I pushed off the sink and stepped around a silent, sulking Harlen so I could put on a pair of boots and grab my wallet and leather jacket before heading to the bar.
“Sawyer hated me for a lot of reasons from the start, but his biggest issue was that I was the only person who managed to get Ollie to question why he had so much control over her. If it wasn’t for me, she would’ve more than likely been meek and mild. She would’ve accepted her place as his toy without question. But since she followed me around like a lost puppy and clung to me like a koala our entire childhood, I managed to convince her there was something wrong with Sawyer, especially with how he fixated on her. I was a bad influence, but I was the only reason she had any freedom. In return, Sawyer made my life a living hell every chance he got.” And ultimately managed to get me to turn my back on the girl forever.
Harlen plowed a hand through his unruly hair and looked down at the ground. “Did your own family run you out of town, Huck?”
I shook my head. “Not really. But they forced me to pick between spending two years in a juvenile detention center or a boarding school for troubled boys after something really bad happened between all three of us kids. I don’t have time to get into it all right now, but I’ll give you the details later. That scar on Ollie’s cheek, it’s from that night. Jail, or reform school, was a great option, but it was out of sight, out of mind, which is what Sawyer always wanted when it came to me. I don’t talk about my past because Sawyer is still insane. I don’t want anything to do with him, and I don’t want him anywhere near the people I care about.” I gave them both a hard look. “Which is why it’s best if Ollie is far, far away from us. It’s been years, but I finally stopped looking over my shoulder every time I walked out of the house, thinking he might pop up to sabotage me. I’m not about to go back to living under the constant threat of an attack.” I reached out and clapped a hand on Vernon’s shoulder because he looked like he might throw up. “Look, I’m glad Ollie finally got away from him and slipped the leash, but the first place Sawyer is going to look for her is wherever I am.”
Back in the day, I was the one person in the entire world Sawyer Richman was afraid of. He got to keep our father’s last name, while I didn’t. I was the only one who stood up to him, and I was the only one who dared to turn Ollie against him. He was a lunatic, but he wasn’t stupid. I was certain he would figure where I was now that Ollie was missing. He would immediately assume she had run directly to me. Exactly like she always had back in the day.
“I need to go to work. I understand your concerns, and I really appreciate you both worrying about the state of my tainted soul. I’ve got this. You guys don’t have the first clue what we might have to deal with if Ollie stays. I need you to believe me when I tell you that it’s better for everyone if she goes.”
I’d sacrifice myself to save them any day of the week. Not that sleeping with Ollie was much of a sacrifice. She was still cute as hell, even with that tiny imperfection on her face that would haunt me until the day I died. Taking her to bed wouldn’t be a hardship and would, in fact, kill a long, lingering curiosity I’d always had once we started to get older. I walked away from girls I fucked all the time without a backward glance. She wouldn’t be any different.
At least that’s what I tried to tell myself as a nagging voice in the back of my mind warned me I was about to make a huge mistake.
Ollie
I did my best not to scream when the attic room illuminated an eerie blue as lightning zipped through the sky, followed by a crack of thunder so loud it made my ears ring. I placed a pillow over my head and tried to breathe through the waves of panic washing over me. The sound of the rain against the old roof and as it pounded at the ancient windows was loud enough to drown out the thump of my racing heart and ragged breathing. But the next boom of thunder made me yelp like a wild animal as I sat up on the bed and threw the pillow across the room. There was another blinding bolt of light outside, and I squeezed my eyes shut as the room was suddenly sent into complete darkness. It was the middle of the night, but I’d had every single lamp on in the tiny room. I hadn’t always been scared of storms, but ever since the night everything went as wrong as it possibly could, I found myself facing panic attacks and the kind of anxiety that was strong enough to make me cry and throw up whenever the weather got bad enough. Usually, I could power through the irrational fear if the lights were on and thunder was just a distant rumble. I just hid under the covers and tried to breathe through it.
It seemed nothing like that was going to cut it as a coping method for tonight. To make matters worse, the wind outside started to howl, making the old house creak and groan in a million different, eerie ways. I was almost tempted to go downstairs and see if any of the boys were home. But I’d been doing my best to be as unobtrusive and as invisible as possible. I figured it was better to stay out of Huck’s way, and even though Vernon seemed like he might be an ally, I didn’t want to rock the boat now that I was finally aboard.
I had exactly one year to figure out how to get Huck to forgive me. One year until he graduated and moved on to the next phase of his life. One year where I was going to feel relatively safe and have a mostly normal life. I would walk on eggshells indefinitely to avoid riling the household up any more than I already had. Which meant I was going to have to get through this storm, the one outside the window and the one constantly whipping through my life, alone.
Crawling across the bed, I felt for my phone in the inky darkness and breathed a sigh of relief when I clicked on the flashlight app. I climbed off the bed, taking the quilt and remaining pillow with me as I carefully found my way into the bathroom. It only took a second to make a sloppy nest in the ancient clawfoot tub. I curled into a little ball and reminded myself to breathe slow and deep. I sent a few text messages to Mercer, hoping she would answer me so I could have a distraction until the storm was over, but I got no response. She wasn’t the best at replying in normal circumstances, and last time we talked, she mentioned that she’d met a new guy and was in the early stages of infatuation. When she was dating, she was even worse about getting back to me. No one knew about my crippling fear when the weather was bad… well, no one but Huck. I doubted he cared that I was on the verge of losing my mind as Mother Nature continued to rage.
I don’t think he wasn’t even home from his bartending job yet. I had no clue how he managed to remain at the top of his class and earn perfect grades when he was up all hours of the night. I swore he only slept about four hours a night, because regardless of how late, or rather how early, he came in from his shift, he was always up to go running with Harlen the next day. Even though I was a floor above the other rooms and the front door, I still heard it squeak every time it opened and closed. I’d gotten into the habit of peeking out the window to steal glances at Huck before they started their run. Both boys were in really good shape and absolute heartthrobs, but there was something magnetic and compelling about Huck that made it hard to look away. When it was warm enough, he often started his routine without his shirt on, which made me wonder if I was the only one stealing glances at him through the shutters. A few times, I swore that Huck looked up at the attic before taking off, like he knew I was watching him. When I caught sight of that smirk I knew as well as I knew my own face, it made the thought of running into him randomly in the house we now shared totally intimidating. I felt like he was up to something that wasn’t going to end well for me.