Conrad

by Emily Rose

  The front end was still smashed like it had been the first time I came here a couple days ago, but it was my Camaro. Next to it, I saw her car. It was the same piece of shit that it had always been and then sitting against the curb directly in front of the house, I saw his car or the new one he had recently bought. It was just like his old one, a Dodge Challenger, but instead of the baby blue color that one had been, this one was completely blacked out like my car.

  Rage swirled through my blood and there was no stopping it as I watched the damn car, debating on if I should set the fucking thing on fire.

  As I sat there trying to contain my anger, something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I glanced that way only to see a dark figure come out of the house. He wore a dark jacket with the hood pulled up and jeans with boots, but I didn’t have to see his face to know who it was.

  Jax looked both ways like he was making sure no one noticed him before he got into his car, starting the engine and then flipping the lights off. He took off down the street and it wasn’t until he got a few car lengths away from the house that he flipped his lights on. Leaning up, I turned my own car’s engine over and kept my lights off as I slowly took off, making sure to stay several car lengths behind him.

  When he reached the end of the street, he stopped, and the glare of his brake lights glowed against the night. I slowed my speed, still keeping some distance from him, and waited. For the longest time, he sat there and then I heard tires skidding against wet pavement as he took off quickly, telling me that he knew someone was following him, even if he didn’t know it was me.

  And I wasn’t about to let him get away. I shifted and my own tires spun as I took off after him, barely coming to a stop at the stop sign before pulling out. He stayed a few car lengths in front of me, but I wasn’t far behind as we sped through town. It wasn’t long before we passed the city limits sign and that was when I realized that he wasn’t running from me, but he was leading me somewhere.

  Jax turned down the dirt road that would take us to the creek I had brought Danny to a few times and I followed. When we got to the pull off, he eased his car through the two trees and then parked to the side, leaving enough room for me to park beside him.

  I didn’t shut my engine off or get out after I parked, but neither did he.

  For several minutes, we sat there gazing through each other’s windows, even if we couldn’t actually see each other due to how dark they were.

  And then he stepped out.

  Nothing about Jax had changed. He looked exactly like he always did and the sight of him ignited that monster inside me more than I wanted it to.

  But I forced myself to stay calm and stepped out of my car considering my goal to stay low key was already fucked, I figured I might as well see what the asshole wanted. When I closed my door, he had made it around to the front of his car and our eyes met from a distance.

  “I had a feeling I would be seeing you again,” he said.

  Jax was smart. He made sure to keep some distance between us, but I was still using every bit of self-control I had to keep from beating the fuck out of him. I might understand why he shot me, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t angry with him for not even giving me a second’s chance. My hands clenched into fists, but then Ray’s face flashed through my mind.

  My son’s face flashed through my mind.

  And slowly, my hands unclenched and I released a long breath, but I still couldn’t respond. I had no idea what to even say to him right now and I was afraid if I tried to talk, I would tell him what I really wanted to do.

  Jax took a single step forward. Like he was walking up on a sleeping snake and he probably was if I could see myself from his eyes.

  “I brought you here, because I wanted to explain myself. I saw you at the house the other night, so when you showed up tonight, I came out,” he said.

  I stared hard at him, but still, I kept silent and listened to the way my heart beat steadily within my chest, like fear wasn’t even something it felt anymore.

  “I didn’t have a choice, Miles. I had to pick, and I chose Ray. I chose Jayson, but I never wanted to kill you. I hoped that I didn’t,” he said.

  Finally, I was able to find my voice. “What deal did you make with Kevin? I know you made one or you wouldn’t be standing here right now,” I asked, surprised by how calm my voice sounded to my own ears.

  Jax held my gaze like he was debating on telling me or not, but then he spoke. “I work for Kevin, Miles. I’m one of his guys,” he said.

  This little bit of information didn’t surprise me. Kevin was a fucked up, sick individual and he would do anything to make sure he had control over the situation, even if it meant letting Jax live. Jax wasn’t really living at all though. Not while he led the pack.

  But Jax wasn’t my first concern and he never would be again. I had saved him one too many times, but I never would again.

  “Does Ray or Danny know?” I asked.

  “No, they think everything’s back to normal. I haven’t told them anything,” he said.

  I smirked, because this didn’t surprise me either. “So, I’m assuming you also lied to them about me too then?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Of course you did,” I said, unaffected by this too.

  Jax rested his hand on the hood of his car and spoke with a frustrated tone, “I didn’t have a fucking choice. Do you have any idea what it would do to Ray if she knew the truth about who I really am? About where you are? I mean Jesus Miles. She’s planning your fucking funeral right now,” he said.

  My funeral. My fake ass funeral. This thought only ignited my rage even more. He was letting her “think” I was dead. He was letting her plan a funeral that wouldn’t have a body. He was letting her feel all of this pain simply because he couldn’t lose her and that thought alone made me angrier than Jax putting a bullet in me.

  Because I had lost her and he had forced me into hiding without ever trying to talk to me about it first.

