Blaine (West Norton Boys Series Book 2)

by Dawn Doyle

  I flicked my eyes to Nate when Charlie handed him the joint. He was staring too. Not like Charlie, who’d been there when old man droopy balls had given me shit for no reason. Nate’s eyes were slightly narrowed, his dark pupils seeming to blacken in the dim light of the corner seat he sat in. He had a resting bitch face that could freeze Satan’s asshole.

  “What?” I snapped, throwing my arms out to the sides.

  Nate’s mouth turned down for a second. “Nothing, Blaine. Nothing at all.”

  “Then why the fuck are you looking at me like you can’t fucking wait to get rid of me?”

  The prick was testing me beyond my limits. I’d come back because they’d apologized for being douche’s, but Nate hadn’t. He was the one who was ice fucking cold toward me, still not saying much to me on the days that we would all get together. All he fucking did was stare, look away, then go somewhere for something he had to take care of. Yeah, nobody questioned Nate, but the second I had to leave, the questions came thick and fast.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Do you have a hit arranged?’

  ‘Why don’t you tell us anything anymore?’

  It was times like these that I questioned the whole fucking reason we were in the same room together. He didn’t want me here, and I didn’t want to be made to feel like I was somebody he tolerated because of the others. And they did shit about it.

  “Blaine,” Luca said, beginning to stand from Lucian’s lap, but I cut her off.

  “Nah.” I shook my head. “Fuck it, I’m outta here. I’d rather spend a couple of hours with the old bastard than here with him staring at me like I’m a constant disappointment.”

  I get enough of that already, and I don’t need it here, too.

  Nate blew a long, slow stream of smoke out of his mouth, his eyes not leaving mine, his emotionless face not wavering when I balled my hands into fists.

  “You’re not,” Brady said, moving quickly to stand in front of me, then turned around. “Nate, what the fuck?”

  Nate shrugged. “You should go, Blaine. Your grandpa won’t be around for much longer.” He wiggled his fingers at me. “Have fun.”

  “You asshole!” I yelled, surging forward, but found myself restrained by Brady and Lucian. “Get the fuck off of me!”

  “Calm down,” Lucian growled into my ear. “It’s no use getting pissed, Blaine.”

  “Why are you so touchy?” Charlie asked, taking his turn to stand. “What the hell’s gotten into you?” When I glared at Nate, Charlie glanced at him over his shoulder, then back at me. “Do you need to blow off steam? Should I source a ride for you? I can do that tonight.”

  I barked a dry laugh. “Yeah, cos that solves everything,” I sneered. “I’m not a fucking kid that needs to be pacified. If I wanted a hit, I’d do it myself. I don’t need you to hold my goddamn hand!”

  “See? You should go,” Nate said, standing up and walking toward me.

  Adrenaline powered through my veins as he neared, and all I wanted to do right then was to tear his fucking head off. It wouldn’t do any good, though.

  “Go to hell,” I spat, still struggling against the guys. Charlie ran his hand over his head, and Luca had hers over her mouth, her glistening eyes looking between us.

  I calmed instantly when tears ran down her cheeks. “Shit, Luca, I’m sorry,” I apologized.

  “We’re going to let you go now, Blaine, but if you dare go for him, I’ll have no choice but to take you down,” Lucian said.

  I nodded once. “I’m good.” No doubt Brady had picked up some moves since he was always at the gym with him, so it wouldn’t just be me hitting the floor.

  They released me, and I fixed my jacket where it had fallen from my shoulders, my eyes snapping back to Nate. “Sorry again, Lu,” I said without turning to her. “It won’t happen again.”

  Nate took another pull of the joint, lazily sucking the end and inhaling as much as he could. He tipped his head back and exhaled, the white cloud billowing up. “Go to the party and tell us how it went,” he said, doing a fucking one-eighty.

  “I’m telling you shit.” I barged past him, violently bumping his shoulder as I went, not missing his deep chuckle as I walked out of the door and Lucian asking him why the fuck he was goading me. I didn’t give a shit, though, because whatever it was, Nate wouldn’t say; he never did. The fucking weirdo only spoke on his terms.

