13. Kaylor
13
KAYLOR
T he late-afternoon sun hung low in the sky as I stomped along the side of the road, clutching my bag tightly. My feet ached just thinking about the long walk I still had ahead. I got about five minutes down the road when I realized I didn’t know the Corvos’ address to look up directions on my phone.
“Shit.”
Glancing around, I saw nothing looked familiar from this morning. I thought I was going in the generally right direction, but at some point, I had to turn off this road, and the problem lay in that I didn’t know which direction to take.
Assholes.
It was fine. I wasn’t a lost cause yet. Not yet. I should have called Carson or Kenny after bolting from the locker room, but I’d been so rattled and pissed off.
It wasn’t too late. Even if I called them, I still didn’t know how to get home, but there was one person in my contacts who might.
Poppy.
I flipped through my list of names until I came across hers and opened a new text message. My fingers typed over the keys as the distant hum of a car approached from behind me. I didn’t think anything of it. This road had a fair amount of traffic because of the school, despite it being mostly residential.
I had my message typed and ready to send when the car slid to a stop off the side of the road in front of me, spitting gravel from the tires.
My eyes lifted, locking onto the familiar black SUV idling just ahead. The tinted windows were pitch-black, concealing whoever sat inside, but I didn’t need to see through them. I already knew.
A slow, uneasy weight settled in my stomach as the window slid down with a quiet whirr. “Get in,” Kreed demanded, most of his face shrouded in shadows except for the tiny scars.
My teeth clenched as I halted. “No. I’ll walk if it’s all the same.”
A muscle feathered in his jaw. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“Anywhere you’re not.”
His fingers drummed impatiently against the steering wheel. “Get in, or so help me?—”
“What?” I interrupted. “Are you afraid I’ll tell your father? Don’t worry. I’m not a fucking rat like someone I know.”
His lips twitched at the obvious dig from when he squealed on me for sneaking out. “Next time you want to run, move your ass faster and you wouldn’t get caught.”
I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Noted.” I started walking again, hoping he would leave. I had no such luck as the tires crunched on the gravel beside me.
“Are you going to make me haul your ass off the side of the road into this car?” he threatened like he was seconds away from tossing the SUV into park and dragging me inside himself.
I cocked a brow. “Not unless you want me to start screaming.”
His expression shifted—something smug sliding into place. “Fine. Have it your way, but the twins are behind me. Who knows what they’ll do.”
My stomach tightened. I glanced over my shoulder, the distant gleam of headlights flickering like a predator’s eyes in the dark.
Probably run me off the road.
A slow shiver crawled up my spine. I inhaled sharply, tightening my grip on my bag.
Kreed tilted his head, watching me with satisfaction.
A curse breezed through my lips. With a frustrated sigh, I yanked open the door and climbed in, slamming it behind me. “Don’t expect me to thank you.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, little raven,” he retorted, maneuvering the car back onto the road.
We rode in silence, my preferred method with Kreed. It gave me less of a chance to say something stupid. Except the longer we went without saying anything, the heavier the awkwardness grew.
After a few minutes, he finally spoke. “It would be best if you weren’t staying at the house.”
Best for who? Me? Or him? His brothers? “I can’t decide if you’re warning me away or threatening me.”
“Me neither,” he admitted. “I don’t think you understand the seriousness of your situation. Or the problems you bring.” A strand of damp hair fell over his forehead. He had recently showered, the scent of his soap clinging to his skin.
“Tell me, then.” If I couldn’t get answers from Donovan, maybe I could get something from his son.
“I’m telling you to find another family to leech off of.”
I flinched. I knew Kreed didn’t like me, but I didn’t understand what I did to earn such harsh disdain. Was it just because I moved in and disrupted his life? “You don’t think I tried? You think I want to be living with complete strangers? But until I’m eighteen this summer, I don’t have a freaking choice. We both have to deal with it. I’ll stay out of your way. You stay out of mine. Will that make you happy?”
“Hardly. It doesn’t solve my problem in the slightest.”
I studied his profile, my frustration giving way to confusion. “I don’t get you. If you hate me so much, why offer me a ride home after school? Just so you could tell me to get out of your house?”
“I have my reasons. And yeah, that’s one of them.”
