“You think you’ll win this little battle, but you won’t.”
“Yeah, and what makes you so sure?”
A slow smirk finds my lips and his brows meet at the center. “Respect can’t be bought or earned when blackmail is in the mix. Everyone at your feet is paid or pushed while everyone at theirs is proud to be where they are. Ever ask yourself what happens when those guys you had jump me feel the need to brag and do because you haven’t earned their loyalty? Or when they get a higher offer somewhere else and drop you like the bitch you are? You—”
“Watch yourself, Rae.” He pushes closer, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “I can keep this easy or I can make this hard, your call.”
I meet his one step forward with two of my own. “You watch, Collins. I don’t know what you thought you’d get from me or what put you in this mindset, but you’re an even bigger clown than I knew if you think for a second easy is what I need.”
I step back, watching the fury rise in his eyes with each step taken. “The ball may be in your court but consider me the referee in this game. You didn’t gain yourself a soldier, you earned yourself a snake. Don’t get bit, Graven.”
His frown holds for a moment, but slowly a malicious grin takes its place.
He makes his way toward me, stopping to whisper near my ear. “Oh, this is bound to be good, Brayshaw. I can’t wait for all the sweet little lies to come out. That pretty little head of yours is gonna spin, baby, but if you’re a good girl, I might just hold your hair back when the vomit makes its way up.”
He pushes past me, snatching his keys off the side table before storming out the door, leaving me with nothing to do but follow his punk ass out like a good girl.
Dick.
“You better be curling your hair real damn pretty if it’s taking you this long to get ready!” Collins snaps from the other side of the door.
I roll my eyes and take one last hit off my joint before putting it out against the comforter, making another burn hole straight through the cliché silk covering.
I can’t believe I’m actually staying in this fucking house.
I’m half pissed at myself for not just taking off on my own, but I can’t do that to the guys. They’ve earned every bit of my loyalty, something I’ve never given to anyone, even if they don’t know it.
That’s the difference between true allegiance and the need to stay at the top of the game where the strongest sit with ease – honest loyalty doesn’t need to be seen or stated. It’s just as powerful if not more so when given in silence.
I don’t need them to be aware of why I’m really here. I need them oblivious and untouched by this asshole’s current piece of blackmail.
“Two minutes. That’s all you get,” he says as if his words mean shit to me.
There’s some shuffling and then stomping of feet down the obnoxious spiral staircase.
I watch the clock, waiting for a solid three minutes to pass then drag myself to stand, gliding my feet in the pair of slides I hid in the ridiculous shit Collins bought yesterday to help “raise my stature.”
Fucking, please.
He’s so clueless it’s unreal.
I turn to the gold trimmed mirror, glaring at myself.
The stupid girl who can’t stand the thought of letting go of the three she’s pushing away.
Oh, the irony behind the change of events.
I grab my backpack from the floor and drag it out with me, squaring my shoulders when I hit the last step.
Collins spins around, doing a double take. “What the fuck?”
He takes in the dark purple cashmere sweater dress he picked out, now cut down the sides and loosely tied back together to show my black tank underneath. His eyes fall to the ‘stockings’ he bought, now with strategically placed holes at the left outer and right upper thigh, disappearing under the material.
It’s also missing a few inches at the bottom now.
I didn’t curl my hair like he was hoping, but I did pull it back in a tight ponytail – only because it kept getting stuck to the fucking material.
He dared to ask me to cut off the blue tips, and I kindly told him to fuck off.
“That was a four-hundred-dollar dress.” He glares.
“That I told you not to buy. Besides, that’s chump change to you, right?”
He gets in my face. “I need you to look the fucking part. You agreed to this.”
“These people piss Armani and puke fucking Prada. They’ll smell a fucking foul ten miles away.”
I shake my head and move past him, but he grips my elbow and I jerk around, yanking free.
“I should let your punk ass make a fool of yourself!” I seethe.
His features tighten in question and I shake my head.
“Are you so unaware, you honestly think changing me to fit you will be convincing? That they’ll praise you or be jealous? Because they won’t. I may have agreed to all this to keep your rat bastard mouth shut, but don’t think for a fucking second, you’ve got it all figured out. Those boys? They know me.”
“Yeah, clearly they all do,” he tries to get in a dig, referring to the video.
I hold my head high and shrug. “Yeah, you’re right. All fucking three dropped to their knees ... for me. Thanks for reiterating my fucking point. They know me. They know how I think, what I need and when, and yeah, how I fucking like to be touched – completely irrelevant right now, but still true, dick. I’m not hiding that. I don’t need to, Collins, because the only people I give a shit about didn’t judge me for needing, and yeah, enjoying something they gave me. This is all about keeping people from finding out we were in your cabin while you partied only feet away, none the fucking wiser.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you,” I throw right back. “It’s like I said, they know me, and if I show up there only days after being at their side, now at yours, wearing a fucking dress and flats with curls in my hair and smile on my face, looking like another carbon copy of the basic bitches you’re used to, you’ll be eating cement quicker than you can say concede.”
“I’d never concede.”
