HIDDEN CREEK FOREVER: a hidden creek high novel, page 2
She touched my wrist.
“You never slept when you were a baby,” she whispered.
Her eyes were shut.
“And I would walk you. For hours. And hours. And I would never get any real sleep. It would take me forever to look human. But it was my job to do that. And I miss that, Aira. I never said a thing about it. I never complained, you know?”
“Thanks for that,” I said.
“No. No. No. I’m putting it all together.”
“What?”
“Everything he ever did,” Mom said. She let out a breath. “Oh, wow. It all comes together.”
Mom started to snore.
I backed away from the couch and watched her sleep.
I had moved to a town that was full of secrets. And with each secret that had been exposed there was a price to pay. Yet at the same time I had been living in a world of secrets to begin with. There was no escaping it.
There was really no way to get away from it.
But I could get away from my mother as she slept.
It felt like a waste of time to have Wes bring me home.
Julia met me in the kitchen as she twisted the cap off a bottle of water.
“You have company outside,” she said.
“I do?”
“Yeah. Try not to make too much noise.”
She walked by me and grabbed my hand for a second. She squeezed then let me go.
When I walked to the door, I saw Kailey and Nova waiting for me.
They made me smile. That was for sure.
I opened the door and they wasted no time in yelling at me.
“You don’t answer?” Kailey asked.
“Not even a text?” Nova asked. “Even if you’re fooling around with Wes, just a quick k would do…”
Her bright blond hair was pulled back in a thick braid. Her skin was so perfectly tanned from all the time she spent in the water.
I loved her.
Nova was a bad ass in a silent kind of way.
Kailey was more of a spazzed out protector.
She ran right at me and hugged me.
I rolled my eyes as I hugged her back.
“I hate this entire thing,” she said.
“Where’s Char and Emma?” I asked.
“Charlotte’s riding Flynn,” Nova said. Then she snapped her fingers. “Hey, so is Emma.”
“Emma is riding Flynn?” I asked.
“No,” Kailey said as she backed away from me. “She’s with Eric.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “Big, bad Eric.”
“You know Emma,” Kailey said. “Tall, skinny, quick path to prison. That’s what does it for her.”
“Hey, she says she’s in love,” Nova said.
“Love?” I asked. “They just met.”
“He made her come and then she fell in love,” Kailey said.
I shook my head. “Where’s he from again?”
“Down in Crasher,” Nova said. “Not a good place.”
“At all,” Kailey said. “But… she’s happy. And we’ll be there for her when things go bad.”
“That’s what friends do,” I said.
“Best friends,” Kailey said.
“Bitch friends,” I said.
“Total bitch friends,” Nova said. “Hey. Speaking of a bitch… what’s your deal? No more surfing?”
“No urge,” I said. “Things are a lot crazy, Nova.”
“Yeah, but Wes got you that awesome board and you don’t use it.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Give her a break,” Kailey said.
“No,” Nova said. “You have to get out there and let it out. I mean, you at least have answers.”
“No. I have more questions now.”
“But still,” Nova said.
“She’s just getting wound up,” Kailey said. “Before her summer boy makes his return.”
“What?” Nova snapped. “We’re nowhere near that.”
“See how touchy she is?” Kailey asked, laughing.
“Now that’s how a bitch acts,” Nova said.
“Nova is right though,” I said. “I mean, I did get answers to everything. But now there’s more questions. It never ends.”
“Maybe it’s not supposed to end,” Kailey said.
“Yeah,” Nova said. “So just ride the waves…”
“And ride Wes,” Kailey said.
“That too,” Nova said.
“I was doing that,” I said. “Then a couple of bitches kept bothering me.”
“Quick text back,” Kailey said.
“Even an emoji. The one that looks like a dick,” Nova added.
“Or the tongue one,” Kailey said.
“The water droplets,” Nova said.
“The cat,” Kailey said.
I laughed. “You two suck.” I walked by them to the edge of the deck. “Hey. Let’s go down to the water. I’m not in the mood to sleep.”
“I’m down,” Kailey said.
“I have nothing else to do,” Nova said.
The three of us took to the beach, arm in arm, walking with no light other than the moon and the stars.
I kind of loved them. In a weird way.
I mean, I had known Kailey from when we were kids. And then Nova… she was just honest with herself and cool as hell.
I kind of wanted to just stand on the beach forever.
And not deal with anything waiting for me.
But that was impossible.
Every time I got an answer, another question was waiting.
Chapter 2
Wes
I sat on a table and stared at the door.
“She’s going to show up, bro,” Leo said. “You look like a sad dog in the rain.”
I swung my foot and kicked Leo in the ribs.
He jumped and let out a yell.
“Hey, assholes,” Flynn said as he walked up to the table.
I nodded.
“What’s your deal?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
“He’s pissed that Aira isn’t here yet,” Leo said.
