Page 21

Alex

“I wasn’t kidding about cutting out his tooth,” I say to Aiden as he cruises up the long drive to Mason’s house.

“Then why’d you stop? It would’ve been a great addition to my collection.”

“I don’t know, I thought it’d be enough.”

“Some people don’t know the meaning of enough,” Aiden states bluntly. “That’s when you have to leave them with a permanent reminder of where they stand.”

“You could’ve taken a few of his teeth home with you last night,” I snicker at him.

If I’d known that Rory was so demented as to go after Dallas again at the railroad bridge, I would’ve taken a lot more than his tooth when I had him pinned on the floor of her bedroom. I followed him home last night and haven’t heard anything since, so maybe it’s finally out of his system. But I won’t let my guard down. And I won’t forget.

Aiden parks his Lexus in front of the third garage bay and I take the opportunity to check my phone one last time before heading inside.

DALLAS (5:52PM): Have fun with the other ? of your brain tonight. Dark Souls Colson

ME (6:16PM): You accidentally typed Dark Souls instead of Dallas

DALLAS (6:17PM): Whatever, you’re probably on your way to prom with Aiden

She’s still angry I’m not playing Dark Souls with her tonight. I already made plans, which involve her brother, so she’s even more red-assed about it. But after last night, I almost made something up and ditched them in favor of seeing her. Colson’s one of my best friends, and I’d take a bullet for him, but I also would’ve set up house in the backseat of that rat’s nest in the woods if I could’ve stayed there with Dallas longer.

I slide my phone back into my pocket and follow Aiden up the front walk to the towering cathedral-style door. “Apparently there’s a deadline, now,” I mutter as he rings the doorbell.

Prom.

He looks over his shoulder with disgust. “For Col and Mase? Couple of simps.”

Aiden’s one to talk, but I’m not going to mention that.

“Then why are we even doing this tonight?” he continues. “That only leaves a couple of hours.”

“We’ve wrecked more shit in less time,” I remind him. “Plus, I think it’s how they’re pre-gaming.”

The massive door swings open and Gianna Wilder appears. Her face lights up as soon as she sees us and she extends her hands with their perfectly manicured nails.

“My boys!” she greets us in her deep Italian accent.

This is what I admire about Mason’s mom; it doesn’t matter if I saw her yesterday, she always greets everyone like she hasn’t seen them in a decade.

Gianna gives Aiden a couple of rough pats on his shoulder blade as he steps inside and then reaches for me. She looks like she stepped straight out of some high fashion spread, with her perfectly styled, long black hair, linen jumpsuit, and gold jewelry that probably costs more than one of the cars sitting in their garages. But when I hug her, she feels like a mom and she’s the only one I’ve felt that with since the last time I hugged my own mom.

“No tuxes? No suits? Where are your things?” The words come at me so fast that they barely register.

“No, not tonight,” I reply.

“ No prom? ” she gasps, her eyes darting back and forth with an incredulous look.

Aiden flashes a smarmy grin at her. “I was actually going to see what you were doing tonight. Is Reed still out of town?”

Not missing a beat, Gianna delivers a sharp smack to Aiden’s torso, making him flinch. She purses her deep berry lips with exasperation and turns around with a shake of her head.

“Don’t tell me he’s rubbed off on you, Alex,” Gianna calls back to me.

“Something like that…” Aiden quips, making a jerking motion with his hand.

I’m going to fucking punch him before the night is over.

“Absolutely not,” I call back as I shoot him a look.

“You’ve not been skipping school and getting in fights?”

“No, ma’am. Perfect attendance,” I reply as we follow her through the house to the back door. “The fights are another story.”

I conveniently leave out the part where I’m actively avoiding my pseudo-ex, I’m surveilling Rory because he’s in a feud with Colson’s sister, and I’m pretty sure Gianna would disapprove of what we’re about to do tonight, anyway.

Mason, Colson, Josh, and Rory are already lounging by the pool waiting for us. Fortunately, there’s no mention of Rory’s bruised cheekbone and he doesn’t make the mistake of drawing any attention to himself. Once everyone is accounted for, we head for the garage and pack into Mason’s Avalanche, some in the backseat and some in the bed of the truck.

“What happens if he calls his goons on us?” Josh asks.

“They don’t know us,” Mason scoffs. “They can’t arrest all of us if we don’t talk.”

