Chapter 6
John B's POV
We found a well in the bottom of the Crain house. We planned on the next night to go under and get the gold after we figure out a way to get down there. Now here we are going to a party. We followed the GPS to the house. We pulled up and it was bigger than any Kook house on the 8.
"They're staying here?" Kie asked shocked.
"Guess so." I said parking. We got out and walked towards the door.
"This is total redneck central here." JJ commented. We saw people we knew and people we didn't. I looked around for Christina.
"Dude what if she set us up with a trap?" Pope asked nervously.
"Why would she do that?" I asked.
"Because she knows we know about Sarah. And we haven't told her either." Kie said shaking her head.
"I'm sure she's here." I said sighing. I looked around and patted a guys shoulder.
"What?" He snapped.
"I umm. I'm looking for Christina. You seen her?" I asked clearing my throat.
"He's got killer written all over his face, man." JJ told me.
"What's Chrissy got to do with you, surfer boy? You drive up on your surfboards on those knarly waves?" He scoffed.
"I. I feel offended. Do you feel offended?" I asked looking at JJ.
"Yes. Very. These are her people." He said nodding.
"Where's she at?" I asked again.
"Do I look like I speak surfer? Come find me after a few joints. I might be on your level by then." He said smacking my arm. Then he turned around. I rubbed my arm and looked at my friends.
"Ow!" I said moving my arm around.
"I feel like if we were to die here, they'll just bury or burn our bodies." Pope said.
"Well, he was the wrong guy to ask." Kie said looking around. She pointed and we looked. It was Topper, Kelce and Rafe.
"Better than anything." I said sighing. We walked over to them.
"What're you Pogues doing here?" Topper asked.
"We were invited by my girlfriend. Speaking of, have you seen her?" I said.
"Sarah invited you? Why would she invite you?" Rafe asked smirking. I saw Topper's anger flare in his face.
"Sarah's not my girlfriend." I told him.
"Then what is she?" Topper asked.
"She's a friend of his. That's all." Kie said. He hummed and downed his drink.
"Gentlemen. We got a problem?" A guy asked walking up. He was big and muscular. He could snap you in half with one hand I bet.
"No. No sir. Just looking for my girlfriend, so I asked some people we know if they've seen her." I said clearing my throat.
"Who?" He asked.
"Christina. Her friend Hardy calls her Chrissy." I said. He scoffed and looked me up and down.
"You're a downgrade. Garage is off limits to everyone." He said. I shook my head when he didn't answer me so, we walked to the stairs.
"I'm a downgrade? From what? What kind of people has she dated?" I scoffed.
"Dude, she went from redneck to surfer boy." JJ said laughing. He got bumped into and the guy turned to us.
"Watch where you're going." The guy said.
"You bumped into me man." JJ said holding his hands up.
"Do what?" He asked stepping closer.
"Rhett. Go." We heard. I looked up at the stairs and saw Christina. I took in her tight shorts, the tank top, the leather jacket and boots.
"Chrissy." He said.
"I said go. Now." She barked. He held his hands up and walked off.
"Thanks." JJ told her. She came down and stood beside us.
"Careful around Rhett. He's the county's best hunter. He will skin you alive, and you'll never be found." She told us.
"Noted not to mess with the big redneck." He said nodding.
"Y'all just get here?" She asked crossing her arms.
"Yup. And we've already been insulted twice." I said nodding.
"Ah. Welcome to sticks everyone. Drinks are in the living room, pool is outback, upstairs if you want a joint or smoke, or extra it's upstairs. Garage is off limits to everyone." She told us.
"What's in the garage?" Pope asked.
"None of the guests' business. Now let's go get a drink." She said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along. Now she was hiding something. We grabbed our drinks and she introduced us to of her old friends.
"How long have you been here?" I asked sliding my arm around her.
"Since we left my aunts." She answered. Something was going on; I could feel it. I looked around and saw two guys standing at a doorway.
"How good is the good upstairs?" JJ asked her.
"Best in the south. Go up, find the guy with the yellow hat, tell him Chrissy sent you. Here. Take this." She said sliding off a ring.
"I'm not gonna get beat up, am I?" He asked.
