“Fuck if I know. We didn’t plan to take the brick, it just fuckin’ happened, and then he offered to split it. Who can’t use an extra seven or eight grand?”
I hated drugs. It cost the lives of too many people, including my maternal grandmother. Hearing Brantley minimize it to money angered me anew. Rather than just walk away, I punched him in the eye.
When I got to the door, he called out. “Hey! What about Porter?”
His question reminded me I had Porter's phone in my back pocket. I tossed it on the couch next to Porter's body.
Turning back to Brantley, I shrugged. “You take his ass home. Or he can get a fuckin’ Uber.”
Chapter eleven
Carried Away
Alexandra
AfterIfinishedmyfinal, I stood at the corner across from my apartment complex and reached for the carabiner clip holding my keys. Before I unclipped them, it hit me that Rafferty had my apartment key, so I dug my phone out of the side pocket.
Normally, I’d text but I called him instead.
“Hey,” he answered.
“Hi. I’m across the street but wanted to make sure you’re home. If not, I can head over—”
“I’m here. I’ll unlock the door.”
“Cool. See you soon.”
The signal changed and I hurried to the other side of the street. Giddiness welled up inside me, like he was my first crush.
Then again, hewas.
At the door, Rafferty opened it before I could. My smile faltered when I took in his face. His beard almost hid it, but I’d been studying oral health for a while. I’d developed a bizarre habit of looking at everyone’s lips, mouths, and jawlines a little more closely.
“How did you get hit in the mouth?” I asked.
Rafferty turned his head a touch, grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. “You’re way too observant, Lex.”
“True. What happened? That looks like it hurts.”
His tongue darted out and touched the area where his lip was swollen. “I paid Brantley a visit at his place. Porter was there and got in a lucky sucker punch.”
I shook my head in confusion. “There’s no such thing as a lucky sucker punch, Raff. How did you get to Brantley’s? I don’t know his address, Ines doesn’t have a physical address book, and I barely recall which streets she took to get to his place on Sunday morning since the sun hadn't risen.”
He shot me a grin that I hadn’t seen since we were teenagers, and now, that panty-melting grin had been perfected. “Will you forget about it, if I say it’s nothing to worry about?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so. Give me your backpack, and sit down.”
I slipped my arms free of my backpack and set it next to the wall. He watched me settle on the sofa with my foot under my tush.
“Are you tender?”
I was, but it was easing up. “I’m fine. How on earth did you find Brantley and Porter?”
He sat down next to me. “I forgot to lock the door after you left. Porter came inside while I was showering—”
“He did?”
