Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

Riven

“You thirsty? I have some extra bottles of water.” Parrish held out a drink for me, while I stood there staring at him like he had fifteen arms or something.

“What’s wrong with you?” He’d been acting differently all week. He went out of his way to be nice to me, said good morning, asked me how I was liking the job and shit like that. I still did my best not to engage with him because I didn’t trust a Hunt as far as I could throw them, but his sudden insistence on reaching out made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“What do you mean, what’s wrong with me? I’m simply offering you water.”

“You didn’t offer me water last week. Then all of a sudden you’re driving my paperwork to my house, and this week you’re acting like we’re best friends.”

Wayne had already left for the day, again asking me if I wanted to hang out. I was hot as shit, sweat running rivers down my face, and I was out of water, but no way would I take any from Parrish.

He didn’t answer right away, just stood there looking at me, dissecting me with those big, steel-gray eyes of his that always looked like they were trying to see more than most folks tried to see. I didn’t like them on me, made me feel like Parrish could find all my secrets. It was that thought that made the truth hit me like a bolt of lightning. My insides frosted over, like a sudden blizzard had swept through. “They tell you to be nice to me? Are you supposed to try and be my friend?”

“No…I mean yes, but that’s not…” He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back, but it fell forward onto his forehead again.

I hadn’t expected him to admit it, but all that did was make the ice in my veins melt and my blood boil. “Fuck Rex. Fuck Frank, and fuck you too. I quit.” I turned on my heel, storming toward my vehicle before I did something stupid…well, stupider. I needed this job. Quitting was going to get me in a lot of trouble, but what was I supposed to do? Sometimes it felt like there was no use in trying, that no matter what I did, I would never get ahead, never be anything other than the Riven I’d always been.

“Riven.” Parrish launched himself at me, grabbing my arm, but I jerked it away and kept going. “Would you wait a minute? Jesus, you’re still the same hothead you’ve always been. Let me explain.”

“Stay away from me, and stay away from my grandma.”

I’d just gotten to my truck and pulled the door open when I heard, “Everything okay?” Smitty had come out of the work trailer and was walking toward us. I’d forgotten he was still there.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Parrish told him, but it wasn’t fine at all. The interruption was just the distraction I needed to get into my truck, slam the door closed, and pull away.

Parrish stood there watching me go, shaking his head, and for a reason I couldn’t understand, making me feel like a disappointment.

*

I’d already takenmy shower and was sitting on the cement slab outside my apartment, smoking a cigarette, which I had been doing a lot more lately, when I heard wheels crunching on gravel.

Before the white Ford cleared the trees, I knew it was going to be Parrish.

I watched as he pulled up, muscles in my jaw clenching in frustration. He took long steps over to me, jeans fitting his muscular legs. He was wearing a black T-shirt that hugged his chest and biceps in all the right ways. His blond hair was messy, as always, but his jawline was sharper than I remembered. He’d changed since I went inside, was more confident, and damned if he wasn’t sexier too. Not that I would do anything about my attraction to him.

I took the last drag of my smoke and dropped it into the ashtray I kept on the porch. It might only be a garage apartment, but I wasn’t going to smoke inside because honestly, I hated the smell. I also didn’t want to disrespect my grandma, who hated the habit.

Standing, I let out a long breath. Some of my anger from earlier had dissipated, but now I was left exhausted. I was so tired of this shit already—of this life and all the drama that was always around me. “Why won’t your family just leave me alone? That’s all I want. Leave me alone so I can do what I need to do to get myself and my grandma out of here.”

His eyes softened, weariness clinging to him, and for the first time, I realized how exhausted Parrish looked too. “I didn’t know,” was all he said.

“Didn’t know what?”

“That you didn’t do it…that it was Rex. Christ, Riv. Why in the hell would you take the blame and go to prison—”

I lurched toward him and pressed my hand over his mouth. “Shut up. Don’t say that shit here. Don’t say it at all.”

My gaze darted to Grandma’s house. She thought I’d done it too. If she’d known I hadn’t, she never would have gone along with the plan, and if she ever found out, nothing would keep her mouth closed about it either. She would end up getting herself killed.

“Get in the apartment,” I said, since I was certain Parrish wouldn’t leave. He seemed to have changed into a stubborn motherfucker, but also, now that he’d said that, I wanted details. I’d assumed he’d known.

He nodded. My hand slid off him, but I realized how close we were, our bodies tight against each other, muscle against muscle, warm to the touch, and he smelled like cologne and freshly cut trees.

I jerked away and went for the door. Parrish followed, closing it behind him.

“She doesn’t know a thing. Don’t tell them she does.”

His pupils widened as if he was surprised by that, or maybe by the fear in my voice. He dropped his head back and sighed. “My fucking family,” whispered quietly past his lips before he looked at me again. “I would never tell them. I wouldn’t put her or anyone else in danger.”

I huffed out a humorless laugh. “You’re the one who admitted you’re supposed to be keeping an eye on me.”

“Yeah, and why would I have told you if I planned to do it?”

“I don’t know. Some reverse-psychology shit. Pretending you’re the nice guy when you’re just like them.”

“I’m nothing like them,” he seethed, real anger in the tension of his muscles. “I hate everything about them. Christ, Riven. Why would you go to prison for someone like Rex? He doesn’t deserve that kind of loyalty!”

“Why the hell do you think?” I pointed toward the house next door.

“Yeah, but it was your word against theirs. Who the hell was going to believe Rex Hunt?”

I shook my head, then adjusted the backward ball cap I wore. “You’re still so naive. I’m not any better than Rex to most people in this town. Not only that, but you remember where this happened, right? Whose bar I was at? Who do you think was going to say they witnessed the whole thing?”

“Shit.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. He did that a lot, I’d noticed—crossed his arms. “My uncle Bill?”