"Johnny doesn't do the beating. You'll be fine." She said laughing. He and Kie went upstairs. I pulled her against me tighter. She looked up and smiled at me.
"Hi." She said softly. I leaned down and kissed her. She slid her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss.
"Miss Hayden. What have we said about PDA?" We heard. We pulled away and she laughed.
"Not in front of the children." She said pulling away from me. The guy laughed and picked up her in a hug. She squealed as they spun around. He sat her down but kept his arms around her.
"This the new toy?" He asked looking at me.
"Boyfriend, yes. John B, this is Danny, Hardy's brother and this is Pope John B's friend." She said laughing. I held out my hand and he took it.
"My brothers told me all about you." He said squeezing hard. I flinched.
"Danny." She said elbowing him. He released my hand then shook hands with Pope.
"Wish I could say the same." I told him.
"Where is he?" He asked her. She nodded to the garage. He sighed.
"Go get him. I'll talk with your boys here." He said nodding. He kissed her head and she walked towards the garage. She nodded to the big guy and he opened the door for her.
"I thought the garage was off limits?" Pope asked.
"It is. To guests but not people who live here." He said. I looked at him.
"So, a criminal for a brother? How does that work out being a cop?" I asked him. He laughed and grabbed a beer.
"Difficult. Especially when he gets put on a radar." He said nodding.
"So, you and Chrissy? How's that working out?" He asked me.
"Fine. We had a little spill but it's fixed." I said nodding.
"It better be. Cause you hurt our girl, again, you'll have so many of us on your ass." He said sipping his beer. I nodded again. She walked out with Hardy behind her.
"What's up big brother." He said shaking his hand.
"Just checking in. Had some time off, came to check up on everyone, see how we're handling things." He said looking between them.
"Want to come check it out?" Hardy asked smirking. Danny nodded, kissed her cheek again and walked off to the garage.
"What was that?" I asked.
"What?" She asked looking up at me.
"Danny going into the forbidden garage." I scoffed.
"Always gotta have someone on payroll." She said shrugging. I shook my head and sighed.
"Are you gonna tell us anything about it?" I asked her.
"Later." She said grabbing her beer from me. JJ and Kie came down.
"Well?" She asked them. He handed her, her ring back.
"It's some good shit cupcake. I like it." He said grinning. Kie nodded too. She laughed.
"Bathroom?" I asked her.
"Down the hall on the left." She told me. I handed her my drink and walked down the hall. I did what I had to and walked out.
"Where did she go?" I asked.
"She said something about making her rounds." Pope said. I was looking for Christina when I bumped into someone.
"Sorry." I said. It was a girl.
"Oh no. It's okay." She said slurring. She smiled up at me and leaned into me.
"But you are cute. Hi." She said giggling. I gently pushed her away.
"Sorry. I have a girlfriend." I told her.
"And I have a boyfriend. What happens here, stays here. Right?" She asked biting her lip. She was very drunk. Christina walked up and grabbed the girl by the hair.
"Take your gross hands off my guy, leech." She snapped at her. She tossed her to the side and the girl looked back at us. She went to say something, but she saw the look on Christina's face and walked off.
"Wow. Some fear you strike in people." I said nodding.
"Rather I let her touch you and let Tank handle you instead of her?" She asked.
"What's a Tank?" I asked. She looked around and pointed over by the pool table. I swallowed at the biggest guy over there.
"Big guy?" I asked.
"Yup." She said.
"Thank you." I said sighing. She nodded and stood in front of me.
"Have I told you how much I liked you recently?" She asked sliding her arms around my waist. I put mine behind her.
"No." I said holding her tighter.
"Oh." She said. She leaned up and kissed me.
"I really, really like you, John B." She said pulling back. I leaned my forehead against hers.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" We heard. She tensed up and turned around in my arms.
"Corey." She said sighing. The guy smiled at her.
"What's with you and big, scary, muscled, guys?" I whispered to her.
"Grigs said there was surfer boy asking about you. Guess he found you." He said looking at me.
"And I guess a certain meat head was looking for me too. Cause here you are." She said crossing her arms.
"Well, when I heard there was going to be a party where my brother's girl had moved too, I had to come check on her." He said smirking.
