Collision

by Evie Harper

  At my words, the Poison Boys tense and I run forward, heading straight for Rex. I hear my brothers follow my lead and the first grunt comes from my left, unknowing if it’s Pacer or Corey and not needing to look. I know my brothers can hold their own.

  I’m first to swing at Rex and he backs off to miss my fist. I let out a loud growl, bend forward and dive into his stomach, taking him to the ground. Rex lets out a loud huff as his back makes contact with the hard dirt.

  He begins to throw punches left and right. I’m hit twice, once in the jaw and once in the ear, but I feel nothing other than a small amount of pounding in my ears. My pain is suspended through my adrenalin and rage.

  Rex tries to roll us, but I stop him with my knee and crawl my way up to put all my weight on top of him. From my new vantage point, I begin slamming my fists down, once, twice, again and again.

  Rex looks up to me in shock, his face swelling and bruising already forming, with splatters of blood down his shirt.

  I stop swinging so he can hear what I’m about to say. “I’m done with your games.” My voice comes out guttural, and I penetrate his gaze with my severe stare. “I killed those who came at me and my family, and that’s on you, Rex. This will be your only warning. You go near Piper, you attempt to hurt her at all through others, and I promise I will cross turfs with a bat. I will bash your skull in until there is nothing left but a flat surface with your brains spilling out. She is off-limits. I will kill you for her.”

  “I didn’t tell Peter to rape her,” Rex growls. “He’s been dealt with for his lies. I wanted to see if she could be easily swayed from you, knowingly. I wanted you to hurt; what good would that be to me if she were raped? I wanted her to rip your heart out just like you did to me when you killed my father.” Rex sneers. “I will repay the deed and rip someone away from you, by heartache or by death. And now, knowing how much she means to you, I know who to aim for.”

  I pull Rex up by his shirt so we are nose to nose. “Your father was a rapist; he deserved worse,” I spit back. “He raped Della, a girl who once meant something to you. Do you not care at all about her?

  “Liar!” Rex booms into my face. “He would never do that!”

  I hear yelling behind me and my clouded vision starts to clear. I turn to find Pace, Mack and Kel bloodied, bruised and all yelling at me to get up.

  Corey, Kodi and Reed are standing close to Rex and me, their appearance similar to my brothers. It’s then I hear the sirens. Fuck!

  I stare down at Rex and find bloodstained teeth and a smile on his face.

  “I promise you, Rex, I’m not playing games anymore. You crossed a line. You do it again, and I will end you.”

  I shove him back down to the ground, stand and continue to stare down at him as he grunts in pain. His smile dies and he narrows his eyes at me.

  “See you at Speed Wars, Slate. Perhaps we can make a deal on a race,” Rex suggests, and I’m just about to ask what he means when Pacer yells out to me.

  “Slater, we have to get the fuck out of here, now!”

  I turn from Rex and begin running after my brothers toward our cars.

  When I reach mine, I catch sight of the Poison crew approaching theirs, as well.

  I watch as all my brothers fishtail it out of the dead-end street and head for the exit of the park to the main roads.

  I jump in my Torino, start the engine and put the accelerator to the floor, causing my wheels to spin and rubber to burn. Hopefully the cops will see the smoke and come directly to this spot. I speed off, passing the Parkland Poison Boys.

  Adrenalin spikes in my blood and this is the feeling I love: lightness in the chest, rapid pulse, dry mouth and breathlessness. It’s almost as good as being inside Piper.

  I make three quick rights before I hit the road I need and head east, the direction I always go when we’re on the run. We each have our own route we map out beforehand depending on the direction we each choose, and we’ll ultimately meet up in Jefferson Memorial Forest to swap cars.

  I easily speed through the streets and then slow when I know I’m far enough away and no cops are following me.

  After a thirty -minute drive, I exit the main road and turn onto a dirt track into Jefferson Forest. It covers over six-thousand acres of land with many camping sites and walking trails, but still so much of the forest is untouched and never ventured into; this is where we hide our cars. Twenty minutes later, driving up to our hiding spot, I scan the area and find all my brothers out of their cars and standing around, laughing with one another.

