SNAP (The SNAP Trilogy Book 1) (18 page)

I lift her chin with my finger, her eyes remaining closed so I can't get a read on her. But I don't need to see them to know that she is shoving memories of what Phil did to her aside so I can't see. I brush my lips against hers needing to replace those thoughts of him. She gasps in surprise and opens her eyes, but she doesn't pull away.

"We're gonna go in there and have a good time."

She nods her head and takes a deep breath composing herself. I lace my fingers with hers and give her a smile before lifting her hand to my mouth kissing it. Her shy smile makes my heart double thump.

I lead her into the living room where the party is well under way. They've already busted out their pills and are about to crush them on mirrors and the coffee table. I take the only seat available next to Bobby on the love seat and try to pull Hazel onto my lap, but she hesitates. The look on my face must change her mind because she lowers herself lightly onto my legs trying to not put all her weight on me. It irritates me that she thinks she's going to break me. So she's got a little extra meat on her bones. I like that she's not stick thin and there's something to grab hold of. I grab her hips and pull her back against me. The way her ass rubs my cock through my pants has me thinking of later. My left arm wraps around her as I settle into the couch leaving my other hand free to drink my beer.

Glancing over at Bobby, I watch as he snaps one pill, crushing the remnants with his thumb nail. Two other pills sit on the mirror untouched. Warning signals sound in my mind as I look upon the white pills. The pills that we produce are a light mint green. I don't know much about chemistry, that's Joseph's field of expertise. But I know enough to tell that these pills have been altered stripping the original color. Our Snap is softer, easily crushed once it's cracked in half with less effort than Bobby is using. The compound of those pills is not the same.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

Hazel stands and walks through a door off to the left without a second thought. Cady's watches her go with a frown on her face. When the door closes, Cady stares into the mirror. I don't know if she is looking at herself questioning what she is doing or staring at the drugs, but a moment later she puts the straw to her nose sucking the powder down as if she has no other choice.

Now's my chance to get my hands on a couple of them. I need to try the product to see what the effects are and I need one to take back with me so Joseph can test it. Dale is going to shit when I tell him about this.

Bobby glances at me as he tilts his head back trying to get all the powder up his nose.

He leans near me and says, "Hazel doesn't like this shit. But if you want some, I won't say anything."

I glance around and Hazel is still nowhere in sight and Erick and Cady are talking to Dustin about some movie they watched the other day. They don't even notice us.

"Yeah, man. I'll try it out."

He grabs the two pills and hands them to me. "How much have you had to drink?"

What the hell does that have to do with anything? If anything, Snap should keep you from getting drunk.

"A few beers, why?"

"Because it'll feel like you’re on weird ecstasy or some shit if you drink too much and take this."

My brows raise on their own and he chuckles, nudging me with his elbow.

"You should be alright. I wouldn't crush them since this is your first time. Just swallow them whole, you'll get the same effect. It'll take a little longer for it to kick in, but it'll last longer and not be as intense."

I tuck one pill between my thumb and hand then toss the other in my mouth. Washing it down with my beer, I hope that one pill will be enough to do anything to me so I have info to give Dale. Bobby smiles at me and I return his grin, but I'm far from happy. I'm testing a drug on myself that is making others sick. Those people probably took a lot more than I did to end up almost dead or dying, but I didn't even want to take the one. It's not that I've never used Snap before. My boys and I use on different occasions, and I rather enjoy it. Being here with Hazel and seeing her reaction to the drug has me regretting testing it now. She hates it so much she used going to the bathroom as an excuse so she didn't have to see her friends dosing up.

As Bobby turns to join in the conversation, I lean down and pretend to scratch my ankle, rolling the pill up in my sock so it's not damaged. Getting the pills was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Dale will be pleased to know that phase two was completed in twenty-four hours effortlessly. Joseph should be able to determine what is in it in no time at all. After that, we put a stop to whatever Phil is doing…and say goodbye to Hazel.