  “I know I fucked up and I’m willing to admit that. I hurt Ray, I lied to all of you guys when I should have just told you the truth from the beginning. I don’t deserve Ray at all, and I will never be able to take back what I’ve done, but you aren’t any better than me. I get why you shot me, but I don’t get why you choose to continue to lie to Ray about it. You forced me into hiding by lying about it and I can’t bring myself to hurt her by showing my face. She loves you even if you don’t deserve that girl either,” I said and then started to get back in my car, but his voice stopped me.

  “Miles, you need to leave town,” he said.

  I met his gaze again, “What?”

  “Leave. Get out of town, while you still have the chance,” he said.

  “What do you mean, ‘while I still have the chance?’” I asked.

  He shook his head and then started toward his car. “If you don’t leave now, you’ll wish you had, and that’s all I can say.” he said before he got into the driver’s seat.

  I got in my car and closed the door, watching as he backed out and disappeared down the dirt road again. My mind raced with thoughts and I tried to stop them, but it was no use. Jax left me with that warning.

  And it was then that I realized something.

  Kevin’s father knew I was alive.

  And he was coming after me.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Lesley

  The prom was seriously the last thing I was thinking about, but since it was coming up this weekend, Noah had pretty much kidnapped me today, so we could go shop for my dress and pick up his suit.

  We ended up taking his car, so that Lucas didn’t see my dress before Saturday and plus he had decided to go with the guys to pick up their suits anyway, which was fine with me.

  “What about this one?” he asked, holding up a lime green sparkly dress against his large frame, like he was seeing how it would look on him.

  I laughed, “Noah, I love you, but that is seriously the uglies
t thing I’ve ever seen.”

  He grinned and then shoved the dress back on the rack. “I was just checking to see if you were paying attention. You’ve been a little off in la la land today.”

  Scanning my eyes over the dresses, I cringed on the inside. He was right. I had been on another planet all day, but that was due to what happened last night. The way Miles had touched me, even when I knew he shouldn’t be doing anything like that at all, had left a mark on my soul. If I closed my eyes, I could almost still feel his fingertips running down my arm and I knew that wasn’t right at all.

  It wasn’t right, because I was too young. It wasn’t right, because I was with Lucas and not to mention the fact that Miles was my stepbrother.

  I needed to forget it ever happened, but after he left last night, I pulled myself together enough to move and then laid back down on the couch only to toss around all night. I half expected him to be there when I woke up this morning, but he was still gone. Lila had already left for work and Dare was still asleep when Noah had showed up to get me, so I had no idea if Miles would be back or where he was right now.

  But I needed to forget about him and whatever the hell that was last night. It was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do.

  “Lesley!”

  I blinked and looked up to see Noah staring at me like I had just grown two heads. “Huh?”

  He shook his head. “How did you not hear me? I said your name like twice. Where is your head at girl?” he asked.

  I paused with my hand on one of the dresses. “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

  Noah gave me a weak smile and then held up a black dress. “What about this one?”

  The dress had spaghetti straps and shaped into a “V” on the chest, but it flowed all the way to the floor. There was a cut down the side, which would show off my thigh and even though I wasn’t a sparkly kind of girl, this dress had just the right amount of shimmer to make it really pop.

  And not to mention, it was black.

  I loved the dress for its looks, but there was a tiny part of me that loved it, because the color matched a certain 1969 Chevelle.

  “It’s perfect,” I said before my mind had a chance to ignore that moment.

  Noah looked surprised and I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t usually all that thrilled about dressing up or dances or really anything girly, but seeing this dress made me a bit excited.

  Before I could lose this train of thought, I snatched the dress out of his hand and strode off toward the changing rooms.

  “Well ok then,” he mumbled behind me.

  I ignored him and hurried inside the only empty room left, locking the door behind me and hanging the dress there. Kicking my shoes off, I undressed until I was only in my panties and then grabbed the dress off its hanger, slipping it on. Once I had everything in place, including the size 38B boobs my great grandmother so gratefully passed down to me, I stuck my head out the door in search of Noah and found him leaning against the wall scrolling through his phone.

  “Hey!” I called.

  He looked up and then came over, “Let me guess. You need me to zip you up?”

  I smiled and then opened the door for him, turning until my back was to him. I shivered when I felt his hands touch my back as he zipped me up.

  “All good,” he said.

  I took a deep breath and then spun around, holding my hands out to my sides. “Well, how do I look?” I asked.

  Noah was not straight. That was clear. He also wasn’t completely into guys either, so the look I saw flash through his eyes when he took in the dress shouldn’t have surprised me, but my face went beet red anyway and I felt the need to cover myself.

  Instead, I forced my emotions aside and spoke, “Noah, you’re doing that thing.”

  He blinked and then met my gaze. “What?”

  I laughed and then closed the door in his face. “Go away. I have to change.”

  “So, does this mean you’re getting it?” he asked from the other side.

