When To Let Go (14 page)

Wesley was stumped, “She told you this?”

“Yes, but she swore me to secrecy. She's afraid if she doesn’t put out, you'll go someplace else.”

That wrung his heart out. It was the exact thing he was worried about, that Ava wasn't ready but had agreed for him.

Shit, he had read her all wrong. He was an ass.

“Thanks for telling me, D.” Wes truly meant it. It made him sad that Ava was more comfortable confiding in Dakota than himself. At least she had found a friend who looked out for her.

“I'm glad you’re not upset. Please don't tell her I told you though.”

“I won't,” he swore.

He looked down to the ground with his hands in his pockets, churning over what he had been told.

When they reached the two cars, Maggie was in the passenger seat of X's car, who was beaming at her. For Maggie to let him drive showed more of an apology than words. X always made fun that Wes was whipped, but he was just as bad when it came to Maggie.

Wes tapped on Maggie's window, who rolled it down, “You’ve got to get in your car. I need X to drive Ava and Dakota home.”

He didn't give her the chance to ask why, he opened the back door and held out a hand to Ava, “I need to talk to you for a sec.”

With questioning eyes she took his hand and stepped out. He pulled her a few cars back so no prying ears could hear. He went to run his hands through his hair, cursing from the stiffened hair product. Last time he ever did that.

“I think we should hold off on tonight,” he stalled, trying to find a way to explain without lying or revealing that he knew she didn't really want to.

Her eyes glanced down, a curtain of hair hiding her face, “Oh?”

“Hey,” he lifted her head by the chin, wanting to see her eyes. “I figured by mom would be waiting up for us and will want all the details; we'll pass out before we get the chance.” That wasn't a complete lie, his mom would be up; however, he could stay awake all night with Ava.

The disappointment watering her eyes made the pit of his stomach uneasy. He wanted to offer that she sneak in later and they could just cuddle, but he knew if they started kissing he wouldn't be able to keep a level head and stop anything from happening.

“I love you,” he said as his lips came in for a kiss.

“I love you too,” she replied after their lips parted.

He led her back to Xavier's car, promising to call her in the morning.

Inside his sister's car he slammed his head back on the headrest and let out a frustrated growl.

He watched his heart drive off in another direction.

Violet's heart jumped like it always did when they pulled in front of the garages after school. Parker's station had its garage door open. That meant he was working on something. As everyone got out, she tried concealing the inescapable smile that was forcing its way through the closer she got.

The smile vanished the instant an unmistakable giggle carried through, hitting her excitement like a bowling ball, knocking it down just like pins in a lucky strike.

It was her mom's new assistant, Natalie, who had started a few months ago and flirted with Parker every chance she got. The most irritating part was that Violet liked her and couldn’t find any reasons not to. Even her flirting wasn't annoying; it was friendly and good-natured.

It didn't stop Violet from wanting to do her bodily harm every time she touched Parker. The only thing that held her back was that Parker never touched employees, out of respect for Noah. Of course, that didn’t mean he didn't flirt back. Instead of hanging out, Violet followed Maggie into the house, begging her ears to tune the two out and whatever had them both laughing and standing too close.

Maggie came to a halt at the door, tossed her backpack inside, and turned back around, smacking right into Violet.

“Ops, sorry,” Maggie apologized over her shoulder, skipping out the door and heading to the tracks.

That left Violet standing all alone at the house entrance.

“Hey, Vi!” Natalie greeted, waving.

Violet put on a fake smile, “Hi!”

She was one step into the house when Parker called out, “Hey, get out here. Tell me all about the dance.”

She cringed, making sure to have it covered by the time she fully faced them, “We danced. We partied. We went home.”

Parker rolled his eyes, “Get your stubborn ass over here. I want more detail.”

“I'm going to get back to work,” Natalie informed them. “I'll see you guys later.”

Violet and Parker let out a “later” at the same time, never unlocking their eyes.

He raised a brow, wondering why she was still at the door, “You scared of me or something?”

“No, just tired.”

“So sit in your spot. Relax.”

She wasn't getting out of this. Reluctantly, she did what she was told.

