“We need to move her and get you checked out, too,” a voice said.
Luis looked away to the paramedic now hovering over me. “Be careful with her.”
I felt Luis's touch leave my face, and then I was being lifted and put into the back of an ambulance. I passed out as soon as the doors shut.
Pain was a funny thing. On the one hand, it let you know that you were alive—that you survived. On the other hand, it fucking sucked to feel.
Broken collarbone, sprained wrist, concussion, and two broken teeth. My head trauma from the car wreck was pretty bad, but I wasn’t nearly as bad off as the guys.
Godfrey and Luis were discharged yesterday with stab wounds that they played off as being caused by the wreck. The police didn’t buy it, but I was certain that they were willing to accept the fat check that Luis wrote as a “donation” to not ask any more questions.
Between the two of them, they had bruised ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a few broken fingers, and mild concussions. Bonham was in the room beside mine, and he’d already had three surgeries to try and repair the damage to his foot. When the police came to question him about the obvious gunshot wound, he claimed that he’d stolen Rogue’s father’s gun and it had gone off during the collision.
Johnny Jack’s body was left inside his car alongside his driver, already burning to a crisp by the time the fire truck showed up. Rocco and his guys were long gone, and his name never passed our lips. As far as the hospital or cops knew, he was just a doting father to his injured daughter who’d been in the car with me.
And then there was Rogue.
I took a shaky breath, the sound mingling with the beeping machines as I watched him. I had every bruise memorized. Every cut. The deep discoloration of his skin. The fourteen stitches lining his skull. With dry eyes, I assessed every inch of the man I loved. I’d snuck in here an hour ago, right after my nurse did one of her nightly checks.
Mama had left hours ago. She’d been opting to go home to her bed rather than to stay with me at nights. I wasn’t surprised. She put on a good show, crying for the nurses when I woke up. I knew she cared for me, but her reaction felt hollow, and I was too exhausted to play pretend with her. My daddy was conveniently in the Bahamas with his girlfriend again, so he was off the hook as far as hospital visits. He sent a bouquet of flowers and a “Get well soon” balloon in lieu of himself.
My fingers curled around Rogue’s as I studied him. He was nearly unrecognizable. His face was mottled with bruises, a neck brace surrounded his neck, and for the first two days, he’d had such bad head trauma that they’d kept him in a medically induced coma until the swelling went down. He’d only woken up twice since then, once for a few minutes with the doctor, and once earlier tonight, when I’d been in my room.
I let my finger trace along the edge of his hand, needing to keep feeling him. Every time the nurse dragged me back to my own private room, my heart started racing with panic again. It only settled if I could be with him. Every time I shut my eyes, I saw the look on his face while I’d been dragged away, helpless to stop the men breaking his body.
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly called the hospital often to check in on their son. They didn’t bother to take the eight hour flight from London, though. They’d argued that they just couldn’t break away from the lucrative oil deal they were in the process of negotiating. I wasn’t sure I even knew what the Kelly’s looked like anymore. It had been a good few years since they bothered to be home with their son, and it infuriated me that they wouldn’t come even now. They loved money more than their own blood, and it made me sick.
I must’ve dozed off, because the next thing I knew, something woke me up. Blinking the sleepy haze from my eyes, I looked over to see Bonham beside me, sitting in his wheelchair. His foot was bandaged thickly from his toes to his knee, propped up and looking about twice the size of his other leg. Of course, because he was Bonham, he wasn’t wearing the blue hospital gown that I was stuck in. Nope, he was in a pretty collared shirt and khaki shorts, like he was ready to go out golfing.
“Hey,” I croaked, picking my head up. My collarbone shrieked in pain, but I gritted my teeth.
Bonham flicked his eyes over to me. “Hey.”
“I couldn’t sleep in my room,” I admitted, carefully releasing Rogue’s hand to adjust my arm sling.
Bonham nodded, like he understood. “Yeah.”
