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But I did, and it was because Dorian always ran hot. He blew his top at the littlest things, and sometimes, only saw things the way he wanted to see them. He’d shown me this more than once with miscommunications with me.
The whole situation made me sick, and when he’d gone into details about that night he had poisoned his grandpa, the sickness had only worsened. He’d really felt he had to do it, and what that had done to him made my stomach turn.
He thinks he’s a monster.
Our gazes clashed through the side-view mirror, and I nearly forgot why we were both here until Ares huffed beside him.
“If Mom and Dad find out I snuck out and took you with me, they will literally light my ass up,” Ares ground out, his Hummer cutting through the slush and snow. It hadn’t snowed for a few days, and we might not even see a white Christmas this year with how quick it was melting. He studied me through the rearview mirror. “There’s really no reason you need to be coming with us to do this.”
“And what exactly are you doing?” I asked, the truck suddenly silent. “And why in the hell was Wells arrested?”
This day just kept getting weirder and weirder, and none of these boys seemed to want to say anything about it. Surprisingly enough, the dark prince turned in his seat, and when our eyes connected, it always hit me in a certain way. It made my body flutter, made me weak. My mouth closed, and he sighed.
“He hit someone.” Dorian scanned the others. “Assault.”
The fuck?
“He’s in the next county, but Ares knows someone on the force who will let us take care of Wells’s bail without getting his parents involved.”
Right. Because he’s a minor, and they’d normally call them. “Who did Wells hit?”
The boys were silent again, and Thatcher’s jaw clicked. I thought he’d say something, but Dorian, once again, did first.
“He just stepped out of line and did the wrong thing,” Dorian started, and Thatcher scoffed.
“Fucker deserved that shit, D,” Thatcher growled, and Dorian frowned. Thatcher tipped his chin up front. “Asshole got lucky tonight. It could have been me who hit him, and best believe I wouldn’t have stopped at a broken jaw.”
My jaw dropped. “He broke someone’s jaw?”
Thatcher’s tongue came out, the dual crosses in his ears dangling. “Yeah, he did. Wish I could have been there and seen that shit.”
Jesus Christ.
Both Dorian and Ares shot Thatcher a look that popped his tongue back into his mouth. Whatever was going on tonight definitely didn’t sit as well with Dorian and Ares as it did Thatcher.
“It didn’t have to come to that,” Dorian continued, his expression grave. “He knows that, and all tonight did was get his ass arrested.”
“Are you guys going to tell me who he hit?” I was between the seats at this point and just got a bunch of averted eyes. “Come on. I’m here to help—”
“Actually, you’re not here to help, and if you want to be here and not back at the house, you’ll just let us do our thing.” There was nothing playful about Ares’s tone, and normally, I wouldn’t have let him talk to me like that, but he did have control of the truck.
I sat back only because of that, watching as Thatcher went back to his phone, and Dorian proceeded to do what he normally did these days. I got casual glances through the side mirror instead of across the lunch table, and he was letting me be here.
He’d even fought for me to be.
*
The drive to the Corrington Meadows county police department was long and quiet. I didn’t ask any more questions because I knew they’d be shut down. These boys were being stubborn for some reason and remained tight-lipped all the way to the precinct. When we got there, Thatcher immediately stepped to get out, but both Dorian and Ares told him to sit with me. They apparently didn’t trust him not to do something stupid.
I had no idea what that meant, but it could have been his age. He was younger and tended to come off a little less responsible than the others. In any sense, it was Ares who had the contact inside, and while he and Dorian were away, Thatcher let me know how that came about. My twin brother had apparently fucked one of the cops, but to her credit, she hadn’t been a cop at the time. She’d been in college, and they were both at a party or some crap.
Even still, that shit made me thoroughly gag, and I’d try not to give Ares a hard time anymore about Dorian and me. It was fucking weird and just… ick. Anyway, sitting next to Thatcher, I moved my thoughts on to Wells, who I hoped was okay. I’d come to care about the joker, just like the rest of these boys. I knew right away when he was released because he flew from the precinct and yelled, “Freedom!” so loud in the parking lot he had cops coming back out of the precinct to check things out.
Dorian and Ares hit him on the head in response, all the boys in their thick winter coats. Wells was jumping up and down between Dorian and Ares when Thatcher and I got out of the running truck, and I’d never seen Wells so amped. He was like excited or some shit, and when Thatcher zoomed over and picked him up, swinging him around, he was even more so.
The two were a couple of characters, and I suppose always had been. My hands in my pockets, I stood there, my head shaking.
Thatcher dropped him, fake-punching at him before sliding his meaty arm around him. “You okay, man?”
