Always Crew

by Tijan

  Tabatha wasn’t a cheater.

  And that was on me. I should’ve seen through it. I hadn’t. I got suckered in, let my hurt feelings control me, my wounded ego and all that crap.

  “Hey!”

  I turned.

  A blue, glow-in-the-dark girl pushed through the crowd. Bren frowned at her, but I recognized her. She was one of the girls who texted me earlier. I gave her a nod. “What’s up?” “Hi.” She was out of breath, and I checked her out. She was wearing some weird toga sheet thing with the blue neon lights wrapped around her and looped around her neck.

  Bren was eyeing the lights around her neck, and I knew what she was thinking. Dumbass chick move. In a fight, she’d get choked out, but that was Bren for you.

  Cross moved in close to his girl, and I went back to eyeing this one. “Trina?”

  “Yeah.” She was almost preening, blinking. Her cheeks were rosy, I saw when she got closer to me. “Did you guys just get here?” She didn’t wait for my answer. Turning, she pointed to one of the houses. “My friends and I have a little table over there. We pulled out a picnic table, and there’s a bunch of us from our psych class.” She saw Cross and paused, blinking again, startled. “You’re in that class, too.”

  Cross didn’t reply, he had a hand on Bren’s hip.

  The girl was studying Bren now. “Are you in our class?”

  Bren started to smile, but I cleared my throat, speaking first, “You guys got booze over there?”

  Bren’s smile was one of her feral ones. I didn’t know why it was coming out, but this side of B was best dealt with extreme caution. I shot Cross a look and he nodded. He got it, too.

  “Oh.” Trina’s smile dimmed a little. “We don’t. I mean, we do, but not for others. My friend—”

  “Bitches!”

  Another girl came from the crowd, a whole group in tow. When Aspen came from the back, heading right for Bren, I remembered these girls. One was Aspen’s roommate, and the others were her floormates.

  “Hey, Bren!”

  Aspen went right up to Bren, the feral smile completely ignored, and she threw her tiny arms around her. Blaise’s girl was wearing the same toga-like costume, but a bikini top under it. Knowing how nuts Blaise was about his girl, I was sure she had shorts underneath as well. Not the Trina girl. It was clear she had no bra, and if I had to guess, maybe a thong? Maybe. Maybe not. And she was giving me a look saying that I’d be welcome to find out for myself.

  I shot her a grin, and her cheeks pinked.

  Then my phone buzzed, and I glanced to it.

  It was another girl from my communications class.

  Sonya: Red house! I see you. Come 2 me.

  “No fair.” The ‘bitches’ girl was scowling at me, nodding at my phone. “I haven’t fucked you. I get first dibs. No girl can cut in with a text.”

  Trina glared at her. “Excuse me?”

  The ‘bitches’ girl just moved in, putting herself between Trina and me. Her back to Trina and her front to me, and she smiled right up at me, making sure I got a good view of her cleavage. And that view looked damn good, too.

  She held her drink right in front of them, taking a slow sip, and being all sultry as she swallowed. “Aspen told me your situation. I don’t care. I like to have sex and I don’t think you’ll be scared of me. My reputation is already getting around.”

  Jesus. This girl.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Veronica.” She shot a glance under her eyelashes to her friends. “We could go and come back before Angeline starts giggling. I’m shocked she hasn’t started, to be honest, but between you and me, her tolerance level is getting better. Before she’d drink one wine cooler and the giggles would start.”

  I was thinking Angeline wasn’t the giggling girl I’d had at our house. Bren would not be down with that.

  I was eyeing Veronica, then moved to the rest of the girls. And nope. It was a different girl. I could tell which one was Angeline because she was staring into her drink, her shoulders shaking the whole time.

  “Too late.”

  Veronica looked and swore under her breath. “Aww, crap. Now Jade won’t let me leave to fuck you. I’m going to have to watch Angeline all night now.” With that said, she shoved aside a guy who had danced into our circle and went over to her friend, taking her drink away from her. She finished it for her, then took her hand and dragged her away.

