She's With Me

by Jessica Cunsolo

  “I get it. Once the bet for two grand was made, you couldn’t raise it, so you needed a rematch for more money. But why didn’t you just beat him the first time and then offer him a rematch instead of going through all the effort of losing then provoking him?”

  “See that bitchfit he threw when he lost? And how he stormed off after? He would’ve done that if he lost the first time, too, and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to challenge him for more money than he would’ve offered the first time.”

  I nod, understanding and agreeing with what he’s saying, even if it is a bit hard to focus with our current intimate position, and how he’s so close to me.

  “It was either that or take Anna up on her offer to break his kneecaps with a tire iron,” he chuckles.

  “Shit. Where’s Anna?” I ask, looking around frantically.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I ran into this guy when I went to the bathroom—”

  “You went to the bathroom alone?” he interrupts harshly, looking at how far the bathroom is from where we currently are, and how many people are between the two.

  “No, Mason took me,” I add quickly. “Anyway, he told me his name was Luke and he wanted to know about Anna. I don’t know, I just thought she should know someone was looking for her. I didn’t get a bad vibe from him, but I didn’t get the best vibe either.”

  His eyes narrow in thought. “That’s not good.”

  “Why? Who is he?” I panic.

  He looks around, as if searching for Luke. “No one she wants to see.”

  “Where is she? Why isn’t she with Julian?”

  Aiden looks over at where Noah and Julian are talking with some guys. “Hey, Julian!” he calls. “Where’s Annalisa?”

  Julian looks at us and catches himself from doing a double-take at our intimate position; meanwhile, Noah very blatantly waggles his eyebrows suggestively at us. If I wasn’t so worried about Annalisa, I would’ve been more embarrassed.

  “Mason and Chase took her and Charlotte to the bathroom. They drove to the nearest coffee shop, since Char refused to go in this bathroom,” Julian calls back with a chuckle, and they turn back to talking to the other guys.

  “Should we go get her?” I ask Aiden nervously.

  He shakes his head. “No. When they get back, we’ll just leave right away.”

  I nod, relieved that I finally told somebody, especially Aiden, who always has a plan. “Hey,” I start timidly. “How come you didn’t tell me that Ryan’s your stepbrother that night at my house?”

  Aiden sighs and moves from where he was positioned in front of me, immediately making me regret asking him about his personal life, but he leans back on his elbows on the open tailgate to my left, his toned arm resting against my thigh, and looks away from me, out into the distance.

  He runs his hand through his hair. “It was a horrible time in my life, and it’s not something that I can talk about easily.”

  “But I’m not just anyone,” I say softly.

  He looks at me as if he’s weighing some major decision in his head, before coming to a conclusion and admitting determinedly. “No, you’re not.”

  This is it. Prepare the awkward death certificate because I think Aiden just stopped my heart.

  “It’s hard for me to open up to people.”

  Believe me, I know. I reach out and gently place my hand on the back of his neck, my arm resting on his sculpted back, and gently brush my thumb back and forth in a comforting motion.

  “You know you can tell me anything, if you want too.”

  My touch seems to relax him, and I feel some tension leave his body.

  He sighs, still looking out in the distance at nothing in particular. “You remember what I told you about my father?”

  “Your real one?” The one who walked out on his nine-year-old son and pregnant wife who had cancer because she refused to abort the soon-to-be-born twins and he refused to deal with the bills.

  He nods, and I do, too, before I realize that he can’t see me. “Yeah, I remember.”

  “After he left, my mom was kind of desperate. There’s only so much a single mother with a young kid and two newborns can do. You know, what with her cancer coming back and being able to afford her medical bills and all the other ones.”

  I sit in perfect silence, captivated by Aiden and his words.

  “I know that she married Greg more for support than anything else. He was awful, and so was his son.”

  “Do you blame your mom?” I ask gently.