The door to my left opens and Hazel steps out. She smiles at me as she resumes her place in my lap, turning more to the side so she can lean against the armrest and my chest. Her ass in the perfect spot for my hand to cup the side of it. I rest my other arm on her legs as she nestles against me. We sit in comfortable silence listening to the others converse and I catch myself mindlessly stroking the denim of her jeans with my thumb. It's far more comforting than I ever remember it being, cuddling with someone. I've missed having this over the years, I just never realized it till now.

I can see Bobby glancing at us out of the corner of my eye with longing. He likes Hazel, that much is apparent. I don't like it. It causes jealously to stir deep within me, but it doesn't matter. Maybe he can pick up the pieces and help her when I leave. Because she'll need it. She'll need someone to be by her side keeping an eye on her and helping her to heal from whatever Phil put her through. That someone can't be me. Hazel may not even let him. She's not okay with her friends using drugs, she definitely won't tolerate dating someone who does them.

"So, Cash, is it?" Dustin says, interrupting my thoughts. "Tell me about yourself. I've never seen you around. Are you new in town?"

"Yeah. I got here a few weeks ago for work," I tell him, knowing it's just the beginning of his questions.

"Work? It's hard enough for people around here to find jobs. What job brought you to our bumfuck town?" Dustin leans forward putting his elbows on his knees and locking his fingers together waiting for my answer.

"I do distribution and delivery work for an out of state company. They tell us where to go and we transport whatever truck we are to deliver from point A to point B. That's about all I can say. I had to sign an NDA when I got hired on."

It's the quickest lie I could come up with, but it's a pretty damn good one if I do say so myself. The disbelief on Dustin's face tells me otherwise.

"Wait, you had to sign an NDA to transport shit? What are you hauling, weaponry?" He laughs and shakes his head.

"That's the beauty of it. I don't know what I haul. Hope it's not weapons though. Could you imagine a truck of grenades blowing up on an interstate?" I laugh at the look on Dustin's face. "That would be ugly. Now I'm gonna be worried every time I go out on the road. Thanks."

Hazel chuckles and I squeeze her leg hitting a ticklish spot. Her leg jerks and she laughs harder.

"You think that's funny, huh, me blowing up?" I ask and squeeze that spot a few times making her laugh so hard her eyes glaze over.

"No," she shouts out as she tries to pull her leg away, kicking Bobby in the process.

"Ow, hellcat! Keep it up and I'll throw you out this time," Bobby says as he rubs his leg.

Hazel leans forward and locks eyes with him, her laughter more like light giggles, and says, "I'd like to see you try."

Everyone laughs at Bobby's expression. The fear in his eyes is real. He knows damn well he couldn't force her to do anything she didn't want to do. I can see why he calls her hellcat. I like this side of her and hope I get the pleasure of seeing it more before I leave.

Hazel turns back to me with a smug smile and raises her eyebrow at me as if to say what, you want some too. I raise my eyebrow at her in return silently telling her to bring it.

"Men," she snorts, and shakes her head.

I wrap my arms around her tightly and pull her closer to me. Her hair brushes my face as my mouth finds her ear and I nip it with my teeth. She turns her face, inches from mine, and I wink at her. Her eyes roll making me chuckle as she pushes against my chest to sit up straighter, but I know she liked it.

Leaning back into the couch, I notice a tingling in my legs working its way up my body. The pill must be kicking in. It feels like I smoked a joint and did a line of blow. The more Hazel shifts around the better it feels. I'm high as fuck right now and my cock wants to come out to play. Bobby wasn't lying about taking these with alcohol. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like if someone took several and drank on top of it.

Dustin holds his hand up silencing everyone, and we hear a thumping coming from the backdoor. He hops up mumbling something about people showing up at all hours without calling as he walks from the room.

That's the life of a drug dealer. Better get used to it, I think to myself.

I can barely make out Dustin greeting someone before hearing them move around in the dining room.

