I’m assuming she thought I was as superficial as her, and my hair was my all. While I can admit, I like it, it’s hair for fuck’s sake – it grows back.
Still, eye for an eye.
And Maddoc didn’t lie when he said he’d spread the word.
I’ve officially been deemed a “Bray girl” to the outside norms, but it’s all a lie, a way for them to keep eyes on me and hands off – not sure why it matters. Probably because they don’t want others to know I made impulsive decisions without their permission.
Chloe and her little crew are the bravest it seems. When the guys or their followers aren’t around, they’ll bump me or do their best to nail me in the head with a volleyball, nothing extraordinarily clever.
The door bursts open and laughter fills the locker room.
“Did you see her face?” Chloe laughs. “Priceless.”
“I can’t believe you forwarded that nude to her parents!” A minion laughs.
“She needs to understand she can’t just date whoever she wants. We have standards and he’s...poor. And grungy and likely to be the guy changing the oil not the one buying the car.”
Bitch.
“How’d you get the picture anyway?”
“Had his locker broken into when he was in gym, and the message was forwarded to me. Best thing, she thinks he sent it to me to make fun of her!”
They all laugh like hyenas.
“He keeps trying to get her to talk to him, apologizing without even knowing why she’s mad like a pathetic puppy, and she won’t even look at him.” She sighs happily. “Too easy.”
I peek around the corner and when each girl is occupied changing out of their gym gear, I slip over and grab a handful of Chloe’s hair.
She yelps, and jerks in my hold, but I let her go pretty quick.
She spins to glare and then her eyes shoot wide, her mouth dropping open.
I toss her pretty ponytail in her face and walk away before the shock can wear off.
Time for her to learn.
The boys may step in with unwanted orders, but don’t try to cross someone on the court when their footwork’s better.
You’ll find yourself on your ass.
“Let’s hear it, D.” Jason, one of my shooting guard, and the last fucking person I’d ever want on my team if we picked based on anything other than skill level, looks over at me. “Which one of yous got heavy hands?”
I frown, wiping the sweat from my face as I take the water Royce passes me, his expression matching mine.
“Fuck you talking about, man?” Captain comes up, his hands on his hips as he tries to catch his breath.
We worked a lot of cardio today, gearing up for week three of our season.
“Your new girl.” He looks pointedly at each of us individually. “She spend too much time with one another and got mad?”
Something has me stepping forward, but Cap shifts in front of me with ease, giving me a warning glance to keep my shit together before I make a stupid fucking move by showing possessives over a fucking toy.
He steps away before Jason’s eyes even hit mine again.
“You talking about Raven’s face?” Our boy, Leo, drops onto the bench, switching out his old LeBron’s for some slides. “Yeah, I saw that shit, too. She was walking back to the Bray house early this morning when I was out doing my route.”
Leo is piss poor and delivers newspapers for a bit of cash at the crack of fucking dawn to the last few neighborhoods around here that still read the actual paper. Makes for a good second eye, sees what we can’t and reports back when necessary.
“Yeah, that girl.” Royce chuckles, only Cap and me can tell it’s forced. “She’s feisty.”
And it’s left at that.
Everyone parts ways and as soon as they’re gone, I turn to my brothers.
“You guys see her yet today?”
“Nope.” Cap shrugs and Royce shakes his head.
“What do you think happened?” Royce asks.
“Catty chicks?” Cap guesses.
Royce snorts. “Yeah right, none of them would get a hit on her.”
“None are brave enough to try.” I look between them. “We gotta find out. We already made it clear no one’s to touch her after that bleach shit. Someone’s not listening.”
I spit, then with all the energy I have left, I throw myself forward, hitting her square across the jaw. She stumbles into the crowd, her feet sliding from under her, ass hitting the ground.