As the car door opened, I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out who the fuck was beaming us down with their high-beam headlights.
“Fucking cars,” I murmured.
All at once, I saw the darkened outline of four guys. Two in the front, and two in the back. They leaned against the hood of the car, their silvery outlines looming over us. Once they stepped closer into the light, leaning against the hood of the car, I recognized them. Well, two of them.
From the football field last week.
Shit.
They stood there, looking at us. Like fucking goofballs with their arms crossed over their chests. They tried puffing out their muscles to look bigger, but I swear they were gangly little fucks. Rich bitch boys who didn’t have a hope or a prayer in this world of stacking on muscle. And yet, I remembered the fight clearly. All three of those gangly assholes had a mean punch to them. They had been much stronger than they looked, and I’d be a damn fool to assume these other two fuckers would be any different.
“What do you want?”
My voice filled the space between us, but they didn’t move. They didn’t speak. They just stared at us with dumbass smirks on their faces. Rae pressed closer into me, and I felt her trembling. Shaking with fear. That pissed me off. No one scared my girl. No one rolled up on us and intimidated her like that.
She leaned into my ear. “Let’s get out of here, okay? Speed away on your bike?”
I didn't answer her. I didn’t want my answer to scare her. While motorcycles were fast, we didn’t have time or space to get away from them. I wouldn't even get situated on my bike before they rammed into both of us, pinning us to the tree behind us. And I couldn't put Rae in danger like that. I couldn't let her get hurt again.
Which meant running wasn’t an option.
“Please, Clint.”
Hearing her beg made me sick to my stomach, but I shook my head. I felt her disappointment as she leaned her head against my shoulder, silently begging me to step down. But there was so much to this interaction she didn’t understand. So many ways for her to get hurt that she didn’t realize.
And if she had a chance to get hurt, it meant that option wasn’t really an option at all.
37
Raelynn
The more the men came into view, the more of them I saw. They were lean, but tall. Three of them as tall as Clint. Easily. They all had beer cans in their hands and the glossy look in their eyes told me they’d been drinking. Probably all night, up until this point. I felt sick to my stomach. The smiles on their faces were wicked. The palms of their hands dwarfed those regular-sized beer cans, and the way they looked at me was frightening.
Their eyes darted between Clint and me, but they kept resting their gazes on me.
I gasped. “Clint.”
He pressed further back into me. “It’s gonna be all right, Rae. Just do exactly as I ask.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, though.
Each of them leaned against the hood of the car, blocking out parts of the high beams that shone against us. And when the blind spots faded from my vision, I found all four of them licking their lips. Staring at me. Raking their eyes up and down the parts of me they could see. I slid off the bike, staying behind Clint. I fisted his leather jacket, drawing him closer as his arm wrapped around behind me. He tapped my waist, trying to comfort me as the boys started laughing to themselves.
Then one of them finally spoke up.
“You look scared.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You think?”
Clint squeezed my side, telling me to stop. And for once, I listened. I didn’t like the way they were looking at me. I didn’t like the way they slowly boxed us in. They all pushed off the hood of the car, stalking toward us. Making their way for us. Eyeing me hotly as Clint tried obscuring their view. Clint stood his ground, despite the fact that I knew we needed to run. He locked eyes with the boy in front, who stood a little over an inch taller than him.
I still felt the other three boys staring me down. Looking at places on my body that made me want to punch them straight in their noses.
I snarled. “Fuck off.”
Another boy snickered. “She’s got spunk. I like spunk.”
The boy staring at Clint grinned. “I hate spunk.”