AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I realize I’m still on Sawyer’s living room floor, but no one else is here anymore.
“They’re sleeping,” he explains as I keep looking around. “You need to leave. They aren’t done with you, and you don’t want to be here when they wake up.”
I let him help me up into a standing position. At least they didn’t break my legs.
Ethan takes me outside, and to my surprise, to his car.
“Come on, get in.”
I look around, but I don’t get in. The last time I saw his car, NSC was riddling it with bullets.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Billie,” he finally says reassuringly. “I don’t like you, but I also don’t think you deserve this. What, because Cade loves you? That’s none of our business.”
He opens the door and invites me to go in with a jerk of his head.
“He doesn’t love me,” I mumble as I settle into the passenger seat.
Ethan is a quiet man, so he doesn’t say anything else during the ride. It doesn’t take too long to get back to my house. The Kings own most streets, and he doesn’t have to take detours to cross the town.
He parks a little down the street, not going quite all the way to my house.
“Are you okay walking the rest?”
I nod, but just as I’m about to open the door, he gently touches my forearm.
“They lied.” At my silence, he adds, “When they said he doesn’t care about you.”
I shake my head, tears burning my eyes and falling down my broken face.
“What they said doesn’t matter. He didn’t come when I called for help. He wasn’t there. That means everything.”
I have hope that he’s going to say something. Defend his friend, tell me there indeed was a reason he wasn’t there tonight.
He’s got nothing else to say. Because I’m right.
“Thank you, Ethan. For getting me out of there. I owe you.”
Owing someone in our world means everything, and when Ethan nods, I know it’s because he will get his favor back one day.
For now, I exit the car and walk to my house.
The sun is attempting to rise behind dark clouds; it must be around six or seven. Rain starts to fall just as I get to my door. When I enter my house, my sister is coming out of the kitchen.
“Fuck, Bil’s!” she gasps, running to me. “Dad!” she calls out.
I’m too exhausted to even explain what happened. For now, I just let my older sister take care of me.
I’ve got nothing but my family. My crew.
I’m back to where I started; broken by the North Shore Kings, only now with heartbreak weighing heavy on me. That hurts much more than any physical wound they could ever cause.
34
CADEN
Can You Hold Me - NF Britt Nicole
I don’t turn my phone on until I get home. I’m fucking limping as I walk into my house, the pain tearing me apart.