“And I’d never conform,” I spit. “You want this believable, let me be me, because I’d never be anyone else for any-fucking-body. I may now be the untrustworthy bitch in their eyes, but they are far from dumb. Give them the credit they deserve. You’re only making a sucker of yourself if you don’t.”
I don’t bother waiting for a reply but turn and head for his little bitch car and slide inside.
He’s in his seat in the next few seconds. “At least you attempted to hide the bags under your eyes.”
Asshole.
I bounce on my feet and shake my body out, only to step in again for another combo.
The chain clashes against the beam, the punching bag bounding against my gloveless hands, the cracks at my knuckles ripping deeper, the blood trickling down my forearms and onto the rubber mat beneath my feet.
I keep going – one, two, uppercut. Left, right, kidney shot.
His cheek, his jaw, his fucking temple. Lights out, bitch.
My right knuckle splits completely open, and I clench my jaw, wrapping my arms around the punching bag to catch my breath.
I can’t fucking believe this shit.
Three damn days without seeing her and it feels like three damn years. Why or how we agreed to stay sitting fucking ducks, I have no idea.
It’s fucking torture.
“You ‘bout done, boy?”
My chin drops to my chest and my arms fall to my sides. I swing my glare toward the door, knowing my brothers are standing right behind her.
Really, fuckers?
“Nuh-uh, child,” Maybell reprimands and moves forward with a first aid kit. “Don’t be lookin’ at them like that. They did right, calling me. You look as bad as you did when you found out the green Power Ranger was leaving the show.”
I crack a smile despite my shitty mood and my brothers chuckle behind her.
She
smiles faintly, then waves her hand over her shoulder, signaling for Royce and Captain to shuffle into the room.
“Got some work done, I see.” She looks pointedly at the tattoo on my left pec, following the trail that wraps over my shoulder blade. It’s only half done – ten fucking hours in the chair. I had to pass the time somehow.
“I did. I just took the wrapping off last night.”
She winks and we all move to sit.
Maybell kneels in front of me and starts working on my hand with peroxide.
“So.” She peers up with an eyebrow raised. “She’s gone.”
“You heard he put Collins Graven at Brayshaw?” I ask even though I know the answer.
“I did.”
“You hear she left with him day one?”
Her hands pause their movements and I cut a quick glance at my brothers. They caught it too.
She didn’t know.
Our dad’s known to tell her everything, almost always before us, so, why would he keep this from her?
“Your father is a smart man,” she answers the question I didn’t have to ask. “If he’s being choosy about the information he shares, there is a reason. Believe that.”
“We do,” Captain tells her, but then shifts to frown out the window. “Problem is we didn’t expect this, and it doesn’t feel right. She’s not ... it just doesn’t feel right.” He licks his lips and stands, moving to the other side of the room.
Royce leans forward, his elbows on his knees.
“Boy?” Maybell calls him, wanting his thoughts, but he only continues to glare at his folded hands.
He shakes his head, giving nothing.
Maybell sighs and spreads some skin glue over my knuckles, patting me on the thigh as she stands. She stares. “Your old man tell you to do as you felt needed?”
I nod.
She gives a grim smile. “Well, seems there’s only one move at the moment.”
Cap spins around to look at her and Royce’s head raises. She looks from one to the next, settling on me. “Make her regret it.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Maybell lets out a little laugh and turns for the door. “Come on, boy. No need to fish for reassurance, it won’t take much to hit her where it hurts. No one knows that girl like you, maybe not even her. You boys are the only weapon that would work against her.”
Maybell throws away the soiled gauze and grabs a towel from the rack in the corner, moving toward the blood on the mat, but she stops before bending down and scowls at the three of us.
“Wash away the self-pity and stand tall, like you were born to do. I’ve watched you take down a corrupt judge and get a congressman to give up his seat, a seventeen-year-old girl will not break you.” Maybell’s eyes travel between us again. “Watch her when she can’t see you, force her hand when you need to. Make her think of you at every moment, every day – bet she already is. Stay in her face and get dirty if need be.”
“Why?” Royce asks her, and she looks to me.
My eyes bounce between hers, and I answer, “Because that’s what it’ll take.”
Royce pushes to his feet and Captain walks closer.
“To what?” Cap asks hesitantly.
My brows furrow and Maybell tips her chin.
I look to my brothers. “To break her.”
“Is that what you want to do?” Captain asks me, an angry glare he doesn’t try to hide behind his eyes. “You want to push her ‘til she falls?”
“And catch her on the way down, yeah.”
“And if she falls the wrong way?” Royce questions, unsure.
I clench my teeth together. Not an option. “Then we’ll make sure it hurts when she hits the ground.”
Captain pulls into the school and parks. “Look at these fucking people, standing around just waiting to see what happens next.”
Royce shakes his head, frowning. “We need to set shit right here, and quick.”
Captain glances my way and I jerk my chin, telling him to spit it out.
“You sure you’re up for this?”
“Up for what? This is our fucking school.”
“Yeah.” He nods with a glare. “And that’s your fucking girl who will be on the arm of a Graven. Collins fucking Graven,” he spits and my jaw clenches. “Like I said, you up for this?”