  The other girl remained. She’d been over to the house once with Aspen.

  Jade? I was pretty sure that was her name, and she was eyeing me, too.

  I smirked at her. It was more a reflex by now.

  My phone buzzed again.

  Sonya: Are you coming?

  Sonya: No underwear. And it’s toga night. You do the math.

  I groaned, but then Jade had come over. I looked, but no Trina. She was gone, too.

  “Hey,” she said as she sipped her drink.

  Dark hair that was pulled back, off her face. Dark eyes. Nice, dark red lips. Pretty face. Fantastic fucking body. She wasn’t wearing the toga thing, but had on a tank top, a cute little frilly skirt, and a backpack. The backpack threw me.

  “Why the bag?”

  She snorted. “I bring my own drinks. You think I’m going to trust some fraternity with my intoxication? No, thank you.”

  I liked her. She was smart.

  “Your name is Jade?”

  Her eyes got big. She hadn’t expected that from me. She gulped, her head ducking a little. “Yeah. You’re Jordan.”

  “We in a class together?”

  She shook her head, a knowing smile tugging at her mouth. She moved her drink up, and I was getting irritated. I couldn’t see all of her mouth anymore and that was pissing me off.

  She said, a laugh in her tone, “There’s a trifecta thing going on with you. One, everyone knows Blaise DeVroe, so that means everyone knows who his near look-alike brother is. That means they all know you because you come with his brother. Two, you jumped Harper, and he’s a frat legacy, so that’s big. And three, you’re Jordan Pitts. You’re six-three and gorgeous. I don’t need to have a class with you to know who you are.”

  I inclined my head. “And you’ve been to the house, right?”

  She blushed. It spread all over her face.

  She almost spilled her drink, too. “I didn’t know you knew that.”

  I frowned, edging back. “You fuck Zellman?”

  More blushing. She went from a cute tan pink to full-fledged red. “No. God, no!”

  My frown deepened. “Nothing wrong with my boy.”

  “No. Oh my God. I know. And no, I mean—” She stopped, swallowed, and then drank the rest of her drink.

  Aspen had moved back to us, a drunk smile on her face. She was swaying to any of the music hitting us from the houses. Take your pick. “Hi, guys.” She tipped her head back, her eyes closed, and kept on swaying.

  Bren moved in next to her. “Aspen.”

  “Hmm?”

  Aspen did not stop swaying, open her eyes, or even look at Bren. The girl was in her own time zone.

  Bren frowned at me. “She’s wasted.” She turned to Jade. “Where’s Blaise?”

  Jade shrugged, some of the blush was fading. “This is a girls’ night. Boyfriends are not allowed.” She eyed Cross, who was keeping a look out at this point. “You’re not officially on our girls’ night.” Her eyes skirted to me. That blush was coming back. “But flirting is totally okay.”

  I was remembering that Veronica girl. I was guessing flirting and fucking were okay on girls’ night?

  My phone cut in again.

  Sonya: Too late. Offer’s been rescinded.

  Christ. Who was this girl?

  Jade leaned in, yelling over the music. “I know you dated Tabatha Sweets. Everyone knows.”

  I scowled, putting my phone away. “You’re offering a pity fuck?”

  Her eyes bulged out. “No! No.” She eased back, starting to glare at me. “Who do you think y
ou are?”

  I snorted. “According to you, you know exactly who I am.”

  Bren’s hand came to my arm. She was frowning at me, taking in the conversation.

  I rolled my eyes and ducked down, saying close to her ear, “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Instead of fucking, I think I’m spoiling for a fight.”

  Her hand tightened on my arm, and for a second, I thought it was because she wanted one, too. Bren usually did, but she didn’t reply, and she wasn’t looking at me now. Her gaze was trained past me, and her hand just tightened again.

  I looked and groaned.

  We had incoming.

  Harper was leading the charge, with six other guys behind him. Zeke Allen was included.

  In these moments, I always knew what I was going to do. Back up my crew, but I glanced at Bren and then to Cross. He was watching his girl, too. We shared a look, thinking and knowing the same thing.

