Tommy chuckles. “Why in the world would Zed, or anyone for that matter, have beef with a damn pastor?”
“Ya know. The guy is a sort of douche. Last night—” My words trail off when I realize what I’m about to say. They can’t know that I was with Willa. They’ll start asking questions that I’m not ready to answer, because I don’t even know the answers myself. “Last night I saw him outside of the church and he was yelling at Willa. Looked pretty pissed.” It’s not all a lie. He did yell at Willa, but it wasn’t outside the church. It was in her living room while he had her arms pinned over her head and pressed against the wall.
Tommy kicks his feet off the coffee table in front of us and gets up. “Well, I’ve gotta get to school. You guys talk about the next phase of our plan—whatever our plan is—and we’ll catch up tonight.” He focuses his attention on me and smirks. “You going to your ballet class today?”
Grabbing a pillow sitting next to me, I chuck it at him. “Fuck off. It’s drama class. No one fucking dances.” Not exactly true. There’s actually a lot of dancing and singing and all-too chipper faces. I’m not sure how people can be that damn happy all the time. It’s a struggle for me to even fake a smile, yet everyone in that class is always smiling and happy. Everyone except for Willa. She’s always so sad. I always thought she had the perfect life, but I’m starting to wonder if her internal scars match ours. I suppose that, deep down, we’re all a little broken, battered, and bruised. Those who pretend they’re not, are doing just that—pretending.
“Dude.” Talon snaps his fingers in my face. “Where the hell did you go just now?”
With wide eyes, I snap out of it and realize that Tommy has already left. “Huh?”
“I said your stepsister just pulled up. Get rid of her so we can finish this shit before I have to meet Marni at her dad’s.”
Standing up, I walk over to the window and sure as shit, Madison is stepping out of her pearly white Aston Martin that my generous father bought her for her birthday. “Fucking great,” I mutter under my breath.
“What’s up with that girl lately? She keeps popping up all over the place.”
“She’s psycho. That’s what’s up.” I tear the door open and step outside. My bare feet hit the bone-dry porch and I hurry over to the steps to stop her from coming any closer to the house. The last thing I need is for her to get comfortable here. This is my safe haven. I come here to get away from her and everyone else that I have no interest in being around. “What do you want, Madison?”
“You.” She replies point-blankly.
“Don’t you have class?”
“I do, but I’d rather see you. Thought maybe I’d skip the first period and we could talk.” Her fingers trail up my bare arm, but I slap them away.
“We have nothing to talk about. Go to school.” I turn around to walk away in hopes that by the time I get to the door she’s gone. My fingers linger around the handle, and when I feel the weight of her body come up behind me, I spin around. Clutching her shoulders, I pull her close. “Are you fucking stupid, Madison? I said go!”
Completely unmoved by my outburst, her fruitless expression digs deeper into me, pulling out a newfound rage and fury, and for a moment, I consider shoving her down the stairs. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would paint her a nice picture of how she makes me feel inside.
“I just wanna spend some time with you, Lars. Why are you being so cruel?” Her words come out seductive and sweet, when she’s anything but.
“This has to fucking end.” I give her a gentle shove. Just enough to backstep away from her before I do something I’ll regret.
“I hope it never ends.” Her cold fingers slither up the front of my shirt. My back steels as she presses her chin to my collarbone. “In fact, I want us to last forever.”
My eyes close and my jaw locks. Holding my hands out on either side of me, I refrain from touching her. “This is going too far.”
Stepping closer, if that’s even possible, her mouth ghosts mine. Her tongue darts out, sweeping across my bottom lip. “Is this about her?”
I tilt my head back and look into her turquoise eyes. “Who?”
“Willa. I know you were with her last night. What I don’t understand is why. It’s not like you could possibly be into that girl. She’s practically married to God. And you, well, you’re a murderer. It won’t end well.”
My heart rate suddenly excels and sweat begins to pool at my hairline. I grab her by the arm and pull her to the end of the porch. Gritting through my teeth, I whisper, “I’ve told you over and over again that we didn’t kill Josh. Now quit fucking saying that.”
“Uh huh. You said what you said, but I don't buy it. Why else would you go through the hell of scooping his dead body off the road?”
“As I’ve also told you time and time again, it’s not your damn business.” Drawing in a deep breath, I try to reason with this unreasonable girl. “Look, I’ll give you all the money you want if you just move to Colorado with your dad and never set foot in Redwood again. Name the price. It’s yours.”
“It’s not money I want.” Her hand stretches down between us and my body jolts when she gets a firm grip on my dick. “I want this, and this.” Her opposite hand pats my chest. “That’s all.”
I’ve given Madison every inch of me, aside from my heart. She’s consumed my thoughts more times than I care to admit. I’ve fed her my dick more times than I can count. And, I’ve tasted every part of her body in return. But she will never have my heart. She’s not even in it. What started off as fun and games and a little crush on my stepsister has developed into pure loathing. She’s never going to give up.
Talon pulls open the door, and I jerk away from Madison before he steps outside. “Everything ok out here?”
“All good. I’ll be in, in a sec,” I tell him.
Cocking a brow in concern, his eyes dance back and forth between me and Madison. “Alright. We need to finish that conversation before I leave. So, hurry up.”
Once he’s back inside, I do what I have to do to rush her out of here. “Fine. I’ll come see you tonight. We can talk about the future.” The word ‘future’ always appeases her. Right now, I just need her gone.
She presses a chaste kiss to my cheek. “See you in class.” Then she spins on her heel and walks away.
In class? We don’t have any classes together. Brushing it off, I go back in to talk to Talon. I can’t fight this battle with Madison on my own any longer. It’s time to come clean.
“What the hell was that about?” he asks as he sits on the couch, lacing up his black boots.
“Madison knows.” I spit it out with zero hesitation or thought behind it.
His laces drop and he gets to his feet. “What the hell do you mean Madison knows?”
Pacing the floor behind the couch where he stands, I attempt to explain. “She followed me and Zed that night. She saw us put Josh in the trunk of the car. She thinks we killed him. No matter how many times I tell her we didn’t.”
“What the fuck, man?” He snaps. His fingers grip the sides of his head and he fists his hair. “Why the hell are you just now telling us this? Fuck!” he shouts even louder.