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"My dad is mean," she murmurs, holding out an envelope.
"Your dad? Where is he?" I ask, lying back in the grass.
"He won't talk to me. I tried, Knight. I sent him a letter, and he sent it back." Water forms in her eyes when she stares at me, and her hope shatters.
"He doesn't deserve you, Blue," I whisper, setting a hand on hers.
No one deserves her except maybe me. That River is mine. She's always had my name stamped on her ass as Kieran's property. I may have lost her for the past nine years, but now I'm here to reclaim what's mine. And what's mine is her.
“Yeah,” I say, pulling out onto the main road. At two a.m., not many cars travel alongside us as we head straight back to our little slice of suburban hell, ten minutes away from the edge of Central City.
“And? Did you find him?” Rad asks with a lazy grin, leaning back into the seat. "You know we need him.” He runs a hand through his mullet, massaging his scalp with his fingertips.
I scowl. Whoever told that idiot an 80s mullet was sexy must have been high. But he's been sporting it since I joined him in friggin middle school on the Lakeview side, where his mullet wasn't seen often but never made fun of. They would have been all over him and laughing if he was a Central kid. But not our middle school on the other side of the tracks, a stone's throw away from Central City, but yet so far away.
Hell, his mullet ass was my first best friend, introducing himself to me on my first day at a new fancy school. His grin alone drew me in and helped me feel comfortable after a hard night of shouts and fists in my face. The moment I stepped through Lakeview's doors, I wasn't looking for any friends. Asher tolerated me at best but meeting Rad was a game-changer.
"We have the talent. We don't need him," Callum murmurs, not bothering to remove his headphones, which must be on low volume. Asher scoffs.
Rad continues his mini-rant, blowing out the smoke from the joint resting between his fingers. "I sure as hell didn't see a damn thing except for all the desperate pussy in the crowd. You see Tessa's titties?" He grins at that, looking at Cal, who shakes his head, trying to hide the deep blush reddening his cheeks. “Aw, tiny tots Tessa," Rad barks out a laugh. "As soon as she raised her shirt, I swear little Rad shriveled away." He grunts, patting his junk playfully.
“Yeah, yeah. We had our fun. When will she learn?” I murmur, cringing at the "fun" we had a year back. It's nothing I'll want to revisit mentally or physically. No, my mind only has one prize now.
Callum snorts, not offering anything else as his eyes close, and he settles further into the seat.
Asher rolls his eyes, gritting his teeth so hard I swear I hear them crack. If he doesn't go for a run or fuck some chick soon, he'll implode. I may have suffered under my stepfather’s rule over the last ten years, but Asher has suffered his whole life. Since the moment his mom overdosed and slipped into an early grave, Asher has taken the brunt of Nigel's abuse. Pounding the pavement is the only coping mechanism he's been using to soothe the anger surging through him.
Rad sighs. "You know that was the only reason we agreed to play at that shithole. It was your idea to find him,” Rad says with a huge grin. “Although, I kinda liked the vibe. It was emo and...”
“Fucking dirty,” Asher mumbles in irritation. “It was disgusting there. Do they call that a bar? It smelled terrible. It looked like...”
“God damn, Asher, my man! You’re one buzzkill after another!” Rad barks out, slapping Ash's shoulder and knocking him toward the window. “Lighten up! Do you think if we make it big, we’ll be playing in anything nicer along the way? We’re going to have to work our way up. Unless….” Rad smiles at me in the rearview mirror with a knowing look.
His brows raise, and he nods his head in understanding. He may look like an 80s burnout, but he is as bright as a fucking light with no filter.
Streetlights pass by, progressively getting fancier and fancier the further we get out of the near central part of town. The buildings get enormous and more ornate, letting me know we’ve officially made it back to the Lakeview District—our slice of hell. I swallow hard, my heart hardening in the center of my chest.
Tonight, we'll make hard decisions—decisions that will stick with us for the rest of our lives. Every day we don't have a plan in place, our desperation grows wilder by the second, and we're liable to do anything to get the fuck out of this shitty town. For years, our parents have waved off our aspirations as if they were mere pipe dreams impossible to achieve. And here we are, ready to prove to them it can happen.
“I sure as fuck didn’t see him. Not like I knew who the fuck we were looking for,” Asher mumbles angrily, contorting his stuck-up face. "Didn't see much of anyone but a bunch of Central chicks working the bar and front door."
If he wasn’t a competent guitar player and a master with his fingers, I’d have left my stepbrother to rot in the fucking suburbs, wallowing in his self-loathing. But alas, he plays like a fucking angel, even when he's a know-it-all fucking tool. Not that he's a bad guy by any means, Ash is cool when he's not bitching. Or being a stuck-up prick, which he does all the time, especially if shit doesn't go his way. But I know, deep down, Asher Montgomery has my damn back like a real brother would. It may have taken us a while to get to this point, but I know he wouldn't lead us down the wrong path or lie to us. We're a damn family, the only family we have.
I sigh, staring through the windshield when we pull into the driveway leading to hell. A light pops on in the living room, and Gloria's pinched face peeks out. Her eyes narrow in on us, and she shakes her head, looking like she’s ready to rip us a new one for pulling in so late and disturbing her sleep. Already I hear the slew of words she'll sling in my direction the moment I walk through the door, criticizing me.
Seeing my mom's face is a stark reminder of who I'm loyal to—the assholes in this SUV. They may be loud, inconsiderate, and make me want to punch them, but they're my family. They're the ones I trust with my damn life. Family doesn't have to be blood; family is the people who see you at your lowest and help to raise you, not lower you down. And that's precisely what these dicks do.
River's bewildered face pops into my mind. I cringe, wiping a hand down my face. God, I'm such a prick after a performance. When the high of being on stage fades away, I always need another hit of euphoria. I always crash after the last note plays, and then I need the time to myself. Time to unwind and relax. Fuck! Why did this have to get so fucking complicated? I punch the steering wheel with a huff, throwing myself back into my seat.
I don't know River anymore. Anyone can change after nine years apart. Before, she was an innocent angel mercilessly picked on. And now? She's a stranger to me. So, to hell with it all. I'll do something I might regret later, even though River is consuming my mind.
There's something about River that reels me in like a fish on a hook, drawing me into her orbit. Maybe it's our tainted history together. Those nights spent under the stars, spilling our guts, race through my mind calling me back to her. She's the girl I was forced to leave behind and forget at the hands of my stepfather. There's no way I can get River out of my mind. Not with her moss-green eyes burning through me when her luscious lips pop open. Or maybe it's her banging, tight body and her perfect tits, fitting into my hand, that draw me to her.
Now, I want her back, no matter the cost. This may be the only way I can have her without getting any grief. I'll make her mine.
I swallow hard. “River West isn’t some dude,” I say on exhale.
River West is my River Blue. Mine.
