The Best Chance (The Amherst Sinners Series Book 4) Page 10

  I convinced Addi to skip her bronzed lotion, the red lipstick, and whatever she planned to do with her hair before we left with Liz and her clan to her parents’ house. They lived only minutes from Liz’s brownstone, so we weren’t actually late. Thankfully, I had my Mustang back, so all I had to do was follow Leon’s car.

  Addi snapped, “We’re with Liz; they won’t care if we’re late now.” The tone of her voice was all sass and unapologetic.

  “Try to relax, babe. I’m meeting your parents, remember?”

  I was trying to appeal to her desires—something inside me knew she didn’t want their approval anyway. It made me question if I was armor or truly something she wanted, down under all that contempt for them.

  I shifted my eyes her way. Her small body looked uncomfortable against my leather seats for the first time since she stormed her way into my car, making demands like her name would be the only one I ever said again.

  She wasn’t wrong.

  I pulled into the driveway behind Leon and waited for Addi to make a move first, until Liz was nearly tapping her foot and shouting, “Guys! Let’s go!”

  Practically dragging Addi to the front door, I pushed her hips in front of me, shocked she wasn’t dragging her feet too. Their dad opened the door with a huge smile on his face. “Angels! Your mom was about to start calling you. Get in here!” I could see Addi’s resemblance to her dad—same pale tone without the fake tan, same eyes, and cut jaw. He waited for Liz, baby Bijou, and Leon to walk by, before he laced an arm around Addi, kissing her hair. He knew she needed extra attention in these situations, and my protective defense came down slightly. At least someone in her family cared how she felt.

  I heard him whisper to her while I trailed behind, “She’s in a good mood today. This should be easy. Should I be worried there’s a guy following you?”

  She giggled, innocently, almost childlike. “No, Daddy. He’s a good one.”

  He stopped walking with her to now focus on me. “Addi’s dad… you are?”

  “The other guy she calls daddy too… for other reasons, obviously.”

  His happiness drained from his face, like melted butter, slipping right off.

  This is why I wasn’t the meet the parents type.

  Addi turned around with a fresh blush covering her new paler tone. “Hunter!”

  I shrugged. I couldn’t take it back now, even though I didn’t want to. I wasn’t here to impress people who made Addi feel so unlovable that I had to fix her.

  “I’m gonna ignore that and call it nerves. Take a seat at the table, son.” Her dad was more of a father than mine: warm, forgiving, unconditional. It made me wonder what the hell he acted like behind closed doors. Was this just a facade? His company face?

  I sat down next to Addi at their long table when Leon’s fist was held in the air, waiting for mine to bump against his. I took pity on him, knowing he was just as much on the outside as I was. The Amherst Sinners weren’t a club accepting new members, yet we were always right on the edge of being involved, so my fist bumped into his. Solidarity or whatever bullshit you wanted to call it.

  Addi’s mom finally made an appearance, carrying two dishes of vegetables for the table, when she realized I wasn’t part of their normal traditions. “Addileigh didn’t say she was bringing company.”

  Moms loved me. I wasn’t worried about her at all. Every mom had some version of me that got away when they traded in the danger for stability and suburbs. I was probably already making her panties wet enough to be on her approved list instead of shit list.

  She pushed out her hand in a reason to touch me, and I obliged. “Hunter.”

  Her dad’s eyes were still grilling me uncomfortably now. I was stealing the attention from both his girls—actually all of them, if you counted Liz’s crush on me in college.

  Must be a record for me.

  Addi was silent. Not one word escaped her, and every dish passed to her she skipped on. Her plate was empty and clean. I was waiting for the shoe to drop. Once Liz talked about Bijou, all bets were off. Whatever gag was in their mouths before had been ripped out.

  “Addi, do you want a salad?” She leaned over the table, handing her the bowl and whispering in a way we could all hear still. “Gotta keep the weight under control.”

