“We’ll be in the car.”
I catch up to Vienna, ignoring the laughter behind me.
A few minutes of us bullshitting in the back seat pass before the three slide in, Royce, of course in the back with us.
“I think I should sit in the middle.”
“Stay where you’re at.” Maddoc glares in his mirror at his brother, who sits beside Vienna.
Vienna, who says not a word the entire drive – not even sure she breathes – and only waves when she gets out at the house.
Maddoc continues down the dirt road, parking right in front of the porch as we pull up.
Together, the four of us head inside.
“One of you mind doing dinner tonight?” Captain asks, already headed for the stairs.
“I got it.” Maddoc nods, then looks to us. “Lemme shower then I’ll start.”
Royce and I shrug, and I follow him into the kitchen, watching him wash his hands and start pulling out shit for Maddoc to cook with.
“What’s up with Captain?”
“What makes you think anything is?”
“He seems off.”
Royce turns to me with a scowl that quickly grows into a grin. “You’re starting to see through our masks, RaeRae. Careful, you might actually be forced to admit you like it.”
“Whatever.” I push off the counter and start walking away.
“Raven.”
I look back to Royce.
“Go ask him.” It’s almost a plea, like he knows what it is and thinks I can fix it.
Unsure why, I head upstairs and knock on Captain’s door.
He doesn’t say anything, so I walk inside anyway finding him sitting at the edge of his bed, looking out the window.
“What’s up, Raven?”
“How’d you know it was me?”
“You’re the only one who’d knock in this house.”
We both laugh lightly, but my chest feels tight at how hollow his is.
I move around the room and climb on to the bed, sitting against the headboard. “What’s wrong?”
He hesitates a minute before speaking. “If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth without needing to know why I need to know?”
“Honestly?” I ask, my face scrunching. “Probably not but try me.”
He chuckles and looks my way. With a deep sigh, he shifts on the bed to face me.
“Why did Perkins call you into his office?”
“That’s what you wanna know?”
“Come on ...”
“Easy.” I shrug. “He wants me to leave Brayshaw.”
“He say that?”
“Painted a real pretty picture for me.”
Captain nods with a frown, but it’s not for me. “Yet here you are.”
“I’ve got my own crayons, packman.”
He studies me. “You don’t trust him.”
“You don’t trust him. Neither does Royce, Maddoc. How am I supposed to?”
His eyes soften the longer he stares and then he looks away. But something’s plaguing him.
“Pretty sure he thinks the longer I’m here, the tighter we’ll get and he doesn’t want that,” I tell him.
“He thinks you’ll make us stronger.” His eyes bounce between mine. “He’s right. You will. You are.”
I look away. “I’m just ... the girl living across the hall, Cap. And who knows how long that’ll last.”
He scoots closer. “That’s not true and you know it. You fit. And Maddoc—”
“Is like a puzzle missing key pieces.”
“Yeah.” He nods. “Think there’s a perfect five six, hourglass cut out that needs filling.”
“Ha! Funny guy.”
Cap laughs lightly, dropping back on his bed, so I move to lay my head near his.
“You want the exact details, Cap?”
He’s quiet a moment and then his head shakes against his comforter. “Is it a one-time offer?”
“No. When you’re ready, we’ll talk.”
“And you’ll still be here?”
I nod for his sake, knowing it could be a lie.
“Why aren’t you asking me questions, Raven? Why you willing to tell me what I wanna know without answers?”
“I don’t play eye for an eye.”
He takes a deep breath, and his hand finds mine on the comforter. He gives me a light squeeze before pulling away and sadness fills me.
For him and whatever he’s going through.
These boys are ... more than I was ready for.
We both look to the door when the rattle of a doorknob catches our attention, but it is open, so we stifle our laughter as we watch Maddoc at mine. When he opens it and walks in to find it empty, he frowns and glances off ... right inside Cap’s room.
He freezes when he spots us, and we start cracking up.
He gets a look at his brother. “You good, man?”
Cap nods and Maddoc looks to me, concern lining his brow.
I glance at Cap and he winks. He’ll tell him all about it later if he doesn’t already know, so I smooth it over for the time being. “We ... decided to watch a movie and veg tonight. Anything we can maybe pop in the microwave?”
Maddoc runs a hand over his mouth, nodding. “Lemme go figure something out. We’ll meet you guys in the media room.” He looks to his brother again before walking off.
Maddoc ends up frying some burgers quickly and we pair it with chips and salsa, also homemade – another thing to thank Maybell for, I’m sure.