The door bursts open and laughter fills the locker room.
“Did you see her face?” Chloe laughs. “Priceless.”
“I can’t believe you forwarded that nude to her parents!” A minion laughs.
“She needs to understand she can’t just date whoever she wants. We have standards and he’s...poor. And grungy and likely to be the guy changing the oil not the one buying the car.”
Bitch.
“How’d you get the picture anyway?”
“Had his locker broken into when he was in gym, and the message was forwarded to me. Best thing, she thinks he sent it to me to make fun of her!”
They all laugh like hyenas.
“He keeps trying to get her to talk to him, apologizing without even knowing why she’s mad like a pathetic puppy, and she won’t even look at him.” She sighs happily. “Too easy.”
I peek around the corner and when each girl is occupied changing out of their gym gear, I slip over and grab a handful of Chloe’s hair.
She yelps, and jerks in my hold, but I let her go pretty quick.
She spins to glare and then her eyes shoot wide, her mouth dropping open.
I toss her pretty ponytail in her face and walk away before the shock can wear off.
Time for her to learn.
The boys may step in with unwanted orders, but don’t try to cross someone on the court when their footwork’s better.
You’ll find yourself on your ass.
“Let’s hear it, D.” Jason, one of my shooting guard, and the last fucking person I’d ever want on my team if we picked based on anything other than skill level, looks over at me. “Which one of yous got heavy hands?”
I frown, wiping the sweat from my face as I take the water Royce passes me, his expression matching mine.
“Fuck you talking about, man?” Captain comes up, his hands on his hips as he tries to catch his breath.
We worked a lot of cardio today, gearing up for week three of our season.
“Your new girl.” He looks pointedly at each of us individually. “She spend too much time with one another and got mad?”
Something has me stepping forward, but Cap shifts in front of me with ease, giving me a warning glance to keep my shit together before I make a stupid fucking move by showing possessives over a fucking toy.
He steps away before Jason’s eyes even hit mine again.
“You talking about Raven’s face?” Our boy, Leo, drops onto the bench, switching out his old LeBron’s for some slides. “Yeah, I saw that shit, too. She was walking back to the Bray house early this morning when I was out doing my route.”
Leo is piss poor and delivers newspapers for a bit of cash at the crack of fucking dawn to the last few neighborhoods around here that still read the actual paper. Makes for a good second eye, sees what we can’t and reports back when necessary.
“Yeah, that girl.” Royce chuckles, only Cap and me can tell it’s forced. “She’s feisty.”
And it’s left at that.
Everyone parts ways and as soon as they’re gone, I turn to my brothers.
“You guys see her yet today?”
“Nope.” Cap shrugs and Royce shakes his head.
“What do you think happened?” Royce asks.
“Catty chicks?” Cap guesses.
Royce snorts. “Yeah right, none of them would get a hit on her.”
“None are brave enough to try.” I look between them. “We gotta find out. We already made it clear no one’s to touch her after that bleach shit. Someone’s not listening.”
I spit, then with all the energy I have left, I throw myself forward, hitting her square across the jaw. She stumbles into the crowd, her feet sliding from under her, ass hitting the ground.
The onlookers whistle and beer flies through the air, splashing onto me.
Fuck, I’ll need to rinse these clothes before laundry goes in.
People try to get my attention, but I squeeze from the circle and move over to the crates.
Bass slips from the crowd with a grin as I’m jumping up. He flicks his lip ring with his tongue, shaking his head.
“Dayum, Rae. You only get better out here. You’re a fucking beast.”
I shrug, grinning to myself, sticking both hands out. He slaps money into one, then helps cut the tape off the other.
“Where the fuck you learn to box like that?”
“Mom’s not much of a mom. Brought trouble.”
“Ah.” He nods. “You taught yourself, then?”
I inspect my knuckles on my left hand, squeezing my fists shut then opening them again. “When there’s nobody else to keep hands off you, you learn to fight ‘em off yourself.”
He pauses, his eyes shifting between mine. “That bad where you came from?”
“I know others who had it worse.”
He grabs my elbows and helps me down. “You always downplay your problems?”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “What do you know about my problems, Bass?”
“Not enough.” He smirks and steps forward. “Change that, Rae.”
I drop my grin to my feet, before looking back up ... and then I’m pulled back.
“What the fu—”
I glance over my shoulder, and my blood boils as not one, but all three of my latest pain in the asses stand behind me. I try to jerk free of Maddoc’s hold, but I’m only shoved down the line until Royce is gripping my forearms.
“That was some badass shit there, RaeRae,” he whispers, laughing when I try and elbow him.
Bass shifts so he can meet my eyes through the three and Maddoc moves to block him.
“Rae—”
“You can go now, Bishop,” Maddoc cuts him off. “And stay away from Raven.”
He scoffs. “It’s my job to bring in the—”
“I didn’t ask you any questions,” Maddoc cuts him off.
“Go, Bass, it’s fine.” I give him his out, no need for trouble to fall at his feet because of me. His eyes find mine again and he nods, glares at all three boys, then makes the smart choice by backing away. The last thing I want is for his side hustle to be blown up at the hands of these assholes.
