Tease

Six

The girls got down from Nelly's car and started to walk to the back entrance into the club. When Maria wasn't watching, Nelly nudged at Lucy and silently communicated with her. Lucy, understanding what Nelly said slowed down until she walked closely behind Maria. In case the girl decided to bolt, Lucy would hold her down. 

Nelly knocked on the door, and it didn't take two seconds before it was opened. Maria stared at Nelly, who sighed and went in first. It was an empty room, except for a few boxes piled up in a corner. Nelly shifted her glance, knowing Lyle was somewhere around. When Lucy closed the door and she turned to face Maria, who was startled when her hands were roughly yanked behind her back and a rope was secured around her wrists. 

Lyle winked at Nelly before he put tape over Maria's mouth, who was struggling to get out of his hold and kept glaring at her cousin. She was communicating with Nelly with her eyes, casting them down on the duct tape over her mouth, then looked at her again. She wanted Nelly to remove it so she could speak to her. That, Nelly, would not do, for she did not think she wanted to hear anything from Maria again. 

"Lyle," Lucy called with a delightful chuckle. "You did not disappoint."

Maria was trying to jerk her arms from Lyle's stronghold, but he was stronger than her. He leaned down into her ear. "Stop struggling, b***h," he snarled. "You're lucky I'm not running you over with my car."

Maria's eyes flared, closed briefly, then opened again, clearly filled with anger. 

"I'm sorry, Maria, that we had to do this," Nelly said, watching Lyle drag her towards the door. "But I can't let you stay here or talk to anyone. You should have stayed back home."

"I'm not!" Lucy exclaimed, opening the door and peeking her head outside to find it empty. "It's clear, Lyle." 

Maria sent a hateful glance at Nelly before Lyle pushed her out through the door. A relieved sigh erupted from her chest. She didn't feel bad that she had to do that to Maria. It was for her own good, even though she wouldn't be able to realize that now. Nelly didn't hate Maria. She just hated the things her cousin did, and if she was sincere about her apology, Nelly would see to it that it was delivered...in three years when the wounds healed. 

Lucy spun around with a throaty laugh, then stopped abruptly. "Who are you?" she demanded, completely taken aback by something. 

Nelly frowned in question, then realized her best friend was looking at something behind her. She turned around and a feeling of coldness washed over her when she saw Cole standing behind them with an unreadable expression on his face. His presence seemed to fill the entire room. His arms were thick and long in the short-sleeved shirt he was wearing, revealing how thickly muscled his shoulders and chest were. She spotted a tattoo in his right arm, something written in Chinese. His eyes still lacked warmth.

Cole ignored Lucy like she hadn't spoken at all and continued to stare at Nelly fiercely. She cursed him for being a snoop and for being at the wrong time. She knew Cole had seen what had just occurred, maybe not everything but he had seen enough. 

How could she begin to defend that? But Nelly would do what she was good at; leaving. She signaled Lucy and the two of them head for the door that led into the club. Lucy was the first to disappear into the hallway, and when Nelly strode past Cole, he reached a hand out and grasped her arm, yanking her back in front of him. 

"Just so you know," he said dispassionately, immune to the wrathful expression on her face. "I can't keep a secret."

The words hit her like a slap in the face and she fought for control over her panic. She was so terrified her chest was rising and falling like a frightened bird. "What do you mean by that?"

Ignoring her stricken expression, Cole answered with a smirk, "I think you know exactly what I mean."

His bloodthirsty words made her almost shudder and collapse under his threat. But she sobered up, drew a long breath, and said to him in a resolute voice that brooked no argument. "Keep your mouth shut. You don't know anything."

He shrugged his broad shoulders, wearing a cool and bored look on his face. "I don't, but I really don't care," he said with great firmness. 

Fury, irrational and uncontrollable, flamed inside her as she pointed her manicured finger at him. "Listen, you and I have problems, but this is beyond the two of us. If you say anything, it's not going to hurt me. It's going to hurt the people you call friends," she replied in an ominously calm tone that belied the leaping fury in her blue eyes.

"Sure. I won't say anything."

Her anger abruptly dissolved at the unmistakable sincerity she heard in his voice. "Really?"

That devil's smile widened ever so slightly. "If it's going to hurt my friends like you said, I won't say anything. I'm not a dick." Then he laughed as if he had said something vastly amusing, adding, "Maybe just to you."

"Whatever. Just don't say anything, Collins."

He was angry and fiercely so. "If you call me Collins again, I might slip." 

Waves of alarm shot through her. Icy fingers of dread crawled up her spine, but her composure didn't c***k. "It's your name, isn't it?" With that, she crossed over to the door and yanked it open, walking out.

Nelly walked down the stairs of the two-floor building. The upper floor had an indoor pool and some game rooms, two lounges, and two bathrooms. One only had to look over the balcony railing to view all the action of the main floor. The main floor was the largest area of the club and about dozens of oval tables covered with white cloth and yellow markings were surrounded by the rich kids of Moondale, and on the other side of the room was a large bar. 