  Bren was the one spoiling for a fight.

  Our little feral she-wolf was about to come out and play, and I was going to love it.

  CROSS

  Me: We have trouble incoming. Tell me your guy found Harper’s mom?

  There was no answer.

  They were coming. Bren was primed. Jordan was ready.

  We either needed to go or we’d be able to do what we’d always done.

  BREN

  Tim Harper was coming toward us.

  Some people noticed, stopping to watch. Some were too drunk and kept on partying. I skimmed the rest of his group, my gaze landing on Zeke. He fell to the back, and he kept glancing down. If I were to guess, he was sending the call out to Blaise. With Aspen as blitzed as she was, Harper actually seeking us out, and from the look on his face, he wanted to fight, so I was saying no matter what, we were fighting. One, Blaise would start it if it already weren’t going by the time he got here, and two, I wanted it.

  I’d been sidelined for two weeks, and while I hated what I did to Harper, I couldn’t deny that it had woken something up in me. Something that’d been sleeping. The old Bren, but I knew now that I couldn’t keep suppressing her.

  I needed the old me and the new me to merge. If I didn’t allow it, I didn’t want to think of the consequences, but Harper was coming right at me and the old Bren was rallying.

  He was a bully. He was coming to push his weight around, show off his power, hoping to intimidate us. He was mistaken.

  I lowered my head, locking it in place, and just like that, Cross and Jordan got into place beside me. I heard Jordan bend down, telling Aspen’s friend to move her back and away…far away.

  “Why?”

  He replied, “Just trust me. Her boyfriend will flip his shit if she’s here.”

  Zeke looked up then, also noting the interaction. He watched, and then tracked Aspen as she was moved back into the crowd. Once she was clear, he seemed to take a breath and his shoulders relaxed a little bit more. He looked down, and again, I was betting money he sent off another text to reassure his boy.

  But then the last of the crowd moved aside, and Harper was now standing in front of us.

  I waited, expecting it.

  His gaze skimmed over me, going above and over my head to Jordan. He sniffed, actually sniffed. “You’ve been banned—”

  He didn’t acknowledge me.

  He didn’t look at me.

  He didn’t speak to me.

  He was scared of me.

  He was still speaking, “—from all fraternity and sorority events.”

  Jordan scoffed. “This is a street party.”

  “It’s a fraternity event.”

  Jordan shot back, “It’s a street, asshole.”

  I looked at Zeke, seeing his gaze solely on me.

  Before, he always had a smirk, something smug to say. Not this time. He was sober, somber even, and he was staring right at me. I tilted my head to the side, and he didn’t react. He didn’t break eye contact.

  I frowned at him.

  Still. No reaction from him, except his eyes danced to Cross and back to me. He looked again, off in the direction Aspen had been taken, and he nodded, letting out a noticeable breath.

  Cross moved so the back of his hand grazed mine. He always did that in these times. Sometimes it was to hold me back, sometimes to give me strength, sometimes to anchor himself, but this time, as I looked at him, he gave the slightest nod. This time, it was to let me out of my cage.

  He showed me his phone’s screen.

  Channing: We got her. Whatever you’re going to do, be safe. Don’t let Bren get arrested or I’ll toss you in jail myself.

  I gave him a smile, and he hissed under his breath, but he grinned back. He knew what he was doing.

  “Harper…” I made sure there was a taunt in my voice.

  He froze for a second before looking at me. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he raised his chin up. “Yeah?”

  I settled back on my heels, getting comfortable. “Remember me?”

  It was a matter of time before he talked. I was controlling it. I was deciding when it happened, and it was happening now.

  Harper didn’t respond, but I got distracted. Just for a moment.

  Beyond him, farther in the crowd was a girl. I frowned, moving to the side for a better view. Kess Foster. She was a blast from the past, the only other girl in the crew system back at Roussou. Her hair caught my attention first, it was like a beacon at times. Almost pure white, but her eyes were the other recognizable attribute. They were like an ice blue color. Sometimes I swore they were grayish white, but she was looking through the crowd. Seeing me, frowning, her eyes narrowed, she started toward me.

