Always Crew - Tijan Page 0,16
him.” He glanced over, his eyes narrowing before his smirk only deepened. “God. It’s really pissing you off that you have to even ask me, isn’t it?” Another low chuckle from him. “I love it.”
My teeth ground on each other. I bit out, “Just fucking tell me everything so I don’t have to come back and push for more answers. No matter what you’re acting like, I know you hate this as much as I do.”
Blaise’s smirk remained, but his eyes darkened, flashing.
Oh yeah. The prick wanted to fight just as much as I did. Sometimes I think he wanted to fight more than I did. I was known for holding my own back in Roussou, my entire crew was, but the one time Blaise and I did trade blows, he held his own. The fucker could punch. My ribs hurt for two weeks, and I hadn’t gotten a good swing in on his ribs. I aimed mostly for his face, though I was a lot prettier.
He paused, facing me. The smirk was gone.
I rallied, not knowing what to expect. If he would throw a punch or drop the act, either way, I needed to be ready. Then he said, “The guy’s name is Tim Harper. He’s one of Zeke’s brothers, so you’ll never get his name out of Zeke. Me, I’m not in their fraternity, and I happen to think Harper’s one of the biggest sleazes around. Why your boy’s ex was macking with him, I have no clue. I’m not over there much, but when I am, I’ve not heard any talk.”
“Did Zeke say how long Tabatha was with the guy that night? Did she sleep with him?”
Blaise was quiet.
“Blaise.”
“Don’t,” he snapped, his eyes flaring. “Zeke is my best friend. I know you guys have an opinion about him, and I can see why you do, but he’s unconditionally my best friend. He’s at my side when no one has been, so I’m not sure how the fuck to walk this line.”
He was shutting down. He was picking his side. And it most definitely wasn’t mine.
“So she did sleep with him, and,” and I was still gauging my brother’s silence and what he wasn’t telling me, “Zeke knew. He didn’t say she slept with him, just that she was making out with him.”
Blaise’s eyes got hard. “Do not put my best friend in the middle of this shit. You do, and there’s war again. I will pick him over you any fucking day of the week. Got it?”
My blood cooled. Yeah. I got it.
“Now I know, huh?”
Images of shoving him in the pavement were still fresh, still rallying in me.
I was starting to forget why I couldn’t do that.
“Now you know.” His jaw clenched. “I’m surprised you haven’t rounded him up, to be frank. I’m loyal to Zeke, not to that piece of shit Harper.” He gave me another pointed glare before walking ahead, and I had to stop.
I had to think.
Blaise was strong in his opinion of this Harper. I looked after him, frowning, and he glanced back over his shoulder. He paused, half-turned to me, and stared right back. He stared hard.
He was trying to send me a message without the words.
Blaise wanted us to go after this guy. That hadn’t been on the agenda, but maybe it should be? Tabatha cheated on Jordan, not that guy. Still, okay then.
My brother didn’t form opinions lightly about people. He didn’t like most people, but he didn’t have this strong of a reaction unless there was a good reason. I grimaced, remembering the last time I got enlightened as to why Blaise had some full-out hatred of the guy who raised him.
I pulled out my phone and typed a text.
Me: Something is going on. You need to talk to Tabatha about the guy she cheated on Jordan with.
Bren: Why?
Me: I’ll tell you later. Need to loop Zellman in 2.
Bren: Okay.
Me: How’s your day?
Bren: I’ll fill you in on that later.
Me: K. Love you.
Bren: Love you.
And then, I went to psychology. When I got inside, Blaise went left. I went right.
Seemed fitting.
FROM: Tazsters
TO: Cross
SUBJECT: CALL ME LOSER
I love you. Race says hi too.
The Best Twin
BREN
We rounded up six bail jumps that day.
I asked Gramps if that was a normal day, and it wasn’t.
“Nah, nah. We have to meet our quota, so this was round-up day.”
I had no clue what any of that meant, but I guess it was round-up day.
“Yo, girl.”
I paused, heading out for my truck. My phone