“And I don’t suppose you feel like sharing the others with me?”
The car stopped in front of the house, and he faced me, giving me the full brunt of his icy expression. “I don’t.”
“Kreed—”
He moved so fucking fast. One second, he was glaring at me, and the next, he leaned over the seat, invading my personal space. He was so damn close that the tip of his nose nearly brushed mine. “Don’t.” The roughness of his voice scratched over my cheek.
I swallowed. “Don’t what?” I had no fucking clue what I did.
“Don’t say my name.” Behind those starlight pools of ice, I spotted something that unfurled a curl of heat in my belly.
Was he kidding? “What should I call you then? Jackass? Douchebag? Bastard? Motherfucker? Scumbucket? Take your pick, Kreed .” I intentionally elongated his name defiantly, my chin lifting as a bolt of fury sizzled through me.
There were always consequences to your actions, and I was about to find out what mine were.
He took possession of my lips fast and hard, giving me no time to think, to comprehend what the hell was happening. It was like my mind couldn’t believe Kreed was kissing me. Was he? Should I be kissing him back? Did I want to kiss him?
My lips made the decision for me.
Or maybe Kreed gave me no other choice but to kiss him.
I couldn’t say.
I was completely mindless the second I parted my lips and invited him in.
His tongue immediately brushed against mine. Kreed kissed with unbelievable skill. I forgot all about my injured arm and my anger at him.
“Say it again and see what happens next, little raven,” he murmured, his fingers curling around a wild strand of my hair and tugging, not gently either. The force of it made my neck tilt back slightly.
Butterflies stirred in my stomach. The fucked-up thing was I actually considered it. What would it be like to kiss him again? Would my mouth continue to tingle? Would his tongue slip between my lips again? Would I kiss him back? Would he touch me?
When I didn’t immediately move away or say something sharp, Kreed sucked in a breath as he realized I was actually contemplating saying his name again just so he would kiss me. Again.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I was torn between fear and fury. Fear of how that kiss made me feel and furious over how he treated me, how he crossed a line between us, confusing me more than I already was. The last thing I needed was some guy messing with my emotions. I was already a wreck inside.
“I never asked you to kiss me. Don’t do it again without my permission,” I said, and then I left him inside the SUV to ponder my warning.
If there was one thing I’d learned over the last few weeks, it was that life could be altered in a split second. I couldn’t shake the feeling that what happened in the car between Kreed and me was another of those life-changing moments. I didn’t know what it meant, but it couldn’t be good.
The shadows of the room loomed large as I stared at the ceiling, my heart thumping despite the stillness around me. I willed my body to settle, to sleep, yet my mind still betrayed me. The darkness, once a refuge for my thoughts, now felt suffocating, a breeding ground for memories I wished I could forget. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in that alley—the sound of gunfire, the cold rain mingling with blood, my parents’ lifeless bodies crumbling to the ground.
With a frustrated groan, I threw back the covers and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Sleep was a lost cause. I needed something—anything—to dull the edges of my mind.
God, I could use a drink.
After the day I had, I deserved a drink, and I wasn’t talking about a warm glass of milk or a mug of hot cocoa. Although a cup of spiked hot chocolate did sound nice. And a warm bubble bath. I could get behind that kind of night instead of the one I was certain waited for me.
My sleep lately had been restless, filled with nightmares I wished to escape. One night, I wanted rest without interruption, without waking in a cold sweat, without that panicked feeling racing in my chest, without gasping for air, without the echoing of gunshots jolting me out of bed, without the metallic scent of blood in my nose, without the memory of my parents dying.
Padding softly across the room, I slipped into the hallway and down the staircase, careful to avoid any creaks in the wooden floors. The house was eerily quiet, the kind of silence that felt alive, pressing against my skin as I moved.
I sought out the ornate liquor cabinet I’d spotted during my canvas of the house in the corner of the living room. Hesitating briefly, my hand hovered over the latch before opening it. Bottles of amber and clear liquid lined the shelves, their labels whispering promises of oblivion.
I wasn’t much of a drinker, just at parties, holidays, or sleepovers occasionally at Kenny’s house when she snuck a bottle up to her room, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And I was damn desperate.
