Hollow (Hollow Point #1) (14 page)

“How soon can you be here?” I asked as I made my way across the site, looking through the crowd for Tatum.

“Five minutes,” Ivory replied, and I hung up as soon as I saw Ezra.

“Take a walk, Tatum,” I said, my eyes locked on Ezra’s over her shoulder. “Go find Cadence.”

“We’re just talking,” she shot back, but when I lowered my gaze to hers, she huffed before mumbling something about refilling her drink and disappeared.

“Having fun?” I asked, my fingers flexing, itching to make contact with his pretty boy face.

“Look, man,” he held up his hands. “We were just talking. I was doing Riley a favor.”

“I’m about to do Riley a favor too.” I took a step closer to him before dipping my hand into my pocket and pulling out the small baggie and holding it up between us. “Recognize this?”

He laughed nervously, shaking his head. “I was just trying to help her have a good time by bringing her a taste of home. That’s all.”

“That right?” Liam walked up beside me but didn’t say anything. “You give a taste to anyone else?” My eyes narrowed, and I leaned closer, towering over him. “Maybe a girl out at the Old Mill?”

His eyes widened as he looked between the two of us, finally realizing that this was about more than just Riley, not that I didn’t want to knock his fucking teeth out the moment he called her
his girl
.

“She was asking me if I had anything. I didn’t offer.”

“But you indulged her, right?” I laughed as I heard bike engines rumbling in the distance. “Well, I’m looking to get a little blood on my hands. Think you could help me out with that?” I asked as I cocked back and hit Ezra on the right side of his nose. I felt the bone give way under my knuckles and blood began to down over his lips. He grabbed his face, wincing before he spits out some blood on the ground between us.

Someone yelled, “Fight,” off in the distance and people began to crowd around us, including several Hellraisers from the club.

“Hit me. Fight back you fucking pussy,” I yelled as I spit at him. His hands clutched his face as he lurched forward, his shoulder hitting my stomach and causing me to stumble back a step before I brought an elbow down on the back of his head. He dropped to one knee before pushing to his feet.

I raised my fists, and we both began to take steps to the side, slowly circling each other. “Show me what you got, Hollywood.” He dove toward me again, and I swung, hitting him with a right hook on the side of his head.

NINETEEN

High pitched screams broke through the wall of sadness, and I pushed to my feet as everyone hurried to my right. I watched them but couldn’t make out what they were all rushing toward in the dark.

Stumbling, I dropped my cup and began to push through the crowd. As I reached the center, I saw Knox hunched over, his fists slamming against another body as Tatum stood off to the side, screaming for him to stop.

“Oh, God!” I rushed to Knox, grabbing at the back of his shirt as he continued to beat Ezra. The twinkling lights flashing and dancing overhead illuminated Ezra’s bloodied face.

“Stop,” I screamed again as Knox drew back his first, his elbow connecting with my cheekbone. I fell backward, my head hitting something hard and as I laid on the ground, unable to suck in a breath, I wondered why the blue pill had not blocked out the physical pain as I struggled to blink away the blurriness.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry. I didn’t-” Knox’s voice was near me now but then gone.

“Get the hell away from her!” Ezra was yelling from a few feet away.

“Both of you get back and let her breathe,” Tatum said in a panic.

Breathe.
I tried to inhale again and my lungs burned as I was finally able to gasp.

“She’s fine. She’s okay. She just had the wind knocked out of her,” Tatum called out as she helped me sit up. I coughed, causing my head to thump.

“Here,” Knox’s arms slid under me, and he lifted me against his chest. Looping my arms around his neck, I rested my head against him as the crowd divided, allowing us to walk through to the clearing outside of all the chaos.

Sitting me down on the grass, he examined my face under the light of the moon. When his rough fingertips brushed against my bruised cheek, I flinched, pulling back from his touch.

“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

“Yeah, well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” I muttered as I held my palm lightly against my face. “Is Ezra okay?”

“He’ll live,” He snapped before shaking his head. “Unfortunately.”

I pushed to my feet, wobbling. Knox grabbed my arm to help me steady myself before his fingers slid from my skin.

