The images were too vivid and real for it to be considered just the job. But that was what I had to do. I had to draw a line and tell myself it was only a task. I needed to get close to her, but not too close. I needed just the right amount of intel where I could walk away from her and not want to see her again.
Fuck. I hoped I could do this.
BRODY
There were times like today when I felt like I was wasting time being here. It wasn’t my job to drive Hut to go and get a burger and fries from the local burger joint, but that was what job I’d been tasked with. I should have been gathering evidence to take this fucker down, not becoming his goddamn taxi service.
It was just after lunch, but I was ready to call it a day. No crew business had happened in the last couple of days, and I was starting to get impatient.
“I’m so fuckin' hungry,” Hut groaned as he got out of the SUV with his bag in hand. I followed him up the driveway, past the rotten car, and shook my head. He’d eaten half of the food he’d ordered while we were driving back, and now he practically had his head in the grease-stained paper bag to search for fries.
I pushed my hands into my jeans pocket, glanced around, and then looked back at Hut, just in time to see his leg fall right through the hole in the middle step. A step I’d nearly fallen into many times. His bag of food went flying, the burger flinging itself from the wrapper and slapping against the screen door, spreading sauce and burger meat on its way down to the ground.
There were two seconds where I didn’t know how to react. My instinct was to laugh, but as soon as I saw his red face and narrowed eyes, I figured it’d probably be best to hold it in.
“Motherfuckin' house!” he wailed. He grabbed the top of his calf with both hands and yanked, trying to get free of the hole he’d just made twice the size. He twirled around to face me and roared, “Fix that fuckin' step!”
I pointed at my chest at the same time he got free and slammed the bottom of his boot against the step, shattering what was left of it. “You want me to fix it?”
“You got anything better to do?” he growled, and I gritted my teeth. I did have better things to do—like police work—but today, for all intents and purposes, I was his lackey. Hut dipped down to retrieve what was left of his food, shook his head, and sighed like a child. “Half my food is gone.” He toed at the step again, cracking another piece of wood. “Go get supplies and fix this fuckin' thing.”
He barged into his house, slamming the screen door behind him, and leaving me to stare at the space he’d just been in. I’d always been good at fixing things, but this was just a joke. Half of me wanted to leave it as it was and watch him fall through it again, but knowing he wasn’t the only person living in this house was the thing that had me moving to my car.
Just over an hour later, I was back at the house with the supplies and tools I needed. The afternoon sun shone bright, its rays burning against my black T-shirt as I set out all of my supplies. I pulled my top off and then measured the step, working out how many slats of wood I needed to cut. I gripped the pencil between my fingers and marked the wood balanced on my makeshift table, and then cut it. It wouldn’t take much to fix the step, so I had no idea why it hadn’t been done before now. The only good thing about it was it’d keep my mind occupied, if only for a little while.
Keeping my hands busy and my brain on task made me forget about everything else that was going on. I was always on the go, working a case and a theory. I never had time to just slow down and think. Or better yet, not think at all.
The scent of freshly cut wood took me back in time to my grandparents’ lake and the wooden dock I’d helped build. We’d spent a whole summer putting it together so we could tie our small boat and canoe to it. It was a memory simply brought on by smell, but it also saddened me. I hadn’t been there since—
“Brody? What are you doing?” I spun around and blinked at Lola, who was standing there in a plain T-shirt and jeans. Her face was clear of any makeup and her hair tied in a messy bun on the top of her head. She looked every bit the student I knew she was.
“I’m fixing the step,” I replied simply as if it wasn’t obvious.
She raised a brow. “I can see that, but...why?” She stepped closer, examining my handiwork. I was only half finished, but you could see the difference between the new wood and old. If this were my own house, I’d have stained it to try and match, but I wouldn't invest that time into this. Not for Hut.
“Hut fell through the hole.”
Lola’s eyes widened, her cheeks pinking as a laugh burst out of her. She threw her head back, the loose bun on the top of her head bobbing from the force. I tilted my head, my own lips spreading into a grin at her soft tinkle. I’d never seen someone laugh like that, and if I were honest, the sound was kind of addictive.
“Oh, man”—she clutched at her stomach—“I would have paid a mega amount of money to watch that happen.”
I grinned. “That wasn’t the best of it, though.” I stepped forward and shielded my eyes from the sun. “He had a burger and fries in his hand as he went down. Said burger is now splat against the screen door.” I extended my arm to point at the door, looked over at the sauce marking it, and then moved my attention back to Lola.
“I…” She blinked, her gaze sliding over my arm as she audibly swallowed. “Did you lose your T-shirt in this accident too?”
I froze, my arm suspended in mid-air and repeated what she’d said in my head. Her gaze was fixated to my chest, and the pink on her cheeks from her laughter was now a bright red. Was she…checking me out?
“It’s...hot,” I blurted out as if that explained everything, but I was taken aback by what she’d said. And that was when I realized we were alone. Something was starting to swirl between us whenever no one else was around, but I wasn’t sure whether she felt it too. I was drawn to her in a way I hadn’t experienced before, but I had to keep reminding myself this was a job. This wasn’t real life. This was pretend.
