Page 26 of Twisted Lies

Justin touches my shoulder, and I spin around. He waits for me to take the shot of tequila out of his hand. Now, I know how Adam felt when he saw the apple. I grab the shot and down it as he downs his. I close my eyes as it smoothly descends, igniting my insides. I can feel it as it moves through me, and I close my eyes.

“Want another?” he asks.

I shake my head, looking around again. “What’s behind those doors? Is it a bathroom?”

“The two doors in the corner are the bathroom, but this isn’t.” Justin smiles and pulls me by the hand to a closed door on the wall facing the mirror. He opens it, and in front of us is a king-sized bed. My mouth opens in amazement as I look at the mirrors on the wall and a huge glass vase filled with condoms to the rim on a bedside table.

“What goes on in here?” I ask.

He laughs, and I take a step away from him, shaking his hand off my wrist.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I backpedal furiously, “I wasn’t expecting this. That’s what I meant.”

I don’t belong in here with the leather furniture and hundred-dollar tequila shots. Without a word, I walk out of the room and stop in front of the ring.

“I didn’t bring you here to bed you,” he says, standing beside me.

I scowl at him, wishing he wouldn’t lie. “Then why are we here?”

By the hand, Justin pulls me back into the room and escorts me to the bar. I slip onto a tall stool, resting my feet on a chrome bar. He walks behind the bar, and his keys unlock a drawer underneath the bar. He pulls out several notebooks, fancy ones with hard covers, the kind Terri writes in. I open one and stare at the columns of numbers.

“You wanted to learn bookkeeping,” he asks, “Well, we should start with the debt.”

“Debt?” I ask.

“These are the records of what everyone at Stonehaven owes us,” he explains. “Down to the last penny.”

As my finger passes over digits that would pay for college tuition, a house, and a new car, I gawk openly. “This is a lot of money.”

“This is why Pierce doesn’t want you to fight,” he says, “When you fight, the house loses.”

I look into his eyes solemnly. “Pierce wants me to fight a girl that will knock the shit out of me,” I tell him.

“The house will win if she can beat you.”

I thought he was an ass, but he’s a calculating ass. “Oh, she can,” I reply. “Grinder says people want me to lose.”

Justin frowns, and the concern reaches his eyes. “I’m sorry, Astrid.”

“Remember, we don’t do pity well,” I reply.

He grins. “You’re not what I thought you were.”

I look at him coldly. “A slut?”

He nods. “Yeah, and a dumb one.”

I shake my head, eyeing him like I want to give him another slap. “You don’t want to know what I thought about you.”

“I can guess that it wasn’t flattering or kind,” he replies, “I want to apologize for what happened in Wyatt’s room.”

“I thought you had already done that?” I ask, opening another book.

“No, I said I ought to, but I hadn’t. I’m sorry, Astrid. It wasn’t low class. It was no class. And I shouldn’t let Pierce wind me up.”

“Why do you let him?” I ask while reading the names. My gaze pauses on Professor Getz. “I’m not asking to poke at you, but really, the guy’s a dick.”

Justin leans against the bar and peers down at the open page before closing the book. “When we were in the sixth grade,” he says, “I was shorter than Pierce by a foot. I hadn’t grown much, but Bryce, Wyatt, and Pierce had a growth spurt over the summer. They came back to school, looking down on everybody, including me. You know how Bryce and Wyatt are. They left me alone. But Pierce used me as target practice. I haven’t forgiven him. And when I finally shot up in height, I went after him. Even then, it was a draw, but he never tried it again.”

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