Trouble at Brayshaw High (Brayshaw, #2)(31)

I’m a perpetual fuck up. I know this.

I warned them of this.

My mother did a number on me and it seems I’m not the only one who will have to deal with the aftermath.

I go to cradle the drink in my lap, but Captain finally looks at me, but only for a second to deliver his glare. “Drink it, Raven, you’re shaking. I put some chamomile in there to calm your nerves.”

I nod and bring it to my lips, blowing lightly before taking a small sip.

Maddoc still hasn’t come down yet and we’re all waiting around not saying but thinking the same damn think – this is all my fucking fault.

He climbed out of the car and went straight for his room to rinse off, so I slipped into the hall shower quickly.

Royce tosses his phone onto the coffee table and it continues to vibrate against the wood.

Cap sighs. “One of us is going to need to answer.”

“We need to wait,” Royce responds.

Footsteps have our heads jerking toward the stairs. Maddoc’s voice floats to our ears. “Hello.”

He’s answered his phone.

He’s visible now, still descending the steps and my ass cheeks clench in expectation when I meet his frenzied gaze.

My stomach turns, but I don’t dare look away – couldn’t if I wanted to.

“Yeah,” he rasps into his phone. “I will.”

He hangs up slowly, not stopping until he’s directly in front of me, glaring down the length of his nose.

Naked anger and unreserved foreboding has my throat growing tight.

“He wants Maybell here,” he speaks, looking at me but his words are for his brothers. “Can you guys go get her?”

“Yeah, man,” Captain mutters and he and Royce head for the door.

“Take your time,” he adds, and they hesitate a second before walking out, closing and locking the door behind them.

The second they do, he grips me under the armpit and tosses me in the air, catching my hips in his rough hands. He turns, taking the steps two at a time until we reach his room. He bumps into the dresser, shoves everything off with one full sweep of his elbow and drops me on top.

He pushes closer, pulling me flush against him and my body heats – a strange mix of fear and excitement flaring inside me. I’m not afraid of him, but I admit, I have no idea what he’s thinking, what he believes or what truths he knows.

His knuckle finds my jaw and he holds my head in place.

“What. Happened.”

“Nothing—”

“Try a-fucking-gain, Raven.” His chest rumbles with his growl. “And start with the part where you first left, the night you were jumped.”

I lick my lips. “Bass told me to meet him out at the warehouses, he was too cryptic for me to ignore him, so I went. He told me about a video of us breaking into the cabin, but he didn’t know that part of it, just thought it was of the four of us hooking up. I was jumped leaving.” I pause, not sure I want to tell him the next part considering I’m pretty sure Collins is in the hospital right now for the little he did know.

“Keep. Talking.”

“One of the guys whispered something before they ran off.”

“Which was?” he prompts, crossly.

“That I don’t belong, it was the same thing Collins said to me in the bathroom that day at the restaurant.”

“Wait.” Maddoc’s frown deepens, anger vibrating through his voice. “Are you saying ... Collins is the one who had you fucking jumped?”

“Yes.”

A deep growl leaves him, and his palms find my thighs, squeezing fiercely. “You hid this from us. You went there without us. Without me.”

“I had to,” I admit.

“Tell me why.”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Say it,” he demands.

“To protect you.”

His chest rumbles and he starts shaking for real– a crack in his unbreakable armor.

A sudden and strong warmth spreads in my chest causing deep creases to form between my eyes.

His lip curls. “And what were you planning to do to protect us, to protect me?”

I tell him the honest truth. “Anything.”

A shuddered breath leaves him before he rips away from me.

He rubs his hands across his hair and down the back of his skull, gripping his own neck. “Did you fuck him?”

“No.”

“But you would have, if what, he took it?” His eyes bore into mine. “You’d have given him what I’d just fucking made clear belonged to me?”

I’m not proud of the decision, it should probably tell me to run and run fast knowing I’d give myself over for him – that can’t be a good thing – but ... “If I had to, yes.”

With a deep roar, he spins and punches the wall, planting his hands against it. He bends his body, his chin dropping to his chest.

I wait a minute, hop down and walk to him. Slipping under his arm, I slide down the wall, knees bent, until I’m low enough to look up and meet his stare without him having to lift his head.

“You’re angry.” My eyes shoot between his and his nostrils flare.

“I am beyond. Fucking. Furious,” he confirms slowly, and I nod.

I glide up and his head lifts to follow.