“She’s with Miss Carson,” Flynn said. “Charlotte walked her there.”
“I know,” I said.
“Hey, quick question,” Flynn said. “Miss Carson. You’d fuck her, right?”
I turned my head. “What?”
“Be real,” Flynn said. “She’s not that old really. And the skinny girl dork look. It’s kind of…”
“What’s the point of this?” Leo asked.
“What?” Flynn asked. “It was okay for you to obsess over Miss Veron?”
“We were in eighth grade,” Leo said.
“And to be fair, she dressed to get looked at,” I said.
“Oh, I loved getting math problems wrong,” Leo said. “She’d come to my desk and lean forward. I’d purposely get answers wrong just to get a look down her shirt.”
“That’s okay though?” Flynn asked.
“Doesn’t bother me,” I said.
“But yet Miss Carson is off limits?” Flynn asked.
“Bro, you think she’s hot,” Leo said. “Good for you. Go make up something wrong so you get her alone.”
“Hell no,” Flynn said. “I love Charlotte.”
“Then what are you talking about?” Leo asked.
“Just making small talk,” Flynn said. “Assholes.”
“Call me an asshole one more time,” I said. “See what happens.”
“Speaking of happening,” Leo said. “We have company.”
I looked over my shoulder and saw Ryder walking toward us with his crew.
The quarterback with his star receiver and two of his meat neck offensive guys that kept his ass from getting sacked.
“Do we have a problem here?” Flynn asked.
“Let’s find out,” I said.
I jumped off the table and turned to block Ryder’s path.
He stopped in front of me.
“Not here to fight you,” Ryder said.
“Damn,” Leo called out. “You let us down again.”
“Give him a chance to talk,” I said. “What do you want?”
“You were running names up at BFH,” Kyle said.
“Nah,” I said. “They know Ryder sucks. I just said it for fun.”
“Don’t see you out on the field, Wes,” Ryder said.
“You still don’t get it,” I said. “While you’re out there throwing around the ball… or chasing some guy’s ass… I’m under the bleachers or in the woods with your girl. Seeing how many fingers I can fit before she says stop…”
Ryder curled his lip.
That story was true.
I took care of his one girlfriend before he could.
Oops.
“We’re keeping it civil here,” Jace said. “Just know things are rumbling.”
“Getting louder too,” Denny said.
“Not just because we have a game coming up,” Ryder said.
“Thought football season was over?” I asked.
“It’s never over,” Kyle said.
“This isn’t a school league thing,” Denny said.
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “You just make up games. I’d rather throw punches.”
“Hey, bro, Aira’s here,” Flynn said.
I started to turn and Kyle touched my shoulder.
Leo jumped up.
I grabbed Kyle’s wrist and twisted it.
He moved to his toes with an aahh sound.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I said.
“This is serious,” Kyle said.
“Won’t be able to catch a ball if I break your wrist,” I said.
“Wes, come on,” Ryder said. “We’re trying to talk to you about something.”
I let Kyle go. “About what? You’re going to set up a game with BFH. What do you want me to do? Show up and fight someone?”
“That works,” Jace said.
“You’re like seven hundred pounds,” Flynn said to Jace. “Just sit on someone.”
“I’ll come sit on you,” Jace said.
“I’d rather your mother sit on my face,” Flynn said.
“The mother stuff again?” I asked Flynn.
“What? It works.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Leo said.
“Are we done here?” I asked, looking around at everyone.
Ryder opened his arms and stepped back. “Let’s go, boys. We did the best we could here. He’s the one who started the war. Not us.”
“The war,” I said. I made a jerking off motion with my fist. “Maybe if you learned how to throw a football you could take it to them on the field.”
Ryder showed me his middle finger.
Leo took a step.
I grabbed his arm. “Not worth it. They’re in too deep. If shit gets crazy we’ll show up. We have enough here to deal with as it is.”
I saw Aira staring at me from across the lunchroom.
There was this way about her… when she was happy she was beautiful. But when she was sad or worried she was just as beautiful. Just in a different way though. She would wear the hoodie she stole from me. It was so big on her and it made her look comfortable. Hell, it made me think of sleep. And sleep happened in my bed. And something else happened in my bed too.
Charlotte walked toward Flynn.
Emma looked tired and dazed.
Kailey and Nova stood on each side of Aira.
“Missed you, darling,” I said to her.
“I love that you call her that,” Emma said.
“What’s your deal?” I asked. “Someone slip meds into your smoothie?”
“She’s in love,” Nova said.
“Ah,” I said. “You finally gave it up to Walker?”
“Your gross cousin?” Emma asked. She laughed. “Never.”
“Well, I still feel bad for whoever it is,” I said.
Emma fake laughed. “Fuck off, Wes.”
“Hey, can we talk for a second?” Aira asked.
“Always. Let’s sneak out of here.”
“Good luck,” Nova whispered to her.
