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I never knew the reason why. Didn’t care why, so seeing him now definitely jarred me.
His gaze roved in my direction, a military boot on his car while a cloud of smoke puffed around him. Thatcher and Wells were sharing a blunt, but when they passed it to Dorian, he lifted a hand.
He had eyes on me, and his academy jacket was off, his shoulders all big and bulky in his dress shirt. Gripping the back of his ride, he pushed off it, but stopped when movement occurred beside me.
Ares still had his arm around my brother. Bruno still chatted with him, but Ares’s attention appeared only partially in that direction.
The rest he had on his friends and Dorian in particular. Mallick shook his head, the movement just slight, but I definitely noticed it.
My brow twitched when Dorian shifted on his boots. He snatched his jacket off the trunk of his car with a growl before barking at Wells and Thatcher to follow.
Wells and Thatcher were definitely aware of the exchange, Thatcher’s fingers cutting through his dark hair while Wells strode along beside him. The platinum blond glanced in our direction before picking up his pace and joining Dorian and Thatcher.
My brother was also privy to all this at this point, frowning. He faced me, but I was too busy looking at Ares.
“What was that about?” I asked, and Ares waved it off.
He dropped his arm from my brother. “Told him to hang back. Dorian?” Ares’s big shoulders popped up. “The other day you didn’t seem like you wanted the drama. Thought it best he kind of keep his distance.”
I hadn’t asked him to do that.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad.
I followed Dorian’s back as he ventured toward the school. He shoved his thick arms in his jacket along the way, and something I didn’t miss was how my breath released. I was relieved Ares had talked to him.
But again, I hadn’t asked.
Ares joined us inside the school, apparently opting out from walking with his friends today. I noticed I hadn’t seen Bow with the guys’ clique, but then again, I generally never saw her with them in the mornings anyway. I assumed she drove herself.
While we walked with Ares, my brother had nothing but questions in his eyes. These, I assumed, were about what he’d witnessed outside, but he kept them to himself. He did until Ares caught a couple of friends in the hallway.
Mallick tapped the guys’ fists, but my brother, on the other hand, moseyed over to me outside my locker.
“So what the fuck happened while I was gone?” He leaned in. “What was that back there? You and Dorian are over?”
I’d told my brother absolutely nothing about the situation with Dorian. Made sense he was confused. He didn’t even know Dorian thought I lied to him. I rooted in my locker. “We were never on, Bruno.”
“Well, if that’s not on, I don’t have fucking eyes.” He frowned. “You guys were definitely a thing before he left town—”
“We’re not now,” I gritted, causing my brother to blink.
He shook his head. “It’s like I’m in the fucking Twilight Zone. You and Dorian are apparently not a thing, and then Wells and Thatcher out there.” He lifted a hand. “They didn’t say shit to me just now. Not to mention they never did get back to me after all those texts I sent them.”
Again, that was probably about me. Especially if Ares told Dorian to hold off. They obviously walked away with him.
Bru bunched his fingers in his hair. “Ironically enough, the only one who’s come the fuck around was Wolf… who I punched. Then there’s you two working on that project when I thought he had beef with you or you had beef with him or whatever.” His back hit the lockers. “Like I said, we’re in the goddamn Twilight Zone.”
He may have been right about the whole Wolf thing. I mean, that was weird, but as far as his friends ignoring him initially, I could clear that up.
“Wells and Thatcher staying away from you isn’t your fault.” I closed my locker. “At least, not initially.”
My brother’s eyebrow arched slow, and I proceeded to tell him about the fallout. Well, what I felt comfortable. This whole thing started because Dorian had zero faith in me at all to have his back.
For whatever reason, I didn’t want to prove him right and didn’t tell Bru too many specifics. I wasn’t sure why I cared, but I did tell my brother there’d been a misunderstanding. One in which Dorian believed I said something that had gotten him in trouble. I left out what that was, but it had happened right before he’d left and so I hadn’t gotten a chance to clear things up.
That had left me at war with Legacy again and Bru by association.
My semi-vague explanation left my brother slack-jawed during the whole conversation. He gripped his bag. “Shit, Sloane. Why didn’t you tell me?”
