Page 11 of Furious (The Six Six Six Rule #2)

The Worst Kept Secret

CHANCE

R ight now, I should be on a fucking high.

If the world was a better place, I should be celebrating scoring a goal in the first game of the season with a beer in my hand and my girl on my lap.

Well fuck, I have the beer, at least.

But even with that, it’s warm and mostly foam when I take a sip from my solo cup.

And as far as my girl is concerned, she’s dancing in Lev’s arms and sucking his face on the makeshift dance floor in the living room of the Gamma house.

I shouldn’t feel so furious and jealousy shouldn’t make the crappy beer I’m drinking taste even more sour.

“Hey Chance,” Heather approaches me, holding her own solo cup in her hand. “Is your dance card full?”

I know this is some kind of Bridgerton reference. She and Atlas used to love bingeing that together.

“I’m not in the mood to dance, sorry Heather.” I grumble without even looking at her.

But if I was hoping that my less than friendly demeanor would send Heather away, I was sorely wrong.

I’ve known our next-door neighbor my whole life, and persistence is one of her best and worst qualities at the same time.

Her eyes follow the trajectory of my gaze. “If I didn’t know that Lev is your best friend, I would think that you’re jealous.”

I can’t deal with her tonight.

My mind is reeling with how we should handle this mess with Fox.

There’s always the possibility that I’ll kick his ass the second I see him.

I don’t appreciate being forced into something and if I have to go to jail for racing a motorcycle, might as well make it murder and rid the world of that asshole once and for all.

The last thing I need is to have the sheriff’s daughter pestering me with whatever she thinks she wants from me tonight.

“Go away, Heather.”

She grabs my arm. “You are jealous. Does Lev know that you have a thing for his girlfriend?”

She’s more annoying than a mosquito on a hot summer night. “I don’t have a thing for anyone.” I lie. “You’re killing my fucking beer buzz.”

Heather has never been able to take a hint.

“Do Scott and Kelly know that you’re crushing on your sister?”

Thank fuck the music is loud enough that people would have to be listening to us on purpose to hear our conversation; but I don’t want anyone to hear us. Especially not Heather’s friend Angela, who’s looking at us from the drink table just a couple of feet away.

“She isn’t my sister, and I’m not crushing on her.” I bite out, walking away from the dance floor and out of the house.

But when she gets an idea in her head, Heather is worse than a dog with a bone. Rather than leaving me alone like I asked, she follows me out in the backyard.

There are some people playing beer pong and I spot Hart and his girlfriend Bex sitting in the hot tub with our team captain Luke, his boyfriend Shane, and our starting D-man Connor.

I round the corner of the house in the hopes that Heather will give up on tailing me, but I have no such luck.

“If you don’t have a crush on Zara, then prove it.” She challenges me, standing right behind me as I’m facing the fence that separates our house from the Zeta house.

I turn around to look at her. “You said it yourself that she’s with Lev.”

She narrows her eyes. “True. But I’ve seen you and Lev go after the same girl before. So if you really aren’t into Zara, prove it.”

“How am I supposed to prove something so ridiculous?” I snap, frustrated by her insistence.

She comes closer, and I don’t even realize that I’m retreating until my back touches the wood of the fence.

“If you aren’t into Zara, hook up with me. Kiss me.”

Oh, man. If this is karma because I complained about not getting a victory kiss, I take that all back.

“Heather,” I laugh, embarrassed. “What the fuck is wrong with you? I’m not going to kiss you.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, as stubborn as ever. “The only way you can convince me that you don’t have a crush on Zara is by hooking up with someone else. I’m waiting, Chance.”

I’d rather kiss Touchdown, the French bulldog mascot of the football team. But I don’t say that out loud.

“No.” I just say as firmly as I can.

“Why not?”

Jeez. “Because, Heather! You know I love you, but not like that. You’re like a sister to me.” It’s true, I really care about her; even if she can really get on my nerves. Like right now.

“Really?” she argues, clearly hurt. “It didn’t seem that way when you fucked me. Or maybe you do have a sister fetish, judging by how you were staring at Zara.”

Guilt twists my insides. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to take that night back. “That was a mistake, Heather.”

Her eyes fill with tears. “What if it wasn’t a mistake?”

I raise my voice, relieved that at least there’s no one around to hear us. “But it was. Don’t you see? It happened just once and Atlas had just… he hadn’t been gone for long. We were both raw, and we were missing him. Getting together was supposed to make us feel better, but it never did.”

