Boys of Brayshaw High

by Meagan Brandy

  Collins.

  Raven attempts to shift, to look over her shoulder, but he holds her head in place.

  “Maddoc ...” Royce draws out.

  She yanks herself away and spins to face him, getting in his face, arms flailing around like a wild woman.

  And he steps closer to her.

  I grind my teeth to keep my feet rooted.

  “Maddoc,” Royce begins to panic.

  “Wait.”

  “You really fucking testing her right now?” he snaps, but I ignore him.

  I’m not testing her. I’m giving her what she thinks she wants.

  I’m letting her handle shit on her own, like she keeps asking.

  She says something that has his chin dropping an inch and fire flares in my muscles.

  He might just try and grab her again.

  She sees it and moves backward a few steps, and then it happens, like I fucking knew it would.

  Her eyes seek mine and a hammering begins in my chest as uncertainty clouds her features.

  It’s ok to need me, baby...

  She’s strong, we all know it, but she’s afraid to let go, even a little.

  Independence and defiance make up a large part of her, but loyalty and hidden longing are in there just the same.

  Raven wants what we give her. What she knows damn well I could give her. She might have been sent here and was never meant to stay, but things have changed. She feels it too.

  The longer she stares, the faster her chest rises and falls.

  I widen my stance, lifting my chin just a little to encourage, and she takes a step toward me.

  But the piece of shit behind her makes a foolish move, desperate to show dominance when he has none, and darts forward, grabbing her elbow hard enough to make her eyes wince. But she doesn’t whip around to flash on him, her eyes stay on mine, a fierce expression taking over. She gives a curt nod.

  “Now?” Royce growls beside me.

  “Now.”

  My brothers rush forward, and she’s released right before Collins is shoved back. He stumbles into the crowded dance floor.

  Fists fly, people scream, but Raven doesn’t turn around.

  She knows they’ve got it handled, knows where she belongs in this moment and who has her back.

  She steps in front of me, her shoes bringing her body more level with mine, but still not equal. She starts chewing on her bottom lip, so I push into her, my thumb coming up to free it, and her mouth follows, holding onto the feeling a second longer.

  She doesn’t lift her head but watches me through her lashes.

  Royce and Captain step up in the next second, and her fingers find mine, lacing ours together.

  My eyes hit hers again and she shrugs.

  The four of us exit the club.

  I release her hand to give a couple twenties to Buck and Raven scoffs.

  “Rat bastard,” she mumbles, making him grin.

  “Name’s Buck for a reason, girl!”

  She rolls her eyes, and steps ahead of us, her ass bouncing around, hips swaying like fucking crazy in those damn shoes.

  “Damn, brother,” Royce grunts and I cut a glare his way. “You better wrap that shit up quick before someone else does.”

  When I shove his ass, he laughs, shoving me back. “Not me, fucker. But hips like that are meant for a good gripping.”

  Yeah, no shit.

  Soon as she hits my ride, she spins on her heels.

  Now out in the fresh air, her mind has cleared and she’s fired up again, but I’m not having it.

  “I don’t care what you’re about to say.” She looks between the three of us. “I can and will come and go as I please. If that’s a problem—”

  “Stop talking.” All eyes swing to me. “It is a problem and you know it. You’re also okay with it, and you do care. It’s why you left in the first place. You thought we were making plans that wouldn’t include you, so you bailed before we could.”

  “Please,” she snaps but there’s no power behind it.

  “It’s why you were glad when we arrived.” I get in her face and she doesn’t cower but cuts her eyes left. “It’s why, when Collins grabbed you for the second time, your eyes wanted mine.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She licks her lips and damn, if I don’t wanna do the same.

  I step even closer. “You know, if I were with you, I never would have allowed him close enough to touch you.”

  She stands tall, ready to sass me when I run my fingertips up her side and her thought dies on her tongue.

  “Tell me I’m wrong.”

