Cocky by Amy Love Read Free Book Online Page B

new boss of The Pits. I don’t care about your military training or where you’ve been. I’m the best now and you’re never gonna knock me out of the top, so don’t even try. Consider this a warning, Blue. You walk into those pits and you’re leaving in a body bag.” Jimmy spit onto the ground and then turned around and headed back up the hill.
     
    Chelsea turned towards Blue completely and totally confused. But she couldn’t even speak; his right eye was swollen and red and his there was a long cut along his cheek. “Are you all right?” Chelsea asked breathlessly as she brought her hand up to his face.
     
    “I’m fine,” he said jerking his head away from her touch.
     
    Chelsea looked up the hill and could see everyone from the party looking down at them, whispering to each other. “We should get out of here,” Chelsea whispered to Blue and finally he nodded, but he still refused to look her in the eye. “Will you tell Jamie we had to leave?” Chelsea asked Paul and he nodded as Chelsea took Blue by the hand and led him up the hill. She avoided the partygoers who were staring and pointing at them. She circled the house and quickly found their car where it was parked on the street.
     
    “Where should we go?” Blue asked as he sat down in the passenger seat. “I don’t want to go home.”
     
    “We could go to my old house,” Chelsea offered. “There’s no one there.”
     
    “Yeah,” Blue nodded leaning back in his seat. “That sounds good.” Chelsea drove slowly towards her old house. She remembered the streets of Snowbird intimately and she didn’t even have to think about how to get home, her hands knew the way. Not that she could focus on the drive; she kept glancing at Blue, but he was sitting silent and still in his seat with his eyes closed, but Chelsea could tell that he was still awake. 
     
    She had so many questions. Who was that Jimmy guy? He kept talking about pits; what were The Pits? Had he really threatened to kill to Blue? Chelsea couldn’t bring herself to disturb him to ask.
     
    She pulled into the parking lot for her mom’s house. It felt so good to be home. It felt so familiar and safe and she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. The only thing that made her a little sad was that all of the lights were off and the windows were closed. When she and her sister had still lived at home, all the lights would have been on and music would have been blasting through the open windows.
     
    Finally, Blue opened his eyes and a smile crossed his face as he recognized Chelsea’s childhood home. Her key still worked and the door swung easily open. Her house smelled like she remembered, but it looked different. It was half-packed and empty-looking. There were half-filled boxes and other boxes filled to the brim with scarves and jewelry dangling over the sides. Chelsea looked at the boxes forlornly, she didn’t want her mother to move out of this house; she didn’t want Terrance for a stepdad.
     
    “Come on,” she said, taking Blue by the hand and led him into the kitchen. She cleared a chair for him and as he sat down she grabbed an ice pack from the fridge and wrapped it in a towel before pressing it gently over Blue’s eyes.
     
    “No steak?” Blue asked ruefully.
     
    “Does the steak on the black eye thing really work?” Chelsea asked.
     
    “It always worked for me,” Blue responded.
     
    Chelsea began to rifle through the cabinets until she found her mother’s emergency stash of whiskey. She poured her and Blue glasses before sitting down across from him. They sat in silence, sipping their drinks as the awkwardness grew between them.
     
    “You’re really not going to tell me what that was all about?” Chelsea asked.
     
    “Chels,” Blue said, and he stopped himself, shaking his head for a moment before continuing, “I don’t want to involve you in that.”
     
    “In what?” Chelsea asked. “I’m not a little kid, Blue. You don’t have to