𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 ━━ SARAH CAMERON

7

"I'M GOING TO end you," Blake groaned as his fingers tapped aggressively on the controller.

Wheezie chuckled, easily beating him at the game yet again. Kaden groaned from behind them, "Blake, you're embarrassing me."

"Shut up, moth—" the younger guy cut himself off, clearing his throat, "she's good."

"Better than you would be more appropriate words," Wheezie rubbed in smugly resulting in Blake rolling his eyes as he muttered a, "yeah, whatever," under his breath.

"Hey, just to you know," Wheezie turned to glance at Kaden, "you don't have to drop me home today. Sarah will come to pick me up."

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused?" Wheezie whispered, unsure of what to say. She wasn't expecting that reaction. He looked annoyed.

"No," Kaden stood up, "what the fuck? No. Tell her to stay home, she can't come here."

"Why the hell not?"

Kaden clenched his jaw, "it won't look good for me if she gets caught."

"What?" Wheezie frowned, "why? What about if I get caught?"

"You've been doing this for years, she hasn't." Kaden argued, "and she is the spoilt one between you and Rafe, there's no way she won't fuck this—"

"— Don't talk about my sister like that," Wheezie's nostrils flared, "Sarah is nice and smart, she's not going to mess anything up."

"Fine," Kaden threw his hands up in exasperation, "you do you. When she fucks up, you deal with it. I don't know anyth—" he was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking at the door. "Great. It's not even eight yet."

Walking over to the door, he opened it rather harshly. His sharp green eyes met her brown ones and they furrowed. "You're way too early."

"I know," Sarah shifted on her feet, dragging her eyes to the ground at the intensity of his stare, "I wanted to talk to you."

Kaden ran his tongue along his inner cheeks before he turned to glance at Wheezie who was giving him a look that was warning him to be nice. He rolled his eyes at her, looking back at Sarah. "Why?"

"It—" She cleared her throat, she had never been so nervous to talk to a guy before, "it's about Topper."

"Okay," Kaden leaned against the door, "what about him?"

"Can we go somewhere private?" She jerked her head towards the two kids who were clearly eavesdropping from behind.

With a loud sigh, he stepped out of the house and closed the door. Crossing his arms, he leaned against it and raised his brows at her. "That's about as private as you're going to get."

Sarah rolled her eyes and pursed her lips in a thin line. She took a deep breath, "I thought I'd let you know that Topper intend to press charges against you."

"Charges?" Kaden frowned, "for what?"

"Assault."

"What?" He scoffed, "is he fucking serious?"

"He sounded like he is," Sarah tilted her head to the side, "and his mom is hell bent on making sure you pay for what you did."

"Defending my friend is what I did."

"You broke his nose and his arm—"

"— He was drowning my friend," Kaden retorted, "what else was I supposed to do? Stand and watch the show like everyone else?"

"You could've—"

"— No, don't do this." He cut her off, "don't tell me what I could have done, all right?" He took a step closer to her, forcing her to take one back, "I did what I had to do. He started it, I finished it. The end."

"Yes, well—" she took a deep breath, her nerves all over the place, "his mom doesn't know that nor is she interested in knowing. All she cares about it putting you behind bars for beating her son up. And Topper wants that as well."

"Tell him to drop the charges," Kaden shrugged, offering a solution as if it was the most simple thing ever. It confused the blonde. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Okay," Sarah scoffed mockingly, "okay, yeah, I'll tell him to drop the charges against a guy who beat him up and he will. He's just that forgiving. It's that easy, isn't it?"

"Yes," Kaden ignored the obvious sarcasm in her voice, "yes, it is."

"It's not!" She exclaimed, "it's not. That's not how it works. Topper will not—"

"— This is where you're wrong," he cut her off earning a frown from her as he went on, "Topper will do anything and I mean anything you tell him to do."

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh come on, you can't be that blind," he threw his head back, breathing out a humorless laugh, "that fucker is obsessed with you. He's the closest thing you have to a lapdog and you know it."

"He doesn't—"

"Stop lying to yourself. You know it, you can see it. He is all over you for fuck's sake—" he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, "that fight? It's because of you. He hit John B because of some shit he said about you. If there's anyone who can get him to drop the charges, it's you."

"I—" Sarah cut herself off, lowering her gaze to the ground. She began chewing on her bottom lip nervously, unsure of what to say. "I'll try talking to him."

Instead of saying anything, Kaden just stood there and stared at her. The blonde furrowed her brows in confusion. She cleared her throat, shifting, "why are you looking at me like that?"

"I didn't think you'd actually agree to do it."

"I came to tell you about what he's going to do," Sarah's tone held a hint of irritation which didn't go unnoticed by him, "I want to help you, that's why I'm here— and—" she bit her lip, "also for Wheezie. I came here to take her back home, too."

He hummed, "why would you wanna help me? I beat your boyfriend up. You should be siding with him and not with me."

"I'm not saying I agree with what you did," she defended, "but it wasn't your fault. He started it so it isn't fair that you're the one who has to pay for it."

Kaden only hummed in response. "Did anyone see you coming here?"

"No," she was quick to say, sounding certain, "I'm sure of it."

"Okay," Kaden took a step back towards the door and pushed it open, "well, your sister doesn't plan on returning anytime soon so either you can go back home or hang around."

Sarah seemed taken aback by his words. "You don't have a problem with that?"

"If I did, I wouldn't have asked now, would I?" Without bothering to wait for her answer, he pushed the door open and went back inside. She was quick to follow.