They cage me in, all wearing familiar glares that have zero effect on me. I yank from Royce’s hold, grab my sweater off the box and pull it over my head, snatch my backpack and place it over my shoulder and weave my way through the crates. And, of fucking course, they follow.
“This where you been sneaking off to late at night, to beat bitches’ faces in?” Royce jokes. “And here I thought someone was keeping that pussy wet for—”
Royce grunts and I glance back, finding his glare on Maddoc.
“Why you fighting?” This comes from Maddoc.
“Because it’s just so much fun.” I roll my eyes, glancing from left to right to make sure there’s no one watching, then slip through the broken fence and start through the parking lot.
“Money,” Cap guesses as if there would be any other reason.
I cut my eyes toward him and he nods like he understands.
He doesn’t understand shit.
I thought these boys were like me, but they’re not. I don’t know for sure what conditions they were raised in, how hard or easy they had it when push came to shove, but one thing’s for sure, they were never poor boys from my kind of ghetto where you had to beg or steal to eat. I’m no thief and I refused to beg. It didn’t take me long to find another way.
“Stop fucking walking,” Maddoc complains and I stop all right, spinning to face him with a glare.
“Back the fuck off. Why are you guys even here? Shouldn’t you be at your little party making sure no peasants make it through the door in the kings’ absence?”
Royce grins at that and I roll my eyes. Idiot.
“Thanks to your bullshit, the school thinks you’re one of ours. You—”
“No, big man,” I cut him off with a mocking laugh and his jaw ticks. “They think I’m ‘one of yours,’ because you let them. Not m
y problem.”
He gets in my face and I hold my breath. “Our boys are questioning us. You show up to school with random cuts and bruises and it’s making people talk. We may be a lot of things, bastards in every way, but putting our hands on a woman when it’s not part of fucking her, isn’t our forte.”
“Is that supposed to make me cream?” I whisper like a slut. “Listening to you talk about how strong you are, how bad you are, how your hands are meant for pleasure, not pain?”
His eyes harden.
“’Cause guess what, you’re not the first boy to promise a prize at the end of the night who delivered a punch instead.”
His brows snap at the center and he grabs my upper arm, but before he can open his mouth, voices float from the other side of the parking lot.
I jerk from his hold and start forward, but he yanks me back.
They drop down to hide between the cars and I frown.
“This is private property,” Captain tells me as Maddoc yanks me down beside them.
I gape at them. “There’s literally like three dozen people not fifty feet away, yelling and screaming, and duh ... illegally fighting.” I widen my eyes like a brat. “It’s no fucking secret there are people walking all around here.”
The voice grows closer and Maddoc’s head snaps toward the sound, his forehead wrinkling.
He recognizes the voices.
He meets Captain’s stare before sliding it to Royce, who curses and props his head against the car door beside us, and it hits me.
They don’t want to be seen out here. But why?
Maddoc glances around, but I can tell he already knows – there’s no other way out of here.
Cap glares at me.
“What?”
“This is your fault.”
My mouth drops open. “My fault?” I hiss. “You fuckers pretend to play nice, insert yourself in everything I do, tracked my ass down, and this is my fucking fault? Like the joint being in Maddoc’s hand was ‘my fault’ or your followers thinking I’m with you because I noosed a girl for five seconds? You guys need to wake up and realize how weak you really are and fix it before someone who wants what you have comes in ready to take it. Can’t even own up to your own bullshit ‘cause it’s just so much easier to lay blame on everyone else, huh?”
“Enough.” Maddoc’s voice booms in a hush.
I shift my glare to his. “It’s enough when I say it’s enough!”
The voices trail closer and all three of the boys’ features tighten.
This, being here and being seen by these men, whoever the hell they are, is a problem for them.
Cap slips on his brass knuckles, Royce pops his and big man tips his chin.
Fuck.
I look down at my outfit – track pants, ripped up tennies, and a baggy sweater.
I squeeze my eyes shut.
This isn’t my problem.
But I mean, if I’m seen, oh fucking well. I was on the cards tonight, meaning if I were questioned by security or who the fuck ever questions people at an underground fighting ring, I’d have reason to be here.
But what happens if they’re seen?
Ugh, not your problem, Rae...
I bob my knee a minute before I shift to stand but bend so my height isn’t over the car beside us. “Fuck it.”
I start pulling off my battered shoes and socks and stuff them in my bag.
“The fuck...” Royce trails off.
My sweater is yanked off next and the boys’ necks pull back.
I shove my shoes in my bag, pulling out a pair of dollar store flip-flops, not ideal for this, but better than the muddy sneakers.
My hand finds my waistband next and I start to slide my bottoms down.
“What’s she doing?” comes from Cap, followed up with a, “Fuck if I know,” from Royce.
“Stop fucking looking,” growls Maddoc and then his hands hit my upper thighs, forcing my bottoms to stay where they are, halfway off my ass.
“I’m wearing Spanx under. Let go.”
“What are you doing?”
“Distracting.”
His eyes flare. “I don’t fucking think so.”
“I’m not asking,” I force through clenched teeth and his fingertips dig into my skin, making my blood boil for two very different reasons. I downplay my reasoning. “I don’t know about you, but I gotta get back.”