"You come to hang out, or you need something?" Dustin's muffled voice says.

"Figured you'd have a houseful of people," a man's voice replies.

Hazel sits straight up taking notice of the voice. She looks at Cady and Erick. They exchange an entire conversation with just a few glances and it makes me nervous. Bobby seems just as confused as I am. Hazel tilts her head toward the bathroom, but Cady shakes her head no and meets my gaze.

My grip on her tightens as she chooses between fight or flight, reassuring her that I'm here. There's no reason for her to run. Fear billows off her as she turns to me and I know only one person who makes her feel this way.

Phil

That prick cups Hazel's face and brushes his lips against the ones that belong to me whispering something to her. Rage burns through my veins as his eyes meet mine in a challenge. His hand slides down her arm to land on her thigh. I watch as his fingers dig slightly into her leg as he squeezes it possessively. A gesture so small, but one that speaks a million words. And every single one of them aimed at me.

The night at Maggie's, I just wanted Hazel to talk to me. I wanted her to listen to what I had to say. She always listened. When she said we were a mistake, I had to prove to her that she was wrong. But she wouldn't fucking ear me out. I had to make her, for her to see that she was wrong about us. Staring into those beautiful, color changing eyes of hers brought me control. The way they turn silver when she becomes passionate about something…I'll never forget the way her eyes changed colors when she was wrapped around me. They sucked me in, made me feel like I'd finally found where I belonged. It enabled me to be myself with her. She was like a wild horse and I had the pleasure of breaking her, training her to be mine. The acceptance in her eyes was that of someone who understood, who wanted to take my pain away and become one with it to get closer to me. She was meant for me. If humans had mates, she would be mine.

That asshole ruined our moment, though, pulling her away as if I'd stolen her from him. He watched as she drove off, and when she got far enough away, he slammed me against the truck.

"A real man doesn't lay his hands on a woman."

"You must not know Hazel like I do," I spat, making his eyes narrow.

His hand gripped my throat as he got up in my face. "You will not touch her. If I ever see fear replace her beautiful smile again, I will fucking end you."

It didn't take her long to find a replacement just like me. Someone dominant, strong, handsome.

Someone with secrets.

I saw him following Hazel around long before that night, watching her every move. I don't blame him for wanting a piece of her. She's a lover by nature, wanting to make others whole. Her smile is a ray of sunshine that can heal a broken soul. But he needs to find his own piece of heaven. There's not enough to share, and she is mine.

I don't know what brought him to my small town. I've never seen him do anything the few times I followed him around. He just drove and drove, never stopping. It made me in-fuckin-sane. Who comes to a small town where there is nothing to do and just drives around?

I could swear I saw him sitting outside Dustin's once, but when I turned to look, the car was empty. Probably just my paranoia kicking my ass. It's been doing that quite a bit lately. I probably shouldn't be trying out the new formulas, just let the junkies tell us what they think, but I have to know what I'm selling. I have to know if we are getting it right and they will come running back for more. Whoever created Snap had a great idea, but got the business aspect all wrong. If you want a drug to succeed, you have to make the masses crave it. The only way to do that is create addiction. That's what I'm doing. Telling these people they have to have it. And they do. The money I'm making proves that they love it.

"You want to dose up?"

Dustin interrupts my thoughts and makes everyone shift uncomfortably in their seats. He doesn't know what happened between Hazel and I, but I'm pretty sure everyone else in the room does. If I stay, Cady will hang me by my toenails. The glare she's shooting my way tells me everything she'd like to do me. I'd like to set her fiery red hair aflame and watch her scream, the stupid cunt. She deserves it after turning Hazel against me. I shoot her the same glare she's giving me and her gaze falters. Her fear makes me smirk. She thinks she's strong enough to take me on, but in the end she's just a petulant child pretending to be a big badass adult. The girl has no clue. Oh, how much I'd like to give her one. Right upside her fucking head. Maybe I could stomp the flames out with my steel toes.