My feet were having trouble, getting tangled together and lacking normal coordination. If he would just stop manhandling me for a fucking moment, I could get my bearings. I knew without certainty that I did not want to go inside the tunnel with the two of them. The farther they took me from the field, the more dangerous the situation became. I tried to free Sterling’s fingers from my hair, as he used it like a leash to guide me, but to no avail.
All the lights in the tunnel had either been switched off or broken. Darkness yawned before us. Intimidating. Daunting. And desolate.
Only a few steps in, both Sterling and his partner came to a jarring halt. Before my eyes could find the reason why, I heard a familiar voice.
“Funny. I heard the same thing about you,” the voice said sarcastically in response to Sterling’s lewd comment about how I liked it rough. Knuckles cracked in the dark.
My world stopped, tilting sideways on its axis. Or maybe that was me being close to passing out. Or the drug. Probably all the above. I braced a hand on the cold, damp concrete wall.
Josie stood a few feet in front of us. Her pink hair caught on a beam of waning light shining from behind me. Her brown eyes were huge, and she gasped, the sound bouncing through the tunnel. But the menacing voice hadn’t been hers. It had been Grayson’s. I would guarantee it.
And then my cousin stepped out of the shadows, the sunlight just bright enough to give a face to the figure that came to stand beside Josie. Fynn appeared on the other side, the two Elite flanking my best friend. Their arms were crossed, and murder gleamed in their eyes.
Relief hit me like a tsunami. I hadn’t intended to sway against Sterling. He just happened to be an available body to keep me from crumpling to the ground. Not that he offered much support.
“Oh, you’re so fucked now.” I giggled, a bit manic, and his fingers slid out of my hair. I tumbled backward, my back hitting his chest.
Grayson stared at me strangely as if a third eye had magically appeared between my other two.
Sterling gripped my shoulders, positioning me in front of him like a shield. As if I would protect him from a mosquito bite, let alone from the Elite. His idiot accomplice shifted warily on his feet, eyes darting between Grayson and Fynn.
“Let her go,” Grayson said.
“Mads and I are old friends.” Sterling patted my shoulder, not holding me captive but letting me know if I took one step forward, he would grab me, but really, he wouldn’t have to try hard. I wasn’t going anywhere. The drug made every part of my body feel heavier yet more lax than it was.
Fynn arched a mocking brow. “Do you usually hit your friends?”
I grimaced, staying still. My whole life I pretended to be the tough girl, and I thought I had done a pretty good job at it. But somehow, seeing the slightest bit of sympathy in Fynn’s eyes broke something inside me. I didn’t want to be weak, and that was how Sterling made me feel. It wasn’t just that he’d hit me. I felt as if I hadn’t fought back hard enough.
And that wasn’t me.
The frown on Josie’s face deepened. She might not have seen the tiny cut on my lip, but Fynn had.
“You assume I hit her. Did you ever stop to think that maybe I was the one who saved her?” Sterling countered.
My sarcastic snort echoed through the tunnel, slightly suppressed by the disorder still happening outside on the field. The team might not use this tunnel during practices, but that didn’t mean someone couldn’t wander in at any moment. I couldn’t decide if that would aid or hamper the situation. Did it matter? “Add woman beater to his impressively growing douchebag résumé,” I said.
Grayson pinned me with his turbulent dark eyes. “Seeing as you can find it in yourself to crack a joke, I don’t have to ask if you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” I assured, but my body and actions were contradicting my assurance.
Grayson shifted his focus off me. “You have no idea what you’ve started,” he said darkly. “You’ve been lucky up until now. That’s all about to change. Once Micah sees her—”
“You’ve got the wrong idea,” Sterling said shortly. “This is part of Micah’s initiation.”
“He drugged me,” I blurted before he could spew more lies.
Grayson closed the space in a heartbeat, slamming Sterling against the wall, the side of his arm pressed into the fucker’s throat. The restraint on Grayson’s temper snapped. “Tell me why I shouldn’t break your nose right now.”
Sterling’s waste-of-space friend moved to wrestle Grayson off him, but Fynn stopped him with a firm command. “Don’t think about it.” Fynn pinched the bridge of his nose, remaining at Josie’s side. “You crossed the line. She’s family.”
Grayson shoved his arm deeper into Sterling’s throat. “You don’t fuck with family. If there’s one thing we can’t stand, it’s the use of drugs to get a girl. It’s weak and pathetic.”
“I’m. Not. Weak,” Sterling gasped, struggling for air between words.
“This wasn’t our fight before, not when we thought you had a thing for Micah’s girl. But now? All bets are off.” Grayson’s features were hard and savage. “You’ve made it personal.”
“Me!” Sterling growled. “I’m not the one who started this—”