This is the most excited I’ve seen Mason in weeks, probably since before he and Colson found Evie. So much so that he actually smiles—for real. Not even Jay Rhinehardt’s family of police officers or the threat of being hauled into Canaan by Tate Garrison is enough to deter any of us. Tonight, we’re hunting for Bowen. The incident at the skate park was a threat, and now we’re leveling up.

“You don’t have to talk to the police, no matter what they say,” Aiden sneers before he pulls a furry white rabbit head mask over his head and takes a look at himself in the truck’s window. “If you’re not under arrest, get up and leave. And if you are, say you want a lawyer and shut your mouth.”

I’m still not sure where he got the rabbit head, but it checks out. While everyone else looks like they’re auditioning for the starring role in a 90s teen slasher movie, Aiden chooses a cute fuzzy animal with a pink nose. But it also makes him look the most deranged.

I twirl the elastic strap of my purple Purge mask around my finger while glancing at the text that just came through. As soon as we pull up to one of the pumps at the Sunoco, Josh and Rory stumble out of the cab and dash across the lot to the store. I tilt my phone away, acutely aware of Colson sitting just feet away from me just as his sister’s image fills the entire screen.

Dallas stares back at me with irreverence, nothing but her onyx hair framing her deep blue eyes.

DALLAS (6:40PM): You’ll never amount to anything in Sen’s Fortress if you keep wasting time with amateurs

She’s trying to kill me. That sweet, gorgeous face is diabolical. She’s a little demon, a hellion trying to ruin me.

ME (6:51PM): Last time I checked, you’ve learned plenty of things from me

But, still, I can’t ignore the feeling that’s been gnawing at me since the night I fell asleep in Dallas’s bed. It’s like I’m standing outside my body, trying to reason with myself, and bargain for a different outcome than the inevitable.

No matter how you feel, she can’t consent to shit.

But she’s not a kid, she’s a high schooler, no different than me.

Still won’t hold up in a court of law.

I can’t get arrested, especially for statutory rape. The military would be out, and if I was convicted, I’d have to register. And that shit follows you forever. But she doesn’t need to be afraid of me. I would never hurt her.

Other people, however…

ME (6:52PM): I have to tell you something

“Oh, shit!” Colson cranes his neck to see over the roof.

When I glance up, Al, who owns the Sunoco, is standing at the counter pointing his sawed-off shotgun at Josh and Rory. They’re thrashing around, tearing off their masks and raising their hands in the air. Seconds later, Al lowers his gun and yells something at them, probably cussing them out, before he goes on to sell them a case of beer.

Morons…

I sit back down and continue typing, trying to hurry before they get back.

Rory found out you’ve been catfishing him. I don’t know how, but Aiden and I found him waiting in your room on Thursday when you weren’t home. I told him I’d kill him if he came near you again. He’s going to school out of state, so he’ll be gone by the end of the summer. But until then, you need to stay the hell away from him.

“Who the hell have you been talking to?”

I startle when I hear Colson’s voice.

“Oh, um…”

I’m too slow. Colson’s eyes darting between me and my phone, squinting with suspicion. Immediately, I know what he’s thinking, just like we all can read each other by one look. He’s wondering if, for some macabre reason, I’m talking to Jordy. Even after everything that happened.

I could let him draw his own conclusions instead of telling him the truth. But that would be infinitely worse. I would literally rather die than anyone think I’m giving Jordy the time of day, especially him.

So, instead, I take a deep breath and steel myself for the truth.

“Dallas.”

●●●

“Seriously, don’t fuck this up. You don’t lay a finger on her and if I ever see her crying over you, you’ll be the next one I come for with the rest of these assholes.”

I’m pleasantly surprised with Colson’s reaction after looking him dead in the eye and confessing that I’ve been secretly coming to his house to play video games with his sister. That said, I have my own ideas about how to not fuck up this situation, which involves figuring out how to keep Dallas safe when I’ve already signed over the next four years of my life to the United States government.

I don’t notice what roads we’re on or how long we’ve been driving, but as soon as we arrive at the top of the ridge, I’m overcome with an eerie sense of déjà vu. And when I see Bowen Garrison’s white Lancer parked across the clearing at the old railroad bridge, it seems like this is where I’m supposed to end up tonight—like fate.

Tunnel vision sets in as soon as I pull my mask down and all noises around me mute, dissolving into the black forest around us. Ignoring everyone else, I climb Bowen’s bumper and hood like stairs, letting my boots fall with jarring thuds at each step. I want to put my heel through his windshield, but instead, I crouch down and give it a couple bangs with my fist.

