A Whole New Crowd (5 page)

Grayley glanced up and he began to grin, but then a guy I didn't know stepped in between us. After an obnoxious wolf whistle, his gaze raked me up and down, and he sneered at me. “My, my, my. I know who you are.”

“That’s nice—”

“I thought so.” He winked at me.

“But I don’t know you—”

His hand grabbed my hip, and he tried to pull me close. “That’s okay. We can fix that.”

Removing his hand, I finished, “And I don’t care to know you.”

“Then we have a problem.” He stepped back and looked me up and down in an exaggerated motion. “You have got one of the nicest bodies I’ve seen in a long while. In fact.” He tried to draw me to him again. Tray narrowed his eyes. He remained against the wall, and I didn’t know if I was relieved or disappointed. I stopped thinking about Tray and stiffened as the guy’s hand slipped under my shirt. This bastard was going down. My hand lifted, ready to grab his thumb and twist his arm so he would be forced backwards, but I heard from behind me, “Goddamn, Clint. Let go of her.” He was thrown from me and shoved against a wall. The people standing around us scattered, and someone began punching him, hitting him in the face and stomach.

It was Brian. His back was tense, his shoulders tight, and he kept raising his fist to deliver another blow.

For a moment, I couldn’t move. It was Brian…that knowledge seeped in slowly. It had been so long since I had seen him. Then Grayley was in front of me. He yelled at me, “Matthews, do something.”

Shit.

I lunged for them.

“Brian,” Grayley bit out as he moved closer to the fight, trying to wedge himself between them. But Brian and the other guy were inches taller than Grayley and heavily muscled. I knew Brian’s body. He didn’t lift weights, but he didn’t have to. He did construction during the summer, so his body was toned. Grayley was gangly and not athletic at all. He’d be snapped in two.

Tray straightened, hearing the exchange, but he didn’t seem interested in pulling Brian off the guy, though it didn’t matter. Brian was punched, and it wasn’t long before a full scuffle was going on in the room. I grabbed Grayley and tugged him back. He cursed. “They fought over another girl this week too. This ain’t good. Brian’s going to get arrested again.”

Hearing that, a pang went through me. Another girl? Then the rest registered with me, and I knew he was right. Brian was always arrested before the others; the cops hated him because of Jace, but Brian was beyond listening. The guy had delivered a few hits and then Brian turned his body. He shoved the guy down and delivered hit after hit. No one moved to stop him, and I shot Tray a look. He sighed and then nodded. As he did, his friends waded in and grabbed Brian off of the guy. When the other guy jumped up, ready to lunge for Brian, he was grabbed as well.

Tray gestured to the door. “Take ‘em out.”

They were ushered from the room. As the rest filed behind them, no one complained about the early exit. Tray held back and crossed over to me. Ignoring Grayley’s presence beside me, he asked, “That was your ex?”

My throat had grown thick with emotion. I nodded. I didn’t want to deal with the questions at that moment. Tray seemed to understand. “Let’s go.” He grasped my hand and led the way, weaving through the crowd. We were out the door when Veronica stopped us again. She was even more unsteady on her high heels this time, if that was possible. “I called him. You know, Taryn, Brian’s been miserable. We all know it’s because of you. He wanted to know if you showed up.”

“You called him?”

“Yeah. I did. He loves you. It was the two of you. You guys were so…you guys are perfect together.”

“Yeah, except that we’re not.”

No one knew why we couldn’t be together, or no one cared to understand. Even now, Brian was still fighting against the guys holding him. He wanted to hurt the other guy, who had stopped resisting. He was wary now, his eyebrows bunched forward in concern. Brian yelled at him, “You ass punk. You touch her again and I’ll cut you.”

I sucked in a breath. Brian meant it.

Tray stood beside me, but I couldn’t look at him. I didn’t want to see any condemnation he might have for Brian. Forcing the tears back, I started down the stairs. “Brian.” He paused and turned to me. I said, “Stop it.”

“Taryn.”

“Stop.” He grimaced, hearing the pleading in my voice. “Please, just stop.” I wasn’t referencing just this night. Memories of our past came back to me. The nights I would crawl into his bed, how he took care of me. I felt them as if I were reliving them. His fighting. How he wanted to be a part of Jace’s lifestyle, how he wouldn’t listen to me when I begged him to stay away. Brian wasn’t Jace. Jace was smart and dangerous. Jace would survive no matter what, but Brian wouldn’t. He would get caught. He would go to jail, and I would lose him.

Flashbacks of our fights came to me. The hurt was there, every time he didn’t listen to me and went to buy more drugs. I couldn’t deal with it.

“Taryn,” he started.