  “No, not really.” He looks at me thoughtfully and then back out into the distance. “She did what she had to do for her kids. She knew she was dying, and when she did, we would’ve gone into the system. I would’ve been separated from the twins, and that would’ve been a lot worse than anything Greg’s ever done to me.”

  My crush on Aiden increases tenfold. He loves his little brothers so much that he chose an abusive guardian over never seeing them again. Aiden’s probably the closest thing to a father that those boys have ever had.

  “Did Greg ever . . . was he—” Abusive? I can’t ask him that. “Was he mean to the twins?”

  “Never. I’d kill the bastard before I’d let him touch the twins.”

  I nod and continue the comforting strokes of my thumb on his neck, feeling him calm down slightly. It’s obvious that Aiden would do anything to keep his brothers away from Greg.

  “He’s in jail now, right?”

  He nods again. “And in a perfect world, he’d rot in there.”

  “Why did he go to jail?” I ask, hoping that I’m not pushing anything.

  “Of all things, the dumbass was arrested for trying to sell heroin to a police officer.”

  “I was not expecting that.” I raise my eyebrows. “How long did he get for that?”

  He shakes his head. “He got the charge reduced to possession, so he’s only serving three years with the possibility of parole in two.”

  “And how long has he been in jail?”

  Aiden moves to stand in front of me again, placing his hands on either side of me. My hand is still on his neck, but now it’s kind of awkward since it’s only one hand. Either I drop it or I bring my other hand around his neck.

  Seeing as he doesn’t seem to have any objections with me touching him, and how I really don’t want to stop, I decide to be daring and bring my other arm around his neck.

  “You remember the first day we met?” he asks.

  A little off topic, but I answer nonetheless. “How could I not?”

  “You ran into me in the hallway—”

  “Hey, I think we’ve established that you ran into me,” I interrupt.

  “Never mind that. The point is that I was an extra big asshole to you, when normally I would’ve just been kind of an asshole.”

  “Okay, but how does this—”

  “That morning I found out that Greg met with the parole board, and that there’s a good possibility that he’s being let out on good behavior.”

  Of course it doesn’t give Aiden a pass to be an intolerant jerk, but I totally understand now. He couldn’t express his anger directly at the source, so he jumped on the first tangible thing that pissed him off. Not that that’s the right thing to do, but I don’t blame him. It’s a perfectly normal thing to do—something I actually did to him the night Kaitlyn and Ryan vandalized my car.

  “I’m sorry,” I say for lack of anything better to say.

  “It’s just—”

  “Hey, Aiden!”

  My head snaps up to look at whoever interrupted my moment with Aiden, and my glare turns into an expression of panic. Walking toward us calmly, with an innocent smile on his face, is Luke. I drop my arms from around Aiden, and gauge his reaction, but he doesn’t look threatened or worried. Aiden turns to face him, bringing his back t
o me, and crosses his arms.

  “Congratulations on the win, man,” Luke says. “You made me a killing tonight! I knew betting on you was the right move.”

  “You know she won’t want to see you.” Aiden cuts through the bullshit with a calm but unfriendly demeanor.

  Luke sighs, dropping the friendly preamble. “I need to talk to her. I swear I can explain everything.”

  “That’s not a good idea. You should go before Julian sees you.”

  “I don’t want any trouble with Julian.” Luke shakes his head. “Right, Amelia? You know that I don’t want any trouble.”

  Luke looks at me expectantly, probably expecting me to jump to his aid like he did for me, and Aiden looks back at me with his eyebrows drawn together. I suddenly feel very exposed sitting up here on the tailgate, and right when I’m going to spout some bullshit, Julian notices who we’re talking to.

  “You son of a bitch,” he growls at Luke when he’s near enough, Noah following behind him.

  Luke raises his hands, as if showing he’s not a threat. “I only want to talk to her.”

  “If she wanted to talk to you, she wouldn’t have blocked your number or stayed away from you,” Julian says.

