be some sort of DNA under her nails or on her clothes.”
“If they want some, a detective will contact you. Now, ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I need to handle a few things.” Brandon stands, gesturing to the door, all but telling us to get the fuck out.
Out in the night air, Delaney stops dead in the middle of the sidewalk. She gazes at me, sad and scared eyes taking in my face.
“Believe me now?” I ask, drying the single—and last—tear I intend on shedding over tonight’s events.
“What the fuck was that?” She worries the inside of her lip. It’s like I can see her realizing the things I’ve said could hold a lot of truth, including what happened to her.
“I have no idea, but I plan on finding out.”
Chapter Twelve
Marek
The boys are getting restless. Every day since I kissed Palmer on the football field, they’ve been expectant, needing me to steer our plan in the right direction. None of their ideas seem worth expending my energy.
News of Palmer’s attack after the game has spread like wildfire. Breaker found me the moment I walked out of the locker room and told me what had happened. Lucky for Palmer, Dixon had been there, or else who knows what could have happened to her.
I’ve decided to focus on more important things than the way she winces every time she slips into a desk in class. Pretending not to notice the slit on her lip has been impossible. It’s healing, though. Two weeks will do that. Not that I’ve been paying too much attention to it.
Football has taken up much of my time. After our almost loss, Coach has been riding my ass. A sport is my way out of here, out from under my parents’ thumb. If I can forge my own path, outside of these walls, I’ll never have to look back. Using their wallets to pay for college isn’t my last resort. Henry has already offered to pay my tuition, but that rich bastard can eat that money he’s set aside for me.
“Get your shit together, Hawthorne. We play Bankston Prep on Friday, and you look weak as fuck. Tighten up your hold on the ball, kid!” Coach yells from across the field.
If I tightened my hold any further, this pig skin would buckle. I take a deep breath, steadying my anger, controlling my attitude. Lashing out would be too easy. Lord fucking knows I have plenty to be angry about.
After practice, I stay behind to run different plays on the field. My teammates have scattered into the locker room, disappearing back to their meaningless lives.
“Come on!” Breaker yells from the fence. “We have to go.”
I jog up to the fence line where the Escalade is parked. Dixon is in the driver’s seat.
“I have to focus, man.” My attempt to blow him off doesn’t work. He glares at me.
“You’ve put this shit off long enough. Shower and meet us out in the parking lot.”
The two of them watch me as I pack up my shit. After a quick shower, I hop in the passenger seat. No one is speaking. Dead silence surrounds us.
“Anyone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” I take my phone out of my bag and see thirty missed texts. My eyes scan over them. “Fuck, no. I’m not. How’d I forget that was this weekend?”
“You’ve been a little distracted lately.” Breaker says as Dixon drives us off campus, the gates closing behind us.
“You’re going, and you have no choice,” Dixon says, tucking his lips into his mouth, trying his fucking hardest not to laugh. I turn around in my seat to catch Breaker chuckling it up like he’s just witnessed the funniest shit he’s ever seen.
“You all owe me, big time,” I huff, throwing a tantrum. “Why is this still a thing? This is one tradition that should die with us.”
“We rigged it.”
“How do you even know she’s going to show up?” I beg the question.
This event is run like a tight ship. Mackenzie Gallagher sees to it. I honestly think the only reason she’s volunteered her house is because she’s itching to hook up with Breaker. This is her in with him.
It’s off school property, and because of that, all bets are off. Right now, I’d lay down a thousand dollars that says Palmer doesn’t show up.
“Dixon hacked her phone and read her text messages,” Breaker confesses.
“And she had some choice words about you, my friend.” Dixon checks to his right. “That