I studied him for a moment, noting the dark circles under his eyes. His dark blonde hair wasn’t combed perfectly to the side, and instead was a disheveled mess.
“How are you?” I asked, but before he could open his mouth to feed me bullshit, I cut him off. “I’m not your mama or daddy. It’s me asking, Bonham. I wanna know how you are.”
He snorted out a breath but it turned into a long, frustrated sigh, and he dropped his hand to his knee, barely touching the edge of the bandages. “I might be a fucking cripple, Scar. I might never get out of this goddamn chair. How do you think I am?”
Using my free hand, I placed it on his other knee and squeezed. “Listen to me, Bonham Brodie. You’re going to be fine. Your daddy has the best doctors in the country flying out this week to operate on you. They’ll fix you,” I said firmly.
“And if they don’t?” He asked the question quietly, while looking down at his lap. It killed me how broken he looked, like for the first time, his confidence in himself had slipped, and he didn’t know what to do about it. The Heirs were always so sure of themselves. Always so strong. And right now, when they couldn’t be, I resolved to step in and be strong for them. Because that’s what friends did for each other.
I moved my hand to grip his, and I squeezed his fingers. “If they don’t, then you’ll be fine then, too. You’re still you, Bonham. You’ll get through this, and we’ll help you,” I promised. “You guys are the motherfucking Heirs. Something like this can’t keep you down.”
Like they just materialized from nowhere, Luis and Godfrey strolled in right then, both carrying chocolate and various sacks of fast food. Their swagger was taken down a few notches with Luis's sling and Godfrey’s limp, but when I saw them, I beamed.
“Figured you’d be tired of this fucking hospital food,” Godfrey grumbled before putting the expensive box of chocolates on the bed in front of me. I grinned at the wrapping. Godfrey might have been a hardass, but he spoke the love language of chocolate.
“How’d you get it past Nurse Marcy? That lady is brutal,” I said with a shiver.
“We’re the motherfucking Heirs,” Luis parroted before pulling out a burger and tossing it to Bonham. With a cocky smirk, he dragged an empty chair over and kicked it next to Rogue’s bed. “By the way, Bonham, I’ve been thinking. If you get stuck in that chair, chicks can just sit on your dick whenever the fancy strikes,” Luis joked.
Bonham cracked a hint of a smile and shook his head at his friend. “Shut the fuck up, dude.”
We stayed quiet for a long time after that. The only noises were the crumpling of wrappers and the sound of us chewing alongside the beeps of Rogue’s machines as we sat in the shadowed room. When the nurse finally came in to kick us out, Luis just reminded her that his mama owned the damn hospital, so we’d do whatever the fuck we wanted.
They brought in four rollaway beds after that.
Forty
Rogue
Six Months Later
The white dress that Scar was wearing did nothing for her figure. It was a giant thing, swallowing her body with ruffles and frills that was so completely unlike her that I kept looking at her scowling expression to make sure that it was actually her. I also kept looking at Clay fucking Hammond who kept putting his hand on her back like it belonged there.
Scar and I fought and fucked a good three times before I agreed to letting him be her date to this damn thing. I would have given up much sooner, but my girl liked me good and angry. What Scarlett wants, she gets. I wore a suit and tie, had dress shoes on my feet and a toothpick in my mouth as I watched the ridiculous cotillion cerem
ony that the Junior Debutante League put on.
The girls strutted across the stage, their names were announced, and then they all danced to a song that made me yawn. I bet there were at least a dozen older men stroking themselves in the pocket of their suit pants. It was all about pomp and circumstance, two things Scarlett was not. She looked cringeworthy, stumbling over her feet and reaching for the wrong fork at dinner, and damn if it didn’t make me love her even more.
I caught her eye from across the room, and she winked at me over the rim of her glass. I’d noticed Clay pour some amber liquid into her drink from a flask. Just what she needed, alcohol to help with her confident awkwardness.
