“I can’t wait until you’re fucking gone,” Brock said.
Gia and I went back on the porch.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“They don’t get it,” Gia said. “We don’t get it. It’s two types of lives. You don’t belong here, Winter. You should come home with me. I can hide you there.”
“Hide me…”
“I’m serious. They will never know.”
“Not yet,” I said. “I have to think.”
“How did you even get here?” Gia asked.
“Talon.”
“He drove all that way for you?”
“For me?” I asked with a laugh. “For money. That’s why you brought that money. That was for the ride here. And for letting me hide out.”
“Okay, I have one more bitchy question to ask.”
“Go for it.”
“Well, maybe it’s not a question. Or maybe it is. I don’t know. I just want to scream at you, Winter. I want to slap you. I want to cry with you. For you. And I want to know what’s next.”
“Me too,” I said. “All of the above.”
“So?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I just have to collect myself. I was so close to this working, Gia. I had stuff on them all. It was all there for me to use. And then this happened…”
“Please don’t stay much longer,” Gia said.
“I won’t,” I said. “I just know going back is…”
I swallowed hard.
“If you’re that afraid, then call the police.”
“I already told you about that.”
“What do you think is going to happen?”
“Who knows,” I said. “They could set me up. For what I did. Look what happened to Easton’s place. Xavier’s shop. The car. The tires. All of that could fall back on me.”
“You’re a bitch looking for revenge,” Gia said.
“And all of that is illegal. I can’t blame my period on everything. Maybe a few years ago I could have. And plus, if they have the police working with them. For them. Tied to them. I just…”
“Okay, fine, I get it,” Gia said. “I just miss you. And I hate that you’re here. Please don’t turn into a Troc.”
I laughed. “That could never happen.”
“You sure about that?”
I lifted my left eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” Gia said. “I’m being jealous. And a bitch.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey. If you hear anything. Or see them. Or…”
“I know,” Gia said. “You’ll know when I know. But I promise, so far, it’s been really quiet.”
I took a deep breath and held back my tears.
“Gia, that’s the scariest part of it all.”
Chapter 3
Troc Time
I climbed up into the bunk bed and sat hunched over so my head didn’t hit the ceiling. All the quirky things about the house - and the smells - were becoming normal to me. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
I looked through my phone for a few seconds, just to kill some time.
Then on a whim, I called my mother.
“Well, there’s the ghost of my daughter calling,” she said as she took the call.
“Very funny,” I said.
How have you not called me? How have you not checked up on me? Aren’t you worried I haven’t been home in days? Do you care about me at all? Will you ever care about me? How can you treat me like this?
“Where have you been, Winter?”
“Just out and about.”
“Which is a lie.”
“Like you care.”
“Please,” my mother said. “What do you want me to do? You’re an adult. You get to live your own life. I’m not a babysitter.”
Or a mother.
“I know that,” I said. “Wow, I really missed talking to you.”
“Last I heard, you were rubbing elbows with the super-rich. Did some old man with his balls slapping his knees whisk you away?”
“Ew, gross,” I said.
“How is that gross?”
“How is it not?” I asked.
“You’re telling me if some old creeper came up and offered you money to be his plaything, you wouldn’t take it?”
“Uh…” My jaw dropped. “Why… wait. Is that what you want me to do?”
“No,” my mother said. “It’s called a conversation. Just pointing some things out. Having a laugh or two here.”
“Well, that didn’t happen,” I said. “I’m not up there anymore. That thing ended a while ago.”
“So where did you end up going?”
I looked around the bedroom. “I’m at a friend’s.”
“Not Gia’s.”
“No.”
“I know that, Winter. That wasn’t a question. I was over at Gia’s yesterday. Me and her mother had a little adventure together.”
“Together?”
“Look who’s being ew and gross now,” my mother teased.
“Oh, stop,” I said.
She laughed. “We went out on the town together. Two cougars on the hunt. And trust me, we had a feast.”
I cringed.
I nodded.
“Good for you,” I said.
“You’re lucky you’re not here,” my mother said. “It was a wild night.”
“Again, good for you.”
“So why the phone call now, Winter? Are you in trouble? Do you need me?”
I clenched my teeth together for a second.
There was nothing she could do. Or would want to do.
She loved the drama.
She was the one who encouraged me to go after Noah, Easton, and Xavier.
“I’m okay for now,” I said. “Just thinking about my next move.”
“Things didn’t work out at the rich party?”
“No,” I said.
“Fuck. That’s a bummer. You should stick to mental violence. Stop falling for those guys.”
“Goodbye,” I said.
My mother laughed. “You have your father’s heart and my eyes for the opposite sex. That’s deadly, Winter.”
“I should have been dead, remember?”
“I don’t like hearing that.”
“Neither do I.”
“Well, then come back here. We can figure something out together. If you need to hide or something, do it here.”
“Thanks for the offer,” I said. “You never know when I’ll turn up.”
“Just give me a call first,” she said. “You never know what’s going on here. When the beach house is empty… I get really… really… hor-”
“Okay then,” I yelled into the phone.
My mother made a kissing sound and ended the call.
I fell to my side and shut my eyes.
I didn’t expect to fall asleep.
I guess it was time for another wonderful nightmare.