Page 54 of Escaping Our Reality

“The woman you were talking to outside of the bathroom that night at the party. She had a camera hanging around her neck?”

Realization dawns in my brain. “That’s right.” I shake my head in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense. If Trash and Trey and everybody is so afraid of someone ratting on them, why on earth would they let someone take pictures of any part of their crime scene? It’s evidence.”

“Trey is more lenient on Christina than most. They’re fucking. In fact, there’s a good chance he’s the father of the last kid she had, but no one knows that for sure. Taking pictures makes her happy, so he lets her. She’s not allowed to take pictures of the drugs or anything illegal, and she knows that.”

I look back down at the photo. Sure enough, there are no little pills sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch. There’s not even a beer bottle in the picture.

“There’s something else.”

My heart skips a beat. “Ry, I don’t know if I can handle anything else.”

He hands me a note. It’s in his own handwriting. “It’s the code for how people buy drugs at the gas station.”

My head snaps up, soaking in his words like a sponge. “What?”

“I’m sure you already know that when a person buys that sweet tea and asks for a paper bag, that’s code for ‘they wanna buy’. Well, they place the order with the money they use. A $1 bill folded on the outside means they want to buy Ritalin. A $5 bill folded on the outside means they want to buy Vicodin. A $10 bill is Percocet. A $20 bill is Oxy, and a $20 bill with three pennies with it means the Holy Trinity—Oxy, Soma, and Xanax.Folded inside has to be the exact money for how much the person wants to buy.”

Holy shit.

Holy. Shit.

“How do you know this? When did you find out?”

“I’ve known it. For quite some time.”

Anger flares up in my chest. “You’ve known about this? And you didn’t tell me?”

“No. I told you I didn’t want you asking questions about this. Getting yourself into trouble.”

“Then why tell me now?”

He shrugs, running his hand over his jaw. I like it when he does that. It’s super sexy.

I shake my head, ridding myself of that thought. No, I’m mad at him right now. Not horny.

“Because keeping it from you started to feel like a lie. I’m not sure why, but it just did.”

“How did you first find out about the code? Did you watch people in the gas station? Did you monitor it?”

“Slow down there, Sally Sleuth. It wasn’t anything that dramatic. Trash told me a long time ago. Back when he was trying to get me to push. He wanted me to come work at the gas station with him.”

My hand covers my mouth in shock. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he would try to drag his own brother into that life.”

“Why not? He dragged your sister into it, didn’t he?”

I guess I’ve never thought of it that way. I look at her face, tracing her features with my fingertip. “I guess so.”

“I hope I made the right decision. It’s definitely not the most conventional birthday gift.” He snorts. “I probably should’ve just done a card and a balloon.”

I tuck the picture and note in the corner of the truck bed so they won’t get lost. Grabbing his forearms, I pull him closer tome. I curl my finger, begging him to come even closer. When he does, I plant my lips on the ridge of his ear. “I hate balloons.”

His chuckle vibrates low in his chest. Grabbing my wrist, he looks at my watch, checking the time. “Well, Lulu. You have three minutes left, and then your eighteenth birthday will be gone forever. Any last birthday wishes?”

Kiss me. Kiss me forever.

But I don’t have to say the words.

All I have to do is moan and he makes my unspoken wish come true.

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