Tommy
We roll into Roadies, and I see Bax’s Shaggin’ Waggin’ parked, loud and proud. Remy’s shiny new bike is parked next to it, and they are all hanging out in our usual spot off to the side. Bax must have laid some heavy charm on Mrs. Holly because he’s already knocking back a beer.
Roadies is the only drive-in theater in town and is the place where everyone drinks and hooks up. It’s a large open lot, lined with trees on either side, a large silver screen at the front, and a crappy popcorn stand where all the freshmen work.
The rumble of my sexy car catches everyone’s attention, but just wait until they see the sexy girl I have with me. I ain’t hiding Didi tonight—not from Remy, not from anyone.
I need to flex. Everyone needs to know she’s my girl.
I pull up next to Remy and Bax and roll down the window and nod at them. Bax throws a peace sign, and Remy gives me a nod, but his eyes slice right to Didi.
Remy and I are friends again…I need to remember that.
Since telling me about our families and confiding in me about Talia killing Daniel, I feel closer to him than ever.
Didi’s been the perfect distraction, but she’s also the only thing keeping our friendship from getting back to the place we used to be.
He keeps looking at her, and I ain’t sharing her with him…at least, not yet.
Didi grips my hand hard as we roll past Cindy and the rest of the Jesus freaks, and I find a dark spot in the corner away from the rest of the group.
Didi presses her lips together, and if possible, her face loses color as we roll by.
I park, but they are still in our line of sight, and Didi’s usual blank eyes are drilled in, and not in a way that makes her seem weak. Something gleams in her eyes—something different.
“I heard what Cindy did to you.”
She turns to look at me, her gorgeous white eyes and plump pink lips in a flat line. “How do you know that?”
“Remy told me at practice. Said I need to watch out for you when Cindy’s around.”
She twitches her head to me. “And I heard what you and Remy did to Cindy…”
My heart stills. “Oh, yeah?” There is no way Remy told her.
“He told me you bent her over a tree.”
Damn. What the hell, Remy? Why would he tell her that? I had my reasons for doing it—I was trying to make Talia jealous, and Talia hates Cindy with a passion. And since Talia was playing games with me all summer, I thought, why the hell not.
It felt right at the time.
I’m not sure why Remy took a go at her—she’s not his type. Cindy has some older boyfriend now…some Jesus freak frat boy a couple of years older than us who she’s here with tonight.
I bite the inside of my cheek. “He told you that, huh? When were you with him?”
She presses her lips together. “He took me back to his house to watch over me. He took me home before Mama got suspicious. Nothing happened.”
I knew it…I knew he was with her. I’ll deal with him later. And if nothing happened, then why does she look guilty as sin?
I run my hand through my hair. “Look, Didi, it didn’t mean anything with Cindy. We didn’t do anything she didn’t explicitly consent to.” I pause before I say, “She wanted it, firefly. She begged for it.”
Didi watches me with her bright white eyes. “It’s fine, Tommy. I was curious about it, so I asked him. I’m not upset with you.” Her breath catches, and her chest rises and falls.
My eyes slip to her shirt. From this angle, I can see right down her buttons. Her ivory flesh and hard nipples. Pink nipples.
Now I can’t stop staring at those pointy breasts.
She’s turned on. She doesn’t say anything else, but the signs are there. She’s turned on with the thought of Remy and me banging the preacher’s daughter.
I glance at Remy, who’s in full form tonight, ignoring us and talking to Lucy, who’s wanted him since she could breathe.
Didi’s eyes are on him now, as he looks effortless and carefree and flirty.
“Is that how you’d do it with me, if I were to let you?” she asks, watching him. I wonder if she knows she’s watching him.
I moan and place my hands behind my head. “God, Didi, you’re killing me. Such a little tease tonight, aren’t you? What’s gotten into you?”
She hoods her eyes. “Nothing.” She skirts her eyes to me. “I’m just curious about it.”
“Curious about what, baby?”
She looks up at me with her lashes and new cat eyes. “Sex,” she breathes.
My erection presses against my pants, thinking of how I’d do it with her.
Bad, Tommy. She doesn’t want me to fuck her like a whore.
Full throttle, zero emotion, teenage hormones, and dick. “I’d be much gentler with you, firefly.”