When he went for a tool, Violet scooted over before he had the chance to stand too close, putting enough distance between them that he would have to make a blatant effort to touch her. He stared at the few inches that now only carried her warmth. Frowning, he peered up, searching her face for reasons why. She didn't give him any, keeping it blank and emotionless. Still frowning, he grumbled under his breath an “alright” and went back to work.

Violet didn't know how to explain it to him, how much his touch affected her. It was easier this way. She could stay focused and not get distracted with flutters, heart palpitations, and a deep longing for more.

His voice was cautious, “I take it the dance went well?”

So was hers, “Yeah, it was pretty fun.”

“Great,” he clipped.

She wanted to tell him how her date had called the following day to ask her out, but she stopped herself. It would be for catty reasons, and she wasn't the type of girl who played games. She had declined, of course.

“He try and kiss you?”

She paused long enough that he poked his head out.

If she didn't know any better, she thought she recognized the worry-squint he got to his eyes; the one only she and Ava picked up on.

That couldn't be it though.

Could it?

“Vi?” He whispered, setting his tool down and taking a step closer.

She shook her head no, her throat constricting for reasons she didn't understand.

She watched the way his Adam’s apple visibly swallowed.

In a gruff, low voice he let out a, “Good.”

Good?

“Yeah,” he matched that same tone, going back to his work.

She must have said the word out loud; a terrible trait her mother had, and that unfortunately, Violet was the only one to inherit.

“He's a horrible dancer,” she joked, not knowing what to say.

The awkward silence had her shifting around on the counter, trying to come up with a new topic.

“Vi?” Parker asked, when she thought the strain of the silence might make her combust.

“Yeah?”

“Can we not talk about him?”

“Okay.” She racked her brain for things that happened that he wasn't around for, and she stupidly told him the worst choice, “Maggie almost killed us.”

His body shot straight up, stiffening, “What?”

Violet tried making it come across as not the most terrifyingly scary moment of her life, “Her and X raced. Maggie took it a little too far.”

Like some ninja Parker was in front of her, knuckles on the counter to her sides, face inches away, “Are you being serious, or joking about how crazy she drove?”

He had never held her gaze like this before and her mouth only knew how to be honest, “The car almost flipped over and then she didn't move for an oncoming car. X had to slow down so she'd move over, letting her win.”

He closed his pained eyes and with a strangled voice asked, “Were you and Ava in the car?”

“It was boys against girls.”

His head dropped down, his chest expanding more and more every second, to the point that she could hear his puffs of air.

She lightly touched his arm, “Parker?”

He jumped back, his anger visible in his features and tightened muscles. He turned around and stormed out in the direction of the tracks.

Violet scrambled off the counter to catch up, calling out his name. Parker's hands balled into fists when Maggie came into view. She was at the guard rails, rocking back and forth on her heels, anxious for a run.

“Magnolia!” Parker hollered with enough strength it boomed through the area.

Maggie turned around in surprise.

Her eyes widened and she took a step back, right into the guard rail, as Parker charged in.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Parker shouted. “If I find out you ever put their lives in danger again, I swear to God–”

Parker was cut off by Violet's dad, who had stepped in front of Maggie with his arms crossed, a more murderous expression than Parker's, “Think before you finish that sentence.”

Too fired up to back down, his hand pointed to Maggie, “She tell you about her
little
race
?” He sneered.

“I don't care
what
this is about, back off from my daughter,” Noah heightened himself, taking a defensive stance.

“I'm sorry, Noah, but that shit isn’t cool. She can't fuck with people’s lives. What if something happened to Ava or my...” he trailed off, peeking over at Violet. “What would you do if someone put Lily's life in danger?”

At the mention of his wife, Noah stiffened, narrowing his eyes further on Parker in a way that had Violet wanting to stand in front of the man she loved to protect him.

Wait..
.love
?

It finally dawned on her what she had been denying for a very long time.

Instead of the truth elating her, it dug a knife into her back, finally understanding when people said “ignorance is bliss” (a saying she’d hated up until now).

“I'm giving you thirty seconds to explain what your tantrum’s about before we go and have a chat.”

“Your
daughter
,” Parker had trouble spitting out the words, “raced against Xavier at the dance, and because of a sick obsession with winning took it too fucking far!” By the end he was back to placing his anger on Maggie, who was cowering as far into the wall as she could, never experiencing someone’s wrath before.

