Page 21 of The Lies We Steal

“They hate it here. All of them. They were supposed to leave after senior year. I thought… I don’t know. They just aren’t supposed to be here.”

The wind nips at my exposed skin, sweat pooled on my palms, and a shaky breath escaped me. The rain comes down harder, yet we sit there watching them get shoved into the back of the black SUV’s.

The adrenaline I felt near him, Alistair, rivaled any crime I’d ever committed.My heart pummeled my chest cavity. As they were tucking his head inside, his dark eyes pierced mine all the way over here.

I knew he saw me. Just like he did at the party.

The corner of his lip twitched and I sucked in a breath. Slowly, he winked before the door was completely closed and they were headed to the police station.

That day there was a dark cloud following me, even after I’d shed my wet clothes and stood underneath the warm shower. I stood there, this feeling looming over me that Alistair wasn’t done with me, yet.

Alistair

Over the course of my life, there were many things I’d never felt. Things I couldn’t care less if I ever experienced now.

Trivial things like, peace, comfort, love.

You see, a child needs those things to grow. It’s vital to how they turn out. However, I had accepted a long time ago that what nurtured me wasn’t something soft and sweet.

I wasn’t raised with kindness or joy. From the moment I’d come into this world it was made very clear my role in my family.

Nothing but a spare. A backup.

Unless something happened to my older brother, I was nothing but a waste of perfectly good furniture space.

But there was one feeling I knew. Not because of my blood family. Not because my father taught it to me, or my mother showed me as a young boy.

It was something I could feel in my bones and rushed through my veins. Something I’d learned from years of experience. It was one of the only things I felt sure about.

Loyalty.

Knowing that there was someone out there who had my back just like I had theirs. Knowing if it came down to them or me, I’d throw myself under the bus every single time.

And that’s how I knew this douche with a badge was full of shit.

“Give it up, Alistair. The other boys have already told us everything, pinning everything on you. You don’t wanna go down for attempted murder and arson now would you, son?”

My upper lip twitches, I have to physically swallow the urge to stand up and smash his face into this metal table separating us. However, I don’t move, keeping my cuffed hands in my lap.

I’m impressed with my own self-control.

“Yeah? Tell me,Daddy, what is it that I’ve done? You gonna tell me how I did it? Hmm?” I hum unfazed by his games.

Aggravation eats at him. He’s probably getting the same shit from Rook and Thatcher, Silas I doubt has even muttered a word since they lugged us down to the police station.

They would get nothing from us and soon they’d realize how pointless it was in the first place to even bring us in.

“I ain’t your daddy, boy. If I was you’d be headed to military school quicker than you could open your smart ass mouth.” His southern accent bothers me, it’s obvious he’d moved here later in life because locals don’t sound like backwoods hicks.

“And I’m not your son or your boy, you inbred hillbilly. And I’m not saying anything else, so you’re wasting your time.”

Nonchalantly I throw my legs up onto the table, the mud on the bottom of my boots falling off onto the surface. Putting my hands behind my head and leaning back, shutting my eyes. I’d never been more unbothered.

We were not hungry dogs who were ready to tear each other to pieces the moment our loyalty was tested. For years we’d been covering for each other, we didn’t even need to know the details of what one of us had done and yet we could have lied so flawlessly they would never be suspected.

Did they think we would snitch on each other? Put us in separate rooms? Turn down the thermostat? Keep us in handcuffs and leave us in here for an hour before coming in? That they could scare us into turning on one another?

We were not fucking dogs.