Page 2 of Jet

I can’t believe these people raised me.

They both pull out their phones to check. Brian looks up at me first, eyes full of hate. “I will call the police if you don’t fix this now.”

“I don’t think you will. Do you really want the authorities searching around your financials? Think about all the things they might find.”

Their faces pale.

Brian skimming money from his clients’ accounts. He’s not even hiding it well. Moron.

My mom, Beverley, clears her throat. “He was a biker from Oregon that I met in Vegas. His name was Kenny.”

“I need more,” I bite out. I’m good at finding people, but why make this harder on myself?

“The gang was called Fallen Gargoyles,” she chokes out.

There it is. I can work with that.

“You can access your money again, but if I find out you’ve lied, I will make you pay.”

They nod stiffly, trying not to look furious. They aren’t as good at hiding their emotions as I am.

I get up from the table and go to leave before stopping. “Why now?”

“My uncle died. I didn’t want you to expect an inheritance payout.” Brian says, crossing his arms. I shake my head and leave without another word. They don’t deserve my goodbyes. This house holds nothing but indifference and lies.

I walk to my bike and climb on.

I need to visit Max.

I rap my knuckles three times on the plain white door of the hockey apartment. Max wasn’t home, so it’s safe to bet he’s here.

“Who’s at the door? We’re all here?” I hear Tyler say, confusion lacing his voice from the other side of their apartment door.

“You know other human beings exist outside the nine of us, right?” I’m pretty sure that is Benny, Tyler’s younger brother. “It could be the soccer bros, someone from the strip club, Daniel, Bron’s parents.”

“Ooh, this is a fun game. Maybe it’s Trick Arnold,” a woman’s voice sounds out.

“Why would Trick Arnold, one of the most famous hockey players currently playing, be outside our front door?” Bron has entered the fray.

“Maybe he wanted to meet some college players,” Milo says, defending Celeste. “Trick Arnold seems like the type to do something random like that.”

“But why would he pick Lakehaven U? Doesn’t he play for a team in New York?” And that would be Tyler’s boyfriend, Zeke.

Why the fuck am I still standing here just listening to this nonsense?

“You could answer the door and find out?” I say loudly.

“That does sound like it could be Trick Arnold.” I hear Celeste say at the same time as a chair scraping back.

“It’s not Trick Arnold; it’s Nicky.” Max squeals, making me smile. The door pulls back quickly, and he wraps his arms around me in a bear hug. “What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting a visit this soon.”

Riding all over the continental US means I sometimes don’t see Max in person for weeks or months, and it was only two weeks ago I was here. I look up and see the friendly faces of Max’s teammates and friends. One face stands out. Bron, Max’s boyfriend. I was a bit worried about him when they first got together. He’s a possessive motherfucker, and I was concerned that would influence my friendship with Max. It didn’t, thankfuck. Bron may act like an alpha caveman with Max, but he truly loves him. And that includes anything that makes him happy aka me.

“I saw my parents,” I say, going for a neutral tone even though I know my words alone will alarm Max.

His face falls. “Shit, let’s go into Bron’s room.”

I give everyone an apologetic smile and follow along as Max drags me past them and down the hall.

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