Run Bad Boy Run

Chapter 18

Hayden Cross has a lot of qualities that absolutely infuriate me but for some reason, I thought he might have enough of a heart to help those who asked for it.

It's not that I've asked or am asking for his help.

All I'm asking for is answers.

Why were those men at Del-Mart going crazy over a flash drive? Were they connected to the mob activity flaring up in surrounding cities? Did Hayden know anything about it or was he just in the area when he decided to play vigilante warrior and save my life?

Why would he want to save me?

Our encounter in the storage room didn't do much to give me any answers. Hayden played dumb and right when I thought my pressing would finally break him for an inkling of the truth, Coach Foster unlocked the door and yelled at us for fifteen minutes for being stupid enough to get ourselves locked in there.

You shouldn't care about it so much, I tell myself as I stand in the school parking lot the next day. The memory stick is gone. No one has sent you any messages. You're in the clear.

That's a great way to think about it. Too bad I don't believe it. I've watched too many action movies to know that once you're wrangled in crap like this, it's never over.

Corry had to stay a few minutes after class to finish his chemistry test and I wasn't about to go home and face whatever boy toy my mother had brought home last night.

I could hear them in the kitchen this morning. Giggling and kissing like teenagers. It was different from the other encounters Mom had. Most of the time, the men would be gone without a sound. This one was different. This one reminded me of hearing my parents sing or dance in the kitchen while making breakfast.

Corry heard it too. But he didn't say anything.

The shrill chirps of football whistles catch my attention and I lazily lean against the side of my car to watch the varsity football team storm the field. With the playoffs right around the corner, Coach Foster and his crew wanted to pay special attention to the football team this week. That meant no detention.

Thank goodness.

No Coach Foster and his creepiness, but most importantly, my interactions with Hayden Cross would lessen.

If he'd let them.

My eyes float from head to head as I search for a particular player, but Nate Lincoln is nowhere in sight. He wasn't in class either. I don't know why that makes my chest tighten the way it does. A part of me had hoped he would try to find me after the party and ask where I had been. We passed each other a few times in the hallway, but there were too many people to get through. Did he care that we didn't get to meet and talk? Or was I just another person he invited?

Enough teenage angst, Ember. You have other things to worry about.

A tight throb in the top of my head solidifies the statement.

To make matters worse, I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with something. That's what happens when you're locked in a freezing cold equipment room with your arch nemesis for two hours.

"Corry, where the hell are you?" I mumble, staring at my phone. It's been close to forty-five minutes! He said he'd be here in ten!

Hot sunlight pinches my skin and I don't dare to sit in the car. One, because it's probably a sauna in there, and two, gas is too damn expensive to have the car running with the air conditioning on blast while I wait for my twin.

Throwing my bag in the back seat, I grab my phone and march toward the school building. Just as I enter through the side doors leading to the science hallway, I hear it.