A Whole New Crowd(21)

Then I sat on the curb and waited.
My heart was pounding.
I didn’t have to wait long. I heard Brian’s car screech around the corner and slam to a stop right in front of mine.
Part of me wanted to hop in and tell him to go to a park. We could hash it out there, but Jace’s guys were coming to the house and wouldn’t know where we went. So I braced myself when Brian slammed his door shut and strode to me.
Oh yeah. He was in a rage.
“You bitch!” he snarled, crossing the street.
I stood up, but held firm. I would stand my ground. “Brian.”
“You told Jace to handle me? Jace!” His snarl deepened to a scowl, but I saw the hurt behind it. “Are you sleeping with him? First Evans and now him? My brother?” His top lip curved higher. He said, “You whor—”
I kneed him in the balls. “No one talks to me like that.”
He doubled over, but twisted so he could see me. “You’re a bitch.”
My sympathy was gone. “And you’re crazy.”
He flinched. The storm came back over his face and he tried to straighten. He had more to say, but then he groaned and bent back over.
“We’re over, Brian.”
His head twisted away.
I moved closer and lowered my voice, “I loved you. I did. I probably always will, but you want to go in a different direction than me.” I gestured to Mandy’s—no—to my house. “I want this. I want college. I want a good job. I don’t want to have to work four jobs to make ends meet or worse, to end up in prison. This is my way out. Let me have it.”
He shook his head. He still wouldn’t look at me.
I waited. We were still alone, but it was only a matter of time before we were seen. “Brian, please.”
He stood now, swallowing his pain down. “You love me, baby, you just want this future so desperately. I know you.”
“And I know you.”
“You do, but I know you better than you know yourself, and you won’t last. This life...” He looked past my shoulders and the sneer appeared again. “You won’t get the adrenalin fix you need. I gave you that. Your old life gave you that.”
I started shaking my head. I already knew he was wrong.
He kept going, “No one knows you. Not like me, baby.” He stiffened and an ugly laugh came from him. “Look at them.”
A new horror filled me, but I knew who he meant. Turning, I saw them standing there. Mandy was on the lawn. A hand was pressed to her mouth and her eyes were wide with fear. Her friends spread out behind her and the guys. I flinched when I saw them. Tray was leading them down the driveway. They were heading towards us. I held a hand out, stopping them.
He stopped, but he was waiting for my say-so. I shook my head. It wasn’t time.
Brian laughed and raised his voice, “You guys think you know her? Huh? Evans? I’ve heard about you and your daddy. You’re all the same.”
My heart was breaking. Brian moved as if going to them, but I lifted a hand to his chest. His heart was racing under my touch. He acted as if he didn’t know I was touching him. He lifted his arm and pointed over my shoulder. “You’re weak. You’re targets. That’s all the good you are. You have no idea who you’re messing with. No idea!”
“Brian,” I whispered.
“She’s mine. She’s one of us.” He spread his arms out wide and raised his voice even louder. “We persevere. We’re the strong. We take on any circumstances and we still thrive. We’re going to keep thriving. Hell, we’re going to conquer. She’s got that rush in her and she won’t be satisfied with you. None of you. You just wait and see.” He looked down at me, his eyebrows lifted, as if seeing me for the first time. He fell back a step. Sweat was running down his face. He whispered to me, “I’ll wait for you, Taryn. I love you. You’re mine. No one else can take your place.”
Tears were rolling down my face. I ignored them.
He pressed his forehead to mine. His hands came up and cupped the sides of my face. “I’ll always love you. I will. Don’t forget me. Don’t give up on me. Please, Taryn. Please.”
I couldn’t do anything as waves of sadness crushed down on me. As he kept going, I felt an ache, big enough for an ocean to fill, opening inside of me. Then he pressed a kiss to my forehead. So had Jace. I had taken comfort from that one, but this one, I suppressed a shiver. Brian was my past. If I hadn’t been sure before, I knew now. I held my tongue and bit down on my lip. He wouldn’t accept it now.
Then I heard car doors slam.
I had stalled long enough.
Brian glanced back and a strangled laugh ripped from him. His hands fell from me and he shook his head, backing away from me. “My big brother, Jace.” He faced Jace’s men, three large men that were coming our way, and lifted both his middle fingers in the air to them. “My f*cking big brother, Jace. Mr. High And Mighty, so f*cking powerful he’s got these monkeys to run around and chase down his little brother.” He stopped and then shouted at them, “We’re good. You don’t need to come and protect little Terry. You can report back to big brother that the cops don't need to be called.”