He glares at me. “Then you need to decide what she means to you. Because I see it all fucking coming to a head. Not soon but eventually, and you’re gonna have to pick a side. Save her. Or kill her before the others do.”
“And you?” I demand. “Where does she stand with you?”
He uncrosses his arms and places his hands in his pockets. “She’s my girlfriend’s best friend and my brother’s girl.” He looks me in the eyes. “I do what you say. Whether that means protect her or kill her, so her blood isn’t on your hands, it’s up to you.” And with that, he turns and walks back into the restaurant.
AUSTIN
“So what are you guys doing tonight?” Becky asks me.
“Nothing—”
“We’re going to a movie,” Cole interrupts me as he slides in next to me.
“Really?” she asks excitedly.
I eye him skeptically.
He places his arm over my shoulders and pulls me to his side. I hate that my body instantly softens. “Really,” he says, looking at her.
I’m about to open my mouth and say no when he continues. “We are taking Lilly to see the new Disney movie. She won’t leave me alone about it.” My heart melts a little bit at the mention of Lilly. “You guys wanna go?” he asks.
Becky looks at Deke. He shrugs. “If that’s what you want—”
“Yes. We’ll go,” she interrupts him.
Deke looks at Cole and smiles. “I can drive if you want,” he offers.
Lunch went well although I was tense for most of it. Cole is acting differently, and I can’t figure it out. And Deke kept staring at me with a smirk on his face like he knew a secret. It put me on alert.
“What’s wrong?” Cole asks while he drives me home.
“Nothing,” I lie.
He looks over at me and snorts. “Your knees haven’t stopped bouncing since we left the restaurant.”
I slap my hands on my thighs to help tame them. “Why am I going to the movies with you?” I blurt out.
He frowns. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“We don’t do that.” When his frown deepens, I add. “Date.” This isn’t even a real relationship. He told me I was his, and no one else will date me. I kinda have no other options.
“I promised Lilly yesterday I would take her to the movies tonight, and I figured you’d want to come. Is there a problem?”
I open my mouth but then close it. Not sure what to say. “No,” I say when I come up with nothing. “I like spending time with Lilly.”
He smiles. “But not with me.”
Is he being playful?
I don’t say anything to that because I’m not sure what I like at this moment. He’s got my mind twisted. He’s a killer. He’s been nothing but a dick to me. But then I find out he has this heart that is so big he would rather the entire city hate him than soil his friend’s reputation. Then, of course, Lilly. He thinks the world of her. Raises her. And then there’s the sex. Fuck me! The sex. It’s amazing. Sex with Martin was slow and soft. He was always high, and I was always on top while he played some slow blues music. Sex with Cole is crazy and animalistic. Makes me want to play some hardcore metal and have his hand wrapped around my neck.
“Your phone is done charging,” he says, unplugging and handing it to me. I go to reach for it, but he pulls it away. “Why do you have the retina scanner on it?”
“It came with the phone.”
He comes to a stop at a red light and looks over at me. “The real reason, sweetheart.”
“Just give it to me,” I bark.
He places it in the side of his door. “When you can be truthful, I’ll give it back.”
“Cole,” I growl.
“Austin.” He smiles.
I don’t like this new playful Cole. It’s annoying. “You don’t get to do this,” I snap.
“Do what?”
“Not tell me anything but want me to tell you everything.”
“So there is a reason you use the retina.”
I sit back in my seat and the light turns green. He doesn’t go. The car behind us honks its horn. I turn around to look as the guy swerves around us. “Cole, the light is green.”
“I know,” he says simply.
Another car honks its horn. “Well, why are we just sitting here?”
He yanks the emergency brake up and crosses his arms over his chest. “We’re not moving until you tell me why you have a retina scanner on your phone.”
Another car honks and flies by us. My teeth clench. “You are such a dick.”
“Call me whatever you want, sweetheart. I always get what I want.”
A car passes by, and the passenger sticks his right hand out, flipping us off. Thankfully, Cole’s windows are blacked out so no one can see us. Finally, the light turns red, and I just stare straight ahead. I remain silent as does he. I pray that he goes through the stoplight the moment it turns green again. But he stays put.
Fucking bastard.
I let out a long breath while cars pass us once again. “I walked into my bedroom one day and found Phillip going through my photos. Photos that I had taken of myself and sent to Martin. After that, I knew I needed to put a lock on it that he wouldn’t be able to guess. Retina scanner was the best bet.”
He tosses my phone to me, and it hits the door. Then he releases the emergency brake and throws the car in gear and squeals the tires as he takes off, barely making it before the light turns red again.
I look over at him as he drives like a maniac now through traffic. Cutting cars off and tailgating. “What is your problem?” I demand.
He slams on the brakes at another red light. I can see his jaw tighten.
“Why do you make me tell you things and then get mad at me? If you don’t want to know the answer, then don’t make me tell you. It’s not that hard of a concept,” I snap.
He remains silent, and I look down to turn my phone on. It starts to ding instantly with notifications. I open my Facebook page and see I have over a hundred new friend requests, which is a surprise. But only one stands out. Cole Reynolds. His profile pic is of us. I’m sitting on the counter at his father’s house, and he’s standing between my legs, kissing me.
I ignore it and go to my pictures. I scroll through them, looking at the ones I have with Martin. Each one makes me angrier and angrier that I haven’t heard from him.
I click on his page. His profile is still the same picture it has been for two years now. Him standing with his surfboard on the ocean. I scroll down through his posts and see that he is still addicted to the games. He likes to smoke weed, sit back, and play on his phone. I see he was tagged in a picture just a few days ago. The person doing the tagging is a girl. She has short brown hair and light brown eyes. His lips are on her cheek and her hand is on his chest. But there’s no caption.
I swallow, hating the feeling that he is with someone else so fast. I’m not going to say I thought we would get married, but he was a big part of my life. And then, boom. Nothing. It hurts.
It’s not like Cole and I are anything important. Like I wanted this relationship with him.
I unfriend Martin, exit his page, and go back to mine, deleting every picture he was in.