“Calm down, Cole,” Deke says as he holds me back.
My heart pounds in my chest as it rises and falls fast. I fist my hands, that feeling of split knuckles calming me. That familiar throb in my shoulder returns.
He rights himself and wipes the blood off his chin. “She needs to disappear.”
“You stay the fuck away from her, Kellan!” I growl.
He shakes his head, letting out a chuckle. “You’re already fucked up enough, Cole. You don’t need some whore making you worse.”
I go for Kellan, but Bennett grabs him, yanking him back. “Enough!” he demands. “Get the fuck out of here, Kellan.” Then he shoves him toward the door.
Kellan throws his hands up and walks out backward, making sure he can see me the whole time. Letting me know that he no longer trusts me. I could say the same about him. He’s keeping a very big secret from us. That only I know. What he doesn’t know is that I plan on using it against him. Very soon.
Once the door closes, Deke releases me. I let out a long breath.
“Maybe we should reconsider,” Shane says.
“No.” Bennett beats me to it. “We stick with the plan.” He looks at me.
I turn around and storm out, ready to get the fuck out of this school.
“Cole?” Deke calls out as I walk out the parking lot.
“I’m not in the mood, Deke,” I tell him, coming to a stop by his Range Rover. He is taking me to Austin’s house to get Lilly and my car.
He comes to a stop in front of me. “I just wanted you to know that I got your back.”
“Thanks.”
_________________________________
I walk into the Lowes house without even bothering to knock. I take the stairs two at a time to the second floor, but I don’t find the girls in Austin’s room.
“Austin?”
“In the kitchen,” she calls out.
I make my way down the stairs slower and walk into the kitchen. Lilly is sitting on the counter, and Austin stands next to her with a tray of cookies in front of her.
“Hey, Cole,” Lilly says, smiling brightly.
I walk over to her and kiss her hair. “How was school?”
“Good. I made a new friend. He’s new. Just like Austin.”
I look at Austin, and she is dipping a butter knife into a tub of pink icing—Lilly’s favorite color. “That’s great.”
“Can he come over and swim with us?” she asks excitedly.
Hell no. “We’ll talk about it later,” I tell her.
“Here you go.” Austin turns to face her and hands her a cookie that she just finished icing.
Lilly bites into it. “So good,” she says with a nod. Then holds it up to me. “Try it, Cole.”
I lean down and take a bite. Austin goes back to frosting another cookie, and I swallow. “You’re right. Those are good.” I pick her up and set her on her feet. “Go get your backpack. We’re gonna leave soon.”
She bounces out of the kitchen. Once she is gone, I position myself behind Austin, pressing my hips into her back. She stiffens against me. “Cole.”
I reach up and pull her hair from her shoulder, wrapping it around my fist. I yank her head back, and she sucks in a breath. That anger I have for her rises because she’s causing problems for me. Big ones. She was supposed to be a toy—something fun to use—but I haven’t even got to play with her yet. Not how I imagine anyway.
I lean down to her ear. “Still mad at me, sweetheart?” I don’t care how mad at me she is over the video. It got the job done. Everyone fucking knows she belongs to me. She surprised me with her actions. I knew she wanted me, but I didn’t expect her to be so forward with an audience.
“Yes.” She breathes.
“That was a weak answer.” I chuckle. “But I like your fight, Austin. Your anger. It shows me that you haven’t given up yet. And you’re gonna need that.”
She picks up the knife that sits next to the tub of icing. Her hand grips it like her life depends on it. She’s not far off. “Are you gonna stab me?”
“It crossed my mind,” she growls, but her ass pushes into my already hard dick. God, this woman drives me mad.
I smile. “You better make sure you kill me, sweetheart. Because you won’t get a second chance.”
“I’ll only need one,” she assures me.
I have no doubt.
I bring my free hand up and wrap it around her throat, and like always when I touch her, her pulse races. “I figured you for the type of girl to grab a gun over a knife.”
“I’d go for whatever is in reach.” She pants.
I let go of her neck and yank the knife from her hand and hold it up to her throat. She whimpers. “The thing about a knife is that you have to get up close and personal, sweetheart. And you have one chance to do the most damage.” I run the knife down over her black shirt, between her breasts, and her chest rises and falls quickly with each breath. I wanna cut the annoying fabric off. “But we both know that you don’t have a problem with letting me get close to you, do we?”