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Or he never had until tonight.
“Behind the school,” he finally said.
“They come looking?”
Chris started to nod, then thought better of it when his vision swam. “Yeah. They said they’re calling the Guides.”
“They always say that,” said Nick.
“I think this time they might mean it.”
“They won’t,” said Michael. “They made a deal. We keep it, they keep it.”
“They keep it, my ass.” Gabriel rocked back in his chair again. His eyes were on Michael, his voice acidic, full of judgment. “How long are you going to let them keep pulling this?”
“Don’t start.” Michael gave Gabriel’s chair a good push, setting it straight. He pointed to the pile of notebooks. “Work.”
Gabriel shoved back from the table, a motion full of promised violence. “What, you only have a pair when it comes to chasing a girl out of the house?”
Chris sighed and let go of the chair to turn for the back door. No one stopped him.
The air was cold, and the rain felt good on his bruised face. He gingerly pulled off his tee shirt and eased into one of the wooden Adirondack chairs. If he was patient, if he lay there long enough, the rain would offer to fix his injuries, would pull the bruises from his skin and feed him strength. He usually got sick of waiting and tried to force it. That just left him exhausted and pissed off, and he hurt too much to bother with it now. Michael said control would come, with time.
If Tyler and his buddies didn’t kill him first.
Chris didn’t hear the sliding door, but the rain told him when Michael stepped onto the porch.
He didn’t bother to look over. “Fight over that fast?”
Michael dropped into the chair beside him. “We didn’t fight.” Chris didn’t buy that for a minute. “You got it all out of your system with Becca?”
“Who is she, Chris?”
Chris kept his eyes on the clouds overhead and replayed the events in the parking lot. Becca had been kneeling over him, pouring water across his face. He’d come up swinging, sure they were bringing him around to finish him off. Water was all too happy to lend itself to fury—she’d been lucky he didn’t knock her flat. Or worse.
Chris shook his head slightly. “She’s nobody. Just a girl.”
“I think you should stay away from her.”
“Looks like you already took care of that for me.”
“You know what I mean.” Michael paused. “I don’t like her story.”
“Well,” said Chris, turning his head to the side. “You weren’t there.”
That one hit its target. Michael was silent for the longest moment. “What do you want me to do, Chris?”
Something. Anything. Chris looked back up at the clouds, keeping his eyes open to the rain. “Nothing, Michael.”
His brother rolled back in the chair, staring up at the same dark sky, letting the downpour soak him, too. The rain didn’t talk to him, but Chris knew Michael felt something when the drops struck the earth.
“I hate this,” Chris finally said.
“I know.”
“We’re stronger than they are.”
“That’s the problem. You know that.” Michael paused. “Don’t let them bait you.”
