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As loud as it was, that still wasn’t enough. Kicking the back door I dented that. About to climb on the hood and put my foot through the windshield, something stopped me. It was a siren. It woke me up as if I had been lost in a bad dream.
Clearing my head, I stared at what I had done. I had demolished the car. This was bad. I had lost control of myself and this was the result.
“Get on the ground!” Someone yelled behind me. “I said get on the ground.”
I had just ruined everything. I was about to lose my scholarship and my only shot at life. If I were a smarter person, maybe I would have run. I didn’t have it in me.
I had done this. I had been the one to mess up everything good that I had going on, no one else. And I wasn’t going to fight my self-inflicted destruction.
Not getting onto my knees fast enough, someone shoved me from behind. I fell landing on the broken glass. Before I could get off it, someone was pulling my wrists together and slapping on cuffs. They were tight enough to cut into my skin.
“You have the right to remain silent,” he began.
I didn’t have to listen to the rest. I was familiar with it. I was going to jail. Since I couldn’t afford bail, they were going to hold me for two to three days until I went up before the judge.
From there I would be sentenced. And unlike when I was under aged, this crime would follow me for the rest of my life. I had done this to myself. And to be honest, I always knew it was a matter of time before I screwed things up.
I followed the cops’ instructions without resistance. In the back seat of the squad car, I let my mind wander. I thought about all of the things that had gotten me here. I thought about Kendall. Of all of my regrets, the fact that I had made him so upset was at the top of it.
The truth was that last night’s party wasn’t the first time I had seen him. It was the day of Cage’s graduation. We had locked eyes as he stood under a tree watching the ceremony. I thought he was the cutest guy I had ever seen.
He wasn’t a big guy, but dressed in all black, he had a bit of an edge to him. His shaggy brown hair highlighted his angular features. And completing his I-don’t-give-a-fuck look with delicate, round-rimmed glasses told me that there was more to him than he let on.
There was more to me than I let on. I was the thug who hosted fight clubs for money. I was ready to take someone out at the drop of a hat. But, I liked guys. All I ever wanted was for a guy to hold me in his arms and tell me that everything was going to be alright.
When I saw Kendall standing there, I desperately wanted to do that for him. Maybe no one would ever do that for me, but I could be his rescuer. I wanted to protect him. I wanted to give Kendall the love I could never have. But the moment I was given an opening, I fucked things up by being myself.
At the station, I answered all of their questions and was escorted to my cell. There were two other people there. One looked drunk off his ass, and the other… well, he looked like me, a thug whose time had run out.
I wasn’t in the mood for talking and neither were they. This wasn’t my first time in jail so knowing I would be there for a while, I got comfortable. It was to my surprise when a cop appeared on the other side of the bars and said my name.
“Nero Roman?”
“That’s me.”
“You made bail. Let’s go.”
I got up sure he had made a mistake. But if they were going to let me out on a filing error, I was okay with that. Walking back to the sea of desks, I scanned the room spotting someone I didn’t expect to see. Quin was my brother’s boyfriend and he was looking pretty freaked out.
Considering Quin’s parents had more money than God and he grew up vacationing in places like the Bahamas, no wonder being in a police station made him look like he was about to pee himself. The only question was what he was doing here. I hadn’t used my one phone call. I couldn’t think of anyone who would help me.
When I got within arm’s length, Quin threw his arms around me. His embrace was genuine and tight.
“Jesus, Nero, what happened? What are you doing here? And, why didn’t you call me?”
I was about to answer when someone else I knew walked through the doors. Titus was my roommate and a guy I knew from back home. He had been inspired to attend East Tennessee University by the same two people I had, Quin and my brother. He approached and threw his arms around me too.
“What the hell is going on, man? And why did we have to hear you were here from some guy at campus security?”
“It’s nothing,” I told them. “I just did a little damage to a car.”
“A little damage?” Quin asked pulling away. “They said you smashed in a window and a couple of doors?”
“Like I said, a little damage,” I said with the hint of a smile.
“Why?” Quin begged, his cutely nerdy face narrowing.
I thought about Kendall and how he had told me to go to hell.
