“I didn’t say that it was.”

  “Hey, bro, we need to talk,” Leo said.

  “I’ll be there when I’m done here,” I said.

  Flynn opened the driver’s door for Charlotte. He then leaned over the door after shutting it and made out with Charlotte.

  Emma looked at Leo. “Aren’t you going to open the door for me?”

  “Are your hands broken?” Leo asked.

  “Asshole,” Emma whispered.

  His phone started to ring and he walked away to take the call.

  “Kailey got stuck at home with something,” Aira said. “So we were out driving around. Thought we’d stop by and see you.”

  “I love that, darling. But not with him here. He’s already causing problems.”

  “With what?”

  “Nothing you need to worry about,” I said. I touched her cheek. “Just stay away from him. He’ll leave once he realizes Pop won’t give him money.”

  “Is that all it is?”

  “For him, yeah. And he’ll do and say anything to get what he wants.”

  Aira touched my shirt, then she grabbed it. “Come with us. Follow us. Let’s go to the beach. Or back to my place. It’s empty there. Just you and me, Wes…”

  I sucked in a breath. “You’re wild, Aira. I think I messed up with you.”

  “Not a chance. I’m still not done thanking you for saving me.”

  “Yeah? Well I’m still not done showing you how much I care about you.”

  “Oh, jeez, just fuck her already,” Emma said.

  I looked at Emma. “Jealous?”

  “So jealous,” she said with an eye roll.

  “Come out here then. I have plenty to go around.”

  Aira pushed at me. “No, you don’t.”

  I moved in and kissed her. Tasting her lips, her tongue. Reminding myself that at the end of day, I had her.

  Aira climbed over the car into the backseat.

  She looked at me and blew a kiss as Charlotte backed out of the lot.

  It took Leo all of two seconds before he was in front of me.

  “We have to go right now,” he said.

  “Where?”

  “Luke wants to talk.”

  I curled my lip. “How many?”

  “Three on three,” Leo said. He looked at Flynn.

  Flynn cracked his knuckles. “You know me, bro. I’m always ready.”

  “This isn’t your fight,” I said. “This is between me and him. What he did to Aira.”

  “What we did to him though,” Leo said. “He feels disrespected.”

  “Where are we doing this?” Flynn asked.

  “The boat lot,” Leo said. “We’ll have space and cover.”

  I looked up and West hadn’t moved an inch. Just staring right at me. I could easily channel some anger and finish up some business.

  “Are we ready for this?” Leo asked.

  “You two don’t need to do this,” I said. “This is for Aira.”

  “No, bro, it’s for all of us,” Flynn said. “That guy needs his mouth shut.”

  I looked at Leo, then to Flynn. “Then let’s go shut it.”

  * * *

  The cars were all parked around the outside of the boat lot. Everything from fancy cars to custom trucks. Music was playing from some of them. Rap to rock and weird shit in between. It had become an event now. Leo made the call that we were coming and Luke must have made the call to spread the word. He thought he was going to make a statement to me, but he was fucking wrong.

  There were only three motorcycles there. Leo. Flynn. Me.

  I walked through the open gate as I smoked one last cigarette.

  A preppy guy named Charles stood there with a tie around his neck. Everything perfectly white, including his teeth. He stood there and made a hand gesture.

  “Welcome to the end,” he said.

  His parents owned the boat lot.

  “This is fucking insane,” Leo said.

  “Of course it is,” Flynn said. “Luke likes looking cool. He thinks it’s a wrestling match.”

  We turned to the right and followed along another row of boats.

  Then to the left, where it all opened up.

  That’s where Luke stood. With Mac and Rowen.

  They all stood with their hands in their pockets. Chests puffed out, a pissed off look on each of their faces. Exactly what I expected and hoped to find.

  I dropped my cigarette and stepped on it.

  I took two more steps when I felt something touch my back.

  As I turned, I readied myself in case Luke set something up to have us all jumped by the entire team.

  It was Aira.

  “What are you doing?” she snapped at me.

  “Finishing something,” I said.

  “I was just with you,” she said.

  “Darling, you don’t understand-”

  She pushed at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Oh no, careful,” Luke called out. “I bet she’s giving him a razor to use.”

  The crowd all let out an ooohhh sound.

  “Wait a second,” Luke said. “If she does that, how will she cut herself?”

  The anger exploded inside me.

  I turned and charged toward Luke.

  “Oh, shit,” Leo said.

  He and Flynn came running with me.

  Luke, Mac, and Rowen all readied themselves in their wrestling stance.

  They wanted to tangle and throw us around, but this wasn’t a fucking wrestling match.

  Luke bent his legs a little and had his hands out.

  I made a quick move toward him and stepped back. He tried grabbing me but missed. I officially threw the first punch, hitting him clean in the face.

  Leo dove at Rowen, playing right into Rowen’s grasp. They were on the ground in a second, throwing any punches they could get. Flynn faced off with Mac. Flynn was a dirty fighter though. Which was fine by me. This was about survival and proving a point.

  Flynn spit at Mac’s foot. Mac took his eyes off Flynn for a split second and that was enough for Flynn to attack. He could have just thrown a punch or two, but Flynn loved it too much. He jumped at Mac and tackled him back.

