I lift a brow. “Do they respect you? Or are they afraid of you?”
His lips span back into a smirk. “Isn’t fear and respect the same thing?”
What a misconstrued logic he has.
“If you really believe that, then I pity you.”
Irritation flashes in his eyes, and I realize I hit a sore subject. Good. I hope he’s annoyed.
His voice descends a notch. “Maybe you need to learn your place in this town, too, baby.”
“Baby? Are you fucking serious,” I say to him. When his smirk darkens, I inch close to him, so close, only a mere inch is between our lips. “You can say whatever you want to me, asshat, but I already know my place in this town. And it’s right here, handing you your ass because I will get my revenge,baby.”
A muscle in his jaw spasms as his lips part. Who knows what foul words he would’ve thrown in my face if Rhyland and Blaise weren’t strolling up at that precise moment.
“What’s going on?” Blaise halts to the side of us, his gaze shifting back and forth between Alex and me.
This situation probably seems a bit odd, considering we’re standing almost close enough to kiss.
“Oh, nothing.” I put a drop of space between Alex and me. “Your brother was just trying to tell me where my place is in this town and I was correcting him.”
Blaise blasts Alex with a hard look, but Alex only rolls his eyes.
Grinding his teeth from side to side, Blaise fixes his gaze on me. Before he can utter a word, though, I hold up my hand.
“Look, I don’t want to argue anymore, okay? It’s not my MO.”
Blaise’s lips twitch. “Yeah, I have a hard time believing that.”
“Don’t pretend like you have any insight into me just because you dug up my criminal history.” I turn to face him, crossing my arms. “You know nothing about me or my past, and you had no right to put up those flyers.”
Blaise frowns. “Maybe you’re right, but we still did it.”
Rhyland shakes his head with severe annoyance. “Don’t drag me into this shit.” He locks gazes with me. “Hadley, I had nothing to do with the flyers, and I hope you won’t hold it against me.”
“I didn’t either,” Jaxon chimes in, reclining against the side of the SUV.
Okay, why do these two seem sweet. It has to be an act, right?
Alex rolls his eyes while Blaise pinches the brim of his nose. I take their silence as guilty admittance, minus the guilt.
“I don’t really care which one of you did it,” I declare. “I just want all of you to leave me and my sisters alone.” I pause, hoping to God that Scarlett wasn’t screwing around with me when she told me about the duel thing. “So, I’m declaring a drag racing duel.”
“What the hell is that?” Londyn mumbles from behind me.
“I have no idea,” Bailey whispers. “But it sounds intriguing.”
Blaise’s hand falls to his side, his eyes sparkling with a hint of surprise. “How did you find out about that?”
“Because I’m pretty sure no one talked to you the entire day,” Alex adds, staring me down hard.
“Now, why would I out my only friend here?” I smile as their puzzlement grows. “So, do you accept the challenge or not?”
Blaise observes me cautiously. “Which one of us are you challenging?”
I offer him the same smirk he’s thrown at me time and time again. “Why you, of course,sweetheart.” While kicking Alex’s ass in a race does sound appealing, Blaise has pissed me off more.
His intense gaze bores into me, the corners of his lips twitching as he leans closer. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” he whispers softly. “You should back out now before you get in too deep.”