I go to walk over to him, but I’m shoved to the ground. “Hey!” I turn over onto my back to look up at the girl.
She points her finger down at me. “You ruined my doll!” she screams.
“Austin?” my daddy’s best friend, Bruce, hollers at her as he comes over to us. “Did you just shove him?”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “He ruined my Barbie.” She huffs.
He lets out a growl and then grabs her by her arm. She cries out, and he lowers his face down to hers. He says something to her and then yanks her away. She softly cries as he drags her back into the house.
“That was you.” I say, looking at her wide-eyed.
She nods once, smiling. “That was me. You owe me a Barbie, by the way.”
I step into her and cup her cheek. The smile drops off her face. She was there in my closet all those years. I never looked at those pictures. My mother had them in her and my father’s closet. After she died, he threw all her stuff out so his whores wouldn’t see it, but I kept that box. I never got into it because it was too painful to see them. There are some of my mom and me, and I hated that I would never have any to show to Lilly of them together. I almost burned them so many times. “I owe you a lot of things.” I say honestly, and she frowns. Bruce had yanked her into the house that day, and I never saw her again. He had shipped her back to her mom’s. Back then, I was thankful. We hated her. She was a girl. We thought they had cooties and couldn’t play with us. But what if I hadn’t have got her in trouble? Would she have stayed with Bruce and Celeste? If so, her mother’s sick boyfriend would have never touched her. Hit her. She would have found out about Lilly eventually, and I would have had her all along.
“Cole?” She gets my attention. I blink. “I’m sorry if you’re mad I went through your box …”
“I’m not mad.” Far from it. I lean in and kiss her.
_________________________________
Things were different after I quit the group. Austin and I seemed to be in our own little world all the time. We spent every moment we could together and with Lilly. She and Becky brought Lilly to our meets. Blanche cut back, and Austin took her to school and picked her up.
We hung all over each other at school, but that was nothing new. It was just no longer for show. It was because we just wanted to touch one another. Kiss one another. She spent nights at my father’s house. He never said a word about it and neither did Celeste. I think she’s going through some midlife crisis. Even at her young age. Kellan’s drinking a lot and fucking his way through the high school. So my guess is that whatever they had is on the rocks.
“So you girls ready for tomorrow night?” Deke asks them as we sit at our table in the cafeteria.
Austin nods, and Becky smiles. “What are we gonna do afterward?” she asks.
I place my arm over Austin’s shoulders. “I don’t know about you guys, but we are going back to the clubhouse.” We’ve spent a lot of time there lately, and I have never been happier that I bought that run-down barn.
Becky frowns. “You can’t not party on prom night.”
“Oh, we’re gonna party,” I say, leaning over and burying my face into Austin’s neck.
Austin chuckles and pushes me away. “I agree with Becky. There are a ton of parties going on. We should go to one.”
“Why would I go to a party with people I don’t even like when I can spend the evening alone with you?” I am completely obsessed with Austin Lowes. Pathetic, right? But I wasn’t all that surprised when I was finally able to admit it to myself. The whole damn school knows it too. Good thing I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks.
“Because it’s our senior prom, and that’s what we do,” Becky answers.
I look at Deke. “Help me out.”
“I already told Becky we can do whatever she wants to do,” he says, leaning back in his chair.
I sigh. “Pathetic.”
Austin hits me in the ribs, and I cough like it hurt. “I think it’s sweet that he puts her wants first.”
I smile. “We both know that I always give you what you want first.”
“Cole!” she snaps, making us all laugh.
“Fine,” I say, throwing up my hands. “We can go to a party.” Becky claps excitedly. “But you’re staying the night with me.”
She leans over, kissing my lips softly. “I guess. Since you asked nicely and all.”
I grip the back of her neck. “You love that I don’t ask.” Then I kiss her how I want. Possessively.