  She drops her face into her palms, and I glance at my brothers.

  Then she starts laughing.

  “Ugh.” She pretends to be annoyed, hitting my chest but leaving her palms to rest there. “You guys are impossible!” She laughs, glancing from my brothers to me. “Fine, you’re right. There, I said it. Happy?”

  “No,” I tell her and her eyes slice to mine. “I’m not happy because all this was unavoidable. We should have come out together, but you’re stubborn as shit and keep fighting yourself when you should have done what you really wanted back at the school.”

  She fights a grin, want rising in those stormy eyes. “And what’d I really want to do, big man?”

  “To put West Wood’s cheer captain in check.” When she drops her frown to the ground, I force it back up with a knuckle under her chin. “You really think I was up for that?

  She shrugs, unapologetic. “Wouldn’t blame you if you were.”

  “You should.”

  Her features tighten, her eyes shifting to where my brothers stand, staring before coming back.

  Leo and Mac step up before anything else can be said.

  “Hey.” Mac nods. “What do you guys wanna do now?”

  Royce shrugs, looks to the club, then back with a grin. “Wouldn’t mind some dancing.”

  Raven scoffs. “Yeah, well, go on ahead then. I’m not going back in tonight after that.”

  “Thought you didn’t care what people thought of you?” Leo asks and my head jerks his way. I don’t like the way his eyes narrow on her.

  She steps out of my shadow. “I don’t. But I also don’t feel like spending half the night answering questions and telling girls to fuck off when they beg for introductions.”

  “Why not introduce them?”

  My brows snap together, and I look to Captain, who frowns at the two the same.

  “Do you even know your friends, Leo? You think they’d ever entertain the idea of a girl who doesn’t have the balls to approach them on her own if she wanted to get friendly? I’ll help you out.” Her gaze flicks over his form. “The answer is no.”

  He looks ready to say something, but she doesn’t give him the chance.

  “We’re going home,” she lays down the law, then slips into the back seat without even sparing anyone another damn glance.

  Royce laughs, salutes Mac and Leo and climbs in.

  “You guys want a ride back?” Captain asks them.

  “That’s what Uber’s for, man.” Mac steps forward to give props.

  “Later.” Leo nods and they head back for the club.

  Captain turns to me before we get in the truck. “She said home.”

  I nod, I caught it too.

  With a small grin, he pats my shoulder and makes his way to the driver’s seat.

  Once all four of us are in, we head home.

  I nearly spit all over myself when Royce stands up and starts gyrating.

  Captain laughs, leaning forward to smack him and he falls back into his seat, pouring another.

  “I told you, I dated a stripper once. She taught me some shit.” He winks at me, then gets punched in the arm by Maddoc.

  “Okay, I’m done.” I lift my feet into my lap and yank off the black, closed toe wedges Mello leant me tonight. “I’m going to bed. You fuckers do you.” I wave at Captain and Royce then plant my feet in front of the big man who sits
on a bar stool. I lean forward, looking up at him, my hands planted on his thighs. “You help me upstairs.”

  His eyes move between mine and he nods. He stands and turns around, motioning for me to grab on. I lock my hands around his neck, and he lifts me from behind the knee.

  We both ignore the light laughs from the shitheads downstairs as we make our way up.

  When he reaches my bed, he spins releasing my legs so I can land on my feet.

  I lean forward, whispering in his ear, “Thanks, big man.”

  His shoulders tense beneath my touch and I grin.

  He can’t escape quick enough and I laugh at his retreating body, knowing as well as he does when he makes his way back in here tonight, our hands won’t keep to themselves.

  I make quick work of putting on some sleep shorts and a tank, then throw myself back on my mattress. I lay there listening as the other two make their way to bed maybe a half hour later.

  I pull my knife from under my pillow and spin it around, careful not to flip open the switchblade when I’m still a little tipsy. I read the engraving again, understanding the notion a little more than I should for the very first time: family runs deeper than blood.

