out, when he tried searching for her. I’ve since learned my lesson about fucking secrets but this one’s a bit different. Mia’s a fucking sore subject between Liam and I. If I don’t go about it the right way, I’ll be letting loose an unstable, angry man on John. Not that I give a damn about that asshole.
“It was a Porsche,” he presses, his gaze burning holes in the side of my head.
Shit.
“I know.”
“A bright cherry red, open-top, girly Porsche,” he counters, eyes narrowed.
Double shit.
“I know that too.”
Cole guffaws from the backseat but doesn’t say a word either when Liam shoots him a look. He looks down at his phone instead, changing the playlist in the car to “You’re Fucked” by Ylvis.
“Seriously, asshole?” I grit out, looking at him through the rearview mirror. The shithead shrugs, knowing exactly what he’s doing.
“I love this song!” He laughs, then sings along. Liam grins but I can feel his narrowed eyes on me.
“So that’s all you have to say for yourself?” he says.
“Liam, you just bought a new Lambo, and had it customized to a bright neon green that aliens from the deepest paths of the universe can see. What’s your point, exactly?” I counter, trying to smile so that he lets this one go.
“Don’t you dare hate on my color choices,” Liam defends, pointing at me with his phone.
“They’re amazing choices, Liam,” Cole encourages, still laughing his head off. “You did want to make a fucking statement that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, when I race fucking Matthews tomorrow.”
“You’re not racing tomorrow,” I shut it down immediately. I indulge my brother in a lot of shit, but when it comes to the Devil’s Track, especially when racing the dirtiest asshole there is, there’s no way I’m going to allow it.
“What the fuck, J?”
Liam’s just a year younger than me. He’s a few inches shorter, with more attitude of course in his leaner build. He’s been training with Cole for years to take over quarterback of St. Jude’s football team and watching me on how to be a fucking leader. The boy is hotheaded, sensitive as hell but when it comes to me pissing all over his death wish plans, he hates it.
“I said what I said, Liam.” I look away, driving through the school gate, going straight for the underground parking where Cole and Liam left their rides.
“No, you don’t get to do that again.”
Again?
“Liam, I…” I start but he cuts me off.
“No, J, let me speak.” Liam puffs his chest up, looking at me head on as I park the car right next to his. “Ever since Aiden got leukemia, you’ve had a tight fist wrapped around my ankle, dragging me away from anything you think is too dangerous, or anything that you think is bad for me.”
Fuck. This isn’t a conversation I’d like to have with my brother right now. Especially when we’ve just suffered a loss in more ways than just parents divorcing in public.
“Liam, I’m not trying to control you—” I start but he cuts me off again.
“J, you might not see it, but you are controlling me. You’ve been doing it since we were kids.” He glances at Cole as if waiting for him to back him up, but Cole smirks, looking away and taps the passenger seat when we get to the school parking lot where they both left their cars.
“Nah, gents, I’m not getting into this sibling rivalry part deux,” he starts when Liam gets out to move the seat for him. Before Cole gets out, he glances at me. “But word to the wise, you might actually want to talk to him. There’s nothing else that matters more in this fucking life than family and the siblings we have to take care of.”
Understanding passes between us. I look away and he gets out, fist-bumping Liam and they laugh about something.
But I didn’t miss the heavy set of his brown eyes when he said that or the way his body tensed when he said the word sibling.
Unlike Liam and I, Cole’s intro to this wretched world was fucked up, messy and not at all what it is now. He wasn’t born into money. His birth parents, the assholes abandoned him and his sister—because to them, they didn’t want to associate themselves with kids they thought were ‘possessed’.
But fuck it all to hell, they’re not like that! Cole’s fucking humble but he’s one of the fucking best QB’s in the history of high school football, and the fact that