She doesn’t want to hear it. “It didn’t look like I didn’t make you feel good, Chance.”

I pull on the ends of my hair, desperate for her to understand. “It wasn’t just about the physical part. The whole time I was touching you, kissing you, fucking you, it felt wrong. Like we were cheating on him. Like I was taking something that belonged to Atlas. It was wrong, Heather.”

Her voice cracks. “Don’t you think Atlas would have wanted us not to be alone?”

Fuck.

The pain in her eyes breaks my heart. I feel it too.

That’s why I made the huge mistake of spending that night with her almost eighteen months ago.

“I don’t know what Atlas would have wanted, Heath.

” I take her into my arms. “He’s gone and he can’t come back to tell us.

If you don’t want to be alone, you shouldn’t.

But I know that I can’t be the one you’re with.

I love you, but not the way my brother did.

You could never be just a hookup. We have too much history.

I would rather be there for you if you need me.

What I can offer you, though, is to be your friend.

Or we can be nothing to each other. It’s your choice. ”

She closes her eyes as her head rests on my chest.

I stroke her hair, doing my best to comfort her. This is definitely something Atlas would have wanted. He would have wanted us to lean on each other as friends.

“You don’t want me.” she sounds calmer, but still sad. “But it isn’t because of Zara?”

“Not because of Zara, I promise.”

It isn’t a total lie. Everything I said to her about why hooking up with her was a mistake is true. The fact that I’m falling for Zara is something that has nothing to do with her.

If things were different, I would confide in Heather.

But I need to make sure our parents believe that Ares and I are heeding Dad’s warning to stay away from Zara.

At least until we have our relationship figured out; or until Dad realizes that our feelings for our stepsister won’t have a negative impact on his marriage with Zara’s mom.

“Hunter?” Dave clears his throat from a few feet behind Heather.

I hadn’t noticed him when we came here to talk, and I have to wonder for how long he’s been standing there.

“Who’s this pretty girl? Is she your victory hookup?”

It’s none of your business, asshole.

The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow them down. I introduce them instead.

“Heather and I have been friends since we were babies.” I explain. “So not my hookup.”

Dave’s smile widens. “Well then, where have you been hiding her? Introducing a pretty girl to your frat president is the brotherly thing to do. I was looking for you because it’s time for our?—”

“Heather’s father is our town’s sheriff.” I say, before he can finish the sentence. I shake my head as subtly as possible.

Dave gets the message. “I hope you’ll excuse us, doll. I just need Chance’s help for some fraternity business.”

Heather nods, flattered by Dave’s flirting. “Of course. I’m pledging Zeta Theta Beta, so I understand.”

“Awesome.” Dave winks. “Why don’t you go get yourself a drink? I’ll come and find you once our fraternity business is done.”

I don’t know if I should be happy or annoyed with Dave about interrupting my heart to heart with Heather.

Hopefully, things between us will be better now that I told her how I feel. Deep down, we both know that when we slept together, we were just looking for comfort in each other’s arms at a time when we were drowning in grief. I know Heather doesn’t love me. She knows it too.

“It’s time to go and prove yourself, Hunter.” Dave says once we’re far enough from Heather that we’re out of earshot. “And if it’s true that you aren’t hooking up with that nice piece of ass, you can help a brother and make a proper introduction after Cal takes your ego down a few notches.”

I don’t owe Dave anything, and I set the record straight. “Stay away from Heather, Fox. I fucking mean it.”

His mouth curls into a cruel smirk. “If you aren’t boning her, why does it matter if she takes a ride on my cock?”

I get right in his face. “You know, Fox, stupidity must run in your family if you don’t get it. Don’t you think that getting involved with the sheriff’s daughter is the last thing you should do, considering the shit you and your brother are trying to do?”

Dave’s smile widens. “Relax, dude. I’m not gonna marry her. I just think she has a nice ass. Fuck knows, the fresh meat this year looks good enough to bite into. Never seen so many hot freshmen all together.”

“Heather isn’t a one and done kind of girl, Fox. She’s a relationship type. So unless you want the sheriff all up in your business, I would stay the fuck away from her.”

Our conversation is interrupted by some of our frat brothers coming from the house.

“We’re all here.” Tucker informs us. “Corey and Candace are having everyone playing a drinking game. Most people are already too drunk to notice that we’re missing, anyway.”