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“Ryan’s here.”
At the sound of his name, Caleb’s chest expands as he flexes his arms. Micah rolls his head, and Elijah cracks his knuckles. Watching them prepare for a fight, I instinctively take out my butterfly knife and flip it open at my side.
“Taylor, get her out of here,” I command.
“You need to leave, too,” Elijah states.
My head swings in his direction. “You’ve got me fucked up if you think I’m leaving. I don’t run.”
Celeste lifts Taylor’s arms and steps out of his embrace.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she declares and pulls out the kitty knuckles that I had gifted her last year. “I only have one question: What about Caleb’s mom?”
Despite the cold temperatures, Caleb takes off his dress shirt. Steam rises from his shoulders, making it look like he’s actually on fire. He looks at Elijah.
Elijah closes his eyes and rubs his chin. “We can’t kill him before we understand what the consequences are. We could fight him, but once that starts, the risk of killing him is far too great. We might—”
Before he gets to finish, he’s cut off by our intruder.
“Congratulations, little brother,” Ryan says, clapping his hand on Caleb’s bare shoulder. “You played well today. I’m proud of you.”
Elijah stares at Caleb, subtly shaking his head in warning and mouths ‘no’.
Caleb turns slowly to Ryan. “You may have come from her womb, but you are no brother of mine.”
Ryan pats Caleb’s back. “I’m sorry to hear that. I was really hoping we could be a family.” He turns to Elijah. “What about you, Eli? We are friends after all, and I’ve helped you become an excellent soccer player. Being your older brother wouldn’t be much of a stretch for you.”
Elijah just stares at Ryan, unmoving. I imagine that he’s doing the same thing I am. Listening, observing, and cataloging his tells.
Ryan scans the rest of our little group until he lands on me and walks closer.
“Ah, princess. It’s so nice to see you again.” His smile widens, churning my stomach. “I can’t wait to finish what we started.”
Everything goes black as my demons take over. I rush him, punching him in the stomach, making him bend forward and wrap my arm around his neck, holding the blade to his throat.
“Estas muerto,” I whisper.
The next thing I know, Elijah is pulling me off Ryan and lifting me over his shoulder.
As much as I want to fight, Elijah is right—we don’t know the consequences.I shouldn’t have reacted to the dick.
My head spins as he turns around. When he does, I see Caleb using his forearm against Micah’s chest to keep him from attacking Ryan.
“Not here, Bryant. Too many witnesses,” Celeste whispers to Taylor on my other side. I look over and see her holding onto his wrist, trying to subtly pull him away.
The six of us—three of us unwillingly—start to head out of the party as vengeance seeps through the air.
“Ah, come on. I just got here,” Ryan shouts, raising his arms. “Can’t you guys stay for a little while.”
With me still over his shoulder, Elijah turns around.
“I would be careful, Coach. Don’t make the mistake of believing you’re untouchable. Accidents do happen,” Elijah threatens and turns on his heel.
Halfway back to Emily Hall, Elijah leans forward to finally set me down. On his way up, his hand slowly slides up my thigh and ass, landing on the small of my back. Neither one of us says anything as we just stand there.
In my periphery, I see Caleb and Micah arguing, with Micah trying to go back to the party.
“He tried to fucking kill me. Twice! I deserve to go back there. I don’t give a fuck if the fucker dies,” Micah pleads.
