AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I think, if she’s really planning on staying here, she should call whoever she needs to call so we can get that taken care of. Then, Hunter, tomorrow, you can look into the will and see if you can find out exactly what it says. But tonight, I want to focus on figuring out more about this game the families have reinstated and see if we can come up with a game plan for tomorrow, because if all the families really are playing, shit’s going to hit the fan at school.”
Hunter blinks, as if he forgot about the game.
Truthfully, I did, too. Now that he’s brought it up, though …
“What is this game, anyway?” I look from Hunter to Jax then finally at Zay. “I mean, all I know is that, whatever it is, apparently, it meant I had to get tossed off a bridge yesterday, so I’m guessing it’s not a good thing.”
Jax winces at my mention of the bridge then fastens his gaze on me. “Come sit down, and we’ll try to explain it.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Hunter mumbles, no longer smiling. Then he turns and heads for the sofa, snagging my hand as he does and towing me with him. When he reaches the sofa that Jax is sitting on, he sits down, pulling me with him so that I end up sitting wedged between him and Jax.
The scent of cologne and cigarette smoke touches my nostrils, which makes me wonder which one of them smokes. I know Zay does, but the scent isn’t coming from him.
“I still can’t believe they even reinstated the game,” Hunter says as he reaches for a mug on the coffee table in front us. “It’s been years, and they just decided, hey, let’s do this again, only force our kids to play … It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Doesn’t it?” Zay questions. “This is our parents we’re talking about. They love seeing us suffer. Plus, it’s not like it’s the first time they’ve made us play a game,” he mumbles the last part, his gaze flicking in my direction.
I’m not sure why, but it feels like he’s trying to read me. Why? It’s not like this has anything to do with me. Well, except for the fact that I got forced off a bridge and plunged into freezing cold water because of this game …
Okay, maybe it does have something to do with me.
“What exactly is the point of this game?” I ask, discreetly tugging at the sleeves of my jacket to double-check that the bandage is covered since both Jax and Hunter are sitting close enough that, if it peeked out, they might notice.
“To destroy each other,” Zay says matter-of-factly. “To hurt each other. To win and be the most powerful family in town.”
“Well, that sounds lovely.” My tone oozes sarcasm.
“Yeah, I know,” Hunter mumbles then takes a sip of what looks like coffee, but I can smell the burning scent of whiskey coming from it.
Zay starts bouncing his knee up and down as he dazes off at the floor. “We need to find out who threw Raven off the bridge and retaliate as soon as possible. If we don’t, we’re going to seem weak, and we can’t be in that position if we want to win.”
“You want to win?” I ask, surprised. I mean, from the impression I got, they all seemed to hate the world their families come from. Then again, they have gone out of their way to make sure everyone in school is afraid of them, so they clearly care about their image.
Zay flicks his gaze to me. “While we live here, we have to care. Because the moment we don’t care, shit gets brutal.” He reclines back in the chair. “Things like what happened to you on the bridge will happen more and more frequently. And then, on top of that, we’ll start getting shit from our fathers about tarnishing the family names.” The muscle in his jaw ticks at the mention of their fathers. “Which is why it’s really important to retaliate as soon as possible. But, in order to do so, we have to figure out who pushed you off the bridge.” He looks at me as if expecting me to give him an answer.
“I wish I could help, but I already told you I never saw their faces.”
“But you head their voices, right?” he asks, and I nod. “So, we just need to get you to place a voice to a face.”
“How do we do that exactly?” I ask. “I barely know anyone here.”
“Well, more than likely, tomorrow, we’ll be at school with them, so I’m thinking we start searching around and keep our ears open,” he says, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “I know it might be complicated, but it’s important that you figure it out.”
“Yeah …” is all I say, because I don’t know if I can do it. I mean, I can’t even remember much of my past, so how am I supposed to get my mind to link a voice to a face when that kind of stuff clearly isn’t my forte?
Zay’s gaze dissects me. “Unless you don’t want to be part of this.”
“I already kind of am,” I remind him. “And it’s not that.” I chew on my bottom lip. “I just worry I won’t be able to do it. My brain isn’t the greatest when it comes to memories and stuff like that.” I squirm at saying such truthful words aloud, but these guys know nearly as much about my past as I do, so it’s not like I need to tiptoe around it.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Jax speaks up, sliding his arm along the back of the sofa and behind me. “And if you can’t do it, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Don’t coddle her,” Zay says, irritation ringing in his tone. “It is a huge fucking deal if she doesn’t.”
“And I’m sure putting an immense amount of pressure is going to help her,” Jax snaps back, glaring at Zay.
“Jesus, what the hell is happening right now?” Hunter mumbles under his breath as he glances at his two friends.
I’m not certain what’s shocking him, but it’s clearly something.