  “I want her to know how I’ve changed—”

  “She doesn’t want to fucking hear it! You need to leave before she sees you’re here.”

  “Julian, what’s wrong?” A curious voice cuts through the hostile atmosphere.

  We all turn to see Annalisa, walking with Charlotte, Mason, and Chase. No one noticed Mason’s SUV pull in, returning from their drive to the nearest real bathroom.

  “Babe, get in the truck,” Julian says simply, trying to block her view from Luke.

  Not one to take orders, Annalisa continues to approach us. I know the exact moment she spots Luke because she freezes midstep, her foot suspended in the air before she recovers and puts it down, staying put.

  “Hey, Lise,” Luke says cautiously.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” she responds.

  “Last I checked, this was a free country, and a guy can go to an illegal racetrack to bet money on the racers if he feels like it,” Luke jokes, trying to break the tension.

  Annalisa’s face is a mix of emotions, like she can’t decide if she wants to yell, cry, run away, or kick him in the nuts. Annalisa is clearly uncomfortable with the situation, and she needs to get out of here before something that can’t be undone happens. I’ll pull Luke out of here and that’ll put an end to this—after all, he saved me before, so he wouldn’t hurt me now.

  Jumping off the tailgate, I step forward, but I’m stopped by a strong hand wrapping around my wrist. Aiden gently pulls me back to his side, shaking his head slightly, as if he already knows what I’m planning and doesn’t want me to do it. Julian, having had enough of Annalisa’s brother, steps right in front of him with his six foot two, toned body, which is blatantly more muscular than Luke’s. But I’ve seen Luke in action, and I know he’s got some strength in him.

  “Why don’t I walk you to your car?” Julian says in a voice that clearly means this is a command, not an offer.

  “I didn’t come here to start trouble. I need Anna to understand that I’m different now. I want to be a part of her life,” Luke says, more to Annalisa than Julian.

  “I don’t want you in my life! You fucked that opportunity up when you started all my problems then left when I needed you most!” Annalisa shouts at him from around Julian, the rage in her piercing blue eyes intensified by the black eye shadow and eyeliner.

  “Lise, please—” Luke moves from around Julian in a desperate attempt to get closer to Annalisa. Julian sticks his arm out, preventing him from getting any farther.

  Annalisa moves to stand in front of Luke, her arms crossed and her hard eyes staring him down. “You don’t get to call me Lise anymore. You don’t get to be a part of my life anymore.”

  Luke doesn’t bother fighting Julian or trying to shrug his arm off him; he just stands there looking at Annalisa with a heartbroken but determined look. “But I’m your brother.”

  Looking at Luke and Annalisa, it’s hard to spot any family resemblance. He has the same bright-blue eyes as Annalisa, but his hair is a few shades lighter, and his skin is tan where hers is pale. He’s tall and lean, and it isn’t obvious unless they’re standing side-by-side and you already know that they’re siblings.

  “Anna?” Julian says, asking if she wants him to remove Luke from her presence. She holds up a hand at Julian without breaking eye contact with Luke, telling Julian to wait.

  “You’re not my brother,” she says in a dead, malice-filled tone.

  “We may not have the same dad, but we’re still blood,” Luke corrects.

  That explains the obvious difference in appearance: Luke is Annalisa’s half brother. I actually don’t know anything about Annalisa’s home life. Finding out that she has a half brother is really the only insight that I have. She doesn’t like talking about her life, and I haven’t pushed it. The only thing she gave away was that day I ran into her at the gym.

  “Blood wouldn’t have done that to me.”

  “Lise, I know I’ve done some things, but we are still blood.”

  “You’re not my blood,” she snaps, clearly at her breaking point. “Mason is my blood, for letting me crash at his house. Noah is my blood, for helping me laugh and smile and pulling me out of my spiraling sadness. Chase is my blood, for driving me wherever I needed to go and bringing me lunch every day. Aiden is my blood, for organizing the funeral plans and giving me money to pay the bills.”

