Page 14 of Bound By Secrets

"Okay, I’m no longer jealous. I don’t mind you drooling over my boy if you're also drooling over me, too, cutie," he says, striding away to meet up with Nate and the twins at the track. I'm dead. The wink, the smile, and then him calling me cutie, my body just melted, and my brain turned to mush.

"Okay, I feel left out over here," Kat says from beside me. "That was kind of hot to watch, though." We both laugh and walk over to the track to finally do our last lesson of the day.

Chapter Nine

Callie

The rest of the week is thankfully uneventful. Nate, Brad, and the twins are actually getting along, considering we all see each other multiple times in the day. Connor still doesn't talk to them much, but he adds a sentence into conversations whenever he feels he needs to, and mine and Kat's friendship is blooming more and more.

The flirting between myself and both Nate and Brad has continued, and I'm starting to feel good about all the connections I'm finally making with people. I've never really connected with other people apart from the twins before. Well, Ryker too, but that didn't end well for either of us and honestly, I have no idea where he ended up or disappeared to. I try not to think about it much, wanting to keep positive when it comes to him.

My father and Cameron have also been busy with work for most of the week, something to do with some guys running the shipments they've had to deal with. This means no beatings, minus getting backhanded a few nights ago at dinner, and no visits from Fraser. So far, things are going surprisingly well.

We're walking back towards our lockers when Kat suggests doing something this evening, now that it's a Friday.

"We kind of already have plans tonight," I tell her, feeling guilty at turning her down.

But Uncle Johnny, the only nice guy in our family, told us last night that Dad and Cameron are out of town most of the night, doing a run with their usual group of arse lickers, which means we can go to the club for a few hours and hopefully, Connor can earn us some money to add to our little runaway stash that we've had going for the past two years.

"It's fine. We have plans tonight anyway, Kitty Kat," Brad says from behind us.

"Oh yeah, it's Matt's night tonight. Okay, maybe we could do something tomorrow?" She asks, hopeful. I glance over at the twins and they both shrug, leaving the decision to me.

"Yeah, we should be able to get out. Just text me about it tonight and we'll plan something, yeah?" She nods and the boys all sound in agreement.

Later that night, the boys and I were in Callum's Jeep, whizzing down the dark roads that led to my father’s fight club. We had to wait until Dad, Cameron, and their lackeys left the house for a text from Uncle Johnny to let us know it was safe to come and that all the guys working tonight were on his payroll, not my dad’s.

The twins have been deadly silent tonight since they got that text. They also keep throwing me worried glances, and it's starting to annoy me.

They're hiding something and they're stupid for thinking that I wouldn't realise. I've literally lived with them all my life. I can read them way too easily.

As they pull into the dark parking lot surrounding the warehouse where the fights take place, both of their bodies stiffen and their gazes roam around the place, alert and looking for anything that may cause concern. Callum reverses into a parking space in the far corner so that the car is partially hidden, just in case anyone is here who might recognise it and report it to our father. They both share an uneasy look before swivelling to face me.

"So, are you finally going to tell me what's wrong?" They both look at each other, confusion written across their faces. I laugh, shaking my head. "I can tell that you've been hiding something from me since Uncle Johnny texted you. What is it?" Callum reaches his arm through the middle of their seats, clasping my hand with his.

"Uncle Johnny told us something, and we didn't want to mention it to you at first. We were unsure if you'd come, and we didn't want to leave you at home by yourself." He trails off, looking at me with a hint of sadness in his eyes. A crease forms between my brows as I look between them, waiting for one of them to let me in on this secret they seem to have.

"Ryker showed up here tonight, Little C," Connor says softly. My body jolts back as if his words were a bullet hitting my body.

"W-what?" I mutter, struggling to form words successfully. Callum squeezes my hand. "But, how? He's been gone for years... Why's he back? How is he back?" My words come out rushed and jumbled together, my heart picking up its pace as I think about why Ryker would come back.

"We don't know. Johnny just told us to warn you about it because Ryker wants to talk to you."

I scowl, pulling my hand out of his.

“So, instead of warning me, you brought me here anyway so that I'd have to face him?" I ask, disbelief clear in my voice.Callum looks down, not meeting my eyes so I turn to stare down Connor.

"I would've rather been at home alone and left myself in a vulnerable situation!" I shout. "You two may not understand because you're man whores with no feelings, but you saw firsthand how broken I was after Ryker left. Why would I want to face my first and only love when he abandoned me in a time of need and left me with no explanation?"

"Ouch, Callie, that stings." Callum nods in agreement to Connor's statement and I roll my eyes, wiping my cheeks frantically to wipe away the few tears that are slowly trickling down my cheeks.

"We knew you wouldn't take it well, hence why we waited to tell you. We weren't just going to leave you at home unprotected," Connor roars.

My body slumps back into my seat as I stare at them both. I understand why they didn’t tell me, though it doesn’t make me any less worried that I might see Ryker. Taking a deep breath, I wipe my face again and straighten in my seat.

"Okay, we'll go in there, and you can do your fight and win us some money. Callum, you can stay with me and help me avoid Ryker. I'm not sure how I'll react if I see him, and I don't want to be a blubbering mess in front of all of those guys in there."

They agree and then Callum unlocks the doors so we can all get out. As we all start heading over to the rundown building in front of us, a figure walks forward out of the shadows that cloak the entrance. My breath hitches and the twins stop, moving in front of me, side by side to cover me.

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