James laughed derisively, and gave him an affectionate nudge on the cheek. “Hey, Romeo here can’t think with his brain anymore.”
But William was clearly too anxious to reason with him. He came within an inch of James’s face, lifted his arm, and looked like he was on the verge of punching him. When James overpowered him with his body weight, I feared for Will’s safety.
“Come on, hit me. You’ve been dying to do it, right?” James challenged him.
Their eyes blazed with violence until Jackson intervened.
“Will, it’s not worth it.”
“Tell Snow White why you disappeared. Go on, spit it out.” James said this like a tiger waiting to pounce.
“James, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Jackson demanded before grabbing his shoulders and pulling him aside.
I looked up from the dusty ground to meet William’s dazed expression. Sure, he was still irate, but he also seemed extremely confused.
“Why’d you disappear, Will? I mean, you left me here, and I—”
I couldn’t articulate a single sentence. He struggled to look at me.
I felt that sensation in the pit of my stomach again. That we weren’t right for each other.
“I forgot something at home . . .”
“What was so important that you left me here?” I whispered, feeling depressed.
“Come on, let’s talk. Alone.” Will took my hand, but I couldn’t help but hear James’s voice.
“You shouldn’t’ve brought her, Will. You screwed up big-time.”
William didn’t turn around. He led me to a peeling wall and slumped against it.
“Why does he talk to you like that?” I asked quietly, sitting down next to him.
“James is right, I shouldn’t have brought you here.”
I stared in front of me, waiting for him to explain. But he didn’t.
“Just tell me this. What are you doing here? I won’t ask you anything else.”
William didn’t put up a fight. “We’re here because of Ethan Austin.” He pointed out the small group of guys around the red-bearded guy. “Ethan is the owner’s son. He and his family organize events and . . . they blackmail James.”
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you. They did him a big favor. Maybe more than one. That’s it.”
I turned around to look at William. He looked extremely uneasy.
“Do you mean he’s forced to do it?”
“He’s forced to participate. They place a bet on him, and he has to win.”
“Has to?” I repeated.
“Yeah.”
“Why are you here? You’re not participating, right?” The way I said it, it almost sounded like a prayer.
William wasn’t the type.