Her chest rises and falls as if anticipating the inevitable. As if she’s dreaming about me fucking the innocence out of her.
“Are we going to talk about what’s underneath your dress?”
She darts her gaze at me, snapping her back to the present. “Mama makes me wear it.”
I curl my lip. “Why?”
“Because I’ll go straight to hell if I have sex with you, Tommy. And Mama doesn’t just make me wear it…I wear it willingly.”
What the hell?
I stare down at the tiny cross she wears. I knew she was religious, but not devout. “So, you can think about it, but you can’t do it?” I ask curiously.
“I shouldn’t even be thinking about it the way I am, but I reckon God will be more forgiving this way. I won’t have to pray as much. It makes me less sinful. Not that it matters, since there is no hope of redemption for me.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I was born with evil in my soul. Everyone sees it, Tommy. Well, everyone except for you.”
I squeeze her hand. “You’re my girl, Didi, and you’re the sweetest girl in this town. You’re not evil. You understand that, right?”
She stares at me with glassy eyes.
I swear under my breath. “I hate that you were avoiding me this week. I want everyone at school to know you’re mine. I’m sick of sneaking around.”
She presses her lips together. “You know exactly why we have to be careful. If Mama found out I have a boyfriend, she would kill me.”
I smirk at her. “So, I’m your boyfriend?”
Her lips tighten. “I think so. Unless you don’t want to be?”
“Oh, hell yeah, I want you to be my girlfriend.”
A loud bang hits the windshield, and Bax is slowly waving his arms, giving us a groovy dance even as the headlights blind him.
Didi giggles as she watches him sway. “Is he always like this?”
I don’t bother to look at him. I can’t keep my eyes off my new girlfriend.
“Fortunately, and unfortunately, yes. Let’s go say hi, so he’ll go away. And I’ll get you some popcorn before the movie starts.”
I unclip her seatbelt and walk around to open the door for her. My mom taught me to always take care of ladies, and that includes opening every damn door.
We head over to the rest of the group. Remy is leaning his head against the van, wearing his aviator sunglasses, a smoke hanging from his mouth.
His ankles are crossed, and he’s wearing tight black jeans.
Lucy is talking to him, but he doesn’t even seem to notice her.
Everyone’s eyes are on Didi as we walk up. And Didi keeps her gaze to the ground.
I give Bax a high five and squeeze Diana’s hand, letting her know it will be okay. Then I move to place my arm around her so the claim I have on her is clear.
Mine.
Remy gives Didi a once-over and rolls his eyes before he butts his smoke and stomps off toward concessions. Lucy notices and turns her head and frowns.
“What’s his problem?” Bax asks, following him with his gaze.
I shrug. “Don’t know. Don’t care.” Even though I do care, I care a damn lot. But he won’t talk to me about it… He has a crush on my girlfriend.
I move my hand to Didi’s hip. “Hey, stay with Bax. I’ll grab us some popcorn.” I figure it’s safe to leave Diana with Bax while I try to corner Remy.
Bax puts his arm around Didi’s shoulders, and I can tell from how she’s standing that she feels safe. “Relax, man. I’ve got this,” he says, turning to Didi. “You like moonshine?”
Didi frowns. “I’ve never heard of it.”
I chuckle and head over to the concession. It’ll make my night if Didi takes a shot of moonshine. It will help her relax. He won’t give her more than she can handle, but one shot of that stuff will put her on the moon. Literally.
A few people stop me and ask if I’m looking forward to the track meet. I small-talk as a few more people distract me, and I slowly make my way to where Remy is standing and stop beside him as he pulls the cigarette from his lips.
“So you’re dating her?” he asks.
My stomach coils. “Yeah, man. I’m dating her.”
He crosses his arms and places the cigarette back in his mouth. “And here I thought you were pining over Talia all these years.”
I swallow hard. “I was, but you wouldn’t let me near her, so I moved on.”
He quirks his head, meeting me with his intense gaze. “And now you understand the reason for that. I didn’t want to lie to you, man. I had to…for your own damn good.”
“Next,” a high-pitched voice calls out from the concession. I glance up to find a zit-faced freshman watching me.
“Everything’s different now,” I hiss. “You didn’t trust me enough to tell me what the hell was happening, and now Didi is here. Didi changes things.”
