Wild Girl (Slateview High 2)

Eventually, he sighed.

“I don’t know why the hell it took me so long to recognize this, but you’re clearly a very stubborn woman.” One corner of his mouth tipped up slightly. “You’re not going to stop looking for answers, are you?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Right.”

His grip on my shoulders tightened slightly, and I was sure he was considering all of his options, up to and including locking me in a closet or tying me to the bed to make sure I couldn’t go poking my nose into places it didn’t belong. Whatever answer he finally settled on, it made him step forward, pressing his body against mine and tugging me close, as if he were trying to shield me somehow.

“Well then, the only way to make sure we don’t have a repeat of the shit that went down with Flint is to be a part of this instead of letting you scribble your ideas down in a notebook without anyone else knowing what’s going on,” he said. “So we’ll help you. But that comes with a stipulation.”

My brows rose. “What is it?”

“I need to head back out, drop off the payment I was supposed to make to Nathaniel before someone decided to be distracting, pick up Misael and Kace, and bring them here so you can explain to them what’s going on.”

I frowned, my stomach churning at the thought of going through all of this twice more, with two boys who were just as stubborn and protective as Bishop in their own ways.

“You’re doing that to punish me, aren’t you?”

He shrugged, answering seriously even though I’d been partly joking.

“I wouldn’t call it a punishment, but I think they’ll appreciate at least being told instead of finding it out down the line like I did. I don’t mind helping—actually, scratch that, I do mind helping, because I think this is dangerous and stupid as fuck—but I’m going to help because it’s dangerous. Make sense?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Makes sense.”

He smiled a little, his body softening against mine. Then he dropped his head, bending down to kiss me in a way that was so soft and tender it made my heart race. When he pulled back a little, he tucked a lock of hair behind my ear.

“I’ll be back in a little bit, Coralee. Remember… we’re here to help you and protect you.” His grip on my hair tightened, and he gave it a light tug, a little sting of pain to counterbalance the sweetness. His expression was serious as he added, “So stop trying to do shit without us.”

Waiting for Bishop to get back was almost more torture than the actual worry of how Kace and Misael would react to me telling them that I still wanted better answers about what happened with my father.

I wished I could’ve told them all at once, pulled the band-aid off with all three of them at the same time, but I wasn’t so lucky as that.

I was in the living room when they came in, sitting on the couch and scrolling idly through my phone. I looked up when I heard the latch of the front door twist, my gut twisting with anxiety.

“Aye. Bish said something was up?” Misael looked confused as he sat down on the couch beside me. Kace stood in front of us, his arms crossed as if he was already bracing for bad news.

It was evident that everyone understood there was something serious going on. I had asked if this was a punishment, but in a way, I was glad Bishop was giving me the chance to explain things to Misael and Kace on my own—that I was able to put it into my own words, try to make them see where I was coming from.

Drawing in a breath, I looked up at them both.

“I’ve… been thinking a lot about my father. I still think something weird happened with his arrest. He insists he was set up, and I want to find out if that’s true. I know you guys don’t like him, and I respect your reasons for that, but he’s still my father. And I know I won’t be able to stop thinking about it until I’ve done something—or at least everything that I could—in order to make things right for him.”

Misael and Kace exchanged a look, their expressions unreadable. Then Kace turned to Bishop, his brows pinching together.

“You’re okay with this?”

Bish shrugged. “I don’t think it matters if I’m okay with it. I think what matters is this is what Cora wants, and I want to respect that.” He smirked a little. “Also, I think we have to accept that our Coralee is too fucking stubborn for her own good. She’d do something else on her own with or without our help.”

Misael actually cracked a smile, winking at me.

“Did you just figure that out, Bish? I’ve known she was stubborn since the first time she put your sorry ass back in line.”

Bishop rolled his eyes, whipping out his fist to punch Misael lightly on the shoulder. Misael danced out of the way, chuckling. Then he looked to me, his expression growing somber. “Is this really what you want, Cora?”

I dipped my chin, my fingers tangling together nervously. “It is.”

“I don’t like it,” Kace said flatly, and my stomach sank as I switched my gaze to him. “It’s dangerous as hell. We’re already tryin’ to stay outta the shit for what happened to Flint. And I don’t thi