Page 45 of Tricky Girls

Unfortunately, the fucker’s right. Doing that would break my heart.

And that she knows that pisses me off.

‘Hey. Make you an offer,’ Haz says.

I look at her, waiting.

‘Tell us what your deal is with Tilda and I’ll maybe reconsider letting her stay.’

My deal.

Wouldn’t that be a tale. One I have no desire to regale. It’s a precarious lid I keep on as it is. One that’s quickly coming unscrewed.

Haz’s eyes are attentive, irises black in the muted lamplight. There’s concern there. It’s so rare, so unlike her that it jolts me every time I see it. And every time I do, it’s always directed at me.

I’d been a hot mess when we met at college, both enrolled on the same English course—a course she’d just as quickly dropped. I sensed a kindred spirit immediately, my darkness calling to hers. They’d mixed, transmuting to a weird kind of light I’ve never taken for granted. For Haz herself, I think she just liked having competition for pussy.

We became inseparable. A gruesome twosome tearing through the girls of our classes and the clubs in the city beyond. With Dad’s money I inherited at eighteen, we rented ourselves a flat, a veritable den of iniquity. She introduced me to a world of darkness and kink, and in turn I taught her how to care. She’s carried me through the last three years but even now she doesn’t know the full story. Not the genesis of it anyway. The chapter that involves Tilda.

And she won’t be knowing it tonight. Not after this betrayal.

Averting my eyes, I shake my head.

‘Well.’ She takes a mouthful of cider, her disappointment clear. ‘Better add her to our cleaning rota then.’

I hear a door close, then the sound of feet clapping down the stairs.

And with that, I’m out.

‘Catch up with you fucks later.’

‘Dude,’ Elly protests as I shove my feet into my boots. ‘Sit the fuck down. We’ll go together.’

‘There is no together. You fucked that the moment you brought that into the house.’

I nod at Tilda who regards me with wary green eyes. So fucking guileless like she’s not the homewrecker—the life-wrecker—she is.

Suddenly angry at all of them, I slam my way out the house.

I’m way too sober to be going out this early but I can pregame at Vipers. It’ll be dead this early in the night. Then, afterwards, maybe a visit to the Vaults wouldn’t go amiss after all.

Tilda

The lights are red again. I love it when they are. It’s darker than the purple of last Friday night, deepening the shadows in the corners of the club. I think it makes people act out more; they’re louder, rowdier, couples already taking advantage of the dark corners.

‘Could be us,’ Haz says into my ear.

She has an arm around me as we head to the bar, Elly slightly to the front of us with her card out ready.

One day I’ll be the one buying these girls drinks but clearly it won’t be tonight.

I look around for my hockey lot, hoping not to see Nic amongst them. Normally I wouldn’t care for her shit, but my nerves are frayed at the moment, too sensitive for her unwarranted nastiness.

Hockey practice this evening went better than I thought. She spent the whole hour ignoring me, raising her eyes only when she needed to pass the ball. If that’s to be our future, I can deal with it. There’s no denying she’s a good player, as much as it vexes me. Coach had us pitted against each other for most of it. I have a feeling we’re the top two and she wants us vying for first position.

And annoyingly, part of me wants to as well.

We have our first non-club social next week. I’m looking forward to getting to know the other girls. I can’t have Nic being the only person I know on the team.

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