Page 20 of Pedal to the Metal
Chapter Fourteen
Savannah
I wakeup and see that I slept for a good three hours. I check my phone. I have three unread text messages. I unlock it to see who they’re from. The first is a response from Buster. They’re excited to party with the club. The second one is from Rivet, letting me know her and Tink were being escorted back to Tink’s so they could get some clothes and whatever else is needed. The third text makes my heart stop.
Anonymous:You can run, but you can’t hide.
There’s a picture of me outside the clubhouse attached. It says anonymous, but I know exactly who it’s from. This is what he does. I thought with leaving Arizona, I would be safe from him. Obviously, I was wrong.
I hear people talking downstairs and decide to go see who’s here. I get down the stairs to find four duffle bags. Voices are coming from the kitchen so I head in there. When I walk in, Hollywood and Tink are sitting at the kitchen table, and Rivet is at the stove cooking. It smells like spaghetti and it smells amazing. Tink looks up from her phone and sees me.
“Hey there, sleeping beauty! How was your nap?” she asks. She sounds way too cheerful for how I feel right now. I feign happiness and smile at her.
“It was exactly what I needed,” I say, sitting down with her and Hollywood. Rivet turns around to look at me. I try not to let her see that anything’s bothering me but by the look on her face, I can tell she sees right through me. She looks like she’s about to say something when the front door opens.
“What the fuck?” Kicks shouts and it sounds like he stumbled over something. Rivet and I laugh while Tink busies herself with her phone. He walks into the kitchen like he’s on a mission and stops as soon as he sees we’re all in here.
“Y’all couldn’t at least put those bags in one of y’alls rooms,” he says sounding irritated. I shrug, used to his mood swings.
“I just woke up,” I say to him.
“We were hungry, they can wait,” Rivet tells Kicks. This whole time, Kicks is just watching Tink like he’s waiting for her to say something to him. He clears his throat.
“I think I’ll head back to the clubhouse,” Hollywood says to no one specific. Kicks moves just enough to let Hollywood pass.
“Well, okay then. I’ll be in the living room if y’all need anything,” he says, looking around at each of us before leaving the kitchen.
“Hey Kicks, keep an eye out for Buster and the guys. They should be here around seven,” I say to his retreating back. He doesn’t respond and I look to Tink.
“What was that about?” I ask Tink curiously.
“What was what about?” She feigns innocence. I scoff at her.
“What was what about? Kicks barely took his eyes off of you the entire time he was in here. And you avoided looking at him like the plague,” I whisper yell at her. I’d rather Kicks not hear this conversation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responds, now avoiding eye contact with me. Clearly this is something she doesn’t want to talk about. I’ll leave it for now, but eventually, I’ll get her to talk. Rivet finishes cooking and we sit down to eat.
As we’re cleaning up dinner, I hear a car pull up outside, then the front door open and close. Kicks must have gone to see who is here. By the sound of it, I’d say it’s Buster and the guys. After being around them so much the last four years, I’ve pretty much learned how all of their cars sound. After a few minutes, the door opens again.
“Minx! Your boys are here,” Kicks shouts before he says, “Y’all can make yourselves at home.”
Rivet, Tink, and I all walk into the living room to greet the guys.
“Y’all make yourselves at home. You can watch some TV, whatever. We still need to get ready for the party,” I explain to them. Then I warn Kicks, “Play nice.” He shoots me a smug look.
“Always.” It’s all he says. I shake my head at him and follow Tink and Rivet upstairs.
We go to my room and right away Rivet turns on my ‘going out’ playlist on my iPod. It’s what we listen to whenever we get ready for a night out together. Villa by Niykee Heaton is the first song that comes. Tink is going through my closet looking for something to wear. I left most of my things here when I moved to Arizona. Rivet is digging through her duffle bag. I decide to go into the bathroom and heat up my curling wand.
“What are you planning on wearing tonight, Minx?” Rivet calls to me and I walk out of the bathroom.
“You better wear something fucking sexy. Something that will make Raze drool,” Tink says to me.
“We’re not going to talk about Raze,” I tell her. Now it’s my turn to raid my closet. Only I know exactly what I’m going for. I grab my favorite Guns and Roses t-shirt. It has a giant skull cut out of the back. Then I grab a pair of dark wash distressed skinny jeans and my favorite pair of black Converse.
“Why aren’t we talking about him?” Tink asks. I give her a look as I walk out of my closet.
“Do you want to tell me about what’s going on with you and Kicks?” I shoot back at her and her eyes practically bug out.