“Your dad was there too. They’re the ones who called Rex to tell him Jerry was there. I tried to get your brother not to go, but you know how he gets when he has an idea in his head. There’s no fucking stopping him.”

“What happened?”

“Didn’t your daddy tell you—” My words were sharp, but then cut off when Parrish winced.

“I didn’t know, Riv. I overheard Rex and Dad talking and admitting it.”

Nerves prickled along my skin. They wouldn’t like Parrish knowing. They’d find a way to use it against him the way they used everyone for what they wanted. “They know you heard them?”

“No. I sneaked back around the house and then went through the front door. What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.”

“Why? You think you can change it?” When he didn’t answer, just stood there staring at me, I said, “Leave it alone. What’s done is done.”

“What happened? I need to know.”

It was the plea in his deep voice that reeled me in. “I wasn’t innocent. Once Rex dragged me there, I was talking shit to Jerry just as much as Rex was. Jerry decided to hit me instead of Rex. We fought for a minute, and then your brother tackled him. They hit the ground, Jerry’s head cracked open on the curb, and your brother ran.”

“Why did you stay?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Because I was a dumbass kid. Because I was weak and didn’t put myself first like your brother. Because a man was dying and I hoped we could get him help. I was freaking the fuck out. I’d done a lot a shit in my life, but seeing a guy bleed out hadn’t been one of them. I ran inside and told your dad and uncle what happened, that we should call 911. They then told me what we were going to say happened—Rex wasn’t there, after all, and I was. I’d driven Rex’s truck there. The keys were on me. They’d seen it… What happens to narcs, Parrish? What happens to their family?”

“Shit.” His hands fisted, and his angular jaw, which looked like it could cut stone, was so tight, I thought it would snap.

“They made me think it would be okay because it was self-defense, and I guess in some ways it was. I didn’t get murder.”

“We have to do something. They shouldn’t get away with that!” He paced the small space.

“What in the fuck can we do? I admitted to it. I did the time.”

“So you got prison time while Rex got to be free and took your girl?”

“I think she wanted to be taken. He’d taken her before I went inside too. None of that shit matters. I just want to save up some money, talk my grandma into selling her place, and get her the hell out of here.”

“I’m sorry, Riv. I’m so sorry. I thought you were just like them. They don’t keep me in the loop like they used to—hell, after hearing this, looks like they never really did. I try my best not to have anything to do with them. I go over and see Bec and the girls, help make sure they’re taken care of.”

“Then why did your dad ask you to watch me?” I cocked a brow.

“Because he still thinks he can control me, and I guess in some ways, he can. I agreed, but I’m not going to tell them anything you don’t want me to. As long as they think you’re staying in line, maybe they’ll leave you alone.”

That’s what I hoped, but who knew with them. And no matter what, I still couldn’t trust the man standing in front of me. “We’re not friends, you and me. I don’t do friends.”

He quirked a playful brow that didn’t fit the situation. “And you plan to do me?”

My traitor of a dick twitched. I had no plans to fuck Parrish. Spilling my guts to him didn’t mean anything changed. He was still a Hunt, and I still wanted nothing to do with them. That’s why the next words out of my mouth were such a surprise. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I stepped closer, heard his sharp inhale. “They tell you I said I like men?”

“They did, but I didn’t believe them.”

I didn’t expect it when he put a strong, calloused hand on my hip, brushing his thumb beneath my shirt and over the bone.

“But now I pay attention. I see the way you look at me. You might hate me, but you want to fuck me too.”

It was my breath that caught this time, blood rushing to my groin. Goddamn him. How was he getting the upper hand? Because he’s sexy as hell. Because you haven’t been with anyone in years. Because you’ve always had a soft spot for Parrish.

“I’m not sleeping with you.” But still, I wasn’t pulling away either. It had been a long time since I’d been touched like this, since I’d stood so close to someone who wanted me, and Parrish clearly did. I hadn’t had sex with anyone since before I went inside. There were guys in prison who fucked other inmates—some wanted it, some didn’t—but I didn’t do that shit. It had been me and my hand, and part of me wanted to touch…to be touched.

“I’m not sleeping with you either.” Parrish stayed close, still touching me, the scent of him filling my senses. “But I do have your back. I know you don’t trust me. You have no reason to, but if I hear something you need to know, I’ll tell you. I won’t let them hurt you or Betsy.”

His words threw cold water on my lust, making me pull back. “I don’t need your help. I can take care of myself. I’ll kill them both before I let either of them lay a hand on her.”

“So stubborn.” Parrish shook his head just as there was a knock at the door. We jerked even farther apart, like we were kids in hiding about to get busted.

“Fuck,” I gritted out, knowing it would be Grandma. While she didn’t want me around Rex anymore, she was already pushing me to get out and meet people. Did she think anyone in Clayton wanted me around them? I was a murderer to them. But I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about Parrish being here, thinking I was getting tight with the Hunts again or getting back to my old ways.

She knocked again. She wasn’t the type to go away, so I went to the door, not opening it enough for her to see inside. “Do you need something? I can come over and help in a minute.”

“Is Parrish Hunt in there?”

Shit. Of course she would know his truck. I kept my voice low when I said, “It’s not what you think. He works with me. I’m not getting in with them again.”

Grandma frowned. “Oh, stop it. Parrish Hunt is nothing like the rest of them. He’s good people. Always helping others, doing the right thing, and even taking care of those sweet babies.” She pushed her way around me, and I had no choice but to step out of the way. “Hello, Parrish. What a surprise. You should stay for dinner with me and Riven. He needs to meet nice friends.”

Oh hell. “He can’t. He’s busy.”

“I’d love to, Ms. Betsy. I can even help you cook.”

The two of them headed out of my room without me. Fuck my life. No good could come of this.