“Get your ass out here, Garrison!” I bark.

He stares back at me from the driver’s seat, looking dead behind the eyes while the girl next to him looks like she’s about to have an aneurysm. And, soon enough, she’s out the door, stumbling over the dirt in a panic until she slams into Aiden and gets dragged around the back of the car. She tries to straighten her red bikini top while her dark hair whips across her face, but only ends up pinned between Colson’s chest and a metal baseball bat.

Bowen can’t see my face, but I’m shocked a blister isn’t forming in the middle of his forehead from how hard I’m staring at him. Eventually, he exits the car more annoyed than ever. I follow him, climbing his windshield, crossing his roof, and descending over the back of his trunk, the body of the Lancer flexing and popping with each step.

I swagger along behind Bowen until he comes to a halt at the circle of slashers, looking at the girl with utter contempt. I stop at his shoulder, and while the rest of the guys have some fun scaring the hell out of her, I have some things to say of my own.

“She’s not as pretty as Dallas, is she?”

Bowen glances at me, not moving his head.

“Probably not as smart, either,” I continue. “But if you want to find out, don’t. Because I promise you, if you come anywhere near her, I won’t play games with you. And this time, they won’t find a body.”

He tilts his head slightly in my direction. “I won’t have to,” he drawls, barely moving his mouth.

The girl’s incessant whines draw my attention back to the entertainment, where Aiden’s swinging his bat in a circle at his hip. “He’ll cut off your hair, some fingers, maybe he’ll even dig your heart out of your chest,” he lists off absently.

“Because he’s such a heartbreaker, ” I growl as I brush past Bowen’s shoulder.

The girl pleads with Bowen to intervene, as if he’ll do a goddamn thing.

“ Aww… ” my voice oozes with mockery, “she thinks he’s going to help her.”

Her cries are like nails on a chalkboard and her tears blasphemous; the most egregious insult and utter disrespect to Evie, who died by Bowen’s hand only two fucking weeks ago. These are small towns, where people talk and secrets are an acceptable form of barter. There’s no way she hasn’t heard what everyone in Dire Ridge is saying about him and his family.

And now he’s threatening my girl…

With a jerk of my arm, I reel back and smash Bowen in the nose with my elbow. Surprised shouts and groans fill the air, punctuated with curses from Bowen as he throws his head to the side and staggers backward.

“That’s gonna leave a mark,” Josh laughs.

Bowen spits a mouthful of blood into the dirt before starting toward me, but Aiden thrusts his bat out, stopping him in his tracks.

“You’d be wise to stand there and take it like a man,” Aiden growls through the mesh of his fuzzy rabbit mouth.

Blood pours from Bowen’s nose, and while he’s distracted, I reach over Aiden’s bat and swipe my hand across Bowen’s face. Then I spin around and stalk toward his newest concubine. She lets out a screech as I smear Bowen’s blood across her cheek and over her mouth, back and forth until her face is stained pink.

The rest of them keep laughing and jeering, but I don’t hear a word of it. I’m halfway back to the Lancer, ripping my knife from my pocket and flipping open the blade. My arm swings like a pendulum as I circle the car, stabbing each of his tires. There’s a crunch, and when I arrive at the back, I catch Aiden shattering the second taillight. We watch from the bumper as Colson kneels in front of whatever-the-fuck-her-name-is and starts drawing something on her stomach. She’s lucky he’s only using a marker. But I don’t care what they’re doing now. Throw them both off the railroad bridge for all I care.

Meanwhile, Bowen waits impatiently for the spectacle to end. Standing just feet behind him, his back looks like a blank canvas, begging for a smattering of 1-inch stab wounds all over it. I could do it—right here, right now. My closest friends are here; they would help me bury his body, even Rory. I could end this tonight.

And Dallas would be safe.

Still gripping my knife, I take a step toward him. But then a tiny buzz breaks me out of my fever dream. It’s my phone vibrating in my pocket.

It’s probably her.

I glance down at my hand, and then after a few seconds, I flip the knife shut again. Clenching my jaw in frustration, I stalk past the vigilante huddle and up to the Avalanche. I throw open the door and climb into the backseat, tucking myself into the balmy silence.

Immediately, I pull out my phone and see I was right.

