Pretty Little Savage (Sick Boys #1) - Lucy Smoke Page 0,119
down and he puts the mouth of his beer bottle to his lips, sucking down half the bottle before lowering it once more. "I get what you're saying," he replies, his eyes centered on the windows. "I do, but I think they're different."
I don't have to ask to know who he means. Them. The Sick Boys. Dean, Abel, and Braxton.
"I think," he continues, "even if one or more of them lost everything tomorrow, they'd still stick by each other." A cold wave of air shoots out of a vent somewhere in the room, dropping the temperature, and I fight back the urge to shiver as it slides over my skin. "I don't know why I think that. There's just something about them..."
As he trails off, I spot one of the men in question. Braxton lifts a girl in a white bikini and tosses her into the pool before launching in after her. My lips twitch. He looks so young and carefree as he dive bombs into the pool, making a huge wave that has several of the current occupants slipping off their floats into the water. He comes up, laughing, bright teeth, sparkling eyes, and dark curls flopping against his forehead.
Jake's right. I can't imagine Braxton without Abel or Dean at his back and vice versa for the others. There's an invisible bond between them. It was there in the warnings from Abel. There in the way Braxton never approached me without them unless he was asked to. They back each other up. They support each other. The only thought that comes to mind is that they resemble a family. Like brothers rather than best friends.
"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb," I mutter absently.
Jake looks at me, his brows drawn down. "What?"
I sigh, shaking my head. "Nothing," I tell him. "It's stupid, just an old Bible verse."
"Didn't take you for the religious type." I can tell I've shocked him, but when you grow up in the southern backwoods, the religious fanatics ran supreme and though I'd never gone to church myself—I certainly doubted Patricia ever had either—it was hard to get out of a place like that without a few notes from the doctrine.
"I'm not." I stare out into the sun and ocean scenery, frowning as my mind tells me to move. To walk away. To make a joke and distract him from his curiosity. I don't do any of those things, though. Instead, I tell him the truth. "It's a common saying," I tell him. "But it's usually misquoted. Are you familiar with the phrase 'blood is thicker than water'?" I ask.
He nods, curious eyes watching me.
"The real quote is 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,’" I say.
And it means the exact opposite of what people assume. It means that the family they choose, the bonds a person makes in life is stronger than that of the connection of blood relatives. Because in the end, the family that a person is born with doesn't always necessarily see you as anything more than a possession or a meal ticket.
44
Avalon
Two days into spring break and I think, maybe the Sick Boys aren't so bad. Most people are too afraid to talk to me. I would like to think it's because they heard about what I did to Kate's car or they've heard about the fight at the warehouse and recognize that I'm a badass bitch. In actuality, however, I'm pretty sure it's because of the guys. People are terrified of coming near me because the Sick Boys have made me both desired and untouchable.
I don't like people as a general rule—the only ones I can seem to stand are Dean and the guys, Rylie, sometimes Corina, and Jake. Suffice it to say, I'm not disappointed by the lack of well wishers and friendship making. I'm perfectly content to drink beer and tan by the ocean.
On the second day, Jake tells me he found a staircase leading down to the actual beach and we gather our shit and practically camp on the sand for the entire day. "Corina's here," he comments, tipping back his fourth beer of the day and draining it down his throat.
"Yeah?" I should've expected that. "I haven't seen her."
He shrugs. "She's probably off with her new guy friend. Heard she brought some dude with her. They're probably fucking in one of the spare bedrooms nonstop."