  My body relaxes, all the tension leaving my muscles. No one’s badly hurt, and no one’s going to jail today. I’m thankful the meet went to plan, but I know Rex did not heed my warning and if anything, I think I just put a bigger target on Piper’s back. The urge to protect her is overwhelming. I must keep her safe, and now I just need to figure out a way to do that and still keep her at a distance. I fell for her, but I won’t allow myself to fall any further for a woman who stands for everything I hate.

  Chapter Seven

  You’re wrong.

  Piper

  Standing at the sink finishing my dishes from breakfast, I hear a knock on the front door. I go still, unsure who it could be. I don’t have any friends who live in Portland or Louisville, and I’m not close to any work friends who would think they could drop over without an invitation. A salesperson, maybe?

  Next comes a loud, impatient bang and then a voice. “Piper, you home?”

  Slater. I freeze, my wet hands suspended in the air with suds covering my fingers. I didn’t think I would hear from him again, or at least not for a long time. I look down to my ripped, tiny cotton shorts and my old tank top covered in different hair dyes I’d used over the years. I look like a mess, and I haven’t even brushed my hair or teeth yet. Maybe he’ll think I’m not home, leave and come back later.

  A third knock sounds and it’s louder this time. Shit. He’s not leaving. I jump into action, flinging my hands to get rid of the suds and watching as water hits the kitchen window. I race as quietly as I can to my bedroom and straight into my bathroom to begin brushing my teeth and tidying my hair at the same time, but I just make myself look worse. Toothpaste is slung across my face and my hairbrush is stuck in a knot in my hair. I hurriedly wash the paste off my face and plait my hair over my shoulder, trying to hide my messy waves.

  Racing into my bedroom, I whip my head left to right wildly, looking for something decent to wear. Oh, hell, really I’m looking for something that will make me look hot, something which says, ‘your loss, asshole’.

  I freeze again as Slater calls out, “Piper, you home? If you are, please open the door.”

  Damn it, he’s going to leave soon.

  “Argh,” I growl, frustrated at myself for wanting him to leave one minute and then in the next, scared he will.

  I plop down on my bed and calm myself. What the hell am I doing? He made fun of my stutter, twice! No more trying to impress him; he either wants me for me or he can take a hike.

  I straighten my back and proudly walk out of my bedroom, still in my ratty clothes. I swing my front door open to find Slater resting one arm on the wall next to my door with an air of swagger and ease around him. It’s the type where the person doesn’t realize how cool they are, or they don’t even care. He lowers his arm and as he does, his round, tanned and covered in tattoos bicep flexes. Jesus, I should have changed.

  “What do you want?” I ask, swallowing roughly down my dry throat, proud I didn’t stutter.

  Slater’s expression is soft as I speak but when he looks me up and down, his expression turns to annoyance. Then he moves his head to look behind him.

  I tip my head to the side to see what Slater is looking at and notice Mack at the bottom of my stairs, smiling. His grin widens when he sees me looking at him and he winks. I don’t return his smile, too confused about what the heck is happening right now.

  Slater mutters, “Christ,” under his breath, and then s
ays, “Can I come in? I don’t think you should be standing in your doorway in those clothes.” He scans me from head to toe again.

  “Oh, my God. Do you even know what manners are? I wasn’t expecting company, so you can shove your rude comments up your ass,” I clip in a disbelieving tone.

  I grab hold of my door and intend to slam it in his face, but Slater grips the handle and stops me.

  He grimaces and his eyebrows squish together. “What the fuck just happened? I’m confused,” Slater states.

  “You insulted me. Again!” I snap at him.

  “Move aside, Piper. I’m coming in,” he growls.

  I quickly try to decide what to do, but before I can finish thinking it over, he’s stepping closer to me. I’m forced to take a step back to move away, and then he’s in my house and shutting my front door.

  I throw my hands up in the air. Breathe, Piper. Just breathe. Killing a person for being an asshole is not a socially acceptable approach.

