HIDDEN CREEK FOREVER: a hidden creek high novel, page 7
“Are you asking me or asking about Kailey?” I asked.
“Busted,” Walker said.
“Not busted,” Ryker said. “If I was worried about Kailey I’d call her. Or text her. Whatever. We haven’t talked in a little bit. Not that we need to talk.”
“And watch him fall,” Wes said. “That’s your problem, bro. You fall too hard.”
“You’re falling for Kailey?” I asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Ryker said.
“He misses her so much,” Walker said. “He cries himself to sleep.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who can’t finish,” Ryker said. “She wasn’t squeezing you too hard. You just can’t finish.”
“Oh, gross,” I said.
“Come here, darling,” Wes said.
He pulled me into the open garage bay.
He sat me up on one of the workbenches and touched my waist.
I was melting. Like literally melting.
“I might have broken Kaci’s nose today,” I said.
“What?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “She got mouthy. So I tripped her.”
“You tripped her?”
“Down the bleachers.”
“Ouch.”
“Her problem.”
“You’re beautiful, Aira,” Wes said.
“You say that when I hurt someone.”
“No. You’re always beautiful. I just love seeing you kick some ass.”
“Sure. But maybe the whole ass kicking thing will end.”
“Don’t count on it.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned.
Wes slipped forward and snuck a kiss that made all my worries slip away.
The office door right next to him opened.
When I saw his father, I felt my heart race.
I hated West. Maybe almost as much as Wes did.
“Oh, it’s pretty Aira,” West said. “Haven’t seen you in a while. Thought maybe you and Wes…”
“She was just leaving,” Wes said.
He pulled me right off the workbench.
He kept me protected from his father.
West looked grubby. The hair on his face was a dirty salt and pepper kind of color. His cheeks were red with what looked like scarred cuts throughout. His eyes were big and bloodshot. A crazed man. And West wasn’t afraid to make it known what he wanted.
Next thing I knew I was back outside again.
Walker was showing Ryker something on his phone.
“That one right there,” Walker said.
“Not a chance,” Ryker said. “She didn’t even look at you. Let alone touch you.”
“Swear on it,” Walker said.
I felt West staring at me.
And each time Wes looked back, anger flooded his face.
“Hey,” I whispered. “Do your thing. I’ll head home. I don’t want to be in the way.”
“You’re not in the way,” Wes said. “West is.”
“I know. He’ll leave soon. Right?”
“I hope so,” Wes said. “He’s hanging around longer than I thought. Pop is holding his ground though. You know, I almost wish Pop would pay him off. Make him go away.”
“Maybe he will,” I said.
Wes locked his eyes to mine. “I hate him looking at you.”
“Me too.”
“Two times in a row?” Ryker yelled. “Not a chance in hell. Why do you have to lie?”
I looked over my shoulder.
Walker smiled. “Sorry, Aira. My brother doesn’t believe my conquests.”
“Conquests?” Wes asked. “How much did you pay her?”
“Just in smiles and empty promises,” Walker said.
“What a way to a woman’s heart,” I said.
“I’m not looking for her heart,” Walker said.
“Still gross,” I said.
“He’s full of shit,” Wes said. He slipped a hand around my waist. “I’ll walk you to your car, darling.”
“Aira, how’s Emma?” Walker asked.
“With someone,” I said.
“Heard about that,” Ryker said. “That guy is a piece of work. He went to Tech. You know?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t know.”
“Just keep an eye on her,” Ryker said.
The look in his eyes made me think oh, crap. He was still hot for Emma. Even if he was fooling around with - or falling for - Kailey.
That could get messy, and fast.
At my car, Wes cupped my face and kissed me goodbye.
I went home - aka Julia’s with my mother crashing there - and found Mom sitting at the counter with a laptop open, typing away.
Her giant glass of wine next to her looked untouched.
“Aira, this is amazing,” she said.
“Yeah, my day was fine,” I said.
Mom lifted her eyes. “Surprised you’re here.”
“Me too,” I said.
“Do you want to hear this or not?”
“Hear what?”
“I got someone who wants to talk about the story. Our story. We can do something with this.”
“You know what? I don’t want to hear this.”
“Aira…”
“No,” I said as I went right for the door. “You’re taking our personal life and trying to sell it.”
“I’m exposing the truth. So we aren’t tied to this.”
“Tied to what?” I asked. “Dad set the fire. Everyone knows that.”
“I was married to him,” Mom yelled. “That makes me look bad.”
“Was married?” I asked.
Mom stood up. “Aira. I had no choice. I had to prove to everyone…”
“You divorced him?”
“Filed, yes,” she said.
I swallowed hard.
I left the house and told myself not to cry.
My hand went for my phone but I knew Wes had a mountain of stuff he was dealing with too. I’d see him later anyway.
And plus… divorce?
Could have seen that coming from a mile away.