“Next…”
“Dammit, I’m coming,” I grumble and walk up to the kid working. Turning my back to Remy, I order two sodas and a large popcorn.
Remy walks up beside me as I step to the side. “You should let her go.”
My eyes flick up to him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Let Didi graduate and get the hell out of this town. She’s not going to survive us.”
My heart upticks a beat, and his dark eyes flash. “I haven’t accepted it yet. Maybe you and Talia have, but I still have a chance to get out.”
“Come on. Don’t be so stupid, Tommy. There is no getting out of this. First it was Talia, and now it’s our turn. Your old man will make sure you follow through with it. If he finds out you’re dating her, she’s as good as dead.”
“Keep Diana out of it,” I warn and turn my back to him again, ignoring the eyes on us from nearly everyone around us. “This has nothing to do with her.”
“I want her,” he says through the noise of the crowd. The words I’ve been dreading since the other night in the cave.
I turn to face him, and it’s like all other noise ceases. It’s just Remy’s words and mine. “You just told me to let her go, and now you’re saying that? She’s not like Cindy, man. It’s not the same.”
“I want her.”
“Dammit, Remy,” I bark out, clenching my fists. “I don’t even have her yet.”
“Talia’s coming home next week,” he says before I can leave. “I’ll stay out of your way if you want to pursue her. You’ve had a crush on her since you were twelve…those feelings don’t just turn off, man.”
My shoulders slump. A month ago, that’s exactly what I wanted. I obsessed over Talia for years, but everything’s changed now.
“She’ll need a shoulder to cry on.”
I turn to face him and keep my eyes down. “She killed her last boyfriend.”
He keeps his voice low, his eyes telling me not to say that again.
I’m pushing him… “It’s Talia, Tommy. She is complicated and dramatic, but she’s not a murderer; this was forced on her.
She’s made her kill based on instincts. Daniel Jenkins was a pompous asshole, and you know it.
He didn’t treat her right. He used to hurt her. ”
I grind my teeth together, thinking of the bruises she had. I overheard him laughing with his equally douche bag friend, Stephen Garcia, about it. I wanted to kill them both.
Remy stares at me. “She’s poised to take over everything. She’ll be the most powerful person in Kinsmen, and I’m telling you, man to man, you can have her. All you have to do is give me Diana.”
I think about the dark beauty that is Talia Vital. I can’t deny my feelings for her were deep and real…and they still are.
He bends down and flicks a match, lighting another smoke before facing me. I don’t recognize my best friend anymore. We are both aware that eyes are on us, nearly everyone, and so I say through gritted teeth, “No damn way.”
“Fine,” he replies. “Have it your way, bro. I always get what I want, anyway. I was trying to give you the easy way out.” He turns, and in that moment, I slam into him with everything I have. We crash to the ground, a tangle of gravel, arms, and my brute force.
I take a moment to realize what I’m doing as I hear someone call out, “Holy hell, they’re fighting.”
I stumble back, and Remy slowly rises, smiling, spitting blood from where he must have fallen and cut his lip. He doesn’t hit me back…he would never hit me back.
“About damn time,” he jokes. “I probably deserved that two months ago.” He smooths out the leather in his cracked jacket with blood running from his nose.
I want to hate him, but I can’t do it.
“Dude.” I hear Bax’s voice through the crowd and see him walk up with Didi. “That was like, really messed up, man.”
Didi…hell. I hope she didn’t see that.
She’s standing, swaying near Bax, her eyes wide like a deer in headlights.
Remy’s eyes go straight to Didi, then to me, and he wipes the bit of blood trickling from his face. They stand facing each other like a fox facing a fawn.
My stomach does backflips when I watch the two of them looking at each other. Like I might as well not even be here.
“Um, do you still want your popcorn and sodas?” the guy at the concession asks.
I turn to him, yanking the popcorn and sodas from the stand. “Thanks,” I grumble, handing one to Didi and placing my arm around her. She leans into me and gives me a wide-eyed look—one that reminds me there is something real between us, too.
With one last lingering glance at Remy, she follows me, and I realize there is something more between them—something deeper than I ever imagined.
The thing that changed…
And everything’s about to change with Talia coming home.