  As if written specifically for them, it defines what the boys have with each other, a bond so deep they are brothers, even though they share none of the same genes.

  Family runs deeper than blood, such a powerful statement when true.

  I drop the knife beside me and plug in my earbuds, bobbing around to the girl song about revenge and redemption, but then the music shuffles and Ariana Grande comes on, singing to me about how dangerous her man makes her feel and my body grows hot again.

  I kick off my blankets, flipping my pillow to the cool side, but it doesn’t work, and the look in Maddoc’s eye from earlier tonight flashes in my mind.

  The unhinged look in his eyes, wild and wanting.

  I half expected him to bend me over the knee so he could smack my ass in punishment and play, but that’s not his style.

  No, he’s a words man, an observant bastard with a fighter’s instinct. He digs in deep and forces you to face yourself, demands strength and craves fearlessness.

  Pretty sure he craves me.

  The possibility has my body tingling.

  My eyes open and I sit up in bed considering my options.

  Two perfectly good hands or a brooding boy with jade eyes and a six-pack. Not to mention, the serious girth he teases me with when wearing basketball shorts.

  Yeah ... easy decision.

  His door is cracked when I reach it, so I sneak inside, quietly closing it behind me.

  “What do you want?”

  I jump and look around but don’t spot him, so I push off the frame and walk farther into the room.

  He’s got his forearm leaning against the wall, staring out his window at the empty night like I had been the other day.

  Only he’s ... I follow his other arm, finding his hand hiding behind the thin layer of fabric at his waist.

  My eyes snap to his and he turns, leaning his shoulders against the wall.

  His hand stays where it’s at.

  “What are you doing?” I breathe and he arches a brow.

  “What are you doing?”

  Fuck the scratchiness in his voice has my toes curling into the carpet.

  “Whatever I want.”

  His tongue slides out to lick his lips, his teeth scraping across the bottom one as it disappears back into his mouth. “Imma need you to break it down for me.”

  I lower my gaze, making sure my eyes touch every inch of his chest and stomach on their way down.

  If I was standing against him and looked down, I might get a glimpse of what he’s holding onto.

  “Raven.”

  My eyes dart up.

  Right.

  I push forward until I’m a foot in front of him. “If there’s ever a night where I get to do something that might be real stupid, it’s tonight.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “’Cause tomorrow, I can pretend I was too drunk to remember ... if I wanna forget.”

  “What’d I tell you about using me to forget?”

  “This is so different and you know it.”

  The muscles in his bicep, the one leading to the hand on his junk, flexes and my core tightens.

  “What are you trying to say, Raven?” he rasps, lazily tipping his head to the side, he stares and a chill runs over me.

  Which makes no sense because I’m hot all over.

  His hand starts moving, up down, up down, the only sound heard in the room the silk of his boxers as it scratches against the roughness of his knuckles.

  My hands find my thighs and plant there.

  “You wanna forget whatever it is you came in here for?”

  “I don’t know yet,” I breathe, pushing up on my toes, trying to get a better look.

  He groans lightly, squeezing himself in his palm. “Not good enough.”

  “It’s all I got. It’s honest.” I pull my shirt over my head and drop my bottoms to my ankles, kicking them somewhere on the carpet. Stepping into him, I place my naked chest against his.

  Instantly, his free hand shoots around me and slides down the curve of my ass.

  “All you got,” he rasps, leaning down to speak against my neck. He blows hot breath across my collarbone and my nipples harden against his skin. His tongue comes out, sliding across my neck. “So this, us in my room tonight, would be you giving me ... all you have to give?” He’s slow to bring his head back and locks his eager eyes on mine.

  His gaze is penetrating, fighting to slip past the surface I’ve polished in cement over the years.

  I tense, but only for a moment before I nod my head in response.

  My fingertips slide inside the elastic of his boxers, skating to the center, ready to relieve his hand of its work and take over. But then he pulls it back, and it finds my ass like the other. I’m jerked forward.