"I'm not your brother's girl anymore. I ended things with him when a knife went into my side." She said. This was Cody's brother?
"Do you know why my brother chose you?" He asked stepping closer to us. I pulled her back into me.
"Because of who my parents were?" She asked shrugging.
"No. Because I wanted you. He always took what or who I wanted. Now he's out of the picture, I won't stop now." He said. His eyes met mine. He wasn't taking her from me.
"I suggest you do stop. Im with someone else and I'm very happy." She said. He scoffed.
"Sure, you are. Hey bud, has she told you the truth about all the runs her buddies do? Why can't she really come home? If she does, she ends up in Juvi?" He asked me.
"Corey!" We heard. Hardy, Steven, and Danny walked up to us.
"Well, if the criminals didn't bring the law in." Corey said smirking at Danny.
"Says the guy who gets people to piss in a cup so he can stay in sports." Christina scoffed. He looked at her with an icy glare.
"Watch your mouth sweetheart." He told her. She must've known I was about to say something because she squeezed my wrist tightly. Honestly, I think I would've regretted saying something because of how big he was.
"You weren't invited, Corey. Now get." Hardy told him.
"Like everyone here was invited." He scoffed.
"They were. I don't remember sending a message to a beaters brother." Hardy argued. Corey stepped closer to him. Christina went to step forward, but I tightened my grip on her.
"Don't ever talk about my brother like that." Corey warned him. A man in a suit walked up and everyone around us got quiet. Christina tensed up again.
"Mr. Thomas. I thought we had the discussion of messing with my family when your brother went to jail?" He asked. He had a thick accent.
"Yes sir." Corey said.
"Why are you here disturbing my niece and her friends at their party then?" He asked. He didn't answer. The man nodded and two guys grabbed Corey.
"Escort him back to his father in Tennessee in one piece. I'll be making a phone call tomorrow morning. Christina, now." The man said before walking off. She turned around, kissed me quickly before following the man. The guys walked off with Corey.
"Who was that?" JJ asked.
"She'll have to explain it to you later." Hardy said.
"So, is big, scary, tall, guys her thing? Or is that who she just attracts?" I asked him.
"Both." He said sighing. He went in the direction the man and Christina went to.
"Dude you about died. He would've ate you alive." Pope said. I sighed and leaned against the wall. The party went back in full swing. We went walking around again. I felt a hand on my back. I looked over my shoulder and saw Christina. I smiled and brought her around to my side.
"Hi. You okay?" I asked her.
"Yeah. Just tired." She said nodding.
"Wanna go home?" I asked. She nodded again. We grabbed our friends; she said her goodbyes and we headed back to the Chateau. Everyone crashed at the house. She was sitting at the end of my bed when I walked in.
"Baby." I said sitting beside her.
"I don't want to talk about it right now." She said shaking her head. I nodded and rubbed her back. I kissed her head and pulled her into me. We laid back on the bed.
"I'm sorry your first Tennessee/Carolina party was awful. I didn't want it to go like that." She whispered.
"How did you want it to go?" I asked.
"Fun. Drinking, dancing, making out in a closet or an empty bedroom somewhere." She said laying on my chest. I chuckled.
"With as much security you had, I don't think we would've had much alone time." I told her.
"They mean well." She said sighing. She rolled over and looked up at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Do you still like me?" She asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" I asked her. She sat up and sat on her knees.
"After everything tonight. There's still a lot of secrets between us." She said biting her lip. I sat up and brought my knees up.
"Which we will tell each other about when we want to talk about it. Okay?" I said touching her cheek.
"Yeah. Okay." She said nodding. I nodded and kissed her lightly. Her hand touched my shirt.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"That leech touched your shirt." She scoffed. I laughed and looked down at it.
"Why do you call her a leech?" I asked.
"Because she sucks the life out of the guys she dates. Tank was a really sweet guy but when he got with her. He changed." She said.
"Good thing you saved me." I said smirking.
"Oh no. No one touches what's mine. I will throw down. I done it before, I'll do it again." She told me. I hummed and grabbed her hand.
"Yours huh?" I asked. I pulled her into my lap.
