by KC Kean
Toxic Creek
The Allstars Series
KC Kean
COPYRIGHT © 2021 KC KEAN
All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No copyright infringement intended. No claims have been made over songs and/or lyrics written. All credits go to the original owner.
Cover Designer: Bellaluna Designs
Content Editor: Valerie Victoria
Proofreader: Bookish Dreams Editing
To Nan,
My best friend.
Thank you for supporting me without actually having a clue what’s going on.
Thank you for letting me overhaul your house with signed paperbacks while providing the perfect cup of tea to get me through it.
Here’s to eventually being able to people watch with a coffee again soon. Maybe even in a foreign country!
It’s gonna be boot-iful.
One thing I’ve learned in Knight’s Creek, is that you don’t question shit the adults say because you never get the truth. There’s always some form of ulterior motive in play. - EDEN GRADY
Contents
Prologue
1. Eden
2. Eden
3. Eden
4. Eden
5. Eden
6. Eden
7. Eden
8. Eden
9. Tobias
10. Eden
11. Hunter
12. Eden
13. Eden
14. Eden
15. Xavier
16. Tobias
17. Eden
18. Eden
19. Xavier
20. Eden
21. Hunter
22. Eden
23. Xavier
24. Eden
25. Tobias
26. Eden
27. Xavier
28. Eden
29. Eden
30. Eden
31. Eden
32. Xavier
33. Eden
34. Eden
35. Xavier
Epilogue
Afterword
THANK YOU
About the Author
Also By KC Kean
My Bloodline Excerpt
Prologue
“No!” she screams down the phone, the sound of her fist slamming against a nearby surface following soon after. “You fucking listen to me…”
“I’m done listening to you. I’ve had to spend all my life listening to the shit that comes out of your mouth. You gave your word that we would be out from under your thumb if we split up and the two of us never looked back, yet you somehow still seem to be dictating my life. No more. Not when it comes to Eden.”
The familiar fear that trickles through my veins ignites as she cackles, the sound vibrating around me, but she comes first. Eden will always come first.
“Carl, you should have gone with option A when we were kids.”
“Option A was a direct ticket to hell. I will always be thankful I passed.”
Pulling up outside of our family home, I hold in my sigh, knowing she’ll hear it and it’ll only add to her satisfaction.
“You do as I say, Carl, or I’ll have no choice but to force your hand.”
“I’m not repeating myself. The whole agreement to begin with was so we kept them safe.”
“Hmm, well it’s not enough for me anymore, and I’m bored of talking about it. So, what’ll it be—Eden or your life?”
“My life is nothing without her.”
Ending the call, I know she’s never full of meaningless threats, but she’s going too far and I won’t stand by and let her destroy more lives.
Making my way inside the house, I try to plaster on my normal smile, but one glance from Jennifer and she sees right through me, while Eden doesn’t.
Glancing up at me, her blonde hair pulled back from her face as she paints her nails on the dining table, she offers me her most perfect smile. My feet move towards hers of their own accord, and I’m leaning down to kiss her forehead before I even realize what I’m doing.
“I love you, honey,” I whisper, and she sighs.
“You’re being all cheesy again, Dad. But I love you too. I’ll love you even more if you tell Mom we should have tacos for dinner so we can get started on the new game pass that was released today.”
She knows I’m going to agree with her. I don’t think there is ever a time I don’t, if I’m honest. She’s my girl, my world. And if that costs me my life, then so be it. She’s worth it. She will always be worth it.
1
Eden
The music blasts through the speakers as sweat drips down my body. My hips sway in time with Lou-Lou’s as she grinds behind me, and we get lost to the rhythm. “Girl Like Me” by the Black Eyed Peas and Shakira plays as the cheap, green strobe lighting colors the room in lines and dots, which is filled to the brim with bodies.
If there is one thing I love to do, it's dancing, especially at grungy parties across the river.
Living on the west side of White River means everyone is so stuck up their own fucking asses, there ends up being no room to breathe. Even their parties are pretentious as shit. The east side might not have the money, but they sure have the resources for a good time.
The east side offers much more fun. Hotter guys with bigger dicks. The girls like to wear skimpier outfits with more skin on display, and that’s exactly what I need in the midsummer heat in Arizona.
It might be close to midnight, but the temperature doesn’t feel like it’s eased off at all since lunch. Still hovering above ninety degrees even now.
So here I am, surrounded by drugs and alcohol, searching for a good time. Lou-Lou and I chilled for most of the day, relaxing by my pool on the west side, soaking up the sun, and now I was almost desperate to get sweaty for completely different reasons.
“Eden. Shots,” Lou-Lou hollers in my ear, and I nod in agreement.