DALLAS (7:47PM): Omg. I’m so glad you were there.

My head falls back onto the seat and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to calm my trembling muscles. Bowen ruined Evie, he’s trying to ruin Col, and he almost ruined me. I would’ve stabbed him, right there on the overlook, and opened him up in front of everyone. Then everything would be over, including me.

I would’ve killed him...

If Dallas hadn’t stopped me.

●●●

I’ll be damned if Mason didn’t pull that Avalanche back into his driveway and park it next to the koi pond in the middle of the turnaround at exactly 8:29PM. Ten minutes later, he, Colson, Josh, and Rory are putting the finishing touches on their prom outfits before rushing back out of here.

“Where’d Aiden go?” Mason asks as he rakes his fingers through his hair in the full-length mirror.

“He was still wearing that stupid rabbit mask and said something about needing to go take care of his pet before it gets too late,” Josh mumbles as he finishes buttoning his cuff.

I glance up from my phone. “ What? ”

Aiden can’t be gone already. He was supposed to be my ride home.

Colson swivels around. “Oh no,” he chuckles.

“Shit, he needs to leave that poor girl alone,” Mason laughs.

“Would you?” Colson shoots back.

Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I give a haggard sigh. “He never will,” I tell them wistfully, “he’ll choose prison first. Or death.”

I stand up, now the only one not going to prom, and consider my options. Granted, there’s only one. I cast Rory a loathsome glance, deciding that I need to get out of here before I strangle him with his own tie.

I swing my arm out to smack Colson’s hand. “Let me know if anything good happens tonight.”

“I can drop you off,” he offers.

“It’s alright, it’s not that far.”

And it’s not, especially if I run…to his house. Maybe he’ll figure out where I am, but chances are he won’t even notice. He’s so pumped up about wrecking Bowen’s night that he’s off to finally make all of Bryce Decker’s dreams come true. That’s the only reason he’s going to prom, anyway—the final match to cap a year-long game.

It's finally dark and, fortunately, Hunter’s Landing is in the opposite direction. Once I reach the end of the Wilders’ driveway, I start running. I’ve always been pretty fast, but I’ve maintained the stamina since Mason and I never stopped training post-season. Except he’s staying in shape to play college soccer while I’m hoping to stay alive long enough to be honorably discharged.

My muscles are still trembling with the onslaught of adrenaline and I don’t stop until I reach the top of the Lutz’s driveway. The living room lights are visible through the closed curtains, but I know Scott and Christy are gone. When I round the side of the house to the back patio, I can make out a faint sliver of light in the crack of Dallas’s curtains. There’s no way she’s asleep yet, especially if she’s playing Dark Souls tonight. But it doesn’t matter, because a few seconds later I’m halfway up the pergola.

Balancing on the rafters, I make it to the window and grab the sash, sliding it up the track. As quietly as possible, I crawl over the sill and swing my leg over the edge into the bedroom. Sweeping the curtains out of my way, I finally see Dallas sitting in the middle of her bed amidst the warm glow of the Pepto Bismol walls.

Dallas sets her controller down and pulls her headset off. “You could’ve used the front door,” she smiles, scooting down to the end of the bed, “Mom and Scott are gone ‘til tomorrow.”

“I like the window,” I reply, stepping the rest of the way through, “it’s more straight-forward.” I reach up and tug my shirt over my head, wadding it up and dragging it back and forth across my sweaty face.

Dallas steps past me to shut the window while I slip my boots off and pull my mask out of the back of my pants, dropping it onto the floor next to them. When I glance over my shoulder, I realize that Dallas is only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of black, cheeky underwear that’s riding halfway up her ass. My heart starts beating double time just looking at her.

“I thought you were—” but she doesn’t have a chance to finish because when she turns around, I grab her under the legs and hoist her up, pinning her against the wall with a thud. She digs her fingers into my shoulders and her thighs clench around my waist in surprise.

“You happy to see your man?” I tease her lips with my tongue, drawing her in.

She moans eagerly, her chest heaving with excitement as she kisses me back.

I pull back, looking her dead in the eyes. “You want him to fuck you good tonight?”

Her eyes go wide for a moment, but after a couple seconds she starts nodding.

“You’re my girl,” I tell her in no uncertain terms, “and you’re going to feel it for days after I’m done showing you what I should’ve done in that car with you.”

