“She’s around a lot.” Ryder pulled me back from staring into the black hole of a door that stole Raquel.
I shrugged. Where the fuck are we going with this? “She stays the night sometimes.”
He chuckled, rounding the island, blocking me from the exit. “Yeah, I think it’s more than that. You,” he said, pointing at me. “I’ve watched you, Rhett might be careless, but you don’t shit where you eat. You’d never be around a girl that goes to your school. Especially not continuously bringing her back, if she wasn’t someone to you.”
I stopped short of him; my jaw clenched. “Why the fuck are we talking about this?”
His grin was smug as he held a coffee mug in his hand. For a second, I thought about hitting the bottom to send scalding hot coffee over him, but I clenched my hand, holding back.
“I just wanted you to admit it.”
“I didn’t admit shit,” I said, pushing off the counter.
“You did, by saying nothing at all, little brother.”
“The fuck are you doing here, Ryder?” I asked, I’d stopped walking, and leaned against the entrance to the kitchen.
He shrugged. “I told Dad I’d look out for you.”
My jaw clenched. He talked to him more than the fucker reached out to me. It had been months. He wasn’t concerned about me. He just wanted to keep an eye out. Ryder was his yes man.
“There’s more to it than that.”
He shrugged, that stupid ass smug grin never leaving him. “Just going to be a buffer between you and the dick head.”
I narrowed my eyes at him before walking off. The douche bag who used to be my friend was trying to worm his way back, and he wanted to knock Rhett out of the way. At least Rhett didn’t bitch out and leave us all in the dust for college.
“Drop me off on your way to class,” I yelled back to him before walking out the door.
His Audi was parked in the driveway. Not waiting for him, I slung the door open and took up the passenger side. I was ready to get this drive to school over with and it hadn’t started.
He didn’t say anything when he got in. Good. He knew the dad comments got under my skin. My parents wanted to pretend they cared, but after I turned eighteen, they couldn’t get out of here fast enough. They didn’t call or text. Just asked Ryder to check in on me when he called to kiss their ass.
They just didn’t know everything. A smirk grew on my lips. If they knew half the shit I did, and at the very least, if they knew I hung out with Rhett, they’d be home immediately.
So, Ryder was here, trying to suck up to them by keeping me away from all the shit Rhett does. He just doesn’t know how hard it’s about to be for him.
“Rhett didn’t say a lot and took off early last night,” Ryder said, probably fishing for information. I was pissed at Rhett for what he did to Raquel, but I don’t want to word vomit all of that to Ryder.
“I didn’t notice,” I clipped.
“Yeah, you seemed…preoccupied.”
Sighing, “Jesus Christ.”
He chuckled. “Do Mom and Dad know?”
“Why the fuck would they?”
“You never call?”
I glanced at him as if he’d grown two heads. “They’re the adults. Not me. They wanna know something about my life? They can call and fucking ask.”
It was silent for a beat.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “Even if they were shitty to us, they were still around.”
I nodded, completely over this heart-to-heart. My parents were shit, why did I have to keep hearing about it? I got it.
When we passed by Raquel’s house, the Range Rover was backing out. I pulled my eyes away, but not before Ryder caught me. He looked curiously at the house before grinning at me.
Dickhead.
When he dropped me off, I shot him the finger until I couldn’t see his car anymore. Laughing, I turned around and began walking into the school.
Until I saw Raquel, her face was unreadable as she walked from the Range Rover. Whatever she was about to say was about to flip my world upside down.
Roman was grinning and shooting the middle finger at his brother until he turned around and saw me. I was trying to feel happy, but honestly, the world was closing in on me.
Rhett gave me Ecstasy.
There was a gun.
And every damn time I show back up to my grandma’s house, she has some weird thing to say about boys like Roman and how it will end.
I get it, he’s probably bad for me. And I’m bad for him. That doesn’t mean we can’t be enthralled with each other.
His smile fell when he took me in. I fucking hated that. I wanted to be the cause for his rare smile, not the reason for his constant frown.
I tried to plaster a grin on, but he shook his head. “What’s on your mind?”
I caught my bottom lip in my teeth.
Where do I start? You. Rhett. Mom. Grandma. My ex-boyfriend and friends. Stolen cars, drugs, and guns.
But I settled on sighing and popping my shoulder in a shrug. “The last few days have been a lot,” I murmured.
“Understatement of the year.”
He stood in front of me, leaning on the Range Rover, his fists shoved in his front pockets. Even a few feet away from me, he still sent my heart into a pounding frenzy. The first bell rang, and I clamped my bottom lip between my teeth.
Word vomit my feelings and miss the first period? Or deal with Ms. Indigo’s hovering?
Fuck. She’ll probably call home if I skip again.
I peeked over at Roman, and as if he was sensing my moral dilemma, he nodded to the school.
“We’ll talk later,” he said, but instead of walking with me, he slid inside his car. Holding his phone up to his ear, he pointed to it. “Let her know I’ll be late.”
“Okay…” I think that came out like a question. I just tightened the straps on my backpack and walked off.
