Page 80 of Heartless Devil

“Well, that’s obvious. Given the way you were stomping and cussing, I kind of gathered that. Not to mention, you got kicked out of your house,” she points out.

“You want to go downstairs? I’ll get you a drink and we can talk,” she asks.

“Sure.” I sigh, following her down the stairs.

Am I really going to open up to her? Is this what we’re doing now?

“Here,” she says, handing me a beer.

“Your parents don’t measure the alcohol and count the beers?” I ask, smirking, grabbing a seat at the table in the kitchen.

“They’d have to care enough to do that.” She scoffs.

I watch her grab a glass and fill it with water, joining me at the kitchen table.

“So, before I left for school, my dad was really after me. He was nagging about everything. Going on and on about how important college was so I could take over for him one day. The last thing I wanted to do was work with him, let alone take over for him. When I got to school, I made it my mission to do the complete opposite of what he wanted. I was stupid and not thinking. I got mixed up with the wrong crowd.” I pause, taking a drink, trying to avoid eye contact with her.

“I don’t think that’s shocking. Most of us rebel at some point,” she points out.

“This goes far beyond just partying and drinking to spite my parents. A couple of the guys I started hanging out with were selling drugs on campus. My dad was threatening to cut me off, so I thought, why not? I got in over my head, big time.” I put my head in my hands.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she says, grabbing my hand and squeezing.

I can’t for the life of me figure out why she’s being so nice when I’ve been nothing but a dick to her lately.

“Anyway, I ended up owing this guy a shit load of money, so I ran. He found out where I lived and showed up one day. I stole some money from my dad’s secret stash and thought we were squared away. Dad found out from watching the cameras and kicked me out, and now this guy is after me for the rest of the money I owe him. I think my only option is to go crawling back to my dad and admit I’ve been wrong all this time.” I down the rest of my beer.

There isn’t enough alcohol in the world for this conversation.

“How much?” she asks.

“What?”

“How much more does he want?” she asks, leaning back in her chair.

“Ten grand,” I say, getting up to throw my beer in the trash.

“Let me help,” she says.

“Fuck off,” I say, turning towards her.

“I’m serious. Let me help you. I’ve got that in my savings account. You can pay me back,” she says, like it’s no big deal that she just offered to give me ten grand.

“There’s no way in hell I’m taking money from you,” I tell her.

“Why not? What’s so bad about taking help from me?” she asks.

“It’s not that. It’s just that you don’t need to be involved in this. I appreciate you letting me spill my guts to you, but I’m not involving you with these people.”

“I won’t be involved. I’m just loaning you the money, Cole. I have the money and you can pay me back. Just accept my offer and be done with these people. You’ll be able to move on with your life and you won’t have to bow down to your father. Trust me, I know how that is,” she says.

She’s got a point. I’d rather be in debt to her than in debt to them. But can I really do this? Can I take this money from her without knowing when I’ll ever be able to pay it back?

“Won’t your parents notice it’s gone?” I ask, grasping at straws.

“Please. They’ve been funneling me money for years. They don’t know I have a savings account. I very rarely spend the money they send me. I don’t even know what I’m saving it for,” she admits, frowning.

“You could use it for so many things. To get out of this town when you graduate, travel the world,” I tell her.