A figure emerged from the trees, and Knox turned around, stepping in front of me as Ezra came into view. Several large, scary looking men were behind him, but they kept their distance.

“I’m going to have your ass thrown in jail. How the fuck am I supposed to work with my face looking like this?” Ezra shouted before spitting blood on the ground.

“You should have thought of that before you came into
my
town.”

“Fuck you!”

“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” I asked. Ezra glanced over at me, his expression unreadable.

“It’s club business,” Knox spoke, not taking my eyes off Ezra. I thought back to him telling me he didn’t want to be a member of the Hollow Hellions and my stomach sank.

“I thought you weren’t -”

His eyes cut to me, narrowing. “It’s complicated.”

“Do you have any idea who I am?” Ezra continued, taking a step closer but Knox squared his shoulders, and Ezra stopped walking. “Why are you standing in front of her? You’re protecting her from
me
?” He laughed, stumbling a step to the side. “You attacked
me
!
You
hit her!”

“Yeah, I know who you are. You’re going to be that body they find in the woods if you don’t watch your fucking tone,” Knox replied, his voice was so calm it sent a chill down my spine.

“Come on, Riley. We’re leaving.”

“She’s not going anywhere. You’re so fucked up on pills you can’t even stand straight.”

Ezra looked at me, amused. “Like you give a damn about her.”

“Ezra,” I pleaded, hoping he’d think before he spoke. But that wasn’t Ezra’s style. He was used to not having any consequences for his actions, and he wasn’t feeling any pain right now. I stepped in front of Knox so I could put my hands against his chest as Ezra continued to provoke him.

“Riley, was it worth it? Was it worth ruining your friendship with me and with Tatum for
him
?” Ezra yelled, and I felt my stomach sink.

“Shut up, Ezra,” I snapped but he knew how to hurt people. Words could do just as much damage as a fist, and Ezra had come out swinging. It didn’t matter if I was a casualty.

“Can’t you see the way she looks at you? She would have done anything you asked her to. Trust me, I know. Because it’s the same way I’ve been looking at her since the day we met,” he continued. “What did he promise you, huh? What did he say to make you turn on everyone who gives a damn about you?”

“Spare me the bullshit. We both know you don’t give a fuck about her,” Knox sneered.

“You don’t know shit about me,” Ezra yelled back.

“I know more than you think.”

“Is it true?” Tatum stepped out of the trees and walked toward us, her mouth hanging open. Ezra’s bag fell from her hand to the ground below. One of the bikers picked it up and began to dig through the contents, pulling out several bottles of pills.

“Tatum,” Knox shook free from my grip and walked toward her, but she held up her hands, fresh tears streaking the mascara down her cheeks.

Her eyes cut to me. “How could you? How could you sleep with Bryce?” Her voice shook under her words.

“Tatum,” Knox barked before I could say anything. “There’s more important shit going on right now than your little fight with your boyfriend.”

Tatum swung, her palm connecting with the side of Knox’s face. “Fuck you,” she bit out as Cadence joined her at her side. “I never want to see
any
of you again!”

“Come on, Tatum,” Cadence wrapped her arm around Tatum’s waist and guided her toward the cars parked out by the road.

“Well, this has been an amazing party, as usual, Riley.” Bryce grabbed his bag from the ground before he pulled his phone from his pocket and held it in the air as he tried to get a signal. “I think it’s time for me to call it a night, don’t you? You kids stay out of trouble now.” He shot me a wink before stumbling toward the road and making a call, yelling loudly at whoever had answered.

“I’ll make sure he finds his way back safely,” one of the bikers replied with a smirk before they began to walk after him across the field.

I looked at Knox’s back as he stood, motionless, head hung.

“Knox,” I whispered, wanting him to say something, anything to make this sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach go away.

“Go sleep it off in your car.”

My fingers hung in the air, wanting to touch him again. Instead, I let my arm fall to my side. “I just-”

“A deal's a deal, right?” He turned around, his face unreadable.

“I don’t care about any of that anymore,” I whispered.

“It’s too late for that, Riley. Sorry you got hurt.” There was no emotion in his voice. “That wasn’t my intention.”

