I remember a lot of things. Including Lou’s boyfriend pressing a gun to my kneecaps under the dinner table to protect someone he barely knew.
“Sean Everson Kelly is dead,” Lou repeated. Done playing games, I was ready to kick her ass out my car when she said, “But Crow is alive.”
“Who the hell is Crow?”
“He’s Exiled. Or he used to be. He’s also Wren’s father.”
My head spun as the wheels began to turn faster. If Sean and Crow were one and the same… Just as the last puzzle piece clicked into place, Lou nonchalantly set off the bomb.
“Four seems to think he’s Ever’s father, too.”
I’d only just recovered from the blow Lou had dealt when Wren suddenly materialized in the passenger window. Thanks to the large hood he’d thrown over his head, I couldn’t see his eyes, only his rigid jaw and the hard set of his lips.
Lou’s back was turned to the door, completely oblivious to his presence. Before I could warn her, the door was ripped open, and she was plucked from her seat. The look he gave me before he slammed my door shut would have made me snort if I wasn’t still reeling.
Wren set Lou on her feet, and while they stood in their drive arguing, I threw my Jeep into drive before backing out and heading home.
The second I reached home, I went in search of Four and wasn’t surprised to find her in the garage. I was surprised, however, to find her crying.
I swallowed hard, wondering what the hell Ever had done now, and then I felt like a selfish asshole when I wondered if it had anything to do with Bee.
Hearing my footsteps, she looked up and then hurriedly dashed at her tears.
“Too late, kitten.” I crossed the garage until I stood next to her, where she was straddling her bike. “What’s the matter?”
Her trembling lips prevented her from speaking, so she handed me her phone instead. On the screen was an open email, and the subject read “Your AMA Pro Licensing Application.” Scrolling, I swallowed hard when I read the first line.
We are sorry to inform you that your application for a Pro Motocross License has been denied.
Shit.
The email went on to say that Four would be welcome to apply again after obtaining the required points in a qualifying class.
Whatever the hell that meant.
“Fuck, Four. Fuck. I’m so sorry.”
Four was no longer crying, but her face could have been carved from stone as she stared at the wall. I’d only seen her race once, but it was enough to know that she could dust the fools that called themselves professionals. What right did they have to deny her?
“Maybe it’s just not meant to be.”
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” I barked.
Her startled gaze met mine, and her eyebrows rose at my scowl.
“You can’t just give up because they told you no. You make them eat shit until they say yes.”
“Well, they won’t,” she grumbled. “Not until I get the sixty points I need. I’d have to compete as an amateur, and I’d have a year and a half to do it.”
“So what’s the problem? We both know you’ll get those goddamn points.”
Four tried to hide the worry in her gaze and failed. “What if it takes me the entire eighteen months to qualify?”
I frowned. As amazing as Four was, I highly doubted it. Sure, the competition would be stiffer than she was used to, but if anyone had a chance, it was Four fucking Archer.
“I’d be on the road the entire time,” she added. “I can’t leave Rosalyn.”
“Your mom will be in good hands, Four. She’s going to be treated by the best doctors my uncle’s guilt-ridden money can buy.”
To his credit, Uncle Thomas had tried to care for Four’s mom himself until recently when he finally accepted that he was in over his head. Since he wasn’t Rosalyn’s legal spouse, my uncle was in the process of getting her recommended for involuntary hospitalization.
Four had taken the news with an extra dose of guilt. She’d been taking care of her mom since she was a child, shouldering her schizophrenia and nursing her back to health. Now that the burden had been taken away, she didn’t know where to begin living or even if she should.
“And Ever?” she asked, voicing the other plague on her heart. “He didn’t sign up to have a girlfriend who’s never around.”
“Ever is goddamned pussy-whipped, kitten. He’ll be right here waiting for you.”
“No,” she growled. “He’ll be at Cornell with all those available co-eds.”
“Do you trust him?”
“It’s not about—”
“Yes, it is,” I said before she could finish that ludicrous statement. “You either trust him or you don’t. If you don’t, then this conversation is irrelevant, and you should be having a different one entirely.”
“I’m not breaking up with him,” she sassed, catching my meaning.
“I figured as much.”
“Can you ever give advice without being such a dick?”
“Nope,” I said with a pop of my lips. “My methods are one-hundred percent effective.”
“Whatever.” I watched as she looked at the email one last time before pocketing her phone.
“So when do you leave?” I asked. I already knew she’d do what needed to be done. And even if my cousin was dick enough to have an issue with her absence, Four would never let it stop her. Girls like Four and Bee are what sad love songs were made of. My baby done left me and all that jazz.
“If I want to have my license in time to compete next season? As soon as possible.” After a few seconds, she sighed. “After graduation.”
Graduation was in less than a week, which meant she didn’t have a lot of time. Pulling out my phone, I searched for the kind of bike she’d need and whistled at the cost. “You don’t by any chance have ten grand lying around, do you? If not, Ever’s got the cash.” I pocketed my phone before saying, “You might need to think harder about giving him that blow job, though.”
The indignant look she gave me nearly folded me in half. “I’ve got it covered, thanks. I didn’t risk my freedom racing street for nothing.”
She swung her leg over the bike and headed inside and upstairs. When she stepped through her bedroom door, she looked over her shoulder and frowned once she realized I’d followed her.
“Uhhh… Jamie?”
“We need to talk.” Reaching behind me, I slammed her door closed. “Tell me what you know about Ever’s father.” It wasn’t a question that she knew more than she should have.
Her deep frown would have been adorable if I weren’t on a mission. “Who? Thomas?”
“No,” I snapped, giving her an indignant look. The women in my life made a habit of playing coy. “His real father.”
She blinked, took a step, and then another until she reached me. “Sean?”
Four’s bedroom door flew open before I could answer. I swung around, and my heart dropped to my stomach when I found Ever leaning against the jamb.
Shit.
IT WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE graduation, but the ceremony, one of the most important milestones I’d have in my lifetime, was the furthest thing from my mind. Six days had passed since the country club. Six days of agony. Six days of wondering. I couldn’t erase the devastation from my mind that I saw in Jamie’s eyes. Even when he was angry, I couldn’t recall him staying away this long. There were no late-night break-ins or random pop-ups at my school. He’d even deprived me of the mocking texts he always sent in the morning and sometimes throughout the day.