  I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone, stabbing the screen with my finger. I began keying in a text when Charlie came out of the house, hopping down the step and jogging toward me.

  “Hey, fuck face,” he said, reaching me and gripping my arm. “Stop with the bullshit, okay?”

  I lowered my hand. “What bullshit?”

  He tilted his head to the side, then blew out a long breath. “Fuck, Blaine, we know about Robyn.”

  I froze, clenching my jaw and taking a moment to think about what I wanted to say before I said something that would put our friendship down the toilet. Nate could go to hell, but Charlie had had my back more times than he ever did. “And what’s that?”

  He let go of me. “That you like her.” He let out a long sigh and lifted his own phone, scrolling for a few seconds before sharing the camera shot of me inside the coffee shop, talking to Robyn. “We were worried about you. You keep taking off, sometimes for days, and I got a little…suspicious.”

  I folded my arms over my chest, gritting my teeth as I tightened my arms. “Seriously?” What the fuck? If he looked too close he could find out about everything, then all of them would be at risk. He had to shut that shit down before he got someone hurt, and I had to make him do so without him knowing. “Don’t you trust me, Charlie?”

  He ran his hand through his long hair. “It’s hard, but we’re trying,” he admitted. “Come on, Blaine, you were supposed to give that shit up, or at least tone it down. We haven’t helped to dump a ride for you in a long time; not since Nate.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t need help, that’s why. I can do whatever I need to do on my own.”

  “So you are still boosting by yourself?” he asked, and when I said nothing in return, he shook his head. “Fuck, Blaine.”

  I stepped closer to him. I was two inches taller than him, my extra height making me look down a little. “I always did, unless it was for the big ladies, you know that. The ones I take are simple, easy, and sent home without a scratch on their asses, so give me a fucking break…Dad.” I hated that word. I hadn’t seen mine since the day he left, and I was so fucking glad. My mom had never talked about why, and I was past caring. He’d chosen to leave, so he wasn’t worth thinking about.

  “Whatever, dickhead. The point I’m making is that we know that the reason you’re on the other side of town is that there’s a girl and not the kind with four wheels. Don’t fucking deny it, because we’ve been taking more shit from this Mica guy because we didn’t give him any dirt on you. You’ve been in that coffee shop a few times”—he pointed to the house—“once with Luca, and I bet all the money in my wallet that you’re planning on going there in the near future.”

  I tore my eyes away from him, turning my head toward my car. “Fucking spying on me again.” I had to find a way to get them off my back and to make sure Mica got his fucking facts straight about Robyn. She was mine, and the sooner he got that through his thick head, the better it would be for him. I just had to sort out a few things before I could see her again. Before I put my meticulous plan into action, I had a couple of days to make sure she knew that too, and I planned on leaving her with no doubt that I wanted every part of her. “What the fuck does this have to with Nate?” I asked, coming out of my determined thoughts.

  Charlie smirked. “Go to the party, dude. You’re gonna be late.”

  He turned and walked away, jogging up the step and disappearing inside the house where he shut the door.

  “Fucking assholes,” I grunted, then got in my car. I was gonna have t
o go and put up with more shit tonight, and I wasn’t in any mood to bite my tongue.

  I pulled out my phone and looked at the half message I’d started.

  ‘Hey, Robyn. Are you’

  I wanted to ask if she was working, and if she said she was, I would maybe hang around outside to catch her leaving like I did at the coffee shop.

  Well, my plans were fucked, because as a text came from my mom asking where I was, a knife twisted in my gut. I wouldn’t let her down, not again, so if she needed me to be there, I was gonna suck it up and stop being a fucking kid with a bad attitude.

  Chapter 7

  Blaine

  The dark clouds loomed overhead as I drove up toward the retirement home. The creepy atmosphere, filled with impending doom and promises of torment, weighed down on me.