My hand went to my cheek but where I was really hurting was in my chest. The pain was crippling, radiating through my veins like fire.

“Me too.” I turned, walking slowly across the grass, toward the road, struggling to swallow past the lump that had formed in my throat. My hands were shaking, and I dug through my purse to find my keys as I reached the edge of the small field.

A sob ripped from my chest, and I leaned over the hood of my car as I let all of the emotions I’d suppressed take over. I missed my mom and my home back in California. Everyone here hated me and for the first time in my life I’d had a genuine friend who would never talk to me again.

I took one last look over my shoulder to the trees. Knox was gone. Wiping my hand gingerly over my sore cheek to get rid of my tears, I climbed inside of my car, curling up in my seat to sleep.

I walked back through the woods, making a beeline for Bryce. He was drinking beer, leaning against a tree. When he saw me, he stood straight, his eyes wide.

“Where’s Tatum?” He took a step toward me but when my hand curled into a fist he stopped.

“She’s gone. Your relationship is over.”

“That’s not your choice!”

I took a step toward him, and his words died in his throat. “I didn’t have to make that decision, did I? You fucked up all on your own. My hands are clean. Stay the fuck away from her.”

“I just need to talk to her.”

“You forget that I know your little secret. I’ve only kept it this long because I made a promise to a friend that I would, but if you come near Tatum again, I will fucking wreck you. You understand?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, running his hand roughly through his hair before looking at the ground between us.

“Good.” I took off through the crowd and out across the field to where my bike was parked on the edge of the lot.

TWENTY

I awoke as the sun was peeking out over the tops of the trees. I winced as my eyes caught my own reflection in the mirror. My cheek was a little swollen and purple, but it wasn’t bad enough that I couldn’t hide it with a little concealer.

The real pain I felt was internal, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hide it as well. I pushed the button to start my car, backing out of my spot and scanning the cars that still remained from the night before. Knox’s motorcycle was gone, and I wondered when he had left.

I hit the
Guide Me Home
prompt on my navigation and headed back to my house, but it would never be
home
. I hoped my father hadn’t returned from his trip yet.

***

When I pulled up to my gate, I stopped short of the motorcycle that blocked my path. Knox sat on the curb, his head hung and a bottle in his hand.

I put my car in park and reluctantly got out, walking cautiously toward him. He never looked up at me as he took a long pull from the bottle before his eyes roamed over the label.

“I was wrong. This fancy shit you got isn’t so bad,” he said with a sardonic laugh.

I wrapped my arms around myself as I stepped closer. His head finally tilted up, and he examined my face.

“I can’t believe I did that to you.”

“It's no big deal,” I shrugged, waiting for him to yell at me but he just shook his head.

“I can’t go back to Greta’s right now.” He took another drink. “I can’t look Tatum in the eye.” His eyes met mine again, causing another chasm of pain to rip through my chest. “It’s all gone.”

“What’s gone?” I asked, sinking down on the curb next to him. He held out the bottle, and I took it, drinking a small sip. 

“All of the good I did.” He took the bottle back and drank again. “Saving Tatum was the only thing I ever did that made me worthwhile.”

“How can you say that?”

He turned toward me, his eyebrows pulled together as if it was painful for him to even think of the memory.

“You were right about me. The moment you knocked on our door. I could see it in your eyes. I
hated
you for it.” He took another drink before shaking his head. “And you had that same look last night.”

“I was wrong about you.” 

Running his fingers roughly through his hair, he shook his head. “I just wanted to keep her from getting hurt again, ya’ know?”

“She’s not your responsibility.”

“I’m all she has,” he shot back, and I didn’t argue. She was lucky to have someone like him to look out for her. His palm rubbed roughly along his jaw. “When I met Tatum, my dad was long gone, my mom was in and out of consciousness.” He hung his head as if the memory was too painful to speak aloud. “I ran away from home. I thought having no place to go was better than where I was at.” He looked up to me, and I could only nod, not sure what words would be adequate enough to comfort him. “Of course you don’t,” he scoffed, taking another long pull from the bottle. “Tatum saw me one day on her way to school, begging for money so I could get something to eat. She gave me her lunch.” He laughed, shaking his head.

