He paused and averted his eyes away from me.
“Answer me, Jason.”
His chin tipped, and I could see the remorse plain as day. “Twenty thousand.”
The cloth from my hand dropped to the floor with a whoosh. My ears felt hot; my chest squeezed a little tighter. “Wh…what?”
His gaze shot right through me. “I owe him twenty fucking thousand, and if I don’t get it to him by tomorrow night, he’ll kill me, Pipe. He’ll fucking kill me.”
I caught my pale reflection in the bathroom mirror and muttered, “Shit,” under my breath.
Chapter Two
Ollie
Being a Powell was both a curse and a blessing. Everyone thought they knew me. They thought they knew exactly who Ollie Powell was. The younger (barely) brother of Christian Powell, the alpha of English Prep. The nicer of the Powell boys, the one who was like a ray of fucking sunlight—much the opposite of Christian, who was like get
ting a glimpse into the midnight sky. But here was the funny thing… They were all wrong. They were so fucking wrong.
Sure, I had the light features: light hair, glimmering white, pearly smile—thank you very much, Crest whitening toothpaste—charismatic as fuck. I mean, a tip of my chin and a wink had girls falling at my feet. The women faculty of English Prep—even Ms. Boyd, the old bat of a secretary—blushed when I shot a dazzling look their way. The only person not affected by my charm or tricked by my amiable personality was Piper, but that was a whole different story.
Regardless, people thought they knew me.
But they didn’t.
I had secrets.
One secret turned into another secret, and before I knew it, it was like I was living a double life. The first was filled with long days at English Prep, followed by football practice, with nights at my best friend’s cabin, drinking warm beer and tongue-fucking girls. But the second was filled with adrenaline, exhilaration, distraction, and a group of people who knew absolutely nothing about me. Nothing but my first name and the type of car I drove.
And that was exactly how I wanted it.
A distraction was something I needed, something I craved. It set me free, allowing me to relish in my anger and perplexity of the situation I was in. I mean, I had to put all those heavy, suffocating feelings into something, something that was away from Christian and my friends.
Which was what led me to this place right here.
An old dirt road out on the outskirts of Pike Valley, surrounded by the smell of pine and gasoline. Pike Valley had four valleys: the two wealthier ones—which was where I lived—and then the two others that were filled with middle-class folk and the poor. I was currently smack-dab in the middle of the valleys, waiting for my turn to get a taste of adrenaline.
“You ready for tonight? I’ve got money on you, bro.”
I tipped my chin up to Brandon, one of the guys who had already raced, giving him a slight nod. He was good, but his car lacked agility. It couldn't quite shift as fast as mine, which was why I was in a different bracket than he was. There was more money on the line when it came to me, but that didn’t really matter much.
Again, this was just something I did to get my heart pumping, to distract me from real problems—from reality. I didn’t care about the money. Cash wasn’t exactly hard to come by for me; forking out eight hundred dollars a weekend was like child’s play. My father never even asked where my money went. There was an allotment on my card, but as long as I didn’t go over it, he turned a blind eye.
Which was a problem all in itself.
Christian, on the other hand… If he knew I was here, doing this shit, he’d be royally fucking pissed. Which almost made it more fun.
I leaned back onto my Charger’s leather seat as I peered out the rolled-down window to Brandon. “I’m always ready.” I winked at Brandon’s girl. She bit her plump lip and fluttered her eyelashes at me when he wasn’t looking.
I chuckled. Girls here were thirsty. So thirsty. Every single one of them was dressed in revealing clothing, showing off their flat stomachs and perky tits, hoping that they’d get a piece of whomever won the race.
They were all the same.
Yawn.
Although, they did entertain me for a short while.
My eyes trailed a blonde girl as she walked over to the starting line. The tips of her hair were stained pink, which matched the color of her lips to a T. Once she flipped the strands over her shoulder, I knew that was my cue to get ready. My phone buzzed as I drummed my fingers along the steering wheel. I glanced down for a brief second, seeing that it was Eric asking where I was.