by Kai Juniper
Do What I Want
Kai Juniper
Contents
Books by Kai Juniper
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Books by Kai Juniper
Also from Waltham Publishing
Do What I Want
By Kai Juniper
Copyright © 2020 Kai Juniper
All rights reserved.
Published by Waltham Publishing, LLC
Cover designed by Marisa Wesley of Cover Me Darling
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, things, and events are fictitious, and any similarities to real persons (live or dead), things, or events are coincidental and not intended by the author. Brand names of products mentioned in this book are used for reference only and the author acknowledges that any trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners.
The author holds exclusive rights to this work and unauthorized duplication is prohibited. No part of this book is to be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author.
Books by Kai Juniper
BROKE & BULLIED SERIES
Don’t Try Me
Don’t Tempt Me
TWISTED PINE ACADEMY SERIES
Twisted Lies
Twisted Sins
Twisted Secrets
Twisted Truths
DIRTY LITTLE SECRET SERIES
Do What I Say
Do What I Want
Do It Or Else
Chapter One
Ella
"There's no way this is real," Briggs says as he stares at his phone. "It's probably just Finn being stupid."
"If it is, it's not funny."
"Finn would think it is. He has a dark sense of humor."
"Call the number. See if he picks up."
"It's not a phone number." Briggs turns his phone to show me the five-digit number. "There has to be a way to find out where it came from. Are you friends with any tech nerds?"
"No, but we go to school with some. There's gotta be someone there who could figure it out." I pause to think. "Maybe I could ask Calvin."
"Who's that?"
"The guy who's always in the computer lab. Skinny, black hair, glasses."
"The freak you gave a ride to?"
"He's not a freak. He’s actually really nice."
"He hides in the lab all day and doesn't talk to anyone."
"That doesn't make him a freak. He's just quiet, and he hides in the lab so people like you don't bully him. This is why you should be nice to people. They could end up helping you."
"If you want to talk to him, go ahead, but there's a good chance you'll be leading him on, and then he'll start stalking you."
"I'm not leading him on just by asking him a question."
"To a guy like that, a girl showing him any attention at all means she likes him."
"That's not true."
He shrugs. "Go ahead. Test my theory."
I roll my eyes. "He's not going to think I like him. He hasn't even talked to me since I drove him home that day. Giving him a ride is a bigger deal than talking to him."
"Exactly. He probably already thinks you're his girlfriend."
"Can we just go back to the text? It has to be some kind of prank. Finn or Parker or both of them did it to freak us out."
As I say it, Briggs' phone rings.
"It's Parker," he says to me before answering the call. "Hey, Parker, got your text. Did you really think that was funny?"
"Put it on speaker," I say.
"Hold on," Briggs says to Parker. "Ella's here. I'm putting you on speaker."
Briggs holds his phone out between us.
"Why are you with Ella?" Parker asks.
"She came over to tell me the guy woke up."
"No shit? How do you know?"
"My dad's new girlfriend told me," I say. "She's a cop. She's training to be a detective and this is her first case."
"Yeah, right," Parker says, like he doesn't believe me.
"She's not kidding," Briggs says. "Ella's dad is dating the investigator assigned to the hit-and-run."
"And you're just telling me this now?" Parker asks.
"I just found out," I say. "My dad told me he's dating someone and when the woman came over tonight, she told me she's training to be a detective and that she's investigating the hit-and-run."
"We're fucked," Parker says.
"We're not fucked," Briggs says. "This could be good. We'll find out what the cops know and if they have any leads."
"Did she tell you anything?" Parker asks.
"She said the guy woke up a few hours ago," Briggs says, "which means he's going to start talking."
"She also said they're looking for someone who owns a white pickup." I glance at Briggs. "They found traces of white paint on the guy's clothes. They told all the body shops in town to report anyone who brought in a white truck."
"They said truck, not SUV?" Parker asks.
"She told Ella they're looking for a truck," Briggs answers, "but I'm guessing they're looking for either."
"So we're fucked," Parker says. "Finn's dad brought the Range Rover to the shop right after it happened."
"That doesn't prove anything," Briggs says. "Even if the paint matched, it doesn't mean we hit the guy. We already have a story to explain the damages, and even if they didn't believe us, they still can't prove we hit the guy. The only people who know the truth are the four of us, and as long as we all keep our mouths shut, nothing's going to happen."
"Unless the guy we hit remembers seeing the Range Rover coming at him."
"I doubt it," Briggs says. "It was dark, and he was probably blinded by the headlights." Briggs' phone buzzes. "Finn's calling. Any idea what he wants?"
"Yeah, to yell at you for that text. He's fucking pissed, man. We both are. Why the hell would you send us that?"
"Wait—what text?" Briggs asks, looking at me. "What did it say?"