  Slater makes it to my living room and starts speaking. “I wasn’t making fun of you, Piper. You’re practically wearing nothing. It’s nine-thirty in the morning, so how come you aren’t dressed yet? What if a man turns up on your doorstep and you answer it wearing fucking underwear!” Slater ends on a growl.

  Now my eyebrows are all squishy and my nose is scrunched. “Okay, now I’m confused. Why the hell would you care? I could fuck the next guy who comes through my door if I wanted to, and why? Because you don’t want me,” I clarify sharply.

  Slater’s whole body tenses and his face appears as if he’s going to explode with anger. “Jesus Christ, woman. You drive me fucking crazy.”

  “Oh, my God! You make no sense whatsoever!” I shout.

  “Me? It’s you! I swear you live and breathe to torture me!” Slater replies on a yell.

  My front door opens and Slater and I turn to see why, both of us breathing heavily from our argument.

  Mack pops his head in through the door and says, “Slate, we came here for a reason. You two need to stop fight-fucking each other and start packing. I got shit I need to do today.” Then Mack is gone and my front door closes once again.

  I turn back to Slater with a raised eyebrow and ask in a tight voice, “Pack?”

  Slater sighs. “I got trouble with the Parkland Poison Boys. Have you heard about them before or about the war we have with them?”

  I nod apprehensively, wondering what their issues have to do with me.

  “Rex has people watching me and my brothers all the time, but this time, they’ve reported back to him that you are worth hurting to get to me.”

  My breath whooshes out of me at Slater’s words. Hurting. My heart begins beating rapidly against my chest.

  “You need to tell him I-I’m not.”

  A frown appears on Slater’s face as he moves in closer to me, raising his hand to cup my cheek gently.

  “It doesn’t work that way. I’ve already warned him to stay away from you, but Rex is too far -gone. I don’t trust him not to come after you to get to me, so until I can make sure you’re safe, you will come stay with my family and me.”

  I’m in that much danger that I need to stay with him? “No, I have work. I have kids I-I need to find and help.”

  Slater’s eyes close briefly and he rubs his chest roughly. “Shit, Piper. I hate that you stutter all the time because of me. I’m always making you nervous or scared.”

  Surprise flitters through my chest and caresses the tender wound Slater created with his harsh words. But were they from a beautiful place?

  Slater moves his hand away from my cheek and I’m left cold without the warmth which was encased in his palm. He walks over to my lounge and takes a seat, looking up at me while he speaks. “I can take you to and from work this week, and it won’t be long-term. I have a race next weekend against Rex. I’m going to make him a deal he won’t want to refuse and then all this will be over,” Slater informs.

  “Speed Wars,” I whisper.

  “Who told you about Speed Wars?” he asks curiously.

  “Peter. He told me last night.”

  “You need to stay away from him, Piper. He’s nothing but a drug-fucked loser and he will do whatever Rex tells him to do. Peter told me he laced your drink with a date-rape drug last night. I’ve never trusted him, and that’s why I told Della to knock your drink over. Promise me if you see him, you’ll walk the other way. Do you hear me, Piper?”

  My hands start shaking and my eyes begin to water. “D-date r-rape?” I softly stammer.

  “Another reason why you can’t stay here. He’s your real estate agent so he’ll have keys to this house. I put him out of commission for a long while last night, but I can’t trust Rex won’t get hold of your house keys somehow.”

  All of a sudden, I look around my new home, my once safe place, and it feels treacherous and threatening.

  “What about a hotel or a friend’s house? Won’t y-your home be the first place Rex will look?”

  Slater stands from the couch and comes to me, taking my shaking hands between his in an attempt to try to calm me. “First, Rex would not dare step foot in Portland, because we would know straight away. People talk, and the majority of families who live in Portland have had our protection at one time or another. They are loyal to us, and we would find out through the grapevine that the Poison Boys were on our turf. Second, I won’t trust your safety to anyone else, not fucking happening.”

