Chapter 22 Kreed
KREED
The afternoon air carried the traces of spring, damp earth mixed faintly with exhaust from the buses idling in the circular drive in front of the school.
Maddox had obviously gotten my text, and now Maddox, Mason, Nash, and I formed a loose semicircle near Jesse’s beat-up truck at the edge of the school property, far enough from the main entrance that our conversation wouldn’t be overheard but close enough that we could see anyone approaching.
Jesse leaned awkwardly against his truck’s rusted tailgate, hands shoved deep in his pockets, looking uncertain about whether coming to Public had been a good idea.
It definitely wasn’t, but perhaps I could use this in my favor.
An idea had started to form while he’d been talking to my girl, who was eyeing us with displeasure.
I took it she didn’t exactly approve of us ganging up on Jesse.
Mason grinned at Jesse. “Long time no see,” he greeted sarcastically.
“So we’re just trusting him now? Just like that? He’s Rusty’s kid.” Maddox pointed out the obvious, his eyes never leaving Jesse’s face.
I didn’t know how much they had overheard, but I assumed it was enough. “We don’t trust no one,” I replied, my confidence over the situation skyrocketing. We learned early only to trust each other.
“What’s going on?” Kaylor demanded as Poppy huffed at Nash’s side, crossing her arms.
“Jesse is giving us an opportunity we can’t pass up.” I slapped him chummily on the back as if we were old friends.
“I came to warn Bubb—Kaylor,” he corrected, seeing the slight tilt of my head.
Maddox rocked back on his heels. “We aren’t giving you a choice. You’re the only person positioned close enough to Rusty to feed us the information we need. The next time you see your old man, you text me the exact location.”
Kaylor’s head whipped from me to Jesse. “You don’t have to do that. I would never put you in the position to be forced to choose between your dad and me.”
“You might not, little raven,” I said, stepping just slightly closer, “but I will.”
“Kreed,” she hissed.
Nash expelled breath, his hand tearing through his hair.
“It’s still risky as hell. He could double-cross us.
Rusty’s not exactly known for being the forgiving type.
If something goes wrong, and I’m not saying it will, and he finds out his son’s playing informant, Jesse here becomes a cautionary tale. ”
“Not my problem,” I said with a shrug that wasn’t nearly as indifferent as it sounded.
Kaylor poked me in the chest. “It might not be your problem, but I’m not sacrificing anyone else. I can’t ask him to do this.”
“Jesse?” I raised a brow, throwing the ball in his court, yet the undertone was clear…he would do this, or there would be consequences.
“Oh, like you’re giving him a choice,” Poppy piped up, putting her nose in Crew business where it didn’t belong.
“He rarely does.” Jesse gave a humorless snort that made him wince and press a hand briefly to his bruised ribs. “If I do this, I become an accomplice. How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you won’t try to take me down with him?”
I studied him carefully. “You don’t.”
He huffed. “You’re not giving me warm and fuzzy feelings about helping you.”
“We’re not friends. I don’t like you, but I do believe you care about Kaylor’s well-being.
For that, I’m willing to let you prove to her that you’re not a monster.
” I leaned in, dropping my voice so only he could hear.
“But know this, you’ll give me what I want one way or the other.
It’s up to you how…difficult you want this to be. ”
He ran the pad of his thumb over a cut at the corner of his mouth that I’d given him. “Fine,” he conceded. “A text, but it will be a burner phone. I don’t want anything traced back to me.”
Mason clasped him on the shoulder. “Finally, you’re thinking like a crew. Let’s see if you can deliver.”
“I don’t like this,” Kaylor said, voice cracking just slightly. “Kreed, if Rusty gets wind of this, if he even suspects Jesse might betray him…”
“You’re scared,” Jesse said gently, surprising everyone. “Makes sense. But don’t worry about me.”
Kaylor blinked at him. “That’s not—”
“Watch your back, Bubbles,” he said softer as he straightened his shoulders.
I stepped into his line of sight, my arm brushing hers. “I’ve got her back.”
His mouth twitched, not quite a smile, not quite a warning. “Oh, I’m betting you do.”
It was just past midnight when I heard my door creak open. I wasn’t sure after the whole interaction with Jesse if she would show up. It had been nearly a week since Kaylor and I had slept in the same bed, and every day apart killed me a little more inside.
I didn’t have the strength to stay away from her, but I was trying to do the “nice guy” thing by giving her what she asked for.
She had been uncomfortable being back in this house.
I got that, but having her across the hall tortured my mind, body, and soul.
We both left our doors open at night, and when the twins finally settled down and the house went quiet, I could hear the soft rustling of her sheets as she tried to get comfortable.
She spent a good hour or two tossing and turning.
And there had been no nightmares…not yet.
At least not the ones that had her thrashing, screaming, and crying in her sleep.
She padded across the floor wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt, mine, I realized with something primitive echoing in my chest. It hung low enough to graze the tops of her thighs.
Her light hair was pulled back into a messy knot.
In the dark, I watched the line of her collarbone, the slope of her shoulder, and the way the shirt rode up as she leaned over the foot of the bed.
She was looking to see if I was asleep, if my eyes were closed. Now that she was here, I wasn’t going to give her the chance to leave. My hand darted out, grabbing her wrist and yanking her onto the bed so she tumbled deliciously onto me.
A little squeak of surprise left her before she lifted her head, shoving strands of hair out of her face. “I had a bad dream,” she whispered, settling into the bed beside me. She rested her hand on my chest while using the other to prop her head up and glance down at me, our faces close.
