Page 21 of Ride or Die (The Shores #1)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

THE TEXT MESSAGE

LAYLA

The next morning, I roll over to see my boyfriend still asleep on his back with his arm over his head. His toned, tattooed body is on display, the sheet resting just above his yummy v-line.

Fuck, he’s sexy.

I study the phoenix on his chest and the dagger going through a skull on his shoulder, among all the other designs, tracing the ink with my finger.

A grin pulls at his lips. “You gonna just stare at me, or are you gonna come here?”

I scoot over, tucking into the nook of his armpit, and he wraps his arm around me. I don’t want to know, but I need to know how last night went. He sighs as he leans his head against mine.

“So, done by April. Then we can pack our shit and take off to the West Coast. Start a life there with our degrees doing whatever we want.” He kisses my hair and gives me a squeeze.

“Really? It’s all over and you’re just free to go?”

“Mhm, he wanted to offer me a long-term position, but I negotiated. Offered to do a few more jobs that pay more, and I walk away clean. He usually only sends me on one or two jobs a month for high-end cars anyway. He’s got this whole ‘you're an asset’ theory, so he can’t risk sending me out too much,” Colton explains.

I bite my lip, my stomach churning at the thought of him risking it for these last few jobs. Our entire future would be lost if he gets caught.

“He surprisingly wasn’t a dick about it because I’m moving. He still has his whole crew to get shit done. People leave all the time.” He pauses, tilting his head to look down at me. “You okay with all of this?”

“I’m hooked on you now, Hawthorne. Car thief or not, you’re mine. But are you sure you want me to go with you out west?”

I don’t know if he’s really thought this through. I mean, we just started dating a few weeks ago.

He turns onto his side, his eyes softening as he cups my cheek.

“Of course. I’ve dreamt of this for so long.

Of having a life with you. This is what I’ve been working towards all these years.

Getting us out of here. You fucking own me, Layla.

I’m in love with you. I have been for years,” he confesses, looking at me with total adoration, his thumb rubbing my cheek.

My heart flutters chaotically, hearing these words come out of his gorgeous mouth. I lean in and kiss him, then rest my forehead against his.

“You were pretty confident you could get the girl when the time was right, huh?”

He smirks. “Damn straight I was. And look, it worked.”

“I love you too, Colt.”

His eyes light up as he pulls back to really look at me. My entire body warms at the sight of his beaming smile, so huge I can’t help but return one just as bright.

“Really? You love me too?”

I nod and bite my lip. “I always had a little crush on you, but then you came into my life and showed me the real, caring, silly, loveable you. I know it’s love. I know I was meant to wait all this time for you, and now you’re here because I was meant to fall in love with you.”

“You’re my ride or die , baby. I love you,” he whispers, leaning in.

“I love you, Colt.”

His smile is so sweet as his lips touch mine, our bodies coming together again beneath the sheets.

Later that week, Colt and I are apart because he's having a guys’ night. They are playing poker and darts, and watching some fight on TV, and I am totally okay with it. I'll enjoy my solo time, pigging out and catching up on some reading.

It is pouring rain out, the ping of raindrops hitting the window making it even cozier to be curled up in bed with a good book. My space heater is warming the room, so I throw on my comfies and settle in, eating pizza and chips for dinner and cookies for dessert.

I’m one of those people who always keeps a show on in the background. I find the noise keeps me company. Though it’s not nearly as comforting as having Colt here. It’s nice having the time to myself, but I miss him.

I have spent enough of my life alone.

He was going to cancel his plans, but I encouraged him to go so he's not the guy with the girlfriend who never sees his friends.

Which is already sort of the case, given we are always together.

But I think he prefers it that way. He seems sick of the people he hangs out with, just grinding it out now until we graduate.

My phone chimes with a message, and I ignore it at first. I continue reading, trying to focus on my romance novel, but I keep getting distracted by the blinking light. It's most likely Colt anyway. It’s not like I get a lot of messages from other people.

I pick up my phone and open it. There is a message from an unknown number with a video attached, which appears to be in Axel’s garage. My brows furrow. Someone must have sent this by mistake. I don’t want to pry into anyone’s business, so I respond to the mystery number.

Layla: Who is this? I think you have the wrong number.

Unknown number: Just watch the video.

I swallow the sudden lump forming in my throat. Everything about this makes me nervous. I have no clue about the type of people Colt works with. Do they know about me? Is this message a threat?

I press play. The video is erratic at first, panning around Axel's garage, then down to the floor. There’s loud music, laughter, and chatter in the background.

The recording moves from the ground over to my sister and Serena, making out like a couple of whores.

The camera shifts slightly to the left to show Colt sitting there, watching them as he takes a sip of his drink.

He gets up from his seat and saunters over with a suggestive look on his face that makes me feel sick.

He stops before them and leans in, whispering something.

There is a smile on his lips, directed at them, before he walks away.

Even with the crappy video quality, I see Simone’s cheeks flush, her eyes on Colt as he walks away.

