Page 52 of When Fate Breaks
“Yes, I can,” I snap back.
“Oh, look, there you are!” Blake points me out in the seniors section, ignoring me completely.
I huff, seizing my attack. “Fine, yes. There I am. Happy?”
“Very. Thank you,” Blake chuckles, his eyes trailing back down to the book. “Hey, isn’t that your friend?”
I look over her shoulder, seeing his finger pointing at the nameLeah Tucker, Leah’s bright smile and long blonde curls easily making her stand out from the rest of the pictures on the two-page spread that makes up our entire senior class.
“Yep, that’s her,” I smile.
“Wait,” Blake says. His finger just barely starts to shift to the right and I groan immediately, already knowing where he’s going.
“Jeremiah Van der Michael?Van der Michael…That’s that family you talked about before, right?”
“The Van derMoochfamily, yes,” I confirm begrudgingly. “And we are not to talk about them,” I say, snatching the book from Blake’s hands and snapping it shut before he can even react. “Not ever, but especially not now. Unless you want my head to explode.”
“Why?” Blake questions, his eyebrows pinching.
“They’re trying to buy the hardware store out from under my parents,” I mutter, pushing my hair behind my ears.
“What?” Blake repeats, more forcefully, getting to his feet.
“Yep. Dad has told them a firm ‘hell no’ on multiple occasions, but they won’t stop. They’re threatening to get the city involved. Pull some strings. Dig in deep. They’ve assured us they will be going through our business records with a fine tooth comb and that they’ll find something to ruin us if we don’t give in.”
“Why do they evenwantit?”
“Because they wanteverything,” I growl. “They’re mooches. Leeches. They just want to come in after all the work is done and buy up whatever land or business they can to have something else to slap their name on.” I blow out a deep breath, seeing concern etched all over Blake’s face. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Don’t we have some illegal shit to do, birthday boy? I’m not getting any younger.”
“Language, Evangeline.”
I don’t respond, my brows raising and tongue pushing into the side of my cheek. A smile slowly breaks out on Blake’s face and he shakes his head.
“Yeah,” he says. “Let’s go.”
* * *
“A gas station?”
“Yep,” Blake replies, pulling the keys from the ignition, shutting off his absurdly loud diesel engine.
“I’m second guessing this, Di Fazio. I’m pretty sure SWAT will be on us before we even step foot outside the vehicle,” I say sarcastically.
“Hey, we’re starting small and working our way up. Come on,” he says, opening his door and hopping out of the truck. Well, more like stepping out. I, on the other hand, have to quite literally hop out of the truck as it’s so high off the ground.
“What are we even doing here?” I grunt, pushing myself off the seat and successfully sticking the landing without rolling any ankles.
“Buying a scratch-off ticket.”
“I’m already feeling the adrenaline high,” I deadpan.
“Shut up,” Blake says, rolling his eyes, opening the cracked glass door of the old gas station.
“I just expected a little bit more, being awoken from my slumber, is all,” I whisper as Blake makes a beeline for the register.
“Hi,” Blake says, planting his hands on the counter.
The girl behind the counter looks up lazily from her magazine. She looks to be in her early twenties, with an unnaturally bright shade of red hair and neon pink fake nails longer than I’ve ever seen before. Her eyes seem to brighten up when they land on Blake. “What can I get you, baby?” she asks, blowing a big pink bubble with her gum.