The fight had left him, but I shook my head and went past him. I felt Tray beside me.

“Taryn,” Brian called after me.

I couldn’t. I just couldn’t face him. Any conversation with him always ended the same way. He would promise to change. He never did, and I would pick up the pieces. I couldn’t do that tonight, not this time.

I kept going, hugging myself. Tray never touched me. The sight of it would’ve enraged Brian again. I was relieved, but a part of me wanted it too. I shook my head. I couldn’t deal with Brian’s jealousy, not tonight anyway.

“TARYN!”

I turned and disappeared from his sight. Tray’s SUV blocked his view. When I got inside, he asked, “You okay?”

“No.”

He didn’t start the engine. Instead, he sat there and waited a few minutes. Then he asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Leave.”

He did as I asked. As we drove past the house, Brian was gone. I didn’t want to know where he had gone, but Grayley was still there. I told Tray to stop and rolled my window down. “Gray.”

Grayley approached the car. “Holy fuck, Tar.” He groaned, shaking his head. “Holy hell for fuck’s sake.”

“I didn’t know that was going to happen. I didn’t know someone would call him.”

Grayley was eyeing Tray, but he murmured, “Yeah, well, for what it’s worth, he’s been off the rails since you left him. Everyone’s on edge at school. That guy was one out of ten that he’s fought
just
this month.”

I shook my head. “I couldn't handle being with him anymore.”

“We know.
He
knows. I think that’s why he’s like a loose cannon more than normal lately. He can’t blame you for leaving. No one can.”

Those words should’ve made me feel better. They didn’t. “Will you watch him for me? Call me if anything bad happens to him?”

He nodded. “Yeah, sure. Another day in the life of a Lanser, huh?”

A sad laugh came from me. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” He leaned around me and said to Tray, “Take her home. Knowing Taryn, she’s ready to crash.”

“Thanks, Grayley.”

He nodded. A rueful smile graced his features and his eyes grew solemn. “Miss you around town, though.”

“Miss you too.”

He laughed and stepped back, then gestured to the road. “Get out of here, Matthews. I’ll call if I need to.”

“Okay.” I nodded. As Tray pulled forward, I kept looking at Grayley until he was out of sight. Then I rolled the window up and huddled against it, pressing my forehead against the glass.

It wasn’t long until Tray’s phone went off. “Yeah,” he answered. A moment later, “Nah. Have fun. Grant knows the way back.”

His phone rang again, then again. He had the same conversation.

I glanced over. “A lot of people want you to go back to the party.”

He glanced sideways at me and then my phone rang, interrupting anything he might’ve said. I reached for my phone, but Tray caught my hand. “What?” It kept ringing.

“You know who that will be.”

Brian.

A weight dropped onto my shoulders and I nodded. I knew. This was part of breaking up. When he saw I was going to answer anyway, he let go and I held it to my ear. “Brian?”

He demanded, “Where are you?”

“I got a ride home.”

“I saw you, remember? Where are you? Why are you with that punk Evans and why was Clint hitting on you tonight?” He paused. I couldn’t answer before he added, “Were you teasing him? Shit. Are you teasing both of them?”

I frowned. This wasn’t Brian, or this wasn’t my Brian. He was hotheaded and a loose cannon, but he had never turned his rage against me before. I looked at Tray and saw that he had heard. Judging from the chill radiating off him and the set of his jaw, he wasn’t happy.

“Brian, you need to calm down.”

“The fucker was all over you. He was two inches from—”

“I was handling him.”

Tray pulled the car over and watched me. A knot had formed in my gut and the longer he remained silent, just listening, the more it grew. I didn’t know how this was going to turn out, but I closed my eyes and concentrated on one thing. Brian needed to calm down.

“You were handling him? You’re the one who’s delusional, Tar. He needs to know that you’re still my property. He fucks with me if he even goes near you.”

“Brian.” I wasn’t his property. He knew that. “Are you trying to piss me off now?”

He stopped, then let out a harsh laugh. “Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Brian, stop.”

“No, you stop. You left, Taryn. You walked away from me, but you’re still mine—”

I ended the call. Grayley was right. Brian needed to be reined in, but I couldn’t do it. That wasn’t my place. I didn’t know why I asked Grayley to keep tabs on him. I couldn’t do anything about him anymore, but someone could and I knew only one person that Brian might listen to. His brother.

“We need to go somewhere.”

“Where?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

He frowned, then started the car. “Just tell me where.”

It was thirty minutes later when he shook his head, eyeing the nightclub. “Am I going to get killed in there?”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. The Seven8 was home to Jace Lanser, Brian’s older brother. Brian and Jace had a love/hate relationship, but Jace had something that Brian didn’t: discipline. Brian was smart. But Jace was smarter and ruthless.