  I had to keep my eyes on Luke though.

  His fists were like bricks. Thick and built to hurt.

  He swung at me and I got out of the way just in time.

  I offered up another right punch and missed my mark but clipped his lip enough to bust it open.

  Luke ran at me and grabbed my shirt. He spun me around and drove me back. I wrapped my left arm around his body and squeezed as I had no choice but to move back as he pushed at me. I didn’t want to end up on the ground like Leo. He was stuck grappling with Rowen, rolling back and forth in a very awkward way.

  I sucked in a breath and readied myself as Luke let out a scream and drove me back into a boat. Something pointed hit the right side of my ribs and I lost my breath.

  Luke released his hold and came up with a fist and hit my jaw hard. My head snapped back and I heard the oohhh sound from everyone. Luke came with another punch. And then he started throwing them fast and with strength and speed.

  I fought back, throwing fists right back at him.

  We were going blow for blow until I cracked him on the bridge of his nose. That was enough to get him to step back. I then looked to my left and saw Aira still standing in the same spot. Tears in her eyes. Covering her mouth. I wasn’t sure if it was because of me or because of what Luke said.

  Flynn threw Mac up and over into a boat and paused.

  Leo managed to get to his feet and put a foot down on Rowen’s face, turning his head sideways.

  They both looked at me.

  Flynn was out of breath.

  Leo had a red mark on his cheek under his left eye.

  As for Luke, he hurried to wipe the blood off his nose.

  I wasn’t done yet.

  I slowly walked toward Luke.

  He put a hand out. “We’re good.”

  “No, we’re not,” I said.

  I hit him again and knocked him down.

  He grabbed my arms and I fell to my knees.

  “Please, Wes,” he said.

  I punched him again. My fist hit his face and his head hit the ground.

  That’s when everyone went silent.

  After a few more punches, Leo grabbed my arm.

  “That’s enough, bro,” he said. “Point’s been made.”

  I got my feet and stared down at Luke.

  “You say anything ever again and I won’t stop next time,” I said. I looked around at everyone watching us. “That goes for anyone here. I don’t give a shit who you are.”

  “Come on,” Flynn said. He pushed at my shoulder. “Go get Aira and let’s get out of here.”

  I walked away from Luke.

  He wanted to wrestle and I came to fight.

  This whole cutting thing with Aira wasn’t going to go away just yet. Which meant I wasn’t done with Ryland or Mika. I would never be done with Ryland though. And when I saw him with his arm around Mika, he fake yawned as though what I did to Luke didn’t matter.

  I turned and looked for Aira but she was gone.

  I started to run, cutting through people as they jumped out of my way. A few morons had the nerve to reach for me, pat me, touch me, tell me I did good by shutting Luke up.

  This wasn’t what I fought Luke for.

  It was Aira.

  “Thanks for stopping by,” Charles said in his lisp, rich kid voice.

  I stopped and looked at him. I covered the right side of my nose and blew as hard as I could. Blood shot out of the left side of my nose and splattered all over Charles’s white pants.

  He let out a yell and called for help.

  Leo and Flynn grabbed my arms and dragged me away before I did anything else.

  “She’s gone,” I said.

  “You know how to find her, bro,” Flynn said.

  I shook away their grasp on me and swallowed hard.

  I tasted blood.

  “We need to get out of here,” Leo said. “Sarah just sent out a group text. Someone called the cops.”

  “Fuck,” Flynn said. “What is wrong with this town?”

  I wiped my lip. “Everything. That’s what’s fucking wrong. Everything.”

  Chapter 14

  Aira

  I couldn’t get it out of my head. The sight of Wes going after Luke the way he did. Or Emma getting a text that there was a fight going on. How excited she and Charlotte got. Or that Charlotte called Kailey and helped her sneak out of her house so she could come to the fight. And of course the fight revolved around Wes. Everything in Hidden seemed to revolve around him. Like he was grasping at everything at once.

  All because of me.

  I stood outside with Kailey.

  She was the last one remaining at Julia’s. Only because she didn’t want to go home. She needed to wait until it was dark out to sneak back in and hopefully not get caught. Listening to her describe the twenty-five ways to get into her house was eye roll worthy but she was just trying to take my mind off things.

  “You have to understand the power in this town, Aira,” Kailey said.

  “I understand it,” I said. “I’m trying really hard to let this thing with Mika go. But it keeps coming back.”

  “You know what you can do,” she said.

  Oh, I knew.

  The piece of paper with a horrible secret about Mika was still in my pocket. I carried it with me every single day. And all I needed to do was leak that secret and all eyes would be on her.

  “I know it’s not right,” Kailey said. “But sometimes you have to fight back, Aira. Sometimes you can’t just walk away. It’s not a movie, you know? I mean, you’re staying here, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you live here. You didn’t just come here for a week or a month to relax. You want to stay. You’re not going back to live with your parents?”

  “No,” I said. “Never. I don’t trust them, Kailey.”

  My lips moved some more but I wouldn’t let the words out.