  “Fuck,” I groaned as I parked up behind my mom. I was over an hour late, and I was gonna get an earful when I got inside, and not just from her. “I don’t have the patience for this shit—not today.” I slumped my shoulders and got out of the car, shoving my hands into my jeans pockets as I walked to the entrance, my low tie swinging in the light breeze.

  Fucking shirts and ties. I didn’t mind making an effort any other time but knowing that even if I were rocking an Armani custom suit worth fifty grand, it wouldn’t make a fucking difference to my grandpa. Nothing I did cracked a smile on his face…ever. I was wasting my time being here, I knew that, but it wasn’t for him.

  The quiet hallway had different colored balloons stuck to the corners of paintings of meadows, the same shit I’d seen since Grandpa had moved in here four years ago.

  “There you are!”

  I looked up at the sound of my mom’s voice, her eyes wide and her brows lifted. “Hi, Mom. Sorry I’m late.”

  “I was about to call you again. Where have you been?”

  “I got caught up with the guys. We were having fun, and I guess I lost track of time.” I smiled, and she relaxed.

  “You have such good friends,” she said, hugging me. “It’s a pity you couldn’t invite them along.”

  I stiffened, trying to hide my reaction. Even if it were possible, there was no way I was gonna ask any of them here, and I never would. Charlie had been there to witness the reason why, and I didn’t want any more questions like tonight.

  “They’d be here in a heartbeat,” I replied, pulling out of the hug. “You know how they’re supportive—they’re cool guys.”

  I turned to look away from her, hating that I was lying to her as usual. She didn’t need my shit on her shoulders, and I certainly didn’t need the damn stress.

  “Aww, they’re good boys,” she said, beaming at me and patting my chest. “Now come on through, you’ve missed so much. Lauge has some delicious cookies his great-niece brought in.” She winked and bumped her hip into me before saying in a sing-song voice, “And they’re chocolate chip.”

  I held back a sarcastic comment and cheerleader-style leap in the air. Instead, I held my head up and said fuck all. It was the only way I could get through this night, but keeping my mouth shut wasn’t my strong point. And as the door opened in front of me, and the one guy that made my skin crawl slowly turned around, I knew, right then, shit was going to go down.

  “This is my son, Blaine.” My mom introduced me to some of my grandpa’s friends who smiled, said hi and shook my hand.

  A man in a wheelchair looked up at me, and his head cocked to the side. “Hello, young man. The name’s Lauge. Have we met before?” he asked with a thick New York accent.

  “No, sir, we haven’t,” I replied, glancing at my grandpa as he stood, gripping his shiny new walking frame. Yeah, he hadn’t paid for that fancy shit himself.

  He grimaced but said nothing. That was a good fucking thing because if he so much as said one damn insult, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. My temper was already nearing max levels, and my blood was at boiling point. Sure, it was Nate who’d set the furnace alight, Charlie had stoked it a little, but the old man’s glare had me fucking raging inside, the flames only getting higher as his stare teased them to the surface.

  “Then you need to make your visits frequent,” the guy said, taking my hand and patting it while shaking it. “I think my great niece would take a liking to a good-looking man like you.”

  Yeah, I bet she would, but there’s only one girl I can think about right now.

  His face was wrinkled, but when he looked up at me, I saw something I’d never seen in a man’s eyes in a long fucking time. Warmth. The guy’s smile was genuine, and I returned it, widening into a grin when he did.

  I looked up when I spotted a pale blue skirt over the other side of the room at one end of the bar. I pulled my hand away, then started moving from my mom’s side. “Nice to meet you, but I have to go speak to someone. Excuse me.”

  My heart thudded hard as I approached her, my breaths slowing down and deepening at the same time. When I reached her, I darted my hand out and gripped her elbow, tugging her around to face me with enough force to make her almost crash into my chest. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I spat, stepping dangerously close to the person that I never expected to show up in this city, or anywhere for that matter.

  “Blaine, hi,” Darcy said, flicking her hair over her shoulder, the dark curls longer than the last time I saw her. “This is a nice surprise. Whatever brings you here?” Her mouth formed a lazy smile, and her eyes looked me up and down as she did. I wanted to throw her out of the damn room.

