“There’s more to it than the obvious.”
Bass doesn’t like that answer, but he knows it’s as good as he’ll get.
“I gotta get people paid, but I’ll talk to my boy some more tonight, find out what all he knows. You gonna tell them?”
“Tell them what, Bass?” I pocket my money. “That I heard a rumor?”
“They don’t need your protection, Rae.” He eyes me a minute, and I’m surprised he’s in favor of me telling them. “If anything, maybe you need theirs.”
I brush his words off. “Thanks for telling me about this. Talk to you at school.”
He nods and walks off while I go back the way I came, stressing out on what to do.
So there’s a video of me and the guys that night at the cabins. Which means we were caught on tape breaking and entering into the fucking Graven cabin. If this gets out, it’ll cause major problems for the boys. This could ruin everything.
They’d get arrested and their dad would flip his shit. The Graven cop could maybe fuck with them in there. Captain’s visitation with Zoey will be taken away and they’ll lose their fucking season, Maddoc won’t be picked up to play in college like I have a feeling he wants to.
“Raven Carver.”
I jolt at the call of my name, spinning around to find a fist already flying.
My face hits the dirt in the next second, then a boot connects with my ribs, but it’s the blow to my head that has my eyes rolling back and darkness taking over.
There’s shouting coming from somewhere, but I can’t focus, my head’s fucking spinning.
Footsteps hit the ground in the distance, growing closer and closer as the screaming gets louder, but before they reach me, a rushed hiss hits my ear, “You don’t belong with them.”
And then they’re gone.
I’m lifted into someone’s arms in the next second.
“Shit, do we take her to the hospital?” a male asks.
“No! She’s in the system, we have to keep her off the books.” I recognize the female voice.
“Well, what do we do with her?” the guy asks, and my eyes fight to open as I’m lowered onto the seat of a car.
“I know where to take her. Just ... drive before those dudes come back.”
I squeeze my eyes closed a few times, and finally, they open a bit, but everything is a little blurry.
“Stop trying to open your eyes, Raven. You probably have a concussion.”
My forehead wrinkles. “Victoria?” I rasp and she scoffs.
“Yeah. I know, not sure why I’m helping you either.”
A laugh fights its way out, but I hiss from the pain, my head or ribs, not sure what’s worse. “Where we going?”
“You know.”
I start shaking my head, but her hands grab the sides of my face to hold me still.
“Stop fucking moving. And as if I would take you anywhere else and deal with the aftermath of that. No thanks.”
“Fuck,” I groan and it has nothing to do with the pain of my body.
A few minutes pass, and I’m jolted when the car is thrown into park.
“We’re here—” She starts but cuts herself off and yells, “Shit, they’re running!”
I blink several times to see all three guys flying down the porch, each going to a different door. Mine’s thrown open, while the others are yanked out of the car.
“What the fuck!” Maddoc growls loudly, his eyes horrified as they travel over my face. He goes to grab the hem of my shirt, where a huge muddy shoe mark sits, but I smack his hand away and he starts shaking in rage. His nostrils flare and he reaches for me, but I force myself to sit and push against his chest so I can slowly stand from the car. I use the door as support to steady myself when everything blurs. That earns me another glare from Maddoc.
“Someone better start fucking talking, right now!” My eyes snap wide when that comes from Captain.
I look his way to see he has a glaring Victoria pinned against her door while Royce has the driver by the collar against his.
“Let them go,” I rasp, fighting to swallow past the dirt in my throat. “They just gave me a ride is all.”
“Don’t fucking lie for them,” Royce warns, and I wave him off, hitting the hood.
“Let them go.”
Victoria shoves Captain away and flips him off, while the driver keeps his hands up like there’s a fucking gun on him.
“Thanks for the ride, but you can get out of here, Mike. I’ll walk to the house,” Victoria tells him when she sees how nervous he is.
He doesn’t make eye contact when I thank him but slides behind the wheel and backs away.
The boys crowd me in the next second.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Nothing.” I shrug, struggling not to wince as I do.
“Nothing?” Maddoc gets in my face. “Nothing. Your face is busted, and I’d bet your ribs are fucked too. You trying to tell me you fell?”
Forcing a hardness I don’t feel, I glance between the three. “I fought tonight.”
“Raven—” Victoria goes to step forward, but I snap my head to her, my hand shooting to my temple as I do to dull the ache.
Don’t say anything...
She swallows and looks to the ground, but the guys aren’t dumb.
“You’re lying,” Maddoc accuses, but when I pull the money from my pocket and throw it in his face, he’s not so sure.
He frowns at the cash as it blows across the dirt.
Royce starts picking it up, then hits it against his hand. “We told you no fighting. If you needed money, you should have asked!”
“Don’t act surprised.” I lift my chin in challenge, lying through my teeth, and fight not to feel two feet tall when each one looks at me with absolute disappointment.
I don’t want to disappoint, not them.
The realization has me swallowing past the lump growing in my throat.
“And I’d never ask you for money. You all knew—” I’m cut off when a tiny rice rocket peels through the trees, kicking up dirt behind it.