  This was my shoe, dropping, loud and down the stairs. The protective need to protect women who couldn't do it for themselves was in full force. “Her weight is fine. She's pretty fucking small.” I didn't shift eye contact once, making sure her mom knew to sit down and perhaps be quiet.

  Her mom’s face looked stuck between angry and shocked. I felt Addi’s hand on my thigh steal all the attention, when her dad asked me all the basic questions. “How old are you, Hunter? What do you do?”

  “Younger than her last boyfriend. But don't worry it's not because of daddy issues; it's mommy issues. And, I own my own business.”

  Liz cut in, trying to smooth things over, but that was only going to stoke Addi’s resentment. I saw how much more they were invested in their “perfect” daughter. It made me resent them too. I didn’t give a fuck if they hated me.

  Addi’s mom felt brave. “I don't know why you always need to act out, Addileigh. Carrying on and on about how much we don't love you. We can't choose to not love you.”

  Addi sucked in a breath of air and held it, and I clamped my eyes shut tightly, feeling the exact moment this was going to go up in flames. Her words were going to bounce off my armor aiming for Addi. My hand covered her hand still on my thigh trying to glue her in place.

  “I'm sorry you can't choose to not love me, Mom.” She didn't try to work through it, flying up from her seat and determined to leave, heading for the door. I sat back, relaxed, and waited for the reality to set in. If it didn't, I was there to send it home.

  Addi was spoiled.

  Addi was corrupt.

  Addi was a lot of things, but undeserving of being loved wasn't one of them.

  The silence was deafening, making this the second most awakened table I was left at this year.

  “She may be an actress, but she's not ‘acting' like you don't love her for no reason. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say you didn't realize it until now.” I turned to Liz, someone I considered a friend. “No offense, Liz. She always felt compared to you. So much so that she has changed everything about her appearance to look nothing like any of you. I grew up with shitty parents so wrapped up in their own shit I got the short end. It's too late for me now, but Addi is still young. Fix it… before it's too late.”

  Getting up from the table, I left the same way we came in: through the front door. As soon as I stepped outside, I knew the fighting wasn't over, when I saw Addi standing by my car… and some guy I didn't know.

  So this was Mister? The salt-n-peppered, middle-aged man, who could easily be someone’s dad.

  Nothing was making sense; how did he know she was here without a phone? Why? Was she actually ending it?

  Knowing he was tracking her location already made me want to act like my least favorite Sinner, Ollie, who preferred his fists over words. I walked over to her and slung my arm around her neck, pulling her body into mine, as his first warning sign to tread lightly.

  “Hunter, we're just talking. It's okay.”

  I looked for any signals of distress, but there weren’t any. I had gotten so wrapped in protecting her that I forgot she didn't need to me to.

  Addi wanted me; she didn't need me as a crutch.

  I gave them some space, sitting on the trunk of my car and blazing up a fresh joint I packed in case shit got heavy or weird. It came in handy.

  A faint buzz went off in my back pocket as I reached around to my pocket, trading the space to tuck my lighter and turn my phone screen over to see it lit up. It was a photo and text from Hector, one I had been expecting and avoiding all at once. I slid my finger to open the screen to his photo of a severed finger with a ring I knew but couldn’t place.

  Hector: Take
this as a gift and a warning, I don’t employ rats. The ring is yours. I look forward to doing more business.

  Once I placed the ring with his helpful text I understood just how much further I was slipping into his world. With my attention struggling to intake Hector and Addi at once, I refocused myself shoving my phone back into my pocket. I listened to their conversation carefully, making sure he couldn't twist any of it. She took the sympathetic route first.

  “I can't do this anymore. I'm in love, and that's not fair to you.”

  He countered with: “We already talked about this. One email, and you're thrown out of Amherst. You'll be blacklisted for this.”

  My fist clenched, but I forced myself to stay in place, letting her fight her own battles. I had to remind myself she wasn't Layla and didn't need saving... not yet, at least.

  Their exchange went back and forth, until I heard a gasp. Plucking the joint from my lips, I stood up from sitting on my car. His hand was clasped onto her forearm, and she was now threatening to tell his wife.

