Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

VICTORIA

“Should have seen that movie last month when it first came out,” Dallas mentioned as we all got up and shuffled out of the theater. What in the hell were we supposed to do? There was no way my brother would leave us alone until we were all in our cars on the way back home. The problem with that was I rode here with Devin and Dallas can’t know that yet.

Thankfully, my phone dinged with an incoming text as we made our way out to the mall again.

Jordan: I hate this! She claimed to be pregnant and has him hooked. He had no qualms about telling me that he would help raise a baby if we had one together, but that didn’t mean we had to be a couple. For her - he bends over backward to try to make her believe they can work it out. What did I do wrong?

Victoria: I’m not sure what’s going on. It feels like I missed several memos about what’s going on with Austin lately.

Jordan: For sure, you’ve been caught up with your own drama. I’ll fill you in tomorrow, if you’re going to be home.

Victoria: I’ll be there.

Jordan: Great see you then. He’s here. He showed up. I’ll let you know what happened.

Well shit. I was about to ask her to come get me, but that was out of the question now. Jordan needed to work out whatever was going on between her, my brother, and the other girl he kept going back to since their college days.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” I looked up to see my brother and Devin both staring at me.

“Sorry, what?” I asked.

“I said, it’s getting late and I will walk you to your car. You know how assholes get this time of year. No need in making yourself a victim.” Dallas held his hand out, as if to offer me to go in front of him so I could lead the way to wherever I parked.

Holy shit, this was really happening. Either we had to come clean or I would have to find some way to get a ride an hour back to my house.

“Um,” I held up my phone and waved it in the air for some asinine reason. “I told you I was meeting Jordan here, remember?”

“Yeah, but she’s still not here.”

“That was her. She’s only a few minutes away.”

“Maybe I should wait for her to show up.” Dallas would not give up.

“Yeah, are you sure she’s going to make it?” Devin asked. I could see the worry in his eyes. He knew as well as I did that if I couldn’t find another ride home, we would have to explain everything to Dallas, and we simply weren’t ready for that, since Dev didn’t have proof of what Justice had been up to yet.

“I swear, she just told me she was almost here. You guys can head out and don’t worry about me. I won’t be on my own.” I smiled brightly and hoped like hell it looked far more genuine than it felt. A little panic started to rise in my chest at the thought of being stranded at the mall, an hour from home, on my own. We were close to the holidays when the crimes ramped up and when I went to the bathroom, there were posters with hotline numbers to call if you were a victim of human trafficking. To say I was freaked out to be on my own was an understatement, but I was equally freaked out about my baby brother finding out about the messy situation Devin and I managed to get ourselves in.

By the time I convinced the guys to leave me on my own, the sun had already started to set. I glanced around and bit my lip nervously as I pulled up a ride share app on my phone. I wasn’t stupid. Most of the drivers wouldn’t accept a ride that far as it would add too many miles to their vehicles and wouldn’t pay out enough. I had to hope that at least one would take my offer.

Eventually, nearly fifteen minutes after my brother and Devin left, I finally found someone who would take the ride. By the time I got home, I was out nearly $200 and the same old worries started to circle in the back of my mind again. It felt like the universe pushed me to see that Devin and I were not meant to be. Why else would it be so damn hard?