Chapter 50
CHAPTER 50
Ivy
Tonight is the night.
I wait until everyone is sleeping. Then I sneak from room to room, hall to hall, until I find what I’m looking for: A bed and a little girl still deep in her slumber while hugging her cat. I drag her out of bed and shake her to wake her up quickly, but nothing feels real, not even the way she looks at me. Her tiny hand sits snugly in mine as I bolt off with her and the cat through the endless hallways.
But the walls feel like they’re caving in on me, and the doors feel endless.
I pause and shush her silently while we wait for a guard to pass the stairs so we can sneak past.
“Let’s go,” I whisper, but my voice sounds muffled in the void.
I pull her along while holding the cat tightly, and we head through the corridor and down the stairs into the garage.
“Ivy!”
A loud voice echoes through the hallways, and the light fixtures flicker.
Over and over again, the voice booms from ear to ear as it gets closer and closer while sweat begins to drip down my neck.
I hold the girl closer as I run toward the only bike in the garage, put her on the seat together with the cat, and jump on.
Get out, get out, get out.
If I get caught … I’ll die.
I sit up straight in bed, breathing wildly as the sweat tumbles down my forehead. I immediately look to my right, where Cora is still happily snoring away, and I smile at her content little face.
I wrap the warm blanket tightly around her little body and get up. Every time I wake up in this house, the unfamiliar feeling tightening like a noose around my neck strengthens.
It’s not safe.
But where else am I supposed to go?
A knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts. “Ivy, Cora, are you awake?”
It’s Max. “Come in.”
He opens the door softly and peeks inside, but when he sees her, he melts. “Aw …”
I put my finger to my lips. “Don’t wake her, please.”
“It’s been tough on her moving here, huh?”
I suck in a breath. “It’s not the first time she’s had to do it.”
He frowns. “Oh?”
Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.
I avert my eyes and clear my throat.
“So, uh, school,” I mutter.
He rubs the back of his neck. “Right, I almost forgot about that after this weekend.”
But I’m far too concerned about Cora to worry about what happened between us four. “What am I supposed to do about Cora? I can’t bring Mrs. Schwartz here.”
He steps inside. “You don’t want to take a break from your classes?”
I shake my head. “Not a chance. Going to this university means too much. I can’t waste this opportunity.”
He nods a few times. “I understand.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, you don’t want to jeopardize your future, and this college feels like the only way out. Did I get that right?”
My cheeks heat. “I …”
“You know what? I’ll ring my own au pair, Mrs. Davey.”
“Your what?”
“Au pair. A live-in-nanny,” he says, like it’s the most normal thing ever. “Mom hired one to take care of me and my siblings while she was at work. Mrs. Davey is such a sweetheart. She adores kids. I swear, you’ll love her.”
“Can I trust her?”
He pulls his phone from his pocket. “Absolutely. I’ll PM her right away. See if she can come today.”
I’m surprised he still knows her phone number after all these years. He taps away on the phone lightning-fast until he tucks it back into his pocket and says, “Done.”
My jaw drops. “Wait, what? You got her to agree to babysit Cora for me? That’s quick.”
He smirks. “Yup.”
I hold up my hands. “But that bill—”
“Taken care of.”
Wow. The confidence he says that with makes my spine tingle in such a good way I nearly want to do a little jiggle to get rid of it.
“I told you I want to help,” he says, tilting his head in such a sweet way that it melts my heart. “And if I can do anything to ease the load on the heart of the girl I love, then I will do it.” He winks. “Now, let’s get to class.”
“You didn’t tell me I was going to be turned into a bodyguard.” Heath takes a drag of his cig before he chucks it onto the gravel below his feet and stomps on it. “People will talk.”
“So?” Max shrugs. “I don’t see the issue, honestly.”
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Heath throws his arm over my shoulder, pulls me close, and points at Max. “That guy over there is using me.”
“Like you haven’t used me too,” Max retorts.
Heath narrows his eyes. “That was different.”
“You wanted me to seduce her, I want you to protect her while we get to class. We get to be obsessed. Any problem?”
“I never said I had a problem with that part,” Heath jests. “But the three of us together will definitely raise eyebrows.”
“Four,” Max says, wriggling his brows. “But who’s counting?”
Heath sighs and raises his brow at him. “You’re awfully content with yourself, aren’t you?”
The smirk on Max’s face is too cute. “I take pride in being as annoying as possible.”
