by Raven Scott
“Why’d you go to her father knowing that?” He puffed out his lips at my probe, and I clenched my fists between my knees. “If she told you to fuck off, you should’ve, Rook.”
“You know when we go to Calgary, and you lose the game, so you have to play until you win? That’s how I felt. I couldn’t leave it like that. If all I was to her all that time was a dog, I’d bite her on my way out. So, I went to her dad and told him I was fuckin’ her . . . that he raised a sick, twisted bitch who led me on for four years. That I hoped he was proud of her for being a heartless cunt that’ll be alone by her own actions . . . I ain’t say all that, though . . .” Trailing off, Rook cast his flashing, hurt eyes at me briefly, and a dry, raspy chuckle flooded the space between us. “He’s not a bad guy. He just doesn’t like to look at us poor people. He’s the kinda guy that’ll suck the toes of the Queen to be able to brag about it. But when I laid out on him, he was pissed. He called her, told her to get her ass home. And then . . .”
“She spun the story of the manipulative trailer trash punk that’d do anything to claw up the greasy pole.” My surmise earned me a miserable nod, and Rook’s eyes flared with anger that twisted his face and flooded up past his hairline. Now, some of the pieces are falling into place, and I took a breath, holding it briefly. “And it was easier to believe that than the truth. Yeah. Rook, things are gonna get bad. I need to be able to count on you. You can’t let it get to your head like earlier. You’re gonna have plenty of chances to beat this out, but you gotta understand that you can’t go lookin’ for a fight. They have to come to us. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.” Holding out his fist, Rook smiled gratefully at me. The first time he smiled the past two weeks since I picked him up. Has it only been two weeks? I bumped my knuckles against his, and he swiftly snatched my palm to rub the thick callouses on my palm. “Do you think she’ll come back?”
Surprise rose the thick carpet of hairs up my arm, and I exhaled a heavy sigh as I rested my head back against the siding. It really has only been two weeks.
“If she doesn’t, I’ll go after her. You’re only nineteen, Rook. Life gets infinitely better when you have someone in it that compliments you, not commands you. That’s why I’m here. Spyder and me . . . we complement each other. I could’a left five years ago when Minter recalled me, but my gut told me to stay. You listen to your gut. Be pissed. Be sad. But if something feels wrong, it probably is. Now, you have experience with selfish, ulterior motives. Remember this tightness in your gut. You’re gonna feel it again.” I didn’t wanna talk about Nicole right now; I’d held her until I couldn’t anymore, and that said all it needed to.
Hopefully.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nicole
“Wow. I didn’t know you were struggling so much, Nicole.” For once, my sister seemed deep in thought and extremely conscious of her words, and I ducked my head. Tears prickled my eyes, and I fiddled with my cup of tea as her fierce eyes bored into my crown. “Why are you so upset about what Tom did at my wedding? You did everything right, Nicole. I mean, yeah, maybe you shouldn’t have invited him, but he was your boyfriend at the time. You weren’t wrong for inviting him. You weren’t wrong at any point. It’s Tom’s fault, entirely. Okay, we’re gonna ignore that like it never happened, okay? You’re my sister, and I know you better than anyone. No more avoiding me because you’re making an issue outta somethin’ that’s not.”
“O-okay . . . just accept my apology, please, Jackie?” Glancing up under my lashes, the tension in my body eased when my sister nodded firmly. Slumping back into my seat, I raked my hand through my hair as my heart slowly sunk back into my chest. “Thank you. Thank you for giving me some time to gather myself. After what happened Thursday, I—”
“That guy looked like you were ripping his heart out. It was kinda pathetic and creepy he’s so into you after just a couple of weeks.” I tensed at that, and the hairs on the back of my neck bristled as Jackie frowned at me. “You’re not gonna see him again, right? I mean, he put you in a dangerous situation and—”
“I put myself in that situation because I didn’t listen to him when he said that biker gang was dangerous idiots, Jackie. Don’t. Don’t you say that.” Her eyes widened her face a perfect mask of surprise as my demand ground through achy teeth. I stared her down, maybe for the first time ever, and she eventually blinked to chuckle lowly. Shaking her head, Jackie sighed as she sat back to cross her knees.