"Mhmm. Mine. And if I ever see Sarah again, I'm slapping her for kissing my boyfriend. I'll make sure she knows." She said grabbing my head in her hands.
"So possessive." I said shaking my head.
"When I grabbed your wrist tonight, I knew you wanted to say something to Corey. But I couldn't let you get beat up by him." She said.
"He put a guy in the hospital too?" I asked.
"Yes, but the ICU in a coma. He's still there too." She said nodding.
"How long ago was that?" I asked.
"January of this year." She said playing with my shirt.
"What's with you and big, muscled, meat heads?" I asked her. She pulled my shirt up and I lifted my arms. She pulled the shirt off and tossed it on the floor.
"I like my guys strong, intimidating, very hot on the eyes. Like you." She said running her hands over my arms and chest.
"I'm intimidating?" I asked.
"When you get that angry look. It's very hot, not gonna lie. You were to focused on Corey but when I saw that look, it was very hot." She said smiling.
"Well, when someone starts claiming my girl, I get possessive. But I need you to go for the weak ones not the big ones." I said.
"Impossible." She said laughing. She leaned in and kissed me then. I flipped us over as we continued. We went to sleep. I woke up before her the next morning and stood at the door watching her. We both had our secrets. Some more than others. I heard someone pull up outside. I looked out the window of the kitchen and saw a black suv and a green older car. The man from last night stepped out and looked around. Hardy and Steven got out of the car. They walked up as I walked out the door.
"Is she here?" Hardy asked me. I nodded.
"Let me go wake her up." I said walking back inside. I went into my room and leaned over.
"Baby. Hardy and those guys from last night are here." I said shaking her lightly. She groaned and rolled over.
"Baby, come on. If you don't get up, they're gonna walk in, and they're gonna see you naked then I'm gonna die for having sex with you." I told her.
"They won't." She mumbled.
"Come on. Get up and get dressed." I told her. She groaned angrily and got up. She stole a button up shirt, slid it on and walked out. I followed her. She walked off the porch.
"What!" She snapped loudly. I flinched. JJ and Pope both woke up. Kie walked out of the house and onto the porch.
"What're they doing here?" She asked.
"No idea." I said crossing my arms. We watched as they walked down to the fire pit and the man started talking to Christina. He picked her chin up and made her look at him. He said something then kissed her forehead and walked off. They all left together. Christina walked up to us.
"What was that about?" JJ asked her.
"I need coffee before more people talk to me." She said walking into the house. We followed her. Kie nudge me.
"Put some pants on first." I told her. She waved me off and started fixing the coffee. I handed her some shorts and she slid them on.
"So what's going on?" I asked. She leaned against the counter with her cup in her hand.
"The guy in the suit is my uncle. He's Marissa's and my moms brother. He's the reason my parents became dealers. Dad owed him a lot and you always pay your fee or things happen. He's the reason I'm here. He wanted Marissa to take me in, give me a better life than what I was doing but she hates kids so she lets me do whatever. He's not happy about that. But he's here checking on the things from Hardy and Steven. A run went bad and he flew in to check it out." She explained.
"What are runs?" Pope asked.
"The cars are fabricated to hold a certain amount of drugs. They get a location, drop the car, clean it of prints and hairs, then they get the other and bring it back and sell it to a Tanker." She explained.
"Why can't you go home?" Kie asked.
"My uncle doesn't want me back in the lifestyle. Boosting cars is what got me arrested in the first place. I was 13 boosting cars and I would've went to juvie if my uncle didn't make a deal with Danny and the others. If I were to go home, I'm back in the crowd and thrown into juvie." She explained.
"Your parents?" JJ asked. She stared off then.
"Killed in a car accident. There was a threat against me from another dealer that wanted control of the county. My parents talked with my uncle, and all agreed to bring me here to Marissa's. Then on the way here, a car out of nowhere hit us. Killed them, left me alive. They sent a picture to my uncle of the car. That's when the war started and my uncle gained back control." She said.
"And this morning?" I asked.
"Just a check in. And to let me know there's a family dinner tonight at Satans with the Cameron's." She said.
"I thought we were grabbing the gold tonight?" Pope asked.
"We still got to come up with a system to get it out of there." I said.
