“Be kind with him?”
I go still, something in her voice giving me pause.
She goes on, “Hawke probably wouldn’t be as nervous as he is, or held off this long, if girls hadn’t fucked with his head so badly in high school.”
I barely feel the next strip, and I don’t move.
“They started pushing so hard, like he was an obstacle or something to achieve,” she tells me. “They wanted him, but they didn’t love him, and when he didn’t take what they were offering, they saved their pride by talking shit.”
Oh, they did, did they?
Anger curdles in my stomach.
“He just became a locker room joke.” Her voice drifts off. “He counted the days until graduation, Aro. He couldn’t wait to get out of there.”
My fingers hurt. I uncurl my fists a little.
“And I can’t get in another fight, defending his honor with bitches,” she says. “My nose still doesn’t look right from the last one.”
I smile, trying to keep my laugh to myself. I’m not ready for her to know I kind of like her.
He’s lucky. His dad, his uncles, his cousins… They’ve all shown up for him. If I ever hurt him, I’m not sure these people and their love for him would be any less of a threat to me than Green Street.
And suddenly, I’m a little jealous, because I want to be the one protecting him.
She drives me past the bakery, into the alleyway, and I sneak up the fire escape and back into the hideout.
Hawke is still out, but I’m kind of glad. I climb into the shower, opening his body wash and inhaling the scent. The black-tiled walls make me feel hidden, and the feet of cement between us and the street above keeps this place so quiet most of the time.
It’s like another world, but it’s starting to feel as if I belong here. Like I’m shedding a skin.
Reeves will be collecting soon. We’ll have proof, and we can leave.
I can’t help but hope that Reeves never comes.
Then I never have to go.
Hawke
I slip inside the back door, walking through the kitchen and seeing heads turn toward me. They don’t say anything, though. They’re used to seeing me sneak in and out of places.
Getting back to work, the servers load trays, and I push through the next door, the rolling thunder of balls hitting pins filling the air.
I scan the bowling alley, spotting Aro’s “brothers”, sitting there bold as brass, right in the middle of our town.
Which one of them has been with her? No idea why I care, but all of a sudden, I do. She said she didn’t like sex. Did they not take their time with her? Did they take advantage of a kid when she needed a family?
Charging over, I pull my hood down, not caring who sees me. I swipe a chair from Hugo’s table, watching his gaze pop up, and I plant my ass down. “You’re on the wrong side of the river,” I say.
Axel swipes his phone off the table, but I level him a look. “Don’t bother texting Reeves,” I tell him. “I’m not staying.”
I spy the cameras positioned at each corner of the lanes and know there are more behind us. They know the cameras will see me. But they’ll see them too.
Hugo settles his gaze on me from across the table, and I look at his leather jacket that probably reeks of cigarettes and his dirty nails, but… I spot a larger version of Aro’s tattoo on his neck and know young women flock to him. Reeves got the perfect asshole to reel them in and get them to do what he wants. There’s no way Hugo kept his hands off her.
“It’ll cost a hundred-and-fifty thousand to pay for everything you destroyed,” he tells me, laying down the situation. “Not to mention the missing bag of money. We only found one in the trunk.”
I keep what I know about the second bag to myself.
“So, let’s say two-hundred-fifty thousand,” he states.
“Added a little interest on, did you?”
“Just a little.”
Yeah, their loss is maybe one-seventy. At best.
“You know this won’t go anywhere good,” I tell him. “Take the loss.”
Shelburne Falls may seem like a Hallmark village, but it wasn’t always like that. My family knows people, too. Jared’s popular, Madoc’s powerful, his father-in-law is more dangerous than Green Street, and my dad is scary smart.
“You don’t want our attention,” I remind him.
“And you want to go to college.” His eyes dance. “If you want a deal, I’ll need her back.”
I stare at him.
“He doesn’t want you,” Hugo tells me, and I assume he means Reeves. “I mean, he does, but he knows better. We’re well aware you’re untouchable. But I need my girl back.”
“She’s not your girl.”
“I’ve known her a lot longer than you,” he taunts. “I’m the reason she’s stayed fed the last three years. Aro is special. I have plans for her.”