Once he’s out of sight, the two girls giggle and kiss each other again, holding hands as they follow him into the house.

That’s where the video ends.

My heart sinks into my stomach.

He couldn’t have. He told me he loves me.

This has to be a setup. Someone’s sad attempt to break us up. It doesn’t even show anything incriminating, just Colt saying something and walking into the house. This doesn’t mean anything.

I watch the video repeatedly, and the more I watch it, the more my brain tricks me. My anxiety spikes, and I start overthinking everything, actually starting to believe he took them into the house and fucked them.

He had a threesome with slutty Simone and skanky Serena!

I fight back tears, swallowing past the ball of anxiety in my throat. I need some fucking answers.

Without thinking, I run out of the house in nothing but my joggers and tank top, forgetting a coat despite the cold, rainy late November evening.

The rain pummels my skin, but I don’t feel it. I’m heated, fueled by rage and fear mixed into a crazy concoction.

I’m about to flip the fuck out.

I march up to the garage where some of the regular crew is hanging out. Conveniently, some of the regular skanks are here too.

So much for a guys’ night.

As soon as Colt sees me, he jumps up, looking concerned.

I didn’t call, and bitches are here, so maybe I’m catching him doing something he shouldn’t be.

Just like the video, taking a night off from the ball and chain to fuck a skank.

I mean these women weren’t supposed to be here, yet here they are.

Or, it could be the fact that it’s pouring and I’m drenched, showing up unannounced in nothing but a now see-through white tank top and joggers, scowling like some woman scorned.

“So much for a guys’ night, huh? Care to explain this?” I ask bluntly, tossing my phone at him. He catches it and looks genuinely confused.

People look on at the domestic dispute about to unfold. I’m sure they’re waiting to pull out their phones to record the humiliating moment.

Colt watches the video, and his eyes widen.

“It’s not what it looks like.” His hands come in front of him in defense. I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest to cover my tits. “Who sent this to you?” he asks angrily.

“I don’t know whose number that is, and it kinda looks exactly like that, Colton.”

Colton approaches me cautiously, hands still in front of him. “Baby, I swear to you it’s not. Whoever recorded this…someone is trying to get between us,” he tries to explain.

I huff out another scoff and shake my head in disbelief, turning to walk back to my house. I don’t need this shit. I don’t deserve it.

Typical excuse. It’s never ‘what it looks like.’

He runs after me, grabbing my elbow and turning me towards him. “Layla, I?—”

"Did you fuck them?!" I shriek.

"No! I didn't, I—" I put up my finger, interrupting him.

“This is exactly the shit I wanted no part of Colt! This is so fucking toxic! The fact that people are this mean and would go to these lengths to break us up? Really? I’m not having that shit. It's drama I don't need!” I snap.

The rain batters my cold skin, but I’m so mad I barely notice. Colt’s long strands drip with water, his eyes searching mine desperately.

“So you’re going to punish me because some petty fucking people are setting shit up?

” he yells in frustration. “You know me, Layla! You know I didn’t do that!

I went inside and took a piss after I told them they were pathetic for putting on that display.

That’s what you see me saying in the video. Then I came straight to you!”

His eyes are wild with worry and hurt, like he can’t believe I would think he had a threesome with my sister and Serena. “How could you even think I’d do that to you after everything I’ve shared with you? No one knows me the way you do. I’d never do that to the closest person to me!”

“I don’t know what to think, Colton. Maybe because the video looks pretty fucking convincing! Part of me is worried it actually happened and that you’re lying to me. That all this,” I wave around us, “is too good to be true. You’re you, and I’m just me. We’re from different worlds.”

“No, we’re not. We both live in this shithole and are trying to get out. We’ve just done it differently. Baby, it was stupid of me, but I wanted to fuck with them, lead them on for a second, and that's what you saw," he tries to explain.

I roll my eyes and look away, but he grabs my chin between his fingers, tilting my face to pull my gaze back.

"I swear, I called them fucking pathetic because they are. They were trying to lure me, thinking I’m weak, but I’m not like that anymore! Please, you have to believe me. It looks awful, I know, and when I find out who recorded this and sent it to you, I’ll fucking destroy them.”

I shift uncomfortably. “I just need time to think, Colton. I work and go to school full-time. I have to maintain grades to keep my scholarships. I don’t have time to put up with teenage drama just because I’m your girlfriend.

Just leave me alone for a bit, okay? And please don’t come over tonight.

” I turn to walk away, leaving him standing in his front yard, watching after me in disbelief.

As I round the corner, I hear him yelling at everyone, but I can’t hear the words. I know I’m being overly dramatic. It could easily be a setup, but it might not be.

Do I trust him? If I don’t, is this even a relationship?

All this fucking drama from these girls.

The glares, the snickers, the hurtful words, all because we are in a relationship.

It’s so stupid, and as much as I try to ignore it, it still hurts.

I thought they were bad before, but now they are just ruthless, and I don’t know how much more of this I can take.