All Fired Up (Green Valley Heroes #7)

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

HUNTER

“ S o, I found a website where we can make online mind maps for each of the textbook chapters,” Madeline tells me, turning her laptop around to show me. “It’s one of the dyslexia strategies I was telling you about.”

I look around, but there’s no one close enough to overhear us, as usual. The library staff have learned to leave us be over the last month.

“We?” I ask, looking at the screen. It looks like she made one for a chapter we went over today.

“Okay, me. What do you think?”

“When did you have time to do this?”

She waves off my concern. “Everything went right with the code I wrote today, so I had extra time.”

I still don’t understand what she means by writing code , even though she’s explained it to me before, but I nod as if I do.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to. It’s part of tutoring you.”

Her hands twist in front of her, a sure sign she’s nervous. Because of this morning? Or something else?

I’m not sure what to even say about this morning that won’t come off as me begging her for another night together.

“Well, if it’s helpful,” she continues, “I can make mind maps for the rest of the chapters, too.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I was thinking I could make a case for you to get additional time on the written exam, too.”

“Why?”

“Because of your dyslexia.”

Is she serious right now? “Absolutely not.”

“But—”

She stops herself when I give her a sharp look.

“It’s not like I have it officially,” I tell her. “I’ve only been armchair diagnosed by you.”

Her lips purse. “I’d make an excellent psychologist, I’ll have you know.”

The tension in my shoulders releases. If she’s joking, then she’s willing to let it go. “No doubt. But you promised to keep it a secret. I don’t want anyone else to know.”

“Know what?”

The blood drains from my face as I swivel to my left. What the hell is my brother doing here in the library?

I glance at Madeline, but she appears just as startled as me at his sudden appearance.

“You keeping secrets?” Nate asks, picking up my firefighting textbook. “What the fuck?” he murmurs to himself as he thumbs through the pages.

I snatch it back from him and toss it on the table. “What are you doing here?”

Why would Nate be here? He hasn’t stepped foot in a library...ever.

He pulls out a chair and plops down, making himself comfortable. “I’ve been calling you for the last hour and a half.”

I keep my phone on silent when studying with Madeline. “Why?”

Nate looks pointedly at Madeline, then at me.

“Oh, this is my brother, Nate,” I say to her. “And this is my...” I can’t introduce her as my training partner. I still haven’t told him about that. And as far as anything else...I don’t know what we are to each other anymore. More than friends, but not dating. Shit, this is confusing. “This is Madeline,” I end with lamely.

Nate leans back in his chair, a smirk on his face. “And what are you and my brother doing at the library, Madeline?”

This is one of those times I thank whatever higher power there may be that Madeline is as smart as she is, because she doesn’t incriminate me at all.

“He’s helping me with something,” she replies vaguely, with a cool confidence I’m half-surprised she pulls off.

Nate jabs a finger at the discarded textbook. “With firefighting?”

His extreme skepticism is deserved, but she’s silent, apparently not caring to elaborate further.

“How’d you know I was here?” I ask, wanting his attention off of Madeline. He doesn’t have a tracker on my phone or something, does he? No, he’s not smart enough for that.

“Word is you’ve been hanging around the library with a girl,” he says. “Thought it was crazy when I heard it, but I guess not.”

People are watching us? And talking about it? I knew it was a mistake to do this in public.

“So, why are you here?” I ask.

He stares at me for a moment, his face hardening, then tilts his head toward Madeline. “She cool?”

Oh, shit. It’s something serious. I nod.

“We need bail money.”

I scrub a hand over my face, knowing the answer already as I ask who for.

“Dad.”

Of course.

Madeline’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t otherwise react. What must she be thinking?

“I know you’ve got money stashed away,” Nate says. “You’ve got your own house. Your own car. A cushy full-time job with benefits.”

Cushy? I work at a fucking sawmill. What does he think I do all day? He’s the one home playing video games nonstop when he’s not dealing.

Besides, I worked my ass off for the things I have. He’s not entitled to any of it.

“I don’t have money for you.”

“Bullshit.” He leans forward, getting in my face. “With all the overtime you claim to work, you have to have something.”

Guilt passes over me. I’ve been telling Mom I’m working overtime the past couple of months so I don’t have to go over there as often. In reality, I haven’t picked up a single extra shift lately. All my free time is taken up with training and Madeline.

“I can’t help you.” I try my best to stay calm, not wanting to make a scene in the library of all places.

He shakes his head, looking at me like I’m scum. “Well, I’m not leaving until you do.”

He’s not going to let this go? Fine. Time to take it outside.

