A Whole New Crowd(17)

“I know, but what can I do? I’ll get caught whatever I do and then I’ll get suspended. I can’t do that. Mom and Dad would be furious with me. I might lose my scholarship to Brown next year.”
Here it was. This was when I stepped forward and offered my criminal skills. Fuck my family. Fuck my future. My sister was hurting. I might not have been willing to throw it all down the drain for Tray, but this was different. My old protectiveness came out. Mandy was family. Enough said.
“Mandy.”
Tray frowned, hearing the sudden seriousness in my tone. He glanced at me. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but I was going to do something, and it wasn’t going to be legal. I wanted to give her some form of comfort, but if she knew, she’d want in and she could get in trouble with me.
“What?” She paused in between her sobs and a hiccup. “Taryn?”
“Nothing.” I forced those words down. “Where are you?”
She hiccupped again. “I’m coming back. I made one of the guys drive me back. Taryn,” she started crying again, “I couldn’t stay there. They didn’t even stop. She saw me and kept going. I couldn’t stay there. I would’ve—”
I jerked forward in my seat. She couldn’t do anything. It was better if I got in trouble, not her. Mandy was good. Mandy was normal. She had a future. Mine was still in question. I shook my head. “You didn’t do anything, did you?”
“No,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “but I wanted to. I wanted to hurt them, Taryn. What am I going to do? Oh my god.” She dissolved back into tears. “I hate Devon. I absolutely hate Devon. I’m going to…I’m going to key his car; that’s what I’m going to do.”
The car slowed as we turned into Tray’s driveway. I said to her, “Just come to Tray’s. I’m here. I’ll wait for you.”
“Thank you, Taryn, just thank you.” Her voice was hoarse now.
“It’ll be okay. I promise.”
“O…o…kay.” She hiccupped again.
After we ended the call, I glanced at Tray. His lack of surprise set me on edge. My teeth gritted together. “You knew.” It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation.
Compared to the mob that had been in his house earlier, his mansion was eerily vacant. I followed him inside as he went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He had ignored my statement, but when he handed me a beer, his eyes caught mine. I couldn’t place what was going on in his head; he was wearing a mask. It was one that I had witnessed on him since I arrived in Rawley. It was the same mask he gave everyone, his friends, his teachers, and now it was directed at me Tray Evans wasn’t normal. I had forgotten during our recent interactions, but I remembered now.
I stepped back and ignored the beer he handed to me.
He dropped his arm with a sigh and shrugged, leaning back against a counter. “Would you care if I said it was bro code?”
I snorted.
He laughed softly. He sighed again and shook his head. “I’m not a narc, Taryn. I know a lot of shit and don’t say a word. That’s not me.”
“Mandy’s your friend.”
“So’s Devon.”
“You don’t care that your friend is getting hurt?”
“She wasn’t getting hurt. She wouldn’t until she found out.” He straightened from the counter and advanced towards me. He walked with purpose, stalking his prey, and I bit down on my lip. I should’ve moved. I couldn’t. The mask fell and someone dangerous was looking back at me. My heart leapt into my chest. There was more to him. I felt it. My body responded to it and responded to him because of it. I didn’t know what it was. My mind wasn’t thinking, but I couldn’t move away. As he stopped in front of me, just an inch separating us, he looked down to my lips. He said, “I’m no narc.”
I hated that word. I really did. I hated narcs, and I hated myself because I understood him. I had to ask, “If the situation was reversed? If someone was cheating on you and your friends knew?”
He merely smirked and set the beer in front of me. Keeping both arms on either side of me, he trapped me in place. Nudging the barstool I sat on with his knee, he twirled me around until I was facing him.
My throat swelled up. “How long has it been going on?”
He had started to move even closer. His hand lifted from the counter, and I closed my eyes, not knowing where he was going to touch me. My body was burning up. I felt alive from the anticipation of his touch, but as I asked that, I felt a cold chill instead. He stepped away. “I’m not answering that either.”