"First you need to make sure the gold is down there. You need a pulley system to lift whoever and however much it is out. But you also need to measure weight of each brick or bar or whatever form it is, so you know how much rope or wire you need." Christina said. I looked at her.
"What?" She asked.
"How do you know that?" I asked her.
"You've seen my lifestyle." She said shrugging. She sipped her coffee.
"Very scary lifestyle." JJ commented. She giggled.
"Do I have to go to the dinner?" I asked.
"No. He didn't say anything about the guy that's banging his niece going. Except that if he breaks my heart, he will go missing." She told me.
"Ah. There's my weekly threat." I said sarcastically. She kissed my cheek as she walked past into the bedroom. We started talking up a plan to get the gold. She came out in her shorts and my T-shirt.
"Do I need to drive you?" I asked her.
"No, I can walk." She said. I stood up as she grabbed her bag.
"Let me drive you. That way we can break down the bed and bring it here." I said.
"You really love my bed." She said giggling.
"It's very comfortable." I argued.
"Okay fine." She said. We grabbed some straps to tie down the stuff with. I drove us. I looked over at Christina. She looked at me and smiled. We pulled up to her guest house and backed up. She unlocked the place and opened the door. JJ flopped down on the bed and groaned.
"Definitely a great bed." He said sighing. She laughed and opened her closet.
"For a girl who doesn't like dresses, sure does have a lot." I commented. She glared at me through the mirror.
"These popped up when auntie decided to use her sisters death for her own benefit." She said huffing.
"That's so wrong." Kie scoffed. I looked at the bedding on the bed.
"Do we have to take the bedding?" I asked her.
"No. Just the mattress, box spring, pillows and sheets." She said.
"Before we touch this. Have you two?" Pope asked. JJ jumped up real quick.
"Damn. I knew we forgot to do something on it." Christina said sarcastically.
"No. We haven't. Not on this bed." I told them.
"I mean. If they want to go away for a bit." She mumbled to me. I nudged her. She shrugged and pulled out a yellow dress. We started breaking down the bed and loading it up.
"This wasn't your aunts was it?" I asked her. We had finished and was standing outside the Twinkie.
"Hell no. It's mine. Will it fit in your room?" She said crossing her arms.
"Oh yeah. It'll be nice to have a bigger bed." I said smiling at her.
"Can I come over after this dinner?" She asked me. I grabbed her head in my hands. I leaned down and kissed her.
"You don't have to ask. You're more there than you are here. It's your house too." I told her.
"Mmm. Okay." She said leaning into me.
"Want to pack a bag so you can have it there?" I asked her.
"Sure." She said nodding. She walked back inside and came out a few minutes later with a duffel bag. I took it and placed it in the back.
"Go suffer in a dinner with your uncle, aunt, and the Cameron's." I told her. She groaned.
"Can I skip and go home with you?" She asked.
"Do you have a choice?" I asked her.
"No." She said sighing.
"I'll see you when you get home, okay?" I said kissing her lightly. She huffed and walked back into the guest house.
"Dude, you're moving your girlfriend in." JJ said as I drove.
"I am not." I scoffed.
"Yes, you are. Her bed, her clothes, bathroom stuff. All that's left is to get her a ring and you two are married." Pope said laughing.
"Dude, they're just now dating." Kie scoffed.
"So? She lives at the chateau. John B is moving her bed to his." JJ started to argue.
"It's a great bed. You laid on it." I scoffed.
"It is. It's a really great bed." He said.
"But you haven't even told her you loved her yet. And you're moving her in, with all her stuff." Pope argued.
"She's there more than that guest house! Everyone here has a box of clothes at the Chateau. So, what? I wanted the bed for us. Yes, I might be falling in love with her, but I don't know yet. I just. She's there more than on the 8. So, why not have some of her things there." I said shrugging. Was I moving Christina in? She was there more than her aunt's. She slept in my clothes, kept her clothes and other stuff in a bag in my room. Was I falling in love with her?
"We both moved her in. She and I both did it." I said shaking my head. JJ laughed and I kept driving. We unloaded the bed, moved mine out, put that one together. Then we went to get the gold from under the Crain house.