Even if seeing her hurt and bleeding, physically wounded something inside of me.
Chapter Fourteen
Idon’t leave, despite feeling like I need to flee. We hang out at the pool side, Zara and Jake’s flirting becoming more intense by the second. I don’t give a shit who he fucks, he deserves happiness after the mother of his daughter jumped ship the moment she popped out Amy and left him heart broken. He dropped everything to be there for her, worked three jobs to get them everything they needed and spent every last cent of his savings to get them into accommodation that wasn’t riddled with black mold, and then she emptied it when she left, leaving him with nothing.
He still works three jobs to take care of his daughter and no matter how many times I offer him money, he refuses to take it. I don’t blame him. I have the money, but I don’t fucking want it either.
I don’t mind so much giving it to people who need it but me? Nah, I’ll never spend a cent of the two million sitting in my bank account.
It’s hush money, covered in the blood of –
My thoughts are cut off when Jake does a run and bombs into the pool, splashing cold water over the three of us still sitting at the pool’s edge, Marly and me on one bed, Zara on the other. He’s fully dressed when he emerges from the water, grinning like a damn kid in a candy shop.
I lean back on the lounger; my hand brushing Marly’s thigh and I pretend I don’t hear her little gasp. We can only stay for a few more minutes, with another race tonight I need to get to the track to set up.
“You coming to the track tonight, princess?” I lean in and whisper against the shell of Marly’s ear.
She glances to me, uncertainty flashing through those sky-blue eyes, “I don’t know.”
“You’ll be with me,” I assure her, “It won’t happen again.”
“What won’t happen again?” Zara whips her head around, “You went back to the track?” She asks Marly directly.
Marly cringes and glances at me, “Friday,” She confirms.
“What happened?” Zara demands, her shoulders stiffening. It’s not hard to see how loyal Zara is to Marly, their friendship as solid as mine and Jake’s. Which provides a problem if she doesn’t like me.
“Marly was tricked into drinking the punch,” I offer the information, “I invited her, but I didn’t know she had arrived.”
“Tricked!?” Zara hisses, “What does that mean?”
Jake, having sensed the turn in mood, climbs from the pool and strolls toward Zara, “Don’t worry, babe, Riv dealt with Rach after.”
“Who the fuck is Rach!?” She growls, glaring at me.
Maybe I just made it worse. Shit.
“Invite is open,” I say to Marly as I stand, cringing at Jake dripping water all over the patio, “Text me if you decide to come.” I throw her a wink and slap Jake on the shoulder, forcing him to follow.
I’m not even six feet away when I hear Zara start grilling Marly about what happened Friday, but I don’t stick around to hear how Marly answers. She could lie or she could tell her how it went down, either way, Zara could screw up everything.
“You need to keep that chick on our side,” I tell Jake once we’re out the gates of the property.
I see him stiffen, “What?”
“Zara.”
“What about her?” He narrows his eyes at me, “She’s solid, River, what’s the issue?”
“She doesn’t like me,” I tell him, “And I need Marly, so if Zara sways her, it fucks me.”
“Marly doesn’t seem like the rest of them, River, maybe we need to figure out another way.”
“No,” I snap, “This is theonlyway.”
He shakes his head, “Zara and Marly have been friends since they were kids, River, she’ll always protect her friend.”
“Then you need to convince her that I’m good for Marly,” I growl at him.
