* * *
It didn’t take long for Indi to ditch whatever she was doing once she realized I was conscious and home alone. Less than forty minutes later, she blasts through my front door like a hurricane on the warpath.
“Are you okay? That’s a stupid question. Goddamn, I am still so angry I could murder!” She practically vibrates with rage the way she radiates negative energy.
I smile a little, for the first time since I woke up, and laugh softly at her. “I’m okay. Kind of. I will be okay, and that’s what matters. What happened to you last night? The guys just said they got me home.”
“Yeah, it was kind of hectic after everything happened. The party shut down pretty fast when Maverick and Finley hauled Raleigh out of there after Lincoln got you out.” My eyes go wide at her words, and my earlier conversation with Finley rings out in my head.
What did he do?
She watches me closely with narrowed eyes. “They didn’t tell you that bit I’m guessing?”
“No, no they definitely didn’t. They just told me that Raleigh drugged me, and attempted to… yeah… that they stopped him, and brought me home. I was out cold and I still don’t remember anything. All I know is that the four of them were here when I woke up this morning.”
She huffs out a laugh. “That’s definitely the condensed version. I tried to get you home myself, but Lincoln refused to let anyone else near you. Hell, he parted the crowd at that party like Moses parted the freaking sea.”
“Enough about me, and all of that. I can’t yet. I need some time to process. What happened with you last night? The last thing I remember properly, you were with Ellis Donovan?” I wag my eyebrows at her, feigning the excitement I want to have, because fake it till you make it, right?
A blush spills across her cheeks at his name and I smile a little wider. Apparently music therapy isn’t the only thing to get me through the bad times. Especially when I have friends like Indi in my life.
“Spill!”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to, like, sweep what happened to you under the rug. We should be outraged, angry, and all of the fucking things about what happened to you.” That fire in her flares bright once again and my heart pangs that she cares for me so much.
“I’m sure. The last thing I want to do is focus on what happened. Finley told me it was handled. I have no reason to trust him fully, but I trust that much at least,” I tell her with a shrug.
She goes a little pale and nods. “Girl, I would. You should have seen his face as he and Maverick hauled Raleigh out of there last night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that angry. I would not want to be Raleigh.”
I get comfortable on the couch and she joins me. “Moving on… Ellis Donovan.”
She blushes again, and I laugh softly. She throws a cushion at me and I grin harder.
“Ellis Donovan… is a long story. I told you I knew the brothers before, that I was friends with Scout…” She trails off while I sit, butterflies taking flight in my stomach. My excitement for her is the exact distraction I needed from my own freak show of a life. I curl up, pulling the cushion against my chest and hugging it while she spills the tea. “Well, I actually dated Ellis last year. And Ryker… and their friend Dylan.”
My eyes go wide at her confession. “Holy shit, you’ve totally been holding out on me!”
She looks down at her hands, wringing them uncomfortably. “Yeah, not everyone is too open-minded about a girl dating three guys.”
“Dude, I am so not that girl. Date seven of them if you want. Power to you! So, you and the three of them… what happened?”
She shrugs before looking back up at me. “I’m not really sure. We got halfway through the summer, and they told me it wasn’t working anymore. That it was too dangerous for me to be with them.”
I roll my eyes and lean back on the arm of the couch. “Ugh, boys fucking suck sometimes. Why do they get to judge that shit?”
“Well, I mean, their brother runs The Kings… they’re basically his seconds. Shit can get dangerous real quick in their world.”
“The Kings?” I ask, beyond confused.
Her eyes go wide as she realizes I have no idea what she’s on about. “I…I thought you knew. That’s literally the rivalry between the Donovans and Lincoln and co.” She blinks at me, squirming, while I sit waiting for her to continue. “I don’t know everything, but I’ll tell you what I do know.”
She takes a deep breath, pausing as if trying to find the right words. “I’m not sure exactly what Lincoln and those guys are mixed up in, but I know that Ryker and Ellis got dragged into something last summer that they were a part of, and that’s why the rivalry between the schools seemingly escalated.”
“That explains the gun…” I trail off and she looks at me, jaw slack.
“Gun?”
“Yeah, Ryker was at the school one day a few weeks ago, talking with the guys, and pulled a gun on them.”