Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RORY
“You’re going to be late for school,” Slash mumbled from behind me, and I groaned.
“Five more minutes?”
“No,” he chuckled, the sound sinful. “Ty made you coffee, and there’s breakfast on the table.”
“Who made breakfast?” I asked as I smelled the bacon.
“Me, obviously. C’mon.” He pulled the blanket off me and got to his feet, dragging me towards the edge of the bed to lift me. My arms wrapped around his neck, and I let him carry me downstairs to the kitchen, where he sat on the chair and kept me on his lap.
“Morning, babe,” Tyler grinned, placing my coffee in front of me and stealing a quick kiss.
At least his breath smelled like mint, not whiskey today.
I studied him as I ate, listening to him and Slash talk about some of the fights at the Shed that were coming up, and I bit back my comment about wanting to fight too, knowing it wasn’t going to be allowed.
Tyler had my back though, bringing it up for me.
“Why don’t you just let Rory fight? She’d rake in the money.”
“One, why are you asking? You hate her fighting in the cage. And two, Skeet’s announced multiple times that she’s done, so he’s going to look stupid if he keeps putting her back on the schedule.”
“If I’m not fighting for the Psychos, I’ll find another club or something. You know that, right?” I stated around a mouthful of bacon, not wanting to start a fight so early in the day, but needing him to know how serious I was.
“Most fight clubs are bad news, Donovan,” he warned.
“Like yours aren’t?”
“Ours are fair fights. Those underground ones you’d find are run differently. No rules, weapons, all that kind of shit. You’re a good fighter, I won’t argue with you on that, but it’s nothing like our cage fights.”
“People fight to the death in your cage sometimes, so don’t give me that bullshit. I can’t just fight for another crew, so what other option do I have?” I huffed with annoyance, taking a sip of coffee as I thought about it.
“Most crews run their fights like the underground anyway.”
“The Devils?” I asked without really thinking it through, his fingers sliding into my hair to gently ease me back, making sure he didn’t spill my coffee.
“Don’t even think about it. Your little friendship with Rivera isn’t as friendly as you think it is. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be. He just ambushed you and dragged you out of Diesel’s truck, remember?”
I glared at him as Tyler frowned at us, and Slash didn’t even look sorry for opening his stupid mouth.
“What are you guys talking about?” Tyler asked slowly.
“Nothing,” I bit out, but Slash scoffed.
“What’s one more secret between us? Donovan’s buddied up with Hunter and Marco over Max.”
“What?” Tyler snapped, giving me a dirty look. “Does Skeet know?”
“Obviously not since everyone’s alive,” Slash drawled.
“Rory, you’re playing with fire,” Tyler said with concern, flicking his gaze between us. “Slash, you're okay with this?”
“No,” Slash grunted. “The Devils are hunting Max for a money debt. I’m trying to help Rory find the fucker so we can hand him over to them and end whatever bullshit this is. I don’t like the way he looks at her, and the sooner he gets Max and gets out of our town, the better.”
“How does he look at her?”
“Like she’s his next piece of entertainment. Do you know what will happen if Skeet finds out they’ve been talking? A literal war on our doorstep. Skeet will lose his goddamn mind. Hunter’s one thing, but Marco? A girl got between them before, and that girl’s dead because of it.”
That was news to me, and I glanced back at him with surprise. “She’s dead? Why?”
He eyed me for a moment before sighing, his voice low. “Because Skeet snapped and killed her when he walked in on her and Marco.”
“I have a feeling you’re not supposed to be telling us this.”
“There’s a lot of things I shouldn’t tell you.
You definitely can’t make him aware that you know or we’re all getting in shit, but be careful.
Those guys have a messy history, and I don’t want you getting caught up in it.
You’ve seen Hunter kill without flinching, so that boy next door bullshit he’s throwing at you? Don’t fall for it.”
“I’m not talking to that asshole anyway. That ambush—”
“That was just a typical day for us. You’d better get used to it if you intend on sticking around,” he replied, standing and placing me in his vacated seat. “I need to go. I’ll text you.”
That stupid comment made my body tingle, and I grabbed the front of his shirt to drag him down for a quick kiss.
“You’d better, bossman. Don’t make me come down to the Shed and find you.”
He smirked, saying goodbye to Tyler before leaving, and the moment he was gone, Tyler glanced at me.
“You’ve been sneaking around with Hunter?”
“Sneaking is a little strong of a word. He just keeps popping up. That asshole burned his bridges with me when he ambushed me though because knowing he’d intended on killing Skeet and possibly Diesel?