I loved that she wasn’t good at this. I loved that I could freely love her without ever having to worry that she was using me. Catching my glance from across the room, she nodded her head to the side of the ballroom where a shadowed alcove led to a hallway. My dick instantly grew hard at the idea of having her alone. I already wanted to tear that ridiculous dress from her perfect body, but my desire to cup her ass with my palm grew tenfold. I stood, dropping the napkin in my lap on the fine china before strutting towards the place she indicated.
She was anxious to follow after me. For a gymnast, she sure was clumsy on her heels. I got back a chuckle as I watched her speed walking after me like she’d combust if she didn’t get to me fast enough. We’ve always been addicted to one another, but it’s gotten worse since I got discharged from the hospital. When she was near, we always looked for excuses to touch, excuses to sneak off and explore. I just wanted the constant reminder that she was really there—really looking into my eyes, safe and sound.
From the hidden alcove, I watched her wind around people talking and dancing, and as soon as she neared, my hand shot out, and I pulled her around the corner and pinned her to the wall, my body pressing against hers. Fucking frills and all.
Out of breath, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close for a kiss. I obliged her, tasting the sticky gloss on her lips. I preferred her without the stuff, but I’d take whatever I could get. “I know as your boyfriend that I’m supposed to say you look beautiful, but this dress is terrible,” I said while pulling back to take a good look at her. “It looks like some fucking cheap ass tissue paper exploded on you and had an orgy with some doilies.”
She pretended to look offended, but I saw the twinkle in her eyes. “Rogue Kelly, take that back right now. I am a lady, and I won’t be taking that sort of insult from you,” she said in a tone that mocked Bonham’s mother. She completed the teasing tone by throwing a shocked hand to her chest, drawing my attention once again to how the disgusting dress covered up her tight, perfect body.
We laughed for a minute, and I enjoyed how fucking freeing it felt to be best friends again. The sex was off the charts hot, but having her carefree side was what I loved most. Having her by my side, smiling with me, trusting me again—it was the best fucking feeling in the world.
When I saw her face slip into something I’d heard that asshole Clay call her “running eyes,” I immediately went on high alert.
“What’s wrong?” I turned to look around the corner for the threat, like Johnny Jack was suddenly going to come back from the grave and fuck with us again. It was hard letting go of that constant anxiousness, especially since Godfrey has been mixed up with Rocco’s daughter ever since the accident. He swore there was nothing going on between them, but I smelled a lie. Hell, I knew exactly what it looked like to hide feelings for a girl.
Scarlett grabbed my arm, pulling me out of my intense scope of the room. “It’s nothing bad. I’m just...nervous.” She gripped my arm and pulled me out of sight again.
“Spit it out, you’re making me nervous,” I said through gritted teeth, but then I wanted to kick myself in the balls when I saw her face drop even more.
She blew out a breath and wrung her hands together. “Okay, so I know we haven’t been dating very long, but I was wondering if I could...umm, move in with you for the summer?” She took a deep breath and sped up almost too fast for me to catch her nervous words. “I know that’s a lot to ask. I swear, I get how big of a deal this is, and you can say no. I didn’t really want to ask, but everything with my mama and my school choice and—”
I cut her off by covering her mouth with mine and nibbling on her lush lips that I wanted to see wrapped around my cock. “Yes,” I answered against her mouth.
I didn’t even have to think twice about my answer before spitting it out. I’d been brainstorming for weeks for ways to get her out of her mama’s house. That place was toxic for her self-esteem, and I wanted to spend every fucking minute with her. I wanted to spend every minute fucking her, too.
At my answer, her face broke out into a bright smile. If I were a little bitch, I’d start talking about how my stomach fluttered and shit. But I didn’t.
“Why? I mean, I’m not complaining, and I was gonna drag your tight ass to come live with me anyway, but did something happen with your parents?” I asked.
