Silently, I clean him up while the tension hangs heavy in the room. We don’t lose Zach’s attention, my skin tingles with his stare the entire time I’m on the floor with Spike. I’m not sure what he’s expecting us to do, but his warning is more than clear.
After picking everything up, I take it all to the kitchen.
“I’m assuming you’d like a coffee?” I ask Zach. “Not that you deserve it,” I mutter, but it’s nowhere near quiet enough for him to miss it.
“Please.”
I don’t bother asking Spike—we all know he needs one right now.
As I put the first mug under the machine, I watch as Spike hauls himself from the floor, and, clutching at his ribs, he moves over to the sofa.
Nothing is said between the two friends. I know Spike is waiting for me to do all the explaining, and although I understand why, I kinda wish he’d just do it for me.
All too soon there are three coffees on the table, and I’m sitting before Zach, who’s not so patiently waiting for some answers.
“So…”
This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. I didn’t want to drag anyone else into this bullshit with Jet, because I know for a fact that he won’t think twice about using others to get to me. The last thing I need is for him to hurt the only remaining family I have.
“Mum was in some trouble.” Spike scoffs behind me, but I ignore him. “You know she was an addict, that’s no secret. She got involved with some shady dealer when all the others cut her off. She racked up a shit ton of debt with him with no way to pay. Well, long story short, she died, and I inherited her debt and the shady dealer.”
“Right…” The vein in Zach’s forehead pulsates with frustration as I talk. If the situation weren’t so dire, I might laugh at it.
“So, I needed to earn good money, and fast—”
“If you fucking tell me that you’re a hooker and that motherfucker has paid for you, I’ll lose my—”
“Calm the fuck down, man. You know I don’t pay for it.”
Zach’s face turns damn near purple at Spike’s words. I don’t think they had quite the effect he was hoping for.
“I got a job as a dancer at Pulse.” Zach’s mouth opens to say something, but I cut him off. “It’s not the first time I’ve done it, and no one forced me, if that’s what you're thinking. Anyway, I’d been there a few weeks, was starting to build up a little cash, and then this motherfucker turns up on a night off and drags me off the fucking stage.”
“What?” Zach barks.
“What? I wasn’t going to let her stay up there and have all those arsehole guys staring at her like that.”
Zach nods at his friend before turning back to me
“Go on,” he encourages.
I tell him all about Jet waiting for me and how Spike and Titch saved me, before I explain the house share I was living in.
“It wasn’t a house share. It was a fucking squat, Kas,” Spike complains. “There was no way I was leaving you there.”
“It had done me fine for the previous few years. You might not like it, but I can look after myself, you know.”
Zach sags back on the sofa, and Spike and I continue bickering.
“Shut up,” he barks eventually. “You’re like an old married couple.”
We both halt and turn to him.
“Oh no, no. That’s not what this is.” Spike tries arguing while Zach drills him with a death stare.
“I might be more relieved to hear that if I didn’t turn up to find you both looking like this.” He gestures between the two of us.
“I can explain,” Spike starts.
Zach raises a brow and sips on his coffee.
“I told her to stay put, but your sister doesn’t do as she’s fucking told, so she went out, got accosted by the arsehole who’s after her, and turned back up here looking like that.”
“Wearing your shirt?” Zach asks.
“Well, no, but—”
“I borrowed it to sleep in. It’s nothing, Zach,” I add in the hope that I can dig Spike out of the shit.
I’m not stupid, I knew last night when he told me that everything would change today, he meant it.
“You expect me to believe that?” Zach asks, his eyes trained on Spike.
He shrugs. “Believe what you want. I was trying to help.” We both watch as he pushes from the chair and leaves the room. The sound of his door slamming shut vibrates through the flat before it falls silent once more.
Zach turns his blue eyes on me and sits forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“How much?”
“How much what?”
He rolls his eyes like I’m an idiot. “How much do you need to pay this guy off?”
“I’m not telling you that. It’s not your issue.”
“Damn it, Kas,” he snaps, making me jump. “Let me fucking help you. You don’t have to do this alone now.”
“And what if I want to?”
His teeth grind, his jaw popping with frustration. “Why would you? This guy is going to seriously hurt you if you don’t just pay. I can give you however much you need. Just get the fucker off your case.”
“I’m not taking your money, Zach.”
He opens his mouth, but no words come for a few seconds. “Fine. Work for it.”
“What?”
“Work. For. It.”
“Don’t be stupid, Zach. What the hell am I going to do at your studio to earn that kind of money, aside from turning one of the back rooms into a den of tricks?” I wink so he knows what I’m getting at, and his face starts to turn purple once more.
“Aside from that suggestion, I don’t give a shit what you do. You can clean the place every day if you like or, we could train you up.”
“What?”
“Don’t even try to pretend that you’re not interested. I know you always wanted to go to art school. I saw the drawing of your wings, remember? And as much as I hate
