“Rarely.”
“More like never,” Mason adds.
Of course he wins; he has other people depending on him to win. He’s been forced to grow up. He has a lot of responsibilities; more than any teenager should.
“Who goes to these things?” Charlotte asks.
“Us and a few other Kings, the Silvers, and some groups of people from some other schools around here,” Noah informs us.
“When you said you were going to handle it tonight, what were you going to do?” I ask.
Clearly if the Silvers go to the track, then obviously Ryan does. That might explain why he and Aiden hate each other so much.
Aiden shrugs. “Make him pay. Still am.”
“Aiden, I don’t want you to—”
“This isn’t just about you, Amelia. This is about Simms. He messed with me and mine, and for that, he’s going to pay.” Aiden interrupts me, a steely determination in his eyes.
Me and mine.
“But, Aiden, I don’t want this to get out of hand. I don’t want you hurt or to give them any reason to hit back harder next time. Adding fuel to an already blazing fire won’t fix anything,” I say.
I’d still rather leave it be and not kick the sleeping lions. I don’t want to give them a reason to find out about me. Observant Aiden, the only person at the table to sense my hesitation, seems to understand that I don’t want this getting back to me.
“Don’t worry, Amelia,” he says. “It won’t look like revenge. It’ll just look like any other day at the Tracks.”
I must’ve given him a skeptical look because he adds softly, “You’ll be kept out of it. I promise.”
Aiden doesn’t take promises lightly, and despite my uncertainty, I’m unable to do anything other than put my trust in him. I believe that he knows what he’s doing. There’s a reason people are scared to cross Aiden, and that’s because he always comes out on top.
“Fine. But I’m coming,” I declare.
Aiden doesn’t even take a second to think about it before he growls out, “No.”
“Yes, I am.” I stubbornly hold my ground.
I need to be there to make sure he’s okay, and to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Mostly, I want to see and experience the Tracks—to understand what makes up this huge part of his life, see him in his element. Really, though, I want to support him.
“You’re not.” He narrows his eyes at me.
“Why not?”
“Because I said so.”
“Don’t use that on me! I’m not five!”
“Face it, Amelia. You always end up finding trouble. Or it finds you. Either way, I won’t be around to make sure you’re okay,” he replies honestly.
“Please, Aiden? I’ll be good, I swear!” I beg.
“No,” he states, deadpan.
“But what if—”
“No.”
“But how about—”