Chapter Five
Cal
A warm hand on my shoulder wakes me from my stupor. Last night, after leaving Charlotte and Penny’s, I went home and drank my way into oblivion. Seeing Charlotte fucked with my head. The small, feminine hand shaking me tells me I must have found a chick along the way home to bury myself in as well.
I try like hell to remember.
Was it Tayla or whatever the fuck her name was?
All I see in my head is long, blond hair.
I cringe, forcing my eyes open, to face the woman in my bed. Hopefully she’s hot because my dick hardens at lingering thoughts of Charlotte’s hair as I imagine it twisted in my fist.
Fuck.
I need to screw those thoughts right out of my head.
“Yuck, Cal,” the voice gripes. “Put that weapon away. I’m not one of your peasants. I am a queen.”
Oh Jesus.
“Sonya,” I groan. “Why are you here?”
“Grandma sent me,” she sasses.
Of course Rose did.
I squint against the sun streaming into my room and take in my best friend’s little cousin. She’s little, but fierce as fuck. At seventeen, she’s already a force to be reckoned with.
“Don’t you have school?”
“It’s Sunday and it’s summer, asshole. Get out of bed and let’s go grab lunch before we see T.”
“Oh, fuck,” I groan. “I promised Dad I’d go check the campground out.”
“Yeah, he’s already done it and come back. I’d avoid his office if I were you. I love your dad, but he’s in a super pissy mood.” She walks over to my dresser mirror and smooths out her black, shiny ponytail. “How are you holding up?”
I cringe. Sonya and I don’t do this. We give each other shit. I try to mess up her hair. She tries to whip my ass in basketball. Or, sometimes, we gang up on her cousin for shits and giggles. We don’t…care. Feelings aren’t our thing.
“Go away,” I mutter.
“I’ll go away as soon as that offensive boner does.” She turns around, cocking her hip out. “Seriously. Did you think I was one of your janky-ass hoes?”
“At least my janky-ass hoes are quiet in the morning.”
“Sick, asshole. I’m not sucking your dick.”
I cringe. She’s like a fucking sister to me. “You’re nasty, princess.”
“Queen,” she reminds me, flashing me a mouth full of pearly whites.
“Is Rockford missing their queen? Maybe you should run along. Who gave you a driver’s license anyway?”
She rolls her eyes and starts rummaging around in my drawers. I make no moves to get up, but thankfully after a few minutes with Sonya, my dick softens. It’s not that Sonya isn’t beautiful, because she fucking is, but she’s practically family. A cousin through T’s and my friendship, not blood. This is Oregon, not Alabama. I’m not a cousin fucker.
“Wear something respectable. Shower. Brush your stanky breath. Grandma says you need to find a job. Momma Kate agrees.”
“You and Mom already been conspiring over me this morning?” I roll out of bed, snagging my clothes up.
“Afternoon, now, lazy. And yes. You’re our favorite subject over coffee and bagels.” She smiles sweetly at me. “You have twenty minutes. Don’t make me come back up here and dress you myself because I will. If your penis starts acting up, I’ll smack him around.”
I gape at her in horror. “You’re such a mean ass.”
“I get the job done.” Her black ponytail swooshes as she turns on her heel and bounds out of my room.
Eighteen minutes later—because I know to trust Sonya’s threats—I’m headed downstairs, wisely avoiding Dad’s office where he bitches someone out on the phone. I find Mom and Sonya cozied up at the bar in the kitchen.
“Rough night?” Mom asks, her green eyes twinkling.
“Something like that.”
Mom gets up and sets to making me a coffee. I need to look for apartments too, but until I secure a job, staying with my parents is my only option. Not that I ever complain about Mom fussing over her only son like it’s her job in life.
“Spoiled,” Sonya mouths to me.
I smirk at her as I accept my coffee from Mom.
“Sonya says you two are going to visit Trey and then go job hunting.” Mom smiles, relief washing over her. “You’ve got that fancy degree now. I’m excited for you to get to use it.”
“Yeah,” I grumble, already over this conversation.
“So, are you excited?” Mom asks Sonya. “I know this is a big change for you.”
Sonya stiffens. “I think it’s a good change.”
“What?” I demand, feeling left out.
“She’s moving in with Rose and doing her senior year at Horn River,” Mom explains. “We’ll get to see more of our baby girl.”
Sonya’s grin is too toothy. Too bright. Fucking fake. I level her with a glare that says we’ll be discussing this further later.
“Won’t that mess up college?” I ask. “Aren’t you like the best one on your basketball team over there?”
