Wright Together, page 22
“I can drive a stick shift,” Harley said with a wicked grin on her lips.
West snorted. “Oh, we’ve seen exactly what you do with a stick shift. You almost ruined Mom’s transmission.”
“Hey! That wasn’t my fault.”
“Whose fault was it then?” West asked. “No way are you destroying my brand-new car.”
I cursed under my breath. The world was conspiring against me. “Why would you buy a stick shift anyway?”
West shrugged and pointed at the shiny sports car. “She handles better.”
“Fine.” Harley waggled her fingers. “Keys, please.”
I closed my hand over the keys, reluctance in every fiber of my being. Then, West’s words came back to me. Control. I had to be in control. I’d always known that. But what had it gotten me anyway? Eve was gone, and no amount of control could keep her here.
I was in free fall. Might as well jump.
I slapped the keys into her hand. “Please be careful.”
“Oh, I will.” She skipped around to the driver’s side.
Dismay settled over me as I yanked open the passenger door. Today, I was going to have to break all of my rules.
Harley took turns too fast and drove over the speed limit and played the music too loud. I vetoed her crappy music choices. That was the one thing where I put my foot down. She just laughed at me and sped up. The demon.
Luckily, the drive into Ransom Canyon was only twenty minutes from Lubbock, so I didn’t have to endure it for too long. Any lingering buzz I’d had evaporated from fear of her crashing my car the whole way. And fear about what I was going to find once I reached Jensen’s lake house.
The best I could say was that the place was still standing when we arrived.
West whistled from the backseat and leaned forward. “When you said he threw a party, I didn’t expect this from a fifteen-year-old.”
Neither had I.
I’d never really been the rebellious type. I’d left that up to my twin. But even he wouldn’t have known where to begin to throw this wild of a house party at the ripe old age of fifteen. Music blasting, teenagers jumping into the lake, people screaming on the lawn, every light on in the place, and I could count at least three kegs on the deck. Not to mention the large outdoor window was smashed to pieces. Great.
“How have they not had the cops called on them already?” Harley asked as she found an open parking spot.
“Off season?” West guessed.
Ransom Canyon was full of people Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends, but only locals were here in the off season. Still, I would think someone would have already called about the noise.
“We’ll see,” I said as I got out of the car.
I’d put on a suit, and I’d made West put one on despite his protests.
We looked more intimidating as a pair, and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to breaking this up. Because if this didn’t get shut down by me, it was certainly going to get shut down by the cops.
I took a deep breath and then strode toward the house. Teenagers looked at me with fear on their faces. A few grabbed at each other and darted out of the house. They were the smart ones.
Colton appeared then. Miraculously, he wasn’t drunk. He’d been smart enough to call me. But now, he looked worried. I was certain he was second-guessing his decision.
“Hey, boss,” he said.
I continued toward the front door.
Colton trailed me. “What are you going to do?”
“What I have to.”
I stormed through the living room and stopped the music. Jensen’s rather impressive full house stereo system was silent all at once. Everyone looked around in confusion as the bass beat to their party disappeared.
“All right, party’s over. Head on home!” I called into the crowd.
A groan came from all assembled.
“Come on, man. We’re having a good time,” some guy yelled.
“It’s either you leave when I ask or you leave when the cops do.”
The guy flipped me off, put his arm around a girl, and headed out of the party.
Colton crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “Fuck.”
I looked down at him and just said, “Hmm.”
West came to stand at my side. We looked like a set pair. Though he didn’t quite look like he fit into my suit. We were the same height, but West never wore clothes like this, and thus they wore him and not the other way around.
“Should we just be letting them leave?” West asked.
“Happens all the time,” Harley said. “They’ll have a plan to get home.”
Colton frowned. “This is bullshit.”
That was when Colton’s “friends” from earlier that summer appeared. Monk, Chet, and I hadn’t gotten the third kid’s name.
“Colton, what the fuck?” Monk asked.
“Yeah. Did you call someone to break this up?” Chet asked.
I glared at the pair. “I have a friend who lives over here,” I lied. “They let me know what was going on. Colton will get his due. And if you three didn’t get enough when Jensen found you stealing tequila from his campaign event, then I can hold you here and contact your parents as well if you’d like.”
Colton looked at me, both relieved and terrified. I hadn’t ratted him out to his friends. Calling me had earned him that courtesy, but he could hardly get away with this. He had to know that.
“Fuck that,” Monk said.
Chet nodded. “Good luck, Colt, but we’re out of here.”
I wanted to hold them. To force them to have to deal with the consequences of their actions, but I wasn’t actually going to call the cops to get that accomplished.
Already, the kids had mostly cleared out. And however many there had been in attendance, they’d wrecked Jensen’s beautiful lake house.
“Well,” I said once the last few stragglers were gone and we could look at the worst of the house, “you’re fucked.”
