I swallowed back nerves and tried to back away, but he thrust out his hand, gripped my arm, and jerked me forward.
I let out a small yelp. His touch wasn’t painful. In fact, he was barely touching me at all, but he’d surprised me, and I reluctantly looked into his eyes.
“Did you tell that guy cheerleader anything today?” he hissed quietly.
Unable to find my voice, I just frantically shook my head ‘no’.
Austin’s fingers tightened on my arm. I instinctively tried to pull away.
“Answer me! He was staring at me in fear the whole f**kin’ game!”
Inhaling deep, I managed to squeak out, “I didn’t tell him anything.”
Austin’s narrowing eyes told me he didn’t believe me.
“I promise, I didn’t. I swear it. I told the dean nothing when he spoke to me. And Lyle… Lyle caught you staring at me a few times and warned me about it. That’s all.” Wrenching back my arm, I rubbed at the tender skin.
Austin ran his hands over his dark hair and exhaled a relieved breath. But his eyes didn’t leave me for one second.
As I watched him, it seemed like he was fighting against something inside. But then his face frosted over. His intimidating Heighter mask was back in place.
“You better not let what you saw get out,” he warned icily. “I’m watching you.”
Finding strength from somewhere unknown, I moved right before him, and this time, he stilled. “I told you I wouldn’t say anything, and I won’t. I know what it’s like to have a secret, to have something revealed that you want to keep well hidden. Believe me, I do. So I won’t say a thing to no one, but you are making people talk. You are the one messing up, glaring at me like you wanna murder me, garnering people’s attention when the dean already suspects I’ve seen something. You’re not successfully hiding your emotions.”
He didn’t say anything in response, and I lowered my eyes from his intense gaze, only to come face to face with a huge tattooed crucifix on his bare chest, a crying Mary, Mother of Christ at its base and Mary looking up at Jesus in agony, her face ripped apart by grief at seeing her son strung up on the cross… dying.
They were everywhere—religious tattoos—covering almost every inch of his upper body, and he had full sleeves on each arm. Most were religious, some in a foreign language. It looked like Italian.
Austin’s huge arms suddenly crossed over his chest and his nostrils flared with anger. “Just get the f**k out,” he ordered coldly.
Without hesitation, I turned around to leave, only glancing back to bravely say, “You terrify me, Carillo. I’m afraid of you. Are you happy about that? I know who you are, the family you come from, where you come from. I’ve been reliably informed. So you can stop with the threats, the dirty looks. I get that you’re bad news. I get it. You’ve got me unable to sleep at night with fear. I know you’re dangerous and you would probably have no remorse in harming me, if I talk. I’m not dumb. So I beg, please, just leave me alone. I will never speak about what I saw. But I need you to leave me alone.”
I didn’t stick around to see his reaction. I just ran all the way back to my sorority house and up to my room on the fourth floor.
Just as I passed Cass’s open door, Ally’s voice shouted, “Lexi! Come here, darlin’!”
Stopping dead, I dropped my bag and walked into the room, plastering on my usual fake smile. Cass and Ally were sitting on her bed.
“Hey, guys!” I sang, seeming like the happiest girl in the world.
“Argh!” Ally shrilled and jumped up to hug me. “You were amazing today, honey! I’m so proud of you!” As Ally pulled back, her mouth dropped open.
I immediately became self-conscious. “What?” I asked.
“You look beautiful, darlin’. I’ve never seen you without all your dark makeup before.”
“Hell yeah, you do, girl. Fuckin’ hot!” Cass added from her bed where she was drinking a Mason jar filled with her home-brewed moonshine. She was a redneck through and through.
Fidgeting with my damp hair, I mumbled a reluctant, “Thank you.”
I wasn’t beautiful. They were just trying to be nice. That’s all the more-beautiful-than-thou Ally knew how to be—nice. But I couldn’t bear to receive insincere comments. Couldn’t bear to be lied to.
“So what’s up?” I asked, moving to sit on the edge of Cass’s bed and moving the conversation on from the subject of my looks. I waved my hand in dismissal of Cass’s offer to take a sip of her moonshine.
“Rome’s throwing a party at his frat, and we’re going,” Ally said. My stomach churned. That would mean Austin would be there. He lived in the same frat house as Rome. Which meant I wouldn’t be welcome.
“I think I’ll pass, guys. I’m beat,” I tried to say, but Cass interrupted by shooting off the bed, stumbling as her feet hit the wooden floor.
Perfect. She was already halfway to trashed, which would mean a night of looking after her.
“Don’t even think it! You’re coming! Molly’s already bailed, choosing to stay here and study. Nothing Ally and me say is changing her stubborn English mind. So you’re not dropping out on us.”
Ally folded her arms across her chest, smirking at Cass, who reached out to hold her desk in support.
Rolling my eyes at her drunken state, I said, “Fine. I have to get ready.” I stood and headed out the door.
“That’s right, Sexy Lexi, Goth the f**k up! Tonight’s gonna be epic!” Cass shouted to my retreating ass.
Picking up my gym bag, I made my way to my room to get ready. Epic my ass, I thought. More like a damn catastrophe waiting to happen.
Chapter Nine
Austin
You terrify me, Carillo. I’m afraid of you. Are you happy about that?
That chick’s comment was running through my head as I lay on my bed, and I felt sick. She feared me and I didn’t even know her damn name. And I hated it, this whole shittin’ mess. My mamma had taught me never to do wrong by a woman, and here I was getting all up in that cheerleader’s face, stalking her movements, and grabbing at her arm. And all for the sake of the crew! My life was so f**ked up.
My mamma would rightly be ashamed. But I had to protect my family. The last thing my mamma needed was for one or more of us to get put inside. Who would look after her then?