Cole’s body stiffens. His grip on the bat tightening. And I know he wants nothing more than to knock Kellan’s head off right now.
“Kellan …”
“The guy who gave you the two most important women in your life.” He pushes his chest into Cole’s, cutting off Bennett. “But what you don’t see is he has the power to take them both from you.” Kellan smiles at him. “I’m not the enemy here, Cole. Bruce Lowes is. And he is going to fuck up your world more than you can ever imagine.” He looks over at me and winks. “Enjoy it while you can.” Then he walks around Cole and gets into his car before taking off.
Once again, we all stand in silence. Cole stares straight ahead, staring at nothing. Deke runs a hand through his hair. Shane’s head falls back, and he closes his eyes as if he’s praying to God for something. Bennett stares at me. I look away from him.
“I’m out.” Cole finally speaks.
“What? Cole, you can’t …” Bennett starts.
“It’s over,” he says, walking over toward me.
“Kellan’s gone,” Shane adds. “We’ll vote him out.”
Cole comes to a stop and turns to face them. “Are you guys not listening? I said I’m out. And that’s final.” He turns back around and comes up to me. I flinch when he lifts his hand, and his eyes cloud over. “Austin—”
“You can’t just quit,” Shane interrupts him.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want,” he snaps. “Now drop it!” He grabs my right hand and pulls me back into the clubhouse.
I stand awkwardly by the table as he paces back and forth.
The door opens, and Deke walks in. He doesn’t acknowledge me. “You know I’ll back you a hundred percent.”
Cole nods.
“But are you sure this is what you want to do?”
He comes to a stop and looks up at Deke, then at me. “It’s over.”
I swallow the lump in my throat at his words. As if he’s talking about us. But that’s crazy because we were never anything. It was all a lie.
I take a step toward them. “Don’t do this for me.” My voice is rough, and I clear my throat.
“This has nothing to do with you,” he snaps.
Deke lets out a growl. “Stop lying.” He looks at me. “This has everything to do with you.”
“Deke!” Cole warns.
He slaps Cole on the back. “It’s about time, man.” Then he turns and walks out, leaving us alone.
CHAPTER FORTY
COLE
FUCK!
She was right! Not like I doubted her. But finding her phone in Kellan’s car made me want to knock his head off his shoulders with that fucking bat.
“Cole?”
I pulled out! That was the right thing to do. It’s over. No more dares. No more group. And it means she is safe. Well, for now. Kellan was right that Bruce can take her from me. He can destroy me in a completely different way now. And I know that he wouldn’t think twice.
Fuck, I’m so tired of people being right.
“Cole?”
“What?” I snap.
She takes a step back. “Will you take me home?”
I shake my head. “You can stay the night here.”
“I can’t …”
“We’re on spring break.” I walk over to her. “And you’re safe here. Plus, we need to talk.” It’s time.
“About what?” She asks nervously.
“Everything,” I say simply. “You’ve earned the truth.” Her eyes search mine for any indication I’m lying, but she won’t find it this time.
AUSTIN
At my silence, he pulls me over to the couch, and I sit down next to him. “I wanna know about Lilly.” There’s so much more I want to know, but she is the most important right now.
He nods and takes a deep breath. “I found out Bruce raped my mom when I heard her talking to my father in his office. He blamed my mom. Said that it was her fault. She should have been stronger.” He fists his hands in his lap. “I didn’t understand what they were talking about exactly because I was only eleven at the time. She tried to leave him, but he wouldn’t let her go. He never loved her. He was just sick and twisted and loved the idea of making her stay.
“Anyway, fast forward nine months, and my mom was a week past her due date when Celeste came to my school and pulled me out of class. She told me that my father had called and told her my mother had fallen down at home and was rushed to the hospital. It sent her into labor, and although the baby was okay, there were complications. Blood loss …” He pauses, and my throat starts to tighten. “She didn’t make it through surgery. My father didn’t want a baby. But his wife had died, and no one knew what Bruce had done. To put the baby up for adoption would make him look bad, so he decided to keep her. I hated my father from then on. For not protecting my mother. For not loving Lilly. To me, she was his daughter. She was the baby of the woman he was supposed to love.” He shakes his head. “And I hated Bruce.” He looks up at me.
“Then why do you let Lilly go to my father’s house so much?” This question has been on my mind. “Knowing what he is capable of,” I grind out. I’ve always known my father to be a sick bastard.
“Celeste was around a lot and helped me more than anyone else was willing to.”
“Did she know what Bruce did to your mom?” I ask softly.
He nods. “Yes. She never came out and said it, but she didn’t have to.” I look down at my hands. “I let Celeste keep her at times, but Bruce was never home when I allowed that. Except with you.”
“What?” I frown, looking back up at him.
He cups my cheek. “I didn’t tell you about her. And at first, I didn’t want you to spend time with her. Afraid Lilly would get attached and it would hurt her when you left.” I swallow at that. “But as time passed, I wanted you to spend as much time with Lilly as possible, so I let her go home with you even when Bruce was there because I knew without a doubt that you would protect her, Austin. You didn’t need to know she was your sister to keep her safe.”
“With my life,” I say without thought. I may not have known Lilly was my sister, but I love that little girl. And even when my dad was home, and I had Lilly, he never came around us. Never even looked at her in passing. He acted as if she didn’t exist.
He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I know.”
Tears start to well in my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Cole. For what Bruce did to your mother.” My chest tightens. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t know about Lilly sooner. I could have helped …” My voice cracks. “I could have come back here. I should have …” I choke on the words.
He reaches out and pulls me to him. I bury my face into his shirt and inhale that scent that I’ve missed the past two weeks. “It’s not your fault, Austin.” He kisses my hair. “You didn’t know.” He sighs. “I was afraid of losing her. To you. To Bruce. Even Celeste held her over my head. She helped me raise her the first few years. I was twelve when she was born and knew nothing about babies. My dad didn’t want her and neither did Bruce. But I wanted her. She was part of me.” He smiles softly at me. “Part of my mom.”