Chapter 29

twenty-nine

LOLA

It had been three weeks since I'd lost Sid. I hadn't spoken to Hendrix in person since. Of all the things he could have done to me, that was the worst. Maybe I could have fixed Sid, stitched him back together, but I didn't want to.

Hendrix had severed more than just Sid's neck, and I'd thrown away more than just his broken body.

I was done. I'd even tried to find somewhere else to live, but it was the same as before. Crackheads and perverts.

Every Friday night, Hendrix sent me a text. You might not want to be here tonight . Then I'd disappear to steal cars for Willy, go to Kyle's, and get drunk enough to convince myself I didn't care what faceless girl Hendrix had fucked.

Saturday night, I'd come home and text him: You might not want to be here tonight , right before inviting Kyle or Chad over to hang out. Sometimes both of them.

I was right back where I was two years ago, without Hendrix. But instead of crying into scratchy sheets at a foster home, I now cried barely ten feet from the very boy I tried so hard to hate.

The low glow of my bedside lamp caught in Chad's blond hair when he rested against my headboard, clutching his bag of peanuts in one hand and his cards in the other. "Tens?"

"Go Fish," I said, pinching a handful of nuts from his bag.

"Stealing my food and beating me."

"I always beat you. Queens."

He chucked a card down onto the comforter with a huff.

The bang of the front door closing echoed up the stairs, and Chad sat bolt upright. "What was that?"

Voices drifted through the house, Hendrix's distinct. He was breaking our unspoken rules of "you might not want to be here tonight." I didn't come back on Friday nights; he stayed out on Saturdays. That was how it had worked since he'd done the unthinkable.

"Hendrix, I guess." I tried to play it cool even though my heart pounded in my chest. I could just picture him punching Chad in the face. But no, he wouldn't do that because he didn't care.

"I swear, if he tries to kick my ass, I will out myself from this closet so fast."

I laughed.

"I'm serious. These muscles are for show. I'm a lover, not a fighter."

Hendrix could think whatever he wanted to think, and if that just so happened to be that I was as over him as he was me, then fine. "He doesn't care, Chad," I said.

"Yeah, right. I saw Ethan's face. Hendrix Hunt is insane."

I didn't want to hear his stupid name because he had killed Sid and us.

Footfalls thudded up the stairs, a familiar voice drifting closer. "Is that girl here?" Zepp.

Shit, Hendrix had texted me a couple of days ago telling me his brother was getting out this week, but he hadn't elaborated with an exact day. I'd totally forgotten.

"Who's that?" Chad whispered.

"Zepp. Hendrix's brother. He just got out of jail."

"What in the hell, Lola—"

Then the worst possible thing happened. One of them knocked on my bedroom door. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"One minute," I called, jumping off the bed.

I hadn't seen Zepp since I had taken a crap on Hendrix—as far as they were both concerned, at least. Zepp was the big brother I'd never had, and I couldn't handle his disappointment.

Stressed, I fanned my face before getting up and walking to the door.

"What are you doing, Lola?" Chad whisper-shouted as I grasped the doorknob. "Don't open it! I don't want to have to defend myself against a guy from prison."

"He's not going to hit you. Zepp is… the reasonable one?" Then I yanked open the door.

Zepp looked so much like Hendrix. Same sharp nose and severe jaw, but Zepp was bigger, wider, and far more serious.

A scowl formed on his hard face before he glanced toward the hall. "What in the ever-loving fuck, Hendrix?" he shouted.

Footsteps pounded up the steps before Hendrix popped up behind his brother. His gaze zeroed in on Chad, jaw ticcing before he looked at me. I stared right back, daring him to say something.

"You told me to get a roommate when everything went to shit," he said, then pointed at me. "There's the roommate."

"It's Lola."

I huffed. "Great observational skills, Zepp."

Zepp's gaze drifted over the top of my head. "And some golden spoon fed-looking prick. He can get the fuck out."

To Chad's credit, he didn't cower in the slightest as he moved past Zepp. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Welcome home," I said when Chad was out of sight. Then shut the door in Zepp's face.

I sat in my room, doing homework, until the hum of conversation floated up from downstairs. Since I didn't want to deal with either of them, I took the opportunity to shower while I was unlikely to bump into them in the hallway.

I'd just lathered my hair with shampoo when the distinct click of the door opening cut through the rush of water.It would be awkward as hell, but I almost hoped it was Zepp at that point. I didn't want to be around Hendrix.

The splash of piss hit the toilet right before it flushed, sending a stream of scorching water over my skin. "You said it wasn't him." Of course, it was Hendrix.

"Get out."

"Don't bring him back over here."

"Fuck you, Hendrix." I yanked the shower curtain back, using it to cover myself as I glared into his angry blue eyes. "I pay just as much of the bills as you do." Every week and I was risking jail to do it. "If you can have every slut, whore, and pussy over here, I can have Chad over."

"I don't give a shit who you bring over here, Lola." His stare hardened as he put his dick away. "It's Zepp."

"I'm sure."

"Ethan. Harford. That entire group of assholes tried to date rape his girlfriend."

A sense of unease rattled around in my chest. I knew what Ethan's father was like. The apple hadn't fallen far from the tree evidently.

"If you give a shit about my brother, don't invite any Barrington guys over here." He started toward the door. "I don't want him to end up in prison again."

"Fine." I yanked the curtain closed again. "I'll go to his house. I don't want to be here anyway."

It was the truth. I didn't want to be anywhere near Hendrix.

So, why did an ache form in my chest when, instead of meeting my comment with vitriol, Hendrix simply walked out, closing the door behind him?