The guy that should be Haze but isn’t…
He’s tall, brown-haired, and buff. He looks at me with a smug face and arched eyebrows. His nose is crooked, but it doesn’t seem birth-given. It looks like he broke it. I’ve never seen him in my life.
“So, it’s you, huh?” he says casually like I’m not completely terrified.
“Who are you?”
“I mean, I get it. Great ass. I’d hit that, too.” He eyes me up and down, my previous sentence going in through one ear and out the other.
“Where’s Haze?” I ask louder.
“Oh, don’t worry about him. He won’t bother us.” He smiles and gets up, walking toward me. “I made sure of it.”
Oh hell to the no.
I don’t have even the slightest idea as to who that is, but it doesn’t matter. He’s bad news, I know that much. I try to make a run for it, but he beats me to the door like he’s had time to prepare for my every move. “Hey, where are you going? We’ve still got so much to discuss, you and I.”
I get my phone out of my back pocket, but he sees me coming from a mile away. He wrenches it from my hands and lobs it across the room.
“Rude!” He glares at me. “I’m talking to you.”
I’m paralyzed.
“What do you want with me?”
“I want what we all want. To get our leader back and for you to stop being a pain in the ass.”
To get our leader back…
This… this is one of Haze’s fighters.
“You know, it’s funny. Even your goddamn cousin doesn’t want you together, but you two idiots still can’t take a hint.” His fingers trace the curve of my jawline, and I tremble in fear. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re happy that he told us everything, really. It exposed Haze for the lying son of a bitch he really is.”
Kendrick.
Kendrick told them about us. Haze was suspicious that someone in the East side had snitched. I didn’t want to believe it. This has to be what Kendrick meant by “fixing” it. This is where he went the night of the party. This is why Haze said his guys were even worse than before. They knew he was lying for a fact. I bet Kendrick thought he was keeping me safe. That Haze’s guys would force him to walk a straight line again and get him away from me. If he only knew…
“I’m sorry, where are my manners? I didn’t even introduce myself. Name’s Ryan, but I go by my last name. Everyone calls me Sutter. Maybe your boyfriend told you about me?”
No, he didn’t. If he had, maybe this wouldn’t be happening.
“Where is he?”
“Haze? He’s fine. Trev’s keeping him busy while we take care of you.” He cackles. “Bastard has no idea. He still thinks he lost his phone.”
It all becomes clear. Haze didn’t send me those messages.
This guy did.
I knew something was off. He never calls me sweetie.
Wait, Winter, he said “we.” I think back to the guys I saw outside. Could they be with him?
“He actually thought he could fool us by staying away from you for a week, can you believe it? He really does take us for a bunch of brainless imbeciles.”
That’s why he hasn’t been around. He was trying to convince them that we weren’t together.
“I gotta give it to him. The guy really does love you.” He steps forward and corners me. “It’s fascinating, really. We didn’t think he had it in him.”