A security van was parked in our driveway. A man was kneeling at the door as I walked past him to the kitchen. There were two more focused on something on the wall. Analise stood with another who must've been their boss. He held the clipboard and was nodding as she gestured around the room.
Then she saw me. A dark smile came to her face. "Good morning, honey. I saw your sneakers were gone so I guessed you had gone on a run."
I gulped against the gloating in her eye. "What are they doing?"
She lifted a shoulder. "Oh, nothing much, honey. Nothing for you to worry about." Then her smile turned into a triumphant smirk. "They're installing a new security system."
My heart dropped. The cold sweat was back.
"We'll have security cameras in the house now."
CHAPTER EIGHT
I couldn't email Mason.
I couldn't call Mason.
I definitely couldn't see Mason.
By the afternoon, I was a caged animal: prowling my room, pacing back and forth, walking in circles, and snarling to myself.
So I did what I always did, I went running for the second time that day. Except this time my body was sluggish, my legs felt like lead, and I had a hard time pushing my demons at bay. After an hour of forcing myself to move faster than a crawl, I gave up and walked. And then I walked some more. After the second hour of walking, I realized that I was in a part of Fallen Crest that I was not familiar. It wasn't the 'bad' section, but it was definitely further than any of the hangouts I frequented.
"Screw you, Brandon! If you sleep with one more girl, there won't be anyone left to help out." A screen door banged shut and a rail-thin girl stood in front of it. She flung her arms back, one with a cigarette, and screamed inside, "I can't do it all alone, you know!"
Her response was a low curse, but she threw her head back in disgust before extending him the middle finger. Then she threw herself onto a metal chair behind the door. Another sat beside it with a bowl of cigarette butts between them. When the girl lit up, she exhaled dramatically and leaned back in the chair. A long pale leg braced on the wire rim that looked like a mini-bonfire container, and she pushed up so her chair rested on the back legs. As she sent out another puff, her eyes opened and then locked on me.
Shit.
I'd been staring the whole time, but I couldn't look away. That would be ridiculous now, like she'd caught me doing a bad thing.
Her hair was a dirty blonde mess. It was greasy, but for some reason it worked on her. It gave her a just-had-the-best-sex look. Her eyes were heavily made up to give her a smoky image, and her lips pursed together as she blew out some more smoke. "Hey, you."
"Yeah?"
"Come here." She waved her little fingers to me, beckoning me over. As I did, she gestured to the chair beside her. "Pop a squat." Then she leaned back again and studied me. After another drag, she narrowed her eyes. "Do I know you? You look familiar."
Everything was tense inside of me. I should've been exhausted. I ran for four hours earlier, followed by a two hour walk. Albeit that it was a slow as molasses walk, but it was still walking. It was movement, anything to keep me from doing something I couldn't do. When I had started out, I almost took my car, but I didn't trust myself in any vehicle. I would turn it around and go to Mason, I'd do it without a thought, and it wouldn't be until after both of us climaxed that I would realize the consequences. He didn't take my mother seriously, but I did. I had to for him or I would lose him.
A stabbing sensation seared through me. No one knew the lengths my mother would go to if she was pushed into a corner. Something had happened to make her feel boxed in. I had no idea what it was, but her true craziness was about to be unleashed.
"Hey!" The girl snapped her fingers in front of my face.
"Oh." I blinked rapidly. "Sorry."
She leaned back again on her chair after she flicked the butt onto the bowl between us. A second one was lit immediately, and she took another drag. "I know I know you. How do I know you?"
I swallowed a knot in my throat. "Do you go to Fallen Crest Academy?"
She snorted before a full-hearted laugh came from her throat. It was a low and raspy laugh. "God no. Thank god. Why? Do you?"
I nodded. "My dad's the football coach."
"No way." Her eyes snapped to attention. "My brother used to play football against them, that was three years ago. He ain't done nothing since—"
"I own this bar, Heather!" A roar came from inside. "I do too do crap."
She rolled her eyes. "Like I said, he hasn't done anything except screw my friends and run off ALL MY HELP." Her voice rose so he would hear inside.
She was awarded with another curse, but she chuckled softly as she took another drag from her cigarette. "Anyways, what's your name? Mine's Heather Jax. Idiot inside is Brandon, and my pops owns the diner side of our humble abode inside."
"Humble abode?" It was a run-down dive, and the customers gave me the feeling most had come straight from being incarcerated. The sign out front had the name Manny's scrawled over it in big white lettering on a black background with a green arrow pointed downwards. I'd never seen the place before, but what caught my attention had been Heather's screaming. The longer I sat there, the more a possible scenario played in my head.
She blew out the rest of her second cigarette. As she ground it into the bowl, I expected her to light up a third, but she merely folded back in her chair. Then she frowned and shot forward. "Hold on. Be right back." She was inside in the blink of an eye but back just as quickly with two Coronas. As she sat down and handed one over, she laughed. It was such a deep-throated sound that I knew Logan would've been all about her within seconds of meeting.