Slipping my hand in hers, I let her pull me towards the kitchen. The cheap disco lights flashing around the small room blur my vision. The kitchen is much quieter as we squeeze through the bodies, heading straight for the back door.
No air conditioning inside is the main downfall of these parties, especially when stepping outside into the backyard offers no comfort either. Releasing Lou-Lou’s hand, I swipe my blonde, wavy hair away from my face and wipe the sweat down my short, black, ribbed dress.
Straightening the spaghetti straps at my shoulder, I spot an empty bench near the makeshift drink table and quickly grab Lou-Lou’s hand again. My feet are killing me in these five-inch studded heels, and I need a quick break before we dance again.
Dropping down onto the seat, Lou-Lou laughs at nothing in her tipsy state. “Girl, I’ll get the shots.”
Her blonde hair is already up in a messy bun, a few loose tendrils framing her face. Her freckles are on full display as she flutters her lashes at me.
“And a water,” I call back, and she waves over her shoulder in acknowledgment, her pink dress rising as she does.
Relaxing back in my seat, I glance around the yard. The space is so small in comparison to my neighborhood. Apart from a tattered wooden fence lining the perimeter and dried out grass beneath our feet, there is very little else out here. A few benches and the all-important drinks table, and the rest of the space is filled with bodies.
I can’t remember whose party this is, but I’m having a good time and that’s what matters.
I recogni
ze a few faces from the parties I’ve been to before, a few offering a smile in greeting, but my mind is focused on the gazes caressing my skin.
I wasn’t joking when I said they have better dick over here, and that’s the main goal of the evening. But I’d rather not sample the same meat twice, and the guys I can see from here would mean a repeat.
Live. Love. Laugh. That’s my mantra. Everything happens for a reason is my other. And the two go hand in hand with my life.
Hearing Lou-Lou cackle by the drinks table, I turn my gaze in her direction. She lives two doors down from here and is always willing to pacify the spoiled rich kid.
I don’t do close friends. I function better in groups, so I can disappear and be a loner whenever my heart desires. But if I did, Lou-Lou Carter would be close to best friend status.
“Hey, Eden.” I hear murmuring coming from behind me, and I sigh, knowing the voice instantly.
“No repeats, Bobby. Remember?” I state, not even bothering to turn around and face him. I feel the bench shake as he pats the seat back and swiftly moves along.
Admittedly, he was the first piece of east side cock I’d tasted and has since had me addicted to their specialty. But even knowing the rules, he still approaches me every time.
“Girl, you’re never getting rid of that one,” Lou-Lou says with a smirk, nodding in the direction I assume Bobby went. “Drink up so we can get our dance on again,” she squeals as she hands me my shot and bottle of water. Listening to her count us down, I lift the shot glass to my lips, letting the liquor burn down my throat.
Fuck.
Their parties may consist of the sweaty grinding I love so much, but their quality of tequila is questionable.
The backyard is thrumming, just as it was inside, the same music pumping through the wireless speakers, but there is a little more space out here compared to inside.
Perfect.
Swiping the back of my hand across my mouth, I’m pulled to my feet as Lou-Lou encourages us to join them, and I can’t bring myself to say no, even if my feet are screaming for a longer break.
The song switches to “God is a Woman” by Ariana Grande, and our hands instantly lift above our heads as we slip between the bodies, taking the center spot of the makeshift dance space. This song always hits me differently, and my body moves of its own accord.
Lost in the music, the thought of the summer ending plays on my mind. Senior year. I’m so ready for it. Turning eighteen in six weeks, my mom is already planning the birthday party of her life, and my dad already gifted me my brand-new matte black Mercedes G-Wagon.
I wear designer clothes on the daily, but it doesn’t excite me. Not like my G-Wagon does. The sense of freedom and all its high-tech fittings gives me tingles.
I think this is the longest we have ever stayed in one spot. We move all the time. Hopping from state to state, covering every inch of the US. I wish I could say it was because I was an army brat or something, but I have no idea why. By the time we have been somewhere for two years, we’re suddenly packing up and moving again.
I’m not saying I now have issues forming a connection with people, but I’m not not saying that either. So I hold everyone at a distance, taking the pleasure I want from them before we move along.
I do, however, love how there is never any expectation from me. I have parents loving me for me. Even if that means I’m a quirky-ass bitch, who loves curling up to watch an old movie one moment, challenging my dad to a game-a-thon on the Xbox, or grinding to the top hits the next.
A stroke of a palm across my ass stalls my movement. Fingers splay out across the material of my dress as they make their way around to my stomach, pulling my back into a hard chest.
Glancing over my shoulder, I come face-to-face with a guy I haven’t seen before.
Excellent.