“Good.” Heath releases me and rubs his fist through Max’s hair until it’s all messed up. “Keep it that way.”
“Goddammit,” Max growls, making me laugh.
“But where the fuck is Silas?” Heath asks, checking his watch. “He’s supposed to be here for his classes. They’re about to start.”
I pull my bag closer to my shoulder. “I haven’t see him in a while, actually.”
“I think he needs some time to think too,” Max says.
“About what? Murder?” Heath scoffs, snorting.
“Wait, he hasn’t talked to you guys either?” I ask, looking at them both.
They shrug in unison.
I frown. “And it doesn’t bother you?”
“That’s just how he is,” Heath says.
“Sometimes he just vanishes off the face of the earth for a couple of hours. Sometimes days.” Max looks around to see if anyone’s listening. “Maybe to get rid of his ‘urges.’” He makes quotation marks with his fingers.
“Whatever, it’s not our problem, and if he doesn’t ask, I’m not helping,” Heath says, throwing his bag over his shoulder. “You have class soon. You coming, or what?”
“Who told you about my schedule?” I say as I walk behind him.
He glances at Max over his shoulder and winks.
Max just grins awkwardly, making me laugh.
“He’s an obsessed little twink,” Heath says.
“Heath!” I stop in my tracks. “Oh my God, you did not just say that.”
Heath shrugs again.
Max chuckles. “Twink? Hmm. It does have a ring to it.”
“Really?” I mutter.
“Fine then, little twink, guard our little thief,” Heath says, adding another wink while he comes to walk beside me. “If those fuckers came to attack her out on the street, they’re definitely not afraid to try it here.”
“C’mon, guys, I’m fine,” I say.
“Let me do this, please,” Max says, grabbing my hand. “Just for now.”
“And me,” Heath says, grabbing my other hand. “I don’t fucking care how long, as long as you’re safe.”
Before I know it, they’ve pulled me inside against my will.
“But wait, what if someone sees us like this?”
“You’re mine, and I don’t care who sees,” Heath says.
“Ours,” Max corrects.
“Fine. But you’re mine too,” Heath growls, making Max blush too.
“Wow …” The unimpressed mumblings from a partially green-haired bombshell known as Sunny Reed standing in the corner make me swallow away the lump in my throat. “Two guys, huh?”
“It’s none of your business, Sunny,” Heath retorts.
“Uh, did you forget he’s my brother?” she retorts, pushing herself off the wall to get in their way. “Anything he does, I make it my business.”
“Whatever. Just don’t get in our way,” Heath says.
Sunny grabs Max’s arm, stopping us all. “Are you okay, lil’ bro? Just say the magic word.”
“Magic word?” I mumble.
She looks me up and down, slightly less unimpressed but with an obvious smirk on her face. “I guess you’ll do.”
Wow. I don’t know if that was a compliment or an insult. Maybe both.
“I’m proud of you, lil’ bro,” she says, slapping him on the chest a couple of times. “But she’s got her other hand locked with Heath-Emo-Ledger over here, and I don’t know if you intended to share?”
“ Ledger ?!” Heath growls. “My name is Heath fucking Preston.”
“Relax, wrinkle-dick, I wasn’t talking to you,” Sunny says, lowering her eyes at him.
Heath’s hand squeezes mine. “You fuckin—”
“She’s my sister, Heath. Please keep it civil,” Max says, putting his hand against Heath’s chest right before he’s about to barge over to her.
“Civil?!” Heath growls. “You heard what she called me!”
Sunny laughs. “Be glad. I rarely give anyone a compliment like that.”
Heath pulls up his sleeves. “Okay, that’s it.”
“We’re together. All of us,” I blurt out just to stop the fight that’s about to start.
And it wasn’t just Sunny who heard me say it. The entire hallway did, and everyone, literally everyone, is staring at us.
Oh God.
I slam my hand in front of my mouth.
“What …?” Sunny says with a low tone, her face completely gone off the rails stone-cold. “You’re together, as in, the three of you?”
“Four, actually, if you count Silas,” Max says, with an obvious blush on his face. “But he’s only with her.”
“Silas …” she mutters. “ Silas has a girlfriend?” Then she bursts out into laughter. “Oh my God, this is too funny.” She wipes away a tear, and her smile disappears almost instantly as she focuses her gaze onto Heath. “If it wasn’t for the fact that you’re fucking him .”
Max butts in and comes to stand between them. “Don’t start a fight on my behalf now, Sunny. It’s not worth it.”
