Page 26 of Furious
“Phones please.” She demands.
“Angela?” I gasp, recognizing Heather’s best friend. “What are you doing here?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m working the event, duh.”
God, give me strength. “Yeah, I can see that. But this thing should have been a secret. How?—”
“Are these assholes giving you trouble, sugar?” Calvin Fox comes to stand at Angela’s side.
He’s in a black and yellow leather race suit, and a matching helmet is tucked under his arm.
“I’ve always known that you were a piece of shit.” Chance bites out before Angela can answer Cal’s question. “My brothers always said that. But you’re a fucking dumb ass too.”
The smarmy smile on Fox’s face widens. “Nice to see again too, Hunter.”
“Seriously.” Chance continues. “What the fuck is this? I know you’re aware that even keeping a motorcycle in your garage is illegal in Star Cove. A race between us was already risky, but what are all these people doing here? There must be, like, fifty people out here.”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself about,” Cal shrugs. “Like you just said, we’re taking a risk by doing this. Inviting some acquaintances who wanted to come and bet on the race just makes it worth my while. We even have a handful of people who want to race. I’m charging them an entry fee.”
This is bad.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I intervene. “If news gets out?—”
“Calm your fucking tits, will you? First off, the people here tonight are just friends of friends. If they’re gonna bet, they’re breaking the law too. And if we get caught, they won’t get paid. So it’s in their best interest to keep their mouths shut. And I’m taking precautions.” He points to the basket in Angela’s hands. “Everyone has to surrender their phones. So no one will be tempted to film the race. There’s going to be no evidence once the race is over, and my crew is going to make sure that we leave this place the way we found it.”
I’m not convinced. And besides, I wouldn’t trust this asshole as far as I can throw him.
“Friends of friends?” I challenge him. “Do you know that Angie’s best friend with the sheriff’s daughter? If Heather hears about this, we’re all fucked.”
The anger in Angela’s tone surprises me. “Heather can go fuck herself. She doesn’t need to know everything I do or everyone I hang out with.”
“Oh, come on,” Chance argues. “You two have been joined at the hip since kindergarten. You’re like clones of each other.”
“No, we’re not.” Her voice cracks, as her eyes fill with tears. “I always considered Heather a sister; but since your stepsister arrived in town, it’s obvious our friendship was one-sided. Did you know that she wanted Zara to try out for the cheerleading team? Cheerleading had always been our thing. And she knew how much I wanted to be a Zeta, but she used her influence to score an invitation to pledge for Zara. I didn’t get invited.”
I intervene. “You shouldn’t be too hard on Heather. She’s just trying to make Zara feel welcome. Friendship isn’t a competition and you should get to know Zara too. She’s awesome.”
That was the wrong thing to say. “Yeah. So awesome that you couldn’t wait to date her. And Heather knew I had a thing for you for years, and encouraged Zara to go out with you. With best friends like her, who needs enemies?”
Shit.
I hate hurting people, but there isn’t anything worse than someone who won’t listen when they’re told the truth.
“Angie, we’ve talked about this a million times. You’re great, but I don’t see you that way, ok? It’s unfair to blame Heather for something she had absolutely no say in. And she encouraged Zara to go out with me because she realized that we liked each other.”
My attempt to smooth things over does more damage than good.
“Fine.” Angela snaps. “I hope you and Zara are happy together. But that doesn’t change the fact that Heather should have been more supportive of me and my feelings. I was sick and tired of being in her shadow, anyway. So I decided to find some new friends.”
One of the reasons why I was never attracted to Angela is that she’s always followed Heather’s lead. Her personality has always been what Heather wanted it to be. I’m glad for her that she finally decided to be her own person, but hanging out with Fox is a terrible way to assert her independence.
“Cal isn’t your friend.” I bark, grabbing her forearm to pull her away from him. “Do you wanna know how he treats his dates? Ask Zara how we met her.”
She shoves me off. “I know everything. He told me that Zara was a cocktease. Have fun with that, by the way.”
I raise my voice. “Don’t you get it? This fucker doesn’t take no for an answer. He’s gonna force himself on you if you don’t?—”
“You can’t force the willing.” She shuts me up. “Now, are you and Chance going to put your phones in here, or what? Like Cal said, no filming.”