“Uh-huh,” she murmured and shook her head. “I erm…” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I should head inside.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say. She walked past me, her arm brushing against mine in the process. My hairs stood on end, my skin setting ablaze from the small innocent touch. She dipped her head down, acting as if she hadn’t felt it and jumped over all three steps. Her jeans pulled against her ass at the movement, and my eyes widened. Now I was checking her out.
Fuck.
Chapter Nine
LOLA
“Shit, Lola, you should have seen my teacher's face.”
I grinned at Cade as he relayed the story of getting an A on his test yesterday. I’d never seen a teenage boy so excited over proving his math teacher wrong.
“And then he said”—Cade stood and puffed his chest out—“if I didn’t know any better, Mr. Easton.” I chuckled at his deep-voiced impression. “I’d say you cheated.”
“No way?” I gasped. “What did you tell him?”
Cade shrugged and plopped back down in his seat. “I told him that I was super fly and was fooling him before.”
I rolled my eyes. “You did not.”
“Nah.” He opened his textbook. “I told him I have a hot tutor. He nodded like he understood and told me I did good.” Cade looked up at me, his lips quirked into a grin.
“Get on with your math work before I get Sal in here,” I warned, only half joking. I’d come to find out that Cade was scared of Sal, and not just because of his imposing height and girth, but because Sal was good friends with Cade’s dad.
“Shit. Okay, I’m on it.”
We spent the next couple of hours the same way that we had for the last three sessions. We focused on what he was doing in class, went over it a second time to really pound it home, and then did his assignments.
We’d created our own little routine, and if we finished early, Sal would let us have a shake and some fries to celebrate educational achievements—his words, not
mine.
I’d taken to bringing my own books with me for times when Cade was focusing and didn’t need my help. I usually only worked in the library or at breaks, but this meant I was killing two birds with one stone.
“What do you wanna be when you grow up?” Cade asked out of the blue.
I snapped my gaze to his and frowned. “You know I’m nineteen, right? I’m already an adult.”
“You can’t drink yet, though.” He leaned back in his seat, draping his arm over the back in only the way teenage boys would to try and look cool.
“Right.” I shook my head and closed my textbook. “I’m studying to be a teacher.”
“Yeah?” Cade’s eyes widened. “You’d be an awesome teacher.”
“You think?” I could feel the heat spreading in my cheeks at his words. Self-doubt was a killer, and I’d had enough to last me a lifetime already.
“Sure.” He shrugged and closed his own book. “You’d be the hottest teacher in the school.”
I groaned and let my head flop down, banging it gently on the table several times. “You just don’t stop, do you?”
“Nope.” He laughed, big and loud, and it echoed off the small break room walls. “You kinda dig it though, be honest.”
I lifted my head and raised a brow. “I dig it like I’d dig a hole in my head.”
He pointed at me and stood. “Knew it.”
We both packed our books away, and I stowed my bag into my locker as he threw his bag over his shoulder. “When’s your mom picking you up?” I walked down the back hallway toward the main section of the diner with Cade hot on my heels.
“She said she’s running late, so won’t be here for another thirty.”
I nodded and led him over to a booth. “Okay, I’ll go get us a shake, and we can chill until she gets here.” I looked down at the watch on my wrist. “My shift doesn’t start for another hour anyway.”
“So we’re gonna have a date?”
I slapped my hand against my forehead. “You really don’t give up, do you?”
“Nope.” He slid into the booth and grinned up at me. “My dad always said that when you know you want something, you do everything in your power to get it.”
“Right.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Your dad sounds like a man who gets what he wants.”
“He does.” His eyes flashed. “He always gets what he wants.”
“Well”—I took two steps away—“sometimes when someone says no, it becomes a life lesson, and I’m all about teaching.” I spun around and walked toward the counter, but the stupid smile on my face couldn’t be stopped.
Cade wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before, and for all of his bravado and constant chatter, he was actually a really good kid. When he put his mind to it, he could achieve some great things.
“Session finished?” Jan asked, her mouth moving a mile a minute as she chewed on her gum. She’d been trying to quit smoking the last couple of weeks and swore the gum helped.
“Yeah, he’s just waiting for his mom to come get him.” I pulled out two glasses and placed them on the counter, then pulled open the freezer door. Sal liked to think his milkshake recipe was a big secret, but really, it was all down to good ingredients. He paid extra for the locally made ice cream and bought the best milk to add to it. His favorite thing, by far, was sourcing the syrups that we added to them to give an extra shot of flavor.
“I think the kid is a little obsessed with you,” Jan said, leaning her arms on the counter next to me. “He hasn’t looked away since you came over here.”
“It’s just a crush,” I told her, adding a measure of milk to each of the blenders followed by a scoop of chocolate ice cream for Cade and a scoop of strawberry for me. “He just needs to get a girlfriend.”
“Hmmm…” Jan popped her gum and stood to her full height. “Or maybe he’s holding out for you.”
I screwed my nose up, pumped in a shot of syrup into each blender, and placed the lids on them. “Ew, Jan, I’m like four years older than him, and he’s still in high school.”