“Fuck me …” Heath grunts, wiping his face.
“Sorry,” I say.
“It’s fine. I’m not worried about what anyone thinks,” Max says, shrugging it off. “And Sunny doesn’t get a say in who I date.”
“Whatever,” she says, shrugging too. “I’m not gonna protect you from Mom, though.”
“Then don’t tell her,” Max says.
“Like I have time,” she retorts. “Good luck with keeping this from her, though.” She puts her fingers to her lips and gives him an air kiss. “See ya later, lover boys.”
“Bye,” Heath growls at her. “Good riddance.”
Max slaps him on the chest. “C’mon. She’s not that bad.”
“She’s worse than that,” he says.
“She’s protective of me. That’s a good quality,” Max says.
“ I’m protective,” Heath says, pointing at his own chest. “She’s nosy. There’s a big difference.”
“Nosy or curious?” I say, winking to lighten the mood.
“Doubt it. She has boys literally lining up to fall over themselves to let her stomp all over their hearts. This whole foursome thing is nothing unfamiliar.”
“Noted,” I reply.
“But you already knew that,” Max says, checking his phone. “Anyway, let’s get to class. We’re late.”
“Shit,” I mutter to myself before running off.
Max and I walk into the room that we’re supposed to be in and swiftly wave goodbye to Heath, who has to attend a different class.
“Late again, Miss Clark?” The teacher, Mr. Alec Caruso, places his book down on the table and throws me a stern look. “And you, Mr. Fletcher. Out of all people, I’d expect to be on time.” He raises a brow at Max.
“I apologize, honestly,” Max says. “It won’t happen again.”
“It’d better not. Same goes for you, Miss Clark.”
“Yes, sir,” I reply, taking a deep breath.
“Take a seat,” Mr. Caruso says, still carrying that emotionless face.
Max and I walk up to some empty benches in the back and sit down, ignoring annoyed looks from other students.
I put down my books and wait until Mr. Caruso continues his lecture before I whisper to Max. “Doesn’t Silas also have this class?”
He nods. “His dad’s the dean. Silas’s attendance doesn’t matter. Only money does.”
Well shit. If only I had someone to fix my life with the snap of a finger.
“Lucky him,” I say.
“You wouldn’t say that if you’d met his mom,” he says.
“She’s really that bad, huh?” I ask.
“Not bad. More like … terrifying.”
I laugh. “Well, I can’t wait to meet her, then.”
Heath
Hours later
After my classes are over and the sun’s about to set, I head outside for a much-needed cigarette break before it’s time to grab some dinner with the boys. But when I pull the packet of cigs from my pocket, the bottle of Ketamine spills out too.
I pick them up from the ground and stare at the bottle for a moment.
Do I continue as usual? Do I slowly taper them off? Do I quit in one go?
Would I be able to live without them?
My phone buzzes, pulling me out of my thoughts. I fish it out of my other pocket to see who it is. My dealer is calling me. Odd. I’m normally the one to call him first.
“One sec, let me get somewhere safe first,” I say as I pick up.
“Sure … I got time,” he replies.
I walk across the path and go behind the second university building, where people only go to smoke and fuck in secret. “What’s up?”
“You still need more pills?” he asks. “You haven’t bought any for a while now.”
“No. I’m … slowing down.” I clear my throat.
It’s not an easy decision, but I owe it to Max. To Ivy. To myself.
“You sure? Because I have this crazy deal right now where you get a bottle of whatever you normally want, plus an additional bag of coke. How does that sound?”
I frown and run my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know, man.”
“Come to the gate,” he says.
I push myself off the wall and walk across campus some more until I get closer to the gate. My dealer is right there, waiting in his car.
That’s ballsy.
“Hey,” he says, and I lower my phone.
I look around to make sure no one saw me come here before I head out the gate and approach the car. His arm is hanging out of his window, and he’s not wearing any protective gear to hide the obvious gnarly-looking scar on his face. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I was just … looking around.”
“It’s dangerous here,” I say, leaning over. “You know that.”
“Trying to spot more customers,” he adds. “You know how the business goes.” He grins. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have seen this girl, have you?” He holds up a paper with a poorly printed photo on it, but the moment those downturned lips and those striking eyes appear, it feels like the world is caving in on my fucking feet.
“She stole something that wasn’t hers to take.”
Fuck.
“What did she steal?” I ask.
His lip curls up. “A girl.”
Fuck no.
It couldn’t be …
Cora?