Silence stretched out before us, the air turning icy cold. Then he said, “Oh, and tell Ford I’m coming for him.”
Chapter Twelve
Jason
“Who the fuck are all these people?” I grumbled. I’d gotten to Asher’s house an hour ago and grabbed a six-pack before taking my usual chair out back, but there were people everywhere.
“It’s a party. We’re celebrating, remember?”
Of course I fucking remembered. We were in the play-offs. But after a disastrous dinner post-game, with my father and Denise, I wasn’t exactly in a people kind of mood.
“Did you invite the whole fucking school?”
Asher grinned. “Only the bright and beautiful. Who’s beautiful?” he yelled and everyone went nuts, screaming and cheering. Always the showman. I rolled my eyes.
“Where’s Chase?” I asked.
“Inside with Hailee, but I’d steer clear of them if I were you, seems like there might be trouble in paradise.” Asher took a long pull on his beer.
I was already out of my chair though, stalking toward the house. The last thing we needed was our star wide receiver to lose his cool over some shit with my step-sister. The team needed Cam in the play-offs.
I needed him.
“Your funeral, man,” he yelled.
Inside wasn’t much better; bodies packed into every corner of the Bennet’s huge house. They were rich—filthy rich compared to the rest of us—and they didn’t mind Asher using the place for party central given they were out of town a lot. I couldn’t figure which was worse: having parents who cared but were never around, or having a dad you didn’t see eye-to-eye with who refused to stay out of your business. It seemed like parents were a pain in the ass whichever way you looked at it.
I searched the ground floor for Cam and Hailee before moving upstairs. Cam hadn’t always had it easy growing up, and since the Bennet’s had enough guest rooms to open a motel, they had given him his own room. He didn’t use it much anymore, but I knew if they were anywhere, that’s where they would be.
Raised voices made me pause when I reached his door.
“Tell him, Cameron.”
“And then what? What do you think telling him will do except incite war?”
I crept closer, straining to hear, the hairs along the back of my neck standing to attention.
“So what do we do? Wait until Thatcher really hurts one of—”
I burst into the room, my eyes narrowed to slits. “Tell me what?”
“Jase, man, we didn’t know—”
“Tell. Me. What?” I focused on Hailee since she was the only one who thought telling me whatever the fuck had happened was a good idea.
“Thatcher was at the game last night.”
“What the hell did you just say?” I saw red, my fists clenched, liquid fury coursing through my veins.
“We saw him before the game and again after...” Hailee’s eyes slid to Cameron who was deadly still.
“And why the fuck am I only just finding out about this?”
“Hailee only just told me. I swear, man.”
“It’s true,” she added. “I didn’t know what to do and Flick—”
“What does she have to do with all this?” Hearing her name set off my pulse, my heart jack-hammering in my chest.
“Thatcher’s friend...” She hesitated, my mood darkening by the second. “He...”
“Hailee, spit it out or so help me—”
“Jase, man, you need to calm down,” Cam offered, but I levelled him with a cold look.
“They really scared her, Jason. He had her pinned to the wall and he tried to—”
I couldn’t hear anything over the roar of blood pounding between my ears.
“You okay, man, you look a little white?”
“H- he touched her?” The words almost choked me.
“Not like that, but he grabbed her and said some things. And his friend held Mya back after she punched him.”
“She did what?” I rubbed my temples, this was getting worse by the second.
Hailee nodded. “She hit him and he left Flick alone but then Thatcher—”
My fist slammed into the wall beside me, the crack of bone against drywall reverberating through me. But I barely felt any pain, too consumed with the idea of Thatcher anywhere near Felicity.
“He knows she’s someone, Jason.” Hailee let the words hang between us, the insinuation like a slap in the face.
“Where is she now?” I asked, barely able to see straight.
“At home. She didn’t want to come. I think it’s affected her more than she wants to let on. She’s been holed up at her house all day.”
“And you? You’re okay?”
If Hailee was surprised at my concern, she didn’t show it. “I’m okay,” she said, reaching for Cameron’s hand. “I know this gives you reason to go after Thatcher, but it’s what he wants. You’re in the play-offs now. If you put one step wrong off the field, Principal Finnigan could pull you for the rest of the season.”
Didn’t I know it.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I said, “I’ll be fine. You two going to be okay if I go?” I lifted a brow at Cameron who gave me a tight nod.
“He isn’t worth it,” he reminded me. “Don’t play into his hands.”
“I don’t plan on it.” But Thatcher would get his, one way or another he would pay for all this.
But right now, I had bigger things to worry about.
Felicity’s house was steeped in darkness when I pulled up outside. Cameron and Hailee had tried to warn me about coming here, but as soon as her name left my step-sister’s lips, all rational thought went out of the window.
I had to know she was okay.
Maybe it was guilt over the fact she wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for me, or maybe it was because she meant more to me than I cared to admit. Whatever it was, I wasn’t leaving until I saw her with my own two eyes.
So why had I been sitting here for the last ten minutes unable to get out of the damn car?
“Fuck it,” I mumbled, shouldering the door and climbing out. I’d never called on a girl before; never stood on the doorstep and waited for them to appear. It wasn’t my style. Wasn’t something I ever imagined myself doing... yet, here I was.
But the second I hit the Giles’ porch, I froze. It was late on a Saturday night. What if her parents were home? What if her old man answered the door and saw me standing here? He’d recognize me; everyone in town did. Then there would be questions, assumptions… Fuck.
There was no car in the driveway unless you counted Felicity’s ugly sunflower yellow Beetle.
Retrieving my cell, I sent a quick text to Hailee.
Me: Are her parents home?
Haile: How the hell should I know? Is their car there?
Me: I don’t think so.
Hailee: You should be good then. I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.
I ignored that, not wanting to admit I didn’t have the first clue what I was doing.
Knocking gently, I waited. And waited.