Loyal Love

by Henry, Max

  Greer spins. “What?”

  I shrink. “No. I’m not. I just hadn’t figured how to break the news to Mandy.”

  Mags stabs a pin through the thick fabric. “Why does she really want you to anyway?”

  “Back up.” Greer collects her drink. “Race what? When? How?” She gets settled beside me, our knees touching.

  “Mandy—you know Mandy, right?” Maggie asks. “The one who dated Richard. She wants Lacey to take Amber’s spot in the races they have several times a year.”

  “On a motorbike?” Greer clarifies.

  I nod. “But I won’t do it.” I scoff. “I only learnt how to ride this week.”

  “They’re not your friends,” Maggie says bluntly, head down. “You know that, don’t you?”

  I scowl at her despite her focus on the garment in her hands. “Or so you say.”

  Greer’s eyes widen while she watches the two of us.

  Maggie snaps her head up; hands paused in her work. “Mandy is using you.”

  Maybe. “What about Cate, though?” I lift an eyebrow.

  She sighs. “Okay. So, you may have a point with her.”

  I know I do. She might be tight with Mandy, but I’ve never got anything but genuine care from Cate. She’s sweet, and not the type of sweet that you can remove with a facial wipe and a cheaper wardrobe. She’s genuine.

  Mags shifts her focus to Greer, returning to her work. “Have you heard anything about what the arseholes at Riverbourne have planned for tomorrow?”

  “Maggie!”

  Greer lifts a hand to quiet me. “They don’t include me in their plans anymore.”

  Maggie hesitates again, one eyebrow raised. “Yeah?”

  Greer nods. “They cut me out the minute I chose sides at Christian’s party.”

  “I’m sorry.” I feel responsible.

  She shakes her head and settles a hand on my knee. “Don’t, babe. I was already waking up to the stuff they do, the hurt they cause. I don’t mind… much.”

  “Much,” Maggie echoes with a snort.

  Greer shrugs. “It was earlier than I expected, so I didn’t have a backup plan for what to do with my time.” She smiles sadly. “As much as I don’t mind the change, it has been sort of lonely.”

  I take her hand in mine and squeeze it. “I get that.”

  Greer’s eyes soften, and she smiles at me. “It’s not all bad; I’ve still got you.”

  “Always.”

  I snap out of it to the sound of Maggie clearing her throat. “If you two keep staring at each other like that I can’t be held responsible for the fantasies that play out in my head, okay?”

  Greer frowns.

  “She’s bi,” I explain.

  “Oh. I would never have—I mean …”

  Mags snickers, focused on the pin in her hand. “It’s cute when they’re awkward about it.”

  I laugh, mostly at the shocked expression on Greer’s face.

  Our light moment is interrupted by a soft knock. “Honey?” Maggie’s mum pokes her head around the door. “You might want to come outside for these visitors.”

  I frown. “If you were expecting company, we can head off. I don’t want to barge in on anything.”

  She responds with equal confusion. “Nope. You’re good. I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

  I exchange a look with Greer as Maggie leaves the room, and then near trip over myself in our haste to trail her to the door.

  “What the fuck?” Maggie blocks the front entrance, hands to her hips as she stares out into the dark.

  I open my mouth to ask what’s wrong, yet snap my jaw shut when what is clearly a horse snorts a heavy breath. “No way.”

  Mags’ mum stands in the doorway to the living room, hands clasped before her. “Same rule applies; you stay here.”

  “Yep.” Maggie waves her off as she takes a step onto the porch. “We will.”

  Her mum catches my arm softly before I join my friend; Greer still at my back. “You need help with anything, you let me know, okay?”

  I frown as the woman leaves, wondering what Maggie has told her about the things going down at school.

  “What was that about?” Greer watches after Mrs Epsom also.

  “I have no idea.” Still, I can’t deny the shiver of unease that speeds down my arms.

  We make our way onto the porch to find Tuck and Beau atop their rides. I recognise Major, but the mare Beau rides isn’t Betty. She’s way flightier given the wide eyes and pacing feet—a gorgeous chestnut, from what I can make out in the light spilling from the house.

