Bitter Kisses (It's Just High School #3) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,52
It’s not like it fucking matters.”
“It’s bothering me, and I hate that I can’t stop thinking this is more than just some rivalry.”
“It is more than rivalry,” I mutter. “That deadbeat proved it the moment he decided to go for what’s mine.”
“Nah, you know what I mean.”
I do know what he means, but I just don’t want to think about that right now. I press down on the gas, going with the vague directions I was given by my guy, waiting for him to trace the latest message.
“What are you going to do?”
“Cole—”
“Just don’t,” he says, cutting me off. “I’m not Liam who you’re obviously still lying to and recklessly adding to the pile. Besides, I heard what John said.”
“I don’t have fucking time to care about my fucked up relationship with Liam,” I grit out, wanting to rip off the steering wheel as a violent anger I’m sure I can’t control rushes through me, wreaking all manner of havoc in me. “It’s all messed up so for tonight, consider your complaints and grievances against my fucking methods and assholery tabled for a later date.”
“Yeah, at this point that later date will be you in a fucking prison cell somewhere, with no chance of parole just to make a fucking example out of you.”
Yeah, he knows what’s going to go down tonight.
I’m deadly silent, but I can feel his broody, bust strangely non-judgmental stare on me.
“The party?” he prompts impatiently.
“It was a fucking set up! A decoy to waste my fucking time.”
“But they couldn’t possibly think you’d catch on. Which means they wanted us there.”
“And we gave then just that, but with a fucking twist.”
“Something else is going to happen at that fucking party, which is why we need chaos.”
And who better to incite chaos and fucking mayhem than an angry asshole who won’t have me breathing down his neck anymore pretty fucking soon?
Cole sighs and then, “He’ll be calling.”
“You’ll answer and tell him the truth.”
“And what will—”
“When we get there, your only objective, your fucking sole direction, is to get Mia out of there.”
“Julian—”
“Don’t fucking do anything else or try to get in on the fight, or I swear to God, Cole, I’ll never fucking forgive you.”
Silence.
“This is fucked up.”
“I didn’t ask you to come,” I seethe. Just then, my phone starts ringing. I sigh heavily.
“Well, are you going to fucking answer that?”
I grit my teeth and stare up ahead.
“This is all my fault,” I whisper to myself, the thing in my chest tightening with an excruciating vice. I don’t mind it at all.
“Beat yourself up later when you’re rotting in prison or in your fucking grave,” Cole mutters silently, grabbing his now ringing phone. “For now, there’s work to be done.”
His phone rings incessantly. He ignores it. We both know who it is. Just then, the GPS in the SUV lights up, someone—the owner of this fucking death trap—remotely punching in an address that’s apparently….
“It’s five minutes down that abandoned road,” Cole says, then he looks around out the window. “This used to be was some kind of farm or something. It’s been abandoned for years.”
I grit my teeth, my jaw ticking. From the corner of my eye, I see him typing something on his phone and then he curses under his breath.
“What?”
“There are too many fucking buildings and structures on this land. She could be anywhere.”
No, she won’t, but I’m not going to tell him that, but I take it as an opportunity to keep him out of this nightmare. “Then we need to spread the fuck out,” I say.
“Wait, what? You want to split up now? Are you out of your mind?”
“We don’t have a fucking choice!” I snap, strangely aware that I’m speeding. My phone lights up, this time with a text that says simply; ‘Mr. Fitzgerald knows.’
And then, my phone starts ringing again.
“Not now,” I growl.
“You know he’ll find you.”
“He should’ve dedicated those resources to finding Mia but he’s so up Nathan’s ass that he can’t even stop to save another person just because I love her. I’m in love with her and it’s because of me that she’s in this fucking mess and anything might’ve happened to her and I…”
I punch the steering wheel.
The pain is nothing.
The darkness creeping in my soul each second, is worse.
But Mia’s absence is a poison.
Cole’s phone starts ringing as well. He looks at me. “If I don’t…”
“Yeah.”
He sighs and then answers, “Mr. Fitz, sir, how are—”
“Cut the crap, Cole Joseph Perry! Where are you boys?” Dad demands,