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Ha. He could fake it all he wanted, but I knew he was worried too. We all were. Throughout the multiple discussions we’ve had after the fact, we all came to realize the pressure Jacob was under. Playing both sides. Trying to keep us all alive while also not tipping either side off. When I think about what he was able to maneuver us through…I owe him my life. Several times over.
He won’t accept that type of praise because of the guilt he still holds, but I plan on making it up to him for the rest of my life.
A surprised smile turns Jacob’s lips up at the corners. “I check out. Everything checks out.”
“Fuck…” Oscar shakes his head, disbelieving. It’s what we’re all thinking. Somehow, the planets aligned, and everything seems to be going our way lately.
“I was offered a new assignment.”
I peek up at Jacob who even trimmed his beard for this.
“I turned it down and put in my resignation.”
Johnny slaps him on the back. “Good because I’m not sure you’d hack it if you had to go clean.” They both laugh, and the simple fact they’re able to push past the hurt and lies says everything. “According to Kyla, Brawler and Oscar are going to need security when they get famous, so I guess you have that to look forward to.”
“Mock me all you want, but it’s happening,” I tell them. I have all the confidence in the world.
In my bag that’s currently sitting in the front seat of the car, I have a flash drive filled with footage of Oscar playing football. Some of the many highlights of his career that I was able to get from his coach. When we get settled, I fully intend on making copies and sending it to every college in the tri-state area. Or wherever. East coast. West coast. Doesn’t matter. As long as I’m there.
As for Brawler, he doesn’t need the extra push. We’ll both find a gym to train at eventually.
Magnum gazes at me with those hazel-green eyes. I step toward him to wrap my arms around his solid hips. “I’m so happy,” I whisper.
Resigning from his job was the last thing we needed to fall into place. We already have my car filled with our stuff, but we also hired a moving company to pack up and take the rest of our shit wherever we end up. But bottom line, we’re getting the hell out of here.
Us leaving the Heights is what Oscar is keeping from his mom. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because he’s worried it will get ruined somehow, but so help me, nothing is stopping us from leaving this fucking city.
“I have one more thing that’s going to make you extremely happy,” Mag says. He reaches into the back of his pants, and I eye him suspiciously until he brings out a gun.Thegun. He places the purple handgun in his open palms and offers it to me.
I reach for it, admiring the color just like I did when I originally saw it the night our new life started. Wrapping my hand around the grip, I test the weight. My ring glitters almost in tandem with the gun, immediately making my heart pound. A glow starts from my chest and pours warmth through my limbs. Where we’re headed, I hope I don’t need it, but I sure as fuck want it as a souvenir. Of the actual reason we were able to get the fuck out of the Heights.
Honestly? Things couldn’t be any more perfect than they are right now.
“This is it?” Johnny asks, looking around him to the rest of us.
“That’s it,” Magnum says.
We turn toward my car, but Johnny just can’t help himself. He groans. “I really wish you would’ve let me buy you something…sportier.” He slides a pair of sunglasses over his face like he doesn’t want to be seen near my totally sensible, totally boring car.
“We all agreed we’d rather spend the money on…vacation!” Oscar runs up to the car and bangs his hand on the roof. “Come on, let’s go!”
Excitement blossoms in my chest. This is really happening. We’re driving to the coast where we’ve rented a beach house for an indefinite amount of time. It’s our new start. Our gift to one another.
I slip the gun into the waistband of my joggers and climb in behind the wheel as the rest of the guys try to get comfortable inside my moderately roomy, mid-sized vehicle. I peer in the rearview mirror, meeting three sets of eyes, and then glance to my right to a pair of hazel green ones. You couldn’t pry the smile from my face right now. What I wanted is actually coming true.
I pull away from the curb. We don’t even make it a block when Oscar rolls his window down and starts to scream. He punches the roof of the car with excited pumps of his fist. The energy coming off him makes the rest of us roll our windows down, too.
We all scream as we leave the streets of the Heights behind. We scream for our losses. We scream for our wins. But most of all, we scream for the excitement of our new lives…together.
Lots of people don’t get the chance to leave the Heights. Not us. We’re out of here, and we’re not looking back.