“Come on. You’ll be fine.” I climbed out of the SUV. Going to his side, I added, “Just don’t say anything.”

Tray didn’t look appeased, but he followed me.

When we neared the door, the bouncer scanned Tray up and down. “He going to be a problem?”

“No trouble. Is Jace in?”

“Hmm. He’s in. He’s with Cammy.”

I grinned. “Those two back on again?”

“Don’t care. She’s either here or she’s not.”

“Right.” I rolled my eyes. When he kept glaring at Tray, I sighed. “You going to let us in or do I need to get in my way?”

His glare turned my way. One night he refused to let me inside, so I went through the roof. The bouncers still hadn’t lived that down.

“He’s in the back. Take the small hallway.”

Tray followed me as we circled around the front entrance, the pounding music already blaring in our ears. Catching Casey’s attention, the front bartender nodded in greeting as we slipped behind him and trailed into the hallway that led its way around the club to the back offices. At the closed office door, I knocked and waited. A second later, it opened as Cammy slipped out. She slid the strap from her halter-top up her shoulder. When she saw it was me, she stumbled. “Taryn, I didn’t know—”

“Let her in, Cammy,” came from inside.

Flushing, she rolled her eyes and slipped around us.

The sight of a shirtless Jace with his pants unbuttoned, hanging low on his lean hips, welcomed us as we went inside. Raking a hand through his tousled hair, he grinned at me, his abdominal muscles highlighted against the neon lighting inside. Brian was solid, but Jace was in a whole different league. He had a lean build, dirty blonde hair, and piercing eyes. His eyes skimmed over me and settled on Tray. He stood there, studying him and as he did, as he breathed in and out, every muscle in his body rippling from that slight movement.

“Heya, Terry.” He flashed me a grin as he buttoned his jeans. He crossed over to us and gave me a hug.

Jace was the only one who could get away with calling me that name. Brian tried once and he got a swift kick in the balls. He’d never done it again, although he sneered every time Jace said it, which made him say it every time he could.

As his arms wrapped around me, a nostalgic feeling came over me. He and Brian had been my family. Each of them protected me for years. When he started to move away, I grasped onto the back of his arms and held him tighter. I just needed a moment longer.

He stayed there, wrapping his arms even tighter, tucking his chin into the crook of my neck and shoulder. I felt his lips brush against my skin as he murmured, “Missed you too.”

I nodded. I couldn’t talk. For some reason I was thankful Tray hadn’t heard him. I stepped back, brushed the tear that had escaped, turning away so he couldn’t see that either. I felt both of them watching me and swallowed the emotion. When I looked back up, I was all business. There was a reason we had come, but I couldn’t help myself from asking, “You and Cammy back on?”

“For the night.” He gestured to Tray. “Who’s he?”

“Not important.” I cleared my throat. I wanted to tell him about Brian and get out of there, before even more emotions came over me.

“Wait—” he murmured. A light of recognition sparked in his eyes. He snapped his fingers. “Evans.”

Tray looked at me and waited.

I laughed. “I didn’t mean it literally. You can talk. I guess he knows you.”

He winked at me before turning to Jace. “Yeah. I’m Evans.”

Jace regarded him with caution, but he shook his head. “You’re with Taryn?”

Tray looked at me. A jolt went through me at what Jace was insinuating. I shook my head. “No, no. Um...” I bit my lip, my cheeks warming, as both of them waited for my answer. “No. He’s friends with my sister.”

“The sister from your new family?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Her.” I grinned. “She’s popular, Jace. Can you believe that? I got one of
those
families.”

“Yeah.” He looked at me with fondness. “I can, Terry. You deserve it. You know I always thought that.”

“Yeah.” Other memories started to come to me, but I pushed them away. “Listen, we’re here because of Brian.”

“Aw. The real reason you came.” He shook his head. “What’s my brother done now?”

“He’s…” I hesitated. If Jace went after Brian, it could get nasty, but there was no one else who could reel him in. “He’s a little nuts, to be truthful. I’m scared of what he’s going to do. He saw me at Rickets’ Hou—”

“Wait.” Jace was startled. “You went to Rickets’ House?”

I nodded. “Yeah.” I glanced at Tray. “A bunch of people from our school did. Why?”

“Don’t go there anymore.”

“But—” This didn’t make sense. He had never cared before. It had been Brian who had been worried about me. “Why?”

“Just don’t, Taryn.”

He said my name. My eyes widened. I knew Jace could be serious and sometimes deadly, but he usually kept his lighthearted side for me. He was serious now. He was very serious. He said again, “I mean it, Taryn. Don’t go there. Changes are happening and it’s not safe.”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “It’s not for you to worry about.”