  Bad move, Addi.

  Her master list was taking on a life of its own and not taking no for an answer.

  I made sure to find her eyes first before I made any moves. Her light gray eyes looked dark and hopeless. “Do you want my help yet?”

  She actually rolled her eyes and slanted them down like it was obvious now she wanted saving. I smirked, knowing the two-way street we created felt like the most fair thing to ever occur in my life. I took some big steps towards the old man and grabbed the back of his neck with so much force his hands went up into defensive mode.

  “Look, you aren't the only one in love with her.” I didn't expect him to have an accent, but he did—a slight accent, like he was Australian. I got the attraction now.

  “Is that why you've been tracking her location? Sounds romantic.”

  He laughed like it was all the stupidest thing he had heard. “Obviously you haven't been in love. It makes you do the craziest things to keep it.”

  He was justifying everything with love. “That's not love, old man. That's imprisonment.” He dropped Addi’s hand, and I tried to tell her with my eyes to call the police, hoping she could read my mind without spooking him.

  She didn't have a phone, because it was my bright idea to smash it.

  “That's exactly what love is: imprisonment. You're caged by how much you feel for someone, how much you'd put on the line—the lines you're willing to blur and the distorted perspective—all because one person makes you feel differently.”

  Everything about his words hit me in this catastrophic way I wasn't expecting. I always thought home was the detention center and handcuffs, but I was trading one prison cell for another called love.

  Home.

  I took another inhale of my joint perched between my lips, while I wondered how long I was going to listen to this delusional old man. I leaned against my car again, trying to figure out how this went from throwing fists to contemplating the vastness of prisons.

  “Look, old man, you've got two choices here: One, cut your losses and walk away. Two, I call the cops, and we press charges for stalking and blackmail… as a professor.”

  Third, keep coming for her, and you meet my fist.

  Addi clung onto my hoodie, like it was her only chance at safety. Everything about this threatened him, turning his eyes so dark I wondered what color they were before.

  “Do you think I want to be chasing around some bitch who sucks a dick better than my wife?”

  The fire stoked by all my regrets, resentment, and priors calling me criminal just became a bonfire. Every part of me was overheating and spiraling out of control. I took my phone out and handed it to Addi, along with my now stub of a joint.

  “What the fuck did you say?”

  He was laughing maniacally now, like none of this could be real life. It was too cliché for any of us to be in this situation.

  “She loved when I threw you in her face. How much you weren't going to love her really pulled the best work out of her.”

  That was the last comment I was allowing out of his mouth. I turned towards Addi shocked at what he said, knowing how tortured she made herself for the unrequited love she felt for me. We were birds of a feather. She shifted her eyes down in shame, and that's all I needed to fuel a big step. With my fist already tense and balled up tightly, I threw it into his face, hitting his jaw with precision. His head tilted to one side. I stood taller; winning was the second best high to Addi. Pot came in as a strong third.

  The old man had some fight in him when I felt his fist hit my stomach with so much force I folded over. I let myself stay folded over; hands on my knees, letting my words fall to the ground. “Call the police, Addi, or I’ll destroy him.”

  Everything was a blur of adrenaline and fists just hoping to make contact. Now I finally understood how motivated Ollie was to hurt me, snuff me out of Layla’s life, and act like she had never been anyone else’s. I felt that same thing rushing through my veins every time I heard my knuckles crack and skin burn.

  I didn’t stop fighting until I heard the sirens; that was always my hard limit. I knew there were cameras on their dashes and vests, capturing evidence you can’t fight against, and my pops wasn’t chief here. Whatever trouble I conjured up would stick—stick in the form of prison—the kind with criminals far worse and with none of the luxuries of a detention hall for minors.

  Standing up, I already assumed the position: hands up and feet hip width apart. I tried to bite my tongue back from any smart ass comments. I also planned on bolting from the scene before the police arrived, but the blood lust was too strong to ignore. His face begged for me to be rearranging his features into something closer to resembling scum, as a warning sign for all women that he was a piece of shit.

