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“Listen,” I turn over to the other side when I catch Micaela watching me. “I need to know something.”
“Hmmm, and what makes you think I’d tell you anything that you need to know?”
“I don’t really care, Peyton. I know when you’re lying and when you’re telling the truth, so I’m going to go with that.”
She pauses, and then exhales. “Fine. What?”
“Daemon…”
The sound of a high-pitched hyena cackles through my phone, and the image of what her face would look like right now has my fists bunching. “Aw, honey. I can’t tell you anything about Daemon. But here’s something I can tell you…” She stops again, and I roll back over the bed, swinging my legs off. I hang onto the silence by the tips of my finger nails. “Nate is playing you, this much I know. He is playing you big time.”
“Why would you think I’d care if he was playing me? Him and I are nothing.”
She lets out another cackle. I really fucking hate her laugh. Have I always hated it, or is it a new thing for me? “You and he will always be a something.” Then she hangs up, leaving me annoyed with her cryptic message. I go to call back but get a recorded voice message saying that this number is no longer in service.
Typical Peyton. Flips everything upside down and walks away.
A knock on my door yanks me away from my deciphering. I quickly get up and open it.
“Hey!” I say to Elena, who is standing there with a huge smile on her face. “You’re early?”
She wiggles, looking around the room for Micaela. “I know, I just miss her because I haven’t seen her all day, and als—”
“—let me through! Her cool aunt is here,” Scarlet, Bishop’s mom, pushes past both of us.
Elena sighs. “—also her.”
I snort, waving Elena inside to follow Scarlet. Kicking the door closed, I exhale. “Well, you guys are early, but I guess I can find something to do to burn time.”
I make them tea, but Scarlet wanted coffee, so I change hers to coffee. The silence is awkward, but having Scarlet here is a good thing. It stops Elena from giving me half a million-dollar cars or money.
“She’s so beautiful,” Scarlet coo’s, cradling Micaela in her arms.
“Thank you,” I smile at Scarlet before Elena steals my attention.
“Are you excited for tonight?”
Not really.
Tillie
“Where are we going?” I ask as Nate drives us onto the main highway.
He smirks, dropping it down into third gear and flooring it forward. “On a run. You’ll see Madison and everyone there.”
“Ah, okay, but why are you taking me?” My fingers clench around the door handle. I can’t think of any reason as to why he would be taking me with him, and it makes me nauseous what with the brief conversation I had with Peyton, and with Nate’s track record.
“Did you have something better to do?” He clips back, and my attention snaps to him instantly. His jaw is slightly taunt and his fingers are flexing around the steering wheel.
“What? No. I’m just wondering why you would bring me with you.”
He doesn’t answer, so I hit the radio and let the music waft between us.
The drive is around twenty minutes, and it’s not long before we’re pulling into a long gravel driveway. Trees shade over the road with fresh cut grass spread behind as a backdrop. I can see a glass octagon shaped house right at the end with fairy lights hanging around the edges, beaming it bright.
“What’s this place?” I ask, leaning forward to get a closer look.
Nate hits the volume down slightly, but the base is still shaking the metal. “This is the meet. Stay close to me and don’t take drinks from anyone.”
“What?” I ask, horrified. “What is this place?”
“It’s called the meet. This is where the night starts and ends.” He pulls to the front of the entryway where a large man stands wearing all black and a clipboard in his hand. “Nate!” I whisper as he climbs out of the car. I grab the handle, opening the door wide. Swiping down my white short-shorts, I chew on my lip, second guessing my clothing. Its casual, but it’s sort of—tight.
Nate looks me up and down, and slowly comes closer to me, backing me up against the car. I can hear people in the background, but I’m so caught up in his eyes that I don’t break the cerebral contact. His hand comes to my upper thigh, squeezing me. “The Artist” by Jay Sean is spilling out loudly from the octagon shaped house thingy. Nate lifts me up by my thighs, his hand coming to my throat. He licks me across my bottom lip and then bites on it roughly. “No wandering off tonight, principissa mea. You know where this belongs.” He grins, his hand coming around to cup my ass as if to accentuate his point. He kisses me before looking back. “At least, while I’m around.”