He’s taller than my five-foot-eight height, plus heels. The grin on his lips as he looks down at my chest doesn’t leave me filled with desire, but he looks pretty enough to find ecstasy with. In a pair of shorts and a loose dark tee, he looks completely in his element.
Reaching my hand above my head, I run my fingers through his hair as I continue to dance, letting him grind up against me. The second I feel his length pressed up against my ass, I know where this is heading.
Exactly where I want it to.
“I haven’t seen you around here before,” he murmurs in my ear, his husky voice sexier than I expected, and I shiver uncontrollably.
“Clearly, you weren’t looking hard enough,” I tease, tilting my head back to look at him. As if on cue, his hand grips my waist. Guys love feeling big and strong, and looking back at them like this gives the illusion, at least.
“What’s your name, sweet cheeks?” he drawls, and I bite my lip.
“Does it really matter?” I ask, internally cringing at his attempt at a nickname, hoping he catches my drift, and in response, his lips trail down my neck.
“Have a good night, girl. Call me if you need me,” Lou-Lou interrupts, squeezing my arm as I tilt my gaze to offer her a wink. This is usual practice for us.
Dance. Drink. Fuck.
“Want to take this somewhere a little more private?”
“Yes,” I breathe out in response as my little black clutch vibrates under my arm, the strap over my shoulder holding it in place. Fuck. Not now. Letting the hot guy lace his fingers with mine, I follow his lead inside the house. He guides me through the crowd of bodies as I ignore the continued vibrations from my purse.
As we take the stairs, my phone stops and starts vibrating again for the third time, and I sigh. Apparently, somebody wants my attention, and they better believe they’re going to get a whole lot of fucking snark when I answer.
Extracting my fingers from his, I pause mid step on the stairs, ignoring everyone trying to get past.
Twirling my phone in my hand, Mom flashes across the screen.
Mom? Why would she be calling right now? She never calls when I’m out. Not unless something bad has happened, or worse, we have to move again.
My thumb hits the green answer button automatically, and I lift the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Mom, is everything—”
I can tell she is frantically screaming down the phone, but the music around me is drowning out every word. My gut clenches, the panic in her voice instantly setting me on edge.
Racing back down the stairs, attempting two steps at a time in these damn heels, I hear the hot guy trying to get my attention, but I’m too busy trying to get out the front door to offer him a response.
“Mom? Mom!” I call out over the music, pushing through the crowd blocking my exit. As soon as I pass one person, there’s suddenly another three in the way.
Finally stepping out of the front door, I hear my mom respond.
“Eden, can you hear me? Eden!”
Whirling around in the front yard, there are a few stragglers out here, but I pay them no mind as I try to focus on my mom’s voice.
“Eden, I need you to come home. As quickly as you can.”
“Mom, calm down. Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on,” I plead, trying to keep the fear from my own voice as I do my best to calm her frantic shouts.
“Eden, there’s no time,” she sobs, my heart breaking at the sound of hers doing the same. “He’s gone, Eden. Gone. And I need you to get here quickly. Please, Eden. Please,” she repeats, and my blood runs cold.
Frozen in place, there is only one man, one he, in my life. My voice is barely above a whisper as I ask the one question I know the answer to but never want to hear.
“Who’s gone, Mom?”
“Dad,” she wails, and I can almost feel her drop to her knees in despair as I stumble. “Your dad is gone. He’s gone, and I’m going to lose you too.”
My phone slips from my hand, and I watch as it hits the concrete path, the screen shattering into a dozen pieces, just like my heart.
I try to process her words, but the pain ricocheting through my bones tells
me all I need to know.
No way. It can’t be true. My dad was sitting in his little man cave before I left, tapping away on his Xbox controller like he always does. It’s impossible to die from that.
Right?
2
Eden
Dead.
My father, the only man in my life, my best friend, is dead.
I feel broken beyond repair, and the one person who might have been able to piece me back together again is the reason for the pain.
I stood at the wake yesterday and cried over my dad lying peacefully before me in his solid oak casket. He was so cold to the touch, the crow’s feet wrinkles around his eyes from constantly laughing were suddenly gone, and I was heartbroken. The room was filled with white and blue flowers, his favorite colors, and I regret not taking one for myself.
I was too focused on my dad to even register who else was in attendance, except for my mom. Going through the motions as people approached me repeatedly, offering their condolences.
I want answers, but as much as my mom manages to meet my gaze, she can’t seem to find her tongue. There is something going on here, something I’m clearly not clued in on, and it’s driving me crazy.
On Saturday night, I arrived home in an Uber to find paramedics and police cars lining the street outside our house. My dad was pronounced dead on arrival. A bullet hole between his eyes, apparently, but there are no fucking suspects.