“Fine. I won’t talk about the red flags waving everywhere. You can’t see them anyway with them pink lenses over your eyes.” Jackie flipped back her dirty blonde hair with grace before lifting her teacup to her lips to stare at me over the rim. “Is he that good in bed?”
“Yeah.” Flames licked up my neck, and my abdomen tightened as Jackie took a sip of her tea, unperturbed. Memories swirled behind my eyes, and I sighed as phantom waves of exhausted bliss eased the horrid stiffness that gripped me. “I don’t know how to approach him. Bruiser’s . . . Bruiser’s amazing, and he always seems to make me feel amazing, too. I know at the house before you picked me up, it was like he was preparing himself to not see me again.”
“You’d be dumb to, Nicole. That guy’s into some seriously messed up shit.” I winced at that, and Jackie’s frown deepened as she crossed her arms under her bust. “You wanna throw in with a dude like that, I’m not gonna stop you, but I am gonna warn you. He’s fucking trouble. It’s written all over him. Even if the sex is the best of your life, it’s not worth getting hurt over him and whatever shit he’s into.”
“See, I don’t think it’s like that. I think Bruiser’s just having a mess of a time right now. Everyone does. It’s no different than when you got suspended for beating up that guy that grabbed your butt in middle school, Jackie. Someone’s starting shit with him, not the other way around.” Bruiser’s words from our date in Saint George raced ruts into my brain; those guys that attacked me were wannabe gangsters on badly supped up dirt bikes. Bruiser’s gang no, club, he stressed they’re a club. They didn’t incite anyone to do anything, but they didn’t stand for snipes and jabs.
And what happened to me wasn’t something they could ignore, anyway. I wasn’t part of it, even if Jackie thought so. Those guys were there, ready to start something, and I just happened to have bad timing.
“He must have a magic dick.” I almost choked on my sister’s grumble, and my cheeks nearly melted off my face as she shot me a shit-eating grin. “What do you like about him aside from that, Nicole?”
“Huh?” My little, shocked noise earned me a pointed look, and I lifted my cup to buy myself a few seconds to think. Every interaction I had with Bruiser flashed behind my lids when I blinked, swirling in the thin steam of my tea before my eyes. “He took me out on a date to celebrate my getting that huge job. I asked about his cousin and why he insisted on coming to Provo, but really he never let the conversation change from my art. He made it seem like what I did was so great and such an accomplishment and that I was amazing for doing it. It’s been a long time since someone got so excited for me and my art. And on top of that, being around him makes me feel . . . warm.”
“Like vodka warm, or hot cocoa warm?” Holding up two fingers, I set down my mug as my sister defrosted a little over the table. “Well, I can’t exactly say that’s a bad thing.”
“Bruiser’s rough and prickly, sure, but everyone is on the outside. He’s been nothing but beautiful and kind to me, and I don’t wanna end that because of some drugged-up idiots. I mean, you’d have to be on something to assault someone in a car.” She nodded in agreement, and affirmation blossomed in my chest. I had time to think things over and over again of what happened, and this was my conclusion. That Bruiser was a good guy, and this situation wouldn’t last forever.
But then how do I tell him that?
“Um, what about you, Jackie? How was your honeymoon?” I changed the subject and shook my head, and this time, my sister was the one that tinged pink to her ears. Jackie nodde
d, hiding her smile behind her teacup, and I giggled as she waved a hand at me.
“Don’t look at me like that, Nicole! It was the best trip of my life for a lot of reasons. I loved Europe. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Sam and I are gonna go back for our anniversary.” I smiled broadly, and Jackie sighed wistfully as her eyes blazed with passion through the light steam of her tea. Smoothing things over was so easy; I couldn’t remember why I’d been so hesitant to see her. She took my side on everything, even if she disagreed with me.
“When do you work at the restaurant again?” I pursed my lips as I whipped out my phone, and Jackie propped her elbows on the table to stare at me. “Sam’s parents invited us out on Saturday. I know you usually work weekends, so . . .”
