Always Crew - Tijan Page 0,88

could fight, so I was prepared. He tried to kick me out away from him, but I shoved harder against his throat until he stopped, and now he was gagging.

“It’s me, asshole.”

He froze again, then sagged back. “What the fuck? This because of tonight? I’m sorry for not showing more appreciation that you punched Harper for me. So many thanks.” He was being sarcastic.

I shoved harder, enjoying hearing him choke before I relaxed my hold. “You’re dangerous.”

He snorted, half-laughing. “Right. You? You are actually saying that to me?”

I kept my tone low, calm, and cold. Two could be like that. “As of tonight, you are going to stop pulling my group into your personal vendettas. You are going to stop pushing the boundary, and…” when he tried to speak again, I spoke over him, “you know you’re doing it. You outed Tabatha, which outed Jordan, which could’ve outed Bren. Everything connects, and you know that. You knew what you were doing tonight.”

“I had to. Jessinda Hinckley’s father is a senator. She’s got family connections that out-connect Harper’s family. Harper’s a legacy. That means he’s going to be a bitch to actually get removed from the house, and no, tonight didn’t actually do it. It just put a dent in his campaign to stay and get Zeke removed instead. I’m doing this for him, too, and yeah, I’m sorry that I outed Tab and your boy since she was his girl, but I had to. It was a calculated move. Getting Harper kicked out helps you guys, too, because he’s a cancer. He’ll grow and fester and he’ll be toxic the longer we’re all here at Cain together.”

Maybe.

I got what he was saying, but I wasn’t okay that he was using my group to further his agenda.

“If you want to go rogue against Harper, do it on your time. Stop saying anything that connects to my crew. Got it?”

There was a little bit of light, and some of the red from the neon sign shining down on us. We could see each other clearly, and he studied me for a moment. He was measuring me.

I was done. Our family shit aside, I wasn’t going to stand anymore and let him play roulette with my crew, with Bren.

Finally, he dipped his head down. “Fine, but I did ask your girl if she’d hang out with Aspen next weekend. I don’t know where Aspen’s friends will take her, so I can’t be there to protect her.”

I stepped back. “Bren said yes?”

He nodded. “Then, that’s different. You’re giving us the choice to wade in or not. Do more of that shit and we’re good.”

“Right.”

“Right.” Another dark glare at him, but my brother was standing down, accepting what I said. And because I actually didn’t want to risk getting into a physical fight with him, I turned on my heel and went back inside.

Blaise followed a beat later.

He kept to his side. I kept to mine.

We were fine, that way.

From: Cross

To: Tazsters

Subject: Yes, payback is a bitch.

Stay tuned.

—always the best twin

BREN

Things were good, until they weren’t.

I went to work, helped in the field, but Brock also gave me a huge book. He pointed at it as he walked by. “You gotta learn all of that before you take your test.”

My test. I needed to pass a test before I was an official bounty hunter? Seems like I actually was a student.

After work a few times, I met Cross at his school’s library for a study session.

Okay, I lied. I was trying to make myself sound like a better student than I was. The study session happened one time, and never again. A college library, or a library of any sorts, was not a place I wanted to be in unless I was going in wearing a vest, my Taser gun at the ready, and a radio clipped to my shoulder. The rest of the week, I went to work.

I went on bail jumps. I helped where I could, stood back when I was told.

I came home.

I ate or met Cross and Jordan for dinner.

After that, Cross and I studied. In the bedroom. Our living room. Outside. A diner. Anywhere except at a library.

Cross liked the downtime, even though I learned that he actually didn’t need to study that much. He was ‘going through the motions.’ I asked about it, and he sighed with a shy little smile that made my knees melt.

“I like the normalcy.”

“What?”

He shifted, looking a little uncomfortable. “You know, we’re just studying.