Jax yawned at my side as we cruised the slick, black streets to the other side of town.
“You don’t get in until late, and you’re always up early. You need more sleep.” I tried to catch glimpses of him out of the corner of my eye.
He shook his head. “You should talk. I wake up to you cussing in the f**king shower at two a.m. every morning. You need to go grab that girl and take her for a nice, long drive tomorrow. I’m sure she’s hurting for it as badly as you.”
I narrowed my gaze out the window but couldn’t keep the laugh out of my voice. “It wouldn’t make any difference. I’d still need a cold shower. When you’ve got someone you love, you always want more.”
“Oh, Jesus,” he whined. “Just don’t get her name tattooed on your body, please. The only chick’s name a guy should ever have tattooed is his daughter’s.”
I shook my head but couldn’t help the vision of a little brown haired girl with storm-blue eyes riding on my shoulders someday.
Jesus Christ.
I stared out the window, trying not to think about how my ideas of my future were changing.
Jax and I drove the rest of the way in silence to Madoc’s house, which was about ten times classier than the neighborhood Tate and I lived in.
Don’t get me wrong. We lived in a great area. Lots of well-kept houses, parks, and cozy neighborhood block parties.
But Madoc? He lived in a place too rich for the town’s lawyers and doctors. It wasn’t a place for just professionals. It was a neighborhood for surgeons and corporate CEOs who kept their families hidden away while they worked in Chicago.
Driving up to the 12-foot black metal gate, I punched in the code.
During the day, there was security on duty to check visitors in and out, but at night, the staff was spread thin and usually spent their time patrolling the community in their SUVs.
The gate hummed as it swung open, and I slowly descended the perfectly paved street leading into the Seven Hills Valley.
After a few houses, we turned into Madoc’s driveway and curved around the loop in front of his door. Hopping out, I slammed the door shut and clenched my hands, trying to get psyched up. I still wasn’t sure what my plan here was, but as usual, I dove head first and acted like I knew what I was doing.
When in doubt, stick to what you know.
I heard Jax fall in behind me, and we both walked into Madoc’s house and charged through the foyer toward the back.
Really, it was a mansion, but Madoc corrected me on that term years ago. It was a house…or else.
He never bragged about his position in life or his money. If he did, we wouldn’t be friends.
“Hey, dude. ‘Bout f**kin’ time.” He jogged up to meet us in the hallway. He wore ridiculous black and gray plaid board shorts and his blonde hair, slicked back, looked like he’d just been swimming. But the rest of him was dry.
Halloween was in two days, and it was freezing, but Madoc’s Jacuzzi would make the weather tolerable.
I stopped in front of him. “So he actually came into your house?” I asked.
Nate knew Madoc was my best friend. After the video, I didn’t think Nate was so stupid that he would trust breathing the same air as Madoc.
He smiled. “That’s the awesome part. He thinks this is K.C.’s house.” His eyes gleamed like he was so proud he fooled Nate. “K.C. was out tonight and ran into him. She cooked up a scheme and texted me. I told her to bring him here. He hasn’t even seen me yet.”
He shrugged his shoulders and waited for me to respond.
I held back, not sure about how far I wanted to take this. I had shit to lose now, and for the first time in a long time, I cared about where my life went.
Jax cleared his throat at my side. “Leash a little tight, Jared?”
Leash?
Fucking little shit.
I cocked my head to the side and shot him a look, but he just smiled and looked away.
Jax knew everything that had gone down with Nate—he was helping with the video after all—and while he gave me a hard time about my attachment to Tate, he was on our side. He wanted to see that ass**le pay as much as we did.
Stalking down the hall through the kitchen, I felt Madoc and Jax fall in behind me.
I spied K.C. and Nate through the glass doors, carousing in the hot tub, before I walked out and interrupted his relaxed little world.
“K.C., out of the hot tub.” I jerked my head to the side.
“Wha—” Nate started.
“Don’t talk.” I cut him off.
K.C., dressed in only her black bra and underwear, sloshed water out of the tub as she climbed out.
“Get his clothes,” I ordered whoever without taking my eyes off Nate. In a second, it was Madoc who came up and grabbed Nate’s shit from the side of the tub.
I wasn’t sure if Nate was wearing anything, but knowing him, he was all guts.
He didn’t talk as his blue eyes darted between me, Madoc, and Jax. I wasn’t sure where K.C. had gone, but I hadn’t heard the door to the house open, so I assumed she was still here on the patio.
“Jax, give me your knife.” I held my hand out to my side, my eyes still focused on Nate’s shocked expression, and a moment later, a switchblade was a placed in my palm.
Sliding the switch, the partially serrated blade shot out, vibrating in my hand.
Nate’s eyes got wider, and his gaze shifted around like he was looking for an escape route.
Yeah, don’t even try.
“You know why I’m pissed.” I stood on the opposite side of the tub, facing him. “And you should’ve known I wasn’t going to forget.”