Damian’s eyes flick to mine as I pull my shirt back into place. “Just…come.”
Slade groans, pissed off at having our moment ruined again. He takes my waist and helps me down from the dresser before taking my hand. We follow Damian out of my room and into the living room where we find a space cleared in the center with Blake’s little hussy facing off against Nessa.
Fuck, what was her name again?
I start wracking my brain through all the names I’ve learned. So much shit has gone down since the last time I had to deal with this bitch. The last thing I remember was throwing a cushion at her head and watching as she stormed out of here.
I go over the names of the girls at school. Kate? Jessica? Lacey. Nope. None of those. The issue is that she’s so bland. It’s like having a vanilla milkshake. No cherry on top, no flavoring, no sprinkles – just bland.
“Fuck off, Kathleen,” Nessa scowls. “We’ve got too much shit to deal with to have to worry about your skank ass.”
Kathleen. That’s her name.
“Where is he?” Kathleen growls.
I push past the circle of students watching what’s going down and step in beside Nessa. “What the fuck is going on here? But more importantly, who the hell invited you?”
Kathleen’s eyes narrow at me as she takes a step toward me and shoots her finger into my chest. “This is all your fault. Where the hell is Blake?”
Blake? Oh, God. Don’t tell me she’s causing some ridiculous scene over her infatuation with my baby brother. “What’s it to you? He’s not here.”
“Where is he? He hasn’t been to school all week. He hasn’t been answering my calls or texts. He wasn’t even at the game. What did you do with him? Did you send him back? God, you’re such a fucking over-the-top bitch. Just leave him alone. He was happy here.”
What the fuck is going on here? This girl really is a stage-five clinger. She’s fucking insane.
Damian laughs. “Dude, you realize he’s in the hospital, right? Get out of Sky’s face. You’re making yourself sound like a fucking crazy bitch.”
Kathleen’s eyes bug out of her head. “Hospital?” she screeches in fear.
I groan, turning on Damian. “Thanks a lot. Clearly, Blake didn’t tell her where he was on purpose. Now the poor bastard is probably going to have her at his bedside every second of his life.”
Damian cringes. “Shit, I didn’t think about that.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of shit you don’t think about,” Nessa teases.
“Would you all shut the fuck up and tell me why my boyfriend is in the hospital?”
“Boyfriend?” I laugh. “Shit, does he know about that?”
Kathleen’s jaw clenches and she steps into me, putting her right in front of my face and making Slade’s hand tighten in mine. “You know what?” she spits, looking at me as though I’m the bane of her existence. “I don’t need to know what the fuck happened to him to know that whatever it is, it’s on you. Bad shit follows you. You’re a fucking curse to everyone around you.”
Her words cut deep. She’s never spoken truer words but I’m not about to let that show. I am a curse. Everyone I love gets hurt, no matter what. Mom and Dad died, Blake and I were kidnapped and then he ended up in the hospital. Slade was run off a bridge and Shay…well she hurts in a different way now.
“Are you done?” I question, my tone low and demanding.
“Yeah,” she scoffs. “I’m so done with you. I wouldn’t want to end up fighting for my life just by being in the same room as you.”
Kathleen smirks and as she starts backing out of the circle, the front door slams open, making a dent in the drywall.
None other than Roman Westbrook comes stumbling in, covered from head to toe in blood. He comes crashing into the circle, falling to his knees as everyone looks down at him in horror. People rush to his aid, seeing that this isn’t just a beating by some kid that he pissed off. Whatever happened to him was serious.
He looks awful.
After Slade was finished with him, he left him battered and bruised, but these injuries, they’re the kind that was inflicted for torture.
Slade drops down to him, putting their issues aside to find out what the fuck is going on. “Roman,” he demands, forcing Roman to focus on him as he begins giving up his fight, desperately needing the peace of unconsciousness. “Roman. Look at me. Who did this?”
Roman’s eyes flutter and every move he makes seems as though it could kill him. It’s a damn miracle he was even able to make it here. I turn to Nessa. “Get Shay and call an ambulance. I don’t think he’s going to make it.”