“Because he’s your brother!”
“So?” Heston takes some money from Carlton, who glares as he puts it on Sebastian to win. “Doesn’t mean he’s not a twat.”
Emory shakes his head. “Dude, that’s fucked up.”
It’s beyond fucked up. Heston doesn’t think Sebastian can win, but he’s still willing to make sure he fights?
Heston’s eyes suddenly land on me. “Not all of us can have a sweet little thing like Vandy as a sibling. Finally let the princess out of the castle, huh? Who’d you let down your hair for, sweetheart?” He reaches out, like he’s going to touch my hair, and I can feel Reyn stiffening beside me, radiating tension. I duck out of the way before his fingers make contact and he clucks. “Aw, don’t be like that.”
Emory barks a sharp, “Back the fuck off, Heston,” but he just smiles at me.
“Don’t sweat it. Baby V and I have a whole rapport.”
I recoil, snapping, “No, we don’t. And don’t ever call me that.” My neck prickles in sudden, scorching anger. Only one person here is allowed to call me Baby V, and it’s certainly not Heston Wilcox. I’ve always hated him most, and not just on account of our ‘rapport’. Reynolds might have gotten Emory in trouble, but friends like Heston? They made Emory mean. I know Heston was the one behind the vandalism about Micha last year. Well, everyone knows, because Hamilton Bates beat the shit out of him for it. Too bad I couldn’t have been a spectator to that fight.
Heston’s grin turns predatory. “Sure, we do. Remember? The Christmas party?”
Emory’s eyes shift suspiciously between us. “What the fuck does that mean?”
God, what an ass.
He thinks he has something over me, is the thing. He thinks I’m scared, that I’ll stand here and let him look at me like that. He thinks I’ll back down.
I don’t.
I look Heston right in the eye when I tell Emory, “It means that he sold me a bottle Oxy last year.” Heston’s face goes slack at my easy admission.
Emory pushes off the wall, face hard and stormy. “Did he now?”
Heston recovers quickly, giving a casual shrug. “She was basically begging me, bro. You know what they say about friends in need. I was just doing her a solid.”
“By selling my little sister narcotics?”
He gestures to my leg. “She said she was hurting.”
Emory looks at me, but I can’t lie. That’s all true. “Your scene’s gotten real old, Heston.”
“And what’s your scene now, exactly?” Heston gestures to the lot of us. “Sluts, nerds, druggies, jocks, and delinquents?”
Reyn steps in front me. “You say that like it’s any different from before.”
Heston’s eyes move to Reyn, giving him a slow, aggressive onceover. “Hey, at least the Devils were good at what we did.”
We all share a quick look, and in that moment, I know we’re thinking the same thing.
We still a
re.
Emory pushes a stack of money into Heston’s chest. “Put that on your brother to win. Unlike you, he can actually hold his own in a fight.” Ben throws in a couple hundreds, Caroline tosses in her own stack, and even Afton manages to produce some money from the inside of her bra. Suddenly, the new Devils are in for a pretty penny on Sebastian winning this thing.
Reyn flings his own wad at Heston. “Northridge kid for first blood.” Some of the others frown at this, but I understand instantly what he’s doing.
“Your daddies’ loss,” Heston says before walking away.
Emory meets my gaze, something firm and annoyed in his eyes, and I know what it looks like—like I’ve been accosting his friends for drugs. But that’s not really how it went down. Heston had approached me, offering me one. I just asked for more.
“Em—”