  Hunter

  I swore I could hear Addi complaining from the holding cell that wasn’t anywhere near the front door. Honestly, she was more uncomfortable than I was; I took a nap, waiting to make bail or get a phone call.

  “Hunter Malden. Charges were dropped. Congratulations.”

  I could feel the cuts and dried blood on my face pulling the skin. I looked down at my knuckles covered in red and sore. Addi practically ran into my arms, squeezing my ribs a little too tightly, after every punch he returned mine with.

  “Ouch, Addi, too tight.”

  “Sorry! Sorry! I’m glad you’re okay. I pressed charges against him, but the restraining order is more complicated.”

  She wasn’t giving me time to process anything as her hands guided me into moving slowly—help I didn’t need. I was sore, not immobile.

  We were both stubborn to the bone.

  We both thought love was a one-way street.

  We weren’t following any rules except the ones meant to not be broken.

  We were both so corrupt that it seemed criminal.

  I saw her parents waiting for her, holding each other tightly, not used to being in this kind of place. Addi never looked uncomfortable, unless my safety was on the line, and even then, it was more pissed off and feral than uncomfortable.

  I slung my arm around her shoulders, letting her try to carry my weight. “You’re gonna marry me someday.”

  She giggled. “Sure, stud, anything you want.”

  She stopped walking when we were toe to toe with her parents. I slapped her ass, nodding to go with her mom to the car; I was hoping she wouldn’t fight me like normal. That was our MO—pushing each other’s buttons, the push and pull.

  I put my hand on his shoulder, stopping Addi’s dad from walking any further. “If I don’t do this now… I’m gonna marry your daughter someday.”

  He laughed, not taking me seriously. “Is that a question?”

  “No, I wasn’t asking. I was telling.”

  He slapped my back, still laughing, only harder this time. “Well, you may be the only person who can take her on, son.”

  Two months later…

  Vegas

  I was doing my b
est to stay out of trouble. Addi was all the trouble and drama I needed to develop an aversion to handcuffs.

  Her master list was long gone and Mister was too. All my charges were dropped, and we felt as untouchable as Bonnie and Clyde on the lamb and not turning back.

  Now we made her master list together. The first thing we checked off? Getting married in Vegas, where all villains get married: Sin City.

  Addi didn’t wait for me to ask. In her crazy bitch fashion, she found the ring box when she was snooping in my underwear drawer, and I never bothered asking her what she was doing in there to begin with. All that mattered was she said yes.

  She didn’t have much choice. It was marry me or stay her boyfriend forever. Either way, I owned that ass.

  Literally, she had my name tattooed on her ass. At first it was a joke, but our jokes were borderline diabolical. We would ride our pranks and jokes until they became a reality.

  Addi hated the wedding process, constantly arguing with Liz and the wedding planner she had gifted her. I was on the balcony, hearing them bicker even from a safe distance and wondering if it was too late to convince her to elope secretly with Elvis and Marilyn impersonators.

  Leon’s firm hand touched my shoulder. “I got fifty on Liz kicking her ass.”

  We both started laughing out loud, leaning over the banister, looking out across the pool with a fountain in the center, as obnoxious as that was.

  “Addi is scrappy; she can take her down. Plus… she’s been dating me.”

  I didn’t want to end up close to Leon, but we both faced the music. With both of us being the non-sinning Sinners, that meant banning together. It didn’t help he got wind I sold, and now I was his one-way ticket to feeding his addiction.

  I don’t judge.

  “You ready for tonight?”

  “Sure. I’m ready to piss some people off and get married. It wouldn't be my wedding if people left happy.”

  No one, other than Leon and my soon-to-be wife, had any idea that Jade was one of my groomsmen. Not even her bridesmaids knew, one of which was Liz. Just because Jade left Ollie in the dust didn't mean she left everyone behind. I wasn't on her shit list. I was eager to have the Sinners see Jade standing in a fitted tux by my side, next to Leon, while I got married to one of their own by proxy.