Rock Hard: A Stepbrother Romance (Extreme Sports Alphas) (22 page)

When we were back at the house, I climbed out of the truck and slammed the door. He smirked at me as I stormed inside.

“Night, Becca,” he said as I got onto the porch.

I whirled on him. “Don’t come into my room.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is. Good night.”

I threw the door open and went directly upstairs. Cora and my dad were already in bed. I shut my door and locked it.

I knew I was a little drunk, and maybe overreacting, but I was pissed. So pissed that I didn’t want to see my stepbrother.

For the first time in what felt like a long time, but was really only a few nights, I fell asleep without Reid’s touch.

T
he night was dark and windy as I hiked fast, heading away from the house.

Becca was safely in her room, probably busy pouting about our fight. If she didn’t want me, then fine, I wouldn’t bother her. She had no clue what I was trying to do for her, no clue at all what I had done for my family, and she was acting like I was an asshole or something.

Maybe I was. But I didn’t need that shit from her. I didn’t need that shit from anyone.

I had bigger problems to worry about.

The forest was quiet as I made my way north toward the van. I couldn’t be in that house with her, not while she was looking at me like I was a piece of shit. The van wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was dry and had plenty of blankets. I’d slept out there many times over the years, though usually it was because I felt trapped at home.

Now, I was feeling trapped in my own fucking skin.

It took me less time than I would have guessed to make it to the van. I pulled the door open and climbed in, slamming it shut behind me. Darkness swallowed up the space, and I fumbled with a candle and a lighter. After a minute, weak yellow light illuminated the beat-up interior.

I leaned back against the wall, a pillow propped up behind my head. I pulled out my phone and idly scrolled through some bullshit social media, mostly trying to distract myself.

But what had happened earlier kept coming back, over and over.

It wasn’t just Becca talking to Jay. That was bad enough. But it was what had happened before that, and what I was going to do about it.

I hated obsessing, but there was something important that I wasn’t quite seeing. Something that could potentially help get me out of the situation I was making for myself.

Outside the van, an owl hooted. It probably spotted a mouse scurrying through the thick underbrush and was about to swoop down for the kill.

I had to be like that owl.

I had to sharpen my talons.

––––––––

I
’d gotten a call from Thom earlier that day, well before I dragged Becca away from the party.

“How’s it coming, Climber?” he asked.

“Still no money for you, but I’m working on it.”

“Good. I mean, I have total faith in you.”

“What do you need?”

I clenched my jaw, leaning up against my truck. I had just left the Blue, narrowly missing Becca’s shift by only a few minutes. I wasn’t sure why I was avoiding her, but I felt like I needed to put a little distance between us while I tried to figure shit out.

“I think I have some useful info for you.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Not over the phone.”

I sighed. Thom was getting more and more paranoid. “Fine. Where?”

“Meet me tonight at the usual party.”

“You’re still going to that shit?”

“Like fucking clockwork, man. You have any clue how many blowjobs I’ve gotten there?”

“I feel like it doesn’t count if you have to bribe girls with drugs.”

“Blowjob’s a blowjob, Climber. It always counts.”

Jesus, what a fucking scumbag.
“All right, I’ll see you there then.”

“Later, Climber.”

He hung up and I looked down at my phone, almost annoyed that it had rung. What else could Thom have found out so fast that I needed to know? If he wasn’t saying shit over the phone, he must have been pretty scared of the mob.

I spent the rest of the day running bullshit errands, basically anything to keep me away from the house and not thinking too much about what was happening. Eventually I decided to see a movie, just to kill time.

Finally, when the movie was over, it was just about time to head over. I got into my truck and drove, my headlights cutting through the deep darkness of a rural small town.

In all my time spent outside of Ridgewood for climbing competitions, I was always surprised by the lights. There were so many of them and everyone seemed to have their own, lights outside of houses and on phones and on streets, lights everywhere, drowning out the sky. Downtown Ridgewood had lights like anywhere else, but as soon as you left the tiny little ten-block radius of downtown, the darkness began to creep back in.

Which meant that you could actually see the stars. There were hundreds of them, way more than most people saw in their light-polluted suburbs. Maybe the darkness hid other things, other dangerous things, but it also revealed some things, too. You could learn a lot about yourself in the darkness, about what kind of man you were when it came right down to it.

We all have a little darkness in us. But I was learning it was more about how you managed that darkness than anything else. Being a good person doesn’t mean being perfect, it means trying to do your best in a fucked-up situation.

And there were few situations more fucked up than mine.

I pulled my truck in next to the other cars and took note of a little red Miata. It was Lindsey’s car, an old used little sports car that she bought relatively recently. I had no clue how she could afford it, but I wasn’t too concerned with that.

I stepped out onto the soft dirt and headed over toward the party. Instantly, I got a weird vibe: something was up.

I noticed the guys first. They stood out like lions in a zebra pen. They were older guys, rough around the edges, and clearly not part of the usual crowd of this party. It took me a second to realize that they were probably mob dudes, though what the hell they were doing here was beyond me.

I waded into the people, nodding at those I recognized.

“Climber!” I glanced at the voice and smiled.

“Hey, Jen.”

She smiled back at me. Jen was about five feet tall and maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet, but I had known her since high school. She had always hung around Thom and his friends, though why I had no idea. She was nice, or at least as nice as you could be and still be a functioning coke addict.

“What are you doing here, Climber?”

“Looking for Thom.”

She nodded at the trailer. “He’s in there with some pretty weird dudes.”

“Weird dudes?”

“Yeah, like, tough guys. I don’t know. They were assholes so I left.”

“Catch any names?”

