Page 68 of Love Thief

“No, why would I see her?” I say, way too casually, because we both know I see her every fucking where.

He side-eyes me. “Are you asking her out, when we come home in the summer?”

“Maybe,” I say, taking another swig of my beer.

“I thought you liked her. You make a beeline for her every time we see her. Enough the other girls are well pissed off about it. I heard them slagging her off.”

We say nothing more for a while, just drink. Then I ask, “Do you think she’d say yes?”

He grins at me. “Yeah, she would. I think when you helped her brother out at Christmas she definitely warmed up to you.”

“Well I didn’t want the police here again. I’d be sent packing. Or should I say we’d be sent packing to France. I prefer to stay and harass the Greystones, much more fun. They have it too easy when we’re not here, terrifying everyone else. Someone’s got to make a stand against Jonno.”

“Jonno, yeah, that’s why you’re staying. Nothing to do with the beautiful, wild sister. She nearly killed me with that fucking tractor at Christmas. What were they doing racing them around that field anyway?”

“Annual event apparently. She usually wins. Cheats all the time, according to Jude.” We smile thinking about the chaos that is Evie.

When we hear another noise like a can being kicked, we jump up again.

“It’s not wolves, is it?” asks Xan.

“There are no fucking wolves, you idiot.”

We are now hyper aware of the noises. Then we hear it—a howl. It sounds far away, but definitely a howl.

“It’ll be foxes,” I say standing up. “Have you had enough, shall we go?”

He staggers to his feet. “I can fight ‘em off,” he says, swinging slightly around, grinning. It’s then that we hear another howl much closer.

“Come on, lets fucking run for it.” I say, trying to hide my panic.

We dash out the door, leaving it open and leaving everything behind as we run for home. We climb up the makeshift ladder I’ve hidden in the ivy outside my bedroom, onto my balcony and in through the window.

Pissing ourselves with laughter at how pathetic we are, we collapse in a heap on the floor. Xan sprints into his adjoining room, and I can hear him laughing as he flops on the bed.

“Fucking idiot,” I say to him, “you are so shit scared,” I taunt him.

“I am not. You ran fastest and got back first,” he retorts. “I don’t want to go back to school. Can we ask to stay here? We could go to school with the Greystones. Imagine that,” he says, and there’s no way to miss the longing in his voice.

The problem is, I could. I could imagine being with Evie all the time. Every fucking day in fact, given half the chance.

Evie aged 14

Damn! Someone is already in Bowman's Lodge.

It’s freezing, I’ve left the house in a t-shirt and my PJ bottoms. Good job they are a bit fleecy. I need to sleep, I've school in the morning. I’ll sneak back home to get my stuff after my dad has gone for work. It won’t matter if I’m late. I’ll text Jonno and get him to create a bit of havoc so I can sneak in with no late mark. And who the hell is here at three in the morning?

Then I hear them—Kellen Russell and Xander Barclay.

I debate whether to go to see them. We are on goodish terms these days, not kill or be killed anymore, but still not good enough for me to have to explain why I’m out in my PJ’s at 3 a.m. on a school night in May.

I hate my dad, always drunk these days and shouting. I got Marshall to put a lock on my door, but he keeps kicking at it. It’s just general shouting, nothing more, but since my mum died, it’s got worse. I can’t sleep these days, and if I’m caught in Jonno’s bedroom at Greystone farm again, Pat will call the authorities.

I’ve got to ride it out until I’m at least sixteen-years-old, then I can do what I want. They can’t make me leave. Jonno and I looked up the law, we know it inside out.

I’ve had enough of drunks, and I can hear Kellen and Xander are definitely drunk, or certainly have had a drink. I recognise the slurring words. They sound like a lot happier drunks though. I hear them talking about us, and me, really. He’s thinking about asking me out. That’ll put the cat amongst the pigeons, those girls will really go for it if he does. Maybe I’ll say yes just to get on their nerves.

I accidentally kick a can and stand totally still, gritting my teeth together, not even breathing, expecting them to rush out and charge me like my brothers would. They don’t, the wimps, they think it’s wolves. Wolves? In Yorkshire?

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