"Don't play stupid. I know you sent it. Finn got it too, so he didn't do it, which leaves you and Ella. You guys in on this together? Is that why she's over there?"
"We didn't send it," I say. "Briggs got one too."
"What did the text say?" Briggs asks Parker. "Read it to me."
"I'm not reading it. This is stupid. Just admit you did it. I have no fucking clue why you think that's funny but—"
"Just fucking read it!" Briggs yells, pacing back and forth.
Parker sighs. "I know you did it. I saw you. All of you. And now it's time to pay for what you've done. You always think you're in charge but I'm in charge now and you're going to do what I say or kiss your precious futures goodbye. Instructions are coming. Follow them, you go free. Ignore them, and your lives are over."
"I got the same text." Briggs stops pacing, his eyes going to mine. "Finn got one too?"
"Yeah," Parker says. "It said the same thing. We thought you sent it as some kind of joke."
"Why would I joke about this?"
"Who the fuck knows, but there's nobody else who could'v
e done it. Ella got it too, right?"
"No," I say, scrolling through my phone. "Or if I did, I can't find it."
"Guess we know who sent it," Parker says, getting angry. "What's next? You tell your cop friend about us?"
"She didn't do it," Briggs says. "Someone either saw us that night or they're just fucking with us and have no idea that what they're saying is actually true."
"Are you fucking serious right now?" Parker yells. "Nobody saw us. It was Ella. Ella sent the text to try to make us turn ourselves in. I knew we couldn't trust her."
"I didn't send it," I say. "I swear to you, I didn't."
"Yeah, right," Parker says. "You really think we're going to believe that? You're the only one who didn't get the text. Why would the three of us get it, but not you?"
"Maybe whoever sent it doesn't have my number."
"Anyone can get a phone number. It's not fucking hard."
"If I really sent it, I would've sent it to myself too so it wouldn't look like I was the one who did it. I wouldn't be that stupid to only send it to the three of you and not me."
"Okay, everyone just shut-up," Briggs says, pacing again. "Someone's obviously trying to fuck with us. We just need to find out who. Parker, where are you right now?"
"Home. Why?"
"I need you to come over here. Call Finn and tell him you're picking him up on the way. We need to meet and figure out who's behind this. I'm guessing it's someone at school, but I don't know who. Just get over here and we'll figure it out." He ends the call and blows out a breath. "It's gotta be a prank. I just don't know why they'd say that shit if they didn't know the truth. Could that really be a coincidence?"
"Maybe." I chew on my lip, my stomach knotting up at the thought that someone might have seen us that night. But how? It was dark, and there was nobody around.
"Let's go," Briggs says, heading to the house.
As we're walking in, I see a chair on its side and pieces of broken glass all over the floor. I follow the trail of glass to the hall where I see what's left of a vase.
"What happened in here?" I ask.
Briggs picks up the chair. "The cleaning lady must've dropped a vase."
"And didn't clean it up?"
"Just forget it. I'll clean it. Go wait in the living room." Briggs goes down the hall to the kitchen. I remain in the foyer, staring down at the shards of glass.
There's no way the cleaning lady would leave a chair on its side and glass all over the floor. Something happened, and I'm guessing it's related to the cut by Briggs' mouth. Was he fighting with someone?
Briggs returns with a broom. "Get out of here." He sweeps up the glass. "Go wait in the living room."
I walk up to him. "What happened? Did you get in a fight with your dad?"
He stops sweeping and glares at me, his jaw tight. "I said go wait in the living room."
"Since when do I listen to you?" I reach up to touch the cut by his mouth.
He cringes but doesn't back away. "Stop. Just go."
I leave my hand on his face and softly ask, "Did your dad do this?"
Briggs turns away from me and starts sweeping again.
I get in front of him. "Briggs answer me. Did your dad throw the vase at you? Because there's no way the maid did this and didn't clean it up. She would've at least—"
"We got in a fight," he says, continuing to sweep. "I threw the chair and he threw the vase. He didn't mean to hit me. He just threw it and I didn't get out of the way fast enough.”
I decide not to push him to tell me more. I've found that with Briggs it's best to let him tell me stuff when he's ready. I feel like he wants to tell me what happened tonight, but he's not ready to, or maybe he doesn't want to.
He finishes sweeping the glass, leaving it in a pile by the wall. "The maid will do the rest." He takes the broom back to the kitchen as I go to the living room.
Moments later Briggs shows up, taking a seat in the brown leather chair in front of the couch where I'm sitting. "That stays between us. You don't tell Parker and Finn that shit. Understood?"
"You mean about your fight with your dad?"
"About any of it. Anything I tell you stays between us." He rubs the side of his mouth, then checks his hand. "Fuck."