“One guy was called Jay, I think.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Tattoos? Real square-looking?”

She laughed. “Square like a truck, sure.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“So why haven’t you been around much lately?”

“Been busy. Got a lot going on right now.”

“I heard your mom is in remission.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“That’s really awesome, man.”

“Thanks, Jen. I’ve got to find Thom. I’ll see you later.”

“Sure. Later.”

I turned and stalked off, not in the mood to get caught up in any further bullshit with her. Jen was nice and all that, but she sure as fuck could talk a lot, and I had business to attend to.

Plus, there was the matter of Jay being at the fucking party.

What would a high-ranking mobster be doing at some shitty, lame local spot?

I moved through the people, ignoring comments, and banged on the door of the trailer. I heard voices inside immediately stop talking.

“What?” someone called.

“It’s Reid. Looking for Thom.”

There was a pause. “Come in.”

I pulled the door open and stepped inside. It was dank and dim, but instantly I made out about six people lounging around. Two of them I didn’t recognize, but they were clearly more of those mob-looking dudes. Two were girls that I’d seen around but never bothered talking to, probably drug groupies looking to score.

The other two were Jay and Thom, sitting at the little table like they were best buds. I felt my blood run cold and had to stifle my anger. What the fuck had Thom walked me into?

“Ah, Climber, it’s you,” Jay said.

Everyone looked at me. “Jay. Thom.” I nodded to them.

“Come in, Climber. Join us.”

I walked into the space and found an empty counter to lean up against. As soon as I was in position, the others went back to talking. I noticed the girls snort coke from a little white mirror and the two guys laugh at them.

“What brings you here?” Jay asked me.

Thom looked nervous but I tried to ignore it. “Just hanging out. Thought I’d say what’s up to Thom.”

“You want a bump?” Jay motioned to another mirror covered in coke.

“Nah. I’m good.”

“Come on, Mister Climber. Have a little hit. Or maybe a beer?”

I glanced down and noticed a cooler. I grabbed it and pulled out a drink, cracking it open. I didn’t want to get fucked up with the mobsters around and figured beer was the lesser of the two options.

“You don’t do coke?”

“Not often.” I sipped my drink.

Jay leaned forward and snorted a line with a rolled up hundred. Thom gave me an apologetic look, though I had no clue why. Jay threw his head back, his eyes a little wild and excited as the drugs hit his bloodstream.

“Fuck yes, that shit is good,” he said.

Thom laughed nervously. “Yeah, it’s really good shit.”

“Mister Climber, you’re missing out.”

Thom took the hundred and snorted his own line. I took another long drink.

“What are you doing here anyway, Jay?”

He cocked his head. “Why do you ask that?”

I shrugged. “Seems like this isn’t your kind of scene.”

“Maybe, maybe not. I have many scenes.”

“You go to local parties out in the woods often?”

He laughed. “No, maybe I don’t. But tonight I’m doing business.”

My pulse quickened. I wanted to press but I didn’t want to seem too eager. “I hope Thom isn’t trying to rip you guys off,” I said jokingly.

“Oh, if he tried that we’d tear off his balls and shove them down his throat.” Jay’s expression didn’t change, and I assumed he wasn’t kidding.

“I’d never do that, Jay,” Thom said quickly.

I grinned at him and finished my beer. “By the way, Thom, speaking of business, I got those amps you wanted.”

He looked confused for a second and then nodded slowly. “Okay, cool.”

“They’re out in my truck if you want to take a look.”

“Amps?” Jay asked. “What’s this shit?”

“For my guitar,” Thom said. “My other one’s fucking busted.” 

“You play guitar? Like rock music?”

Thom nodded. “Sure. I got a little band.”

Jay laughed loudly. “You have your guitar here? You can play for us.”

Thom shook his head. “No guitar. Sorry, Jay.”

“Ah shit. You have to play for me sometime. Play your rock music.” He laughed loudly.

Thom stood up. “We’ll be back in a few.”

“Be fast. We have more terms to negotiate.”

Thom nodded and followed me back out of the trailer. As soon as we were out of earshot, he turned on me.

“What the fuck was that, Climber? Joking about me ripping him off?”

“You deserved it, asshole. What the fuck is he doing here?”

“Jesus, he just showed up. I had no clue they were coming.”

“Bullshit.”

“I swear. He just showed up and started negotiating terms or some shit. Really, I think he’s just fucked up and bored.”

“This is pretty shitty, Thom. The guy we’re planning on trying to fuck over just appears at this party?”

“I know, man. I swear, I’m not trying to pull anything. I’m as in this thing as you are now.”

I clenched my fists and turned away.

“Fine. Let’s talk at my truck.” I stalked off and he followed me. I figured we needed a little privacy for whatever he had to say, and it didn’t hurt to keep up appearances.

I leaned against the bumper and crossed my arms as Thom looked around sheepishly.

“So, where’s the amp?” he asked.

“Are you fucking kidding?”

“What? You said you had an amp to sell me.”

“I only said that to get you out of the trailer. Jesus fuck, Thom.”

“Okay, man, sorry. What am I supposed to tell Jay if he asks about the amp?”

I stared at him. I knew he was an idiot but holy shit was he pushing it. “Tell him you didn’t want it.”

“Okay, yeah. Good call.”

“Am I going to have to fucking strangle you or are you going to tell me why you made me come out here?”

Thom nodded and twitched slightly. He was obviously a little high, which probably explained his extra stupidity.

“Right, yeah, so. I heard some shit today about the mob.”

“Tell me.”

“So you met those guys up north, right?” I nodded and he continued. “Apparently the guys up there aren’t happy with how things are being run down here. There’s some kind of war going on.”