"i didn't even call to talk about this shit," nico cuts cash off. "i wanted to make sure that you were all going to be at the site tomorrow," nico says, sounding nervous.

i look over at cash, and can see the same pain i'm feeling written on his face. "sure, we'll be there."

"good, see you guys then," he says, before the line goes dead.

"so, i guess he's going to talk to us about working for kenton."

"guess so," i agree. i don't want to think about this shit right now. my brothers and i have always been inseparable, and i don't want to think about nico not being a part of our company any more.

"so...you gonna call liz and ask her about the tire?"

"do i look stupid to you?"

"yes," he chuckles, and i look over at him.

"i'll talk to her about it when i get home."

"you're sounding very domesticated these days."

"fuck you," i say while smiling.

cash shakes his head, laughing. "i'm going to stay away from chicks from now on. there must be something in the water."

"so you aint gonna call lilly?"

"fuck yeah, i'm calling her! did you see her tits?" i look over at him; he's holding out his hands in front of him like he's got huge melons balancing in them.

"you're full of shit," i laugh. out of all of us, cash is the one who wears his heart on his sleeve.

"never mind don't look at her tits." he says. i look over to see a look of confusion on his face before he ask "so are you and liz living together?"

"yes, but don't tell her i told you that."

"so you're living together but she doesn't know it?"

"pretty much." i shrug.

he laughs. "let me know how that works out for you."

it's after seven when i finally pull up to the house. liz's car is in the driveway, so i decide to check her trunk. as soon as the trunk light comes on, i can see that she had pulled up the carpet to get to her spare, but there is no spare, and no extra tire that could have been jen's. i look around, wondering where she would have put an extra tire.

"what are you doing?" i hear liz ask from the front porch. i look up to see her arms crossed over her chest; lolly is sitting calmly at her side.

"hey, baby. nico said you had a flat," i lie, and watch her face pale.

"uh, yeah. i met november for dinner, and when i got out to my car, i had a flat." her voice wavers a bit at the end, and i have to stop the smile from coming across my face.

"where is your spare?" i ask, slamming the trunk. i walk around to my truck and pull my bag from the back. lolly finally decides to come off the porch, but liz is stuck in place.

"the spare?" she looks around like it's going to appear out of thin air. cute. i shake my head, then bend down to pet lolly.

"it's sad that you come to me before my girl does," i tell lolly. standing, i walk slowly towards liz. "yeah, baby. the spare tire for your car."

"oh, that! um...i had to leave it at the tire place." i can tell she's lying when she doesn't make eye contact.

"well, i need to get a new tire for my truck tomorrow, so i'll just pick yours up when i go."

"that's really not necessary," she mumbles, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"it's no problem." i lean forward and grab her wrist, pulling her to me. "you haven't kissed me," i say, putting my face in her neck and breathing her in. i missed her smell; and as i lift my head, our eyes meet.

"you know, don't you?" she whispers, tears filling her beautiful eyes.

"let's say nico put two and two together." i watch her lip start to tremble. "hey, what's that about?" using my thumb, i swipe the tears from her cheeks.

"it's not my fault!" she cries, her face landing in my chest. i drop my bag, pick her up, and take her inside. i walk to the couch and sit with her in my lap.

"talk to me." i say quietly, rubbing her back. her breaths are heavy before answering. then she tells me the whole story about jen and her friends laughing, saying her name, and leaving the restaurant, and then how she found her tire slashed.

"you know that my car is always unlocked?" i nod; i do know that she never locks her car. i hate that shit. "well, when i popped my trunk to get the spare tire, there wasn't one in there. then i looked at my phone to call someone, and i had no service. so i looked around and noticed jen's car, and for the first time i realized that we had the exact same car." she sits up and looks at me. "i was so mad. she has always been evil, but ever since we got together, it has gotten a million times worse. so i took my jack out of the trunk, went to her car, got her tire off, realized that i would need the jack to change my tire, so i kicked the jack out from under her car, ran back to my car, changed the tire as fast as i could-which by the way is pretty damn fast." i smile because she says all of this in one breath; she's so fucking adorable. her eyes drop to my mouth, and her finger comes up to trace my lips. "i love your smile," she whispers, and i kiss her finger, making her smile. "well, once i got the tire changed, and the slashed one put in my trunk, nico pulled up and asked if i was okay. i started feeling guilty about what i had done, so this morning when i got up, i went and had my tire fixed and put back on my car. then i took jen's tire back to her house, made sure no one was around, and left it next to her garage.