  Kess was like that.

  Her crew had been small, and one of the ones that most forgot was even a crew, but that hadn’t been her fault. It’d been her crew’s fault. Still. She came from crew roots. She scoped out the situation and was coming to help.

  That was, until a guy moved ahead of her.

  She stopped, still frowning, and looked up.

  The guy—he seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Dark hair. Blue eyes that almost matched Kess’, but not quite. A brother? I didn’t remember if Kess had any other siblings, but no. There was an air about them, about them both. He moved into her, also looking at us, but he wasn’t looking at me.

  He was watching Harper, and seeing who Harper was talking to—now he saw me and he saw me watching him. That was enough. He grimaced, swearing under his breath (not hard to read lips when someone says ‘fuck’) and then two guys walked past them, and they were gone.

  I looked but couldn’t see them.

  That was… odd.

  “We want you gone.”

  I tuned back in. Harper was taking the charge, motioning for Jordan to leave.

  The guys around Harper were rallying, moving in as if they were going to physically force Jordan from the premises.

  Cross growled, moving to meet them.

  And that was my cue. I went, too, reaching for an old friend of mine. I pulled out my knife. It’d been a graduation gift from Cross. A little wolf had been carved into the handle. I loved it, I now slept with it at my bedside, but it accomplished its desired effect.

  The old Bren was here and pushing to join the fight. She wanted out of her cage.

  I smiled.

  They stopped in their tracks at the knife, but the smile, a smile that I knew was eerie, sent them edging backwards.

  Harper didn’t move. His gaze was transfixed on my knife and he paled, his jaw slackening.

  What happened next, I’d think back on later.

  I’d wonder if we continued how we were going, what would happen. If we would’ve contained the situation, scared the guys off, and Jordan could’ve stayed and had a good night, or if things would have inevitably turned bad anyway?

  In a way, maybe it didn’t matter?

  Because what did happen was chaos. Then again, I was learning that’s what happened when Cross’ brother joined the mix, and as I was noting
Harper’s feared response to me, there was a commotion to the side. People were talking. Conversations were loud. A couple shouts, and then Blaise arrived in a rush. He was a force, like a pin being taken to a balloon, and at his presence, Harper was pulled out of his trance.

  His eyes went feral—it was eerie to see it in someone else—and he growled. He lunged for Blaise, actually lunged.

  “You motherfucker!” His hands were up, going for Blaise’s throat.

  Someone knocked him around. Their body pushed in, giving him a hard hit to the side, and as Harper caught himself, rubbing at his face, he looked. Another snarl started to form. At this point, his frat brothers had moved to form half a circle, but they weren’t engaging.

  I thought they would. That was something I would wonder about later, too. If it would’ve been a fight between us and Harper’s frat, but Blaise showed up, and his presence flipped everything upside down.

  That body who had stepped in to block Harper? That was Zeke, and he was standing in front of his best friend, his hands in fists, and he was staring down at Harper like he was a bull getting ready to charge.

  “You fucking kidding me?” Admonishment from Harper.

  Zeke’s nostrils were flaring. His neck was locked and getting red. “You tried to throw me out of the house.”

  Harper snapped upright. His gaze went over Zeke’s shoulder to Blaise, then scanned the rest of us and he looked at his friends. He turned back, losing some of his fight. His hand fell from his face. “Zeke. It was a conflict of interest. Even you have to admit that. I mean, look.” He gestured to Blaise. “Your best friend wants to ruin my life.”

  Blaise smirked. “Because you make it so easy. Keep being a douche, and I’ll continue trying to ruin you.”

  “Shut the fuck up!”

  Blaise rolled his eyes. “I made a promise, just seeing that promise out.” He put a hand on Zeke’s shoulder and walked around him, taking point. His head angled down, getting in Harper’s face. “Look around you, bro. None of your guys are backing you against Zeke. Think on that.” He tapped the side of his head, and he reached forward.