Chapter 9 #2
I gave her a smile back but it was forced, and I turned my eyes to the TV, but I wasn’t watching it anymore.
It was too late to call any of them, so I pretended to watch TV for another half an hour before heading to bed, feeling like the bed was too damn empty. It had been nice having Marco beside me last night, but it wasn’t like he could break in here, no matter how badly I’d hoped for it.
Tyler
People could sense the rift between all of us. Caden had sat with us at school, but he didn’t say much, spending most of his time glaring at people. He’d been pretty vocal about cutting Rory off, so had Skeeter, so gossip was spreading like wildfire.
Claire was trying to sink her claws into Caden again, but thankfully, he kept brushing her off.
I understood he was mad, but I doubted it would be fixable once Rory was out if he started hooking up with Claire again.
It was Monday afternoon, and I was almost jumping out of my skin to see Marco. He’d gone to Fairview yesterday to try and find out more about Rory’s attack, and he’d been noticeably quiet. That meant he’d either found out nothing, or things were okay.
Knowing she’d been in the hospital and I couldn’t visit made me feel sick. Caden had rolled his eyes when I’d mentioned it at lunch, but there was a flicker of worry on his face, which I took as a good sign. It meant he still gave a shit.
The McLaren was parked near Caden’s Challenger when we walked out of school, which was no surprise. Both Skeeter and Caden were always hanging out when Skeeter wasn’t stuck doing crew business.
Skeeter eyed me as I approached, a scowl on his face. “Where’s Holloway?”
“Fucked if I know,” I shrugged, pulling my phone out to check my messages. There was still nothing from Marco, but Hunter had messaged to tell me to meet him at their warehouse, so hopefully, that meant they’d heard something.
“Don’t act like I stole him from you. It’s not like you can talk. You’ve been up Hunter and Marco’s asses since that bitch got put away,” he scoffed, my eyes narrowing.
“I’m trying to get her back out. It’s your fault all of this happened, so stop being an asshole. You never answered the phone when she called. You’re the one acting like someone was stolen from you. She wasn’t fucking them, Skeet.”
His jaw clenched as he leaned on his car, looking like he was considering shooting me.
“You think I’d believe you? You’re probably fucking them too.”
“I find it hilarious that you keep accusing everyone of fucking Marco but you’re the only one who has.
Is this jealousy?” I bit out, barely finishing my sentence before his fist met my face.
My ass hit the ground and he punched me again, his hand gripping my jaw so tightly I was starting to think he was going to break it.
“You shut your fucking mouth before I cut your tongue out,” he snarled, his eyes not even looking human anymore. I’d really pissed him off. “Tell that prick to shut his mouth too.”
My head was pounding, and I flexed my jaw when he let go and stood back.
“Do you even care that she was shivved?” I demanded, seeing a flicker of surprise on his face before he masked it.
“What are you talking about?”
“Rory. She was shivved yesterday and went to the hospital. She’s going to fucking die in there without your protection. Do something. Get your girls to buddy up with her or something. I’m not telling you not to be mad, but be mad in a way that lets you two fight about it when she gets out.”
“That girl made her bed, Ty. It’s not my problem. She probably should have thought about that before buddying up with Rivera,” he grunted, and I got to my feet, knowing my eye was already starting to swell.
“You’re like a broken record. You just can’t face the fact that you were so unreliable that she had to turn to your enemy for help.
Don’t you feel guilty leaving her in there?
You promised to have her back but you never did,” I growled as Jensen appeared, and I wasn’t sure who was more surprised, me or Skeeter, when Jensen threw a fist at his face.
The pair of them went back and forth, a crowd growing and gaining more attention. Both of them were going to get fucking arrested at this point.
“The fuck?” Caden barked, motioning to me like I was the crazy one. “Are you going to help break this shit up?”
“If I have to,” I huffed, helping him as we managed to get them apart.
Skeeter had a split lip while Jensen’s nose was bleeding, the pair of them breathing heavily as they glared at each other.
“What the fuck, Gilbert?” Skeeter snapped, fighting Caden’s hold.
“You’re a piece of shit,” Jensen spat, and I held on a little tighter as he tried to throw another punch.
People were eating this shit up, filming it and most likely intending on selling the videos to news channels. The fallout of us over Rory would make headlines.
Reporters were still lingering, but nothing like before. They were all too damn scared of getting shot at.
“Calm the fuck down. We don’t need to get arrested,” I warned Jensen, and he relaxed his arms a little, letting Lukas pull him towards the Camaro to leave, and I gave Skeeter one last dirty look before moving towards my car too.
Caden and Skeeter were still glaring at us as we all left, Jensen and Lukas going one way, while I went the other like we’d been doing almost every day after school since Rory was arrested.
My face was killing me, and I really hoped Hunter had some ice packs at the warehouse.
I perked up at seeing Marco’s bike parked outside the warehouse, parking beside it and making my way inside. Faris saw me and motioned to the loft, letting me know Hunter and Marco were up there, so I headed up and knocked before stepping inside.
Hunter was cursing at Marco, and I winced as they turned to look at me.
“Uh, want me to wait downstairs?” I asked, not knowing what kind of scolding this was.
“What happened to your face?” Hunter grunted, pointing to a chair as he walked towards the freezer.
I sat, eyeing Marco. “Doesn’t matter. Did you find out about Rory?”