Not only was the back window shattered, but there was also so much trash. Red cups, beer cans, water bottles, plates of discarded pizza, and used paper towels were scattered everywhere. The floor was tacky with spilled beer. There was vomit in the bushes. Someone had taken all the cushions off of the furniture to use outside around the deck. The furniture was stained, and one of the toilets was overflowing. All that was missing was spray paint. Ironic since that was what Colton had gotten busted the first time.
Colton sank onto the only chair still at the dining room table. “Yeah.”
“Bad business, coz,” Harley said. She wrinkled her nose as she toed a soggy blob on the floor.
West nodded out back. “I’m going to take stock of the deck. Harley?”
“Yep.” She scurried off after West.
I waited until they were gone and then met Colton’s fearful gaze.
“Should I bother asking what you were thinking?”
Colton opened his mouth and then closed it. “Look, it started out fine. Monk and Chet wanted to throw me a going-away party.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. “You thought anything to do with those two was a good idea?”
“I thought it’d just be a couple of guys. So, I offered the lake house.”
“And stole your dad’s key?”
He shrugged. “I know the key code to the back door. I didn’t have to steal anything.”
“Your dad gave you that key code? He told you that you could use it whenever you liked?”
Colton said nothing. Because of course Jensen hadn’t.
“Then what?”
“They invited the entire high school. But I didn’t know, I swear!” Colton insisted. “They showed up with kegs and shit. I’d only planned to have a few guys over. I mean, we were going to drink, but it wasn’t going to be anything like this.”
I believed him. He wouldn’t have called me if he’d thought he could get away with this kind of party. Monk and Chet had used him. They’d taken an opportunity to have a wild party at Jensen’s fancy house, and Colton hadn’t seen through them. I didn’t know what about those private school losers Colton couldn’t get his head around. He had more street smarts than this.
“You know what you have to do, right?”
Colton looked around in dismay. “Clean it all up.”
“Well, yes, but you’re going to have to tell your dad.”
“Wait, I called you so I didn’t have to tell him,” he said, suddenly frantic.
“You know that’s not how this works.”
“But you showed up!”
“Of course I did. I wouldn’t leave you to deal with this alone, and I understand not wanting your dad here for it in front of everyone. But look at this place, Colt. Really look at it. How are you going to fix the window without him knowing?”
Colton put his head in his hands. His voice was strained when he said, “He’s going to keep me here.”
“He might,” I acknowledged.
“I can’t stay.”
“You knew that was a possibility if you did this.”
“Yeah, but…”
I waited. He’d known. He’d risked it anyway. I’d help him, but I wouldn’t hide this from Jensen. I respected him too much for that.
“Can’t you just tell him?” Colton asked.
I laughed. “You want me to face off with Jensen? Not a chance.”
Colton scowled. “Great.”
I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll appreciate all of this more if you take responsibility for what you did. You did the right thing in the end. That’s what matters.”
“He won’t think so,” he said softly.
West and Harley came back inside then.
“All clear,” West said. “Where should we start with cleanup?”
“Leave it,” I said. “Colton is going to come back up here to deal with it later. Aren’t you?”
“Yeah, boss. I’ll take care of it.” Colton straightened. He pushed his shoulders back, and I saw a hint of the man he was going to be. “First, I have to talk to my dad.”
Jensen answered after I rang the Ring doorbell a few times. He was bleary-eyed as he yanked the door open and looked at me. Then, he became immediately wide awake at Colton’s appearance.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Jensen asked.
“I’m fine, Dad,” Colton said.
He glanced up at me. “Why are you dropping him off at home?” Then down at Colton. “Why aren’t you in your room?”
Colton took a breath and then released it. “Monk and Chet wanted to throw me a going-away party. So, they picked me up, and we went to the lake house.”
“What?” Jensen snarled.
“I swear we were just going to hang out. But they invited all of their friends.” Colton straightened. “I called Whitt when things got out of hand.”
Jensen looked up at me and then to his son. “But you didn’t call me.”
“I thought you’d freak the fuck out.”
“Is there a reason that I shouldn’t?”
“Look, I fucked up,” Colton said. “I knew it when I called Whitt, and I hoped that he’d get me out of it. But I realize now, that was the second way I fucked up. I shouldn’t have thrown that party.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” Jensen said. “Though I appreciate you admitting to that.”
“Yes, sir,” Colton said.
“Get inside. We’ll discuss what we do from here,” Jensen said. He shook his head as Colton scurried past him and into the safety of the house. He clenched his hand into a fist and then released it, sticking his hand out to me. I put mine in his.
“Thank you for going to get him.”
“Anytime.”
“I don’t know how you got him to admit that he was wrong,” Jensen said. “We only butt heads day and night.”
“He knew he was in the wrong as soon as he called me. Not sure it was anything that I did.”
Jensen sighed. “Either way, thank you.”
“Are you going to let him go back to New York?” I asked even though it was none of my business.
Jensen’s eyes flicked back to the direction Colton had disappeared. “I don’t know. What would you do?”
I laughed. “No idea. I was a rule follower in high school.”
