I freeze mid-thought.
A noise comes from the other side of the door, and I stare at it with panic surging to my fingertips. I drop the wad of cash, like it’s going to catch on fire, and watch it float to the floor like feathers.
Fuck me.
I drop to my knees to cover up the evidence, but it’s too late.
The door swings open, and my face pales. Cross, along with one of his friends, appears in the doorway.
I’m at a loss for words.
Not because Cross just caught me snooping through his room, but because he can hardly stand. His friend's arm is wrapped around Cross’s waist. His face is a mess of purple bruises and blood.
“Who are you?” his friend asks.
I pop up from my knees, and that’s when Cross finally notices me.
His expression switches from pained to lethal in a split second.
Shit.
[ 7 ]
CROSS
“I’ve never seen that,”Tyler says. “Like,fuck. Did someone drug you?”
I grunt and grip the edge of the car, hauling myself up and out. It doesn’t help that Tyler’s car is so low to the ground that it’s like sitting on the pavement. He grabs my forearm and supports some of my weight, buteverythinghurts. I may as well have gone through a meat grinder.
Definitely not my finest moment.
Why couldn’t I have gotten someone who could punch hard enough to knock me out? That would’ve been better than the shitshow I just endured.
There’s an unread text from one of the Webber brothers on my phone and another few from Stanley, but I haven’t been able to look at them yet. The shame and anger swirling in my gut are too much to take, and I might snap at them.
I never want to do that again.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say to Tyler. “An ice bath will fix it.”
He laughs under his breath. “Yeah, right. Who’s gonna haul the ice bags up the stairs?”
“Me. Just call me, uh…” Ah, hell. Maybe I do need tutoring if I can’t remember the name of the guy that pushes a boulder upa mountain over and over again. It was punishment for tricking the gods. And here I am, tricking literally everyone.
“Maybe you have a concussion.”
I snap my fingers. “Sisyphus.”
“Sissy-who?”
I groan. “Jesus, man, read a freaking book.”
“You’re the one who needs tutoring. Did your stepsister teach you that one?”
“Fuck off. I like mythology.”
Tyler laughs in my face, but he doesn’t say anything else. He just helps me get inside and up the tight staircase. We move agonizingly slow. My ribs scream with every step, and his grip on my waist isn’t helping matters.
“That ice bath is sounding better and better,” I mutter.