She shrugs, her brown eyes darting down to her coffee. “I’ll be the best here too. We always kill Horn River whenever we play them.”
Mom chatters her ear off, giving me a moment to drink my coffee and stew over this. Trey has been living with his grandma since he was five. His mom, Peggy, was no better than Roan’s, getting her ass thrown in prison for prostitution and selling drugs. No one knows who his dad is as he’s never been in the picture. Sonya’s dad, Peggy’s brother Dwayne, has always seemed to have his shit together, so I don’t know what’s going on there, but I intend to find out.
“We better get going,” I interrupt. “I need to see T.”
They both give me sympathetic looks that make my hackles rise. It’s like everyone has just given up on Trey. He’s not dead. He’ll pull through. Together, we’ll make everyone feel like shit for abandoning him, too.
“Tell Dad I’m sorry,” I mutter to Mom. “Things have been rough.”
She nods. “He knows, baby. Take care of you. Dad and I have things covered around here. Make sure my baby girl eats, though, and you guys come back later for supper. Dad’ll make steak since it’s so nice out.”
I tug on Sonya’s ponytail and then snag my keys up on the way out the door. She follows me out and easily climbs into the truck. I turn over the engine and peel out, kicking up dirt all over the side of our house. Mom will kill me later for it and make me hose it down. We’re quiet as we drive, both of us contemplative. Eventually, I glance over at her.
“Spill, princess.”
She sighs heavily and then wipes her hands over her white shorts. “Dad is making me.”
“Why?”
“Stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
She crosses her arms over her chest and huffs. “Fine. I’ll tell you. So help me, if you laugh at me, I’ll whip your ass, Cal. I’m not joking.”
“No promises. If it’s funny, I’ll fucking laugh.”
“It’s not funny,” she mutters, her voice shaking.
“Then I won’t laugh.”
“It’s…” She picks at her fingernail before shrugging. “I’ve been getting bullied.”
I snort.
“I said don’t laugh!”
“I’m not laughing,” I bite back. “I find it unbelievable. You’re you. Feisty as fuck. Who would mess with you? I have scars that prove that’s a bad idea.”
She smiles. “I can beat your ass any day.”
“So, some girl is a bitch to you and you give up?”
“Not a girl. All of them.”
“Why?”
“Listen,” she says, her voice twinged with fear. “It sounds worse than it was.”
I pull into the hospital parking lot, figuring we can eat after, and park near the front entrance. Killing the engine, I turn to look at her. “Tell me.”
“I, uh, started talking to this guy. Sent some pictures. Professed my love.” She swipes at a tear. “I don’t know what happened, but someone sent them to every single guy at our school.”
I freeze as rage ripples violently through me. “What kind of pictures?”
“The kind that are illegal considering my age. The police had to come into the school to explain the seriousness of having those pictures on their devices.” A sob chokes her. “They could go to prison for something someone else sent them. And me… they said I could be prosecuted as well if they decided to go that route.”
“What the fuck?” I roar, slamming my fist on the steering wheel. “Who did this? I’m going to kill them.”
“No!” she cries out. “It was a mistake.”
“Who did you send the pictures to?”
This time, she shudders, burying her face in her hands. “Dad’s co-worker, Tim.”
“How the fuck old is he?”
She snaps her head up, her teary brown eyes locking with mine. “Dad’s age, but—”
“Jesus, Sonya! He should fucking rot in prison!”
A howl of sadness pierces the air. Her whole body trembles.
“It was innocent,” she tries, her voice wobbling. “We couldn’t help it we fell in love.”
“He’s a bastard,” I growl. “Did you…”
“No,” she snaps. “We wanted to. Would have if all this hadn’t blown up. His daughter, Sage, was so mad. I think she’s the one who found out and sent them to everyone. All the girls in the school hate me because their boyfriends saw me naked.” She pauses. “All the male teachers too.”
I can’t exactly kill some teenage girl, but I would love to get my hands on Tim for preying on my little cuz.
“That was so fucking stupid, princess.”
“I know,” she barks out. “I fucking know, okay?”
Gritting my teeth, I nod. “Yeah. I’ll stop nagging. I just worry about you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
I smirk at her. “Well, you’re officially a Hornet now. You’ll be more than fine. You’ll be safe and respected. If anyone even tries to pull shit here, I’ll end it before they even utter a word.”
“You’re such a bully,” she says, but she’s grinning while she says it.
“And a bigger bully than those other bullies is exactly what you need.” I hold out my fist and she bumps it with hers. “Let’s go see Sleeping Hornet and try to wake his ass up.”