Ride Or Die | Book #1 ✓

Chapter 34

I forced myself to ignore Mercury and her comments, although it wasn't the easiest thing to do. I couldn't help but find myself comparing myself to her. Looking at Pierce's exes I was not the typical girl he was into, usually a tall skinny blonde girl with brown eyes. Mercury knew exactly what to say or do to get under my skin, she painted the picture of her and Pierce together in my head over and over again. It was a quality of being a manipulator, one that she knew how to use to her advantage. 

"So Aspen," Archer began shuffling through a pile of papers in his hand, snapping me out of my thoughts "You were born in Seattle, Washington on January 14th. You lived with your dad and mom before your mom died three years ago, nobody had been found. You attended Parson county elementary, middle, and high school which is where you met Cayde Matthews. You dated Cayde for a year or two but broke up after the night that happened with his friends. You reported him, taking him to court but the court ruled him as not guilty due to football players getting special treatment in the small conservative town. After Matthews and you broke up, you were bullied by peers for what happened that night. Dad needed to move around this year for work so you moved in with Aster to complete your senior year. That's all the basic information?"

I nodded slightly as I sat in the chair, staring up at Xander and Archer who went over my life story. We sat in the middle of the study while the rest of the gang wandered around the grounds of the house meanwhile I was stuck being interrogated. Archer had insisted they know everything about me in order to find anything the Coinston's could potentially use against me.

"Do you have any extended family? Grandparents? Aunts? Uncles?" Xander asked as his eyes scanned over a printed out paper. "Uh yeah, a lot actually." I cleared my throat "Mostly on my mom's side." 

"Was Cayde ever involved in any gang activity?" Archer interrupted as he placed a folder on the desk in front of him. The words with Cayde and gang together didn't sound right to me, he was a bad boyfriend but never dealt with anything gang-related. He was just some football jock that liked to play girl after girl. "No, not that I know of." I pressed my lips in a thin line, the thought of Cayde making me sick to my stomach.

There was a knock at the door before I turned my head around to see Phoenix walk-in hesitantly. I looked over to Xander's face that had flushed red when she approached. I furrowed my brows together as I watched Xander react to her presence. I remembered Pierce making a comment about Phoneix to Xander but never really got into the topic. It appeared that Xander had some type of romantic feelings for Phoneix, his tough-guy persona slowly melting away as she stood across from him. 

Phoenix leaned closer as she whispered something in his ear. The words were too muffled for me to make out but the expression on Xander's face had dropped. Xander sent Archer a look before they both quickly headed out of the study and raced to the front doors. I pushed out of my seat and followed behind them as they both rushed out of sight. I stood at the side of the wall at the end of the hallway before the doors opened to reveal Mr. Gunner.

"Well, Xander aren't you going to let me in." His words slurred from his mouth as he took a swig from the whiskey bottle he had held in his hand. Mr. Gunner was visibly drunk, stumbling as he pushed his way into the house. His eyes drooped as he walked closer to me, stopping at the end of the hallway. 

"Now Ambrosia." He pointed his index finger at me "If the Coinston's are after you, there is only a matter of time before the Vipers get you too." His words were staggered as he spoke and I had no idea what he had been getting after. Why would the Vipers want me? They were a gang located on the West Coast, I had nothing to do with them. 

I looked over to Xander for some help as I could smell the alcohol coming off of Mr. Gunner's breath. "Dad-" Xander pulled him away from me "You cannot be here." "I can't be here?" He cocked an eyebrow at Xander, stumbling before Xander caught his balance "Oh come, Xander, you know that I was once the leader of Crestmont. More leader brains, the more problems solved."