Page 80 of Ride or Die
“Colt. I know you are, but honestly, I don’t even care right now. I’m just happy you’re okay. Seeing all that blood in the car…I thought you were dead. You’ve been out cold for two days. I was so worried you wouldn’t wake up. I’m just thankful you’re fine and in my life at all. I don’t know why you chose me, but even in this shit, I don’t regret a thing with you. I fucking love you. All of you. Flaws and all, we will get through this. Together.” Another tear slides down his cheek, and he gives me a gentle smile.
“I’m the luckiest son of a bitch alive to have you.”
I cup his cheek again. “I know.” We both crack up, but poor Colt winces in pain.
“Seriously though, I am. The fact you put up with a piece of shit like me. I promise when I’m better, I’m going to do good by you. Give you the life you deserve. What do you think about Hawaii? Open a little beach bar.” He gives me a small smile, rubbing my cheek with his left hand.
“That sounds amazing,” I say quietly. We sit here staring at one another, our moment interrupted by two knocks and the door opening.
“Good morning, I’m here to check in,” the doctor says, walking in and taking notice of Colt. “Ah! Glad to see you awake,son.” A nurse follows him in, and I watch what she does to learn how to clean the wounds and change the bandages.
The doctor checks his vitals and does some neurological tests. He gives us a bottle of pain meds and tells us we can go home. We just have to come back in three weeks to check the wrist and six weeks for the leg, and call if there are any questions or changes.
The nurse goes over everything else I need to do, including signs of infection to look for, how to wash him and move him. I figured I’d do this when we’re old, but here we are a few months in, and I am Colt’s caregiver.
While we wait for Axel and Drai, Colt falls back asleep, and I email my professors to inform them of the situation. Thankfully, they approve me to do some of the classes and assignments from home.
A firm knock at the door startles me from my task, and I get up from the desk, opening to see Williams standing there. He gestures for me to follow him and leads me down the hallway to a door closer to the stairs.
I follow Williams, the walk feeling long and full of doom. When we reach the end of the hall, he opens a door, ushering me into an office. He rounds the large desk and sits, indicating for me to take a seat across from him. Swallowing hard, I sit on the edge of the chair, knowing this is the conversation I’ve been dreading.
His hands clasp in front of his face, his index fingers tapping together as he sits there staring, examining me.
“So, Hawthorne owes me a car, plus a couple more.” He gets right to the point, and I shift uncomfortably. “Clearly he is incapacitated at this time, so you will have to figure something out.” My eyes widen, and I can’t help but chuckle and shake my head.
“Me? You can’t be serious.” I point at myself. “I know nothing about this field of work. I don’t steal cars, I’ll just get caught.” He smirks and leans back in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk.
“You’re dating Colton Hawthorne. I know he’s been teaching you how to race. I know he’s teaching you how to fight, and what you did to Nate Campbell…you’re just the person I’m looking for. You’ve got spunk, kid, and I like that. Plus, my team needs diversity.” He chuckles as I stare at him in shock.
He can’t be serious, can he?
“Figure something out with Axel. But he still owes me those cars. It’s almost a million dollars on the line in his contract. If you want out when you’re done with college, it needs to be delivered whether it be from him or you, and right now he’s not capable of driving,” he says like the smug motherfucker he is.
“Why can’t Axel do it for us and I help him?”
He scoffs and takes his feet off the desk, sitting up straight. “Because Axel is an idiot. He’s a degenerate drug-addicted gambler. Hawthorne is the brains behind the operations and he delivers the merchandise. I know all about you, Layla. I know how smart you are, and I know you’ve been doing the quarter-mile races and doing really well at them. You are the next best candidate. I just fucking love that I’ve got my own little Bonnie and Clyde couple on staff.” A devilish grin curls on his lips, and revulsion knots in my stomach.
The blood drains in my face when I realize the magnitude of the situation. All the pressure is on me, and I’m not sure I can pull it off. I feel nauseated, and my mouth goes dry.
“I-I c-can’t do this. You must have other drivers in the meantime. We can stay longer if it means Colt can do the jobs when he’s better.” My voice is hoarse and cracked. His face turns angry as he places a gun on the desk pointed at me. He’s not touching it but the message is there.
He stands up behind his desk, leaning onto his fists.
“I don’t negotiate with my drivers’ bitches! You can andyou willdo this, or your boy, he’s fucking dead! He made a business deal when he signed a fucking contract with me! He crashed a three-hundred-thousand-dollar car, he lost me a lot of fucking money!” he screams as he slams his fists down, making me jump.
“He owes me the cars or his life. So are you going to help him? Or are you going to let your lover boy die? Because let me tell you, Layla, I can make it happen. Like that.” He snaps his fingers and raises his eyebrows at me as he resumes his position in the chair.
I swallow over the lump forming in my throat, and a hundred ideas of how to get out of this run through my mind.
“And if you try to run, I will find you. I’ve got people all over the country. My reach is powerful and extends farther than you can even imagine, Miss White. It’s just a matter of time before we figure out where you are, and when we do, I’ll kill you both. No one fucking betrays me. You ask Hawthorne yourself. He knows what I’m capable of doing,” he adds, staring me down as he awaits my response.
Is this really happening? Is he making me choose car theft for Colton’s life? For our lives? Like I have any other choice. Despite trying to avoid this side of The Shores for as long as I have, here I am being dragged into it. But not for money or the need to escape.
No, I’m doing this for love.
If the good girl is going to officially cross over to the dark side, of course it’s going to be for motherfucking love.
Jesus, my life is a cliche. And I’d do it over and over again to have Colton Hawthorne by my side.
