Devil's Pass (The Harlequin Crew #.5) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,24
no one could keep us out of anywhere. Chase went first then Rogue went next and I soon followed, the three of us reaching the top and climbing up onto the pier.
Chase strode off ahead of us like he was hankering to put more bodies in the ground tonight and I sensed there was something more going on with him than what had just happened. By the fresh bruises on his face, it was pretty obvious what it was. His motherfucker of a dad had laid into him again.
Me and him often slept here or at Rosewood, trying to escape the shittiness of our homes. I was always out of the house when my mom had clients over. And as rent day was coming up, she seemed to have them there non stop lately. There was nothing worse than hearing your own mother making big hairy men groan and grunt a few doors away. I was pretty immune to the smut that came out of her mouth, but somehow, I never stopped being creeped out by the guys. Call it protectiveness, but I didn't like creeps coming into my home and fucking my mother. Guess I was unusual like that.
My arm brushed Rogue's and her fingers slid smoothly into mine as we walked towards the arcade. Chase lifted up the block of wood we'd used to wedge the door closed, opening it and heading inside with a glance back at Rogue like he was double checking she was still here. Still okay.
I wasn't feeling one hundred percent comfortable with what had gone down tonight. Not that I would have done anything differently. But seeing a dead body had rattled me. There was plenty of fucked up shit in Sunset Cove to witness every day. Bodies were one of the things I'd managed to go without making any contact with up until now. But that asshole had touched Rogue, and I damn well wasn't remorseful over his death. I just felt slightly off after throwing his ass into the ocean like a sack of shit.
We slipped into the arcade and I wedged the door shut again before we followed Chase around to the Pac-Man and Space Invaders machines where a nest of warm blankets were waiting between them.
"You're safe now, pretty girl," I murmured in Rogue's ear and she looked to me with a half smile.
"I know," she said lightly.
Chase kicked off his shoes and we mimicked him before crawling onto the blankets and sitting with our backs to the wall. Rogue was wedged between us and she took Chase's hand too, still shivering. I hooked up one of the blankets and pulled it over us and Rogue sighed, her head falling against my shoulder.
"That's better," she breathed and I had the urge to turn and kiss her head, but I held off. Because that shit was bordering on creepsville.
"You know what's weird?" Chase mused. "I don't feel weird. Like, if someone hurt you again, Rogue, or any of us, I'd happily drag them out to sea and feed them to the fishes."
"That's dark, bro," I pointed out with a laugh and Rogue laughed too.
"I just don't wanna think about it. It’s not even the death part, or the dumping him in the sea part that freaks me out, it’s just thinking about the way he touched me, what he was going to do to me..." Her upper lip curled back and I squeezed her hand firmly.
My throat was tight and there was a fire in me that burned on her behalf. It normally simmered low, but tonight it was roaring and urgent. I just couldn't shake the thoughts of how much worse this could have been. But I should have known Rogue could take care of herself. She could have seen off a sea storm blowing into the cove any day of the week. I just wished she hadn’t had to.
"What would take your mind off of it?" I asked her, realising she'd stopped shivering.
Chase took out a box of cigarettes and lit one up, taking a few drags before passing it to Rogue.
She looked to me, her lips twisting in thought before she took a toke. "Would you rather have tastebuds in your butt or tastebuds in your fingertips?" she asked and I burst out laughing the same moment Chase did.
We often played this game and we were always trying to outdo each other with how ridiculous we could make it.
"Well, do I have to eat through my butt