Chapter 18
Thomas
Chapter Eighteen
My morning started with a long talk with my brother as he tried to convince me to have a party—which he succeeded in, in some ways. He didn’t need to know that I only agreed to it so I could keep an eye on him and Kinsley. Because it didn’t matter how much I hated it; if they wanted to party, they would have gone somewhere else. This way I could at least watch them both.
I pushed the camera shop’s door open and stepped inside. There were only two people in the shop, and one of them was the cashier guy. From the corner of my eye, I saw a red-haired girl at one of the shelves as I walked to the cashier and stopped in front of him. I rested my palms on the cold surface of the counter while I waited for the guy to turn his attention away from the monitor he was gaping at. After a moment of me staring at him, he looked up with glassy eyes, then looked back to the screen, before looking up again with a small jump.
“Shit.” He took out his earphones. “You scared the shit out of me,” he said, and the corner of my mouth curled upward. When I didn’t answer him, he pushed his almost shoulder–length, blondish hair back and pursued his lips. “How can I help?” he asked.
I took one more second, analyzing him, before I leaned forward, resting my weight on my hands. “Did you happen to get security cameras?” I asked, and the guy furrowed his brows, turning to the monitor.
While I waited for him to check the stock, I ran my eyes over the shelves. This wasn’t one of those big shops in New York; this was a ten-by-ten-foot, small room with mostly old devices.
“We are sadly out of stock,” he repeated the same sentence he had said yesterday on the phone, and I blew out a short breath. “Look, my boss is on vacation, I’m just saying what I know,” he added. “He comes back in a few days, so if you come back then, maybe he can help you more.”
“Thanks.” I turned away and walked out of the shop. I got into the car and slipped my phone out of my pocket. There was one text staring at me from the screen.
CON
Where are you?
ME
I’m pretty sure you already checked my location.
I typed back.
CON
I did not.
His answer came in an instant.
CON
And even if I had it only shows the street not what you are actually up to, and just fyi I know you are up to something.
I snorted as I read his text, and I was about to close the messages when my eyes caught on Kinsley’s nickname. I clicked on it, and our last texts jumped onto the screen.
Thu, Feb 4 at 2:01 a.m.
SAGE
Please tell me you are missing class tomorrow too. I was finally the teacher’s pet.
ME
Not a chance, Sage. I only missed it because of my coach. Tomorrow, I’m all yours.
SAGE
So, do I just call your coach and tell him you don’t work your ass off and he grounds you, or how does this work? Strictly asking out of curiosity.
ME
Try harder. Until then, I will see you in nine hours, Wise Girl.
Thu, Feb 4 at 2:37 a.m.
SAGE
So, about your birthday
ME
No
SAGE
There has to be something you like
ME
There is, and I will see her in eight and a half hours.
SAGE
funny
ME
I’m not laughing.
And that was that. Less than a day later everything changed. I sighed and put the phone back into my pocket. It was past noon and I still had errands to run. I turned on the engine and headed to my next stop, a small grocery store at the edge of town to buy some alcohol, and more importantly, food to grill.
???
An hour later, I parked the car next to the house. The music drummed loudly in the yard, and from here I had the perfect view of the lake. I tilted my head and leaned out of the window when my eyes found Kinsley. She was jumping up and down in the water, playing with three other girls. She was wearing only a tiny bikini, and my eyes lingered on her bare neck, which was visible as she fixed her hair back up with a claw clip. I wanted to taste her sweet skin so bad. My mouth watered and I leaned back in the seat, my eyes gleaming. I was so focused on her that I didn’t even hear Kevin approaching.
“Will you get out, or do you want to jerk off first?” he asked with a laugh.
I sneered, getting out of the car. “Original,” I replied, and he grinned as I handed him three of the bags.
“Someone has to humble you once in a while,” he replied.
I grabbed the rest of the bags, when a loud engine sound came from behind my back, followed by an excited shriek. I glanced back just when Braxton’s red dirt bike flew past us. It stopped in the middle of the yard and my brother jumped off from behind Braxton’s back, laughing.
“Holy crap,” he said, catching his breath. “We literally flew.”
“I told you, you would scream,” I heard Kinsley shout with a laugh right before her eyes landed on me.