Grabbing a bottle of whiskey, I tucked it under my arm and turned to make my way back to my room.
“You going to share, or are you planning on drinking that whole thing yourself?”
I froze, that instantaneous fear of being caught red-handed leaping into my throat. Slowly, I turned to find Maddox leaning casually against the doorway, his arms crossed and a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. His dark hair was messy, and his shirt hung loosely over his broad shoulders, giving him an air of careless authority.
“I-I was just…” I stammered, clutching the bottle tighter. This wasn’t the first time my once-childhood speech impairment had reared its head after so many years. I’d worked damn hard as a kid with my therapist to speak without stuttering. To do so now again, in front of Maddox and earlier with Kreed, felt like a setback. I couldn’t figure out what it was about them that made me so tongue-tied.
I had to get a grip.
“Relax,” Maddox said, pushing off the door frame and stepping closer. “You read my mind, actually. Hand it over.”
He plucked the bottle from my grasp before I could protest, twisting off the cap with practiced ease. He took a long swig, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, then exhaled sharply.
“Not bad,” he said, holding the bottle out to me.
I hesitated, my lips pressing into a thin line. I wasn’t sure what unnerved me more—getting caught or the fact that Maddox seemed completely unbothered by it.
I hadn’t planned to share, but if I had to choose between drinking with Maddox and having him tell his father, getting him drunk might be the play here, especially if he didn’t remember catching me with the bottle. Then again, Maddox didn’t strike me as someone who got wasted off a single drink like me.
I’d be the one inebriated.
“Go on,” he said, tilting his head. “I don’t bite. Unless you’re into it.”
I rolled my eyes but took the bottle, bringing it to my lips. The whiskey burned my throat and sent warmth spreading through my chest. I coughed slightly, earning a low chuckle from Maddox.
“Lightweight.” He shook his head. “Don’t be a pussy.”
I glared at him, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “You’re one to talk. Sneaking around in the middle of the night like some brooding creep.”
Maddox smirked, taking the whiskey back from me. “Something tells me you might be into creeps. Ever date your stalker? A girl like you probably had plenty of admirers.” He moved through the dark room, dropping onto a couch.
I shouldn’t follow. I should go up to my room, but without the booze, the nightmares would terrorize my dreams.
In my pajamas, I went to the other side of the couch, keeping a cushion of space between us. “Yeah, but none of them were up to my standards.”
“You’re not as prissy as you come across, are you, menace?” He put his hand on my bare knee, moving it up to my thigh.
My hand slapped his away before he could go any higher. “Touch me again, and I promise, you’ll lose more than your fingers.”
He chuckled, amused by my threat. “I thought you were fun.”
“I am. I’m just not into drunk jocks.”
We passed the bottle back and forth in silence, the warmth of the alcohol slowly dulling the edges of my anxiety. Maddox leaned against the back of the couch, watching me with an intensity that made me squirm.
“What’s your deal, anyway?” he asked suddenly, his fingers capturing a lock of my hair.
How were his arms so long? They stretched across the back of the couch easily, and the space I tried to keep between us seemed pointless now. I shrugged, staring down at the swirling liquid in the bottle. “What’s yours? Are you really in the mafia?”
Maddox laughed, a sound that was equal parts amusement and disbelief. “The mafia? Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“So, you’re not part of some Raven Crew?” I pushed, wishing I had turned a lamp on. An air of wickedness hovered in the air as I sat in the dark with him.
He shook his head. “One day at school and you think you know anything about me.”
The silence stretched again, heavier this time. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze as he tightened the twine of my hair around his finger to the point of almost pain.
“ I know I probably shouldn’t be alone with you,” I said, taking the bottle from him.
“Smart,” Maddox said, quieter now. “And yet here we are.”
Tipping the glass neck back, I pulled the whiskey in and swallowed. “You’re not going to get in trouble by the big bad older brother for talking to me?”
The corner of his lips twitched in a way that reminded me scarily of Mason. “I’m assuming you’re referring to Kreed? He’s kind of like the wolf from Red Riding Hood .”
I didn’t mean to smile. My lips turned up on their own.
