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I roll my eyes at him and hurry down the street. As I’m walking to my car, I cross paths with Sawyer. He narrows his eyes at me but manages to maintain a cold front.
“Been busy last night, little Scott?”
I ignore him, opening my car and trying to get in, but he catches my elbow before I get to. “Not so fast,” he hisses low. “What are you doing around here at this time?”
“Nothing,” I say as I try to snatch my arm back.
Sawyer is probably in his early thirties, at the prime of his strength, and much bigger than me. But I’ll be damned if I let him make me feel scared like he did in that kitchen the first time I met him.
“If we keep finding you on Kings’ grounds, we might have to start punishing you for it.”
“What? Like Jade and her girls did?” I snort. “Do you want your own trip to the hospital with my name on it?”
He releases his grip on my arm, but before I understand what he’s doing, he grabs me by the hair above my ear and crushes the side of my face against my window.
“Don’t play smart with me, little bitch. I didn’t want this deal between you and Caden in the first place, and I’ll kill you myself if you start bringing us more trouble than you’re worth. This is my crew, and I take care of it. So let me not catch you causing us problems anymore. Or Caden’s little protection on you won’t matter. I will fucking kick your ass and send you back to your crew broken beyond repair.”
He releases me before I can answer, and I flip around to face him. “Fucking asshole,” I rage before grabbing the handle again and slipping into my car.
There’s nothing more to say. He’s made his point, and I have nothing to fight back with. Better for me to get out of his way.
After all, it was probably a needed reminder. Caden and I are not a thing. We will never be a thing. We’re rivals. If we forget about it, our gangs will gladly remind us.
15
BILLIE
All In - Chri$tian Gate$
By the evening, I officially hate myself for staying over at Caden’s last night. The short moments of bliss didn’t outweigh the burden of reality.
Training was the worst it’s ever been. Now that my finger and face are better, I was unfit from the lack of sleep, the fact that I didn’t run before exercising, and the greasy food from the night before. My heart was beating fast from the memories of what I did with Caden and my stomach fluttered at the idea of seeing him again.
I didn’t have the right clothes, no sports bra, and everything was a struggle. Dickie picked up on it, obviously, and made me work twice as hard for it. By the end, we had a talk about starting to take this seriously, or he would pull me out of the amateur tournament. The fear was enough to promise myself to stay away from Caden.
I wish my heart would just listen. I keep trying to rationalize this. Caden and I have never been close, we barely know each other, and yet he’s the person I’ve opened up the most to in my life. I feel like he told me things he doesn’t express to others too. I have seen a tamed side of him and know he’s putting in an effort for me.
I keep having to remind myself that he is not a good person. That he’s the same man who broke me two years ago, although my mind seems set on separating the two. How am I meant to hate him if I don’t see him as the person who did me wrong anymore?
I’m coming out of the shower when I smell Aisha’s Maghrebi food. At least one good thing tonight is that it’s our family dinner. This week she felt extra motherly and wanted to do it on Monday and Friday. I guess it’s a nice start to the week. We’re all going to get to enjoy my stepmom’s food and have a little chill time.
I change into jeans and a hoodie and walk into the living room.
“Ah, she’s alive,” Emma says as soon as she sees me. She and Dad are watching the football game as I walk over to where they’re sitting. I squeeze myself between her and the armrest.
“Where were you yesterday?” she whispers in my ear so Dad can’t hear.
“I see Xi snitched like a little bitch,” I say.
Her pale eyes cross my brown ones, and I can see the annoyance in them.
“I’m joking,” I ultimately add.
Her jaw tightens, and she looks at the TV again, not looking at me when she finally says, “I don’t like how you’ve been behaving recently. And I told Dad about it.”
“What?” I choke.
Someone knocks on the door, and a minute later, our conversation is put to rest by Lik and his boyfriend walking in. Aisha is over the moon and I force a smile on my face. Lik hugs all of us, being his natural social self, while his giant of a boyfriend settles on the armchair and nods at all of us.
