Scartissue by T.L Hodel

CHAPTER 19

Shelby

I sat in Suzie Q, listening to the purr of her engine while staring at the dips of roller coaster road. Releasing the e-brake, I popped the clutch and soared down the first hill.

This was exactly what I needed. That sinking feeling dropping my stomach, along with the adrenaline rush from speed, helped me sort out my muddled thoughts. And right now, my thoughts were more than muddled.

My dad’s infidelity, Rye hiding things from me, and the brother I never knew about. All this crap floating around in my brain, and yet it was one thing. A single solitary thought that brought me here today. Logan friggin Hudson. The one person in my life that didn’t treat me like a fragile princess that couldn’t handle things.

Suzie Q roared up the last hill and I slammed on the brakes. Kicking up dirt as the back end swiped along the gravel road.

“God damnit!” I growled, slamming my palms down on the steering wheel.

Making me say that I was his wasn’t a power trip for Logan. It was his way of shoving the truth down my throat. And now, I was choking on it. Because as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I did want him. But it was more than that.

I liked the deep timber of his voice, and dreamt about that stupid charming smile. Somehow the bastard had ingrained himself in my soul.

How the hell did this happen?

I brushed my hands over my face, sweeping away the thought. I didn’t have time to deal with that now. I had to be at Pop Pop’s for work in ten minutes. Thankfully, the shop was just around the bend and through the scrapyard, so I was there in under five.

When I pulled up, Pop Pop had his head under the rusted out hood of a 1956 Cadillac. I called it the cursed car. He’d been trying to get that thing running for years. Kind of like Rye’s car, that Cadillac belonged in the junkyard out back. Stubborn old man.

“Hey, Pop Pop,” I said, climbing out of Suzie Q, “Still fighting with that thing?”

He stood up and wiped his greasy hands on his overalls.

“I’m not ready to give up on her yet.”

Staring into his light eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder if my brother had the same color. Mom and Mags did. They got the blue eyes from Pop Pop. Which posed a bigger question.

Did he know?

I mean, he had to. She was seventeen, and still living at home when she had him.

“Why didn’t you tell me I had a brother?”

He sighed and answered like a true southern gentleman.

“That’s none of my business.”

“A grandson is none of your business,” I challenged, “What about a brother? I suppose that should be none of my business either.”

“Don’t sass me, child,” he snapped at me before returning to the Cadillac. “Don’t you have work to do?”

I muttered under my breath and marched into the shop. Why did I expect anything else? My mom’s side of the family was built on secrets. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to find some forgotten relative chained in the attic.

Well, my brother wouldn’t stay forgotten. If it took the rest of my life, I’d find him. All I needed was a place to start.

Once I got to work, there wasn’t much time to dwell on anything. I had three oil changes, a tire rotation, and a transmission replacement to keep me busy. Before I knew it, I was closing up the shop and getting ready to go home. Which was the last place I wanted to be.

It was my mom’s day off and I wasn’t ready to face her. Mostly because I knew she’d just give me the run around. The last thing Mags needed to hear was more arguing. She got enough of that with our parents.

Unfortunately for me, everyone was busy today. Rye had an art class to teach at the YMCA tonight, and Marnie and Trina were at Saturday Mass with their parents. I was half tempted to text Logan. Even had my phone out, ready to tap the screen, when it went off.

Noah? Why was he calling me?

“Hello?”

“Hey sweetness, sorry to bug you, but I’m kind of in a bind. I’m at Evan’s and my car won’t start.”

“Evan’s?”

I didn’t really want to go out there. Beside the fact that he was a piece of shit, he lived twenty minutes outside of town.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, you’d be really helping me out,” Noah sang in a sweet tone.

I hummed in contemplation. Did I really have anything else to do? And I was looking for something to delay my inevitable homecoming.

But still… Evan’s house?

I didn’t know about that.

“You do kind of owe me.”

Damnit. He was right. I did lead him on and then break our date at the last minute. Fixing his car was the least I could do.