For a moment, an emotion I didn’t want to see flickered across Maddox’s face—sympathy, maybe, or regret. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by his usual smug grin. “You have a killer smile, menace.” His fingers released my hair as he shook his head. “Trouble. You are trouble. And I’m going to take my ass to bed before I do something stupid.” He lifted the half-empty bottle of whiskey out of my hand. “I’ll be taking this with me. You’ve had enough.”
I snorted. “How would you know what I can and can’t handle?” Snatching the liquor back, I took a long, healthy drink, more than I should have, and it went straight to my head.
Maddox chuckled. “You’re going to regret that tomorrow.”
“Probably. But life is full of regrets.”
“Just don’t expect any favors,” he said, finishing off the last of the whiskey and setting the empty bottle on the table. “You’re on your own, menace.”
With that, he pushed off the couch and disappeared into the shadows, leaving me alone in the dark room, the taste of whiskey still burning on my tongue.
I didn’t move off the couch, just sitting there with the shadows, staring. The blackness stretching around the room seemed to be closing in on me, and the panicking feeling I’d been trying to escape returned twofold. I couldn’t fucking breathe.
I swore I could see a man wearing a mask in the corner. Like he’d come back to finish the job.
It was too damn dark in here, and the pressure bearing down on my chest made me feel like I was drowning. Perhaps I should try sleeping with the light on, like I’d done as a kid. Then my mind wouldn’t associate the darkness with that night.
After I flipped on the side table lamp, a soft glow chased away some of the shadows. Not all of them, but enough for the air to start moving freely in my lungs again…to see there wasn’t anyone hovering in the corner. Just my imagination playing tricks on me.
I’d drunk too much with Maddox.
That was where I’d gone wrong, trying to hang with someone like him.
Bad, bad move.
What was it about these boys that brought out the worst in me? They had this ability to corrupt me.
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
One moment, I was staring at the empty whiskey bottle Maddox left behind, my thoughts heavy and my body heavier, and the next, I was adrift in a restless haze. The darkness wrapped around me, but it wasn’t peaceful. It was strangling. Memories clawed at my mind—flashes of rain, gunshots, and the sound of my own scream.
The world was shaking. The ground trembling. An earthquake? Elmwood wasn’t prone to them, but we’d been known over the last few decades to get the occasional shifting of tectonic plates underground.
Regardless of the annoying movement, I didn’t want to wake up and snuggled deeper into the soft support underneath me.
The bed was so warm and smelled so good like the ocean and the woods had collided, where the salty breeze mingled with lush greenery cedar, a scent I found so damn comforting.
A throat cleared. “Kaylor,” someone with a familiar voice coaxed.
God, why does he have to invade my dreams? Isn’t it enough that I think about him when I’m awake?
“Wake up, little raven.”
Kreed.
The shaking happened again, but I was slightly more aware of my entire body being jostled.
What the hell?
“Kreed,” I whispered, his name breathy and nearly silent on my lips.
“What did I tell you would happen if you said my name like that?”
I was suddenly wide-awake, my eyes flying open, half afraid he might kiss me. As my vision focused, I realized the “earthquake” wasn’t the couch at all—it was Kreed.
He sat underneath me, his arms wrapped around my waist as I lay draped awkwardly across his lap. His hand rested on my back, his fingers tapping absently against the fabric of my shirt as if trying to calm me—or himself.
Why am I in his lap? Why is he holding me?
Is that…?
No, that can’t be what I think it is, pressing against my ass.
Holy. Shit. He’s hard. Like really hard.
“What—” My voice cracked, and I pushed against his chest to sit up. “What the hell are you doing?”
He groaned as my backside unintentionally rubbed against him. “You were crying in your sleep,” he said gruffly.
I stared at him. I should definitely get off his lap. Right? Yet I didn’t move.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
It was difficult to get a coherent thought into my brain. “And you thought it would be a good idea to pull me into your lap?”
He wore gray sweats that left nothing to the imagination and a white T-shirt. “Don’t flatter yourself, little raven. That was all you. You crawled into my lap. I just stopped you from falling on your ass. Again .”
I frowned, swiping at my wet cheeks, confused to find tears streaking my face. I’d been crying in my sleep, another recent development from trauma. The realization that he’d seen me like that, vulnerable and broken, was almost worse than the nightmares themselves. It made me beyond bitchy. “Why are you always fishing for gratitude?”