Kailey gave her a weird side hug.
That had all of my attention for sure.
We went out into the hallway and Aira quickly started to pace. She bit at her fingernails.
Until I finally just got in her way and let her crash into me.
“What’s this?” I asked. “What’s got you worked up?”
“I need to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
“I don’t want to go alone.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Jail,” she said.
I laughed. “Jail? You’re going to jail for what? Is Mika back? Did you kick her ass again?”
“No, Wes. Listen. I want to go talk to my father.”
My smile faded. “Oh.”
“I need to see him. I need to hear it from him.”
“Okay.”
“Can you give me a ride? I don’t think I can do it alone.”
Anger climbed up into my chest. I couldn’t believe that Jack did what he did. And that Aira found out through a text from someone else. The headline news of her father in cuffs, turning the story into some kind of sick thing about him trying to kill his family. Then it got twisted again when he admitted to having some shady business dealings and his plan was to destroy any documents that would get him into trouble.
No matter what though, Aira was at the center of it all.
I took her left hand and gently kissed it.
“I’ll be there,” I said. “And I promise I won’t do anything that’ll have me as his cell mate.”
Aira smiled. “Please don’t joke about that, Wes. I can’t imagine losing you.”
“You never have to worry about losing me.”
Sweet words, but I wasn’t sure how true they were.
* * *
Jail for rich people wasn’t the same as it was for everyone else.
I guess when Jack first got arrested he was taken to a police station and then to an actual jail. From there, his lawyers got involved and he was taken to a different jail.
Now, it was a far cry from the life he had been living, but he was still living pretty damn good. He wasn’t in jail clothes and he didn’t live in a tiny cell and he didn’t eat crap food a few times a day.
I had no idea what would happen once he was formally sentenced, but that was a whole other thing to deal with. For Aira and her mother, what was done was done. The house had been burned. He had done it. There was no turning back.
“So what’s the deal with Emma?” I asked.
“Emma… why do you care about Emma?” she asked.
“I really don’t care,” I said. “I just want to hear you talk.”
“Thanks,” she said. “My head is kind of spinning.”
“For good reason.”
“Really good reason.”
“Fucking good reason,” I said.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.
“Go with your gut. Yell. Cry. Say nothing even. I mean, the entire thing is crazy.”
“I feel bad for Julia. She needs to get rid of my mother.”
“Good luck there, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah. Oh, and Emma… she’s got a boyfriend. She’s in love. I just think she went too long without a hook up and is now clinging to him.”
“And he’s taking all the free fucks he can get,” I said. “Smart guy.”
Aira punched my arm. “Jerk.”
“What?”
“Like you never did that before?” she asked me.
“What? No.”
“Liar.”
“I would never mess with a girl’s heart.”
“I’m not talking about you touching a girl’s heart.”
“Oh. Well… I mean… I’ve touched…”
Aira sighed. “I hate you sometimes.”
“But you love me more than you hate me.”
“Depends on the day.”
“I guess I should be careful then,” I said.
“Very careful. I’m a crazy bitch when I want to be.”
“See, I like crazy. Bring the baseball bat, darling. Bring your nails. Bring your anything.”
Aira unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped up on the seat. She turned and crawled toward me.
Her lips pressed against my cheek and then she put her lips to my ear.
“I’ll just hold out on you,” she whispered. “That’s my version of crazy. Hold completely out on you. Torture you. I’ll take care of myself. When you’re not looking. In your bed even. But you’ll never get to touch me again.”
I gripped the steering wheel tight.
My nostrils flared.
Damn. She found my weakness.
Which was ironic because she was my weakness.
Aira bit at my ear and then got back into her seat.
She put her feet up on the dash and started to nibble on her bottom lip.
The sexy funniness was gone now.
I hurried and pulled to the side of the road.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I parked and turned to face her. “What’s the plan?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who said you have to do this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
“Wes…”
“Aira, look out the windshield. It’s an open road, darling. It’s your road. I’m sorry, but your father is a shitty person. He was messing with bad stuff when you were living here. All he ever saw was money. And he took you from this town and from me. And look what happened. He couldn’t help himself. He just kept doing it. And the more they look into this shit the worse it’ll get. Now, maybe in some fucked up way he thought by burning down the house it would help you and your mother. I don’t know. What I do know is that you owe nothing to him. Or to your mother. Or to anyone. Nothing, Aira. Nothing.”
Aira slowly put her feet down.
She turned and reached for me.
I reached for her at the same time.
And goddamn did her lips taste good right then.
I wasn’t sure why, but… damn.
That wild, sad kissing just got to me.
I wanted to hold and protect her more than I already was.
She broke the kiss and pointed forward. “Let’s go.”
I didn’t say a word.
I put the SUV into drive and got back on the road.
We were only ten minutes away from the jail when Aira grabbed my hand. She interlocked her fingers tight.