I clicked on the blenders, the soft thrum working for twenty seconds and then stopping. The thick mixture of each made my mouth water, and I couldn’t wait to taste mine.
Jan shrugged and flipped her dark-red hair over her shoulder. “Age ain’t nothing but a number, baby.”
My thoughts immediately went to Brody at her words. That had been exactly what I’d been thinking about him, but it hadn’t seemed as wrong as it did when I thought about Cade and his crush on me. Was that how Brody thought about me when I was staring at him? Did he think I just needed a boyfriend in the same way I thought Cade needed a girlfriend his own age?
Well, shit.
Maybe I’d built up all the little interactions with Brody in my head? Not that I’d seen much of him since Crystal and my dad came to the house.
I shook my head at Jan and picked up the glasses. Her tinkle of laughter followed me as I ambled over to the table, placed the shakes down, and slid into the booth opposite Cade. My fingers drifted toward my neck and the scab that was left from the knife. If it had been anywhere else on my body, I probably wouldn’t have had a scar, but because of the sensitive skin, I was pretty sure it would. It was only two inches long, but it was enough to draw people’s attention.
I stared out of the window, only half listening to Cade as he told me about his latest lacrosse game, and let my mind wander. I’d been doing everything I could to make a life for myself, and even though the steps had been small, all it took was one incident to have you fall on your ass. Hut hadn’t been home much, and when he was, he was too busy either making more contacts or getting high. Ford had been around less, and I started to wonder if something had happened that I wasn’t aware of.
I may not have been in Hut’s inner crew, but living in that house meant that I knew at least eighty percent of what happened and what they were getting up to. There was a danger in not knowing what surrounded you. I wasn’t the kind of person who liked to pretend everything was a bed of roses when there were only thorns around you. I knew what went on in my life and what went down in that house. I just chose to ignore it.
My savings had built a little since taking on tutoring Cade, and my advisor at college said that there was a new grant I could apply for that could help with living costs. Things were looking up, but there was always a downside, and I was waiting for it to present itself. Nothing ever happened without there being a bad side, right?
“What do you think?” Cade’s voice broke free, and I blinked several times.
“Sorry, I was in my own head.” I tried my hardest to smile and make it look genuine, and it fooled him because he smiled back and leaned forward.
“I said you could come to the school and meet with my teachers. Maybe they could help with the whole ‘you wanting to be a teacher’ thing.”
My smile fell, my stomach dipping. It was an offer that I didn’t want to refuse, something that would give me an insight that I wouldn’t otherwise get, but would it be taking advantage of Cade?
“Crap, my mom just pulled up.” Cade jumped out of the booth and slung his backpack on. “Think about it and let me know next week.”
“I...I will,” I whispered, staring after him as he walked out of the diner and toward his mom’s car. I should have been elated by the offer, but my mind automatically went to a negative space. It was something I was working on, but my natural reaction was to always think the worst.
LOLA
I’d always painted my toenails at the kitchen table. It was a habit that I’d started when I was thirteen, and I hadn’t been able to break. Whenever I’d tried to do it in my bedroom, I always ended up with a headache from the fumes because of the cheap brand. I couldn’t afford the stuff that would only need one coat, so I had to do at least three to get any kind of coverage, so it made sense to do it in an open space. I wasn’t sure anyone knew about my little habit because I’d always made sure the house was empty when I did it. But to
day, right in the middle of the first coat of polish, the front door opened.
I turned my head and groaned as Ford and Quinn walked inside, their grins high on their faces as they talked about something I really didn’t care to know about. The crew members treated this house like it was their own home. It was something I’d hated at first, but the more time went on, the more I got used to it.
“What the fuck is that smell?” Ford asked, his gaze zoning in on me.
I shrugged and feigned any knowledge, then turned back to the task at hand. The bright red polish was one that needed several coats, and I wouldn’t let them disturb my ritual.
The pounding of their feet got louder the closer they came, but I didn’t look up as I dipped the brush back into the bottle.
“The hell you doin'?” Quinn asked, sitting opposite me.
“Painting my toenails,” I answered in the same tone someone would say, “Duh.”
“You’re such a chick.”
“Dude,” Ford said, sitting down on the edge of the seat that my feet were planted on. “She’s a girl, or have you not noticed.”
“Kinda hard not to,” Quinn grunted.
“You gonna talk about me like I’m not even sitting right here?” I asked, painting my pinky and then pushing the brush back in the bottle. All I had to do now was wait for the first coat to dry.
“Depends…” Ford said, and when I looked up at him, he had a small smile on his face. “You gonna make us something to eat?”
“Fuck no. Buy your own goddamn food.”
Ford stood and threw some dollars down at Quinn. “Go get takeout.”
“You go get it,” Quinn answered, looking down at his cell.
“You wanna tell Hut that you sent me to get takeout while we’re waiting for someone to turn up?”
Quinn rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath. “Fuckin' fine.” He pocketed the money. “What do you want?”
Fallen Duet: Brody & Lola: Free Fall & Down Fall (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 1) Page 10