“Yeah, I work a double Saturday. Ten to ten. I think I’m on the bar that night. Do you want me to put in a reservation for you?” Jackie’s eyes lit up at my offer, and I smiled knowingly as I opened my texts. My heart stuttered when Bruiser’s last text to me popped up on the screen, and I sucked in a steadying breath through my nose.
He’d sent me a cat meme he thought I’d get a laugh from. I think that says everything about him. So, why was it so hard to text him? It wasn’t even face to face. I couldn’t even manage a simple ‘come see me’ or ‘I’m okay’? Was I really that pathetic and weak-willed?
“Nicole?” Blinking hard, I jumped at my sister’s call, and her gaze narrowed on me as a small smile tilted my lips. “Are you sure you’re okay after what happened? You ran over a person. Don’t you wanna know if he’s okay? I’m not gonna lie. I half expect you to call hospitals lookin’ for him so you can send him flowers or somethin’.”
“Maybe.” Flexing my fingers around my phone, the ring on my finger refracted the light streaming from the windows. I held out my hand, staring at the beautiful set and modest rock. This ring represented so many things, but mostly I had to start taking care of myself, not expecting other people to do it for me. “If that guy didn’t wanna get run over, he shouldn’t have jumped in front of my car. That’s all there is to it. When you do something dangerous, you need to accept it’s your own fault if you get hurt.”
“What the fuck are you on about, Nicole? Are you seriously saying you have no feelings on it?” The bite in Jackie’s voice slashed my cheek, and I tensed as she pointed an accusatory finger at me. “You don’t feel any guilt? No worry? You can sleep fine after that and go on like the possibility that the guy’s dead isn’t there?”
“Yeah. That’s what I’m sayin’. I’m not guilty, I’m not worried, I’ll sleep fine . . . and if that guy’s dead, it’s not on me.” Her flabbergasted expression drew when she stared, wide eyed and open mouthed, at me as my murmur flooded the space between us. “You know, Jackie, after Tom proposed to me at your wedding, and Bruiser helped me down the mountain, I realized something. Everyone warned him. You, me, and Dad told Tom not to do something stupid at the reception, and he did it anyway. Tom did something he knew was a bad thing. That’s not my responsibility. It’s not on me that he was stuck up on the mountain for two days. I’m not the bad guy in my own life.”
The silence rang in my ears even as my sister blinked in disbelief, and I sat back in my chair to sigh softly. Turning my mug in my palms on the table, I caught Jackie’s eye as they started to narrow into tight slits. “I’m just done putting myself on the back burner because I’m afraid of disappointing or upsetting someone else, like with Tom. You said it yourself, Jackie. Not being unhappy isn’t an excuse to stay in a situation.”
“Maybe this Bruiser guy isn’t so terrible. What happened while I was trapezing across France, Nicole?” Surprise twitched my cheek at how easily Jackie folded, but I ducked my head in a nod of acknowledgment. What had happened?
“I think . . . it’s just that I found someone that puts in as much effort as I do. And even if it’s a little rocky right now for Bruiser, he still makes time for me. I don’t feel like second best.” Jackie arched a perfectly manicured brow at my answer, and I lifted my mug to hide my smile. Memories raced through my mind’s eye, but really, I needed to work up the courage to text him. Even if I was trying not to be, I was still a coward, after all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Bruiser
Tapping the top of the bay door, the loud, metallic rattle rippled down my arm and back from the immense tension building in me. Spyder pulled himself out from under Nicole’s car, and he radiated misery. It didn’t stop him from fixing her car, of course, but the irony pulled a chuckle from me.
“Thanks for doing this for her.” He waved me off before turning to the car to tug his beard, and I stuffed my hands into my jean pockets. “How’s it lookin’?”
“Shockingly, the chassis is fine. Good thing she ran over the dirt bike and not a butch bike. I gotta go search for a mirror, and you’ll be good to drive it up to Provo tomorrow. Hellraisers left my mom roadkill on her front door this morning.” Surprise clogged my throat, and Spyder scowled through his thick scruff. Grinding my teeth, I mulled over that revelation before he grunted lowly. “Did your girl call you yet?”
“No. She works Saturdays, so I’ll see her when I drop off her car.” I shook my head and waved a hand in dismissal, and Spyder’s eyes narrowed on me shrewdly. “Let’s talk about what you wanted to talk about, Spyder. Why’d you call me here?”
