Shelby, my older sister who still lives in Collins, called me yesterday and said that she had picked up a weekend shift at the hospital. As a trauma nurse, she always works crazy hours, so I decided to stay here. She was the only reason I was going to spend two days in Collins. Any chance I have to stay away from my father, I take it. “Plans changed,” I answer.
The room falls to an awkward silence. Austin’s green eyes drift from me to Becky. Then to Cole. Almost as if she’s secretly asking us to go have our conversation in another room—preferably outside.
I jump up and plant my ass on the kitchen island, smiling at her. Austin’s disappointment shows when she lets out a heavy sigh.
“What do you have planned for us tonight?” Cole asks me. He knows I’m not going anywhere, no matter what his soon-to-be wife wants. He’s the one who has to kiss her ass, not me.
I may like to avoid Becky, but I also like to make her feel uncomfortable. I hold all the cards here. She has no clue who I have told her secrets to, and I wanna watch her sweat for a while.
“I got us tickets to Silence,” I answer.
Austin’s brows pull together. “What is Silence? And can Lilly go?”
“Only the scariest haunted house in Texas.” Becky answers her, and Austin’s face lights up like fucking Christmas. “No, Lilly can’t go. It’s not a place for children,” she adds.
Austin looks up at Cole with a big smile on her face, silently begging him. He shrugs, telling her, “It’s up to you, sweetheart.”
She turns her attention back to me. “I’ll call and see if Misty can watch Lilly for a few hours. If she can, then we’ll go.” Looking at Becky, she asks, “You can go, right?”
I refrain from growling because I wanted Becky to be the babysitter. I can’t stand to be around her for five minutes, let alone spend an evening with her. We keep our distance for a reason.
“Sure,” she answers. “When are we going?”
“Tonight,” I say, and everyone’s heads turn toward me when the word comes out a little too snappy.
“Okay.” Austin spins around in Cole’s arms so she can face him. “I’ll call Misty …”
He doesn’t even let her finish before he leans down and presses his lips to hers. His hands go to her hair, and she lets out a moan when he pulls her head back to give himself better access to her mouth. Becky exits the kitchen, rolling her eyes.
I stay where I’m at, being the pervert that I am. Plus, it’s not like I haven’t ever seen them kiss. Hell, I once recorded them fucking in a bathroom while at a high school party and then posted that shit online for all to see. All because he told me to do it. That was before he fell in love with her, though. And also ’cause I can be an asshole.
“Austin?”
She pushes Cole away, breathing heavily when Lilly enters the kitchen. “Yes, Lilly?” she asks, breathlessly.
The cute little six-year-old smiles up at her. She is Cole’s little sister, and he’s raised her since the day she was born. Celeste, Austin’s stepmother, killed Cole’s mother by shoving her down a flight of stairs when she was pregnant with Lilly. Lilly survived, but their mother did not. “I don’t know where my phone went.”
Austin takes her hand and pulls her own cell out of the back pocket of her jeans. “I’ll call it.”
“I think it’s dead.” She frowns.
“We’ll find it,” Austin assures her before they walk out of the kitchen.
“Need a moment?” I ask Cole, jokingly.
“More like an hour,” he answers.
I turn to face him, and he has his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Things have been awkward around us since the night he told me all his secrets in Collins. He thinks I’m mad at him, but I’m not. He did exactly what I would have done, so I can’t fault him for being like me. But I hate that I’m still keeping my own. Maybe he’s pulling away from me ’cause he knows I’m not being honest with him. And it makes me think of Eli. How close we all once were, but how many secrets we had among us. Were we all ever really friends? I think that’s the hardest part about all of this. I was loyal to the sharks. I may have been an ass to most, but I would have laid my life down for any of them. Even Kellan. But in the end, I helped Cole kill him. Would Cole have helped me kill Eli if he hadn’t died that night in the car accident? Would Cole have dug with me to get the answers I needed? Still want? I’m not sure. And I hate that I’ll never know. You can’t kill someone who is already dead. But the unanswered questions still eat at me.
He finally looks away from where Austin exited the kitchen with Lilly, and his eyes meet mine. “You gonna be okay with Becky tonight? I can tell Austin I don’t want to go—”
“No,” I interrupt and wave him off. “It’ll be fine. How bad can it be?”
His dark brows rise at my question as if to say really? You gonna ask that? Because we both know just how bad shit can get.
Austin pops her head back into the kitchen. “Found the phone and Misty is gonna come stay with Lilly.”
Neither one of us says anything to her.
Her green eyes narrow, and she walks over to me. “Please be nice.” I open my mouth, but she continues, “It’s just one night.”
I grind my teeth but nod once ’cause that’s the first time Austin has ever asked me for anything. And I love that girl like my own sister. Even if I did once aim a gun at her, planning on ending her life in the middle of a cemetery. But now that’s water under the bridge and all that. “One night.” I’ve put up with worse in my life.
She smiles and looks over at Cole. “I’m going to take a shower and start getting ready.” Then she turns and walks out of the kitchen once again.
And no surprise, Cole all but runs out of the kitchen to follow her up to their room for a little shower time of his own. He’s been on her ass more than usual and doesn’t let her out of his sight. If it were anyone else, I would say their relationship has gone from extremely toxic to a tad unhealthy, but I know the loss that he has suffered and the scare he had with her five months ago. Hell, even I’m protective of her now.
I walk over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water, and when I turn around, Becky is standing there. I bump into her on accident, and it pushes her backward. Instinct has me reaching out and grabbing her upper arm to keep her standing. I should shove her ass to the floor, but I don’t.
Her blue eyes look up at me wide, and I realize the last time I was this close to her was three months ago. When I stormed into her bedroom back at her father’s house in Collins and told her I knew all her secrets. That she had been fucking my best friend, Eli, and that she had lied to Cole and wasn’t really pregnant. She begged me to love her, to want her, but it didn’t work.
“Wait! Please?” she begs. “I can fix this.”
“No. You can’t.” Things have gone too far, and there’s no going back now.
“Deke? Please? I can’t lose you,” she cries.
“You already have.” I reach for the door handle, but she places her hands on my back, gripping my T-shirt and causing the collar to choke me.
“I’m sorry. Is that what you want me to say?” she grinds out. “I lied. And I’ve felt terrible about it. Austin is my best friend. And I love you. You love me.”