  “I thought you were done with me? I’m not a charity case, Slater. If I’m in trouble, I can take care of myself,” I say bravely, my voice even and calm, completely opposite to the way I’m feeling.

  “I’m sure you can look after yourself, but I got you into this mess and I’ll get you out. I’m not the type of man who walks away from problems I caused.” I don’t let him get away with not answering my question.

  “First, tell me why you turned cold on me.”

  Slater crosses his arms over his chest and narrows his eyes on me with a frustrated expression.

  I mirror his stance and glare right back at him.

  Slater grins in defeat and says, “Fine, but later. Go pack your stuff.”

  I continue staring for a minute longer until I realize I don’t want to be the girl who’s a pain in the ass when I know the best thing to do is to go with him.

  I do the other girly thing and stomp all the way to my bedroom, slam the door and then roughly change out of my ‘underwear’. I find my favorite gray, boob tube style summer dress, which is long in the back but short at the front, and decide to wear it.

  When I’m dressed, I pull out my suitcase and mutter loudly about how unfair this is. However, I’m actually excited. A week in the home of the notorious Street Kings, and all those guys with hot, tattooed bodies? I may be in danger, but if a girl had a dream of a way to die, it would be surrounded by those guys, protecting me. I laugh loudly in my head at my sick sense of humor when I hear movement at my bedroom door.

  I turn to see my door open and Slater standing there, smiling. My once-coherent thoughts are now tripping over themselves trying to take a mental picture of this man grinning wildly at me. Slater’s head tips to the side just slightly, and his eyes gleam with a hint of the trouble he could get any woman into. Trouble those eyes did get me into. I fell for that adorable smile and his playful gaze, and it wasn’t worth the fall or the pain.

  I turn and resume packing my suitcase as Slater continues to stand in my doorway and watch me. Neither of us speaks until I pick up my closed suitcase and say, “I’m ready.”

  Slater takes my bag while I walk to the kitchen and lock my back door. I enter the living room and find him holding a picture of my foster family and me, which was taken on my last day in the house. I left for college that day and never looked back to that gloomy time in my life. But I have the picture out to remind myself why I strive so hard at my job, that I will make a difference for other kids.

  “You don’t look like them,” Slater states honestly.
>
  “They aren’t my real parents. They were my foster parents,” I inform him.

  Slater turns to me with wide, shocked eyes. “You were in the system? You didn’t tell me that.”

  “Uh-uh, I tell you my story when I get yours.” I quirk up an eyebrow waiting for him to argue, but he doesn’t. Slater puts the picture down and carries my suitcase out the front door.

  I take a big breath and follow him.

  A week, Piper. A week and then life will go back to normal. A life without Slater, a life of wanting a man who doesn’t want me.

  ***

  We arrive at Slater’s home, and it feels surreal. To be back at the place I ran broken-hearted from just a few days before is strange.

  Slater carries my suitcase through the front door and we’re met with a fuming Della.

  “You,” she sneers at Slater. “You knew I would want to be there.”

  “Not now,” Slater growls in return.

  At his words, she seems to blink out of her angry rampage and glances to me then back toward Slater. “You can’t protect me forever, Slate.” Her words are soft; her eyes fill with anguish before she jogs up the stairs.

  Both Slater and I stare after her and don’t move until we hear the almost-silent close of a bedroom door.

  Feeling the heaviness of Della’s words but not understanding them, I turn to Slater and say, “It’s times like this I’m glad I don’t have any siblings.”

  Slater laughs and turns to me with a cheerful expression, but after a moment, the stare turns heated and I look away quickly. I know that look, and it’s a dangerous one for him to have. It’s what got me into this mess in the first place.

  I step back from Slater and watch as his lust-filled expression changes into a frown.

  With a tight voice, he says, “You’re sharing a room with Dell, so I’ll have to show it to you later. Come on. I’ll show you around the house and then you can just do whatever it is you do.” He ends on a shrug.

  Slater leaves my suitcase in the entry and shows me around the house. He then takes me to the backyard where I see a large, white shed with four garage doors.