Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
He gives my ass a squeeze before sauntering off toward his buddy Zac. They slap hands, something passing from Kayden’s to Zac’s.
Crap.
Of course now all the Hoodlums are watching him. It was so obvious he just passed Zac drugs, too. He does it all the time at school. Though he doesn’t come out and tell me he deals, I’m not stupid. It’s just something we don’t talk about.
But doing it in front of the Hoodlums is a bad idea.
It only gives my brother and Jordy more ammunition.
“Oops,” Charlotte says, bumping into me when she stumbles my way. “Tripped over something.”
How about nothing?
I grip her arm to steady her. “You’re wasted, Char. What the hell?”
“I’m not,” she hisses. “I tripped!”
“We should go home,” I murmur. “I’ll get Roan—”
“No,” she snipes, yanking her arm from my grip. “Ryan will get pissed. We can ask Cal or Terrence, but not Roan.”
I grit my teeth together. “He’s my brother.” In case she forgot.
“I know, but—”
“Hey, babe,” Ryan says, stepping up behind Char and wrapping his arms around her. “What are you two up to?”
“She’s drunk and needs to go home.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Unless she needs permission?”
His jaw clenches. “Catching all kinds of attitude, Roux. What the fuck?”
“I’m fine,” Charlotte murmurs.
He roams his palms over her breasts. “See? She’s fine.” He nuzzles her hair. “Right, babe? We’re fine. Want to go to the tent?”
I grab her wrist. “No. She’s going home with me.”
Fire flashes in his gaze. “Nope.”
Before I can yell at him, a flash skates past me, tackling Ryan to the ground. Charlotte gets knocked out of the way, but Hollis is there, steadying her. I stare in horror as Roan pins Ryan to the dirt by his throat.
“Roan!” I cry out, yanking on his hoodie. “Stop it.”
“The girls are going home. Walk away, Cuntingham.” Roan stands up, shaking me off him, and spits on the ground beside Ryan. “Bye, asshole.”
Ryan bounces to his feet, his nostrils flaring. “She’s my girlfriend.”
Hollis steps up beside Roan. “She’s my sister. My underage sister whom you got drunk and are luring to your tent. Best you walk the fuck away, man.”
“It’s not like that,” Ryan growls.
“I’ll be fine with him,” Charlotte whines. “Please don’t do this, guys.”
Kayden joins the fray with Zac, coming to stand behind Ryan. I shoot him a glare. Wrong side, buddy.
“Everything okay here?” Kayden asks, cracking his neck in a threatening way.
What the hell?
Roan’s shoulders tense as he shifts his anger toward Kayden. “Actually, things are not fucking okay around here,” my brother snarls. “Not with you dealing drugs right in front of my face.”
Kayden doesn’t back down. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not fucking blind,” Roan growls.
“While you claw each other’s eyes out like little bitches, Char and I are going to the car,” I snap. “Come on.”
Cal snorts and Terrence smirks at me. I shove past them, dragging my drunk friend behind me. Hollis pulls up the rear, wisely not saying a word. When we reach his Mustang, I fling open the door and help Charlotte into the back seat. Once we’re settled in the back, I hug her to me and stroke her hair. She starts to cry, clinging to my sweater.
“I fucked up,” she whimpers.
“Everyone gets wasted sometimes,” I murmur. “Even perfect Charlotte English. It’s okay.”
“Ryan will be so mad at me.”
“Maybe it’s time you break up with his broody ass,” I suggest.
She sniffles. “Maybe.”
“I guess we don’t have to worry about our boyfriends much longer,” I tease. “Roan probably already killed him and Kayden both. Terrence and Cal might be helping to bury the bodies as we speak.”
We both giggle.
“Boys are so annoying,” Char says.
“Sooo annoying.”
She hugs me tight. “Love you, Roux.”
“Love you too.”
Jordy
Two Months Later…
I stare at the only letter I ever received from Roux. Guilt claws up inside of me. She was so pissed when she finally wrote me. My thumb rubs the tear smudge. I hate that I can’t be there right now with Roan and her. It doesn’t feel right. Never has. I did all this to keep them together, but who’s there to protect them now? Hollis the rat sure as fuck can’t. If anything, Roan has his hands even fuller taking care of him too.
Samantha says I’ll be out of here soon.
Not soon enough.
My eyes skim over her letter, grazing over the furious words to her name at the bottom.
Love, Roux
I don’t think she meant to put that, but she did. Or maybe she meant to. Who the fuck knows? It gives me hope that she’ll still see me as another big brother when this all blows over. I want to be back in their lives. I want to cart Roux all over the damn place, taking her from school to tutoring or wherever. Always keeping my eye on her. I want things to go back to normal.