I went down to the beach to clear my head.
That always worked.
Mom ended up on the deck, watching me, so I went for a walk.
I had to get away.
A few minutes into my walk, I was on a secluded part of the beach. No houses in sight. Tall grass, trees, shrubs, and dunes that made everything beautifully hidden.
I thought I was alone.
I heard voices and when I saw Ryland once again, it took me back to the middle of the night. Seeing him, Nick and Dean beating someone up. Then carrying the person away.
This time Ryland was alone.
The person he was facing had their back to me.
There wasn’t much of a chance for me to hide this time either.
It was light out.
Ryland made a quick move and shoved the guy.
He took a swing at Ryland, but Ryland blocked it.
He tripped the guy to the sand and kicked him.
The guy scrambled to get to his feet and took off. He ran through the sand and made a sharp left and disappeared.
Ryland looked at me. Instead of coming toward me like he normally would, he started to walk away too.
Everything inside me said not to follow him.
Guess what I did though?
I followed him.
I even went as far as I could after him.
“Ryland,” I called out. “Wait up.”
That was all it took to get him to stop.
I caught up and grabbed his arm, turning him.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He looked down at me. There were tears in his eyes. Real tears.
“Ryland…”
“Get out of here while you can,” he said.
“Get out of where? This beach?”
“This town,” he said.
“No. Tell me what’s going on. I saw you. And Nick. And Dean. I saw…”
Ryland touched my face. His thumb stroked my cheek.
I jumped away and slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me,” I said.
Ryland laughed as tears fell down his cheeks.
He looked at his hand that touched my face. Then he touched his own face. His own tears. It was so weird. And scary.
When Ryland started to walk away again, I didn’t follow.
Instead, I did what I should have done when I left Julia’s house.
I texted Wes.
Chapter 7
Wes
“Divorce. Shit.”
Wes held my hand as we sat on Cherry’s front porch.
“Yeah,” Aira said. “Messed up.”
“I’m sorry. It’s like one thing after another.”
“And Mom wants to sell the story.”
Aira was repeating herself, but I would never say a word about it. Not after seeing her the night before. She tried to fight it off so hard but cried a little in my arms. When she told me to distract her, I did the only thing that would work. I stripped naked and jumped into the pool.
Aira joined me.
The rest was a long night of history.
Cherry demanded we all have a family dinner at her house, which there was no point in arguing. Good company and free food.
Sitting outside mostly alone with Aira.
“She just wants money out of it,” Aira said.
“I know,” I said.
“But you know what?” Aira looked at me. She moved her hair out of her face as it blew in the breeze. “If my father is who he seems to be… he deserves it.”
“You could talk to him, darling,” I said. “Get his side.”
She nodded.
I leaned in and kissed her shoulder. Well, I kissed her shirt. But that was okay. I would kiss her naked shoulder later on.
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Aira whispered.
“Then let’s talk about something else,” I said. “Something dirty.”
“Like what?” Aira flirted back.
“Hey,” a voice said.
We both turned and Noelle stood in the doorway.
I felt the anger seething off Aira.
“Cherry said dessert is ready,” Noelle said.
“Be right in, Noe,” I said.
“In a minute,” Aira said.
She kissed my cheek. Then flicked her tongue to my ear.
Noelle went back inside.
I looked at Aira.
“What?” she asked.
“I don’t know whether that turns me on or not,” I said.
“What?” Aira said in a playful voice.
I snuck a kiss and stood up.
She took my hand and we went back into Cherry’s.
Pop already had a plate in front of him with a large slice of chocolate pie.
His favorite dessert.
Pie and whiskey.
Jett wasn’t at the table.
He and West were taking care of something at the shop.
Ma sipped coffee, looking half ready to fall out of her chair.
I touched her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Just tired,” Ma said.
She put her hand to mine.
I kissed the top of her head.
I took my seat in between Noelle and Aira.
Ryker threw a quick punch to my arm. “Hear from Leo yet?”
“No,” I said. “Soon.”
“Got a little story about someone for you,” Ryker said. “Not at the table though.”
“Everyone, get a plate, let’s go,” Cherry ordered.
She cut up and served her famous homemade chocolate pie.
And in classic Cherry fashion she stood and waited for everyone to start to eat. She needed everyone’s approval before she could be happy with herself.
“Cherry, this is amazing,” Aira said. “I haven’t had this in forever.”
“Not since you were a little girl,” Cherry said. “And you got some on your dress. And your mother got so angry with me.”
“Hope you didn’t let it bother you,” Aira said.
“Never. Want to know what I did?”
“Of course,” Aira said.
“I took the damn dress and hand cleaned it myself. Then I boxed it up and sent it to your mother.”
I laughed. “That’s cold, Cherry.”
“I don’t think she liked me much after that,” Cherry said.
“Again, I hope you didn’t let it bother you,” Aira said.
