30. Cruz

30

CRUZ

I stopped expecting anything good to happen anymore, but after my beating, I didn't think things could end up this fucking shitty.

At first, it seemed like everything would be good.

Sure, I got my ass handed to me because I'd gone lax, and between school, my new job, and whatever psycho stalker that was after me, I'd forgotten all about Big Dog. Unfortunately for me, Ricky had not forgotten about me.

I would need an out—and soon. In doing so, it would put me in harm's way, and it would put those close to me in danger, too. Before this week, I wouldn't have thought twice about it because I had no one close to me. Now, I wouldn't say these three were close to me, but I would hate myself if they got caught in the crossfire of my war.

For fuck's sake, Ava had made me lunch. No one had ever packed extra food intending to give it to me. It made me want to take back everything wrong I had ever thought about her. She wasn't the stuck-up bitch I had initially imagined. Ava was closed off, but she wasn't cold. She was kind and thoughtful, and if we weren't in her father's workshop, I would have tried to fuck her.

When both of our phones chimed simultaneously, I could see the dread on her face. When I opened mine, instead of being disgusted that we were being watched, my first reaction was to pop a fucking boner at the video of Micah and Ava getting hot and heavy.

God, they looked so hot.

The look on both of their faces killed me. I'd kissed Micah. There was something about him I liked, same as Ava. It would make sense that I would want them together instead of feeling jealous or hurt.

Fuck.

An image of Ava riding Micah popped into my head, followed by the things I wanted to do with both of them.

Our gazes met, and I could see the panic in her blue eyes.

Our phones pinged once more before we could grasp what we had been sent.

Grayson wanted to meet with us ASAP. We had all been targeted and sent the same message.

"They're watching," Ava whispered.

All I could do was nod.

"What they did to you guys is fucked up," I told her, and I could see the confusion on her face.

She turned her phone around to show me what she had been sent.

1…2…3…4…

Look what happens in the great outdoors.

Okay, we hadn't gotten the same thing. She had gotten a picture of Micah and me. How the hell did they get that? And how the fuck did we not notice? I could bet my right nut that they had seen us kissing, but couldn't capture an image.

"Princess," I whispered her nickname, and slowly got up.

I mirrored her movement and showed her the video I got sent.

Ava's breath hitched as she saw herself on top of Micah.

"Omigod." She put her hand to her mouth. Her eyes began to brim with tears. "That's so fucked up."

Without thinking twice, I pulled Ava into my chest and wrapped an arm around her. I realized how small and breakable she was when I held her in my arms. I needed to handle my shit with Big Dog because I didn't want her to get hurt on my behalf—it would kill me. I had already lost pieces of my soul, and I refused to lose another piece because I failed to protect her and Micah.

"They're watching," Ava whispered into my chest.

"It's going to be okay, princess," I whispered against her forehead, then I kissed her temple. "Come on. I'll follow you home in my car. You won't be alone."

She nodded, but didn't make a move to get away from me.

"Cruz," she said my name hesitantly. I pulled back and looked down at her, curious to see her cheeks begin to get rosy. "About Micah…I didn't…you two."

She sounded adorable trying to find words to describe the fucked-up dynamic that we currently found ourselves in.

"Guess we need to make it even." I winked at her, then led her to the car.

Now, here we were, the four of us, back to the place where it all started. Grayson was becoming undone, and I could feel it in my gut. Unlike me, he wasn't used to having everything in his life go to shit on a daily basis. I imagined that for someone like him to lose control the way we were losing it was fucking with his mind. If his last game was anything to go on, he was one mistake from fucking shit up.

My mind briefly wandered to the kisses I'd just shared with Ava and Micah. Micah was still fighting his attraction to me, but at least he didn't seem repulsed by the idea of kissing me. My cock twitched as I roamed the lake, trying to appease Grayson and see if we could find a needle in a fucking haystack.

I sighed and decided to do this and hash it out with Grayson later. What the fucker needed was to blow off some steam. He definitely needed to get laid. Shit, so did I—I had months' worth of pent-up tension thanks to the fucking maybe dead body.

"Grayson!"

I yelled as soon as I saw the gleam on the shore's edge. I turned around, letting the Jet Ski take me faster back to the boat.

I noticed Micah was standing too close to Gray, and he didn't seem to mind. My jaw clenched, and something stirred in my stomach. It wasn't jealousy, but I couldn't name the emotion that overcame me.

