CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Mysterious phone calls
Nixon
Lunch wasn't a pleasant experience. Phoenix's chair may as well have been a homing beacon for every damn set of eyes in the room. Trace kept glancing at it, while Chase gave me stern stares from beneath his hooded gaze, and Tex and Mo just looked sad.
Then again, I was sad. I just didn't want to admit it.
What Phoenix had done was wrong, yes, but he was still Phoenix. We'd been best friends since the first grade. I hated that a girl had been the one thing to separate us, almost as much as I hated that the same girl was coming between me and Chase.
How the hell was I going to stop it?
I made a mental note to send him a text. At least I could have him do a few jobs on the side while I decided what to do. One of the associates was acting… off, and he was closer to Phoenix than any of us. If I could throw Phoenix a bone, maybe he'd let the whole Trace thing go. Maybe he'd help get his father to cooperate.
Damn, there were a lot of maybes in there.
Trace's cell phone rang, piercing the silence.
She glanced down at the screen and smiled.
"Grandpa." She mouthed to Mo then got up and walked around the table for privacy.
Both Chase and Tex shook their heads. Yeah, it was weird thinking of Frank going soft… even if it was his granddaughter.
"Fine." She sighed into the phone. "Are you okay? Has something happened? Are the cows out?"
"Cows?" Chase mouthed to me.
I shook my head.
"Seriously?" Tex chuckled. "Cows. Can you imagine Frank with cows?"
"Shh!" Mo hit him in the chest and flashed a smile at Trace.
Trace just kept talking like we all had no idea who was on the other end. Ha, Funny, considering he'd just pointed a gun at my face not too long ago.
"Life insurance? Shouldn't that have been taken care of a while ago?" she asked.
My ears immediately perked up.
More silence and then, "Grandpa, are you sure you're okay? You never go into the city, and aren't there some branches in Cheyenne?"
Shit on a stick. He was here to stay.
Trace scratched her head. "Sure, um, yeah—"
She ended the call and stared at the phone.
I sighed, rose from my chair and walked up behind her. "Everything alright?"
"Grandpa's acting weird," she mumbled, still staring at the phone in her hands.
I tried not to tense, but it was damn-near impossible. "What did he say?"
"Something about Grandma's life insurance and stuff. I don't know. Shouldn't he have taken care of that months ago?" Her eyebrows scrunched together.
I offered a shrug. As far as excuses went, that wasn't a bad one. "Who knows, Trace? Sometimes it takes a while to get death certificates and stuff. You just never know."
She nodded. "He's, um, he's flying into Chicago tomorrow."
"When?" My jaw twitched. The bastard was already here, but whatever.
"I don't know. He said he'd see me at seven."
"Shit," I mumbled. That didn't give us a lot of time. It didn't give me a lot of time with her. Time I needed to explain things before it all went to hell. Time to tell her how I felt… Time… I hated that word.
Trace's brows knit together in confusion. "Huh? Why is that bad? He's my grandpa. He's—"
"I know. I just…" My grin was forced. "I had plans. I wanted to take you out." I could practically feel Chase's eyes burning a hole through me. I flipped him off behind my back.
Trace smiled. "Well, you can take me out tonight."
"Did you just ask me out?" I grinned.
"Uhh…" Her mouth dropped open.
"Intelligent as well as beautiful. Whatever am I going to do with you?" I reached for her face and rolled my thumb across her lower lip. "Fine, Trace. I'll go out with you. How about six tonight? Sound good?"
"No, no, not good, wait—"
I walked off to my seat before she could change her mind.
Tex chuckled.
"Sorry," Chase said, once Trace reached the pulled-out seat. "Nixon can be a little…"
"A lot." She nodded. "He can be a lot. A lot of the times."
Chase threw his head back and laughed. "Yes, yes he can."
Monroe threw a napkin at his face, or at least tried to. "Hey, watch it. He may be the devil, but he's my brother."
"I'm right here," I said in a loud and irritating voice.
Chase ignored me. "So, he's my cousin, which gives me familial rights."
"What?" Trace's voice shrieked.
Shocked, I just stared at her while Chase shrugged. "I thought you knew."
"What, through mind reading?" She threw her hands up into the air. "Unbelievable. Are all of you related?"
"Oh God, I hope not." Tex winked at Monroe.
I kicked him under the table.
"Nixon said you met my dad." Chase took a swig of water.
"Anthony?" She blinked a few times as if trying to put two and two together.
She leaned in, close enough to kiss the bastard, and I could tell he was enjoying it way too much.
Chase cleared his throat. "Uh, could you not stare like that? I'm not as used to it as Nixon."
"What do you mean you're not as used to it?" She puppeted.
