The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

I ceased caring that Tray was still in the car. He was a bastard just like everyone else.

Noticing the SUV had turned into his driveway, I murmured, “Okay, we’re here.”

“I’ll be there in a little bit. Thanks, sis. Love you.”

I was shocked. Mandy was my sister. I knew this, but the words seemed different just then. They weren’t forced, it wasn’t just a phrase. There was meaning behind them.

“Hey,” Tray interrupted my haze.

“What?”

“We’re here. You coming in or waiting for your man-hating sister out here? Or is an hour in my house with another—man—going to dissolve your bond,” he teased.

I gasped. “You have humor. You actually know what comedy is. I never would have guessed.”

“Fuck off,” he growled before slamming the door, but not before I caught the small grin that flitted across his features.

The place was eerily vacant compared to the mob that had been in his home earlier. Following Tray as he strolled lazily inside, I shivered a little from the breeze that wafted through the rooms.

“Want a drink?” he asked, opening the fridge and rummaging inside.

“You have beer?”

“Is that meant to be an insult?” He smirked, pulling out a bottle and sliding it towards me over the counter.

I didn’t reply, but tipped my head back and took a long drink.

Leaning against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest, he regarded me. “So Devon and Jasmine, huh?”

I narrowed my eyes. The bastard knew.

“You

knew,” I stated.

He shrugged, crossing the room towards me. Grabbing my beer, he took a drink. “Yeah.”

“And said nothing,” I condemned.

He merely smirked, rounding the counter to come up beside me. Setting the beer in front of me, he kept both his arms on either side of me, effectively trapping me in place. Nudging the barstool I sat on with his knee, he twirled me around until I was facing him; he was so close I could feel his breath on my face.

“I’m not a narc,” he replied, studying me.

I hated that word. I really did. I hated narcs. The thing was, I understood him. There had been a few times I’d known some of my friends had cheated on their boyfriends or girlfriends. I’d said something only once, and immediately hated my decision when the girl flew into a hysterical rage. She’d turned on me since I was the one there. Kill the messenger and all that shit. Ever since then, I’d stayed away from all that drama. I had enough drama in my own life.

“How long has it been going on?”

“What? Dev and Jaz?”

“How long?”

“Uh huh. Nope,” Tray said, pulling away. “That answer will not help Mandy at all.”

“She said seven months…was it seven months?” I persisted, grabbing his arm as he straightened.

Glancing at my hand, he lifted his eyes to my face. “No, I’m not telling you.”

I pulled him closer. “How long?”