before? I always thought it was because someone was coming at me first, but had I been wrong?
“We know the Red Demons.”
And no.
I wasn’t talking about them. I wasn’t talking about my dad. This conversation was done. I didn’t care if I was the new girl or not.
He was still watching me, and he said softly a second later, “But you don’t want to talk about them, huh?”
I looked at him, knowing my eyes were dead. “My father is not up for discussion. Give me crap all you want about how shitty a person I used to be, but don’t pimp me for information about my dad. I’ve had nothing to do with him since he went to prison, and I’ve had nothing to do with him, or his new group of friends since he was released. I’m the wrong person for you to be talking to about them.”
His eyes narrowed before turning back to the road, slowing outside a run-down house. Its shudders were off. The roof needed reshingling. The attached garage door had the windows shattered. Tape and cardboard blocked out the windows on the house, keeping the light out. The front porch had holes all over it. I could almost visualize the cockroaches scurrying inside.
This was a meth house.
Pulling in and turning off his engine, Brock didn’t move. “Stay here. There’s a Taser in the glove compartment if you need it.”
He got out, followed by Shetland getting out of his own door. I watched as they moved in on the house. There was no discussion. They all knew exactly where to go, what position to take, and a beat later, they were kicking in the door.
CROSS
I was waiting for Blaise outside the soccer facilities. We all had psych together, so I knew he’d be heading across campus soon. When he pushed open the door, his backpack on and a phone to his ear, he paused only briefly.
“See you in a bit.”
There was no play here. My brother and I had a tense truce, but it was still a truce. We were both trying, but as I always did whenever I saw my brother, I locked down. Blaise, on the other hand, he went the other way. He took stock, knew I was tensing, and his grin turned a bit wild. That’s how he was. He liked riling me up, getting a reaction from me. And he was usually successful at it.
No one pushed my buttons like he could. I didn’t know why, and even knowing he could do it, I still let him have that power over me. It pissed me off, each and every fucking time I reacted to him. Anyone else, I was cold as ice. Not with Blaise.
“Brother,” he drawled, shoving his phone in his pocket. He let out a small sigh and took me in again. A smirk came next. “I’m guessing your boy finally spilled the beans. You’re here to double-check with me, see if I noticed anything else about your boy’s ex-girl cheating on him. Am I right? Can’t think of any other reason you’d be out here waiting for me.”
My brother was smart. Had I mentioned that?
It pissed me off, too.
The urge to push his head into the pavement was rising in me, but no. I stopped it, and could feel every muscle in my face locking in place. “Why are you such a dick sometimes?”
His laugh was low and smooth. “Only for you, brother. Only for you.” He jerked his head toward campus. “Can we walk and do this at the same time? We all have psych together, remember?”
I fell in step, noting the attention we were already getting.
Blaise and I looked alike. A lot.
That got under my skin, too. My real twin was at a school four hours away, and she was of the female gender. But no. Blaise, who grew up in New York, a secret to all of us, even our father, looked more like me than anyone else.
There were good qualities in him, but mostly he couldn’t stand me, and I couldn’t stand him. We were locked together no matter how much friction was between us.
Blaise ignored the attention. That also seemed something that came more natural to him, yet another thing about him that pissed me off, and I had no idea why. He said, “I took off somewhat early that night. Aspen showed up, but before that, I noticed Jordan’s girl in the kitchen. She was sitting in a guy’s lap, macking with