Page 1 of Winter Ends
Chapter 1
Daniel
“You have a collect call from Grays Harbor County Jail, do you—”
My thumb slammed down on the disconnect button before the message could finish.
It had been months. Fucking months. This asshole couldn’t get the message that I wasn’t interested. I was done. He’d messed up the second he decided he wanted to steal from me. Steal from my damn family.
“You okay?”
My head jerked up as Chase walked into the back room.
He was the only one who knew what happened, but that didn’t make it any easier to talk about. So I simply didn’t.
“I’m fine.”
When my friend stopped and stared at me, his eyebrows raising into his blond hairline, I knew he didn’t believe me.
Chase and I grew up at Ocean Shores and relocated to Seattle when summer ended. Him so that he could be with his boyfriend and me so I could get away from the toxicity that came withbeing lifelong friends with bad people in a small town. Which was what I was currently dealing with while dodging phone calls.
“So we’re lying to each other now?”
I wanted to laugh.
Fuck. This was the last guy I should lie to about what was going on. If he knew Art was still trying to call me and drag me back home, he’d give him a piece of his mind. Maybe that was why I wasn’t saying anything. Chase finally had something good going for him here and I wouldn’t drag him backward.
“Never lying. It’s just not something you need to worry about.” Chase shook his head as he grabbed a fresh bottle ofKettle One Vodkafrom the shelf and took it back out front. I let out a breath and shoved my phone back into my pocket. It was always worse when these calls came while I was at work, but they were happening less and less now.
Art had been my best friend since we were in elementary school. Part of the reason we were so attached was because there were so few kids in our hometown. He’d been trouble from the second we hit puberty. All he ever wanted to do was party and hit on girls.
Then there was Tilly.
If questioned, she belonged to Art, as much as anyone can truly belong to another. In truth... Another factor made their relationship complicated.
Me. I was the other factor.
To anyone looking in, we looked like any normal group of friends. I was the awkward third wheel who tagged along when, in reality, I was begging for any scrap of attention they would give me.
And it wasn’t just her.
I had a secret, and it was another reason that I still wouldn’t take the calls from the Grays Harbor County Jail.
While Art and Tilly were out stealing from homes in the community, my dumb ass was at home pining over the idiots. Both of them. Not that Art ever knew it. And I had planned on keeping it that way.
Did we fuck around? Lots. But Tilly was always there. And Art never touched me and I never touched him, no matter how much I wished she wasn’t between us.
Betrayed didn’t cover it when things started disappearing from my parents’ house while they’d stayed with us. I hadn’t even questioned the money Art gave me for “rent.”
But there was no more time to sit and stew. I was at work. A job I was thankful for after I’d had to disclose to the owner about being involved in a theft ring investigation. It didn’t matter that you were unaware. If you harbored the people who were doing the crime, you could be just as guilty for a bit.
Thankfully, the cops had caught Art and Tilly in the act and knew I wasn’t involved. I’d gotten off easy, but it was still on my record. They had to serve a year, and I got to walk free.
Music filtered through the overhead speaker system as I straightened out my vest walking out of the back room.
“The hell were you doing back there?”
The hair on my arms stood on end.
