This was not a good way to live.
This could not last forever.
But it was all I had for now.
I left the beach house and saw three vehicles in the driveway.
My morning went from normal and quiet to…
This.
Noah, Easton, and Xavier.
They parked side by side by side, blocking the entire driveway.
The first person to get out of their vehicle was Xavier.
He wore a sleeveless shirt with a sweat stain that went from his chest down to the bottom of the shirt. His arms were thick and glistening, veins that were always visible were now full and I swore they were throbbing.
Easton stepped out of his vehicle, leaving the door open, looking at the car, shaking his head.
He missed his other ride.
The one that was blown up.
He had a lit cigarette between his lips.
He looked tired.
So did Xavier.
Finally, there was Noah.
He opened the door to his car and when he climbed out, I saw his white shirt…
With blood on it.
My heart dropped down and bounced back up.
I had to approach the guys like normal. As always. There was no way I could give any hint that something was off.
Then again, Noah had blood on his shirt.
I pointed. “Jelly?”
He looked down at himself and smiled. “You like to be innocent, Winter, don’t you?”
“Sure,” I said. “What is this? Did you bring me breakfast?”
“I’ve got your breakfast right here,” Easton said.
He grabbed between his legs.
I had to laugh at that one.
“Seriously, Easton?” Noah asked.
“I don’t mind,” I said.
“See?” Easton asked. “She’s getting her memory back. She remembers how she felt about me all along.”
“I wish,” I said.
“Yeah?” Easton asked. “You wish you were with me?”
“No. I wish I was getting my memory back.” I looked at Xavier. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here?”
“Just checking on you,” he said. “We had a busy day and night.”
“I can tell,” I said. I pointed to Noah’s shirt. “Did you get what you needed?”
“Not quite,” he said. He unbuttoned his shirt. “See, we ran into a problem. A big one.”
“Meaning what?” I asked.
“There’s a lot of lies floating around here,” Noah said.
He took the shirt off.
His body was cut, toned, ripped, everything… whew.
He balled up the shirt and threw it into the back of the car.
Then, just like he did that day at BFH, he put a new shirt on.
As he buttoned the shirt, he walked toward me.
“The pieces aren’t matching, Winter,” Noah said. “And as much as I hate to say this… I think you’re in danger.”
“Me?” I asked. “I’m in danger?”
I looked at all three.
They were all getting closer to me.
“It made sense to go after BC,” Easton said. “We’ve always had issues there. We also heard a lot of rumors of things changing over there. Of course you don’t know what that means, right?”
I shook my head.
I knew what it meant.
BC. Brooks Crest. The place where the really bad people were sent to stay hidden. They were not the kind of people you wanted to mess with.
I looked at Noah. “What happened?”
“Brooks Crest,” Noah said. “We went and paid a visit. Grabbed Raf for a talk.”
“Raf?” I asked.
“One of Mac’s crew,” Xavier said. “I guess the names don’t matter that much.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
“You saw the shirt,” Noah said. “Raf took the beating like a man. And he gave us nothing.”
“Imagine our surprise there,” Easton said.
Now they were maybe a foot away from me.
I could smell the sweat on Xavier’s skin. The freshness of Noah’s new shirt. The cigarette smoke from Easton.
My knees were ready to start shaking.
“Something is going on here,” Noah said. “And since you’re close to us, you’re close to everything. You have to be careful. We don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I matter that much?” I asked.
“Yeah, you do,” Xavier said.
“Why?”
They were silent.
I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
Then an idea came to me.
I didn’t exactly have the time to think it through so I just went with my gut.
“I feel followed,” I said.
“What?” Easton asked. He flicked his cigarette away. “When?”
“A few times,” I said. “I feel like someone is watching me. Following me. I thought I saw something last night.”
“What did you do?” Noah asked.
“I hid in my room.”
“Alone?” Xavier asked.
“Yeah. I figured it was my mind playing tricks on me.”
Now that got the guys moving.
Noah walked to his car.
He punched the hood.
Easton went to get another cigarette.
Xavier slipped his hand into mine. “New rule, Winter.”
“What?”
“If you ever feel unsafe, you tell me,” he said. “You call. Text. Anything. I’ll be right over to help.”
“At what cost?”
“What?”
“I can see what you guys are. Nothing is free. I lost my memory, not my common sense.”
Xavier leaned down and kissed my cheek.
Then he put his lips to my ear.
“When the time comes, I’ll get exactly what I want from you.”
Chapter 9
investigate
I was on my way out of BFH again when Evie and Darcy decided today was the day they were going to block the doors.
“How’s your brain?” Evie asked.
“Broken,” I said. “But at least I have one.”
“So funny,” she said.
“I think you’re full of crap, Winter,” Darcy said. “This isn’t real.”
“What isn’t?” I asked.
“Why aren’t you going to see doctors and stuff?” Darcy asked.
“I’m sorry? Are you following me?”
“No,” she said. “But if this was real, you’d be, like, getting tested and stuff.”
“They did that,” I said. “I was told to go home and rest. Let it come back to me. It may never happen. Which is sad, because it’ll be a shame to miss out on the memories of our friendship.”
“I still don’t think it’s real,” Darcy said. “I’m going to tell everyone to watch out for you.”
Before I knew what I was doing, my hand pushed at Darcy’s chest.
I pushed her against the doors. “Don’t you ever talk about me.”
A stinging pain hit my cheek and I realized that Evie had slapped me.
Or tried to.
I turned my head and Darcy grabbed my arm, digging her nails into my skin.