"Yeah, I guess you could call this place our humble abode." She shook her head as a wry grin curved a corner of her lip upwards. She tilted the bottle back and took a long drag. "It's ours and ours alone, no goddamn corporation owns it. We run it. Hell, we breathe this place. My mom bought it when I was three, but she took off when I was six. My dad raised us, the three of us, and we help out as much as we can. Brad's off playing football now. He got scouted to play for some big college across the country, but Brandon stayed. He does school online and runs the bar side of things. Dad does the books and I run the diner."
I had yet to take a sip from my beer.
She eyed me, half done with her own. "You sure I don't know you?"
Of course, she knew me. It didn't take a genius for me to realize this girl went to Fallen Crest Public. If she went there, she knew Mason and Logan, and chances were high that she had seen me at a party with them. Everyone went to those parties.
But a sixth sense nagged me. This girl didn't seem to give two cents about who Mason and Logan were. I wondered, no—I worried that she would hold it against me, and I didn't want that. I really didn't want that because as soon as I heard her yelling at her brother I already knew I wanted a job there. I wanted a place to hide from my mother as I tried to stay away from Mason for the month and this would be perfect.
"Are your customers dangerous?" The question slipped out before I realized how stupid that sounded, and offensive. God, what was my problem? "I'm sorry—"
Another deep-throated laugh sounded from her as she threw her head back. Then she finished the rest of her beer and tossed it into the bonfire. "Nah. No, they'd like you to think that, but they're all harmless. The most dangerous is Gus, but it's only because his farts are lethal. He lets them rip all the time."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Fondness lit up her eyes, but they grew serious after a moment. She focused back on me. "Come on, tell me straight. How do I know you?"
I hesitated. But then I went with my gut. She would be more pissed when she found out later, and I knew she would. It was inevitable. "I'm dating Mason Kade." Then I waited. The reaction would vary. She might want to use me, she might kick me out, or …I wasn't sure.
"Well damn then." She shot inside for another beer and clinked it against mine. "You got balls da
ting that one."
My mouth almost fell down. There was nothing, just…nothing. "I had a feeling you'd for sure send me off after I told you that."
Heather grinned and chuckled as she shook her head. She brushed back a bunch of her hair and yawned a full body yawn as she stretched. Her arms went wide, her chest went out, and her back arched against the metal chair. That's when I knew for sure Logan would've been salivating for the girl. She wore a tight red shirt, ripped at her waist to show off her midriff with a tight pair of washed-out jeans, torn at her knees and the ends. The girl looked like sex on a stick, or that's what Logan would've said.
"Nah." She gave me lopsided grin. "Something tells me you're a smart one and you picked me for a reason, just like I called you over. You want a job here, don't you?"
I did. I really did, but I bit my lip. I didn't know if Mason would approve, but it didn't matter. I needed something, anything to keep me from running to him. And this was the perfect hideout. It would make my mother furious.
"Yes." My confession left me in a rush.
"I saw that right away. It's why I called you over, plus, I've got a feeling that you've got spine if you know what I mean."
I snorted and, for the first time, relaxed into my chair. My hands folded into my lap as I settled more comfortably. "So do I have the job?"
"You ever waitressed before?"
No. "Yes."
"Liar." But she didn't hide the grin on her face. "You're hired. You start tonight?"
So much tension left me in that moment. I couldn't believe it. And I nodded, suddenly choked up for some reason. "Yeah. What time?"
She chewed on her lip as she scanned me up and down again. "The night shift starts in an hour. If you're dating Mason Kade, then that makes you their future stepsister. It's all that some of those wishy-washies talk about so I know that you live at the big fancy mansion of theirs and if you came walking all this way, there's no way you can make it there and back, can you?"
I shook my head and bit my own lip. Would I lose the job?
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "That crappy looking house is ours. If you want, you can shower in there. I could spot you some clothes for the shift, and then your fancy boyfriend can give you a ride home tonight? How's that sound?"
Wonderful, but I grimaced. I had no idea how I'd get home. I couldn't call Mason—even if I could reach him, I would end up in his bed tonight. Then it didn't matter. I'd figure something out so I jerked my head in a nod. "Sounds good."
She grunted in an approving sound as she stood. Then she hollered inside, "She's got a boyfriend, Brandon. Hands off."
"Yeah, yeah!" he grumbled back before he shouted a curse to follow.
She flipped him her middle finger, but it was only met with a smattering of laughter from inside. As we headed to their two-story home, she stuffed her hands into her back pocket. Her legs stretched out in a walk that I knew would've had Logan groaning from behind her. Sex on a stick. I tried to hold back my anticipation of introducing the two.
But then I was distracted as she showed me through the front door. The screen door banged open, and she strutted past a living room with two worn-out couches and a television positioned on a stand in the corner. The kitchen was small and sparse. A bare table sat in the dining room with boxes of liquor placed all over. When she noticed my gaze, she shrugged. "Sometimes my dad uses this place for storage. He thinks it's safer than in the bar where a few of our old employees weren't so trustworthy, if you know what I mean."