"jesus." i shake my head, close my eyes, and lean my head back on the couch.

"i feel bad enough already," she grumbles, making me laugh.

"this isn't funny!" she cries.

i open my eyes and end up laughing harder. "you're wrong; this is hilarious! i can't believe my sweet liz could do something so evil." i raise an eyebrow. she shoves her face into her hands.

"i'm a horrible person," she mumbles.

"hell no! you were doing what you had to do, and that bitch deserved it."

"i could have gone back into the restaurant and called someone," she says with a pout.

i lean forward, taking her face in my hands. "she shouldn't have slashed your tire."

"what if it wasn't even her who did it?" she asks, and i shake my head. jen is manipulative; i don't put anything past her.

"well, consider it karma for her being such a bitch."

"stop calling her that; you used to be with her."

"baby," i say softly, pulling her closer. "we slept together; we were never in a relationship."

"i know that, but you still slept with her." i can hear the anger in her voice, and i'm not sure if she's mad that i called jen a bitch, or if she's upset that i slept with her. all i know is that i'm going to tread lightly and change the subject.

"did you miss me?" i start to pull her forward, but she resists, pulling away and getting off my lap.

"the way you treat women is so disgusting."

"what?" i choke out.

"i know that you hear what i'm saying, trevor," she glares. "you treat women like crap."

"have i ever treated you lik-?"

"yes!" she cuts me off, walking close, and putting her finger in my face. "you ignored me when i tried to explain what i had meant when i said the word 'never' to you. then you were an ass and didn't talk to me. oh wait, that's not true." her head goes back, and her fists clench. i wonder if it's wrong that i'm totally turned the fuck on right now. "you did talk to me, right? if a guy tried to talk to me, you growled at me...and him."

"where is this all coming from?"

"what happens when you're done with me? what happens then? will you tell people that i'm a bitch like you called jen?"

"fuck me!" i whisper-hiss.

"exactly!"

that's it. i'm done. i grab her around the waist, pulling her to me. then i pick her up, and carry her to the bedroom. lolly barks once before she sits when i shoot her a death glare. i walk to the bedroom with a struggling and hissing liz, toss her on the bed, and hold her ankle so she can't get away.

"let me go." she twists, trying to crawl across the bed, so i climb up on the bed behind her covering her with my body, pressing her into the mattress. she's breathing heavy, her eyes closed tight with frustration.

"now that you said what you needed to say, it's my turn to talk."

"i don't have a choice, do i? i can't get up; you're a bully," she says on a huff.

i bite my tongue to keep from laughing. "you ready to listen?" i whisper near her ear, feeling her shiver and go completely still. i'm sure she can feel my dick pressed into her back.

"whatever," she mutters, making me smile.

"this is the last time we're going to bring up what happened that night." i press into her and she nods. "i never told you that when i stopped that night, i did it because i was afraid of my own feelings for you. i figured if i told myself that you were innocent, i would stop craving you." i press myself deeper into her back. "that didn't work. every time a guy tried to talk to you, i wanted to beat the fuck out of him, or drag you off." i take a breath and lace my fingers through hers. "now, as for jen, i can tell you from experience that she is a bitch." i watch liz flinch, so i roll her over and hold her face in my hands. "i don't say that about all the women i've been with, but i know jen. i know that she uses her dad's influence to get away with a lot of shit." i press my forehead to hers. "as for you, i could never say that about you; even if i was pissed, i know the kind of person you are. i know that you care about people, even the ones you shouldn't." she leans up, pressing her mouth to mine. "we done fighting now?" i ask, my hands running down along her sides.

"yes," she whispers, then bites her lip.

chapter 6

liz

i don't know why i was so mad at him for saying that about jen, but i hate that word. i think what i'm really mad about is my brother's phone call. this time, he didn't call me; he called my mom to tell her that he wasn't coming home before flying to jamaica, but that he would meet us there. my mom now thinks that he is working undercover with the police. how he convinced her that he was doing that kind of work, i have no clue; but the look of pride of my mother's face when she came into the shop to tell me that she had spoken with tim had been gut wrenching.

"what's going on in that head of yours?" i look up into trevor's eyes and notice that he's watching me closely.

"my brother called my mom."

"that's good, right?" i shake my head, biting my lip. whatever is going on with tim, i know now that it's not good. it's bad, really, really bad.