The boys square up and move to block me, but when I see who jumps out of the car, I let my head hang.
Fuck.
Bass runs forward, his eyes wide in panic as he tries to take in my injuries, but of fucking course, Maddoc rushes him and knocks him back against the hood, his hands wrapped tight around his throat. Bass is a scrapper by nature though, so he slips his arms over Maddoc’s hold and drops his weight in his elbow, allowing enough space for him to knock Maddoc across his jaw, forcing his hands to loosen enough for Bass to shove him back an inch.
“You’re fucking done!” Maddoc yells in his face and Bass clenches his jaw. “I told your bitch ass if she set foot in that fucking ring again, you were out!”
“The fuck are you talking about?!” Bass screams, getting in Maddoc’s face now.
The boys take a half step forward and I grow anxious.
“Her busted up fucking face!” Maddoc shoves him, but Bass stays on his feet. “And ribs, and if any other part of her is wronged, I’ll fuck you up!”
“Why the fuck you think I’m here?” Bass shouts back, not fighting back when Maddoc shoves him once more. “I heard what happened and came to check on her!”
“You weren’t there?”
“Yeah, I was fucking there! Running the damn ring like you pay me to do!” Bass shouts, then flings a hand my way. “She was ju—”
“Bass!” I shout, cutting him off.
He freezes a second then, a low laugh leaves him as he drops his head back to look at the sky. He shakes his head.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Maddoc booms.
Captain pushes against Victoria who glares up at him. “What happened tonight?” he demands, and she scoffs, turning the other way.
“Please, buddy. I know this game.”
Captain glares at her then me.
I look back to Bass.
“Come on, girl. Don’t do this shit.” He s
hakes his head, his eyes solemn. He won’t rat on me, but this is his livelihood. I can’t fuck him over for personal gain.
I sigh and go to lick my lips but hiss when it stings.
I look to Maddoc openly.
“You were jumped.” He figures it out, his tone full of complete and total shock.
I nod, running my tongue over my teeth, the taste of copper from my bleeding gums has me frowning.
“Wait, seriously?” Royce shouts.
“You know who it was?” Maddoc demands.
“I have an idea.” I glance at Bass.
He frowns but then his wheels start spinning, his eyes widen.
“Did your boy know I was coming to talk to you tonight?” I ask him and he curses.
“I told him you might.” Bass looks to the three angry guys at my sides. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d show.”
I snatch the money Royce has of mine in his hands and hold it out to Victoria.
She frowns looking from it to me.
I sigh. “Just take it, and please don’t say anything.”
“I don’t need your fucking money to keep my mouth shut.”
I grin. “I know. But I want to give it to you. This is me thanking you for tonight. You didn’t have to run over and scare them off, but you did, and you brought me here. Thanks.”
She eyes the hundreds and I can see the need in her stare, but her pride is keeping her from taking it, especially with them watching.
I wink and stuff it in my pocket, and she nods before heading down the dirt road. I’ll give it to her tomorrow when no other eyes are on us.
I blink a few times, grabbing my head and Maddoc steps closer. I look up and his forehead creases, his fingers moving to trail across my cheek making me wince.
His face falls. “Baby, who did this?” he whispers and something inside me thaws. I lean into his touch.
I try to clear my throat but fail. I look to Bass who frowns at the two of us.
“Come back in the morning. You’ll come in and we’ll talk.”
“Breaking all the fucking rules, huh, RaeRae?” Royce glares at Bass.
I don’t say anything as I walk away and head upstairs, and what do you know, three sets of feet follow me all the way to my room.
I ignore them as I move around slowly, grabbing fresh clothes.
“Raven.”
“Just stop. It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing!” Maddoc booms and I jolt, the sound making my head pound more. “You—”
I spin around. “I got jumped! Big. Fucking. Deal. It happens. Often where I’m from actually.”
“It doesn’t happen here,” he growls, his chest heaving. “And it will not happen to you.”
“My mom’s done worse, big man. I can handle it.”
“You shouldn’t have to!”
“I don’t live in a world like yours. I come from a different fucking place. There is no such thing as enough precautions where I live. You’re never fully prepared. There are possibilities and then there’s reality. Reality, is always worse. This.” I point to my face. “Is what happens in my world. Just because you say you put some sort of protective shield around me doesn’t mean it fits. Stop trying to pretend I blend. I don’t! Your world or mine, it means nothing! I’m still me!”
“None of this would have happened if you wouldn’t have taken off tonight!”
“Maybe not today, but probably the next!” I shout back. “When someone wants you jumped, they catch you anywhere.”
“That’s not the fucking point!”
“Then what is?!” I scream.
“They could have hurt you for real!”
“Who cares!”
“I do,” Maddoc shouts right as the other two say, “We do.”
“I...” I trail off, having no clue what to say.
My chest constricts, the pain in my ribs and the pain coming from somewhere completely different make it hard to breath.
Maddoc creeps closer to me, the veins in his neck throbbing against his skin. “Next time you pull—”
A bitter laugh escapes me and he clamps his mouth shut.
For a second there I thought maybe there was more going on here, but he just needed a minute to get to the threat.