When I met her gaze, she nodded towards the rickety stairs. "Shower's upstairs. I won't scare you off by making you use Brandon and dad's shower. That whole area of the house is disgusting. Come on. I'll grab you some clothes too."
After she showed me the shower, which was in a bathroom that was clean and decorated in lace and pink, I relaxed a bit. It'd been awhile since I had been at a place that wasn't the lap of luxury. For some reason, this grounded me. I felt more settled, like no one was going to swipe me off my feet and run away laughing. Then I stepped inside the shower and breathed in the smell of lilies. When I used some of her body wash, I held back a grin at the image of Mason's hands on my body. He would've loved the smell on me. He would've loved to lather me with it before he would pull my body back against his. Then his hands would slide to my waist and slip down—
"We don't really have a uniform policy."
My elbow jerked up as Heather tore me from my thoughts. As it banged against the shower, a stabbing pain flooded me, but I bit back a curse.
She fell silent for a second before she cleared her throat. "You okay?" Her voice grew as she must've opened the door and stepped inside. Then she snorted at herself. "I don't even know your name. What is it?"
"Samantha," I called over the water. I hurried to finish rinsing my hair and everything else.
"Oh. Hello again. Mine's Heather. Again." She chuckled again. "I sound like a virgin on her first date with the Hulk. Stupid as shit." But she laughed again. "Anyways, what I was saying before is that we don't really have a uniform policy, but the girls all started wearing jeans and a tee shirt. They liked to show the girls and usually tore off the bottom to show off their stomachs, more tips. We have a lot of regulars, but on the weekends we'll get some rich pricks too. They're usually trying to hide from the wives or girlfriends, but they come around enough. The tips are good."
Rich pricks. I frowned as I wondered if Mason knew of the place.
Heather interrupted my thoughts again. "I put some jeans and shirts on the bed. Take your time washing up; just come down whenever you're done. You were sweating a bunch so I'll make some food too. You're going to need some good sustenance in you to get through the night. There are a few of the other servers that'll be bitches to you, especially if you tell 'em who you're dating." She paused a beat. "Not that I'll say a word. I won't. That's for you to share if you want. Something tells me that you're a bit on the secret side, but to each her own. My brother will go crazy. He loves the Kade boys. He reminisces about when Mason first showed up on their team all the time. You woulda thought that the Lord himself came to save their team from damnation from the way Brandon puts it. Okay, I'll be downstairs. See you in a few."
Brandon knew Mason? The other girls knew them? Then I cursed at myself. Of course they knew them. What the hell had I been thinking? But as I got out of the shower and finished dressing, I headed downstairs to find out because I wasn't going anywhere. This wasn't about Mason and me; this was about my mother and me. My chin locked with determination as I turned the corner and saw Heather in the kitchen. She handed me a plate with a sandwich on it.
Analise might not know it yet, but I was going to make her regret forcing Mason away from me. And getting a job at Manny's was the perfect start to enact some revenge.
CHAPTER NINE
Training that night was easy. The most difficult thing was staying friendly when a few of the customers got too friendly, but Heather stepped in and handled those situations. I figured out how to take orders, how to write it down on the pad, and to time when the food would be done for customers. Filling drink orders was easier, but I got frustrated a few times I would get one drink only to have the other customer at the same table decide on something else. Heather chuckled as she watched me get flustered, but she linked elbows at one point and gave the table a polite smile as she took their orders. I would've headed straight to the bar to fill 'em, but she completed another task on her way to the bar.
Multi-tasking was going to be a skill I'd need to learn, but by the end of the night I felt more confident. It helped that Brandon was nice every time I came to him with a question. He took the time to explain the different drinks and always told me not to worry; I would catch on soon enough. By the fourth time he issued that same support, I caught a frown from Heather across the diner. Something told me he hadn't really heard her warning that I was dating someone, but it didn't matter. I wasn't going to date him.
There were two other servers that sho
wed up, both of them were nice, so nice that I wondered about Heather's warning from before. That was until the nine o'clock girl showed up. Her name was Gia and she would've been elated to reign with the Elite at my school. She had platinum blonde hair, manufactured boobs, and an outfit that barely covered her. A swimsuit might've covered more, but she was the shot girl as Heather explained. It was to be expected.
By the end of the night, I felt ready to do an entire shift on my own. Heather had cut me down to handling a few tables on my own by the end of the night. My feet killed, but I hoped it had more to do with my four hour run and the two of walking. And with that thought, I should've called Coach Grath back that day, but when I saw Heather earlier, I put it off. I would call him the next day and my training would start in the mornings since Heather told me that she needed me every night during break. I would get every other Thursday off, along with the opposite Tuesdays when school would start again. When I asked about the weekends, she assured me that I would want them.
After cleaning up, when everyone left, I was faced with a dilemma.
I had no way home.
I had my phone, but no number to call Mason even if I wanted to. I never got Nate's number and Logan's line had been disconnected as well. They would have no clue to come get me so I was left with one choice.
I called Adam.
He pulled into the parking lot within ten minutes, dressed in a green polo and khaki cargo pants. As I got a whiff of his pine