Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Harley took turns too fast and drove over the speed limit and played the music too loud. I vetoed her crappy music choices. That was the one thing where I put my foot down. She just laughed at me and sped up. The demon.
Luckily, the drive into Ransom Canyon was only twenty minutes from Lubbock, so I didn’t have to endure it for too long. Any lingering buzz I’d had evaporated from fear of her crashing my car the whole way. And fear about what I was going to find once I reached Jensen’s lake house.
The best I could say was that the place was still standing when we arrived.
West whistled from the backseat and leaned forward. “When you said he threw a party, I didn’t expect this from a fifteen-year-old.”
Neither had I.
I’d never really been the rebellious type. I’d left that up to my twin. But even he wouldn’t have known where to begin to throw this wild of a house party at the ripe old age of fifteen. Music blasting, teenagers jumping into the lake, people screaming on the lawn, every light on in the place, and I could count at least three kegs on the deck. Not to mention the large outdoor window was smashed to pieces. Great.
“How have they not had the cops called on them already?” Harley asked as she found an open parking spot.
“Off season?” West guessed.
Ransom Canyon was full of people Memorial Day to Labor Day weekends, but only locals were here in the off season. Still, I would think someone would have already called about the noise.
“We’ll see,” I said as I got out of the car.
I’d put on a suit, and I’d made West put one on despite his protests.
We looked more intimidating as a pair, and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to breaking this up. Because if this didn’t get shut down by me, it was certainly going to get shut down by the cops.
I took a deep breath and then strode toward the house. Teenagers looked at me with fear on their faces. A few grabbed at each other and darted out of the house. They were the smart ones.
Colton appeared then. Miraculously, he wasn’t drunk. He’d been smart enough to call me. But now, he looked worried. I was certain he was second-guessing his decision.
“Hey, boss,” he said.
I continued toward the front door.
Colton trailed me. “What are you going to do?”
“What I have to.”
I stormed through the living room and stopped the music. Jensen’s rather impressive full house stereo system was silent all at once. Everyone looked around in confusion as the bass beat to their party disappeared.
“All right, party’s over. Head on home!” I called into the crowd.
A groan came from all assembled.
“Come on, man. We’re having a good time,” some guy yelled.
“It’s either you leave when I ask or you leave when the cops do.”
The guy flipped me off, put his arm around a girl, and headed out of the party.
Colton crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “Fuck.”
I looked down at him and just said, “Hmm.”
West came to stand at my side. We looked like a set pair. Though he didn’t quite look like he fit into my suit. We were the same height, but West never wore clothes like this, and thus they wore him and not the other way around.
“Should we just be letting them leave?” West asked.
“Happens all the time,” Harley said. “They’ll have a plan to get home.”
Colton frowned. “This is bullshit.”
That was when Colton’s “friends” from earlier that summer appeared. Monk, Chet, and I hadn’t gotten the third kid’s name.
“Colton, what the fuck?” Monk asked.
“Yeah. Did you call someone to break this up?” Chet asked.
I glared at the pair. “I have a friend who lives over here,” I lied. “They let me know what was going on. Colton will get his due. And if you three didn’t get enough when Jensen found you stealing tequila from his campaign event, then I can hold you here and contact your parents as well if you’d like.”
Colton looked at me, both relieved and terrified. I hadn’t ratted him out to his friends. Calling me had earned him that courtesy, but he could hardly get away with this. He had to know that.
“Fuck that,” Monk said.
Chet nodded. “Good luck, Colt, but we’re out of here.”
I wanted to hold them. To force them to have to deal with the consequences of their actions, but I wasn’t actually going to call the cops to get that accomplished.
Already, the kids had mostly cleared out. And however many there had been in attendance, they’d wrecked Jensen’s beautiful lake house.
“Well,” I said once the last few stragglers were gone and we could look at the worst of the house, “you’re fucked.”
Not only was the back window shattered, but there was also so much trash. Red cups, beer cans, water bottles, plates of discarded pizza, and used paper towels were scattered everywhere. The floor was tacky with spilled beer. There was vomit in the bushes. Someone had taken all the cushions off of the furniture to use outside around the deck. The furniture was stained, and one of the toilets was overflowing. All that was missing was spray paint. Ironic since that was what Colton had gotten busted the first time.