“Nothing bothers me,” Cherry said.
“Except cursing at the table,” Walker said. “I don’t think my tongue will ever be the same from all the pepper.”
“No, that’s because of the cheap girls you fool around with,” I said.
“Weslee!” Ma snapped.
Pop let out a chuckle.
Walker smacked his lips together. “I like pie and… well… you know…”
“What?” Aira asked.
Walker’s face turned red. “What?”
“What else do you like, Walker?”
“Yeah, Walker, say it,” Cherry said.
“He’s too embarrassed to say the word,” Ryker said.
“I’m going to finish my pie,” Walker said.
Now everyone laughed.
“I love this,” Cherry said. “Hearing everyone laugh.”
“Cherry,” I said. “We all love you.”
“To Cherry,” Mom said, lifting her coffee mug.
“To my Sherry Girl,” Pop said, lifting his whiskey flask.
“Stop that,” Cherry said, swatting his shoulder.
We all finished our pie, as required by Cherry to do.
Mom started to collect the dirty plates and Ryker pulled at me to talk to him.
We went into the living room and I stood at the empty and dark fireplace.
“Careful with Emma,” Ryker said.
“Why do I care about Emma?” I asked.
“Just putting it out there. That Eric guy has been running his mouth. The things he says he does to her…”
“Bro, if you still want that, then go figure it out,” I said. “But if you start fucking best friends of the girl you’re fucking…”
“I know,” Ryker said. “I feel like everything is exploding.”
“That’s because it is,” I said.
I made a fist and gently hit his shoulder.
I left Ryker with his own thoughts and caught Noelle in the hallway as she was doing her normal avoid everyone kind of thing.
I grabbed the wire to her earbuds.
They fell out of her ears and she tried punching me but missed.
“Don’t want to bother you and your wife,” she said.
“You two need to figure that out,” I said.
“Figure what out?”
“Whatever this is. You know you fucked up, Noe. What do you want Aira to do?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
I knew she loved me. In that way. But it was never meant to be. Ever.
And fuck everyone who put that shit in her head. Thinking it would have been so cute for Weslee and Noelle to end up together.
“I’m figuring it out,” she said. “On my own first.”
“I miss talking to you. Hanging with you.”
“That’s your own fault,” Noelle said.
She stuck her earbuds back into her ears and left me nodding.
She was right.
But that was life.
In some crazy way I had been waiting for Aira all along.
Speaking of Aira, she was in the kitchen sitting on the counter, drying the plates as Ma washed them.
Rich people doing their own dishes.
That was something Cherry was big on.
Taking care of the dinner dishes.
I had no idea why it mattered.
I walked to Aira and took the plate and towel from her hands.
I pulled her from the counter and took her spot, making her stand between my legs, her back to my front.
“What are we talking about?” I asked.
“You,” Ma said.
“I love talking about me,” I said.
“You would,” Aira said.
I squeezed my legs around her tight.
She elbowed the inside of my leg.
I shot my right hand down and squeezed her right side.
She jumped and screamed, slamming her arm off the cabinet with a hard thud.
“Goddammit, Weslee!” Ma yelled.
She smacked me with the wet towel. The tip of the towel caught me enough that it shot a stinging pain up my arm.
“Oh, my fucking arm,” Aira said.
“Get the pepper, Cherry,” I said.
“You better take care of her,” Cherry said to me. “Or someone else will.”
I slid off the counter and lifted her arm to my lips.
I kissed the mark on the back of her arm.
“There. All better?”
Aira ripped her arm away. “You’re an idiot, Wes.”
“And that’s what we were talking about,” Ma said with a laugh.
“That I’m an idiot? Some family I’ve got,” I said.
“If you leave him,” Cherry said to Aira, “you still come visit me. I’ll tell him he’s not allowed.”
“She’s never going to leave me,” I said. “She loves me too much.”
“You never know,” Aira said.
She backed away and had those flirty eyes eating at me like she always did.
They were devilish eyes.
When Cherry and Ma weren’t looking she had the nerve to then bite at her bottom lip.
I rubbed my jaw and gritted my teeth.
“I’m going to go grab a smoke,” I said.
“Yeah, you’ve earned it,” Ma said. “You’ve worked so hard today.”
“You should get some sleep,” I said to her.
“Yes, she should,” Cherry called out.
“I’m heading home soon to sleep for two days,” Ma said.
“Good,” I said. “Love ya.”
“Love ya too,” Ma said.
I slowly walked after Aira and she slowly walked backwards. When we were out of the kitchen I dove for her.
She was quicker though, turning and racing toward the front door.
I almost fell, needing to stop and catch my balance.
But who the fuck was I kidding…
I had already fallen for her a long time ago.
* * *
I leaned against the front of my SUV with the engine running and the headlights off. On each side of my vehicle there was a motorcycle.
Flynn and Leo.
They stood in front of their rides with their arms cross.