  The fact that Dad had now gone from Seattle to Houston. Or that Mom was holed up in her fake apartment drinking herself goofy. She called me when she was feeling good and refused to talk about the fire. She just kept saying the investigation was ongoing and that was it. She also made it clear that it didn’t matter anymore about the house. That it was time to move forward. The funny part of that was I did move on.

  “I didn’t come here to make friends, Kail,” I said to her. “You know? I just wanted to mind my own business and get through this.”

  “I know,” she said. “But the second Wes saw you…”

  I lowered my head.

  Kailey hugged me. “If you love him, you’ll figure it out.”

  “I love him, Kail. That’s the thing. I really do love him.”

  “And trust me, he loves you too. I’ve never seen him like this.”

  “Like what?” I asked, my voice cracking.

  “Protective. Committed. Angry.”

  “That’s supposed to be romantic?”

  “All things considered with Weslee Jackson… yeah. It’s pretty damn romantic.”

  I faced the ocean and watched the waves hitting the shore. I tried to find comfort in darkness. When the sun had gone down. When it seemed easier to be left alone and in private. But that didn’t happen. Especially not right now considering the sun wasn’t down for the day yet.

  “Hey, Aira, I think Wes is here,” she said.

  Yeah, Wes was here.

  Walking along the shore. His eyes staring right at me. Taking me back to the first time I ever met him as a young girl. And the first time I saw him again when I came back to Hidden.

  “I see some people I know,” Kailey said. “You two should talk.”

  We hugged goodbye.

  “Thanks for sticking around,” I whispered.

  “Call me if you need anything. Or just text. I’ll come make up an excuse or something.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I said. “It’s just Wes, right?”

  Kailey laughed. “Yeah. Just Wes.” She walked away and I heard her yell, “Hey, Nova! Wait up!”

  I looked over my shoulder and saw her hurrying away.

  My mind - and maybe a little, my heart - wondered if I should have been doing the same thing.

  * * *

  I sat on the top step and wiped a wet towel across Wes’s left cheek.

  He winced but didn’t complain about the pain.

  “How many times am I going to have to do this?” I asked.

  “I’ll do it,” he said.

  He touched my hand and it was like time stopped.

  He moved my hand away from his face.

  The right corner of his mouth was cut. His left cheek was cut but it wasn’t puffed out. His hair was messy, blowing around in the breeze from the ocean. I could smell his skin too. A mix of his cologne and sweat. Sweat from a guy who fought to defend me.

  I brought out everything I thought I needed to patch him up. Bandages, paper towels, a wet towel… like I was his private nurse when he did this stuff.

  “I didn’t know that was going to happen, darling,” he whispered. “I would have told you.”

  “When did you find out?”

  “Right after you left. Leo got a call. Luke was bringing two guys to make it fair. After what happened on the track. That’s when we should have ended it. But you called my name and I kept going.”

  “So this is my fault again?”

  “Nothing is your fault,” Wes said. He leaned forward. He was just a few inches from me. “Nothing.”

  “You do this because of me.”

  “I do this for you.”

  I shook my head. “It doesn’t work that way.”

  “Yes it does,” he said. “They’ll learn, Aira.”

  “When will you learn?” I asked. “How far are you going to take this?”

  “As far as I need to.”

  “Wes, they gave me a secret about Mika.”

  “What?”

  “Kailey, Charlotte, and Emma,” I said.

  “What kind of secret?” he asked.

  “One that would ruin her life. One that would get the attention off me. But I don’t want it to be that way. I just wanted to be here. Figure out what I’m supposed to do next. I still can’t get answers to what happened to my old house. I feel like I lost my parents, Wes. I mean, that was a long time ago, right?”

  Wes touched my face. “Hey, darling. One thing at a time. You can’t take it all on at once. I want you to be comfortable here. Safe here. Guys like Ryland, Ryder, and Luke… that’s what they do.”

  “And fighting them is what you do,” I said.

  “I would do it again in a heartbeat. We’re the outcasts around here, Aira. I like it that way. We have more than they ever will and they hate that. They hate that we don’t live like them too.”

  “Wes, can I ask you something?”

  “Anything you’d like.”

  “What happened today. Does that have to do with your father being in town?”

  Without answering me, Wes jumped to his feet.

  He threw the wet towel down to the steps and walked away.

  I hurried down the steps and went after him.

  “You can’t ignore me, Wes,” I yelled at him. “You have to talk to me.”

  When I got close enough to him, I pushed at his back. It was the only move I really had and it always worked to piss him off enough to turn back around.

  He turned and stared down at me.

  “What?” he growled.

  “You say you love me. And I say I love you. We promised each other no more secrets.”

  “I’m not hiding anything.”

  “Why is he here?”

  “He wants everything sold,” Wes said. “That’s all he’s ever wanted. And he’ll hurt everyone in his way to get it. I’m not going to waste my time thinking about it. It’s not my problem.”

  “It is though,” I said. “You take it all on, Wes. You carry it all.”

  He swallowed hard but kept himself stone face.

  He was gorgeous as he stood there with the sun hitting his face, like nobody I had ever met or seen before in my life.

  But he was holding back.

  I lifted my hands and touched his face.

 

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