  “I need to move to the country, stat,” Greer mumbles throatily, hand clutched around my elbow.

  “Hey, ladies,” Tuck singsongs. “What’s the haps?”

  Oh, my God. “They’re drunk, aren’t they?”

  Maggie nods, hand to her mouth to contain her giggle. “They most certainly are.”

  “This is priceless,” Greer says with unabashed humour. “I need my phone.” She darts indoors, leaving Maggie and me to face the masculine messes on our own.

  “A bit late for a visit, isn’t it?” Maggie teases. “You better hope Constable Green doesn’t round you both up.”

  “What’s he gonna do?” Beau exclaims, frowning as he attempts to back his horse up beside Major. “Do us for drunk riding?” He reaches over and snags a bottle of beer from the saddlebag behind Tuck.

  “Maybe not,” she retorts. “But you can be done for underage drinking, alcohol in a public place, a nuisance to the community… the list goes on.”

  “Don’t be a killjoy,” Tuck moans, leaning forward with both elbows on the pommel of his saddle. “You want a drink?” Both eyebrows shoot up.

  “Dude,” Mags exclaims before hissing under her breath, “My mum is here.”

  His lazy gaze swings across to me, standing at Maggie’s shoulder. “Hey, babe.”

  “You boys didn’t think this through much, did you?” I tease with a laugh.

  Beau swings his bottle out wide. “Not much to think about, Lace. We’re having fun.” He turns the restless horse in a circle to face us again. “You should try it.”

  “What are you saying?” I cry. “That I don’t know how to have fun?”

  He gestures to me and then Greer who remerges with her smartphone in hand. “You know how to have your kind of fun. But ladies, that stiff lifestyle isn’t truly living.” He takes a large pull from the bottle.

  Tuck chuckles. “What are you up to tonight?”

  Maggie sets both hands on her hips, lips in a firm line. “Not the same as you. Clearly.”

  “Oh, come on.” Beau chuckles. “We rode all this way to see you, and you’re gonna turn us away?”

  “You rode all this way to see her, “Tuck corrects. “I came to see my girl.”

  Hearing him say those words makes my stomach do a happy little flip. I grin, even as Beau attempts to kick Tuck in the leg, only upsetting his horse more when it gets too close to Major again.

  “Smile for the camera, boys!” Greer takes a step forward, recording the two clowns as they goof off for her.

  I lean in toward Mags and whisper. “Told you he likes you.”

  She sighs. “I know.” Her eyes soften as she watches Beau, a rare genuine smile gracing her lips.

  Greer circles the guys, passing alongside Beau as she pans over the horse. Tuck nudges Major in the ribs, getting the big guy to carry him forward to where I stand.

  “You look pretty, babe.” He nods down at my outfit. “Were you going somewhere?”

  I shake my head, keeping a cursory eye on Greer in my periphery. “Just wanted to feel nice.”

  “Well, you should.” He tries to lean down in the saddle to touch me yet relents when he almost loses his balance.

  Greer drops the phone and turns to head back to Maggie when, somewhere down the street, a dog abruptly barks. Beau’s horse takes offence, side-stepping toward Greer, who then squeals and jumps out of the way. Her high-pitch noise only aggravat
es the horse more, Beau struggling to rein it in as the animal rears back repeatedly.

  The horse wins.

  “Oh, my God.” I freeze, unsure what to do when the mare dumps Beau and then bolts for the road.

  “Shit.” Dust kicks up from beneath Major’s hooves, Tuck spinning him in a tight circle to then take off after the loose horse.

  “Are you okay?” Maggie rushes in, arriving at Beau a second after Greer.

  “Fuck me.” He chuckles, flat out on his back on the driveway with the two girls bent over him. “I think I broke my wrist.”

  TUCK

  Rounding up a runaway horse is a shit job at the best of times, but when you’re the better part drunk as a fucking skunk and the animal in question is a recently broken mare with high anxiety—it takes a while.

