A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 1)

“Thank you, Taryn, just thank you.” Her voice was hoarse now.

“It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“O…o…kay.” She hiccupped again.

After we ended the call, I glanced at Tray. His lack of surprise set me on edge. My teeth gritted together. “You knew.” It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation.

Compared to the mob that had been in his house earlier, his mansion was eerily vacant. I followed him inside as he went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He had ignored my statement, but when he handed me a beer, his eyes caught mine. I couldn’t place what was going on in his head; he was wearing a mask. It was one that I had witnessed on him since I arrived in Rawley. It was the same mask he gave everyone, his friends, his teachers, and now it was directed at me Tray Evans wasn’t normal. I had forgotten during our recent interactions, but I remembered now.

I stepped back and ignored the beer he handed to me.

He dropped his arm with a sigh and shrugged, leaning back against a counter. “Would you care if I said it was bro code?”

I snorted.

He laughed softly. He sighed again and shook his head. “I’m not a narc, Taryn. I know a lot of shit and don’t say a word. That’s not me.”

“Mandy’s your friend.”

“So’s Devon.”

“You don’t care that your friend is getting hurt?”

“She wasn’t getting hurt. She wouldn’t until she found out.” He straightened from the counter and advanced towards me. He walked with purpose, stalking his prey, and I bit down on my lip. I should’ve moved. I couldn’t. The mask fell and someone dangerous was looking back at me. My heart leapt into my chest. There was more to him. I felt it. My body responded to it and responded to him because of it. I didn’t know what it was. My mind wasn’t thinking, but I couldn’t move away. As he stopped in front of me, just an inch separating us, he looked down to my lips. He said, “I’m no narc.”

I hated that word. I really did. I hated narcs, and I hated myself because I understood him. I had to ask, “If the situation was reversed? If someone was cheating on you and your friends knew?”

He merely smirked and set the beer in front of me. Keeping both arms on either side of me, he trapped me in place. Nudging the barstool I sat on with his knee, he twirled me around until I was facing him.

My throat swelled up. “How long has it been going on?”

He had started to move even closer. His hand lifted from the counter, and I closed my eyes, not knowing where he was going to touch me. My body was burning up. I felt alive from the anticipation of his touch, but as I asked that, I felt a cold chill instead. He stepped away. “I’m not answering that either.”

“What?”

He shook his head, the same mask falling back into place. “It’s not my business. It’s not my job to do clean up.” His nostrils flared as disgust filled his tone. “It’s not yours either. Stop making it your job.”

“She’s my sister.”

“And that’s her relationship.”

I didn’t care. She had taken me in, treated me like family. It was my job whether he agreed or not. “She said seven months before. He’s been acting off for that long. Has it been that long?” I wanted to grab hold of him. I wanted to feel him against me. No. I frowned as I corrected myself. I wanted to be in his arms again. They had been like a shelter to me. My frown deepened. I had never felt that with Brian…

“I’m not telling you.” His cold tone pulled me from my thoughts. I felt as though he slapped me across the face with his harshness.

“How long?”

“Stop pushing this. Nothing good will come out of it.”

“I’ll do it.”

He paused, eyeing me with caution. “Do what?”

“I’ll get you into the school.” No! A voice cried from the back of my mind, but I wanted to do something right. Mandy would want to know. She would be coming here, and her insides would be killing her. Giving her all the information I could was one way to help her, whether she would realize it or not. She needed to know because I had needed to know myself. “Tell me what you know and I’ll get you into that school.”

“Fuck you.”

I needed a new tactic, so I pulled him closer and slid a leg around his, twining it around his waist, bringing him into full contact against me. I slid one hand up his chest to curl around his neck. He wrapped both arms around me, one tilted my neck back and the other was on my butt, grinding me against him. Our mouths were slightly apart.