Reign of Brayshaw (Brayshaw High) - Meagan Brandy Page 0,120
before adding, “Would like to help care for the next generation, though, while I’ve still got it in me.”
Next generation.
Right.
I swallow, looking to her.
“You put it off long enough, girl.” Her eyes grow serious, but there’s still a softness in them I’ve only just discovered. “Go on, Tor. The sooner it happens, the sooner it’s out.”
“The sooner they send me packing.”
“The faster they can forgive,” she counters.
A humorless laugh escapes and I drop my head back to look at the ceiling. “Uh-huh, yeah.” I force myself to my feet. “’Cause they’re known to forgive outsiders.”
“You’re not an outsider.”
“I’m not her, either.” I look to Maybell. “I might not be just the blonde from the group home anymore, but I’m not her. They don’t... they won’t understand.”
Maybell stands, stepping right in front of me. “Then you make her.”
Make her. Uh-huh.
‘Cause people are able to make her do things.
Yeah right.
With a deep breath, I step into the hall, out the front door and onto the dirt path that leads to the Brayshaw mansion.
The last few weeks, I’ve left for school earlier than necessary, and locked myself in the Bray house the second I get back, all to avoid the Brayshaws who I knew were home.
Mostly Captain.
Okay, only Captain. I didn’t really care if I ran into Royce. Who knows, he might not even acknowledge me without one of them at his side, not that I had to worry about it. Neither of them has been to school since before Captain was shot.
So I’ve reverted back to watching, hiding in plain sight, like before.
But Raven is home now, and she’s very unlike Captain. Captain is subtle when he looks for me as he passes, or at least that’s what I like to think he’s doing when his eyes scan the yard as he passes the girls’ home. Raven, though, makes sure she sees me even if it means dragging my ass out the door herself.
My cheeks fill with air as I attempt to calm my nerves.
Out of everything – knowing who attacked Raven, being there when it happened, the truth about Donley, Ravina, and everything in between – this is where my real fear lies.
This is the part I’ve dreaded the most, them coming home.
It’s not that I don’t want to see her, because I do, but it’s complicated.
“Standing in the shadows again?”
I yelp, spinning around with my hand at my chest.
My eyes shoot wide, my heartbeat erratic.
Captain.
He steps closer.
My spine straightens, and I move back until my shoulder blades meet a tree, allowing no room for an escape if I needed one.
“Hi,” I manage to force out.
The corner of his mouth lifts slowly, his stare roaming across my face. “Hi. Why you hiding in my orchards?”
“Maybell told me Raven was home.”
He nods, his face pinching in humor. “She tell you this today, or a week ago?”
“What?” I croak.
Captain chuckles, and then his chest pushes against mine. “You thought I didn’t notice?” he whispers. “That I’d let you keep hiding in the shadows, watching?”
Shit.
Captain’s eyes fall to my lips when my tongue sneaks out to wet them.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he says. “Why?”
“I haven’t.”
“You’re lying.”
“Captain,” I whisper, quickly cutting off when he jerks closer, his lips now only a breath away from mine.
“You laid in my bed, touched me in your sleep,” he rasps, the blue in his eyes darkening. “Dreamt out loud.” A slow smirk appears. “That was my favorite part.”
I swallow, my body growing lax against the tree.
I should push him away.
“This is the part where you tell me to kiss you, sleeping beauty.”
I frown, my hands flying to his chest to shove, but my body betrays me, my hands not doing as I ask and instead pulling him closer.
His lips hit mine and I forget how wrong it is, my mouth opening when his tongue demands it. His teeth lightly scrape my bottom lip, forcing a low groan from him, and he pulls back before even getting started.
Captain chuckles, tilting his head to the side. “I knew it,” he rasps.
“Knew what?”
“You want me,” he says, drawing back, but only by an inch, and his knuckles skim down my neck. “Same way I want you.” His eyes find mine again. “Say it.”
Reality slams back into place and I tense.
What did I just do?
We’ve had a simmering attraction for weeks, months even. He’s never said it, but I catch him staring, not that he tries to hide it. We’ve talked, but not