Yeah, I’m not volunteering to talk to her. I don’t want her asking me where he was and how I knew he was late. He can deal with that on his own.
When I walked in the building through the back doors, I went soaring through the air. Okay, maybe not soaring, but my foot caught on to something, and in an attempt to break the fall, I lifted my hands.
My thumb nail caught my forehead on my way down. It felt like blood trickled down as I held myself off the floor by my palms.
I swiped my head, and I was right, blood. A lot.
A chorus of giggling came from the hall behind me. Clenching my teeth together, I pushed off the floor and set my sights on three girls behind me. I recognized them immediately. Rhett had them at the house during his attempt to scare me.
I took a step toward them, and their laughter stopped. Three different sized blonde girls were staring at me, a look of shock on their faces. Maybe they weren’t used to girls standing up for themselves, or maybe I looked like Carrie 2.0 about to extract revenge with blood trickling from my forehead.
Either way, they shut the fuck up.
“Watch yourself. When someone hurts me, they usually don’t get away unscratched,” I bit out.
They backed away, disappearing into the hallway.
“Want me to punch them, too?” Roman’s voice came from behind me.
“Ha, ha, ha” I faked a laugh. When I turned his brows pulled in as he zeroed in on my head.
“They did that?”
I slipped my fingers up to it, hoping the bleeding had stopped. “I kinda did that to myself. It takes a special person to hurt themselves worse than the bully could.”
His mouth pulled into a tight grin as he walked toward me. “Come with me.”
His hand fell on the small of my back, guiding me to the girl’s room on the first floor. When I arched my eyebrow at him, he didn’t hesitate, just kept walking until he reached the sink.
He went to work getting paper towels, wetting them, and putting soap on them before he turned his at
tention back to me. I stood in silence while he touched the napkins to my head. I winced but kept quiet.
“What was that about?”
I just shrugged. Fuck if I know. “Maybe a late hazing?”
His lips pressed in a thin line as he wiped the rest of my forehead. The blood was probably smeared across my whole face at this point, but I refused to look in the mirror. I didn’t want to see the girl who would look back at me right now.
“Have they done that before?”
I shook my head. “The only time I’ve ever seen those girls was that night Rhett invited them over to the house.”
He cursed. “Fucking idiot. He’s probably slept with them.”
I scrunched my nose. “Ew. How old is he again?”
“He’s twenty-two, but they’re all eighteen. I don’t think he cares about morals as long as they’re legal.”
“He cares about the law now?”
His face tugged into a grin. “Only when it comes to girls.”
When he was done cleaning my head, he took a step back, assessing me before he tossed the napkins in the trash. His lips pressed against my forehead, lingering for a beat. I closed my eyes, wishing I could melt into them and forget about the shit going on out here.
“We need to get to class.” My voice was hoarse and thick with emotion.
He just nodded. “Let me know if they do that again, okay?”
“I will.”
He looped his hand around my arm and walked me to first period. I didn’t look in the mirror at all, but I had a feeling I had an ugly slice on my forehead.
It became obvious when I stepped through the door because Ms. Indigo’s eyes were wide as saucers when she looked at me and then back to Roman’s hand on my arm.
“Raquel, step outside with me,” she said, rushing in my direction.
Roman looked at me, scowl in place.
“I’m fine,” I said.
I guess he believed me because he dropped his arm and walked to his seat in the back. Ms. Indigo was waiting for me behind the door. A look of worry lined her face.
“What happened?” She pointed to my head. “That looks fresh.”
“I tripped,” I replied, my fingers involuntarily touching my scratch.
Apparently that did little to reassure her because she frowned harder. “Do you know how many girls say that Raquel? Did something happen with Roman?”
The fuck?
I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, no. Some girls tripped me, and I scratched my head when I fell.”
She pressed her lips to the side, taking me in. “Why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?”
Fucks’ sake. I threw my hands up.
“Look, I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I don’t need another mom interrogating me.”
Her expression softened a little. She pushed a strand of her hair back, standing awkwardly in front of me as if she was in some moral dilemma.
What was her deal with me, anyway?
“I’ve heard about the things that have happened with your mother, and I just wanted to make sure someone was looking out for you,” she sighed.
I know my face had turned ten shades of red before I could even begin to respond.
“My home life is none of your business,” I snapped.
She held her hands up. “I’ve always made it my business. If I know a student has something going on, I step in and do what I can.”
“I don’t need your help!” I think it came out harsher than I intended because she looked like I had physically slapped her.
She looked at my forehead again. “I’m sorry. When you walked in like that and I saw Roman holding your arm, it just… It looked bad.”
My jaw ticked. I was doing all I could to hold back. But with the last few days being the way they had; it was extra hard to keep my emotions in check. Now the universe was sending a crazy lady to hover over me.
“He helped me clean my head. I was tripped on the way in. If you don’t believe me, check the tapes,” I clipped out. “Now if we’re done here, can I please go to class?”
She had that disappointed parent look on her face, and I kind of wanted to slap that off. But I kept that to myself. I evened my breathing as I locked her in with my glare.