Obnoxious laughter hits our ears and Maddoc glances over, giving me enough leeway to shift away from him.
I slide behind Captain, who boldly doesn’t move when Maddoc tries to reach for me.
Their glares hit each other.
“Can’t get caught, brother. Not here.”
“You expect me to let her—” He cuts himself off before finishing his sentence.
Left in nothing but flip-flops, Spanx and my sports bra, I tap Cap’s shoulder. “Give me your wife beater.”
He doesn’t hesitate to slip it off, leaving him shirtless.
Not a bad view at all – strong, solid back.
Maddoc growls as I pull it over my head, the black cotton hitting just at my thighs.
It’s a little loose, obviously, but my ass cheeks are out and my legs look long and lean, so it does the job.
I pull my hair from the bun braid I’d thrown it up in and fluff it out so the waves fall along my shoulders and back. I lift my sweater and wipe away any dirt and blood that might linger near my lips and stuff it in my bag.
“Damn, Rae.” Royce licks his lips and Maddoc steps for me again, but he’s too late, I’m already rounding the back of the car.
I lick my lips and walk out as far right as I can before I hit the edge of the parking lot and head right for the men.
They spot me almost instantly and stand to attention.
I take a deep breath, lift my chin and sway my hips as I walk, just like mother showed me.
Draw them in with the twist of your body, lock them with your stare, and tease them with your mouth – it’s the only way to fish, she’d say.
“Well, hello,” one of the guys calls out, shining his flashlight in my face. “Can’t say I’m mad to see you, but this is a private ground, sweetheart.”
I can’t simply say I was on the card for tonight, because then they’ll dismiss me quick, telling me to get lost and I need to keep their attention longer than that.
I don’t flinch or squint. I keep my eyes open. “And I just got done with a private party for two. I’d offer services, but my carriage is waiting up the street.”
The light lowers to my body, so I can finally see to quickly count the men.
Four, all grown and if their beady eyes, twitchy movements, and sweat sheathed skin when it’s pushing sixty degrees tells me anything, no one’s clean. They’ve all got something running in their veins.
This is so stupid of me.
And for what? So the assholes that followed me here can slip out? To keep them from being seen or heard?
Stupid.
I would have hung back and waited for Bass to be done and walked back with him, now look.
“A private party, huh?” The flashlight lowers to their feet as I plant mine in front of theirs.
I shift with a smirk, purposefully moving to stand two feet to their left, forcing them to have to turn in order to look. And they want to look.
I’ll have to scrub my skin extra hard with overheated water to rid myself of the things they’re showing they want to do to me.
“Who was this little party with?”
“Can’t tell. If his wife finds out, I’ll lose him as a client. And he’s too good to me for that.” I spin my hair around my fingers, slowly licking my lips.
God this shit’s exhausting.
The boys sneak past us at the rear of the vehicles, Maddoc’s eyes hitting mine for a brief moment as they silently pass.
The men, clueless as ever, chuckle lightly, one thumping the other with his elbow as if he knows who I’m talking about.
There’s always a ma
rried sleaze mixed in a group of trashy men.
I give a sultry laugh on purpose and cringe internally at the way I sound.
I place my foot on the bumper, pretending to dust something off my ankle in order to get them to shift one more time so the boys can exit the yard.
One of them inches closer so I spin, quickly planting myself against the hood. They move in and my pulse spikes as I start to feel crowded.
The boys have to be at their truck now.
Time to get out of here.
I go to slip right, but one steps closer blocking my move, his slimy body brushing me, his excitement disgustingly present through his dirty jeans.
I laugh, but it comes out choked and then it’s them who’s laughing.
“Think you can handle a party of four, baby? We’ll treat you good. Might not be able to walk tomorrow, but you hookers get off on that sort of thing, right?”
I grin, but it’s tight and so is the grip that wraps around my wrist.
“Yeah, I think you’ll like it. Why don’t you—”
My free hand flies up, the heel of my palm cracking against his nose and instantly it starts gushing blood. The guy staggers back, his eyes wild, and one more moves in.
I swing my bag to hit him, but another wraps around my back. I relax every muscle, forcing him to hold my dead weight and the little bitch isn’t strong enough.
My feet hit the ground again and I use that as leverage to kick the one coming at me from the front in the nuts.
It works for a second, but in the next, my throat is in bloody hands and I’m lifted off the gravel.
My hands move to grip his, but his lock is tight and not going anywhere, so I pull my legs up, forcing him to hold me there until I can get a good, flat-footed kidney shot.
He wheezes but keeps his fucking grip and I’m damn near out of options, especially if the others decide to move in.
He starts shaking me, growling in my face and then both our bodies hit the dirt with a loud thud.
I start coughing, scurrying back a few feet to try and gain a breath while he rolls around in pain. Pretty sure his head slammed real good.
When I look up, I find Maddoc.
And Royce.
And Captain.
What the fuck?
Movement to my right has me bouncing to my feet. I quickly knee one of the guys as he throws himself at me while each boy lays out another.
Boys of Brayshaw High Page 11