There’s always a threat to follow.
“You’ll what, huh? Ruin me. Break me. Because been there, done that. The worst you could do is kill me, and even that will be a cakewalk compared to the shit I’ve lived. You wanna be pissed, fine. Wanna act out for things not going your way. Cool. But don’t pretend to give a shit about what happens to me when the real concern is your pretty little plan and the kinks I’ll cause in it. You fucking brought me here. Don’t forget that.”
Maddoc’s murderous glare burns through my skin, but I don’t falter. I stand like I’m strong when really I need to hit the warm shower to wash away self-hate.
He looks over his shoulder at his brothers, both standing nice and quiet like good fucking boys – too bad I know their silence is worse than words.
He doesn’t say anything yet still both leave the room.
Maddoc slowly makes his way toward me and I steel my spine, but he sees it, feels it even, the fight leaving me. My need for him that I refuse to voice right now but want just the same. Somehow he knows it, though.
He grabs my fingers gently, like he’s afraid they may be hurt too and pulls me toward the shower in his room. He closes and locks the door, moving to get the water going.
He undresses then helps me do the same. Dropping to his knees, he kisses my stomach lightly as he unbuttons my jeans and slides them down until I can step out.
He stands, running the back of his fingers over my cheek. He nods his head, motioning for me to go first, so I do.
I step into the shower, wincing as the warm water first hits the cuts on my face. I still haven’t looked in the mirror, but I never do until after the dirt is gone. I don’t like to see who I am staring back.
At least the cuts and bruises feel like part of the process, a few steps closer to freedom. It’s the steps before them I like to pretend don’t exist. The fighting, the attacks, the abuse.
One way or another, my skin is marked negatively at the hands of others. The saddest part is nine times out of ten it’s my own doing. A snide remark to my mom or decision I know she’ll rage from. A fight I took or a shortcut home through claimed territory.
A solo trip to the warehouses...
Truth is, my world is a little more like the boys’ than I admit.
They have separate schools, separate social systems and family standings that need to be followed, and I have a town divided into sides – North Side and South Side. You’re born into one, loyal to no others.
Unless you’re me, born to the whore in Gateway Trailer Park, the only area on the outside of the clearly drawn lines – who doesn’t play by the rules and services both sides, knowing her problems roll over into mine.
She fucks someone over, they come looking for me, knowing I’ll deliver. They probably think I do it for her, but I don’t. I do it to keep peace for me, so that I’m still alive when I finally get to run.
I stopped caring what happened to her years ago. My main goal in life is to be somewhere she won’t be able to find me, and not in some fucking system where a paper trail will lead her sorry ass my way should she try.
The door opens and Maddoc slips inside, and it’s not until his hand slowly and gently finds my hips that I take a deep breath. Not until he steps against me, molding my back to his chest, that my muscles relax.
Not until his lips meet my neck that it hits. His touch, it’s soothing in the worst way.
The needy way.
The stupid girl way.
The kind that makes me want to keep his hands on me, and not just tonight.
His grip to my chin is a soft demand as he directs my eyes up so I can meet his over my shoulder. His gaze roams my face, his fingers following the trail they take.
I close mine, all
owing him to inspect the damage, somehow knowing it’s something he needs to do to calm himself.
“Raven...” My name leaves him as a distressed whisper and I open my eyes, locking onto his.
I should kick him out, cut the cord quick. Nothing good could come of this.
Instead, I slide my fingers into his hair and pull his lips to mine.
His fingers glide down my hip bone until he’s cupping me.
When his fingers start to swirl, I drop my head against his shoulder, and his lips move to skim over my skin. “I need to make you feel good,” he whispers against my throat. “Let me.”
A shiver runs through me despite the warm water running over my body.
He glides the palm of his hand over my chest and just like he wanted, my nipples rise to attention, begging for his mouth to close around them, and he doesn’t disappoint.
Still half behind me, he bends forward, flicking his tongue across the sensitive flesh until I’m panting against him, then his mouth comes down, his tongue swirling around before he sucks and moves to do the same to the next.
The hand on my pussy slides lower, and right when his middle finger slips inside me, his free hand comes up to pinch my nipple.
I clench around him as he works me from the inside, adding a second finger as he does. He pulls on my nipple, his grip creating a vibrating motion until my body starts to quake.
A deep moan makes its way up my throat and he captures it with his mouth. When he tries to pull back, I don’t let him. I grip his hair and force him to let my tongue in, fucking his while I ride his palm.
He feels when I’m close and yanks away, moving to nip at my left nipple while still twisting and pulling on my right. The speed of his fingers increases to where all I can do is fight not to fall over as I come apart.
I come for him and he hums his approval against me.
We stand there, his fingers still inside me, my body slouched against his until the water runs cold.
Bass is hanging up his phone when I finally make my way down the next evening. I stayed in bed all day nursing some killer ass aches. Cap meets me at the landing with some more Ibuprofen and a bottle of water while Royce holds out two shot glasses.
“She needs painkillers, not that shit right now.”
Boys of Brayshaw High Page 35