“Cole liked what he saw in Vegas the other day. Rook’s better than you made him out to be.” I rubbed the back of my neck as the urge to protest clogged my throat; Cole wasn’t exactly someone to judge. He did MMA, which was wildly different than street fighting, and he should know to acknowledge that. “You think Cole’s wrong?”
“I think Cole tends to look at the potential of something or someone, not what’s right in front of his face. He’s too optimistic for his own damn good. I think, right now, Rook’s pain threshold is negligible, he’s not good on his feet, and that’s a stretch that he can even keep on them. He hasn’t learned to prioritize enemies or leave well enough alone. The saying ‘shoot in their general direction, not at them’ comes to mind.” Spyder took what I said into consideration, but he did that with his own experience, too, and a sigh escaped me. “Just because Minter’s backwater ‘technique’ worked that once doesn’t necessarily mean Rook can rely on it. He’s not even that good at it. Those moves aren’t designed to knock out opponents, Spyder. They’re designed to make people run away. That’s very different.”
“As long as it works.” I could’ve rolled my eyes at him if I cared enough, and a searing sensation pathed through my chest. Spyder and Warpath’s feud with Saint George Hellraisers had been confined to drunken jabs and spit slinging for years. And it all started when Cole’s sister got knocked up. Memories raced through my mind’s eye, and I cleared my throat roughly as I forced my focus on the present.
“I can’t be Rook’s shield, Spyder, and I won’t teach you or anyone what Minter taught us. Even if he allowed me to, I wouldn’t. It’s one thing if we’re together, but I’m not Rook’s fucking babysitter, and if he can’t stand on his own, don’t make him an Enforcer.” Casting my friend a hard look, the fire in my chest flared when Spyder rubbed his shiny, bare scalp roughly. His face twisted in thought, and my chest tightened as the silence closed in on us. I glanced around the large garage, clean and empty of cars but for the one sitting in the middle. Nicole’s dark blue car was nondescript, and the only reason to target it was simply because Hellraisers wanted to be dicks. There was every assumption she was just driving down the street.
But it was the wrong street at the wrong time.
“We’re in trouble, Bruiser. I don’t need to tell you that.” I tensed at the threat in Spyder’s tone, and he flopped his head back to groan and rub his face with his palm out of the corner of my eye. “Their numbers are concerning.”
“Their numbers are the only thing that’s concerning, Spyder. We shouldn’t have let them get so big or unruly in the first place. I told you years ago to curb stomp Mathew. Dude’s a cokehead,
anti-Semite, gun-toting piece of shit, and I told you he was gonna cause problems.” I had no problem tellin’ Bruiser when he was wrong, and he scowled darkly at me. “I told you when he knocked up Cole’s sister to fucking take him out. I told you when he started makin’ a rep to fuckin’ deal with it.”
“You did, and you were right. You know you are, Bruiser. No need to fuckin’ rub it in.” Snarling nasty at me, Spyder tugged his beard harshly, and frustration flared in his eyes. Scratching his jaw, he rocked back on his heels with a grunt as he stared at Nicole’s car. “My mom isn’t going to move, Bruiser. I’ve been trying to convince her all week. She’s more stubborn than me.”
“Then you pick her up and haul her ass out. What’ve Hailey and Riley been doing while you’re twiddling your thumb in your ass?” Pointing an accusatory finger at Spyder, the hairs on my arms bristled at his wallowing. “Why are you accepting ‘no’ from her? She’s your mother, dude. How can you respect her wants when she’s fucking dead?”
“Bruiser . . .” Growling lowly, Spyder’s eyes narrowed into slits as he turned to me. Aggression rolled off him in powerful waves, but I didn’t back down as I jutted out my chin. Leveling with Spyder, I straightened my shoulders and stared him dead in the face.
“You think they won’t do something worse next? Nicole ran over their VP, Spyder. He lost his fucking leg. You’re fucking delusional if you think they won’t blame us for that.” His eyes widened in surprise, and I arched a brow as disgust soured my tongue. “You didn’t bother to check up on him?”