“When did you move in with her?”

“That winter we had a nasty blizzard. The entire county shut down. Tatum snuck me into her basement at night, so I wouldn’t freeze to death. Every night I would wrap myself in a blanket in that tiny concrete room and listen to her stepdad's footsteps above me as he stomped through the house, screaming and breaking shit. I knew he was hitting her. She never admitted it, but it was obvious. God only knows what else he did when her mom was working nights. There was nothing I could do about it. I was just a kid struggling to keep myself alive. What was I supposed to do?”

“Jesus,” I  mumbled, struggling to imagine what it must have been like for her having to go through that, or for him to have to sit back and listen. He was taking the blame for something he’d had no control over.

Knox looked to me as if physically in pain after all of these years. I knew he was unsure of what he could say to me, but he needed to confide in someone.

“How did you both end up with Greta?”

“That’s another long, fucked up story. She’s the mother of Tatum’s biological father. She felt guilty, I guess. Tatum didn’t even know her. She was scared, and she told her that she would only stay there if I could come with her. We looked out for each other. That’s what we do.”

“Why don’t you trust Bryce?”

“I’ve already answered three questions. It’s my turn.” His eyes cut to me, searching my face.

“What is it you want to know?”

“Why are you hanging around a guy like Ezra?”

“He made me feel special.” She shrugged. “But that was a long time ago.”

“Are you sure? He called you
his girl
.”

I rolled my eyes before tucking my hair behind my ear. “I told you before, I don’t belong to anyone and after last night, he’s never going to talk to me again. Come on,” I stood up and held out my hand for him to help him up. He eyed me for a moment before taking it. He pulled to his feet, yanking me closer to him. His eyes searched mine, and I couldn’t breathe.

His eyebrows pulled together before his fingers slid from mine and he ran the pad of his thumb over my bruised cheek. I let my eyes fall closed as I leaned into his touch, even if it made it hurt more.

“Come on,” I replied before taking a step back from him. “Let’s get inside before one of the neighbors sees us.”

I slipped back inside of my car and opened the gate. Knox followed behind me, walking his bike up the cobblestone path.

I parked in front of the house, where Ezra’s car had been parked the night before. He was gone, and I hoped he’d finally left for his own place. He was the last person I wanted to see. I didn’t blame him for anything that had happened but looking at him only reminded me of how horrible of a person I really was.

I trudged into the large, empty house with Knox behind me. The guilt we both felt hung heavy in the air.

My phone chimed, and I dug it out of my bag before tossing my purse on my counter.

My social media had blown up overnight with images from California and from my own party. Pictures of a bloodied Ezra where on all of the gossip sites. His publicist had already released a statement saying that he’d been in an accident while filming and would be written out of several episodes of his upcoming show. He was probably already on a plane heading West. 

I jumped as my phone rang and my father’s number scrolled across the screen.

“Hello?”

“What in the hell happened?” My dad barked.

“It’s not as bad as it seems,” I struggled to explain but my father wasn’t even listening.

“Script rewrites are going to set us back weeks.”

I groaned as I sank down on the edge of my bed. Of course, he was only concerned about his job.

“Ezra is already on his way back to LA. Dave is going to hold open auditions Wednesday to see if we can’t just tweak the role for a new character. I’ll be back Tuesday night.”

“I thought you were coming home today.”

“Piper wanted to catch a show on Broadway while we were here.”

“Whatever.”

“I’ll see you in a few days. Riley, keep a low profile. This project is now hanging on my reputation.”

He hung up without saying goodbye or even asking how I was. 

“News travels fast,” Knox observed as I shoved my phone into my purse.

“I have a place for you to stay for a few days if you don’t mind being around me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he confessed as he shook his head. But he was in no state to drive anywhere at the moment.

“Come on. You need a shower.” I stood up, looping my arm in his as I pulled him down the hall to the room I’d had him stay in before. We stopped in the bathroom and when I let go of him. He leaned against the sink and my eyes danced over the broken and bruised skin of his knuckles.

“We should clean that,” I nodded to his hand. He flexed, tightening it into a fist and causing fresh blood to seep from the wound.