Chase shrugged. "Simple, I'm not the man-whore of the group. Women don't gawk at me as much when he's around. I mean, come on. Look at him. He's trouble with a capital T."
I rolled my eyes. Right, I was the man-whore? I may get more stares, but it had everything to do with the fact that none of the girls could claim to have slept with me, while at least a third of them had slept with Chase — twice. "If you weren't my cousin I'd think you were hitting on me."
"If I wasn't your cousin, I just might." Chase winked and blew me a kiss.
"And too far." Trace threw her hands into the air and covered her face. Her innocence never failed to entertain me. "You are trouble though. Hmm…"
"What?" I grinned, meeting her gaze. "Tell me."
She bit her lip, something I could tell she did often when she was nervous and didn't like answering my direct question. "No, no, it's not…"
The table fell silent.
"Tell us." Tex started clapping his hands and chanting. Idiot.
Trace giggled. "Fine, it's just, Nixon reminds me of that Taylor Swift song, "Trouble? You guys heard it?" She laughed as we all shook our heads in unison. "Yeah, well, if I didn't know any better, I'd think Nixon had dated her, dumped her, and she'd written a song about him."
She kept laughing.
The rest of us stopped, including Mo.
You could have heard a pin drop in the lunchroom.
Trace's eyes widened. "Shut up. No way! Did you date Taylor Swift?"
Hell no. The last thing I needed was that type of publicity. I laughed and pointed at Chase, who, in turn, opened his mouth to say something and then pointed at Tex.
Tex turned around and pointed at Phoenix's empty chair. "Damn. I have nobody to blame."
"What? You all dated her?" She crossed her arms.
"What happens in the Elect stays in the Elect." Chase held up his hand for a high five.
"This isn't Vegas." Trace eyed us suspiciously.
"Drugs, gangs, sex, money, and guns? You sure about that?" I winked.
The bell from the clock-tower chimed. Trace slowly rose from her seat and started making her way toward the door.
I bolted out of my seat and followed. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Class?" Her voice squeaked.
"Hmm…" I tightened my arms around her body, resting my chin on her head. All I wanted was her touch, a reminder that I wasn't crazy for wanting her. Maybe I was just a glutton for punishment, a masochist. Because I knew it wouldn't end well, and we would end. That I was sure of.
"How about you skip?"
"I can't just skip class!" She tensed beneath me.
I released her body long enough to twist her ar
ound to face me, my fingers dancing along her chin. "But you kind of want to, don't you?"
"No." She looked down at her shoes. Damn, I hated — hated — that I still made her that uncomfortable.
"Fine." I sighed and stepped back. "But don't forget about tonight. No faking illness or saying you have homework, okay?" Because then I'd be forced to knock down her door and carry her over my shoulder.
She was still staring at the floor when she offered a small smile and nod.
"Okay, off you go." I stepped around her and walked the few feet to the door. The minute she walked by, I slapped her butt. It was just too tempting.
She let out a little squeak, and I burst out laughing. Yeah, I could live every day with a woman who was that innocent.
"You're going to hurt her, you know." Chase's voice damn-near had me colliding with the wall.
"Don't sneak up on me. It's weird. Creepy too."
Chase snorted and moved to stand right next to me, his eyes trained on Trace as she walked down the hall. "Let her go now… before the shit hits the fan."
"Let her go," I repeated. "So you can swoop in?"
"Well to be fair…" he shrugged. "I'd wait at least twenty-four hours."
"How thoughtful."
"Yeah, well…" Chase didn't hide his shameless grin. "…that's what the ladies say."
"Stay away."
"Make me."
"Girls…" Tex stepped between us. "…since when have we ever fought over a chick? Since when has that same chick been our sworn enemy? This is some weird shit, and if you two don't figure it out, then we're all screwed. So tuck your panties back in and toss your bras into the fire. I don't want to have to bury two of my best friends just because they don't see the bullet aimed for their hearts the minute Frank learns that his precious granddaughter isn't just flirting with the enemy… but sleeping with him."
"I'm not—"
Tex held up his hand. "But you will, won't you?"
Chase growled.
"Get to class," I barked. "And stay out of my love life."
"Ah, so now it's love?" Chase moved toward me. We stood chest to chest. "You can't even let the girl touch you without wincing, and it's love? Really?"
"Wow, it's like I didn't just make a pretty epic speech." Tex cursed and pushed both of us away. "We have bigger shit to deal with."
"He's right." I sighed.
"Course I am." Tex rolled his eyes. "Voice of reason. Never thought that particular title would attach itself to my name, but I kind of like it."
Chase and I shared a look of irritation, but not with each other, with Tex, because he was right, damn him, and for once it was Chase and I… who weren't thinking with logic.
But something else far more dangerous.
Emotion.