Unbeautifully (Undeniable, #2)(78)

Yeah, who knew? And really, who cared?

Not him.

This f*cking club was full of secrets and it was getting straight up exhausting.

“Tegen.”

Everyone turned to look at Deuce.

“You’re gonna reel this bullshit in right the f*ck now and go see your mother. I ain’t payin’ for that apartment in Cali so you can come home and act like an *, shittin’ on everyone just ’cause you f*ckin’ feel like it. You feel me?”

Tegen snorted. “Yeah,” she said. “Whoop-dee-f*cking-doo. I can’t wait to go hang out with my comatose mother. My f*cking idiotic, comatose mother who got herself shot because she was stupid enough to fall for one of you *s. Hopefully she’ll die, be put out of her misery, and I won’t have to keep watching her throw her entire life away for a man who doesn’t give two f*cks about her.”

Everyone was openmouthed staring at Tegen who, even after her rant, was casually taking a bite of her sandwich.

“That’s right, f*ckers,” she said around a mouthful of sandwich. “I said it.” Then spinning on her heel, she headed for the hallway.

Deuce started after her but Cage intercepted him. “This is my fault,” he said, pushing his father backward. “I’ll deal with it.”

“Motherf*ck,” Deuce muttered, staring after him. “Ten bucks says he f*cked that mouthy little *. Motherf*ckin’ little f*ck can’t keep it in his pants for shit. Cocksucker would f*ck a hole in the wall. Probably has.”

“Prez,” Cox called out, laughing. “You remember his prom, him never comin’ home and we went lookin’ for him. Found him in the girls’ bathroom at the school, pants around his ankles, face in the toilet.”

Ripper couldn’t help himself, he burst out laughing. That had been some funny shit.

“Fuck me,” he said. “That shit was straight up awesome.”

“It was disgusting,” Danny interjected, her eyes on him. “And embarrassing. You know he had three dates that night, right?” She shook her head. “Disgusting.”

“You’re all disgusting,” Deuce muttered, his accusing stare locked on Ripper.

Ignoring him, Ripper stared at Danny, not knowing what the f*ck to say but thrilled she’d spoken to him. She held his gaze, her muddled feelings plain as day. She still thought he was going to leave. She didn’t trust him. Not only that, she didn’t trust herself. She felt that her love for him was clouding her judgment.

So he tried to convey how determined he was to make it up to her. That he’d wait until she was ready. He didn’t want to wait, he wanted to straight up jump her, but he would wait. They could go as slow as she needed and he would fix this shit between them and try his damnedest never, ever to f*ck up again.

Swallowing hard, she covered her mouth with the back of her hand and turned away from him. Deuce caught the slight movement, narrowed his eyes in concern, then turned to him and straight up glared.

“Good times,” Cox said, looking from Deuce to him and back to Deuce. “Always good f*ckin’ times at Horsemen High.”

“Yo,” Tap called out, walking into the room. “Jase called. D’s awake.”

“Fuck,” Deuce breathed, running his hands through his hair. “Finally, some good f*ckin’ news.”

“Yeah,” Tap said. “One problem.”

“What?”

“She don’t remember jack shit.”

“So?” Cox said. “Who’d wanna remember gettin’ shot in the head? I wouldn’t.”

“Idiot,” Tap muttered. “She doesn’t remember anything. Anyone. Nothin’. Not even her f*ckin’ name.”

“She’s alive,” Deuce said, already heading for the hallway, most likely to grab Tegen. “Let’s focus on that.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“It’s very rare that an injury this severe doesn’t result in some kind of permanent damage. And that’s something that can take months or even years to determine the full extent of.”

“Danny!” Ivy squealed, bouncing in the waiting room chair beside me, waving my cell phone around in the air. “I beat level thirteen!”

“Shh,” I whispered, trying to hear what the doctor was saying to Jase.

“Age is also a factor,” he continued. “Individuals in their teens and twenties have a tendency to recover more so than a woman in her thirties.”

“Great,” Jase growled. “But what the f*ck about her memory? She doesn’t even know who the f*ck I am!”

My father put his hand on Jase’s shoulder and on his other side, Eva slipped her arm through his. Jase shuddered through his next breath, before focusing back on the doctor.

“She’s very lucky to be alive, Mr. Brady. Ninety percent of people who suffer gunshot wounds to the brain die almost immediately. In Ms. Kelley’s case, the bullet traveled all the way through her brain but luckily did not pass through the brain stem. Right now, as far as we can tell, only her memory has been affected, whereas the majority of survivors of this type of injury not only suffer memory loss, but difficulty reading and problems with hand-eye coordination, some ending up in long-term rehabilitation or nursing care.”

Jase was already agitated by Tegen’s appearance at the hospital. She’d taken one look at Jase, marched right up to the nurses’ station, and very loudly stated that he was not family and under no circumstances was he allowed to see her mother.