A Whole New Crowd(14)

Flashbacks of our fights came to me. The hurt was there, every time he didn’t listen to me and went to buy more drugs. I couldn’t deal with it.
“Taryn,” he started.
The fight had left him, but I shook my head and went past him. I felt Tray beside me.
“Taryn,” Brian called after me.
I couldn’t. I just couldn’t face him. Any conversation with him always ended the same way. He would promise to change. He never did, and I would pick up the pieces. I couldn’t do that tonight, not this time.
I kept going, hugging myself. Tray never touched me. The sight of it would’ve enraged Brian again. I was relieved, but a part of me wanted it too. I shook my head. I couldn’t deal with Brian’s jealousy, not tonight anyway.
“TARYN!”
I turned and disappeared from his sight. Tray’s SUV blocked his view. When I got inside, he asked, “You okay?”
“No.”
He didn’t start the engine. Instead, he sat there and waited a few minutes. Then he asked, “What do you want to do?”
“Leave.”
He did as I asked. As we drove past the house, Brian was gone. I didn’t want to know where he had gone, but Grayley was still there. I told Tray to stop and rolled my window down. “Gray.”
Grayley approached the car. “Holy f*ck, Tar.” He groaned, shaking his head. “Holy hell for f*ck’s sake.”
“I didn’t know that was going to happen. I didn’t know someone would call him.”
Grayley was eyeing Tray, but he murmured, “Yeah, well, for what it’s worth, he’s been off the rails since you left him. Everyone’s on edge at school. That guy was one out of ten that he’s fought just this month.”
I shook my head. “I couldn't handle being with him anymore.”
“We know. He knows. I think that’s why he’s like a loose cannon more than normal lately. He can’t blame you for leaving. No one can.”
Those words should’ve made me feel better. They didn’t. “Will you watch him for me? Call me if anything bad happens to him?”
He nodded. “Yeah, sure. Another day in the life of a Lanser, huh?”
A sad laugh came from me. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” He leaned around me and said to Tray, “Take her home. Knowing Taryn, she’s ready to crash.”
“Thanks, Grayley.”
He nodded. A rueful smile graced his features and his eyes grew solemn. “Miss you around town, though.”
“Miss you too.”
He laughed and stepped back, then gestured to the road. “Get out of here, Matthews. I’ll call if I need to.”
“Okay.” I nodded. As Tray pulled forward, I kept looking at Grayley until he was out of sight. Then I rolled the window up and huddled against it, pressing my forehead against the glass.



CHAPTER FOUR

It wasn’t long until Tray’s phone went off. “Yeah,” he answered. A moment later, “Nah. Have fun. Grant knows the way back.”
His phone rang again, then again. He had the same conversation.
I glanced over. “A lot of people want you to go back to the party.”
He glanced sideways at me and then my phone rang, interrupting anything he might’ve said. I reached for my phone, but Tray caught my hand. “What?” It kept ringing.
“You know who that will be.”
Brian.
A weight dropped onto my shoulders and I nodded. I knew. This was part of breaking up. When he saw I was going to answer anyway, he let go and I held it to my ear. “Brian?”
He demanded, “Where are you?”
“I got a ride home.”
“I saw you, remember? Where are you? Why are you with that punk Evans and why was Clint hitting on you tonight?” He paused. I couldn’t answer before he added, “Were you teasing him? Shit. Are you teasing both of them?”
I frowned. This wasn’t Brian, or this wasn’t my Brian. He was hotheaded and a loose cannon, but he had never turned his rage against me before. I looked at Tray and saw that he had heard. Judging from the chill radiating off him and the set of his jaw, he wasn’t happy.
“Brian, you need to calm down.”
“The f*cker was all over you. He was two inches from—”
“I was handling him.”
Tray pulled the car over and watched me. A knot had formed in my gut and the longer he remained silent, just listening, the more it grew. I didn’t know how this was going to turn out, but I closed my eyes and concentrated on one thing. Brian needed to calm down.
“You were handling him? You’re the one who’s delusional, Tar. He needs to know that you’re still my property. He f*cks with me if he even goes near you.”