  He grips my ass in both hands and pulls, demanding I jump and wrap my legs around him.

  His mouth meets mine and holds. “Then I’ll take it.”

  Finally, his lips press against mine, right as my back hits his mattress, my legs falling open for him to settle between.

  They’re hard and greedy, needy. Just how I want him.

  He groans and slides his mouth across my jaw before running his lips down my neck. He kisses right where my breasts dip, then runs his tongue to my right nipple, swirling it around, before pulling it between his lips.

  My back lifts a few inches, my head diving deeper into the pillow.

  When he pinches my left nipple, I gasp, my knees coming up to rest against his ribs, heels touching his ass.

  That sets him off.

  With a deep growl, his mouth rips from my chest and crashes against mine, his dick slamming into me at the same moment.

  I cry out and he jerks inside me and holds there.

  “I’ve been waiting to slide inside you, Raven,” he whispers against the hollow of my neck and I shiver beneath him. “So fucking soft. So damn wet.”

  A whimper leaves me when he flexes inside me.

  His hips do all the work. With each thrust timed just right, perfectly deep with a slight grind when he’s at his deepest, it doesn’t take long for pressure to build.

  I scrape my nails down his back as incentive and he responds like I knew he would. Wild. Crazed.

  He jerks back, quickly making his way to his knees. He grips my hips hard and yanks me down. He holds me steady, my ass off the mattress completely, and slams his hips against me.

  I’m frantic, gasping, and I try to reach for him but in this position, I can’t, so I grip my own breasts and squeeze.

  He growls, using one of his hands to slide up my pussy and stomach until his rough fingers can wrap around my neck gently.

  It sets me off more and my hands shoot up to grip his wrists.

  His thumb brushes along my skin as his eyes command mine. “Co
me for me,” he rasps, and with one more thrust I am, my toes curling into the mattress, and he’s right there with me.

  He lets his knees slide back so he can fall on me, pushing in as deep as he can and holds. His forehead against my breastbone.

  After a minute or two, his tongue flicks across my nipple and I jerk, making him chuckle.

  I hit his shoulder and he rolls off but doesn’t move.

  Me either.

  My eyes peel open and I groan, bringing my hands up to run over my face when I freeze and look beside me.

  I sit up, blinking into focus.

  Empty bed, no panties on the carpet.

  I frown, shaking my head.

  I knew when she came in here last night what we were about to do, so did she. To be real, I’m surprised it took so damn long, but I knew her stubborn ass would cave and accept her body was mine to play with.

  Clearly, her head still doesn’t agree.

  Irritated, I stand and pull on some clothes and head downstairs.

  Captain is sitting on the couch, holding his head. He looks up. “Hey, man.”

  “’Sup.” I walk around, adding an extra scoop to the coffee today, and lean back to wait for it to brew.

  Grumbles come from the stairs and both me and Cap grin as Royce walks in, his eyes hardly even open.

  He throws himself back on the couch beside Captain, dropping his head back. “Excedrin me. Fucking please.”

  I grab the bottle of pills and a water and drop beside them.

  Cap turns on the TV and we sit like zombies a minute when a door opens upstairs, then bare feet hit the stairs. My eyes lift when her legs come into view, then more of her with each step taken.

  She bends to meet my eyes, leans her forearms on the railing, and pops a dark brow. Hair a fucking mess, last night’s makeup smeared all around her eyes, shirt wrinkled and ... mine?

  I slowly sit forward.

  “Is she...” Royce trails off.

  “Yup,” Captain finishes for him.

  “Sneak out of your own room, did you?” She tilts her head.

  My forehead creases and she grins, leaning over the edge.

  Oh hell yes.

  “Nothing to sneak out on.”

  Her eyes bounce between mine. “I had to pee, brush my teeth. Now I’m ready to go back to bed.”

  “Are you now?”