Page 64 of Ready Or Not

My body shakes. Yes. Yes, I want to do this. “The Landings,” I growl. I don’t know where to put my finger. I don’t want it onthe trigger because I’m shaking so bad I’ll accidentally pull the trigger.

Riley takes the exit. We rumble to a stop sign, where Riley stops.

“Keep going,” I hiss, jabbing her. I know I’m ruining any progress we’ve made.

“You have a gun. I get it.” Riley sounds bored. “Keep my ribs out of it.” She picks up her feet again, and we keep rolling slowly.

“Where am I going, bambi?”

“The Landings.”

“Well, I know that. Where is it?”

I give her directions.

As we roll up, panic fills me. What if he isn’t there? What if my mom is already dead? But when we roll slowly into the lot, there’s one bike in the lot and a huge man standing there waiting.

I have one shot.

34

Hole In Your Head - Ekoh

I hear Riley’s bike coming down the dark road, and the rumble fills me with a sense of satisfaction. She’s here. The last few days of not knowing where she was has been torture.

But as I watch her headlight pull in, I feel my muscles tighten. Riley is here because she has a weakness. She has someone close to her, which makes her vulnerable. Anger, my only true friend, fills me. How dare she make herself weak. And for what? A girl?

I crack my neck as the bike rolls up. As it stops, I meet Riley’s gaze. Even in the dark, her eyes flash with something…amusement, maybe?

She’s not wearing a helmet. “Riley.” I growl out her name.

Rachel scrambles off the back of the bike.

“Manson, don’t,” Riley demands with a slight panic in her voice. I look for what’s scaring her as I watch Rachel lift a gun and point it at me.

I duck, jumping back and yanking my own gun out as I do. I aim down the sights, but Riley jumps in the crosshairs.

“It’s empty, Manson!”

I try to get a sight picture of Rachel without Riley in it, but Riley is fully in front of her.

“Move,” I demand. This is the second time Riley has gotten in the way of a bullet for her toy, and it’s really pissing me off.

Rachel’s gasping. Riley yanks the gun from her, turning to yell at her, “Are you suicidal? You really think I’d put a loaded gun near you after all this?”

“Fuck you!” Rachel scrambles back, but Riley just presses her into her bike. She’s all over her, glued to her body. For a second, I see her grab Rachel’s tit. Then she glances back at me. “Oh, you’re welcome for saving your life.” She winks.

In four strides, I’m beside her. I grip Riley’s hair and yank her head back. “What in the actual fuck?”

“Shoot her, and I’ll never speak to you again.” Riley glares up at me, but her pupils are huge. I think about shooting Rachel. Putting a bullet in her head, then locking Riley up for the rest of her life. But shooting Rachel would be impulsive.

And I’m not impulsive.

“Do you get off on defying me?” I grit.

“Yes.” Riley smiles at me sweetly. Then, she grabs Rachel’s face, yanks her to where I have her held, and kisses her. She leans into it, even as Rachel pushes back against her. Riley’s damn near humping Rachel right in front of me.

I yank Riley back, and as she comes up for air, she laughs, “Now, dear brother, since we did as you asked, kindly leave that old fuck alone so I don’t have to listen to my girlfriend whine about it.”