Chapter 12
River
It’s been almost a month now that I’ve been here with them. A few weeks since Royal has touched me.
“Are you just going to go somewhere?” Jeremy asks me as we all sit around smoking a joint.
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t decided,” I tell him as I inhale and then blow smoke into the air.
“Where do you want to go?” he asks. I shrug. I haven’t thought about it much since I’ve been here. Royal said he wasn’t going to make me leave, and he hasn’t. So I didn’t.
“What about you? I told you he wasn’t going to pay,” I laugh a little.
“No shit. You weren’t joking about that,” Jeremy laughs this time. “How many times did you try it before?”
“A few. He almost paid, but then he recognized where I was and figured it out. My fuck up,” I tell them.
“Sounds stupid,” Royal mumbles.
“Probably was,” I add. Royal snatches the joint from my hand, and I watch as he brings it to his lips, taking a long pull.
“What’s your problem?” Jeremy asks, looking over at him. I see Royal narrow his eyes at his friend, but doesn’t say anything, and it makes me wonder if I’m the issue. Maybe he doesn’t want me around anymore. Maybe he’s tired of me tagging along to his fights.
“I should probably go,” I blurt, waiting for one of them to stop me.
“You don’t have to. I mean, your life sounds just as shitty as ours,” Jeremy tells me. I don’t want to hear that from him, though. I wanted to hear it from Royal, but when I look over, he isn’t even looking in my direction.
“Gotta piss,” he grumbles before shoving himself off the floor and heading for the bathroom. I glance at Jeremy, but he just smirks at me.
“If you want to get in with Royal, just get in his face. Make him see you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know that’s what you’re after. Royal is complicated.
He has his own way of thinking and doing things.
You want him to see you, get in his face.
” I nod my head, shoving to my feet before stalking toward the bathroom.
I don’t bother with knocking and shove the door open while he’s standing there pissing.
“Want something?” he asks when my eyes linger on his cock a little longer than I should.
“I’m tired of this shit. Why are you pulling away from me?” I ask him. He finishes and washes his hands before turning to look at me.
“When were we close?”
“When you’d kiss me. When you’d touch me,” I snap at him.
“Oh. Did you think that meant something?” he asks, sounding a little condescending.
“Didn’t it?” Now he moves. Stepping into my space and crowding me. He raises his hand and rests it on the doorframe above my head as he drops his head to look me in the eye.
“What did you think it meant?”
“Don’t play fucking games with me, Royal.”
“I do like a good game.”
“Well, you’re not doing it with me. You can’t just act like that and pull away.”
“I can do whatever I want, River.”
“No, you can’t. I’m not a fucking toy!” I yell at him. He slowly begins to nod his head, a look of understanding in his eyes.
“I like you like this,” he says before leaning in closer. “All hot and fucking bothered by me. Mouthy.”
“You haven’t seen shit yet,” I snap before pulling back and turning to walk away. Royal doesn’t let me get that far, grabbing my wrist and jerking me back toward him.
“Where are you going?”
“Away from you.”
“I don’t think so. You want something, you go for it, River. Never, and I mean never, let anyone stand in your way.” He leans down and sinks his teeth into my lip before pulling back and walking past me. I don’t know what he meant by that. I don’t know if he meant going after him or not.
I lick my lip before turning and walking back over to where he sat down with Jeremy. I find my spot on the floor and drop down too, snatching the joint out of Jeremy’s hand. He can’t do anything but laugh at me.
“So there’s a big party coming up in a few weeks. You in?” Jeremy asks, looking at me. I glance at Royal before nodding my head.
“I’m in.”
“It’ll be fun. We just have to get through the next few weeks and a few more fights,” he says.
“I can handle that part,” Royal chimes in now.
“I know you can. Good money riding on it, too,” he adds.
“No shit. And I plan on bringing it home.”
“Where does all your money go? From what I saw, you make pretty good.” That might not have been the right question to ask him. I see the way his eyes flash with darkness.
“None of your fucking business,” he growls at me.
“I’m a part of this now.” Royal laughs darkly, shaking his head.
“You think you’re a part of this now,” he says.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re free to leave anytime. We’re not holding you here. You can make your own way,” Royal tells me. I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him.
“I’m not fucking going anywhere.”