  By the time I return to Maggie’s to check on Beau, I’m most definitely sober and even more ashamed of being so reckless.

  The old man taught me better than this.

  Sally walks beside Major, her head nudging my leg every so often almost as though she wants to apologise. “I know, girl. It’s not your fault.”

  My sad little trio makes our way up the short driveway to the left side of the house where I can hitch the horses far enough apart that they won’t kick each other, but close enough to be of comfort.

  “You show her there’s nothing to be afraid of in the dark, okay?” I tell Major as I slide out of the saddle.

  He huffs in response.

  The lights are still on indoors providing me with enough illumination to see what I’m doing. The last thing I need is to top off the evening with a horse getting loose again because I didn’t tie the reins off right.

  “And you,” I tell Sally as I run a flat hand down her face. “You know what dogs are. Don’t pretend you weren’t just in a bitchy mood already, huh?”

  Her eyes half-close the longer I rub her face. I don’t know what kind of life she had before Dad picked her up, but I can guarantee she didn’t get enough of this: love.

  “It’s sweet, how you talk to them.”

  I jolt at Lacey’s sudden voice, startling Sally awake. “Try not to sneak up on me, babe.”

  “I didn’t.” She grins, ducking under Major’s neck to join me. “You were just so focused on her. Is she alright?”

  I nod, giving Sally a last scratch behind the ears. “Yeah. She’ll be fine.” I nod at the house. “I better go see how Beau is, though.”

  Lace shakes her head; brow peaked a little as she gives me an apologetic smile. “He’s not here.”

  I frown.

  “Mags and her mum took him to the after-hours. He thinks he broke his wrist.”

  “Shit.” I scrub a hand over my head. “Really?”

  “He was fine about it,” she assures me, reaching up to tug my arm down. “Laughed most of the time, actually.”

  I slide my hand into hers. “Your friend?”

  “Greer’s inside. We said we’d stay here and wait for you while we watch the house.”

  I slide my other hand up to her neck, feeling the heat of her nape against my palm. She’s warm, she’s here, and she’s mine again. I think.

  “Don’t go to that stupid party tomorrow,” I plead. “There are other ways to get them back if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  She tries to pull away, but I hold her firm. “Tuck.”

  “I mean it, Lace. Just hear me out, okay?”

  Her gaze finds mine, the amount of trust in those vibrant flecks enough to make my legs go weak for a whole new reason. “If I act scared, then they win, don’t you see that?”

  “No.” I shake my head and then lean forward to rest it against hers. “You can win without having to stoop to their level.”

  “Where is this coming from?” Her palms move across my shirt, feeling me out, searching for something I hope I can provide. “I thought we already had this conversation.”

  “We did.” I sigh. “But I had what I guess you’d call an epiphany while I was out rounding up Sally.” I break away to search out someplace more comfortable for us.

  Lace follows with her hand back in mine.

  The porch light burns my eyes as I round the front of the house, yet I blink away the intrusion and manage to find us a relatively clean spot on the steps; her dress doesn’t seem to be the kind that takes well to a little dirt underneath.

  Lacey moves to sit beside me, but I haven’t missed the fuck out of her to let my girl keep her distance now. She makes a cute squeak when I tug on her arm, pulling her off balance and onto my legs.

  “Subtle,” she teases, grinning as her hands find a home on my shoulders.

  I adjust her seat, one hand to her thigh and the other tucked around her arse. “No point beating around the bush, right? I like you close to me.”

  “So.” Her eyebrow lifts. “This epiphany?”

  The answer is so obvious when I take the time to slow down and appreciate what’s right in front of me.

  I spent years as the troubled kid, the arrogant jerk acting out. I headed back there again until she showed up at our school—lost and looking for someone to keep her safe.

  “Love,” I state. “Happiness. They’re the answer.”

  She frowns most adorably. “Pardon?”

  I sigh. “I know it sounds like some hippy shit, but it’s the best way to get those arseholes back.” I reach up and tuck her hair away from her face. “When I was out there hunting down Sally, I ran through how best to get her once I found her, right?”