“Alright,” I sighed. “I’ll be there in thirty.”

***

Noah and Evan were waiting for me when I pulled up. A lot of my school’s parties were held at Evan’s place, so I’d been here a couple of times. This was the first time I was able to really look at it though.

If it wasn’t for the scumbag that lived here, I might’ve admired the ambiance of the massive log cabin tucked in the middle of a patch of trees on the south side of the bluffs. Not many people lived up here. You had to have a lot of money and be okay with the geysers roaring in the background.

Evan March was one of the few rich kids at Ashen Springs High. Rumor was he couldn’t beat out Parker for Ashworth’s football team, and that was how he wound up in public school. Ashen Springs was a football town after all, and considering Evan wasn’t in middle or elementary school with any of us, it was a pretty believable rumor.

“Hey sweetness,” Noah smiled and jumped off the deck when I stepped out into the cool night air. “Thanks for coming. You’re really saving my ass here.”

Evan leaned back against one of the bannisters and rolled his glare over me.

“Does your boyfriend know you wear that shit when you’re working?”

“I wear what I want,” I snarled back. “And I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

“Right, cause I’m sure your sources are reliable.”

Pffft. Creep.

“I don’t need any sources. Not when Logan Hudson shows up at school to mark his territory.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Drama queen much.”

“Honey,” Evan pushed off the bannister and rested his elbows on the railing to smirk down at me, “He may as well have pissed all over you.”

“Shut it!” Noah growled and twisted his neck to glare back at Evan. “She’s here to help. Quit being a prick.”

“Whatever,” Evan grumbled under his breath.

His hatred for the Knights was no secret. I’d lost count of how many times I’d heard him talking smack about Micha. Maybe that was why he targeted Rye.

What better way to out-alpha the king than by taking his queen?

Not a very smart choice on his part. Everybody knew how tightly knit the Knights were. If you screwed with one, you screwed with them all. That kind of loyalty was hard to find. Which is why I knew this thing with Logan was a losing battle. I wasn’t just fighting him. I was fighting them all.

I shot Evan one last menacing glare before smiling at Noah.

“So, what seems to be the problem?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head and sauntered over to his truck, “It just wouldn’t start…”

I watched his hands wave through the air as he explained what was going on. Things would be so much easier if I could’ve just fallen for him.

Noah wasn’t a bad guy. If I’d broken a date with any other guy, he’d treat me like crap. Not Noah. He’d said he appreciated my honesty and hoped we could still be friends.

Which I thought was one of those lines people tossed out to make themselves feel better. But here he was, smiling at me like nothing had changed. How understanding was that?

Noah Torres wasn’t just sweet and thoughtful. He was literally the perfect guy. Everything I wanted. Or at least what I thought I wanted, until Logan Hudson came along and messed everything up.

“Think you can get it going?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.” If I could keep Riley’s car running, I could fix anything. I looked over at Evan. “You got any tools around here?”

He tipped his chin to the left.

“In the garage.”

Thankfully, Noah took Evan inside before things got uncomfortable. Well, more uncomfortable than they already were. Which they definitely would’ve been if I’d had to work on Noah’s truck in a skirt in front of Evan.

The guy made my skin crawl before he attacked Riley. He had this creepy pervert vibe. Didn’t seem to bother some of the girls in school. Though I had a feeling his family's financial situation had a lot to do with that.

It took some time, but I eventually found the problem. The starter had come disconnected. Not a super common problem, but not unusual either. My guess was, since Evan lived off a gravel road, a rock had jumped up in the engine and rattled around.

It wasn’t too bad. A ten minute fix that didn’t require any parts. After which, I went inside to tell Noah the good news. I found them playing video games in the living room.

“All fixed,” I sang.

“That’s great.” Noah beamed up at me. “What was wrong with it?”

“The starter came a little loose. No big deal. But you should take it easy going down gravel roads,” I pointed out.

He touched his fingers to his forehead and gave me a small salute.

“Aye, aye captain.”

With a giggle, I shook my head.

