SCAR: Holy shit!!! R u okay????
ME: Fine. The guys are just being dicks. Not allowed to dance now, apparently.
SCAR: Ugh, fuck them. We were having fun! And who just carries someone out of a club like that??
Her next text is just a bunch of angry emojis that almost make me smile. Before I can type anything back, the little bubble that indicates Scarlett is still typing pops up, so I wait.
SCAR: You should have seen their faces tho. Rory and Levi were behind Sloan, and they all looked jealous as hell. Sloan looked like he was about to kill someone as soon as that guy put his hands on you.
I blink in surprise as I read her message. I can definitely believe that Sloan looked like he wanted to kill that guy because he always kind of looks like he wants to murder someone, but the other two being jealous? For what? They didn’t want to dance with me. They just want me to be miserable and bored, apparently.
ME: I think they were just pissed off that I made them come out.
SCAR: You didn’t see it. There was definitely jealousy there. I’m tell
ing you!
I quickly turn my phone over on my lap so none of the guys can see my screen or the texts, then angle my body and stare out the window, brow furrowed.
There’s no way Scarlett is right. She must be reading too much into it and thinking there’s something there when it’s not. I can’t believe they would be jealous just because some random dude was grinding on me.
They don’t even like me.
There’s no fucking way.
13
The drive back home feels like it takes fucking forever.
And the longer I think about what happened at the club, the more pissed off I get. Every time I try to do something for myself, something to have fun and try to forget about how shitty things are, one of them comes in and fucks it up. They act like they have the right to dictate what I can do and who I can do it with, and for what?
Because they think I’m going to run? Because they don’t trust me? Probably all of that and a big dash of disrespect thrown in too.
They treat me like some kind of child half the time and try to ignore me the other half, except for Rory, who likes to alternate between treating me like a child and treating me like a future hookup. The point is, they don’t treat me like someone with wants and thoughts and feelings of her own. They act like I need them to intervene on my behalf, even though I’ve been living my life perfectly fine for years before they came crashing into it.
I threw myself at their mercy to save my dad, agreeing to live with the three of them for an indefinite amount of time with no questions asked. I haven’t objected once to being followed around every time I go to class. I’ve never made it seem like I’m a flight risk, and they still don’t have enough common sense to realize I’m not going anywhere.
Where would I even go? They own most of the city, and there are Black Rose members all over the damn place. How would I escape them? And why would I abandon my dad? He’s all I have, and there’s no way in hell I would risk it.
We finally pull up back at the house, and I’m out of the car before any of them can say anything. I stomp inside once Sloan’s unlocked the door, fully intending to go up to my room and barricade myself inside for the rest of the weekend so I don’t have to deal with this bullshit.
Levi stops me before I can even get to the stairs. “What’s your problem?” he asks, arms folded and one eyebrow arched as he cuts off my escape route.
I stare at him, shocked that he would even ask me something like that after what just happened.
“Oh, I don’t know, Levi,” I snap, the anger I’ve been feeling since Sloan grabbed me coming through in my voice. “Maybe it was being dragged out of the club when I just wanted to have a night out with my best friend? I’m sorry, being dragged would have been more dignified, actually. I was thrown over Sloan’s shoulder like a fucking sack of potatoes in front of everyone and then hauled out like I’m some kind of naughty child when all I wanted was to blow off a little steam!”
“You were—”
“I don’t want to hear it.” I cut him off, raising a hand. “I already got it from Sloan about how you’re not my bodyguards. Make it my fault, whatever.”
Levi just sighs, but Rory grins, as per fucking usual. “If you want to blow off steam so bad, we can take you out,” he says.
I narrow my eyes at him. Even in the face of my anger, they’re all so fucking confident and bossy. They ruin my plans and then come up with their own, and I’m just supposed to fall in line with them and do what they say.
I have half a mind to tell him to go fuck himself and go up to my room like I planned, but I’m still feeling stir-crazy from being cooped up for so long, and… I’m a little curious what he’s talking about. I have no idea what Black Roses do for fun, other than destroy people’s lives, but it might be interesting to find out. Maybe.
“Fine,” I say, letting out a breath. “Whatever.”