Before she can utter a word, I turn away from the wall and drop her onto the bed. She lets out a yelp as she bounces off the mattress and, before she can move, I seize her behind the knee and jerk her toward me.

“On your knees,” I command, flipping her over and grabbing her waist. Her thighs hit my jeans so hard, it knocks the breath out of her. “This what you want, Dal—to be my sweet girl?”

“Y-yes…” Dallas murmurs through hectic breaths.

“Sweetest girl I ever met,” I hum, hooking my fingers in the strip of cotton between her legs.

Her thighs tense with a sharp breath as I give it a tug, moving her underwear from side to side. They stretch easy enough.

Yeah, that’ll be fucking hot…

I start unbuckling my belt, staring down at her perfect hourglass waist before giving her ass a sharp smack. Her gasp is like a hit of cocaine straight to my dick and I just want to feel every inch of her. Grabbing her hip with one hand, I grab my dick with the other, hard as fuck and biting my lip so hard I’ll taste blood any second.

Fuck, I don’t have a rubber…whatever, I’ll pull out and come all over that incredible ass of hers.

Pulling her underwear to the side, I get ready to sink in. She’s going to be so…

But then my eyes shift to Dallas’s legs, to her arms, and then finally to her fingers. Her pink and black nails are splayed out on the white comforter, trembling. I can hear her deep, shaky breaths while she stares down at the comforter, not moving.

She’s scared.

What the hell are you doing? You’re acting like a fucking asshole.

She wasn’t even going to try to stop me.

What’d you expect her to do, moron?

As if she can stop me from doing anything; 175 pounds of muscle with a hard-on fueled by vengeance. I try to swallow, but my throat feels like a desert, and the longer I stare at the back of her head, the more unsettling it gets.

I can’t do this with Dallas. Maybe later, a long time from now, but not here. Not now.

Slowly, she looks over her shoulder, her face all but hidden behind that thick black curtain of hair. I snap out of my daze as soon as her frantic eyes meet mine and then reach for her.

“Hey,” I take her by the arm and gently pull her upright, “come here.”

Thankfully, she lets me pull her close and wraps her arms around my neck, holding tight as I start crawling up the bed. Slowly, I lower her onto the pillows by her waist and settle between her hips.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur as I leave kisses across her cheek. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” I reach her lips and kiss her softly. “Are you OK?”

“Yes,” she whispers with relief.

Her breathing evens out the longer I lay with her, stroking her cheek and feeling her heart beat against mine.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I brush my nose over hers, “I was in…a mood.” But I can’t tell her any more.

“Where’d you come from?” she asks, running her fingers up and down my scalp.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter,” she smiles, “because if you ever go there again, I actually will lock my window.”

“Don’t lock me out,” I groan against her cheek. “I know I told you to, but never lock me out, please? I just forgot—” but I stop short, realizing how idiotic it sounds.

“Forgot what?”

“That we haven’t done this already.”

“How could you forget that?” she asks with a roll of her eyes.

“Because, Dal, it’s like you’ve always been here. And, now, there’s no one else but you.” I brush her hair away from her face, studying every inch of her ivory complexion. “ Carino, tu eres mi única, ” I drawl, nearly in a whisper.

“What’s that mean?” she whispers back.

“ You’re my only one. ”

Gradually, a smile spreads across Dallas’s face and she pulls my face to hers. I could kiss her all night, locked inside these radioactive bubblegum pink walls, hiding from everything outside. She’s chaos and calm wrapped into a single soul that’s tearing me apart from the inside out, and I just want to drown with her in the dark of night.

The more my hips move against her, the harder she kneads my back, pressing her nails into my muscles. Soon, she reaches down and starts nudging my jeans further down my hips. She has them halfway over my ass before I grab her wrists and toss her arms back over my shoulders. If she gets them off, my dick is sure as shit going inside her.

“Please…” she murmurs, “please, Alex…I want you to.” She sounds drunk, but alcohol has nothing to do with it.

You don’t know what the hell you’re saying.

I kiss her to try and shut her up, but that only makes it worse. She rolls her hips with mine, syncing her movements with her tongue as she sucks my bottom lip.

You don’t lay a finger on her…

I can hear Col’s voice in my head and I wish he’d shut up.

“Why are you 15?” I groan. “Why did your parents wait three fucking years to have you?”

“ It doesn’t matter… ” It comes out like a plea, a desperate whisper in my ear.