Which I should have done when he first showed up. Why did I let him say anything in front of Madeline? If I was worried about what she thought of my family before, this definitely isn’t helping.

I stand and gather my things, then realize having all this stuff makes it look like I’m the one studying. I hand it all to Madeline, praying she doesn’t say anything about it. “Here’s your stuff.”

She nods, her gaze steady on me, but I can’t tell what she’s thinking.

Nate motions between me and her. “Are you two together?”

He asks it casually, as if it isn’t an incredibly loaded question. I want to say yes. Even besides my personal feelings and what we did this morning, it would explain why I’m here and helping her. I’d even stupidly told Lydia I was seeing her.

But I also don’t want her anywhere on Nate’s radar. I don’t want him to remember her name, her face, anything about her. She doesn’t belong anywhere near my family.

“Come on,” I mutter, walking past him, but he doesn’t follow.

“Hold up. Give a guy a chance to shoot his shot.” He smirks at me as I glance back at him, then he turns to Madeline. “So, can I get your number?”

My hand is on the back of his shirt before I realize what I’m doing, yanking him out of the chair. “She’s not giving you her number.”

Whoa. Is that my voice that’s so growly?

“Why not?”

“Because she’s too good for you.”

I steer him out, looking over my shoulder at Madeline. She’s silently watching, that intelligent gaze flicking between me and Nate. She’d be a hell of a poker player.

Sorry , I mouth, but I’m not sure if she catches it.

Why would she ever give me a chance now? Who would want to get involved in this shit? I don’t even want to and it’s my family.

When we reach the parking lot, I pace in front of Nate’s beat-up Civic. “So, how much did Dad have on him?”

Nate frowns at me, not answering.

Oh, now he doesn’t want to be chatty?

“Was it just possession? Or possession with intent to distribute? That one’s a felony, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” he mutters. “Listen, we don’t have to get into specifics, but he’s been there since yesterday already. The arraignment was this afternoon and they set the bail at ten thousand?—”

“Ten thousand?” I shout, stopping my pacing. I run my hands through my hair until it’s standing on end. “Are you fucking kidding me? You think I have that much stuffed under my mattress or something?”

“Let me finish.” He’s calmer than I expected. “If we go to a bail bondsman, we only need to put up ten percent of the bail. So we need one thousand.”

I snort. “And your precious Wraiths won’t pay it? Shouldn’t that tell you something about who you work for?”

He grits his teeth. “The money’s tied up at the moment.”

Were their assets frozen or something? Or is it tied up in product?

You know what? I don’t even want to know. Don’t want to be involved in this in any way.

“Come on, I know you have a thousand,” Nate whines.

Yeah, I do. But that’s not the point. There’s no way in hell I’m spending that on Dad, even if he paid me back with interest. Which he won’t.

“No,” I tell him.

Nate’s nostrils flare. “Stop fucking around.”

“I’m not.”

“If you won’t do it for Dad, then do it for Mom. She’s a wreck.”

My jaw hardens. “Don’t use her as a weapon.”

If she only left Dad, I’d never have to see him again.

“Well, you can tell her yourself.” He pulls out his phone and taps at the screen, then it’s on speakerphone as Mom answers. “I found Hunter, but he won’t help. Here he is.”

He sticks his phone in my face, forcing me to take it. “Hi, Mom.”

“Why won’t you help your father?” she says without preamble. “Family helps each other.”

Underneath the scolding, there’s worry in her voice. Even so, I get stuck on her words about family helping each other. What exactly have they ever done to help me? I’ve had an undiagnosed learning disorder my whole life and they couldn’t be bothered to help me with it. Didn’t even pay enough attention to realize I had it.

And here Madeline is not only discovering it, but going out of her way to help me with it, too.

“I don’t have the money,” I tell her, which isn’t a complete lie. I don’t have the money for him .

I’ll never have enough money for a man who thinks respect is earned through fists and threats. Who’s more interested in what the Iron Wraiths think of him than anything else. Who thinks berating his child for being stupid is the height of comedy, for years on end.

“Besides, aren’t you more concerned about why he’s in jail to begin with?” I ask her.

“We can sort that out later,” she says. “For now, we need to get him out.”

What a load of crock. She’s going to bury her head in the sand like she always does. Better to ignore and pretend something isn’t happening than rock the boat.

“I have to go,” I mutter, handing Nate his phone.

“We need that money,” Nate calls out as I walk away.

“You’re not getting a fucking cent from me!” I yell back, uncaring that Mom can hear, too. Maybe she needs a wake-up call.

I waver for a second on whether to return to the library, then decide against it, not wanting Nate to follow me. Same goes for my house, I guess.

So where the fuck do I go?