Piper didn’t belong here.
Neither do I.
“You can leave,” I said over my shoulder to Cole, who was plodding after me, not at all eager to get to Piper.
“And miss out on all the fun? No, thanks. Andrew will kill me if I let something happen to his cousin.”
I spun around for a moment, feeling cagey. “And yet, you just kissed her against her will. You’re a top-notch dude, Cole. I’m pretty fucking positive that Piper is safer with me than she is with you.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed right before he smiled. “I think Piper thinks she’s safe all on her own. At least, right now she does.” His line of sight went past me, and a deep pit hollowed out in my intestines. When I turned around, the grass moving beneath my feet, I panicked for a moment. Piper pushed back a curtain of her hair and straightened her spine, all but pushing her perky chest up like it was her armor. My nostrils flared, and I inhaled a hefty breath of the cool air as she leveled someone with a stare and reached into her back pocket. What the hell was she doing? Was Piper betting on someone in the race? For a moment, I thought I might have been dreaming, but I knew that wasn’t true—otherwise, this dream would go in an entirely different direction.
My gaze swung from Piper’s hand to the person she was handing money to, and I twitched in my spot.
The guy they referred to as Tank smiled at Piper like he was about to enjoy a nice, juicy steak, and I couldn’t stop myself from feeling protective of her—again. One foot went in front of the other as I made my way through the formed crowd. Piper’s voice grew louder with each step I took, and it hit me right in the chest when I recognized the fear skirting over her words. I’d heard fear in her voice before, and it was just as unpleasant now as it was a few months ago.
Just what did Piper get herself into, and how could I save her?
Chapter Five
Piper
Hayley once told me that if you acted like you weren’t scared, then you’d eventually believe it, along with everyone else. Her exact words were, “If you pretend you’re brave, then you will be. If you pretend something doesn’t affect you, then it won’t.” So, that was what I was doing. I pushed away the fear dotting my vision and stopped the shaking of my hand as I held out three thousand dollars of cold cash, waiting for the guy that inevitably was the cause of my brother cowering in my bedroom the night before.
My first thought when I saw him was that he was grimy. Not like he hadn’t showered—although, by the looks of his greasy hair, I wasn’t sure he had in the last decade—but it was more his overall appearance and the look in his eye. It was filthy. He was a bad person. I sensed it right away. His smile slithered onto his face with unrivaled evil as he stared at me. His eyes didn’t even glance down to the money in my hand. His gaze stayed glued to mine, and I had to fight the urge to look away.
“I was hoping we could work something out,” I repeated, still holding the money in my hand. To be honest, I had no fucking clue what I was doing. I’d bailed my brother out of trouble before—lying to my parents, helping him through one of his lows of not using, hiding him in my closet when my parents were absolutely livid with him. But this went deeper. I was openly trying to pay a drug dealer for him. I wasn’t just giving Jason money or lying for him. No, I was flat-out participating in some bad shit. I was crossing the line of falling into a darker part of our relationship, and I feared it would become a relationship where I’d keep on giving and he’d keep on taking. I’d crossed the line once before, a year ago, and I told myself I’d never do it again. But apparently, I was lying.
“Maybe we should talk privately?” I finally let my eyes drop from his, and I scanned our surrounding audience. Too many people were staring at me, and that thing that Hayley told me about not showing fear was slipping away. My hand began to shake, and my voice was wavering between hysterics.
Tank’s head tilted a fraction as he ran his gaze down my body. I wore my skinny jeans and a low-cut black tank, even though it was a little chilly, because I wanted to look the part. I was taking a page out of my best friend’s handbook. “Look the part, Piper. If you show them fear, they will descend on you like a flock of crows.” But at this point, I’d take being attacked by crows over standing in front of this guy.
Tank’s eyes flared with something that I couldn’t put my finger on. I heard a few people snickering behind me, and that was when I realized that what I’d just said sounded overly sexual and not at all what I’d meant. Maybe we should talk privately… Jesus, Piper!
I opened my mouth to backtrack, my forehead getting sticky with sweat. I shuffled on my feet, loose pebbles popping underneath my weight. “I—I didn’t—"
“There you are,” a familiar voice came up behind me, and then an arm was draped over my shoulder. “I told you to wait for me, Piper.” Ollie leaned in a fraction and whispered along my ear softly, “What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”
“Piper?” Tank’s head twitched again, and then it hit him. “You’re here for Jason.”
Ollie’s arm felt heavy on my shoulders, his breath still warm in my ear, and I couldn’t help but notice the tiny bit of courage it gave me. Act confident.
“I am.” I stepped forward, letting Ollie’s arm fall. Ollie gave me that little extra push, but this was something I needed to handle on my own. No one else needed to get involved in this. I shouldn’t have even been involved in this.
“So…” Tank began to walk around the formed crowd, and I felt like we were in the pits about to spar. “You think you can give me…” He pushed his hand out and urged me to give him the cash. I reluctantly did so, not daring even a glance at Ollie. Tank took a few moments to count, and then a sinister chuckle left his mouth. “This doesn’t even make a fucking dent in what Jason owes me.”
My chest began to squeeze. My knees began to wobble. Sweat droplets fell down my back. “I know. I was hoping we could work something out.”
“Oh, we can work something out, alright. I want my fucking money.”
And just like that, I regretted my decision to help my brother. What are you doing, Piper? The crowd grew quiet as I stood still. I could feel myself panicking on the inside, but things were moving so quickly that I didn’t have time to bask in my anxiety.
“I can get you the rest by the end of the month.”
Tank threw his head back and cackled in the evening air. Not a single person in the crowd laughed or chuckled. Not even the two guys standing behind Tank that appeared to be his right-hand men.
He walked closer to me, a mere foot away from my face. I felt Ollie’s presence come closer, too, and I hated that he was here, seeing this—but that was something I’d have to deal with later. Right now, I was about to make a deal with the devil.
“And just how are you going to get me the rest of the