  Pausing long enough to look at myself in the mirror, I tried to figure out what Noah had just seen in me, but I couldn’t figure it out. Yeah, the dress was pretty, but I was also blah. I hadn’t done anything to my hair other than throw it into a bun and I sure as hell didn’t take the time to put any makeup on this morning.

  “I guess,” I told him as I scanned my own reflection.

  A moment later, I heard him walk away but I couldn’t look away from the mirror as I caught my own eyes. They were strange looking. The normally dull gray color looked more like a dark storm cloud building before it produced a tornado.

  And maybe I should listen to what they were telling me. Maybe they were trying to warn me that if I didn’t stop whatever this was, my life would soon look something like a town after it was hit head on by an F5 tornado.

  Blinking, I pushed those thoughts away and changed back into my clothes, draping the dress over my arm on my way out. I found Noah waiting in the same spot and as I passed by him, he fell in step beside me.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  I nodded, but I didn’t respond. I couldn’t shake the dreadful warning that I had seen in my eyes, even if I could hide it from him.

  I felt it and it scared me.

  ****

  We spent the rest of the day shopping for nothing in particular considering I had found my dress, shoes, and he had picked up his stuff. By the time late evening rolled around, I could feel my stomach starting to growl with hunger as I sat in the passenger seat of Noah’s 1971 Chevy Nova. The thing wasn’t even painted, but it had primer. It was also so freaking rough that I was surprised it was even still running, but according to Noah, it still had many years left and he wasn’t about to give up on it.

  “I’m hungry. Are you hungry?” I asked him as I held my hand out the window, going up and down against the wind.

  “I could eat. Where do you want to go?” he asked and then flipped on the aftermarket radio he had put in the car when he bought it.

  The song, Back That Azz Up by Juvenile, Lil Wayne, and Mannie Fresh suddenly blared from the speakers.

  I let my head fall back against the seat as the poor car vibrated around me and looked over at Noah. “Seriously?”

  He bobbed his head to the song and grinned, “What? I like this song. It has a good beat.”

  I laughed, “But it’s about a girl backing her ass up. You like guys.”

  Noah glared over at me before he looked back at the road, “So, that doesn’t mean I don’t notice girls too.”

  “You just notice guys more,” I teased.

  “Whatever. What do you want to eat?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “Sonic,” I blurted since we were literally coming up on it.

  Noah swerved into the turn lane quickly, cutting a car off, and causing them to lay on their horn before whipping around us.

  “Ah fuck you too!” Noah yelled at the stranger.

  I was laughing so hard that I could barely breathe as I braced my hands on the dash and watched him shove his middle finger up in the air. When the oncoming traffic cleared, he took off into the Sonic parking lot and pulled into the first empty stall he found, cutting the loud engine off so that we could actually hear to order.

  Still chuckling, I dropped my hands from the dash and rested back in the seat, “You make my day, Noah,” I said.

  He shrugged. “Well, fuck them and their fancy car.”

  I shook my head. “You cut them off. I would have honked at you too.”

  “Well, fuck you too then,” he said.

  I barked out a loud laugh at his response.

  “What the hell do you want woman?” He went on, but I could hear the hidden laughter in his voice and I knew he was just as amused by this as I was.

  I leaned over the console and gazed up at the menu. “Um… how about a chili cheese Coney with a cherry Dr. Pepper,” I said before I leaned back in my seat.

  Noah reached out to press the small r
ed button and then rested back in his seat as we waited for someone to answer. “Do you think I could work here? Could you imagine me trying skate around this parking lot?” he asked.

  I laughed at that image. “Um, no. I could not see you doing that. You would fall flat on your ass,” I said.

  He chuckled. “Probably.”

  Before I could respond, a girl’s voice came over the speaker and I listened as she went through the usual process. Once we got our orders placed, Noah reached up to turn the key over just enough, so the radio would come back on. That was when I heard the song that was playing as it blared loudly through the car.

  In Da Club by 50 Cent filled my ears and I started shaking my head as Noah started rapping to the song like he wrote it himself. In the process of watching him, I spotted Lucas’ Mustang as he pulled into the parking lot and took the spot beside us with music blaring just as loud as Noah had his.

  It didn’t take me long to see who was with him. Brad sat in the front seat with two other guys from the team in the backseat along with one of the girls from the cheerleading squad. I thought her name was Haley. We had never been close. She was pretty, popular, and had loads of money.

  And she had also been after Lucas since before I got with him.

  My mood flipped like a damn light switch as I watched Lucas get out of the driver’s seat and walk around until he reached Noah’s window, who had also noticed Haley.

  “Hey,” Luke said as he leaned his arms on the window.

  Noah wouldn’t meet his gaze, but he acknowledged him. “What’s up?”

  I didn’t respond and looked out the window instead. I knew I had no right to feel the surge of jealousy that I did right now considering what I had done, but Lucas was doing this on purpose. He knew it would piss me off and he wanted that reaction. That was his way of proving that he still had me.

  Lucas sighed heavily and then walked around Noah’s car to come to my side where he kneeled down, resting his arms there. “Babe, you’re mad,” he said.

  I stared at him, “Really? Haley?”