  I scanned the surrounding faces for anybody paying close attention to us. “Don’t think you can use those same fucking tactics on me that you used on Lucian,” I growled, closing enough of the space between us so only she could hear me over the rock n’ roll music. “I know what you’re tryna do, and it won’t fucking work.”

  She smirked, her eyes narrowing into sly slits. “What am I trying to do, Blaine?” she asked. “I’m here for the party as usual. It’s just a different type of party.” She slowly licked her bright red lips, trapping her tongue between her teeth before pulling it back in.

  Her dad was still in custody after being denied bail, about to be sentenced for running the illegal fights Lucian had been involved in, amongst other things. Murphy's and the other murders were harder to prove, but Luca’s dad had enough evidence to put that bastard away for a long fucking time.

  “If your reason for being here is to set my nerves on edge—keep me in line—then it won’t fucking work. My plans are in action and will be carried out as usual, so you can fuck off.”

  She placed her disgusting hand on my shoulder, causing the skin there to shudder, an instant recoil reflex from her poisonous touch. “I’m not here for that, honey. Are you still mad at me for the whole pit thing?”

  Was she actually fucking serious? “Mad at you?” I scoffed, then shook my head. “You’re a fucking murderer.” Giving Murphy spiked water then trying to do the same to my friend… Yeah, she was responsible all right, and to stand there and smile about it was like signing her own fucking death warrant.

  Her smile slipped. “I had nothing to do with that, and there was no evidence proving the fact. What my father did, and had me do, was out of my control.”

  How the fuck did she figure that one out?

  I got up in her face, our noses almost touching. “Bullshit,” I seethed. “Now get the fuck out of here before I make a call to my friends. They would just love to know you’re in town.”

  Darcy flicked her hair back again, then licked over her lips once more while squaring her shoulders. “Just make sure you have the delivery complete by Friday night, Blainey babe,” she sneered. “My dad might be bad, but Eddie is so much worse.” She walked by me, stopping by my shoulder and leaning toward me. “I guess your little escapades all those years ago affected you more than what your friends thought.” She snorted, then her lips touched the shell of my ear as she lifted up onto her toes and fired my words back at me. “Call your friends. I’m sure they’d just love to know wh
y I showed up here of all places.”

  I bit my tongue as she left and didn’t move a fucking muscle, even though I wanted so goddamn much to go after her and yell and curse at the top of my burning lungs, getting everything out until she was nothing but a sniveling mess in the corner like her family had done to me. Seeing my friend fighting for his life was one of the worst fucking moments I’d ever experienced, and she was one of the causes of it; she was the one who attempted to have him join Murphy in the ground.

  I was gonna end that fucking family if was the last thing I did.

  Robyn

  The pretty brunette walked away, but the look on Blaine’s face showed he wasn’t happy with whatever she’d said to him. Who was she? An ex? Whoever she was to him, she’d left him looking like he was ready to kill. His fists were clenched, his jaw tight, and a look in his eyes that was so different than what I’d seen before, and the one I’d seen the last time we were together. Then they’d been soft, hypnotic, and drew me in like a magnet to the poles.

  “Who is that?” Ella asked beside me as I sipped on my soda. “He’s gorgeous.” I turned to her and stared, not saying anything but trying to communicate with my eyes. Her voice deepened with disbelief as she said, “No.”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “That’s the guy you picked up?”

  “Yeah.” I looked back at Blaine, who hadn’t moved from where he’d been speaking to the young woman.

  “Then why the hell are you standing here?” She took my drink out of my hand and pushed me away from the bar. “Go and speak to him, or I will.” I opened my mouth to say something, but she cut me off. “Go. Mica’s out of the room, so take your chance while you’re free from his shadow.”

  Those words got my feet moving. Mica had been everywhere I was, and it was beginning to creep me out. He’d been there, trying to make conversation with Uncle Lauge when I brought him some food, only to be speaking to Lauge’s friends when I brought over a tray of drinks for them. Usually, he never made such an effort with any of the other residents, so to see him behaving that way was worrying.