“But—”

“Taryn.” He silenced me, moving towards me. “I mean it. I don’t want you there. I don’t even want Brian there.”

“You don’t?”

Jace gestured to Tray. “Drive her back.” As Tray took my arm, Jace said to me, “I’ll keep Brian away from you. I promise. Go back to Rawley.” He took both my shoulders in his hands and leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead. “Go back to that new family. You’re better off.” He squeezed my shoulders. “Make something of yourself, Taryn. A chance like this don’t come along often. Grab it while you can.”

As we left, I couldn’t get Jace’s words out of my head. A shiver went down my back, and as we left Pedlam behind us, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

*

His phone kept ringing as we drove back to Rawley.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

He kept his eyes on the road. “Because they’re drunk.”

As it began ringing again, I saw the name Adrian Do Not Answer flashing across his screen. Tray knew what I was going to do. A small grin lifted the corner of his mouth, but he kept driving. He was going to let me do whatever I wanted. At that idea, my own wicked grin formed on my face, and I hit the answer button. “Hello?”

For thirty seconds, there was silence before she said, “Who is this?”

“Tray can’t talk right now. He’s too busy with me.” Tray turned to me and my cheeks warmed, but I didn’t look at him. I moaned into the phone then. “He’s soo good, ooh my gawwd.”

Silence again. I waited. When the silence stretched, I let out another groan and then she screeched. “Who are you?”

I laughed. “The girl that took your place.” Ending the call, I handed it back to him. “I hope that was alright?”

He took it, pressed a button, and dropped it into the console between us. “I think you took care of a problem for me. I should be thanking you.”

I laughed; the idea of Tray owing me sent a host of sensations through me. Then my phone rang and all that went away. “Are you kidding me?” Expecting Brian, the small burst of anger fizzled to concern. “It’s Mandy.”

She rushed out, “Devon and I broke up. I was right. He’s been sleeping with Jennica. Jennica of all people! I caught ‘em in one of the bedrooms.” She stopped as a sob came out. “I hate that bitch!”

“Mandy, I’m so sorry.”

“I hate her, I hate her so damn much. What am I going to do? It’s going to be all over school!”

“Fuck school. You don’t let her get away with this.”

“I know, but what can I do? I’ll get caught whatever I do and then I’ll get suspended. I can’t do that. Mom and Dad would be furious with me. I might lose my scholarship to Brown next year.”

Here it was. This was when I stepped forward and offered my criminal skills. Fuck my family. Fuck my future. My sister was hurting. I might not have been willing to throw it all down the drain for Tray, but this was different. My old protectiveness came out. Mandy was family. Enough said.

“Mandy.”

Tray frowned, hearing the sudden seriousness in my tone. He glanced at me. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do, but I was going to do something, and it wasn’t going to be legal. I wanted to give her some form of comfort, but if she knew, she’d want in and she could get in trouble with me.

“What?” She paused in between her sobs and a hiccup. “Taryn?”

“Nothing.” I forced those words down. “Where are you?”

She hiccupped again. “I’m coming back. I made one of the guys drive me back. Taryn,” she started crying again, “I couldn’t stay there. They didn’t even stop. She saw me and kept going. I couldn’t stay there. I would’ve—”

I jerked forward in my seat. She couldn’t do anything. It was better if I got in trouble, not her. Mandy was good. Mandy was normal. She had a future. Mine was still in question. I shook my head. “You didn’t do anything, did you?”

“No,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “but I wanted to. I wanted to hurt them, Taryn. What am I going to do? Oh my god.” She dissolved back into tears. “I hate Devon. I absolutely hate Devon. I’m going to…I’m going to key his car; that’s what I’m going to do.”

The car slowed as we turned into Tray’s driveway. I said to her, “Just come to Tray’s. I’m here. I’ll wait for you.”

“Thank you, Taryn, just thank you.” Her voice was hoarse now.

“It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“O…o…kay.” She hiccupped again.

After we ended the call, I glanced at Tray. His lack of surprise set me on edge. My teeth gritted together. “You knew.” It wasn’t a question. It was an accusation.

Compared to the mob that had been in his house earlier, his mansion was eerily vacant. I followed him inside as he went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He had ignored my statement, but when he handed me a beer, his eyes caught mine. I couldn’t place what was going on in his head; he was wearing a mask. It was one that I had witnessed on him since I arrived in Rawley. It was the same mask
he gave everyone, his friends, his teachers, and now it was directed at me Tray Evans wasn’t normal. I had forgotten during our recent interactions, but I remembered now.