“You’ll have more time for homework, Brass Knuckles, sleep, me,” West added quietly with a devilish smirk.So there was an ulterior motive.
“I’ll feel bad for taking money from you.”
“Don’t. The freeloaders of GP have reaped the benefits of my father’s money for years. It’s about time they paid their dues. And it’s not like we need the money,” said Axel.
That was true. I had a feeling the guys had more than enough money for anything they needed. And IknewGabby did–her parents whined when she didn’t spend enough of her monthly stipend. Yes, astipend. I was the poorest of the bunch, but damn did my heart warm at the fact that they wanted to help me.
“What time is it going down?”
“Ten o’clock. Should be plenty of time for the football players to lick their wounds after losing to Castle Grove.”
“Hey!” Cade said. “We’re not that bad. We have a chance. You’re allgoingto the game, right? You’ve blown off every single one this season.”
“Sure,” West laughed. “It’s always fun to watch you guys get smoked.”
“My mom’s coming home on Friday from the trip Pete sent her away on with his friends’ wives. I haven’t spoken to her since everything happened. I want to tell her in person as soon as possible,” I said.
“What time is she getting in?”
“Around eight, I think. I’ll have to pass on the game but I can meet y’all at the party.”
“I don’t want you to be alone,” West murmured into my ear.
“I won’t be. I’ll go home and then Gabby can pick me up and drive us to the party–you better get really good at sneaking out of that mansion of yours, because you’re going to that party,” I smiled at her before turning back to West. “That way you won’t miss the game, and I can get that littlechatwith my mom over with before she gets too drunk.”
“Hmm, fine. I guess I could suffer through one game,” West said as he kissed my cheek.
A buzzer went off on Axel’s phone–indicating someone was ringing the bell at the gate. “Pizza’s here.”
My stomach growled, almost as if it knew there was delicious, cheesy pizza just around the corner.
“So, we eat pizza and then I eatyou,” West smiled.Sounds like a plan to me.
45
West
SinceReynoldswasnolonger an employee at Gilchrist Point High School, Ashtyn was able to breathe a little. All week we had a substitute in art class–Mrs. Teague of all people. She let us do whatever we wanted as long as it resembled something artistic.
Ashtyn was back at our table–the place she never should’ve left–and worked on sketches. They were beautiful, telling stories without using any words. Most of them were dark and gothic–castles, cemetery scenes, and swallows–just like my girl. Dark and beautiful.
She still planned on submitting a piece to the art gallery in town, but she wanted something untouched and unseen by Reynolds.
It was Friday, gameday, unfortunately. I managed to go the entire school year without attending a football game. Until now.
We sat on the hard bleachers as students around us cheered. Cade was the shining star of tonight’s game even though we were down 35-21 with ten minutes left in the last quarter.
I checked my phone for the millionth time, hoping to hear from Ashtyn. I sent her a text around 8:00 asking how everything was going with her mom but hadn’t heard anything back.
“We should get going. Make sure the set-up is done correctly,” Axel said at my side. He was always worried about making sure everything was just right. With entry at ten bucks a pop, I wanted to make sure things went smoothly too. We had to set a good precedent if we ever expected to do this again.
“Alright. Hey, we’re heading out. Are you two good?” I asked Bronx and Gabby to my other side.
Gabby had hearts in her eyes staring at Cade on the sidelines. Cade’s stare went from the game up to her and back to the field. They were on the upswing, which I hoped would last at least through the evening.
“Yeah, once this is done, we’ll stop by Ashtyn’s and pick her up.”
Once Axel and I were in the parking lot, I dialed Ashtyn’s number. It rang and rang, each time the tone went off concerned me, ending with the robot announcing her voicemail was full.