Page 14 of Truck Up

Hadley

Should we pick you up?

Amelia

No, I’ve got to run into work for a few hours first. I’ll meet you there.

Hadley

If you’re sure.

Amelia

I’m sure.

Hadley

Okay, see you then.

Nova

Soon!

Amelia

Thanks, ladies. You’re the best!

Hadley

Anything for you! Til my last breath.

Nova

Til my last breath.

Amelia

Til my last breath.

I smile at the last words we exchange. Nova, Hadley, and I have been best friends since kindergarten. We were placed at the same table on the first day of class and have been inseparable ever since. There isn’t anything we won’t do to protect each other.

When Nova asked who she needed to kill, she wasn’t exaggerating. We would kill for each other if it came to that and then help the other hide the body. We are each other’s ride-or-die, and we will be until we take our last breath.

I slide my phone into my back pocket and look around my room. The same room I’ve slept in since I was born. It’s changed a little over the years, but it’s still my childhood bedroom.

I never moved out when I turned eighteen like Nova and Hadley did. There aren’t a lot of rental options in Beaver, Ohio. Hell, there aren’t a lot of options in any of the neighboring communities either. We don’t have apartment complexes or an endless supply of houses for rent like large cities. It’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed at home all these years.

But my living situation will have to change if what I suspect is true. Hell, if I know my family, they’re going to disown me.

I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. My family’s response is a problem for another day.

Today’s problem is facing the hard reality that I might be pregnant with Christian Mutter’s baby. A man every member of my family despises.

And a man I’ve been in love with for years.

I’ve never feltthis anxious before in all my life. Except for maybe those rare occasions when I find myself alone with Badger. Though his presence makes me feel things that are far worse than anxiety. He makes me feel terror.

He’s the reason I have anxiety. The memory of what he did to me keeps it alive and strong. I feel it every day. I almost hate him more for this anxiety than I do for what he tried to do to me.