Fake Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,7

jumps over the table and gets between the two.

“Gentlemen,” Easton says in a soothing voice. “Gentlemen… let’s be fair here. A fight between you two would be amazing. I think half the world would show up to watch that. But this isn’t going to solve a thing. We have a purpose here. I think you’re both acting like spoiled bitches.”

Noah and Xavier back off one another.

“I’m not spoiled,” Noah says.

“We all are,” Xavier says.

“Stop,” Easton says. “We know the problem here. It’s not us.”

“It’s her,” Noah says. “This was a bad idea all around. Fucking Bumps.”

“You’re part of it too, bro,” Xavier says. “Listen to Easton. He’s right. We know the problem.”

“So, what? We need a solution?” Noah asks.

“Exactly,” Easton says.

“What are you thinking then?” Noah asks.

Xavier puts his hands on the table and leans forward.

He smiles. “We’re smart. I’m sure we can figure something out…”

I. Remember. Everything.

It was the middle of the night and I was sitting at the window.

The sky was completely dark.

I could see blinking lights off in the distance.

Cell towers. Lights from the hospital too.

Probably for the emergency helicopter or something.

There were a lot of cars in the parking lot.

So much was happening around me in the hospital.

And I sat on a couch and stared out the window.

Everything began to collapse around me.

Noah. Easton. Xavier.

They were the ones who caused the accident.

It was all there in my memory now.

Everything was back.

I knew everything about my father. My mother. My house. My life. My friends.

Evie and Darcy… were complete bitches too. They were terrible friends. There was no doubt in my mind they were at a party right now, getting drunk, laughing at me. Making fun of the way I looked in the hospital bed. Probably mimicking the way I was sitting, talking, and the questions I had been asking.

I remembered Vivi for sure.

I wished she was still in the hospital room so I could slap her across the face.

Or maybe I would thank her.

She could have Chester.

What the hell was I thinking with Chester?

Whatever.

That didn’t matter anymore.

What mattered was the guys.

Noah.

Easton.

Xavier.

They weren’t just bad boys. They weren’t just pricks. They weren’t just evil.

They tried to kill me.

Their plan was to have Tank crash and both of us would be totaled and gone forever.

But I survived.

The entire crash came back to me too.

I couldn’t move the wheel. I couldn’t get the brakes to work either. So as a last-ditch effort, I tried to get into the back of the SUV. That’s the last of the accident I remembered.

But it was obvious something had been done to my vehicle.

Someone had messed with it.

My eyes filled with tears.

I was hurt. Angry. Scared.

Of course I was.

Who wouldn’t feel that way?

My entire life was based on fake friendships and real lies.

Noah, Easton, and Xavier were the kind of guys that you kept your distance from. They chose who they wanted and when they wanted that person. Nothing was ever serious or for long. They had no rules and they had no limits.

And they had set their sights on me.

They wanted me gone for good.

I should have been dead.

All those fake people coming to see me should have been coming to see what kind of casket my father had picked out for me to be buried in.

It was terrifying to think that… but it was the truth.

I sat in the same spot until I saw the first flicker of daylight off in the horizon.

That’s when I stood up and shuffled my way back to the hospital bed.

I got settled and then pressed the button to ask for some painkillers.

I needed to sleep.

I needed to think.

I needed to remember.

I needed to come up with a plan.

“You’re free to go,” the doctor said to me with a big smile.

“Really?” I asked.

“Well… I’m not the biggest fan of this, but your father makes a great case.”

“And he has a big wallet,” I said.

Dad laughed. “See? Look at her. She’s already getting her sense of humor back. She’s better off at home anyway. Sitting around here isn’t good. She needs to be home. She needs to see familiar things. It’ll help.”

I swallowed hard.

I hadn’t said a word to anyone yet about what had happened.

About my memory rushing back to me all at once.

That also meant I didn’t say a thing about Noah, Easton, or Xavier.

“We’re going to have to go through a list of things to watch out for,” the doctor said. “But… if I’m being fair, yes, Winter should go home. There’s no signs of