But it does matter, and that’s the sick irony. If I was only a year younger, this wouldn’t matter. No one would give a shit what I do—not really. But since I’m not, it’s obscene, even if I’m still in high school and go to the same classes and sit in the same cafeteria every goddamn day.

Obscene…

What’s obscene is that I could go to prison, but any dusty idiot who just happens to be her age is allowed to desecrate her, use her up, and spit her back out. Fucking hell…

“You want me locked up, Angelína? ” I push her shirt up, running my hand over her ribs. “The only way you want me to leave here is in handcuffs, huh?”

“I don’t want you to leave, Alex,” she whimpers. “I want you to stay here and be my boyfriend.”

Instantly, my chest caves.

Dead. Just bury me six feet under.

“I’m going to be more than that, Dallas,” my hands move over her, committing every inch, every contour of her satin skin to memory. “I’m the one you’ll think about more than anyone else, especially when the sun goes down. Because that’s where you’ll live with me, in a dark place where I’ll love you like no one else can, and I’ll live for you and die for you a thousand times over.”

Fuck it.

I plant my elbows at her shoulders and dig my knees into the bed. As soon as I roll my hips into hers, I feel the sting of her nails in my skin and I know I’ve hit the right spot. I do it again, and again, grinding my jeans against her until I can feel her heart through her chest and her breaths get shorter and shorter.

Her legs fall open further, drawing a faint cry from her that shoots a chill up my entire back.

“I’m sorry, Dallas,” I moan into her mouth. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

“ Why? ”

“Because I told you I’d make you addicted to me,” her breath catches as my hips pulse against hers, “and now you can’t ever go back.”

Her body goes rigid and her abs clench as she digs her nails into my back so hard that I think she’ll draw blood.

“ Al…Alex! ” She lets out a cry on the back of my name that propels me over the edge and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

I bury my face in her neck, groaning and cursing while I come so hard I think my eyes are going to detach as they roll back. When it’s over, I raise up and guide her face to mine, kissing her like she’s an oasis in a desert. I wasn’t even inside her, I never even felt her against me and she’s still more perfect than anyone else.

“You’re all I want, Dal,” I brush my nose back and forth across hers, “you’re so goddamn perfect.”

She gazes up at me with a dazed look. “I…I just want you to be the first…” she trails off with a hint of disappointment.

I cup her face. “That’s utter bullshit, Dal. It doesn’t matter who you have sex with first, it’s all lies used to control you. Besides,” I smirk down at her, “I’m the one whose name you screamed when you found out how a man’s supposed to make you feel. I’m still your fucking first.”

She stares up at me, letting it sink in. If nothing else, maybe I can brainwash her into having higher standards and expecting more than the horde of losers she’s surrounded by now. I remember what I was like back then, and it was nauseating.

“You still think you know everything, don’t you?” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Alex fucking Barrera.”

“I do.” Little hellion. “While I’m gone, you’ll kill some time with others who’ll be embarrassingly inadequate, and then you’ll grow up and learn who’s worth your time and who’s not. And then,” I grin, “you’ll realize it’s still me.”

She wraps her arms tighter around my neck and pulls me close. “I don’t want you to leave yet.”

“I’m not,” I say as I lay my head on her shoulder. “I’m sleeping here, in your bed, with you, because you’re my girl.”

Dallas’s cheek tenses against my forehead as she smiles, and I barely feel myself drift off to the beat of her pulse. I don’t think I move all night, my arms and legs tangled with hers and my jeans and boxers still hanging halfway down my ass. It’s the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time.

When I finally wake up, the thought of leaving is agony. Sunlight spills through Dallas’s curtains and when I glance at my watch, it’s only a quarter after seven. She stirs and opens her eyes as I reluctantly peel myself away from her and then she watches in contented silence while I hike up my pants and fasten my belt again.

“ Dark Souls tonight?” I ask, plucking my t-shirt off the floor.

“Maybe,” she gives a coy smile, “if I’m not busy.”

As soon as I pull my shirt on, I crawl back across the bed, collapsing on top of her. She tries to pull me back into the fluffy pile of covers, and I’m tempted to let her because the thought of leaving is a fucking drag. But I know I should or else I’ll probably do something I’ll regret in one way or another.

“You better be on,” I flick my finger under her chin as I move to rise.

She finally nods, as if it was even a question, and then I quietly open her bedroom door and slip into the hallway. I guess it’s stupid to scale back down the pergola if no one else is home. But as I start down the stairs, complicated thoughts start to rear their ugly heads.