I won’t forgive him for that. He can find Max on his own.
I’m busy looking for the parent that actually gives a shit about me.
Slash can handle Hunter,” I shrugged, downing the rest of my coffee.
“I’ll go and get ready for school. You going to let me drive your baby again? ”
“Absolutely. You look so good doing it,” he purred, some of the tension leaving him. “You going to tell me who Hunter killed?”
“Lonnie.”
“That bitch from the Shed? Why?”
“That part I can’t really tell you. It’s Psychos stuff,” I cringed, making him nod.
“I get that. Thanks for playing house with me last night. It was nice,” he said awkwardly, looking away from me.
“Sorry about dinner.”
“Are you kidding me? That was the highlight of the night. I haven’t laughed that hard in ages,” he teased, moving towards me and pulling me to my feet.
“Maybe next time we can go out for dinner?”
“I know you hate rich people shit, but I’d like it if you let me dress you up and take you to a fancy place for a date. Just once.”
“Do I have to wear a dress? You know I can’t walk in heels, right?”
“If I can find you a dress and shoes that won’t piss you off all night, can you humor me?” he asked carefully, a hopeful look in his eyes. “Please?”
It sounded like hell, but I rolled my eyes.
“Once. Don’t even think about getting me something with lace.”
“No lace. Got it,” he said enthusiastically, starting to pull me towards the stairs. “I’ll find something you’ll like, promise. School starts in five minutes.”
I cursed, not realizing how late it was, and I quickly got ready so we could leave.
The drive was uneventful, and Jensen gave me a dirty look as I let myself into homeroom and found my desk, Mr. Franklin not even reacting to my tardiness.
“Do you not check your phone?” Jensen mumbled under his breath.
“I haven’t today, no. I slept in, sorry,” I replied, making him sigh.
“How’s Ty?”
“Better today. How’s Luke?”
“Slept pretty solid, I think. He wanted space, so I slept in my own room. He’s definitely more relaxed today.”
“I’ll check in with him,” I said with a small nod, mentally adding it to my to do list.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced down at it to see a message from Tyler.
Tyler: I’m bored. Want to hook up in the bathroom again?
Rory: You’ve had enough of me.
Tyler: No such thing, babe. You need to send me some dirty pictures or something so I can jerk off to them.
Rory: Use your imagination.
Tyler: Or you can join me so I can use your throat instead.
Jensen snickered, making it obvious he was reading my messages. “Just ignore him or he won’t stop.”
“Who says I want him to stop? Maybe I’m playing hard to get?” I joked, amusement flashing across his face.
“Nah, that’s not your style. You’re getting pretty good at asking for what you want.”
“A girl has needs,” I grinned, pocketing my phone as Mr. Franklin called out my name for roll call.
The morning fucking dragged. I was grateful for Josie pushing me to study a little because we got a pop quiz in English first thing and it was familiar stuff to what I’d been looking over last night.
When the bell rang, Mr. Franklin called me over to his desk, approval on his face.
“Although late, your paper on poverty was impressive,” he said thoughtfully, tapping his desk with his finger. “What made you choose it?”
“You said it had to be something important. Poverty is important,” I said slowly, glancing over at Jensen to find him waiting by the door for me.
“Yes, but almost everyone else chose a celebrity or their family business to discuss.”
“I don’t know anything about business or celebrities, sir,” I said tightly, embarrassment hitting me, and he surprised me when he sighed.
“You know why the girls here don’t like you, Aurora?”
“I have an idea, but feel free to enlighten me.”
“You don’t fit in a box,” he explained, leaning back in his chair.
“You’ve seen more of the world than anyone here, despite the students all traveling to vacation homes on their private jets with the world at their fingertips.
The real world isn’t rainbows and fluffy clouds, it’s hard, and it can be scary sometimes.
If I dropped you all on an island for a week and told you to survive, the only one that would manage is you. ”
“Thank you?” I answered with a confused laugh.
“These kids will never see the real world, only the cushy ones they live in. Keep studying and bringing me stuff like this, and you’ll pass my class with flying colors.
You need to work on your grammar a little more, but you’ve improved a lot already.
Don’t let those boys distract you, and try showing up to classes more often.
If you want a good reference for college, you’ll get one from work like this,” he said seriously, finally turning his attention to Jensen.
“Yours was also surprisingly impressive and well thought out. It’s good to see Miss Donovan being a positive influence on you. ”
Jensen scoffed, crossing his arms. “It’s just an assignment, sir.”