Tipping his head forward, he stares straight past me. “Her.”
I turn around and look at the innocent girl sitting in my car. “What do you mean, her?”
“It all starts with her.” He pats a hand to my back and walks away. Slowly fading into the dark. I stand there frozen until I hear the roar of his engine. Once his brake lights come on and dirt kicks up behind him, I look at Willa who is watching me with wonder. A flawless girl with a realness about her. She doesn’t pretend, nor falter. I just told her I’d never let Zed hurt her. Now I have to make a choice. Her or them.
7
Lost. That’s the best word I’d use to describe Lars Titan. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the body of a Greek god, he’s never had to want for anything. Yet, he stands out there idly with his hands in his pockets and a gazillion thoughts running rampant in his mind. He talks in circles and never finishes a conversation. Barely smiles, and almost always has his fists balled at his side. Like he’s on the verge of fighting the world because he feels like it’s against him.
I don’t know much about Lars, but I know enough. I’ve watched him for years. I’ve caught glimpses of his blank stare enough times to know that he puts on this show of a perfect life. His life isn’t as perfect as he wants us to think it is. In fact, I’m pretty sure he lives in his own misery.
A guy who practically had me on my knees begging to be noticed. He just stepped over me and kept on walking—but not before kicking me and laughing about it with the entire town. Jokes on him. Yep, Lars was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but now he gets to feed me from it.
Lars walks quickly to the driver’s side and climbs in, shutting the door behind him and wasting no time to drive us out of here. “Sorry about that. Just had to take care of some unfinished business with Zed.”
Stretching over the seat, my fingers graze the cut on his head from his first brawl of the night with Rick. He shrieks at my touch, and I retreat quickly. “Sorry. You need to clean that up, though. It looks sorta deep.”
“It’s just a scratch. I’ll be fine.”
“Is everything else ok?”
“Yeah. Just some shit we’ve been dealing with. How are you? You good?” He glances in my direction. The light of the dash casts off his gorgeous face and I have to remind myself that the devil was once an angel. His beautiful exterior no longer masks his black heart. I see right through it.
“We really need to finish our conversation from earlier.”
“Yeah. About that. You really think that leaving Redwood is the best plan?”
“I don’t think. I know. I have to leave. Staying is not an option.” He’ll never understand. He’ll also never know why I need to leave. No one can ever know. I have to get as far away from here as possible. Rick will never allow me to keep my baby, and I’ll never allow him to try and stop me.
“Come back to Talon’s for the night. Sleep on it and we can talk more tomorrow.”
I chuckle unintentionally. “Me? Stay at Talon Porter’s? Not a chance.”
“You got a problem with Talon?”
I absolutely have a problem with Talon. As a matter of fact, I have a problem with all four of these guys. Naturally, I hate them all. After the humiliation I went through, just so they could get a good laugh. Anyone would hate them for what they did. But I don’t say it. “No, no problem. I just don’t feel comfortable staying there. Just take me home and we can both sleep on it.”
“You can’t go home. Are you forgetting that your stepdad attacked you?”
“He didn’t attack me. He was just mad. He gets like that sometimes. I’ll be fine. I’ve dealt with him for years.” I don’t mention that I keep a knife under my pillow. Or that I had to use it once.
“Are you sure? It doesn’t seem safe. What if next time he hurts the baby, or you?”
“He won’t hurt me. I swear. I have to go home, though. If I don’t then he’ll call the cops.” He’s done it before. Played it off like a concerned parent. Fortunately, my own reputation precedes me and everyone in this town thinks I’m a good girl. It’s not a lie. I am good, at least I try to be. But someone taught me not too long ago that being nice only makes you appear weak. What these people don’t know is that I grew a backbone and I’ll never let anyone break me again.
“Alright. If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. Can we talk after class tomorrow?”
“How about if we meet at the park after dark? Make a plan for what’s coming.”
“You mean, a baby?” I look over at him. He raises a brow in question. “A baby, that’s what’s coming.” I don’t think he fully grasps what I’m trying to tell him. It’s like he doesn’t believe that I’m pregnant, or he doesn’t want to.
“Yeah. That’s what I meant. We can talk about the baby.” He pulls up in front of my house and turns his body toward me. “But Willa, this has to stay between us for now. All of it. We can’t let this