“I’ll snap his wrists, Cap.”
“And we’ll be right there to help you, my man, but we can’t ignore the fact that she made the choice. Do what you need to, but don’t forget where she slept this weekend.”
My eyes harden, and he shrugs, but his eyes show disappointment.
“You need to hear this, brother, who the fuck knows what’ll happen from here.” He eyes me.
“We already talked all this shit out, we go in there, treat her like the rest of them and play it by ear.”
“Yeah,” he nods. “I know we did, but I also caught the way your teeth started grinding the second we pulled into this parking lot, and the bounce of your knee, and the fists your hands are making right now.”
I throw my door open and climb out, turning back to lean in and grab my bag. “Point fucking taken.”
He gives a weak ass grin and they both follow my move.
We step in front of the SUV, Mac and Leo moving toward us as we do.
I look from Leo to the old Thunderbird he’s been driving. It’s a piece of shit, but still...
On a part-time paperboy’s salary?
“How long’d you have to save for that?” I jerk my chin toward the car but keep my eyes locked on Leo.
He shrugs, glancing back at it a moment. “‘Bout six months, but I’m making payments.”
I nod, shifting my eyes toward my brothers.
Royce looks from me to him, holding out his hand. “Badass, bro. Making it work.”
Could be true.
Mac steps in for props, right as Leo starts talking.
“That was some crazy shit at the rally the other day, huh?”
“We knew Collins was working his way in.” Royce shrugs and starts walking, so we all move with him, forcing Leo and Mac to stay behind or follow.
“But Raven, who would have thought,” the bastard keeps going, shaking his head.
“Every-fucking-body would have thought.” I swing a careful expression his way when I’d rather be pouring bleach down his throat for thinking he can speak freely on her. “She’s the daughter of a whore, what else would you expect? You really think we’d keep her around long?”
Acid lines my tongue at my own words, so I turn away before he sees the shift in my gaze.
“Speaking of whores,” Mac changes the subject, meeting my eyes a quick moment. “You guys hear Tisha Stevenson got caught sucking the judge’s dick at the cheer competition the varsity girls went to this weekend?”
“No shit?” Royce entertains him to help save face as Mac intended.
Leo gives a stiff laugh. “Yeah, we heard the coach walked in on it.”
Cap looks my way and I frown, following is stare when it shifts.
A group of girls stand in the middle of the hall chatting and I groan.
Fuck.
‘Course they’d all be ready and waiting day one.
I don’t bother covering my annoyance and keep toward my locker, but then laughter has me glancing down the hall in time to see Chloe step up to Mac and Leo and the others at the end of the hall.
Hmm...
I shift to Royce.
“Chloe?” He frowns, glancing down the hall and back, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
I shrug. “Why not let her run free on her, see if Raven cracks.”
“Not that I think Chloe’s brave enough to come hard at her, but this is Raven we’re talking about.” Captain glares. “She doesn’t crack.”
“Yeah, she cracks other motherfuckers.” Royce shakes his head, but then his attention is pulled down the hall and he frowns. “But if you wanna test the theory...” He looks back to me, anger and anxiousness taking
over his features. “Mask your face, brother. She just walked around the corner. With him.”
I slowly shift my body to face the direction he’s looking, and as if lava was injected in my veins, everything inside me burns.
My eyes trail over her and my fists clench. My mind has been so fucked I didn’t even stop to think about how all her shit is still at our house – he must have set her up with clothes.
Keeping my cool is fucking useless and a deep crease takes over my forehead.
She tried to make it here, but these people know money when they see it.
Her head lifts and her eyes hit mine, but she doesn’t falter, not even for a second.
The hairs at the base of my neck tingle and my shoulders grow taut.
My eyes snap to Collins and sure enough, the little bitch is staring right at me.
His smirk is slow, and so is his hand as he moves to wrap it around her waist.
Oh, so he wants to get his ass fucking kicked, does he?
Instantly, her eyes pop up to mine, but she doesn’t flinch at his foreign touch and she doesn’t kick him in his fucking nuts like my Raven would do.
No, she lets his fucking hand touch her.
I take a step forward, but Cap half blocks me with his shoulder, hissing, “Chill. Not yet.”
They pause in the hall, and Collins moves to open what must be his fucking locker, conveniently right across from Perkins’ office door.
I force my stare away when movement catches my eye, spotting Chloe headed right for me.
I look back to Raven who has her blank stare locked on the back of Chloe’s head, daring her to make a move, pathetically wishing she fucking would.
Chloe stops right in front of me, so I reluctantly look down.
She smirks. “Good game the other day, Maddoc.”
“We lost.”
She doesn’t falter – she also doesn’t give a shit about the game. “Maybe you feel like coming to the country club tonight? All the members have a benefit dinner across town, so it’ll just be a group of us there.” She steps closer and I let her, her tits brushing against my shirt.
I glance to Raven, finding her eyes now on mine.
I stare right at her as I move my arm, placing it exactly where Collins had his on her. I lick my lips knowing Raven is watching for it. “Maybe I will.”
Trouble at Brayshaw High Page 4