“In what world were you smoking me?” Logan demands, walking back down the street to meet his brother in the middle. “I had you the whole time. I was just waiting for you to figure it out on your own. The Silverado’s got nothing on my RAM.”
And so it starts.
They go at each other, and within seconds, fists are flying, leaving Bellamy to dive in after them, taking an elbow to the jaw, which naturally sends Riley into the middle of it too.
“I, ummm …” Brielle says, watching the fight, not impressed in the least. Her gaze flicks back to me before bending and scooping the essay off the ground. “I’m not sticking around for this testosterone fueled shit, but for the record, you need to fix this.”
She shoves the essay into my chest, and I watch as she takes off back toward the house, more than likely with the intention to ignore the smashed window in the formal dining room. “And if I don’t?” I call after her, knowing damn well that I will. When I changed her essay, we were in a better place. That was before I hurt her, before I crushed her, and before everything I said over the weekend. I owe this to her. Shit, I owe her a lot more than that.
“Then I’ll tear shreds off your ass,” she tells me.
The door closes between us, and with it, she takes my will to resist. I need to make this right. I’ve hurt her over and over again and still she’s right there.
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” Hudson says, and without hesitation, all four of my friends drop a knee, their right hand resting over their hearts as they bow their heads in commiseration. “Let us all take a moment to remember our fallen soldier. He was one of the best, a fighter, racer, and proud man with balls the size of Texas, yet so easily broken by none other than a lone, stray pussy. What hope do the rest of us have?”
Shaking my head, I turn on my heel and stalk back toward my house. “For that, you fuckers are on dinner, and it better be good, otherwise, you’re running sprints for an hour following practice tomorrow.”
“Fuck,” Jax mutters behind me.
Making my way back inside, I take off upstairs and slip into my bedroom and come to a standstill, my eyes widening in surprise. Every available space on my walls is taken up with a single word written a million times over, scrawled in a deep plum lipstick, sending a wicked grin stretching across my face and making something settle in my chest.
ASSHOLE!
Well, well, if she’s still down to play, then play we shall.
Unable to help myself, my gaze flicks toward her bedroom window to find her staring back at me, a smug grin resting on her face and her middle finger flying proud for every girl who’s ever been screwed over by me. Then without even a flicker of regret, she pulls the blinds, leaving me to deal with the mess she’s left behind.
Chapter 24
BRIELLE
“Holy shit, she’s alive,” Ilaria cheers as I walk into homeroom on Tuesday morning, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
Rolling my eyes, I stride toward her and drop down into my seat. “What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, wondering if she’s referring to me being a no show before school.
“Rumor has it that the douchebag duo tried to decapitate you yesterday and that the asshole with a god complex saved your pretty little face.”
I groan and lean forward onto my desk, not nearly getting enough sleep after being terrified of Tanner’s revenge. He’s not going to let me off the hook for what I did to his room yesterday. He’s going to come for me, the only question is, when? All I know is that whatever it is, it’s going to knock me off my feet. It’s going to be epic, and it’s going to remind me that while things are seriously messed up between us, we still share this strange connection that neither of us truly understand.
“Ugh, how did—”
“Miss Ashford,” a stern voice says from the front of the room, cutting off my explanation of yesterday’s insane adventures. My head snaps up to find my homeroom teacher staring back at me. “Please make your way to Principal Dormer’s office. Your presence has been requested.”
“Oh?” I say, my brows furrowed, unsure what the hell he could want with me, mentally going over everything that’s happened since being here and struggling to figure it out. “Do you know what this is about?”
“No idea,” he says. “I’m just the messenger. Now scram. You’re already late.”
Shit.
Letting out a heavy breath, I get to my feet and trudge out of the room, wishing I could just catch a break. It feels as though I’ve been running since the moment I woke up, which as usual, was late, but no matter how late I was, it didn’t stop me from spending a few minutes scouring every inch of my room, making sure that Tanner hadn’t made himself welcome during the night.