Violet stood there wrapping her arms around herself, her body stressed, wanting to reach out and comfort all three of them, loving them all equally but for very different reasons.

It was a game of tug-o-war that had Parker pulling ahead, confusing her heart and mind, never thinking she'd choose anybody above her family.

“Somebody please tell me what the fuck he's talking about!” Noah roared, losing his extremely small amount of patience.

There was only silence.

Violet was having an internal battle to exploit her sister and defend the man she loved.

She refused to give in. It was an unspoken pact between the triplets that they'd always have each other’s backs. If one of them went down, the other two would follow.

In a timid voice Violet had never heard before, Maggie spoke up, “I challenged Xavier to a race after the dance. There were a few times I got lucky...”

Noah twisted enough of his body to see his daughter, “How lucky?”

Maggie bit down on her lower lip, “The kind that kept us alive.”

Noah glared at his daughter.

Violet wished she could see his face. All Maggie’s showed was remorse.

Parker took a step forward. Violet instinctively reached for his arm, pulling him back.

Her dad caught the movement and his gaze shifted to her hand on Parkers' arm, then to Violet, “Go take him to the garage, calm him down.”

Parker protested, “No way. I need to know that shit won't happen again, or else I can't let her drive them anymore.”

“
Them
?” Noah questioned with a sharp bite. “Shouldn't your demand be only about Ava?”

Parker met him head on with a blunt, “No.”

“That's not your call to make.”

Violet clung to more of Parker's arm than she should, catching her father’s attention.

Parker looked to her hands, the ones that now held Noah's complete attention. It only made her hold on tighter, gluing herself to his side.

Parker's lips curved to the side at her obvious, yet unintentional declaration of who she stood by.

Sadness swept her father's now sullen eyes, still unwavering from the hold she had on Parker.

“I need to know they’re safe,” Parker's sudden change of tone had both her and her father focus back on him. His voice had gotten quiet, pleading for his words to be listened to, “You have to understand where I'm coming from. This is only about me needing to make sure they’re safe. I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else if I thought otherwise.”

Violet felt Parker’s anger heating his skin as he went back to focusing on Maggie, his fury still at the surface, ready to explode.

“I can't let you think what you did was okay. It was your sister and best friend, but it was also somebody else’s sister, daughter, and–” he choked back on whatever he was going to say next.

“Violet,” her dad took over, taking command, “Get him back to the garage, and give him some time to cool off.”

Silently, she tugged on Parker's arm, who seemed intent on glaring Maggie down.

Her sister looked terrified.

A part of her wanted to comfort her. There was another side that knew it was in her best interest to feel the remorse and guilt, hopefully making her learn from it.

In honesty, the largest yearning in her knew her place was with Parker, that he needed her the most.

She slid her hand down to entwine their fingers. With a squeeze and a pull she walked them back to the garage, Parker only needing an extra tug to follow.

Silently they walked back, hand in hand, Parker's breaths still heavy and deep. His grip tightened, and before they reached his station it began to hurt from his strength. She tried letting go but that only made him take the lead, determined on a destination.

When they were close to her usual counter spot, he lifted her by the hips, placing her there. He placed his head on her chest, encircling his arms round her, holding her close.

Violet was stiff, unsure of what was happening.

“I'm sorry,” Parker breathed out.

She lifted a hand and grazed her fingertips along his scalp, her legs wrapping around him, giving him comfort in a way she instinctually knew he needed.

“I got scared,” he continued in a weak, uncommon voice.

“I know,” she reassured him.

They stayed that way until her dad came in, clearing his throat.

Parker didn't remove his arms, only lifted his head, turning it enough to see him.

Violet tensed, expecting her dad to tell them to part or get angry with how wrapped around each other they were.

His drained, exhausted eyes swept them from head to toe before meeting Parker's eyes, “Spoke to Maggie in private. She won't drive like that with Ava in the car again. You have my word.”

Parker only nodded.

“But don't you dare ever yell at her like that. This is your only warning,” Noah didn't wait for a response, now focusing on Violet. “I know you share some kind of weird womb allegiance, but that shit stops the second one of you is being reckless with their life or someone else’s. You got that Violet?”

She also nodded.