  “Julian is my blood,” she continues, “for doing all of the above, for picking up the pieces and for being the only stable person in my life. And what did you do? You killed our mother. You deserted me. I was sixteen with no parents and nowhere to go, and what did you do? You deserted me to find your next high! You’re nothing but a twenty-year-old selfish junkie, and I don’t ever want to see your face again, because I swear to God I’m trying really hard not to bash it in right now.”

  “Lise—” Luke’s voice cracks.

  “We’re done here,” she says, reassuming her calm composure.

  She marches over to the passenger side of Julian’s pickup truck and gets in, violently slamming the door.

  “You heard her. Get out of here before she changes her mind and decides she wants to bash your face in,” Julian tells Luke when he makes no move to leave.

  Luke looks longingly at Julian’s pickup truck before slowly backing up and walking away dejectedly.

  That was clearly not the family reunion he was hoping for.

  With Luke gone and a very pissed off Annalisa fuming in the front seat of Julian’s pickup, the rest of us are left awkwardly digesting what just happened. We’re dumbfounded, looking at one another, not knowing what to do after that very tense and emotional situation—even Noah doesn’t have anything to say for once. Julian looks torn, like he can’t decide if he should go comfort Annalisa or give her some space.

  “I’m just gonna—yeah.” He starts toward his truck, ultimately making up his mind.

  He gets in the driver’s side of his truck but doesn’t start it, just using the privacy of the vehicle to talk to his girlfriend.

  “So, that happened,” Noah starts.

  “This is all your fault, Noah,” accuses Mason.

  “What? How is this my fault?”

  “Ever since you complained you were missing out on the drama, we’ve had drama coming out of our asses!” Mason smirks, his comment cutting through the tension.

  “Sure, I guess you’re right. At least I’m not missing out on anything anymore.” And with that wisecrack, the uneasy atmosphere is broken.

  “Hey, Amelia! Maybe drama can be our thing? We still haven’t found one, and it sure seems to love you,” Noah suggests.

 
“Maybe we should keep looking, Noah. I don’t want to openly invite drama into my life.”

  “Fine. But I will find something!” Noah trails off, and we fall into an awkward silence again.

  “So . . . that was Anna’s half brother,” Charlotte states.

  Noah nods, answering Charlotte. “That’s the first time she’s seen him in a while.”

  “I don’t think she’s seen him clean in a very long time,” Mason adds quietly.

  “What did she mean? When she said he killed their mother?” I ask quietly, hesitantly.

  Aiden sighs beside me. “It’s a long and complicated story.”

  “But what does—”

  I stop talking when I feel a palpable shift in the air, not only within our group, but at the Tracks as a whole. Something is wrong; we can all feel it. Aiden’s on high alert, his astute and intuitive eyes scanning the Tracks for the potential threat we all feel. He suddenly tenses with realization, his head whips toward me and he meets my eyes with his now widened ones.

  “Leave. Now,” he commands as he closes the distance between us and puts his hands on my shoulders, roughly shoving me toward Mason’s SUV, the closest vehicle.

  Sirens.

  “Cops!” a random person in the crowd yells, sending everyone else in a frenzy.

  They aren’t far away either—the police probably didn’t turn their sirens on until they were practically on top of us, and there’s clearly more than just a few cars. There are a lot of sirens. The flashing blue and red lights of the police descend upon the Tracks all at once, blocking in many of the frantic people trying to flee.

  My heart beats erratically inside my chest. We can’t get arrested. I can’t get arrested! The local cops don’t know about me—no one knows about me. Only the specialized team assigned to my case has any idea who I really am. Getting arrested is not an option. I can’t compromise this identity, and never see the Boys, Charlotte, Annalisa, or Aiden ever again.

  “Go!” Aiden shouts, and we scatter into action.

  Julian’s truck door opens. “Guys!” he shouts.