“Yeah. So was I. How trashed is the lake house?”
“Ah,” I said on a wince. “I’d make him clean up as much as he can before you go look at it.”
“That bad?”
I nodded.
“All right. Well, thanks, Whitt. I know you didn’t have to do any of this.”
I waved him off and then headed back to the car. Before the door closed, I turned back. “He’s a good kid, you know?”
Jensen nodded. “I know. Somewhere down deep.”
I didn’t prod any more. Colton would stay, or he would go. He’d earned it either way. I was glad I’d been able to help. Like I wished that I could do with Eve right now.
32
Eve
Bailey was throwing up in the bathroom of our dad’s double-wide.
“It’s just a hangover!” she insisted as she leaned her cheek against her porcelain throne.
A hangover.
Right.
Like I hadn’t seen her incapacitated last night. As if there hadn’t been an entire table of illegal drugs in front of her. As if I hadn’t dragged her ass out of that party against her wishes. She would have happily stayed with that idiot Xavier.
“You’re not fooling me.”
Her response was to wretch into the toilet.
I cringed and took another step back. I was glad Dad wasn’t here to witness it. He was off at church, pretending like nothing had happened. It was better for everyone that he was out of the picture.
He’d raged last night when I finally brought Bailey home, high as a kite. It was one of the few times that I agreed with him. Every single thing he said to her about her irresponsibility had been true. Even if it wasn’t helpful. But it only made Bailey worse. Oil and water mixing. And watching the exchange made me wonder how I’d ever thought this would work.
When he’d stormed out of the trailer this morning in his Sunday best, neither of us had stopped him. Bailey hated him, and I didn’t think much more highly of him.
Bailey finally stopped throwing up and flushed the toilet. She was pale, and her pupils were swallowing her irises. “Ugh, feel awful.”
“I bet.”
“I wasn’t trying to fool you,” she said as she stood between what had originally been our two rooms.
“Really?” I asked, raising my brows. “So, you left your phone on accident?”
“Yes.”
“And the burner phone I found on you? The one you used to text Trevor?”
She bit her bottom lip. “It’s a friend’s. I borrowed it since I’d forgotten mine.”
“Uh-huh. And Xavier?”
“I didn’t know he’d be there!”
I snorted. Likely story. By my estimation, it had been his party. Not that that line of reasoning would get through to her. Reason wasn’t her strong suit.
“And the drugs I saw you sitting in front of?”
“I wasn’t using.”
My eyes rolled so far into the back of my head that I saw into the other room. “Right.”
“I wasn’t.”
“So, you’d pass a drug test.”
She fidgeted then. For the first time, her demeanor cracked. We both knew she’d fail with flying colors. The way she had failed her junior year of high school.
“Just let it go, Evie,” she said instead of answering.
She pushed past me into her room, but I wasn’t done. I followed her.
“I can’t just let it go. Xavier told me you owe him two thousand dollars.”
Bailey whirled on me. “I don’t owe him shit.”
“He said that you were going to work it off with sex!”
She scoffed, “Like I’m a prostitute.”
“I don’t know what you’d do for your next fix. I didn’t know before, and with a relapse, I certainly don’t know now.”
“I haven’t relapsed!”
“Bailey, just stop! I was there. I saw you high as fuck, sitting on a balcony in front of enough drugs to OD. Again. Xavier offered for me to help pay off your debt, too. Do you know that?”
She winced at that. “He did?”
“YES! He did!” I shook my head in frustration. “Do you not see what’s happening? Do you not care?” I revealed my wrist tattoo of the two crescent moons, one full and one empty. I grasped her wrist and turned it over, revealing a matching set. “Does this mean nothing to you?”
“I’m not using again.” She yanked her wrist out of my grip and looked down at it. “I maybe had a little weed. That’s it.”
I closed my eyes in frustration. Same old, same old. A string of lines, couched in a tiny molecule of truth. But never the whole truth.
The tattoos were supposed to help that. We’d gotten them after Bailey left rehab. They were a dedication to staying clean. We were only ever half unless we were together and whole. A reminder that she’d clearly forgotten.
It was then that I realized she’d never get it. Not alone. Not without me here.
She hated Dad with good reason. I didn’t blame her for that. It’d been a mistake to expect him to care about her like I did. He never had. And I couldn’t let her continue down this path because I knew if she did, she’d end up dead.
A tear came to my eye, and I brushed it off my cheek. I knew what I had to do.
“I’ll move back,” I told her.
“What?” she asked, hope blooming in her eyes.
“I’ll move back. You can live with me.”
“That’d be great!”
At her excited face, I couldn’t seem to contain my own despair. I wanted this for Bailey, but at what cost? The cost of everything I’d fought for in the last year. The life that I’d gained while she crumbled.
My new perfect job.
Gone.
My friends at the house.
Gone.
Whitt.
Gone.
And then the tears came, hard and fast.
“Eve, don’t cry. It’ll be okay.”
