Jesus, Leah sure as hell hadn’t inherited her mom’s innocence.
“No. I got away.” I wiped away more tears. “Can I use your phone?”
With a nod, the woman fetched the phone. My gaze drifted across the hall while I pretended to call someone who would give a shit about me. That was when I noticed Zepp in the hallway, like an ominous shadow. His dark eyes burned through the slit in his ski mask like smoldering coal before he disappeared down the hall.
Nervous energy wound through my veins as I sat and waited for the guys to finish. I almost jumped out of my skin when the knock finally came at the front door. Leah’s mother moved ahead of me to answer it. Bellamy stood on the Welcome mat. His gaze met mine before moving to the woman. “Thanks for helping my sister.”
“That’s no problem.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “You really should involve the police, dear. It’s just not right.”
Bellamy wrapped an arm around my shoulder; I guessed to really sell it. “Thank you for your help.”
As soon as the door clicked shut behind us, we both sprinted across the manicured lawn for the truck. One of the guys opened the door to the back cab. I threw myself in, and Bellamy tumbled in behind me. The door was still open when Wolf pulled away from the curb, tires screeching.
We hadn’t made it out of Barrington before guilt settled in my gut. That woman had tried to help me, even if she was rich and raising bitches like Leah Anderson. And we had robbed her. Although I knew it was all things she could afford to lose, it felt wrong.
“Looks like you can follow directions,” Zepp said from the front seat.
“You robbed your girlfriend?”
He barked out a laugh. “I don’t date girls, Monroe. I fuck them.”
“Spreading her legs should surely buy her some loyalty. Damn.” That was cold.
Hendrix snorted beside me. “Nothing about Leah deserves loyalty. Not even her pussy.”
I couldn’t imagine sleeping with someone and finding out that I meant absolutely nothing to them. I wondered if Leah had any clue how disposable she was. For a second, I pitied the bitch. It was fleeting, though, because she’d have to be stupid to see Zepp as anything more than the asshole he was. Not like he tried to hide it.
My phone vibrated, and I took it out, reading over a message from Max. Hendrix leaned over my shoulder, and I glared at him, locking my phone.
“Harford?” Disgust laced his voice.
If I had to guess, Hendrix didn’t know anything more about Max than the fact that he attended Barrington, but as far as most people in Dayton were concerned, that was enough. There was always beef between our schools, and Max was public enemy number one because he was the quarterback. The golden boy with a perfect life handed to him on a silver platter. He was all that, but he was also okay for a Barrington guy.
“You’re talking to Harford?” Hendrix kicked at one of the bags filled with stolen stuff that sat on the floorboard. “Why the hell are you talking to that asshole?”
“None of your business.”
My gaze caught the rearview mirror just in time to see Zepp glare into the backseat.
“Fucking the golden dick quarterback, huh?” He laughed, lighting a cigarette. “There’s your self-respect.”
It was right on the tip of my tongue to deny it. “Says the guy fucking and robbing the cheerleader.”
“Cheerleaders. Plural.” He cracked the window, and a stream of smoke billowed out.
“Congratulations.”
Guys like Zepp and Hendrix could bang all the rich girls they liked. But the second a Dayton girl picked a Barrington guy over them, especially the quarterback, the guy had hell to pay and she was a slut—then again, weren’t girls always the sluts, while the guys were studs?
It was late when I got home. My mother laid, passed out on one couch, another track mark in her arm. Jerry was on the other couch, several beer bottles scattered around his feet and a bottle of whiskey dangling from his hand.
Great. Jerry was a horrible drunk.
“Where you been?” he slurred.
At the very least, I knew I should try to appease his drunk ass, but I couldn’t help the indignation that rose in me. Despite knowing it would piss him off, I said, “Out.” One word I knew I shouldn’t have, but I was still fighting.
No matter how much power he had over me, I’d never stop; because the moment I did, I would become just like my mom. A tragedy. Screwing dirty men to pay for a habit, all so I could escape the very existence I’d created. She was weak, but I refused to be.
That drunk, angry glaze in his eyes was all too familiar to me, and the second he took a step toward me, I knew what was coming, so I braced myself.
7
Zepp
LEAH: They took my cat’s rhinestone collar. Like WTAF is wrong with people?
Hendrix was the one who took that. Surprisingly, the guy at the pawnshop had given us seven bucks for it. Leah had been texting me non-stop. Like I gave a shit about her problems. Hell, I was the reason for half of them, she just didn’t know it. Sure, we may have taken her grandmother’s pearl necklace, but in the grand scheme of things, her family wasn’t hurting. They were out a few heirlooms and diamond necklaces that probably hadn’t seen the light of day in the better half of a decade, and Hendrix and I got to keep a roof over our heads.
Me: Why are you bitching to me about this stuff? Don’t you have a boyfriend?
LEAH: Me and Max aren’t dating!!!!!
They never were dating when Leah wanted dick worth a damn…
I closed the texts without responding and shoved my phone to the side of the desk when Mr. Weaver passed out exams. I read over the first question and bubbled in C. Halfway through the test, my name crackled over the intercom system.
“Zeppelin Hunt. You’re needed in the principal’s office.”
Tossing my pencil down, I glared around the room. The other student’s eyes shifted away when I pushed up from my chair. If one of those pricks had the balls to snitch on me for selling weed, I was going to kill them.
I stopped outside Principal Brown’s office, and Monroe’s muffled voice drifted from the other side of the door.
“Some rich lady says a redhead robbed her, and you figured, ‘it must be some trash kid from Dayton High. I’ll go looking for a redhead there.’”
I waited to see what would follow, but all that came was silence. I pushed down on the handle. Monroe didn’t bother to look up when the lock clicked, and I stepped into Brown’s office.
As expected, Brown’s disapproving gaze met mine. What wasn’t expected was Officer Jacobs standing in the corner, sleeves tight-rolled over his half-muscled arms in all his dipshit glory. The guy had had it out for us ever since Hendrix popped his daughter’s cherry in the back seat of his patrol car. I was sure this just made his day.
I leaned a shoulder against the wall and shot Monroe a stern glare while I played out how this was about to go down. If I had my guess, she had probably said I made her do it. Told them she hadn’t stolen a thing—which would be true. The only problem was that it was her word against mine. There would be no proof. I had been in every room in Leah’s house, on purpose, so any fingerprints of mine, Leah would have to answer for that. There weren’t any security cameras, so the police would be hard-pressed to find evidence outside of Mrs. Anderson’s identifying Monroe in a lineup.