  Lace nods, a slight frown bunching her brow while she listens.

  “I realised that she’s used to being treated mean. She’s always on defence because she expects the worst. And then what happens?”

  “She gets it?”

  I nod. “But not only that, the person giving it to her is thinking the same thing, and so it goes in this cycle of man and horse being a prick to one another because that’s what they think will happen… so it does.”

  Lacey smiles, relaxing on my lap. “You and your horse analogies.”

  “Hey. Don’t knock it.” I tap my pointer finger beneath her chin. “Especially when you know that I’m right.”

  “What next, then? You figured you’d be nice to her.”

  “Yeah. I caught her off guard by coming in softly instead of angry and harsh.”

  “You want me to be nice to them, then?”

  I shake my head, taking my weight on the one hand propped behind me. “Nah. I just want you to be yourself.”

  Her brow dives deeper, and she laughs. “Okay. Now you’ve lost me.”

  “Be you, babe,” I explain. “Be happy. Smile, like you are now.”

  Her chin dips, and she looks away.

  I coax her face back again. “You’re so fucking beautiful when you smile because it’s real.”

  “That doesn’t explain how I win by being me.”

  Fuck me. Is it that hard to work out? “What is it that all those jerks in Riverbourne have in common?”

  “Money?” she asks innocently.

  “No. Try again.”

  Lace stares across the yard, the house lights casting her face in an uneven golden glow. I give her all the time she needs, happy to just sit here and look at the girl seated on my lap. My girl.

  “Boredom?” The pinched expression she answers with tells me that’s her final option. She’s out of ideas.

  “They’re miserable, right?” Fuck—I hope I’m right. “What are their home lives like?”

  Lace scoffs. “Tough. Cold.”

  Bingo. “Exactly. They hurt, so they make you hurt worse to make their situation seem better. Am I right?”

  “I guess.” Her eyes widen, one hand settling on my knee. “You think that by being happy it’ll make them feel bad?”

  “Indirectly. Yes.” I bop my knee, making her jiggle. “It’ll make them jealous, and I don’t know a single person who’s happy when they’re full of envy.”

  “How do I make them see, though?
” Her eyes narrow. “If I’m not at the party, how do they know I’m happy?”

  “Because it’s not an instant answer.”

  Her shoulders drop.

  “I know you want some sort of immediate justice, babe, but being yourself is the best type you’ve got.”

  “So, just post happy selfies and status updates about how awesome everything is, or something? What are you saying I do exactly?”

  Head back, I groan. “Be. Yourself.” I drop my head forward again. “Don’t fake anything. Don’t stage anything. Just live, Lacey. Live your life and fucking forget about them. They’ll get what’s coming to them in the end.”

  “It sounds great in theory…”

  “But you don’t think it’ll work.”

  Her head whips up, eyes soft when her gaze connects with mine. Lace bunches her dress up her legs, lifting the one closest to me to sling it on the other side. I swallow, urging my goddamn teenage hormones to take a back seat for a moment as she repositions herself straddled over my hips.

  “I think your idea comes from a genuinely kind place, Tuck. I just don’t think the Chosen are as feeling as you think they are.”

  “Everyone has feelings, Lace.”

  “Not them.” Her eyes glaze briefly. “Not all of them, anyway.”

  “Who, then?” I rest my free hand at her waist, dropping the arm braced behind me to my elbow. “Which one of them worries you most?”

  “It’s a tie.” Stomach to shoulders, the path her palms takes sets my body on fire. “Richard and Christian. They’re ruthless, Tuck.”

  “I’m not intimidated.”

  “You should be.”

  What the fuck is this? Some Hollywood horror movie? “Babe, please. They’re not gods. They’re people, just like us.”

  “People with immoral and unjust connections.”

  “You think they’d throw me away in jail to shut me up? Have me evicted from the fucking country or something?”

  One shoulder lifts. “Maybe.”

  I snort. “As if.” I trail the hand from her waist down her arm to capture her wrist. “I told you, babe.” Lifting her hand, I press a kiss to her knuckles. “They don’t scare me.”