I move, ready to stop him from talking to her like that.
“Enough,” Hawke chimes in.
But Kade is a bullet. “Did he buy you that house?” he asks Quinn. “Some place to keep his dirty little secret?”
What the…?
But Hunter clamps a hand over his twin’s mouth and pulls Kade back into his body. “I’m really sorry.” Hunter laughs nervously. “The, uh, ‘little shit’ put full cans of beer inside the firewood logs he uses when he takes girls to ChimneyLock Island,” he explains to us. “His blowjob turned a little painful last night.”
Kade struggles under his brother’s hold, fire rising in his cheeks. I drop my head so he can’t see my grin.
Okay, so maybe this ‘prison rival’ of his can take care of herself.
But Quinn walks up. “Oh my God,” she tells Kade. “Are you okay?”
He yanks Hunter’s hand off his mouth. “No, I’m not okay!”
Hunter clamps his mouth shut again, his chest shaking with laughter. “He’s, uh…out of commission for the rest of the summer.”
I try to shake the scene out of my head, but I can’t get rid of it. Firelight, the summer woods, owls hooting, and then pop! An explosion in the campfire, scaring his date, who instinctively clenches her teeth around him in fright…
I snort as I move around the bed to fan the sheets and tidy up.
“I could’ve died!” he screams.
But Hawke interjects, “There’s no proof she was the one who did that.”
Kade shoves away from Hunter, completely distracted with his rekindled anger. “I’m gonna catch her and bust her so hard, her only option to avoid prison is to join the Army!” he growls. “Either way, she leaves. Not even Green Street can protect her.”
I straighten up.Green Street?
“That kid works for Green Street?” I ask.
The boys look at me, I glance at Quinn, and Hawke nods. “She’s one of their most active little earners now.”
My stomach sinks.
But Hunter clarifies, “Theft.”
I clear my throat, thankful it’s not dealing, or something worse.
But then an idea forms.Theft.
And I start to smile.
She doesn’t know me, but she might enjoy Kade needing her help.
I glance to Hawke. “Call her.”
“WhyshouldI help you?” she asks me an hour later.
Thomasin Dietrich is her name, I’d learned. Tommy for short. She’s the daughter of one of Jared’s old high school rivals, Nate Dietrich.
The firehouse sits lit up behind her, across the street with Farrow’s bike parked in front, and despite the heat of the night, she’s dressed in black jeans, a long-sleeved black turtleneck, and gloves.
I hate that I’m here again. A bad influence to youths. If they find out she helped us…
But for a kid, she’s not easy to intimidate. Arms folded over her chest, eyes stern, and not even the slightest fidget. The red tips in her long, white hair dance softly in the breeze.
