Be My Brayshaw (Brayshaw High #4)(92)

It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before.

My eyes fly around the arena. Thousands upon thousands of people are on their feet, screaming and cheering. The lights go off, and it only gets louder, and then a single light above the stage kicks on, smoke following and there he is.

G-Eazy takes the stage and when he does Raven practically leaps from her seat.

Maddoc rolls his eyes, but he can’t hide the grin—anything to make her happy.

“He make you think about that punk bitch, RaeRae?” Royce shouts over the crazy of the crowd’s shouts behind us.

Raven’s head snaps his way. “Bass Bishop was no punk, Ponyboy.” She turns to him, but her eyes soften as she reaches out and Royce tethers his in hers. “He was good to me, but never as good as you.” She winks.

He holds her gaze a long moment, nodding slightly as he lets her go.

Bass is the guy who used to run things at the warehouses, he helped her out, breaking his loyalty to the boys in the process.

It pissed the boys off, but in the end, he saved Raven, and Maddoc was grateful, Royce not so much.

He felt like Bass came in and tried to take a place he hadn’t earned.

The joke is Bishop, with the sleek black hair he had, swept back or messy, leather jacket and torn up jeans, looked like G-Eazy. That mix of hood and rockabilly.

“Love you, RaeRae!” Royce shouts with a grin, and she yells it right back.

Maddoc slides behind her right then, whispering who knows what in her ear, and she giggles, her hand coming up to wrap around his neck, and the two-start grinding to the beat.

Suddenly, Captain is at my back.

“Red’s your color, Beauty,” he says into my ear as his fingers run along my ribs, stopping where the stretchy shirt disappears into my high-waisted black jeans. His eyes fall on my lips, painted a heavy red, five shades darker than my natural color and the same exact shade as my top.

He licks his own. “But I knew that already.”

His gaze comes back to mine, softening as he stares. His hand comes up to grip the side of my face, a sadness suddenly clouding his.

“Victoria,” he whispers, and my lips pull in, a heavy crease forming above his brows. “The shit I said about Maria... that was fucked up. I didn’t mean it.”

I nod. “I know.”

He shifts, bringing us closer, and my heart rate spikes. “I’m—”

“Victoria!”

Captain’s hand falls and my glare flies to Chloe.

“I need to find the ladies’ room. Come with me?” Her smile is bright and annoying, and I’m ready to tell her to go the hell away, but the longer I look at her, the more I see.

Her eyes are pleading.

Her secret slaps me in the face and even though I don’t want to walk away right now, she might just need me to, so I nod, slipping away from Captain, but he quickly grabs my arm.

“You’re not going to the bathrooms by yourself,” he snaps.

Mac knocks his elbow with Captain’s and points up a long set of stairs, where massive body after massive body lines every three to four steps and leads to a glass hallway, a private bathroom just at the top.

“Maddoc picked this box for that reason,” he tells him.

“And you think he’d let Raven go alone?” Captain questions.

Mac laughs, shoving at Captain playfully. “Fuck no. If my girl were pregnant, I wouldn’t either.”

My eyes snap to Chloe’s and she frowns.

“Ready?” I ask her and she nods, leading the way.

As soon as we’re inside the glass building, she moves to the side, staring down at the others below, dancing and laughing, Mac and Captain staring right at us.

“Don’t judge me,” she says.

“I’m not.”

She whips around, angry glare but heavy moisture in her eyes. “I went to the doctor. I’m only six weeks along. The threesome with Royce was well before that. It’s Mac’s.”

My lips pucker as I almost speak, but quickly pause. “Okay... so why are you crying?”

“Because now it’s real.” She laughs nervously, shoving open the door into the bathroom, me right behind her. “I’m pregnant, and my dad is probably going to have him murdered.”

“Doubtful.”

She disappears into the stall. “You don’t know my dad!”

I roll my eyes, leaning against the frame, waiting for her to come out.

The door shoves open and her four-inch heels carry her to the sink to wash her hands. She runs her fingers through her hair and turns to the side to inspect her figure.

“Why haven’t you told Mac?” I ask her.

She sighs. “Because once we’re finally done with school, he wants to take over as head of Brayshaw security. He says all the time how dangerous it is. Add a kid into that and he’ll give up what he’s been working toward. It’s all he wants.” She looks my way, her lipstick in her hand. “Mac comes from nothing, earned everything he has, and he’s worked so hard to earn their trust, to get to where he is—a place where he’ll have a chance. I can’t take that away.”

“Who says you’re taking anything away?”

She laughs as if I’m the most na?ve person on the planet, and her words confirm the thought. “You have so much to learn.”