Chapter 23
CRUZ
Ididn’t have the heart to tell Ava that I didn’t feel hope—well, at least not for myself.
At the end of the day, in settings like that, I became nothing more than a statistic.
That picture of me with Ricky was incriminating enough.
A judge would look at it and take a few seconds to pass judgment.
One picture was worth a thousand words—even if those words were all wrong.
I was fucked.
Maybe it was a good thing because if I went down, that meant Big Dog would go down with me, and that meant he wouldn’t be able to go after the people I cared about. I decided I would find comfort in that. I wouldn’t become a liability to them then.
“Are you okay?” Ava questioned me.
I had chuckled out loud at the thought of having loved ones.
“Yeah, I’m just hungry,” I told her.
“Me too,” Micah added.
Ava seemed to shift in her spot.
“My dad said he was going to grill some steaks. You guys are welcome to come.”
Both Micah and I looked at each other, not wanting to turn down her offer right away. Ava was oblivious to us and instead was furiously typing on her phone.
“We don’t want to impose,” Micah said.
“It’s all good. I just told my dad you guys were coming over.”
Both Micah and I looked over at each other, and I got the feeling he was feeling weird about this dinner.
I felt guilt, which was funny. It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t like her dad—I genuinely liked the man.
He’d helped me out in more ways than I could ever imagine.
Because of him and the work he’d allowed me to have, I could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel I had dug for myself.
I didn’t know how cool Ava’s dad really was, but I imagined he wouldn’t be as accepting of the fact that I didn’t only want to fuck his daughter but her best friend too.
“I’ll follow you guys home. Micah, you can ride with Ava.”
“Stay right behind me.” Ava pointed a finger at me, and I saluted her.
I got in my car and tried not to think too hard about what just went down. Either we were being watched closely so whoever was fucking with us could get our reactions, or we had some room to breathe before the following message.
The biggest power plays our stalkers had were mind-fuck games.
As promised, I stayed on Ava and Micah’s tail while driving toward her place. The town had become brighter since Halloween night. More people and businesses were leaving lights on in hopes of keeping monsters at bay. It was comforting not to be in the dark at night.
My phone started to ring, and I picked up, thinking it was Ava or Micah wanting to make a last-minute pit stop.
“What happened?”
“What happened?” The voice that replied was not Ava’s nor Micah’s. Fuck. I hadn’t been thinking much of Ricky anymore. My mind had been on other things. I knew I could miss a drop, maybe two, but three in a row was bound to get suspicious.
When I called in a favor with Lorenzo Rivas, I wanted to plead for help, but what was the point of getting under one lord only to go to another? Shit was shit no matter which way you saw it.
“Hey, Big Dog, long time no talk.” I tried to play it off, but my heart started to beat faster.
He let out a humorless chuckle. “You’ve been blowing me off, Cruzito.”
Ricky wasn’t just stating a fact. It was a threat, and I hated him for it. I hated that he preyed on helpless kids to make his empire. If I could go back in time, I would have never taken his so-called help.
“Naw, school just got a bit busy with midsemester finals coming up.” The lie flowed easily from my tongue.
“So now you got time to do a run?”
I didn’t want to.
“I’m at your disposal,” I bit out sarcastically.
At this, he did chuckle wholeheartedly because we both knew it was true.
“Don’t forget how you can afford that education you seem so proud of.”
I ignored the dig. “When and where?”
“Four a.m., the day after tomorrow. Meet Jorge at that quack church. Instructions will be given there.”
What the fuck?
That made no sense. In the last three years that I’d been riding with Big Dog’s crew, we had never done a job like this. It was always parts, electronics, dealings that didn’t touch our hometown, but to go there and have people not only see us but tell us what they wanted for us was unheard of.
“Is that good with you, Cruzito?”
“Whatever you need.”
He hung up without saying another word, and I was glad, because I wanted to curse him out. I tried to get the conversation out of my mind as I parked in Ava’s driveway. We were supposed to end the day on a high note, and I didn’t want to drag us down with my shit.
Both Ava and Micah took one look at me when I got out of the car and immediately knew something was wrong.
“What happened?” Micah asked first.
I didn’t want to tell them because I wanted to protect them, but I also knew I couldn’t keep secrets from them. Just like Grayson, they would be pissed when they found out what went down with Teclas. One less lie was my only option now.
“Big Dog called,” I mumbled.
“No,” Ava said in disbelief.
“Gotta do a little job,” I said, giving them a sad smile.
“Tell him to fuck off,” Micah barked.
I let out a humorless laugh. “We all know I can’t.”
Since it was dark and I doubted Mr. Hayes was waiting by the window, I grabbed both of their hands and led them toward Ava’s front door.
“This is nice,” I told them. “We should do this more often.”
“Hang out?” Ava asked.
“No, hold hands…or my dick. I’d like that too.”
That was all it took to lighten the mood. Ava snickered, then immediately stopped holding my hand and swatted my shoulder. Since we were almost by the door, I let go of Micah’s hand as well.
“If I’m being honest, I’d really like that second option.”
“Shut up,” Micah murmured as Ava began to open the door.
“Daddy, I’m home,” Ava shouted as the three of us walked in through the threshold.
I leaned in so only they could hear me.
“You definitely can’t call us daddy, princess. It will get awkward real fast if you have a slipup in front of your dad.”
“Bro, shut the fuck up,” Micah demanded, but I could see the hint of a smile on his face.
Ava ran ahead to greet her dad, and before we could follow her to the kitchen, Micah put his hand on my shoulder to stop me.
“You good?” His voice was low, but I could hear the sincerity in his words, and something about it had my throat in a knot, so all I could do was nod.
“Is there anything I can do?”
Don’t say it.
Don’t say it.
Don’t say it.
“I don’t want to be alone right now.”
Fuck, I said it.
What happened to being strong?
“You won’t be,” he assured me.
We made our way to the kitchen, and right before we came into view of Ava and her dad, the asshole spanked my ass, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
Having people who cared about you was annoying—but I kind of liked it.