“I wish you’d been there to see it.” Emma giggled as we made our way down the hallway. “Turns out we aren’t the only ones sick of Nick’s kingly attitude.”
Hooking my school bag over my shoulder, I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe they practically went full Carrie on him.”
The girls had been right the other night, Nick was going to win prom king practically unopposed. But apparently, it wasn’t because people wanted him to win. It was because the football team finally decided to throw a fuck you to the wind and found a way to get their revenge after an entire season of having to put up with Nick’s bullshit if they wanted to stay on the team.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one on Nick’s shit list. He’d been such an entitled dickhead to his team, talking down to them about their skills and blaming them when they lost. Most of them were heading off to college and had nothing left to lose.
“I thought it was actual blood for a moment, but someone said they just filled a bucket with red paint and slime,” Emma continued, unable to keep the smile off her face. Turned out Eagle was right, a couple of months at a real school, and she was turning into a real teenager, craving drama and all the bullshit that came along with it. “I am so disappointed you missed it. Although, I have heard there is a video circulating.”
My eyes lit up, and I grabbed her arm. “I need to find it.” I laughed as we walked off the school grounds and down past the tennis courts. “I’m feeling like we should have some kind of frozen dessert to celebrate.”
Emma bounced on her toes in excitement. “Yes, let’s go to that shop we went to last time. Eagle said he wouldn’t be ready to pick me up from your house until 4:30 p.m., so we definitely have time to stop.”
I couldn’t help but grin. I still got a kick out of the way Emma got excited about the little things in life, like frozen yogurt and reality television. I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for her to live without things like cell phones, or dishwashers, and chocolate. Lord help anyone around me if I had to survive that time of the month without an entire block of chocolate.
It wasn’t far to walk from the school to the frozen yogurt shop in the middle of town. The flow of students slowly took over our small town in masses. We were all in search of food and treats and anything else which might give us the boost we needed after an entire day of forcing our brain to learn things we would never use again.
“Meyah Benson?”
I stopped on the sidewalk a few doors down from the froyo shop as a man stepped out in front of us. The color of his outfit instantly gave him away, even before I noted the badges and the hat.
“Yes, sir?” I replied, having been taught always to be respectful to law enforcement.
I knew the club often had trouble with them. I wasn’t saying that the club was innocent. I also knew there were things which went on behind closed doors that shouldn’t. The Brothers by Blood were one-percenters, and they didn’t get that title without earning it.
The thing was, I just didn’t care.
That was their outside persona.
I knew the real them, and I knew that everything they did, they did for the club and for the people they cared about. And because of that, I chose to stay in the dark. I’d already seen things no person in their entire life should see. Dead bodies. Bullet wounds. Murder. It was what it was, and it wouldn’t change how I felt about them.
“If I could just have a moment of your time,” the officer asked politely, indicating to his police cruiser was parked at the curb. He turned his attention to Emma, who I noticed was watching him skeptically with a narrowed gaze. He took his hat between his fingers and dipped his head to her. “I won’t keep her long.”
Emma look worried, so I reached out and squeezed her arm. “It’s okay, I’ll only be a moment. I’ll catch up with you.” I made sure to sound as confident as possible, even though I was a little unsure as to why he would want to speak to me, thinking that maybe Nick’s bitch of a mother had actually tattled on me.
Emma wrinkled her nose and nodded, holding her books close to her chest as she walked ahead down the sidewalk. She looked over her shoulder nervously as she disappeared around the corner to the froyo store behind a handful of other teens.
“My name is Officer Visser. If it’s okay, I’d like to make this as private as possible,” he noted, directing me toward the police car. I complied and pulled open the passenger door, slipping inside as he rounded the other side of the vehicle.
When he was finally inside, I turned my body toward him. “Have I done something wrong?” I asked a little nervous, but I was sure he was a policeman, and I wasn’t in any danger.
Apparently, I was wrong.
He pulled off his dark glasses and placed them on the dash before turning his gaze to me. A chill ran through me, the light blue color of his eyes reminding me of ice. “Miss Benson,” he addressed me, the sweetness and casual tone gone and replaced with something harsher and more devious. “Your uncle is a part of the local MC, isn’t he?”
My mouth had suddenly gone dry, and I swallowed to try and add some moisture before I spoke. “Yes, sir.”
“And your boyfriend?”
Technically Ham and I weren’t a couple. So while I wanted to scream from the rooftops that he was mine, my first instinct was to admit the truth. Especially to a police officer—no matter how embarrassing. “Um… I’m not sure what you mean. I don’t—”
His hand moved like lightning clutching my neck and forcing my head back against the headrest. I gasped in fright, and he squeezed tighter. I could feel the roughness of his skin, the callouses on the inside of his palm against my throat as he placed more and more pressure against my windpipe.
“You’re gonna listen very carefully,” he warned, keeping his voice low and terrifyingly calm.
My eyes moved, looking out the windows, wondering why no one was banging on the car windows to get him to release me, but there was no one around. I hadn’t thought about it before, but the street we were parked on was a quiet one with not many actual businesses on it that needed foot traffic. We only used it because it was the shortest way to get to where we wanted to be, but it seemed like the rush of students heading into town was now gone.
“Look at me.”