Deviant (Boys of Winter #3) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,36

have killed him, and it would have been sweet.”

“King,” Grayson grunts, wanting to keep him on track.

King sighs and pulls me in a little closer as Cruz’s thumb roams back and forth over my knuckles. “His death is not your fault. He took his own life—that’s not on you. What we care about is just how fucking dark you were willing to go to get what you wanted. That wasn’t you, babe. That was some fucking dark shit … and well, are you good?”

I let out a breath and relax deeper into his side, loving the boys’ concern, but it’s not warranted. “Look guys, I know that I’ve been through a bunch of shit that no teenage girl should ever have to face, but I’m fine. I had absolutely no intention of bringing his wife into it. I don’t think I’ve officially met her yet, and even though she looks like a bitch and probably knows something we don’t, I have morals. I know they’re hard to see sometimes and, fuck, I even question them myself, but they’re there. There are lines that not even I would cross. I had no intention of torturing her with that video. Hell, there wasn’t even going to be a video. I mean, I know I’m new to this whole … killing people thing, but I think hacking someone’s fingers off with a blunt blade and gouging out eyes with spoons is a little … beyond my expertise. That seems more like a Carver move.”

Carver narrows his eyes, hating the jab, but he deserved it. He was an ass this morning, and instead of having my back when I insisted that I didn’t need to go back to school, he stood by his boys and forced me into the back of the car. Apparently, my education is somewhat important to them, and seeing as though there’s only a few weeks of school left, they’ve decided that now’s the time for me to focus on it.

So much for them all being on board the ‘stay home healing until I die of boredom’ train. It seems that we’ve all switched roles, which makes me wonder if something must have happened. The boys aren’t known for easily changing their minds about shit. I usually have to beg and plead to get them to do anything.

Grayson lets out a loud, relieved sigh, his cheeks blowing out in the process as I notice Carver’s gaze returning to the road. “So, you weren’t about to go down the torture road?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I would have still brutally killed him, but no, I wasn’t going to torture him or his wife. I just wanted to scare him, and apparently, it worked a little too well.”

Cruz squeezes my hand. “Okay,” he murmurs, waiting until my gaze swivels back to his. “You’d tell us, right? If you were heading down that path?”

I watch Cruz for a silent, drawn-out moment, focusing on the intense concern in his eyes. “What’s going on Cruz?” I question, sitting up a little straighter and pulling out of King’s arms. “Why are you so worried about this?”

“Because there’s a fine line between someone who kills out of obligation and someone who does it out of need, and right now, you’ve got me worried that you’re toeing that line. And fuck babe, once you cross to that side, it’s really fucking hard to come back.”

I watch him for a second longer, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s speaking from experience or if there’s something more that Cruz and I need to speak about in private. His eyes harden, silently telling me that it’s not up for discussion. So instead, I swing my stare toward the front seat of the Escalade, flicking it between Carver and Grayson. “You mean, like them?” I ask Cruz, slicing my gaze back to his, knowing that while he might be talking about his own experience, that the two alphaholes in the front seat are the perfect example of men who have crossed that line and never came back. “Would that really be so bad?”

Carver’s hands tighten on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. “Don’t be fucking stupid, Winter. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbles through the Escalade as he pulls into the school parking lot, instantly darkening the mood inside the car. “This life is fucking heavy. I’m constantly in a world filled with darkness. There’s no light here, no calm from the demons living inside my head.