I’m ready to leave Dire Ridge, but I’m not ready to leave her. And why the hell is this happening one week before I’m supposed to leave for boot camp? Dallas still has three years of high school left. How would she deal with me being shipped overseas, not hearing from me, and not knowing where I am, potentially in hostile territory? There’s no compromise or middle ground, because this wasn’t part of the plan.

I let out an exasperated grunt as I reach the bottom of the stairs and trudge across the living room to the front door.

“Alex.”

A deep voice stops me in my tracks.

My stomach drops and I look over my shoulder, making every effort to remain calm when all I want to do is bolt. Colson is leaning against the island, staring at me while he munches on a bowl of cereal.

“Hey,” I pivot and veer toward the kitchen. “You didn’t stay with Bryce?”

He shakes his head, “Sunday church,” he drawls through a mouthful of Frosted Flakes, “to ask forgiveness for all the things she did last night.”

Normally, he would want to tell me all about all of them in excruciating detail, but the look on his face suggests he’s in no mood to share anything.

Instead, Colson tilts his head and eyes me suspiciously. “But that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here…upstairs…in my house.”

I don’t even try to lie. What would I even say? Colson blinks, and the second he opens his eyes again, he looks completely different. His eerily tranquil blue eyes now look icy and harsh and he clenches his jaw, making the veins in his neck pop sporadically. It’s a face I recognize immediately, but it’s never been directed at me. Until now.

Suddenly, footsteps sound from above and Dallas appears at the top of the stairs, still in only a t-shirt and underwear. My mouth opens, but no sound comes out. Dallas stops abruptly, her eyes darting between us. Colson stares up at her for a few moments, and then slowly shifts his fiery gaze back to me.

In an instant, he drops the bowl onto the countertop with a clatter and I brace for impact. He hits me like a freight train, but I’m ready and grab him at the collar as he throws one arm around my neck and we both tumble onto the floor. Colson’s taller, but I’m faster and duck out of his arm before he puts me in a headlock. But it’s no picnic; we both know how to fight.

“ Colson! ” Dallas screeches, tearing down the stairs. “ Stop! ”

“ Stay there! ” we both yell at the exact same time, which only incenses Colson further.

I turn away just in time for his fist to slam into the base of my skull behind my ear. It’s better than my temple or my eye, but I need to get behind him to have the best chance of making it out of here with my face intact.

“You fucking asshole!” he snarls. “ What the fuck did you do? ”

I plant my boots on the floor, pushing against him with everything I have so he doesn’t pin me on my back.

“Nothing!” I bark. “Nothing happened!”

It’s not exactly true, but at least it’s not what he thinks.

Suddenly, Dallas appears behind Colson, clawing at his shoulders, “Colson!” She starts pounding on his back and shoulders with her fist. “Colson, let go!”

It’s like a squirrel trying to fight a pit bull, and the more she yells, the more rabid he gets.

“I swear to God, Alex, if you fucked my sister, you’re dead! ”

He jerks to the side as Dallas reels back and smacks him upside the head once, and then twice. At that, he lets go of me with one arm and reaches back, grabbing the front of her t-shirt and throwing her off of him.

Dallas lets out a yelp as she falls back onto the floor with a thud. And as soon as I hear it, I see nothing but red. While he’s distracted, I grab his shoulder and flip him over, rolling onto my back. In less than three seconds, I have him in a rear naked choke, holding onto him like I’m wrestling a goddamn alligator.

“Calm the fuck down, Col!” I say through clenched teeth. “You know I didn’t.”

To my utter shock, his muscles start to relax and, gradually, he goes still. I hold tight to him, not entirely convinced that he won’t take the opportunity to catch me off guard. But he doesn’t, he stays still, his chest heaving along with mine.

“Fine,” Colson mumbles.

“Now apologize to Dallas.”

He jerks his head like he’s trying to look at me, but I hold him firm, “You have got to be kidding me,” he mutters with disdain.

“Do it.” I squeeze his throat in my bicep. “ Now. ”

He hesitates, and then finally lets out an exasperated breath. “I’m sorry, Dallas,” he rasps.

Slowly, I loosen my grip. Dallas watches us carefully, moving to stand as Colson rolls over onto his knees. A heavy silence hangs over the three of us as we glance back and forth between each other. Except for Dallas, who keeps her focus down at our legs as she tries to avoid eye contact with Colson.

