I rub my hands up and down my face, “Why didn’t you just tell me instead of sneaking around my house like a fucking creep?”
“Dallas told me not to,” Alex cracks a smile, “she said she doesn’t need you being all up in her business. I think she feels stifled.”
I arch my brow, “You do, huh?”
I don’t know whether to laugh or punch him in the face. I can barely keep a straight face at the thought of Alejandro Barrera, who wears Ariats with his soccer uniform and cusses people out in Spanish on a regular basis, being ordered around by Dallas and sitting in her Pepto Bismol bedroom while he watches her play Tomb Raider for hours on end.
“Jesus Christ…” I let my head fall with a laugh, “this just keeps getting better.”
“Are you mad?” he asks, “because if you are—” I start shaking my head because I know what he’s about to say.
He’s too good of a friend to lie to me, even if he does sneak into my house to see my sister. He’s about to offer to break the whole thing off, but I can’t ask him to do that, especially right now. What do I care if Alex wants to spend his time with Dallas, especially if it makes her feel any shred of happiness right now? He’s not like Aiden…
“No, I’m not mad. I’d rather you keep an eye on her anyway…” I trail off, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Bowen threatened her,” I spit out.
Alex jerks his head up, “What?”
“Yeah,” I nod, “that’s why I split his head open at the funeral, because he can’t keep his damn mouth shut.” When I look up, Mason and Aiden are leaning against the side of the truck, hanging onto every word. “I don’t know that he’s ever spoken to her, but he still knows who she is. You’ll be here until summer, and I’m not going far…”
I’m trying to convince myself it’s not as bad as it seems, that there will still be a few of us around to keep an eye on Dallas.
I shoot Alex a look and lower my voice, “Seriously, don’t fuck this up. You don’t lay a finger on her and if I ever see her crying over you, you’ll be the next one I come for with the rest of these assholes.”
He holds my eyes and gives a nod just as Rory and Josh return with a case of beer. And as soon as they jump in the truck, we take off with a third place in mind.
As soon as we swing around the curve at the top of the old railroad bridge, my heart pounds with excitement when Bowen’s white Lancer comes into view. There’s a fevered buzz and a wave of menacing laughter as Mason skids to a halt at the entrance of the overlook and his headlights flood the clearing with light.
I jump down from the bed of the truck and can’t help but laugh as four of them race ahead of me, itching to get going.
“Wakey, wakey!” they surround the Lancer, pounding on the trunk and windows.
Rory taps on the driver’s side window with the barrel of his assault rifle as he passes, making sure that Bowen sees him. We’re not idiots; Bowen’s always carrying, so we make sure one of us is, too, and he knows it.
Alex leaps onto the hood of the car like a goddamn chimpanzee and starts pounding the glass, “Get your ass out here, Garrison!” he shouts through his glowing Purge mask and points at the windshield with a curl of his finger.
Mason slams his door as I come up alongside him and both of us pull our gaiters up over our noses, turning our faces into fluorescent white skulls. He hands me one of the metal baseball bats from the backseat and we head toward the commotion on the other side of the clearing. It’s like an army of the dead coming out to play.
Seconds later, the passenger door of the Lancer flies open and a girl with long dark hair stumbles out into the dust. She’s barefoot and wearing jean shorts over a crooked red striped bikini, eyes wild with terror as she tries to flee the car. She tries to make a run for it, but doesn’t get three steps before she slams into Aiden and he grabs her by the arm, hauling her around to the back bumper.
After realizing there’s nowhere to go, the driver’s door opens and Bowen steps out onto the dirt. He looks much less excited than his latest conquest. As the rest of us circle them, Aiden shoves the girl toward me and she pitches forward, falling into my chest. Before she can push away, I swing my arm around her shoulder and spin her around, pulling her to my body.
“Who’s your new girl, Bo?” I leer over her shoulder, “She’s just as cute as a button.”
I whip my bat across her chest, catching the end with my other hand. She’s pinned against me now, shaking and whimpering like a scared puppy. Bowen is unconcerned with her panic. He seems more annoyed that we’ve ruined his evening, and he’s not going to expend the effort to tell us anything about her when he himself doesn’t even care.
Slowly, I brush my shrouded nose against her temple, “What’s your name, hon?”
She doesn’t answer at first, so I give the bat a quick jerk, startling her into speaking. “A-Asher,” she stammers, trembling beneath my arm.
“A pretty name for a pretty girl,” I drawl. “You know what my boy, Bo, here does with pretty girls?” She glances at me quickly before looking away, not wanting to make eye contact. “No? I thought you heard. Small town and all…”
Alex appears on the roof of the Lancer, the body flexing and popping as he steps onto the trunk and hops down onto the ground. “If she had, she never would’ve come here,” he growls.
I pull the bat, and Asher, tighter to my chest, “He takes them out to the woods and finds a nice, quiet place. Because he doesn’t like anyone else looking at his pretty girls.”
Mason suddenly appears at her other shoulder, giving her a start, “Or hearing them scream.”
She looks to Bowen in desperation, but he’s all but forgotten about her.
Aiden, who’s been pacing leisurely in front of Bowen with his bat on his shoulder, turns to Bowen, making his rabbit ears bounce, “You ever seen his gun?” then he swivels back to Asher and I, “Don’t worry, he won’t shoot you with it…yet.”
I lean back down to her ear, “And when they can’t run away, he strips them down...”
Mason reaches beneath my bat and gives the string between her tits a snap, eliciting a tiny scream from her, “But maybe she’d like that,” he chuckles.
Aiden leaves Bowen and ambles across the dirt toward us, “You know where his favorite place is to keep his gun?” he asks as he slides the metal bat off his shoulder and drags the tip across the dirt.
He stops in front of Asher and sweeps the bat up to her ankle. Taking his time, he gently runs the cold metal up the inside of her leg. She fidgets like she’s trying to shake it off, but freezes when he reaches the apex of her thighs. Then he tilts his creepy rabbit face and just looks at her. A few seconds later, I see his shoulder begin to move as he slides the bat back and forth through the crotch of her shorts.
“You better pray you’re unconscious for that part,” Aiden gives her a tap between the legs, “but his is bigger,” he nods to Rory, “maybe you’d like to go with him instead.”
A chuckle ripples through the circle as Rory taps his rifle against his shoulder and gives her a nod.
Mason crouches down next to Aiden’s sneakers, his skull face gazing up at her, “Bo likes to get you all nice and bloody first—lube you up for when he takes his turn.”
Aiden jerks his head down to Mason, his voice hitching with excitement, “What about his knife?” he whips his rabbit ears back up to Asher, “Has he showed you his knife yet?”
“That’s how he tells his girls apart,” I whisper to her, “pretty girls get pretty tattoos.”