“Well, I should get going.”

“Really? You can’t stay for a drink?”

The frown on Noah’s face tugged at my heart, but I drank way too much last night and just the thought of alcohol turned my stomach.

“Not really in the mood for a drink.”

“A soda then.” Noah held his hand out palm up, inviting me to take his offer. “Come on, when’s the next time I’m going to see you.”

He had a point. We weren’t in the same school anymore, and he did say he wanted to be friends.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Just one though.”

“Great.” Noah jumped up all excitedly and headed for the kitchen. It was kind of cute. “Have a seat.”

I looked over at Evan, who had his feet kicked up on a stool while battling some giant robot thing on the T.V. Since he was in a chair by the window, I chose the farthest spot from that. I pulled my sweater tighter around my chest and flopped down on the far end of the couch.

I had to admit, Evan’s place was just as nice on the inside as it was on the outside, and this couch was comfy as heck. There were family portraits hung on the wall, with little Evan and his parents. He was kind of a cute kid. Wonder what happened.

“Where are your parents?”

“Europe,” Evan said, without so much as looking at me.

“They just left you here alone?” That explained a lot. If his parents weren’t around, who was going to stop him from being a dick.

“Fuck,” he growled, tossing the controller on a nearby table.

Guess the robot won. Also guess he wasn’t going to answer me. Whatever. Small talk with Evan March wasn’t high on my priority list.

“Here you go, sweetness,” Noah said, handing me a glass with a little pink umbrella and small lemon wedge.

“Wow. You really went all out on the soda.”

“Nothing but the best for you.” He smiled and dropped down on the other end of the couch.

The longer I sat there talking to Noah, the more relaxed I became. He told me about the football team’s latest victory and a date he had with Sarah Miller. I was happy that he found someone, plus it was nice to be able to confide in someone.

Logan wasn’t a topic I was super interested in talking to Rye about. Besides, Noah could give me an outside opinion. I didn’t tell him everything, of course. Anything sexual I kept to myself. He didn’t need to know that stuff.

By the time I was ready to go, I felt a lot better. Like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

“I should go,” I said, rising off the couch. When I went to take a step, my knees gave out and I stumbled.

“Whoa,” I felt Noah’s hands slide under my arms, helping me steady myself. “Are you okay?”

“I must’ve gotten up too fast.”

I blinked away the fog starting to haze my vision.

Did I eat today?

“Yeah. I’m fine.” If I splashed some water on my face, I’d be fine. “Is there a bathroom around here I can use?”

“Down the hall. Last door on the left.”

Noah tipped his head. His eyes were sparkling brightly. Like really bright. They looked so unreal.

“You want me to help you?”

“No,” I shook my head and made my way down the hall.

Which was really long. And the walls were super smooth. I couldn’t stop myself from sliding my hand across them.

So soft.

The bathroom sink was soft too. Silky even.

I watched water run over my fingers, amazed at how the heat tingled up my arm, warming my skin. It made my hand look distorted. Like a cartoon. Maybe I was a cartoon. I was smooth like a cartoon. Logan was smooth too.

All smooth and warm and hard.

God, I wanted to touch him. Run my hand over the hard ridges of his abs.

Would he let me lick them?

Wait…

My brows furrowed down at my wet hand. That wasn’t right. Since when did I want to lick Logan?

I bet he’d taste good.

He probably would. He sure felt good. When he ran his hand down my body, my skin lit up. I got all hot and wet. My pussy clenched. I could almost feel him.

Hang on… I did feel him?

But it wasn’t his hand touching me. It was mine.

That’s not right?

I looked at myself in the mirror. I had really nice boobs. They felt good too. Everything felt good. Except my teeth. I couldn’t feel those at all. Oh no! What if there was something wrong with me?

Why couldn’t I feel my teeth!

I opened my mouth and tapped my finger off my bottom tooth. Crap. I couldn’t feel that either.

Rye will know what to do.

That was a good idea. I should call Riley. She always knew what to do.