Break Me (Brayshaw High #5)(123)

The corner of her eyes crease slightly. “Really?”

That surprises her?

She faces forward. “Huh.” She nods, walks back to the car, and slips inside.

She puts her earbuds in and closes her eyes.

Well, okay then.

I run my hands through my hair, and walk to the side of Mac’s truck she can’t see, lean against it and take a breath.

What a day it’s been.

What a month it’s been.

I never intended for anything that has happened since I got here to happen, but I can’t say I’m upset over any of it, because it led me to something I couldn’t imagine if I tried.

With that said, I hate that I yelled at my brother like I did. I made him feel like shit and that’s not what I wanted, but I need him to understand what I found here—more than I ever dreamed of.

Friends, a life, a lover.

Purpose.

I had none of those things before this place and I couldn’t leave it behind, even if Royce wasn’t part of the equation. He is, thank god, but if he wasn’t, I’d still want to stay for me.

I need my brother to be happy for me because his support means so much to me. I love him and I know all his backlash is coming from the same place, his love for me.

A car rolls up behind Mac’s, the front red bumper showing itself first. Slowly, I step out to look inside it.

I breathe a sigh of relief when August pushes the door open and stands at the edge of it. “August, hey.”

He grins. “How’s it going, Bishop?”

I smile, but it freezes.

Bishop?

I never told him my last name.

Now that I think about it, this isn’t the first time he called me that. Last time I saw him, when he was suddenly at the curb while I was walking, he said it too.

When he offered me a ride and I...

Holy shit.

The ‘chocolate treats’ from his front seat, he had said they were for a friend.

A certain coach, I’m betting?

I take a step backward and he steps with me.



The sun catches the light of something golden, and I look to the necklace around his neck.

A lion.

I force my voice calm. “Let me guess, your zodiac sign?”

He smirks, his eyes tightening. “King of the jungle.”

Flashes of the blood in my brother’s smashed-up car fly through my brain.

August is the longest month of the lion. Of fire.

Of the Leo.

Our eyes meet, and for the first time, I see the malicious hint behind his, one I’m not supposed to notice and pretend I don’t.

I grin and he chuckles, dark and deviously.

Shit.





Chapter 35





Royce



Mac tosses the fire extinguisher to the side, and we step back, eyeing the pile of half-burnt trash in the middle of the asphalt, each net still up in flames around the rims, not a hint of fucking sparks anywhere near the buildings or anything else that could possibly catch on fire.

“This is almost worse than if the school was on fire,” Mac says after a moment.

“It’s a slap in the fucking face.” I sigh, looking to Bass.

Mac clasps his hand on my shoulder as he walks by. “I’m gonna go check the back fence, just in case.”

I nod, not looking away from Bishop.

He’s moved a few feet down, the panic offset once we got here and shit was still standing—he was always a solid one to ride regardless of where we were going. Regardless of his urge to bury me alive, he was still all the fuck in.

The bastard’s Brayshaw at heart, even if he is out after his own empire now.

He stands there, rubbing at the back of his neck while staring up at the stars. He’s thinking of Brielle, I’d bet, and he’s fucked in the head, not knowing what to do. Wanting to do what’s right, no doubt, but the answer ain’t as clear as he expected it to be.

“Talk to the man, brother. Lay it out. Let him see.”

My ribs constrict, my features pulling. “See what, brother?”

Cap grips my arm, whips me around and locks his hands on my shoulders. “You think Phoenix won’t need proof of what’s inside someone when Zoey gives her heart away? You think he won’t burn the house down to find it?”

My stomach heats, my pulse kicking and a small grin forms. “Come on, Cap. He’s a Brayshaw. He’ll have the world up in flames.”

Cap chuckles, but levels me with a steady glare. “Say it out loud, brother. Make it real. Take what’s yours. She wants you to, and Bass? He needs you to, even if he doesn’t realize it yet.”

I pull in a full, aching breath of air and nod. “I got you, Cap.”

I turn and walk closer to Bishop.

He spots me in his peripheral and pulls a smoke from his pocket and up to his mouth.

I leave him to light the thing, wait for him to pull in a hit and as he does, his head drops back with a sigh. “She’s fragile, man. You’ll destroy her.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I laugh, but there ain’t a damn thing funny. “That I didn’t warn her, fight this all the fucking way? Because I did. You can ask her all about it and you’ll hate the shit she shares. I pushed, and pushed again, and that fragile girl, she wouldn’t hear it. Doesn’t accept it. I’m telling you, Bishop, she’s stronger than you know, tougher than I ever could have thought, and not like me, not with her fists or body. With her fucking spirit. And mind. And everything in between.”