Done Deal - Max Henry

TUCK

“Where do you want to go?”

I glance across at Johnson as he settles himself in the passenger seat of my Hilux. I chose to park at the end of their driveway before it opened out into the yard purely to keep my distance from his nutcase of a sister.

“We’ll go to the Royal. Roger might not serve us, but I need a decent fucking feed.” He fixes me with an unimpressed stare.

“A pub feed it is, then.” I shift my focus back to the yard ahead as I turn us around to head out, smothering the smile that tries to break free.

His situation isn’t funny by a long shot, but we’ve tried unsuccessfully to point out for years how weird it is he shacked up with his stepsister.

And now it all blows up in his face.

“Got to make a quick stop-off to pick up Beau,” I say.

The devil dog managed to get himself a sleepover at Maggie’s last night. Some of us are hanging out to know if the guy grew some balls and made the most of it.

“You realise you’re turning the wrong way?” Johnson asks when we reach the road.

“He’s not at home.” I figure the surprise will be worth it to see the look on Johnson’s face when we rock up at Mag’s house. “How’s your little step-tornado doing?” I ask, referring to Amber.

Johnson slides down the seat with a huff. “Up and down like a fucking yo-yo.”

“Didn’t know she had it in her.”

He frowns in my periphery. “What?”

“Remorse.”

Johnson laughs, tipping his head back into the seat. “Bro. Don’t get all messed up about it. She’s not remorseful; she’s frustrated.”

“About what?”

“Our olds getting wind of her perfect set up.” He turns his head to face me again, fists loose on his knee. “She’s played the henchman for Mandy all these years, always taking the rap but never getting the glory, and for once, she thought she had it all made to put her on top.”

“By acting like a right bitch?” I don’t get it. How is that better?

“By offering up our sleepy little town to the wolves in the city on a fucking silver platter.”

I turn my head briefly to frown at him. “She wants to use us as her ticket to popularity?”

“Not popularity,” Johnson corrects. “She wants to throw down the gauntlet.” He straightens in his seat. “If Amber shows she’s capable of doing this to the people she loves, then what the fuck would she do to strangers like them?”

“Have you figured out what her endgame is, yet?” He mentioned she chose Portside as her next school for a reason, but not why.

“Not yet.” He goes silent a second before adding. “Do you think it’s got something to do with all the shit over social media?”

“What shit?” I briefly consider pulling over to give Johnson my full attention.

He shifts in his seat; body turned toward me. I can tell he’s surprised, even without looking directly at him. “You haven’t seen all the pictures flying around socials overnight?” He chuckles. “There’s even a private chat group dedicated to it.”

“What pictures?” I throttle the steering wheel in my hands. “I was busy with Dad this morning bringing the ute home, and after that … well, you know how shit the reception is at our place. I didn’t bother looking at my phone other to see if I had any missed calls or messages.”

“I seriously can’t believe you haven’t seen them,” Johnson mutters.

I take a deep breath and swallow—hard—before I lose my shit unnecessarily. “How about you put me out of my misery then and explain it to me.”

“Pull over.” He jerks his head to the side of the road.

“Why?”

“It’s easier if you just check it all out for yourself.”

I do as he says and direct the 4WD onto the grass verge. He unbuckles and jumps out, skirting the front of the ute while I round the back to swap sides. Johnson barely has us in the road again before my phone sits in my hand, the glaring evidence smack in my face.

I’m surprised the social sites haven’t pulled half this shit, yet. I’ve had pictures removed for less.

“What the fuck is this goddamn mess?” I mutter, still scrolling past update after update about some subscription site that shared dick pics.

“I don’t know, but I think your girl has something to do with it.”

“How?” Oh, fuck no. The further I scroll, the more I find. It turns out girls would submit carefully cropped shots of various body parts as