“It’s fine. It’ll heal,” he called out as I made my way to the main bathroom in the hall to grab some peroxide and ointment.

“Stop being a baby and let me help you,” I groaned as I slipped back into the bathroom.

Knox pulled his shirt over his head, dropping it on the floor at his feet and I tried to keep my eyes from dancing over the flexing muscles of his stomach.

“I let you help me before. That’s what got us into this mess.”

I opened the bottle, taking his hand over the sink as I poured the peroxide over his injuries. He winced, pulling back slightly as it began to bubble.

“As I recall you were just as much a part of that plan as I was,” I raised my eyebrow, waiting for him to acknowledge guilt but he scowled, pulling his hand from mine.

“I don’t remember asking you to
fuck
Bryce. That was a little cold-hearted, even for you, Princess.”

He unbuttoned his pants, shoving them down his legs and stumbling as he tried to step out of them. Having Knox Reid standing in front of me in only a pair of boxer-briefs was distracting, to say the least.

“You really think I slept with that degenerate in a tent with my best friend only a few feet away?”

His eyes narrowed as he struggled to focus on me. “Wasn’t that hard when you had her distracted by that drugged out asshole.”

“I wasn’t talking about Tatum,” I yelled, exasperated.

I watched as the column of his throat jumped as he swallowed hard.

“I was talking about
you
.” Every nerve ending in my body was buzzing, and I felt like my knees were going to give out from under me. My gaze dipped from his eyes to his mouth, and as my tongue ran out over my own lips, I pushed forward, pressing my mouth against his. His back had stiffened before his hand snaked around my lower back, pulling me against him as he inhaled.

Suddenly, my back was against the wall, and his body was pressed hard against mine as his tongue ran over the seam of my lips, coaxing them apart so he could deepen our kiss. I gasped, my hands gripping onto his shoulders wanting to be even closer to him. I’d never been kissed with so much urgency and need that my head began to swim.

His lips pulled back from mine, and as quickly as our kiss began, it was over, and I was left gasping and struggling for breath. My eyes slowly opened to see a pained expression on Knox’s face.

“Fuck,” He mumbled, running his hand through his hair. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why?” I took a step forward, not bothering to hide my disappointment.

“We were
never
friends, Riley,” his voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through me just as if he’d screamed it. I didn't know when I began to care what Knox thought about me. In fact, we enjoyed having a mutual disdain for the other, it kept us honest. But somewhere along the way the waters got muddled and now the emptiness that had consumed me before was filled with an ache.

I nodded, swallowing back my anger and sadness yet again as I turned and hurried from the room to cry without anyone watching. He didn’t follow me.

***

I rushed through my own shower, letting my tears mix with the water as I washed off the smell of campfire smoke and beer. I didn’t bother putting on makeup because it would just look ridiculous if I tried to cover up my bruised cheek.

Instead, I put my damp hair in a loose braid and made my way to the kitchen to cook up some eggs to help get rid of our hangovers.

Knox still hadn’t emerged from his room, and I was worried he may have slipped out of the house while I was in the shower, but I couldn’t bring myself to look to see if his bike was still here.

I sat both of our plates on the island and pushed my runny eggs around my plate, wishing I was on the next flight back to my mom.

“If you keep making that face, it’ll freeze that way.”

I looked up to see Knox standing a few feet away looking much soberer but not any less regretful.

“Riley, about the things I told you out front,” He shook his head, and I knew he regretted confiding in me.

“Consider it forgotten.” I nodded. “I cooked you breakfast… sort of.”

“I had no idea you were so… domesticated.” He sank down into the chair across from me as he picked up his fork. “Thanks.” He shoveled a bite into his mouth as I stabbed at a few pieces of the egg with my fork, but I’d lost my appetite. “Riley, When I said we were never friends-”

“Save it. We used each other to get what we wanted. A deal’s a deal.” I picked up my plate and dumped it in the sink before walking back to the stairs to hide out in my room. I paused, so many thoughts running through my head and I wasn’t sure which I should vocalize. Instead, I hurried up the steps and crawled into bed, hoping I could sleep all of my frustration and sadness away.