I glided my hand up her leg, pulling it to rest over mine. “Did you?”
Her lips morphed into a frown. “Yeah. I wasn’t in your bed.”
“You weren’t in my bed?” I repeated, my brows lifting.
A smile touched her mouth. “It was the worst dream.”
I rolled toward her and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her flush against my body.
She always fit so damn perfectly into me.
Her skin was warm and silky soft. I tugged her closer, and she sighed.
“I’ve had that same nightmare for a week,” I admitted, my cheek pressing to the soft crown of her hair.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?
” She had been less than thrilled after Jesse left and we’d gone back to class.
“No, I’m definitely pissed,” she retorted, her gaze shifting to my lips. “But I missed you more. And I want a night of good sleep.”
My arms squeezed tighter around her at hearing her say she missed me. Truth be told, I wanted to hear more than that. I wanted to hear her tell me she loved me again. Desperately. My fingers tiptoed down her spine. “Are you sure you want to sleep?”
“Tempting,” she said with a yawn, nuzzling deeper into me. “But I just really want you to hold me before I forget I’m not talking to you.”
“We don’t have to talk, and I can definitely make you forget.” My lips brushed her temple.
Her fingers found the fabric of my shirt at my side, kneading it restlessly. “You shouldn’t be this irresistible.”
“I had the same thought when I first saw you,” I said, letting my mouth skate along the slope of her neck. Goose bumps rose under my lips. “Then I accepted that not everything has to make sense.”
She hummed, torn between amusement and exasperation. “I can’t decide if I should be offended.”
My mouth found the sensitive spot beneath her ear. “Most definitely not, little raven. There hasn’t been a girl before you I wanted in my bed night after night.” My hand splayed across her stomach, drawing her back into me as my voice dropped. “You should be flattered.”
“And what about after me?”
“There’s only you.” It was the closest I’d ever come to saying those three little words I’d avoided since my mother died.
Her breath hitched, her back arching just enough to press harder against me. It was the closest I’d come to saying the thing I’d sworn I’d never let myself feel again. And she knew it.
“If you keep saying shit like that,” she whispered, tilting her head to kiss the corner of my jaw, “neither of us is going to get any sleep.”
“Perfect,” I murmured, flipping her onto her back with a controlled roll of my hips. “My plan is working.”
I caught her mouth in a kiss, stealing whatever distance she’d thought she could keep between us.
Her lips parted instantly, hungry, familiar, and I swallowed her small sound of surrender.
Her fingers threaded in my hair, tugging, pulling me closer, while my palm slid beneath her shirt, mapping warm skin I couldn’t get enough of.
She tasted like mint and something sweeter I couldn’t name.
“Kreed,” she murmured between kisses, breath fanning against my lips, “do you really think this is the best idea?”
“Us having sex?” I dragged my mouth along her jaw, nipping lightly. “It’s the best idea I’ve had all day. I can’t stop thinking of you even when I want to. So yes, this is a fucking great idea.”
She rolled her eyes though her fingers toyed with my hair. “Cute, but I meant involving Jesse.”
I let my forehead drop to her collarbone with a groan.
“Why are we talking about him when I’m kissing you?
” The last thing I wanted to do was dredge up this again.
She didn’t like using Jesse, and I couldn’t see an alternative.
It was a subject we wouldn’t agree on, and fighting with her was the last thing I wanted when my body was buzzing to possess hers.
“Are you jealous?” she teased, brushing her thumb over my cheekbone.
“I’m jealous of anyone before me,” I confessed, lifting my head enough to meet her gaze. “Anyone who knew your laugh before I did. Anyone who touched you. Kissed you.”
Her expression softened, the teasing slipping away. “You don’t have any reason to be jealous, you know. Turns out I have a very specific type. And there’s only one of him.”
My heart dropped and climbed into my throat at the same time. “Do you trust Jesse?” I asked before I could stop myself.
She stilled. “I used to.”
My jaw flexed. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” Her voice was steady this time, carving straight through the worry lodged in my chest.
“There’s your answer, little raven. Rusty hurt you. He took you from me. I need to finish this for both our sakes as quickly as possible.”
She put her teeth on her bottom lip as she contemplated, and I ran my thumb just under her lip, unable to stop from being pulled in by her pout.
“Of course, you don’t have to do this,” I told her.
“If you’re having doubts, you can go to the police in the morning.
They’ll get him eventually because he can only hide for so long, but the longer you stay silent, the braver he becomes.
” This route went against my desire to destroy Rusty, was far less satisfying, and wouldn’t give my hands the craving to hurt him, but it was less messy and safer for her.
She turned so her forehead rested against the line of my jaw. “Do you think I should go to the police?”
“I know what I can live with,” I said. “I know what I can sleep with at night. It’s you I’m worried about. This isn’t something you can forget. It stays with you. But I think you know that already with what happened with your parents. Let me handle Rusty. You’ve been through enough.”
Her gaze lifted. “I need to see it done with my own eyes. I think it’s the only way my brain will register that this nightmare is over. It’s the only way I can move on.”
Her need to witness it was a feeling I understood. The world didn’t stop until the monster was standing in front of you with no mask left to hide behind. But there were things I couldn’t bear for her to see.
I tucked her against me. My biggest fear when this was over was she wouldn’t look at me the same. She wouldn’t love me.
Could I live with that?
In theory, my head told me yes if it meant she was finally able to breathe, finally able to live her life without looking over her shoulder, finally safe.
But it was all a lie. I’d never be able to let her go. In a way, I was like Rusty. Neither of us could release her.
The difference…I was fucking determined to win.