Kreed raised an eyebrow, his expression unrepenting. “Is being the damsel in distress your style? How do I know the whole thing wasn’t a bit? Who cries in their sleep? Maybe you were trying to get close to me. You wouldn’t be the first girl to try something so low.”
I blinked, unable to believe the number of insults he dished out at me in one go. I didn’t even know which to address first. But if I was going to think clearly, I needed space.
A lot of it.
Like I needed to be in a completely different room where his scent couldn’t assault my common sense.
I scrambled off him, sinking into the rumpled couch. “You caught me,” I shot back, my hands going up in the air like I was a criminal under arrest. “I planned this whole elaborate scheme just so I could wind up on top of you with your dick poking me.” My voice dripped with sarcasm.
Kreed lifted his brows. “Poking?”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, it was.”
His smirk sharpened, a glint of amusement flickering in his dark gaze. “Let me take a stab in the dark; you’re a virgin.”
I refused to let him embarrass me, and I convinced myself that the warmth flooding my cheeks was annoyance. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m not. Hate to disappoint your virgin fantasies.”
His smirk faded, replaced by a shuttered gaze. “You’re not my type.”
I scoffed. “Same. I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man alive.” Why were we arguing about sex? How did we get here? Everything Kreed said somehow rattled me. It was like he tried to provoke me on purpose.
“Glad we cleared that up.” His fingers raked through his dark hair while I did my best not to look at his biceps or stare at the tattoos covering his arm.
But I wanted to stare.
I exhaled, trying to shake off the heat still clinging to my skin. “What are you doing up at this time?”
“Going for a run.” He gestured toward the door. “I was about to walk out the door when I heard you.”
My brow furrowed. “You run?”
“Why is that so hard to believe?”
I tilted my head, taking him in. His lean, sculpted frame, the sharp lines of his arms, the controlled strength in his posture. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe it. It just…wasn’t what I expected. “It isn’t, I guess.” I hesitated before admitting, “I just hadn’t pegged you as a runner.”
A slow smirk curled his lips. “What did you peg me as then?” His voice was laced with curiosity, his gaze steady, waiting.
I swallowed, my heart giving an irritating little kick. “The truth?”
Kreed folded his arms over his chest, nodding once.
I held his gaze. “I’m still figuring you out.”
Something flickered in his eyes. A challenge. A dare. “Prepare to be dumbfounded. I’m a mystery even to my family.”
My breath hitched, my stomach coiling in ways I didn’t like. “Why do I get the feeling you like it that way?”
He grinned. Like really smiled, and something happened inside. A stirring. A fluttering. A feeling I did not want.
Holy. Shit.
If that’s what Kreed looked like when he smiled, I should be glad he rarely did. My heart wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“We leave for school at seven. If you’re not in the car before then, you’re walking.” His gaze glanced over me, taking in my skimpy pajama set.
Under his scrutiny, I shivered, and my nipples hardened. “So you can ditch me on the side of the road again. I’d rather save myself the embarrassment,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Suit yourself.” Kreed tilted his head, studying me with a look that made me flush. He was close enough that I could see the flecks of stars in his eyes and how his jaw tensed when he was thinking too hard.
I hated that he noticed me like this. Hated even more that a small part of me felt relieved it had been Kreed who woke me and not anyone else in the house. Well, except for maybe Amelia. She would have been preferable to any Corvo.
“Next time you want to drown yourself in whiskey and pass out on the couch, maybe remember you’re not living in your perfect mansion where you can traipse around in next to nothing. Put some damn clothes on.”
Kreed made me want to strangle him. “Maddox didn’t seem to mind last night,” I snapped as he stood. Why did he always make me want to say the stupidest shit? I couldn’t control what came out of my mouth when I was near him.
He sneered frigidly. “He wouldn’t.” Then Kreed walked away, leaving me feeling like I hadn’t exactly won the conversation, which irked me to no end.
Why was he always around at the weirdest hours? Did he ever sleep?
On a huff, I collapsed against the couch. I couldn’t believe I’d felt Kreed’s dick.
WTF.