“What do we do now?” Will asked hesitantly.
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Kendrick could sense his friends’ fears and doubts from a mile away. He couldn’t help but be afraid that Haze wouldn’t be willing to do what it took now that it involved his own blood.
“The only thing we can do.” He let out a heavy sigh. “We bust his ass and save the girl.”
“NICE PLACE,” WILLIAM SAID IN AWE of the Adams house. It’d been a while since Haze had stopped to look around and feel grateful for the life of luxury his parents had given him. He heard the admiration in Will’s voice and couldn’t help but find a hint of irony in the situation.
Crazy how one’s curse can be somebody else’s blessing, he thought.
Some had the loving parents.
Some had the big house and money.
Haze had yet to meet someone with both.
When he saw Tanner’s cars parked in the driveway, he mentally battled himself on whether or not he was ready to face him.
“We need a cue. A word I’ll say to let you know I need backup,” Haze reminded them as he set up the microphone he planned to hide under his jacket. It was directly connected to the East Side.
“Okay, huh… what about ‘do you think my ass looks fat in these jeans’?” William cracked up.
“I’m not saying that.”
“Fine, then just say…” Kendrick was interrupted by a Destiny’s Child song on the radio. “Bootylicious. Fit the word ‘bootylicious’ in a sentence, any sentence, and we’ll come to the rescue.”
“Really?” Haze fought the urge to face-palm himself.
“Really.” Kendrick smirked.
Haze made a face and got out of the car, walking toward the house he used to call home. He felt his heart tightening in his chest. The lame humor really was a family thing. That’s something Winter would’ve said.
He walked through the front door, feeling like a pure stranger in this place he knew so well, and fixed the microphone under his leather jacket one last time.
“Tanner, you home?” he shouted.
“In here,” Tanner called from the living room. “Hey,” he said at the sight of his younger brother walking in and sunk deeper into the couch.
“It’s been a while.” Haze forced a smile.
“Yeah, well, it’s not my fault you’re constantly running around with the East Side chick,” Tanner said, getting a cigarette out of a pack.
“I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. Haven’t you heard? She’s been taken.”
Tanner shrugged. “Really? Good news.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Haze tried to repress the burning anger building up inside of him.
“Nah.”
He quickly knew he was going to have to do this the hard way.
“You know, I didn’t expect you to understand. You never truly cared about anyone.”
Tanner frowned.
“I mean, until Rose.”