“What the hell is going on?” Rick’s entire face is red. The wind tugs at his short hair as if trying to cool him off, but it isn’t working. Any minute now, his head is going to explode and pure lava will shoot out of his neck.
“Rick!” My voice is high-pitched and thick with guilt. “W-what are you doing here?”
“What are you doing, Cadence? Or should I say, who were you doing?” His eyes narrow on Dutch.
“He’s nobody.”
I feel rather than see Dutch glare at me.
“Nobody? It’s freaking broad daylight and you’re out here wilding out with ‘nobody’. What the hell is wrong with kids these days? Is this even legal? How old are you?”
“I wasn’t. We weren’t—”
“I wasn’t talking to you, Cadence.”
“I’m eighteen,” Dutch says calmly.
Rick’s eyes bug. “I’m going to kill you!”
I skid in between him and Dutch.
“Get out of the way, Cadence!”
“Rick, it’s not what you think.”
“Don’t even give me that B.S. The car was rocking so hard I thought we were having an earthquake. I barely saw your face through all the steam on the windshield and if this idiot didn’t moan your name loud enough for the neighborhood to hear, I never would have thought it was you.”
Dutch lifts his chin, his face pulled into its usual stoic expression. While I’m dying of humiliation, he seems noticeably relaxed.
Rick sees Dutch watching him and grits his teeth. “What, punk?”
“You look familiar.”
“How about you shut your face, you idiot?” Rick growls, looking three seconds away from throwing a punch.
I’m surprised by Rick’s passionate defense of my ‘honor’. Most of the time, he treats me and Vi like burdens. At his birthday party, he looked irritated by our presence. I was pretty sure he hated me.
Dutch’s gaze passes over him, thoughtful. It’s irritating how composed he is in this moment.
Rick finds it irritating too because he takes a threatening step forward.
“Oh right.” Dutch’s voice is light. As if we’re having a tea party or a casual conversation. “You’re the security who was talking to Redhead—” he smoothly corrects himself, “Cadence that night at the park.”
“Redhead?” Rick scrunches his nose. Recognition lights in his eyes a moment later. “That night when I saw you dressed up in a wig…” He pauses and says in horror. “You’re the stalker?”
I wince, remembering that night. Dutch set up a concert just to meet my alter ego. At the time, I was trying to get away from Rick and referred to Dutch as my ‘stalker’ to push them both off.
A corner of Dutch’s lips curl upward. He’s not bothered by the label.
“Cadence, you’re hooking up with your stalker now?”
My mouth opens and then slams shut. How do I explain everything to Rick? Should I even bother?
Dutch reaches out to take my hand, fingers rubbing over my naked ring finger. “I’m Dutch Cross. I wanted to meet more of Cadey’s family, but I hadn’t realized we’d already met before.”
“Don’t talk to me like we’re related, you—”
“Dutch was just leaving,” I say quickly, shoving his arm before Rick decides to break out a knife or something.
The stubborn ruler of Redwood Prep doesn’t budge a single inch.
I look up at Dutch with pleading eyes.
He arches a brow, unmoved.
Desperate, I slide my hand up Dutch’s back. Rick’s eyes bug and I can tell he wants to drag me away, but I focus on Dutch instead. My fingers skate over the expensive fabric of his starch white shirt and press into all the places where I marked his skin that night in the treehouse.
I keep my touch light and my voice coaxing, “I haven’t seen my brother in a really long time. Can you give us some space to talk?”
He tilts his head to one side, considering my request. He can see right through me, but I can see right through him too.
Back when he didn’t know I was Redhead, I could bend Dutch to my will. He was soft for me. Eager to please.
And I still have that power.
Because I am Redhead.
Dutch glances down at me, studying me like he expects me to admit that I’m doing all this intentionally. Does he think I’d crack so easily?
I press my body into his, one arm slung along his lean waist, and I smile. “If you give in now, I’ll return the favor.” I rise on my tiptoes and whisper thickly in his ear, “You can do whatever you want to me for one night.”
He doesn’t even blink.
What? Sex isn’t enough to placate him?
Rick growls, “Cadence, get him out of here before I tell Hunter and my boys to teach this doofus a lesson.”
Frustrated, I whip my eyes to Dutch. “Rick isn’t going to hurt me. You can go.”
Still nothing.
“I’ll call you later, okay?” I spit.
“You’ll call?” Dutch’s lips curl up a fraction of an inch.
Internally, I freeze.
That’s it.
The crack that I’ve been waiting for.
He softens, his tense shoulders, his full, dangerous lips, his eyes.
I push on the crack just far enough to make him break.
“I’ll call you and tell you everything,” I promise. “I won’t leave anything out.”
There.
He finally loses the fight and gives in.
I can see it.
It strikes me then, in the deepest caverns of my heart, that Dutch Cross doesn’t just want to screw me. He genuinely wants to know me. I didn’t believe it before. Who would? The most powerful guy on campus… drawn to me? Ridiculous.
And yet I’m starting to think that I can trust him.
I offered my body up on a platter, and it didn’t mean as much as a simple phone call. An invitation into my life. A promise to share my thoughts, my burdens, my words.
It’s a little disconcerting to see the depth of his feelings and I have to blink to regain my bearings.
Dutch presses his hot mouth to my cheek, sending the butterflies in my stomach flying. I have to resist the urge to turn my head and let his mouth graze my lips instead.
Rick launches over to us, but Dutch just smirks.
“See you later, bro.”
“Bro? I’m not your bro!” Rick yells at Dutch’s retreating back.
Dutch doesn’t bother responding. He climbs into his car.
Rick fumes. “Is he one of those rich brothers in the rock band my girl likes?”
“Yeah,” I say breathlessly.
“Why is he taking you home then?”
“Because he likes me.” I stare at Dutch’s car as it drives past us.
“You? Why?”
I frown and whip my head back to Rick.
My half brother gasps. “He’s not paying you for sex, is he? Oh my go—Cadence, mom didn’t turn you into a prostitute to feed her habit, did she?”
“No. He’s…” I inhale deeply and let the word drift off my tongue. “He’s my boyfriend.”
Rick’s eyes go wide. “People like him don’t date people like us, Cadence. Not seriously.”
I fold my arms over my chest, feeling dumb and a little exposed. I never in a million years thought I’d voluntarily claim Dutch Cross as my boyfriend. Rick pointing out the obvious isn’t helping me feel any better.
“What do you want?” I ask roughly.
He scowls, and seems to debate whether he should continue ragging me about Dutch. My expression must show how unwelcome that would be because he sighs and glances down.
“It’s about mom.”
I wince. Rick and mom have a complicated history. I’ve been dragging my feet about telling him mom’s back because I don’t know what that’ll do to him. The less people who suffer because of mom’s reappearance, the better.
Rick’s eyes lift to mine. “She’s not dead.”
“Oh.” I breathe out in relief. “You knew.”
His head whips up. Shock tightens his voice. “Why do you sound so calm?”
“Mom showed up a couple weeks ago.” I fold my arms over my chest. The sun is starting to set and the wind is picking up with a cold chill. “It was only for one day. We haven’t seen her since.”
Dutch is actually the last person who saw mom. I don’t know what that means or why she’d prefer to spend her time lying to him rather than visiting her own children.
“She pawned one of my rings and left half the money with me. I thought she’d be back for it, but she hasn’t.” I tilt my head. “Maybe she skipped town.”
Rick shakes his head. “She didn’t.”
“How are you so sure?”
“Because,” he licks his lips, “for the past few days, she’s been crashing at my place.”