“Yeah, sorry I upset you. That’s the last thing I wanted to do,” she said, opening the door, she gestured for me to walk inside.
After seeing her cower, I kind of felt bad for blowing up. So, I tried to smile, but failed. “It’s fine, just don’t hover over me. Please?”
I think she sensed my desperation because she just nodded. When I walked to my seat, I lifted my eyes, meeting Roman’s. His brows shot in the air, and I shook my head. He may have heard me raise my voice, but I honestly didn’t want him to know. I felt everyone’s eyes glued to me. I was dealing with that. I didn’t want other shit piled on.
I slid in my seat and did my best to pay attention. Just as Ms. Indigo did her best to teach. And other students tried to keep their eyes off me. None if it fucking worked though.
I propped my elbows on my table and planted my face in my hands. Letting out a sigh, I started mulling over the entire morning.
When I got in from Roman’s, I was hoping Mom would be gone to work, and my grandma would be off doing whatever the hell it is she does all day. But luck wasn’t in my favor today.
Grandma’s icy stare pinned me down when I walked inside the front door. She didn’t say anything. She really didn’t fucking have to, her look said it all. She plucked her purse from the table and slid on her shades as she walked past me, shaking her head.
Same, Grandma, same.
Mom wasn’t around. I guess she was still pulling the ‘I’m mentally stable and have a job’ card. I know Grandma wouldn’t tell her what happened. I get the feeling that she wants to keep everything between us, good and bad, and push Mom completely out.
I don’t know what to think of either of those women, but if that’s what my future holds, I’m fucked.
Images of the last few days pounded into my brain like an angry reminder that I’m already much worse than them. I know Grandma liked bad boys as she described them, but I don’t know if she took drugs with them and rode in stolen cars.
Nope. That was probably just me who was that dumb.
What am I doing?
Is this really a defiant streak as she said? Am I rebelling? Or is this my damaged brain attacking me? The world was closing in on me. A whole entire fucking elephant sat on my chest.
“That was the bell.” I heard him beside me, but I didn’t look up.
“Give me a second.” My voice broke at the end, and I knew that would send him into a frenzy.
“What’s wrong?” He was closer this time, and his hand snaked to my back.
“Trying not to panic here,” I tried to laugh it off, but I knew he wouldn’t have it.
“Let’s get out of here.” He was whispering now as his hand rubbed my back.
I shook my head, and when I knew I had no other choice, I pulled it together. Looking over, he was right next to my face. His amber eyes, laced with concern, staring back at mine.
“I’m okay,” I said, hoping he would drop it for now.
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” I said, standing up, I grabbed my notebook and shoved it in my backpack before looping it over my shoulder. “I need to go to all my classes today.”
I think my meaning was loud and clear to him. He didn’t like it, but his head clipped down in a nod.
“Text me if that happens again.”
“Promise.”
But I knew I wouldn’t. It would probably happen all day. I just had to deal. I can’t have a nosey teacher giving Grandma another reason to lecture me.
So, I lifted on my tiptoes and placed a quick kiss on his lips before going to my second class. I hoped like hell it would give me courage to last through the day.
I should’ve
stayed at school.
But after seeing Raquel this morning, I knew I’d put off talking to Rhett for too long. When she walked away from me, I was off to the parking lot.
He would still be in his downtown apartment in Savannah, passed out probably with some chick. Catching him off guard would be the only way I’d ever get the upper hand with this douche.
Ten minutes out now.
I could see the buildings before being engulfed around them. I tried to focus on the hustle of the city, but my mind kept landing back on Raquel. I fucked everything up for her. She was quiet, kept to herself, a virgin for fucks’ sake until she met me. And my life exploded in our face.
In just a short time, this girl had etched herself into my brain. I used to not give a shit about anything, but she changed that. If I spent the next twenty-four hours trying to figure out how, I still wouldn’t be able to pinpoint where the strong feeling came from. So, I’m just saying fuck it and I’m going to pick a fight with the one guy I never wanted to stand toe to toe with.
Five minutes out.
I turned on my blinker and took the exit to his apartment. My phone hadn’t gone off, so if Raquel knew I wasn’t at school still, she hadn’t asked. If she noticed my absence, she probably knew not to ask.
Last weekend changed everything.
Fuck. I hate that.
Two minutes out.
I slid into the parking garage, whipping into the spot next to his car. I killed the Range Rover and was out, striding to the elevator in seconds.
I pressed the button for the penthouse elevator. Waiting, I shoved my fists in my jeans. My jaw ticked with each passing second. Raquel being caught up in this shit was sending me over the edge. But knowing Rhett fucking drugged her and showed up to the house with a gun while she was there? I was seeing red.
Thirty seconds out.
The elevator dinged, slid open, and I stepped on. When it opened again, I was in Rhett’s apartment.
Stalking through his place, I made as much noise as possible, so he’d know someone was in here for him. And someone pissed.
His bedroom door was wide open. Stupid fuck. And just as I suspected, a naked girl was lying beside him.
Dare Me: The Pierce Boys of Georgia, Book One Page 17