Soft music floated in the room and the soft but quiet exclamations from tables. She glanced around the room, spotting Lucy immediately sitting at the bar with two other girls. She didn't waste any more time before she reached them and plopped down in one of the stools. The bartender immediately served her usual drink; s*x on the beach. The owner of the club didn't care that he was serving underage kids alcohol if they were bringing him money. 

Lucy turned to Nelly with an oddly intent expression, her mouth curved up a little. "Okay, girl, but who was that?" she asked eagerly as if she had been waiting to know about Cole. "I could smell the s****l tension between you two."

"I don't think you know what you are saying right now," Nelly countered in annoyance. "s****l tension? With Collins, no less? Ew. He's not my type."

"Is that his name? Collins?"

"Yeah, but you should probably call him Cole because he doesn't like Collins," she murmured, and her gaze returned to their surroundings. 

Lucy realized that subtle changes had taken place in her best friend from the moment she had entered the club...she was at a loss to account for Nelly's strange reaction. Her calm demeanor had been replaced by a chip on her shoulder and had thrown a defensive wall over her. She seemed to be more alert as if she were absorbing the restless energy of the room.

"Then, why are you calling him that?"

"Because I'm not scared of him," she replied, taking a sip of her drink while checking her phone for an update from Lyle. Unless he had sent a text that Maria was safely out of Moondale, she would not be relaxed. Not while she had openly declared war with her cousin by banishing her from Moondale.

Lucy, oblivious to her best friend's worries nodded in agreement. Her expression was contemplative rather than critical as she replied, "He does look scary, but he is insanely hot. The guy had his eyes on you, though."

Taken aback by the statement, Nelly gave her a perplexed glance. "Are you trying to play matchmaker, Lucy? I told you he's not my type."

"He is hot, Nell. That's everyone's type."

"Except he's not my type," she replied, the thought of liking Cole in that way enough to make her have nightmares for the whole week. "How should I put this in a nice way? He's–"

"Beneath you?" 

The question seemed to pull her out of her absorption, and her face became inscrutable. "Yes, but the guy rubs me off in the wrong way. He hates me, you know? We had a fight yesterday. We are practically enemies."

"Why?"

"He defended Kyle."

"He's friends with Kyle?" Not that it mattered because everyone was friends with Kyle, even the girls he cheated on still liked him. Lucy was the only smart one that hated him, and that was because she understood to expect any decency from him was to invite recurring disappointment. After all, he didn't think what he was doing was wrong, so why should she expect him to be fixed by anyone?

Nelly shrugged. "Best friends, I think. That's how I saw it anyway. You should have seen him defending that son of a bitch." And then proceeded to insult me. The asshole judged me based on my actions. He does not deserve my kindness, or any kindness in that matter. 

She made a face, then lifted her glass to Nelly's. "Then, ew," Lucy said with a grin. 

"That's my girl," Nelly retorted with her own smile, clinking glasses with her. 

"Can I have a tequila?" Harper slipped into a stool with a dejected sigh, her face clean and bare of makeup, but she still looked beautiful. She was so cute with her small frame, baby face, and big, bright brown eyes. 

"That's strong," Lucy noted with a slight smile. 

It was as if Lucy had open the floodgates. "I need it after spending two hours with my brother's girlfriends. Honestly, Mike is such an asshole," she complained with a groan, using her hand to tie her hair up in a bun before she propped her elbow on the bar stand and turned to face them, giving Nelly and Lucy a perfect view of her face. "He put me in between their heated conversations and they practically chewed my head off, as if I was the one that cheated on them with each other."

They laughed heartily.

"And where was Mike?" Nelly asked. 

"What's that coward good at?" She snorted loudly and everyone could hear how annoyed she really was. "Hiding, of course! I had to hunt him down at Boone's house and screamed at him for an hour." She dropped her head on the stand dramatically. "Ugh, it's a miracle I can still talk."

Liz chose that moment to slip into the empty stool beside Nelly, applying her lipstick before she put it back in her purse. She messed her blonde curls before pulling it backward, inserting her finger into her mouth before she pulled it out to swipe it over her brows. "Nelly, a hot guy is staring at you. Six o'clock."

The girls whirled around at the same time and true to Liz's words, it was Cole who was staring at them, but rolled his eyes and turned his head away to talk to Zach. 

"Oh my god! Nell, who is that?!"

"A cockroach," Lucy replied at the same time Nelly said flatly, "Trust me, Liz. You don't want to poke at that bear."

Liz waved her hand in the air. "Please, I'm Liz! I can have any guy I want, and he definitely looks like he could be mine. How do I look?" She slipped off the stool and rotated around for them. Liz was hot, no doubt about that. Companies would rush to have her face plastered on the front cover of their magazines. Her dad was the mayor of Moondale and her mother was a well-known fashion designer, just like Harper's.

"You're going over to him?" Nelly asked incredulously, trying to hold off a jaw drop. 

"Well, it doesn't look like he would come to me. I'm going to introduce myself." 

Liz flashed the girls a toothy smile before she whipped her hair and started to walk over to where Cole was standing. Nelly and the girls had their eyes glued to Liz, not wanting to miss anything. 

May God help her, Nelly thought just as Liz stopped in front of Cole.