She let out a shaky exhale before pulling her lips between her teeth to gnaw on them. “I told her I wasn’t going to Harvard in the fall,” she admitted, and it suddenly made sense. I’d been wondering why her parents hadn’t shown up tonight. They were the only reason she was even doing this shit. I figured they were fighting again, or her father was fucking some barely legal money grabber. But if she said she was skipping Harvard, I wouldn’t be surprised if her mama already changed the locks on the door.
Now this was the tricky part. I was beyond excited about this new development. I’d never been a fan of freezing temperatures and the city. Harvard sounded like my own personal pretentious hell, but I was willing to move for her. Got my acceptance letter last week, actually, to the joy of my absentee parents. They were excited to have something to brag about while getting drunk at their vacation property in Greece.
But I wanted to appear supportive for Scarlett. I didn’t want her not going because of me, because that seemed like the sort of selfless bullshit she’d try to pull. As much as she fought back, she was devoted to a fault. Even after we made her life hell, she stuck by us, but I wouldn’t make her do that anymore.
“Oh really?” I asked, hoping my voice didn’t betray how relieved I felt.
“Really. I...I got into the University of Denver for their Gymnastics program. They want me to come six weeks early to start training, but I’m in, Rogue. I’m actually in!” she grinned, too excited to keep herself from bouncing on her toes. It was cute as fuck.
I wrapped her in a hug, hating the poofy dress that she wore and how it put unnecessary inches between us. “That’s great, baby. I’m so proud of you.”
She shivered at my pet name for her and I had to hold back a groan. She might have said that she loved the twisted shit we do in the bedroom, but she liked the sentimental stuff, too. And I loved her enough to give her both.
When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes, and I couldn’t decide if they were happy or sad. “I just...we never talked about this, but I really want to go…” Ah, so there was the reason she looked so anxious. Maybe I was fucked up, but it felt good seeing her all distraught over losing me. “I mean, there’s no guarantee that I’ll go far in gymnastics. I mean, I’m already almost too old, and then my injuries set me back. But they have a good physical therapy program, so I’m thinking about majoring in that too. After everything with Bonham, it’s been something I’ve been more interested in. And the campus is beautiful, or at least from the pictures that I’ve seen online. It’s not too long of a flight and even though I’ll be practicing a ton, I could still visit on the weekends or—”
I shut her up again with a searing kiss, one that burned my body to hers. I wrapped my hand in her hair and pulled it out of the intricate updo, letting the waves fall around her face as we kissed. I pressed her against the wall, pouring every feeling I had into my touch, into my stroking tongue. She was mine, and I wanted to show it. She moaned into my mouth, and I t
ore myself away. I didn’t want any of those perverted assholes listening to a sound that belonged only to me.
Pulling away, I cupped her makeup-caked face in my palms and smiled at the dazed look in her eyes. “How about I take you home right now and let you persuade me to move to Denver with you?” I grinned wickedly.
Her lips tilted up even as her brown eyes shone with ecstatic mischief. “I don’t know. I think I’d rather fight you on it.”
I reached around and spanked her ass. “That’s my girl.”
She smacked my ass in return and rushed out of the alcove before I could catch her. Spinning around again with a laugh, she crooked a finger impishly. “Come on, Rogue Kelly. Show me what you got.”
Shooting my arm out, I snagged her and picked her up bridal style, then strode through the ballroom without giving a single fuck. People gasped and pointed and clutched their pearls. But Scarlett laughed and let me steal her away. She was the only person I cared about. “I got you, Scar. That’s what I got.”
She smiled. “I got you too, Rogue.”
THE END
Thank You For Reading
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Keep reading for an excerpt from Raven Kennedy’s book, The Girl Who Cries Colors, author links, plus a note from the authors!
A Note From The Authors
CJ: Hey. So like, we wrote a book.
Raven: Dude! I know. Weird, right?
CJ: I don’t know what we should say for the author’s note.
Raven: Should we say something super witty?
CJ: Something that shows how how cool we are.
Raven: Right. That should be easy, right? We’re totally hilarious. And cool. Ish.
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