just cancel,” Effy offered, trying to give a solution that’d avoid an argument.

“I shouldn’t have to. I didn’t agree to the date in the first place. And second? What the fuck was all that about? The Ryan thing? One minute you’re sick of my drama, the next you’re causing me a shit load more.”

“I didn’t cause anything. Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. Emily Winters has such a hard life. She has to live in a massive house, drive a fancy car, get Daddy to pay for everything and if that isn’t bad enough, she has two hot guys fighting over her. However will she cope? You know what? I’m done here. You don’t like my dose of reality? Then suck it up, buttercup.” And with that, Liv sprang up out of her chair and stormed out of the café.

“What the hell crawled up her ass?” I’d sensed she was tense when we’d met up earlier, but I had no idea she’d held that much animosity towards me.

“It’s not you.” Effy sighed, reaching across the table to rub my arm as I slumped forward feeling despondent. “She didn’t mean any of those things she said. They’re not true.”

“Didn’t she?”

“No. She’ll regret it in a few hours, but you know Liv, she speaks before she engages her brain. She’s hurting.”

“What did I do to hurt her?”

“Not you. Zak. I think she was really into him, and after the bonfire and them hooking up, she thought he might feel the same. He doesn’t. We saw him go off with Kelly Hopton last night. He didn’t even give Liv a second glance.”

Why were guys such dickheads sometimes?

“He didn’t spend the night with her, if that helps. I saw him at the hospital later on.” I knew it wasn’t any consolation. I also knew my original gut-feeling about Zak had been spot on. He was a player. He was not the type of guy you could trust.

“I don’t think it would. He’s an asshole, Em, but she was heartbroken last night.”

“And I wasn’t there.”

“Even if you had been, you couldn’t have done anything to help. I think she’s jealous of your friendship with them. They all seem to really like you, even Brandon. I think her stirring up trouble is just a way for her to lash out.”

I could understand why Liv felt so pissed off. I just wished she’d told me first, instead of causing waves. None of us knew what these boys were capable of, and now I had to do damage control with Chase and Kian. It was shit I didn’t need on top of what my dad was serving up. I needed my friends in my corner, not stabbing me in the back.

“I’ll talk to her. She’ll probably call you later tonight. You know Liv. She’ll be mortified that she’s upset you.”

I liked Effy’s optimism, but I didn’t agree. I knew Liv, and it’d take a few days and multiple peace talks for us to smooth this over. It always did when we fought. This time, she felt humiliated by Zak and I was feeling the brunt of her anger. I got it. You hurt those closest to you, and Liv was as close to me as a sister. They both were. I needed to sort my shit out and put an end to all this.

“Dude, you need your sniper rifle. Mate, he’s right there… Fuck…”

Gunshots rang out like we were slap bang in the middle of world war three. I tried my best to fight back, but it was useless. I was getting my ass handed to me on a plate in Call of Duty, playing with Brandon over at Zak’s place. Fighting in real-life wasn’t the only skill Brandon had, he could kick anyone’s ass in a game too. I was usually pretty good at holding up my end, but my mind was on other things today. I was distracted by a five-foot-nothing brunette, who was slaying me better than any opponent I’d ever gone up against.

My feisty little firecracker.

She had me all out of sorts and I liked it. Didn’t like it so much last night when she’d burnt my ass, but today I liked the fire she stoked in me. Call of Duty just wasn’t cutting it.

“Ry, mate. If you’re not gonna take this seriously, pass the controller to Finn. You’re about as much use as a rice paper condom right now.”