This is the woman I know. The woman I was so glad to have two weeks away from. It didn’t take long for her to show her true colors, but then James is nowhere around, so I guess she feels like she can get away with it.
I waste no time going to the stairs, then take them two at a time and practically run down the hall to my room. Thankfully, nobody follows me, and I check both the bedroom and bathroom are empty before using the chair again to barricade myself in.
I ruined her life. She was singing a different tune a few years ago. Back then, I was ruining her life if I didn’t make it onto the Olympic team.“Fifteen is already cutting it close.”She never missed an opportunity to remind me of that, and it was her voice that always rang out in my head when I was the last one at the gym. When it was late at night, so late even the cleaning crew left. I used to set the alarm before leaving the building rather than make them wait for me to finish up. Even they used to shake their heads at each other like they felt sorry for me while I worked and worked until my entire body hurt, until my muscles were at the edge of their endurance and closing in on exhaustion.Fifteen is already cutting it close. This is your last chance.
Only knowing how she’d never forgive me if I didn’t make the team kept me alone at the gym. Pushing through the pain, running my routines “just one more time,” though it always turned into two or three more runs. I had to be the best. I had to be a champion, or else I’d ruin my mother’s life.
Nobody ever told me I’d end up ruining it either way.
CHAPTER5
Iknew this was a bad idea as soon as the guys offered me a ride. Nervously, I shuffle my feet around at the front door. Looking down at the watch on my wrist, my annoyance grows exponentially. My interview is supposed to start in five minutes, and we haven’t left yet.
I’m just about to start walking when I finally hear the guys coming down the stairs. Neither one of them is in a hurry, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to me. I guess I thought they wanted to take me to this interview to make sure I do notleechoff of them.
“You do know that if I don’t get a job, I can’t get my own place, right?”
“Shut up and get in the truck,” Nix snaps.
I suppress an eye roll and follow them outside to a matte black F-150 parked in front of the garage. The sleek truck probably cost more than my entire college tuition would. Nix uses the key fob to unlock his truck before he gets into the driver’s seat. Colt walks around to the passenger side, and I get into the back.
The engine roars to life just as I buckle up. It’s good that I didn’t waste any time because Nix pulls out of the driveway like a madman, and if I wasn’t buckled up, I’d be slung through the cab like a rag doll.
“Did you fuck that chick from the party last weekend?” Nix asks his brother like I’m not even in the truck.
“The blonde? Yeah, once, her pussy was weird.”
“I know. That’s why I fucked her ass,” Nix quips, and they both break out in laughter. “Her mouth wasn’t bad either, but she was a sloppy mouth fuck, gagging like she was about to puke all over me.”
Looking out the tinted window, I try my best to ignore them, which makes Colt only raise his voice.
“Ugh, I did have a chick puke on me once. Maybe I should have stopped fucking her face when she frantically tapped on my leg.”
Now I’m gagging myself just thinking about this. “You can just drop me off here. I’ll walk the rest.” I’m already late anyway.
“What’s up, love bug? Does our sex talk make you uncomfortable?”
“You mean your assault talk? Yeah, I could go without hearing it.”
“Assault?” Nix chuckles. “Girls like getting their faces fucked. They basically beg us to do it. I know this must be unbelievable for a virgin like you.”
“At least my pussy doesn’t feelweirdbecause I let every guy I meet fuck it.”
Colt tsks. “That’s no way to talk about your friend. What would Piper think if she heard you say that about her?”
Just mentioning Piper’s name feels like a sucker punch to the gut. She used to be my best friend. I trusted her with everything, and she turned her back on me like I was nothing. She’s the only one who really hurt me deeply. But the worst part of all is that even now, hearing that the guys hurt her in any way makes me mad. Did she really want it? Or did they take advantage of her? Even after everything she did to me, a part of me still wants to protect her.
“She’s not my friend,” I murmur, more to myself. I have to remind myself of that for my own sanity.
“Sorry, we forgot. You don’t have any friends,” Colt says over his shoulder.
“I’d rather have no friends at all than fake friends.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself.” Nix chuckles. “Did you bring a change of clothes, or is that really what you’re wearing to your interview?”
Scrunching my nose, I look down at my skinny jeans and tank top. It’s nothing fancy, but there is also nothing wrong with it. It’s clean without holes in it. I could use some new sneakers, but I wasn’t gonna spend my last money on shoes.
“I’m interviewing at a pizza parlor, not a law firm.”