"I saw something. It might be nothing, but it might be something. When I was cutting back across the lake, I noticed a path…one I'd never seen before, leading down to a little beach. Something caught my eye, and I pulled over to check it out." I stumbled out the words, then paused to lick my lips. "From there, you have an unobstructed view of your boat. But not only that, on the beach, right in the center, there's a pile of rocks."

"Rocks…" Grayson said slowly.

I gave them a nod. "Like a cairn. A place to mark a burial site."

"Shit," Micah cursed, and Ava jumped up from where she was sitting and came to stand on the other side of Grayson.

She gave me a worried smile, then placed her hand on Grayson's arm and gave him a tentative squeeze. Ava was offering comfort, letting him know we were all in on this. I guess I wasn't the only one who knew the golden boy was losing his shit.

"Micah, take care of Ava. Come on, golden boy, hop on. We are going to check this shit out."

"Don't fucking call me that," Grayson spat at me.

"We're not staying here," Micah shot back.

"Yeah, we are coming with you," Avan backed him up.

"I can only fit one more person with me. If someone is hiding there by any chance, Grayson and I can take them."

"You just got in a fight," Ava snapped back.

"When was this?" Micah demanded to know.

"You can't be getting into fights right now, Martinez. We're already on a loose rope. One wrong move, and not only are you fucked, but you might drag us down with you."

Grayson's words cut because they mirrored what I was already feeling.

I let out a humorless chuckle.

"I don't think it counts as a fight if I wasn't allowed to fight back. Now get on, and let's get this over with."

No one argued after that. I turned the Jet Ski so Grayson could jump right on the back.

"Shit," I hissed when the Jet Ski almost tipped to one side, and Grayson wrapped one hand across my chest so he could stabilize himself.

"My bad," he mumbled.

I didn't say anything, just let out a ragged breath as he let go of me and instead put his hands on the sides. I began to drive slower so he wouldn't fall off. I wasn't too much of an asshole.

"Bruised ribs?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"I got a heating pad if you want to borrow it."

His offer surprised me.

"You use it when you're on the rag, Cross."

The asshole laughed.

"They don't happen often, but they are a casualty of the sport."

Now, I knew hockey players were crazy or idiotic. Like hell I would play a sport that would damage my bones, teeth, or brains.

"You hockey players are fucking crazy," I mumbled.

"You're one to talk. What speed does your car hit? I'm betting enough to kill you in seconds if you fuck up on the tracks."

He had a point, so I stayed quiet until we neared the pile of rocks.

"Right there," I told him, motioning to the shore.

Grayson jumped off as soon as I pulled up to the shore. He instantly turned on his phone's flashlight and lit the area to ensure no one was around. Once I turned off the Jet Ski, I jumped off and did the same as him. Two flashlights were better than one.

"It's just rocks," Grayson mumbled.

"Rocks that someone fixed," I added. "They're creepy, aren't they?"

Grayson ignored me and instead crouched down to get a better look.

"Look." He pointed off to the side of the cairn, where more rocks formed a cross pattern.

"Shit," I cursed.

"Let's follow this path and see where it goes."

He didn't wait for me to answer and instead started walking away. I quickly followed after him. Like I said earlier, he was losing his shit.

"So, what did they send you?" I asked.

Grayson stopped mid-step and turned back to look at me.

"Look, I don't know what the hell you're doing, but Micah and Ava, they have something going on. Don't fuck with it. Micah deserves something good."

His posture was stiff, and his jaw was tight as if it hurt him to say those words. I had seen the way he looked at Ava. He wanted her for himself…or had I gotten it wrong, and now he wanted Micah, too? Or maybe he didn't want me to have either of them.

"So you got the video, not the picture," I bit back.

"What picture?" he asked.

I ignored him and instead followed the path. There were two trees on either side of it, and the branches acted as a shield to prevent people from going deeper, but some of the branches were crooked as if they had been bent so people could go through them.

Grayson's heat was suddenly behind me, and I found it comforting at this moment.

"On the count of three," he whispered behind me, grabbing onto the opposite branch that I was.

Grayson and I weren't so different, after all. He was used to taking control on the ice, and that attitude transferred over to his personal life. I was forced to take control of my life, but I had a wider margin for error. Controlled chaos was where I thrived, and Grayson would need to relish the feeling of losing himself if he wanted to keep his mind intact.

When he said three, we both pushed through and stopped when we found ourselves in a clearing. Up ahead was what looked like a mausoleum.

"This shit keeps getting better and better," Gray spat, and I silently agreed.