“Austin …”
“You had your chance. You passed.” I throw his same words back at him.
His jaw sharpens, but this time when I turn around, he doesn’t try to stop me.
CHAPTER TEN
COLE
I pull up to Bruce Lowes’s house in Austin’s car that she left at my father’s house last night.
Deke pulls up behind me in his Range Rover. “Dude, you know she’s still gonna be pissed at you, right?”
“Yep.”
He snorts. “What are you gonna do about it?”
“Nothing.”
He jogs to catch up to me as I climb their front steps. “Seriously? We need her.”
“She doesn’t have to be happy with me to do what I say. She’s hated me up until this point, and I’ve still managed to …”
“Blackmail her,” he finishes.
I don’t respond.
“Don’t you think it would be easier to have her compliant?” he asks, and I turn to face him as we stand at the front door. He runs his hand through his disheveled hair. His blue eyes bloodshot from all the drinks we had last night. After she left, he and I locked ourselves in the game room and drank until we woke up this morning with pounding headaches. “I mean, she’s already afraid of us. Especially me.” He gives me a cruel smile. “But last night, that was a different side of her. A side you can work with. Fear is a good motivator but so is seduction.” He shrugs. “And it’s not like it would be hard for you to fuck her. She’s hot.”
My jaw clenches, and I turn to face the door. This conversation is over. I knock on the door, and Celeste answers in a yellow sundress and a smile on her face. “Hey, boys. Please, come in.”
“Celeste.” Deke greets her.
“Where’s Lilly?” I ask, wanting to get the hell out of here.
She frowns. “She’s in the media room with Austin. They are watching Cinderella.”
My hands fist. I don’t like Lilly getting close to Austin. Because she isn’t gonna be here long. “Austin’s car is in the driveway,” I say and then toss her the keys. I hear them hit the tile because Celeste was not quick enough to catch them as I walk off. And me too big of a dick just to hand them to her.
I walk up the stairs and pass Austin’s bedroom, continuing to the end of the hall, and open the door to the media room.
The only light comes from the big screen on the wall. I don’t see them, but I hear Lilly’s voice. “Do fairy tales exist?”
“Depends on what you consider a fairy tale,” Austin tells her.
“What do you mean?”
I walk around the circular couch and stand in the shadows as they lie on the fluffy cushions. A bowl of popcorn sits between Austin’s legs. Lilly’s head on Austin’s chest. They both look straight ahead at the big screen.
“Well, not all girls are princesses in need of a knight to save them,” Austin tells her. “Some save themselves.”
“Belle didn’t have a prince. She had a beast.”
Austin smiles. “She did.”
“But in the end, he turned back into a prince. I liked him better as the beast,” Lilly says.
Austin chuckles. “Me too. He was much more appealing. She didn’t love him for his looks. She was in love with how he made her feel. Special.”
“Has anyone ever made you feel special?” Lilly asks her.
Austin tilts her head to the side. “No.”
“I’m sorry,” Lilly says softly.
Austin just laughs it off. “You don’t need a man to make you feel special, Lilly. You are already special. All on your own. Don’t forget that.”
Lilly sighs heavily, and they both stare straight ahead at the movie. “What about Frozen?” Lilly asks, unable to stay quiet.
“Easy. There was no love story between princess and prince. Only sister love. And it still had a fantastic ending. It also proved that love could be deceiving.”
“What is deceiving?” Lilly draws out the word, sounding it out.
“It means he lied to her to get what he wanted.”
She nods as if she understands.
Austin pops a piece of popcorn into her mouth. And I find myself backing out of the room to let them finish their movie. Deke’s words run through my mind. Fear is a good motivator but so is seduction.
_________________________________
Deke and I stand in the kitchen with Celeste. They’re talking about his sister, Shelby, when Lilly enters. “Where’s Austin?” I ask her.
She smiles up at me, not catching my tone. I have a don’t fuck with me attitude today that I can’t hide even if I wanted to. “Upstairs in her room.”
Before anyone can stop me, I make my way back up the stairs, and like last time, I don’t stop to knock. I barge right on in. She sits on her bed but jumps up as I enter. “Jesus Christ, Cole. Don’t you ever knock?”
I round the bed, and she takes a step back. We both stand there, staring at one another. My heart pounds in my chest, and my mind wanders to her and me. And what we could be doing if I wasn’t so fucked up. If I didn’t hate her father so much.