Finally, he nods.
“Cole—”
“I’ll call the office and let them know,” he interrupts Kellan.
“Can you do that?” I ask, just realizing what he said. “Isn’t that a parental thing? You’re not really her dad, are you?” I ask, and he tenses.
“Cole is …”
“Kellan!” he interrupts him again. Then he looks at me. “After lunch, I’ll give you my car keys. They’re in my locker.” Everyone resumes their previous conversation, making me think I’ve missed something.
Then a thought hits me. “Uh …” I trail off, and he looks back down at me.
“What?” he barks.
I ignore his anger and lower my voice. “What about your gun?” I don’t want to get pulled over in his car and go to jail. Then again, maybe that is his plan.
“It’s not in there,” he answers.
I eye him skeptically. His eyes narrow on mine, angry that I don’t take his word for it. “It’s never in the car when Lilly is present.”
“Oh.”
He looks away from me, dismissing me once again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
COLE
I STAND IN the locker room after our meeting with Coach about our upcoming season. My phone beeps, and I pull it out of my pocket to find a text from Austin, and my heart starts to pound. I shouldn’t have let her pick up Lilly. I don’t want them getting close because I don’t want to hurt Lilly when I push Austin away after I’m done with her. But Celeste wasn’t answering, and Lilly and I haven’t gone over the procedures for her to ride a bus yet. It’s the second semester of my senior year. Even last semester when I had after-school meetings or meets, I always had someone lined up when I couldn’t make it. Either the nanny, Blanche, or Celeste helped me out.
I open it, thinking something is wrong, but it’s a picture of Lilly sitting at a round red table eating a cup of ice cream. A big smile on her face and a text from Austin.
She said she had a great first day back, and she made a new friend. His name is George. I hope you don’t mind. I took her for ice cream.
I smile. I’m glad she had a good day, but this George shit won’t work.
“What the fuck are you doing, man?” Kellan asks from behind me.
I close out of the text and place my phone back in my pocket.
“Drop it,” Deke warns.
“No! This shit is getting out of hand,” he snaps. “He’s in way over his head.”
I whirl around on him. “You doubting me?”
“Yes.”
I grind my teeth.
“You’re not thinking clearly. I understand you wanna fuck her over, but this is too far. She is gonna burn you. And I’m not gonna go down ’cause you wanna get your dick wet.”
I step into him, but Bennett grabs Kellan’s shoulder and pulls him out of my reach. “Watch it,” I warn.
“I’m gonna watch it all right. From the sidelines when she blows everything up in your face,” he shouts. “You think she’s any better than he is? You think she’s not gonna find out that you’re using her? That you want to fuck her dad over?” He shakes his head.
“I have it handled,” I growl.
He snorts. “She’s out with Lilly, for fuck’s sake, Cole. When she takes everything you have, you’ll only have yourself to blame.”
I step into him and punch him in the face. His head snaps to the side, and he stumbles back, running into Bennett. I punch him again before he can recover, and then I’m yanked back.
“Calm down, Cole,” Deke says as he holds me back.
My heart pounds in my chest as it rises and falls fast. I fist my hands, that feeling of split knuckles calming me. That familiar throb in my shoulder returns.
He rights himself and wipes the blood off his chin. “She needs to disappear.”
“You stay the fuck away from her, Kellan!” I growl.
He shakes his head, letting out a chuckle. “You’re already fucked up enough, Cole. You don’t need some whore making you worse.”
I go for Kellan, but Bennett grabs him, yanking him back. “Enough!” he demands. “Get the fuck out of here, Kellan.” Then he shoves him toward the door.
Kellan throws his hands up and walks out backward, making sure he can see me the whole time. Letting me know that he no longer trusts me. I could say the same about him. He’s keeping a very big secret from us. That only I know. What he doesn’t know is that I plan on using it against him. Very soon.
Once the door closes, Deke releases me. I let out a long breath.
“Maybe we should reconsider,” Shane says.
“No.” Bennett beats me to it. “We stick with the plan.” He looks at me.
I turn around and storm out, ready to get the fuck out of this school.
“Cole?” Deke calls out as I walk out to the parking lot.
“I’m not in the mood, Deke,” I tell him, coming to a stop by his Range Rover. He is taking me to Austin’s house to get Lilly and my car.
He comes to a stop in front of me. “I just wanted you to know that I got your back.”
“Thanks.”
_______________
I walk into the Lowes house without even bothering to knock. I take the stairs two at a time to the second floor, but I don’t find the girls in Austin’s room.
“Austin?”
“In the kitchen,” she calls out.
I make my way down the stairs slower and walk into the kitchen. Lilly is sitting on the counter, and Austin stands next to her with a tray of cookies in front of her.
“Hey, Cole,” Lilly says, smiling brightly.
I walk over to her and kiss her hair. “How was school?”
“Good. I made a new friend. He’s new. Just like Austin.”
I look at Austin, and she is dipping a butter knife into a tub of pink icing—Lilly’s favorite color. “That’s great.”
“Can he come over and swim with us?” she asks excitedly.
Hell no. “We’ll talk about it later,” I tell her.
“Here you go.” Austin turns to face her and hands her a cookie that she just finished icing.
Lilly bites into it. “So good,” she says with a nod. Then holds it up to me. “Try it, Cole.”
I lean down and take a bite. Austin goes back to frosting another cookie, and I swallow. “You’re right. Those are good.” I pick her up and set her on her feet. “Go get your backpack. We’re gonna leave soon.”
She bounces out of the kitchen. Once she is gone, I position myself behind Austin, pressing my hips into her back. She stiffens against me. “Cole.”
I reach up and pull her hair from her shoulder, wrapping it around my fist. I yank her head back, and she sucks in a breath. That anger I have for her rises because she’s causing problems for me. Big ones. She was supposed to be a toy—something fun to use—but I haven’t even got to play with her yet. Not how I imagine anyway.
I lean down to her ear. “Still mad at me, sweetheart?” I don’t care how mad at me she is over the video. It got the job done. Everyone fucking knows she belongs to me. She surprised me with her actions. I knew she wanted me, but I didn’t expect her to be so forward with an audience.