Colson glances at the front door. “Where the hell’s your car?”

He’s trying to work it out, figure out how he didn’t even know I was here—this time as well as every other.

I step between him and Dallas. “My house.”

He looks at the door again and then lets out a huff, squaring his jaw.

“Come on,” he mumbles and starts for the door.

I glance at Dallas, giving her a wink before following Colson outside. I feel better that he’s out of the house and there’s a chance he’ll get over this by the time he returns. We make our way across the driveway to his Civic.

“Get in,” he commands, not even looking at me.

I do what he says and settle back into the seat, watching him out of the corner of my eye. I’m prepared for him to come at me again, but he starts the car and guns the engine down the driveway and onto the road. He stares straight ahead, blowing through stop signs, drifting around windy curves, and pushing the Civic to the max on the straightaways through the farm fields. It’s nothing new, waiting for him to blow off steam to engage again.

After a while, he doesn’t look angry anymore. He relaxes, slowing down and coasting into the entrance of an access road that leads to the creek. He whips into the clearing, slams on the brakes, and kills the engine. We sit in silence, except for the sounds of the birds and insects on the back of the crisp morning air.

“Does Dallas talk to you?” Colson finally asks.

“About what?”

“Anything,” he sighs, gazing out the window. “It’s not like before. She used to talk to me all the time, she wouldn’t shut up. Especially when Evie—” he stops short, chewing his lip, “but she doesn’t anymore, it’s like she’s scared of me.”

She should be. I want to tell him why Dallas is scared of him and why she locks her bedroom door at night. Maybe I should. But then she would know that I told him when she specifically asked me not to. She’d never trust me again.

“She misses Evie like you do. And—” I hesitate to make sure I’m not saying too much, “and the day you found Evie, Dallas was home, by herself…all day.”

“Why?” he knits his brow. “Why wasn’t she at school?”

“Because you and Mase went out there before school, and then your parents rushed off to find you, and she stayed there, alone , all day with the news and social media and her friends texting her about fuck knows what. That’s how she found out what happened to Evie, Col.”

He leans back against the headrest. “ Shit… ”

I let him sit with it, let it sink in that while everyone rushed out to his side—though, rightfully so—Dallas got left behind to find out about her sister’s mutilated body on her own. But now that he knows, there’s no point in dwelling on it.

Finally, Colson breaks the silence. “I meant what I said last night. I’m still glad you’re watching out for her, and that she talks to you—for whatever reason,” he adds facetiously.

“Thanks, fucker,” I chuckle. “ So ,” I change the subject, “how was prom? ”

Colson lets out a chuckle and the air becomes lighter once again.

“Bryce is fun,” he shrugs, “but she’s not the one.”

“Did you think she was?” I ask with surprise.

“Nah,” Colson shakes his head. “She was a champ, though, about let me choke her unconscious with my belt around her neck and my dick down her throat. But she would’ve had me incarcerated by morning if I’d done everything I wanted to.”

“Did you use your knife?” I grin, part of me wishing I’d been there to see Bryce Decker, the valedictorian herself, when Colson whipped out his knife just like he said he would that night he was writhing around on Aiden’s floor.

“No,” he practically giggles at that. “I took her back to Aiden’s guesthouse and there I am, balls deep about to finish her, and I pull out my knife. You should’ve seen her face,” now he’s enjoying reliving it, “you’d think I turned into Freddy fucking Krueger.”

“Maybe she’s into that,” I shrug.

“She’s not, ” Colson laments. “Her eyes got all wide, and you could tell she was thinking about it, but right before I opened it, she started wigging out— Col! What the fuck are you doing? ” he mocks her in a shrill voice. “So, I tossed it on the floor with everything else and I was like, no, sweetheart, what are you talking about? ” he rolls his eyes sheepishly as I descend into laughter.

“Did you see Aiden while you were there?” I ask, recalling how he disappeared right after we got back from ruining Bowen’s night.

Colson shakes his head. “All I got was a text before I left Mason’s saying not to come inside the main house under penalty of death.”

Shit…

“Alejandro Barrera…” Colson drawls with a shake of his head, “spending his last prom night playing video games with Ole Dally. Did you at least win a few rounds or did she kick your ass all night?”

“Both.”

The best sex I never had.

I walked out of that room this morning thinking I’d ruined her. But now…

I think it’s her that’s ruined me.