"It's still bleeding." I get up. "Let's clean it up before they get here."
"I don't need to clean it. I just need it to stop bleeding."
"It'll stop if we clean it and put something on it." I stand in front of him. "C'mon. Hurry up."
"What's the rush?" He gets up. "Those two will take forever to get here. Parker's probably still at home."
"We need to clean up that cut before it gets infected. Do you have any first aid stuff?"
"In my bathroom." He goes past me and I follow him up the stairs to his room.
The last time we were in here, we did stuff I haven't been able to forget. My mind keeps going back there, wondering what would've happened if Parker and Finn hadn't shown up. I wanted to do more, but how far would I have let it go?
"You coming?" Briggs asks, standing at the door to the bathroom.
"Yeah," I say, looking away from the bed. I hope he didn't notice I was staring at it, but I'm pretty sure he did.
I meet him in the bathroom and he opens a drawer under the counter. "I've got bandages, but I don't want one on my face."
"We don't need one. We just need to clean it up and hold something on it until it stops bleeding. You have a washcloth?"
He walks to the end of the huge bathroom and opens a long cabinet next to the walk-in shower. He pulls out a dark gray hand towel and brings it back to me. "Will this work?"
"As long as you're okay with getting blood on it."
"I don't care."
"Sit down," I tell him, motioning him to the tile edge that surrounds the sunken bathtub. I would love to have a tub like that. It even has jets all along the sides.
"Stop bossing me around," Briggs says with a slight smile as he sits down.
"I'm trying to hurry up. Parker might show up on time again.”
"The one time he actually shows up on time..." Briggs doesn't finish the thought but I know he too is wondering what would've happened if we hadn't been interrupted.
I wet the hand towel at the sink, then return to Briggs and dab the towel over his cut. "What if he hadn't?"
"Hadn't what?"
I feel Briggs' eyes on me but remain focused on the towel as I clean the dried blood from his face. "If he hadn't gotten here on time...what would've happened?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
Briggs takes my hand off his face and waits for me to look at him. "On how far you would've let me take it."
I walk back to the sink to wet the towel, then return to Briggs and continue to clean the blood off his face. "Assuming I let you, how far would you have taken it?"
He half smiles. "I'm a guy. What do you think?"
I stop and look at him. "I thought you didn't like me that way."
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have touched you."
I go back to cleaning his face. "Then why do you always act repulsed by me at school?"
"Because that's how it works with us. I pretend to hate you and you pretend to hate me."
I stop again, eyeing him. "You're pretending? Meaning you actually do like me?"
He shrugs. "I don't hate you."
"But do you like me?"
"I don't really know you."
"You do now. We've been spending all this time together. By now, you should at least know me a little."
"Ella, why are we talking about this? Finish up so we can go."
"Just tell me. Has getting to know me changed how you feel about me?"
"I don't even know what you're asking. We met up to do some assignments. That's it. That's not enough for me to say I know you."
"We've done more than assignments. We've talked. We've spent time together. We've..." I look down. "Kissed."
He's quiet, and I'm regretting bringi
ng up the kiss, or even the idea that he might see me differently now. I should've left it alone. The time we've been spending together...the kiss...none of it meant anything, at least not to him.
"You gonna finish this, or what?" he asks.
I step up to him, adjusting the towel before dabbing it on his face. It's not really bleeding anymore, but I need to do something to distract us after that awkward conversation.
"You ever use this?" I ask, nodding toward the tub behind him.
"Not very often. I like showers better."
"Me too. Well, I don't actually have a tub so showers are my only option. I think I'd like a tub if I had one, especially one like this.”
"You can come use it sometime.”
I smile. "Just sneak in your room and use your tub? I'm thinking that's not going to happen."
"You wouldn't be sneaking in. It'd be when I'm here. Or you could try the shower. It has five jets."
I glance over at it, noticing all the jets sticking out of the tile wall.
"I'd love to take a shower in that," I say as I dab the towel on his face. "But why would you have to be here?"
"I wouldn't have to. I'd want to."
My hand stills on his face as I try to figure out how to respond, or what exactly he meant by that.
His hand wraps around my wrist and he lowers it to my side. "Ella."
I finally look at him, my heart pounding. "What?"
"The answer is yes. I do feel differently after getting to know you." He rises up to standing and cups his hand around my face, his eyes locked on mine. "And that day on my bed? I would've taken things as far as you would've let me. I didn't want to stop." He leans down and presses his lips to mine for a soft kiss that sends a shiver down me.
I kiss him back, ignoring all the warning bells going off in my head telling me not to do it. He has a girlfriend. I just saw them together at school today. They treated me like they always had, and yet Briggs just gave me that speech about seeing me differently. And I fell for it!
