Caught Up (Into Darkness Trilogy)

by Navessa Allen

“Really? That’s all you’re going to give me after I slaved away for you for hours—” “Minutes,” I corrected. “Cracking open her phone and then illegally—” “Which you seemed fine with.” “Uploading a tracker to run in the background, while you told me absolutely nothing—” “Because you suck at keeping secrets from Aly.” “About who Lauren is and why she’s so important to you.” I feigned nonchalance. “Who said anything about her being important?” Josh scoffed. “Come on, man. This is the first time you’ve even mentioned a woman’s name around me. And I can too keep secrets from Aly.” “Like what?” I asked. The taunting grin slipped off Josh’s face, a cold creeping into his eyes that I’d only seen a handful of times before. This look, this look right here was why we were friends. Because beneath the laughter and bullshit was another side to Josh, something vicious and dangerous that made even hardened criminals tread lightly in his presence. It was the same darkness I battled daily, and being around him, seeing him so happy and clearly in love with my cousin made me feel like there was hope for me still, like I might win the fight against my own demons. He sat back. “Like what I said to your dad to get him to leave me the fuck alone.” I perked up, wondering if I was finally going to learn what happened between the two of them. “And that was?” “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”