Poison & Wine - Melissa Toppen Page 0,74
better than she’s ever treated me.
“Mysterious?” Jace comments after a long moment, dropping the truck into gear.
“What’s up with you?” I quirk an eyebrow. I can’t pinpoint it but he seems different...
“Nothing, why?”
“You just seem… I don’t know. Happy.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” He pulls out onto the street.
“No, of course not.” I shake my head, staring at the side of his face.
I thought he seemed off before we left but I didn’t really question it. Now, I don’t know. I can’t seem to shake the feeling that something is up.
Jace isn’t an overly happy person. In fact, more often times than not, he’s stressed out and miserable. A product of dealing with his father. To see him in such rare form, I don’t know, it makes me suspicious.
“So…” I continue, “where are we going?”
“Well, I guess I can tell you now. Jared’s having a party down by the lake. Thought it might be fun for us to join in on the festivities. It’s been so long since we’ve just hung out with friends.”
“Jared?” I question. “As in your ex-dealer, Jared?” I give him a pointed look, but because he keeps his eyes on the road he doesn’t see it.
“Relax, Oak. He’s not a dealer. He’s just a friend. And he’s clean now.” He holds up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“Clean? Is that why I saw him outside of Barkley’s the other day looking higher than a kite?” I accuse.
“He was probably just high, Oak. Weed isn’t the same thing as heroin or pills.”
“Gateway drug,” I mutter, crossing my arms in front of my chest. “It starts with weed but how long until he’s back on the hard stuff?” I ask a valid question that he doesn’t have a chance to answer because I keep talking. “I thought you two didn’t hang out anymore.”
“We don’t. Well, we hadn’t. But we ran into each other a couple of weeks ago and got to talking. He’s a good guy, Oak. I don’t know why you hate him so much.”
“Um, because he was supplying my boyfriend with drugs,” I say like it should be obvious. “That’s why you didn’t want to tell me. Because you knew I wouldn’t want to go,” I accuse, my good mood quickly deteriorating.
“No, I thought it would be a nice surprise.”
“A nice surprise?” I gawk at him. “Have you lost your mind? Why in the world would I want to go to a party where I know there will be drinking and drugs, with my boyfriend who I’m trying to keep from drinking and drugs?”
“You know, you used to be a lot more fun.” He laughs. He actually laughs, like that’s somehow supposed to be funny.
“Are you high?” I accuse, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.
“What?” He snorts. “Of course not.”
“You are. You’re high right now.” If his overly happy behavior wasn’t a dead giveaway, his reaction to my question sure is.
“Oakley.” He laughs again. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Am I?” I start scouring the truck. I pull open the glove box and start to rummage through the contents.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“If you’re not high and you haven’t been getting high then it shouldn’t matter what I’m doing,” I tell him, slamming the glove box shut when I find nothing inside other than some papers and an old manual.
“Seriously?” He throws me a sideways glance when I unlatch my seatbelt and start sliding my hand under the seat.
I know I’m getting close when he reaches across the console and grabs my arm.
“Oakley! What the fuck?”
“Focus on the road,” I bite at him, shaking off his hold.
Continuing to feel around, my fingers graze along what feels like a Ziploc bag. I grab it and pull it out, expecting it to be trash. What I find instead sends my entire world spinning on its axis.
It’s a Ziploc bag, alright. A Ziploc bag filled with a syringe and needle, a bent, burnt looking spoon, and a small plastic bag filled with a white powdery substance.
I seriously can’t believe what I’m seeing.
“What the fuck?” The instant the words are off my lips, Jace makes a grab for the bag but I manage to pull it back just in the nick of time. “What is this?” I all but scream through the cab of the truck.
“I can explain.”
“Explain what? Explain why there’s heroin in your truck? You said you quit. For weeks you’ve been telling me you haven’t used.”
“And I hadn’t. I just… I had a really bad day last