“Toby is cute.” She grinned. “Shame he’s the cousin of the Eagles QB.”
“Hush,” I hissed, scanning the kitchen for any signs of him. “They can’t know who I am, not yet.”
“And if they find out?” She gave me a disapproving glance.
“They won’t.”
Flick looked ready to argue when explosions rang out around us. People started screaming and all hell broke loose. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me down behind the counter as blood pounded between my ears.
“What the hell is that?” Flick trembled as the loud pops continued to rain down on the house. “Gunshots?” She shrieked.
“No way,” I said, breathlessly, my heart lodged in my throat. It was Rixon East, people didn’t get shot here. But it sure as hell sounded like a gun fight.
“Motherfuckers,” someone roared, and a group of guys in red and white jerseys rushed through the kitchen and out of the back door. The air smelled like bonfire, a smoky haze hanging in the air as I peeked over the top of the counter.
Flick gripped my arm. “Hails, what the—”
“Do you really think they would be out there if it was gun fire?”
“It’s firecrackers,” someone said, and my head whipped around to a guy who was moving closer to the windows. “My brother uses them all the time.”
More people came into the kitchen, curiosity getting the better of them. I shrugged Flick off and went to the back door.
“Hailee, what the—” I pushed it open and stepped outside. The noise had stopped now but there was a group of guys fighting on the Thatchers’ sprawling lawn.
“Oh, shit,” someone yelled. “Fight.”
People streamed out of the house eager to see whatever was going down. But when my eyes landed on Jason and Asher in amongst the brawl, I gasped. “Jason, what the hell?”
My step-brother’s eyes snapped to mine just as one of the Rixon East guys landed a punch right on his jaw. His head snapped back, blood spraying into the air. “Jason!” My voice rang out across the yard as I pushed my way through the growing crowd.
“Wait,” Toby said from somewhere behind me. “You know him?”
“Something like that,” I murmured, watching as Jason fought off two guys while Asher got a handle on the third. “He’s my step-brother.” My voice was quiet as I forced out the words.
“Oh, shit,” he said scrubbing his jaw. “I had no idea.”
Why would he?
Jason lived in the limelight, not me. And he was a Ford, where I was a Raine. Unless you knew us, you would never put one and one together and come up with two.
The guys were circling one another now, the crowd amped up and bloodthirsty. One of the guys advanced on Jason but I yelled, “Stop.”
Without thinking, I rushed into the circle and stood in front of him, using myself as a shield. “Move, Raider bitch,” the guy spat, a nasty bruise forming around his eye. “Before I—”
“Back off, Thatcher, that’s my sister. Do you really want to start something you know we’ll finish?”
The guy—Lewis Thatcher—glared at me, his eyes sparking with interest as he rubbed his jaw. He was a mean looking guy: tall, built, with sharp eyes, and short spiked hair. But I was stuck on the part where Jason had called me his sister.
He’d never called me his sister before, not unless it came hand in hand with an insult.
“You’ve got five minutes to get the fuck out of here.” Lewis Thatcher’s shoulders relaxed as he stepped back, his friends doing the same.
“Flick?” I beckoned for her to come to me as she stood on the edge of the crudely formed circle, tears collecting at the corners of her eyes. “Let’s go,” I said, wrapping an arm around her.
Jason wiped his mouth. He looked wild, his eyes simmering with anger, blood smeared over his lip, hair disheveled. Asher didn’t look much better. The two of them tipped their heads at Lewis Thatcher and his friends before slowly backing up. “Hailee, you and Felicity go wait down by Asher’s Jeep.”
“But—”
“Now, Hailee.”
I flinched at the severity in his tone and Flick started pulling me away. “Come on, Hails,” she said shakily. “We should go.”
I glanced back to see Jason and Asher still facing off with the Rixon East guys. Surprised by the sheer relief I felt when they began to follow us.
We reached Asher’s Jeep, parked on the street under the cover of shadows. “Get in,” he said. “It’s unlocked.”
Flick wasted no time jumping inside, but I hesitated, my frantic gaze assessing Jason. “Get in the damn Jeep, Hailee,” he growled when his eyes slid to mine. There was a deep cut in his lip and a dark shadow around his cheek, but it wasn’t his injuries that had my attention. It was his eyes. They were completely black.
Feral.
“But—”
“Get. In. The. Fucking. Jeep.” He gripped the door, waiting for me to slide inside. With a heavy sigh, I climbed in beside Flick, Jason slamming the door shut behind me. She threw me a concerned look but didn’t say anything. The tension as Asher and Jason got in was so thick I could hardly breathe.
“Well, I didn’t expect that,” Asher said as he fired up the engine and pulled onto the road, his eyes sliding to my step-brother. “This could be a problem—”
“Don’t,” Jason cut him off, but I didn’t miss the silent look they shared. I wanted to ask what he meant, why it could be a problem, but something told me I wouldn’t like the answer. Defeated, I sank back against the leather seats, staring out of the window.
The ride back across the river didn’t take long, but it felt like hours. No one spoke. Flick was quiet, her eyes closed, her leg shaking agitatedly. Every now and again, Asher’s eyes met mine in the rear-view mirror, but I couldn’t decipher the expression on his face. And Jason... well he was present physically, but he’d completely checked out. Lost to the anger radiating out of him like a force-field.
He was furious.
And something told me, it had everything to do with me.
The next morning, I lay in bed, not ready to face the aftermath of the night before. When Asher had pulled up outside our house, Jason had ordered me to go inside while the two of them stayed in the Jeep to talk. I only knew because I’d watched them from my window. Something was wrong, but whatever it was, they didn’t feel it necessary to tell me. Assholes.
My cell phone bleeped, and I leaned over to grab it off the nightstand. I had two messages from Toby.
Toby: Did you get home okay? I was worried.
I smiled at that, opening the most recent message.
Toby: Good morning, just wanted to make sure Ford didn’t kill you on the ride home.
Rolling onto my back, my fingers flew across the screen.
Me: I’m okay thanks. That was pretty crazy. Are things always like that at East parties?
Toby: Nah. Things only get crazy if your brother shows up.
So it wasn’t the first time something like that had happened. Interesting. I stored that snippet of information for another time.