He thinks he has something over me, is the thing. He thinks I’m scared, that I’ll stand here and let him look at me like that. He thinks I’ll back down.
I don’t.
I look Heston right in the eye when I tell Emory, “It means that he sold me a bottle Oxy last year.” Heston’s face goes slack at my easy admission.
Emory pushes off the wall, face hard and stormy. “Did he now?”
Heston recovers quickly, giving a casual shrug. “She was basically begging me, bro. You know what they say about friends in need. I was just doing her a solid.”
“By selling my little sister narcotics?”
He gestures to my leg. “She said she was hurting.”
Emory looks at me, but I can’t lie. That’s all true. “Your scene’s gotten real old, Heston.”
“And what’s your scene now, exactly?” Heston gestures to the lot of us. “Sluts, nerds, druggies, jocks, and delinquents?”
Reyn steps in front me. “You say that like it’s any different from before.”
Heston’s eyes move to Reyn, giving him a slow, aggressive onceover. “Hey, at least the Devils were good at what we did.”
We all share a quick look, and in that moment, I know we’re thinking the same thing.
We still are.
Emory pushes a stack of money into Heston’s chest. “Put that on your brother to win. Unlike you, he can actually hold his own in a fight.” Ben throws in a couple hundreds, Caroline tosses in her own stack, and even Afton manages to produce some money from the inside of her bra. Suddenly, the new Devils are in for a pretty penny on Sebastian winning this thing.
Reyn flings his own wad at Heston. “Northridge kid for first blood.” Some of the others frown at this, but I understand instantly what he’s doing.
“Your daddies’ loss,” Heston says before walking away.
Emory meets my gaze, something firm and annoyed in his eyes, and I know what it looks like—like I’ve been accosting his friends for drugs. But that’s not really how it went down. Heston had approached me, offering me one. I just asked for more.
“Em—”
He shakes his head at me. “Later.”
My stomach churns uneasily at the brush-off and I turn away, back to the ring.
Reyn assumes his earlier position, but ducks his head, trying to meet my eyes. “Hey.”
“It’s not like how he made it sound,” I insist.
Reyn just says, “I know,” and bumps me with his shoulder. “Want to watch him lose a grand?”
I look at him, something unwinding in my chest at the sight of his dimpled grin. “Definitely.”
Sebastian looks different when he walks up and takes off his shirt—to Elana’s delight. He’s still handsome, but his face is blank and hard as he tucks the shirt into his back pocket, letting it hang there. He keeps shifting his shoulders, wiry muscles rippling beneath his tanned flesh. He’s restless and agitated, but most of all he looks scary as hell.
I can see the pitchfork tattoo placed neatly on his chest.
The Northridge guy is bigger, without a doubt. His arms are huge and he looks a couple inches taller. I chew nervously on my lip as they watch each other, and it starts exactly like Reyn had said. Posturing, circling.
People are pressing closer now, and it’s louder. The whole crowd is charged with adrenaline, pushing and pressing closer to the ring. I don’t know if it’s some kind of blood lust, or something more feral, but it’s triggered my biggest fear; not being able to move quickly if I need to. I can feel the crowd up against my back and it makes me feel like Sebastian looks—twitchy and sweaty.
An arm wraps around my waist, making me jerk in surprise, but I look over and realize that it’s just Reyn. He’s not looking at me, but he presses closer, muttering, “I’ve got you. Just look ahead, okay?” I nod, trying not to focus so much on the press of people at my back. When Sebastian circles closest to where we’re all standing, Reyn raises his voice. “You get how this betting thing works, right?”
Playing along, I stutter, “Ah, no—not exactly.”
“If he wins and doesn’t draw first blood, his brother will be out some serious money.”
Sebastian goes still only for a split second, long enough to tilt his head toward us, and both of us know that he heard.
I say, “Oh,” but it’s lost in the frenzy of the first punch being thrown. Sebastian’s head snaps to the side, but he easily swerves away. He doesn’t even look like he