He leans forward, grinning. “I’m all ears.”
CHAPTER 13
Harlow
ARAP ONmy door signals Bry’s arrival. “You ready?”
I swing the door open, stepping back, briefly looking up from my cell. “Almost. Just give me a few.”
I tap out a short thank-you message to Galen, my chest heavy as I stare at today’s pic from the hospital. Galen has been checking in daily with Sean, sending me updates on Sariah.
Unfortunately, my bestie is still in a coma, and with every passing day, it becomes more serious. If she doesn’t wake up, I don’t know what I’ll do.
She can’t die.
I need her, and she doesn’t deserve to go out like this.
Why does God punish good, kind people over and over, yet evil pieces of shit like Sinner Lennox get to stroll around the place unencumbered by his sins and his many crimes?It makes no sense to me, and the unfairness reeks. It’s one reason I gave up on any notion of a God years ago.
“Any change?” Bry asks, dropping onto the end of my bed.
“No.” I sigh, opening the text from Saint next. “Sar’s still in a coma.”
“Those bitches need to pay for that.”
“They will,” I promise.
I read Saint’s message, pleased the guys are taking care of business while I’m gone. They have a plan for The Bulls, which they’ll share with me tomorrow. They are coming to watch the final challenge and then taking me home. Although I have quite enjoyed this week, I’m dying to get home, itching to put wheels in motion, and to put my plan for vengeance back on track.
Sliding my phone in my pants pocket, I slip my feet into my boots and stand. “Let’s go.”
It’s Saturday night, and we’re going to a bar off-site for dinner and a few beers. Several of the instructors will be there, and all the initiates, so it’ll probably be lame ass, but the change of scenery is welcome.
“Gotten into her panties yet?” John says, sneering at Bry when we land in the lobby where the others are waiting.
“Go annoy some other sap.” Bry folds his arms, threatening John with a dark look.
“When it’s so much fun annoying you two?” He snorts. “Not likely.”
I step right in front of him, clicking my fingers in his face. “You’re an annoying gnat. One I’d enjoy crushing except you’re not worthy of that investment of time.” I shove his shoulders. “Fuck off, John. Run to your older brother, and plot more ways to take me down if you dare.”
Turns out, John is Instructor Corr’s younger brother. I would never have made the connection if he hadn’t let that slip, because they look nothing alike. All week, they’ve tried to undermine me and make my life hell. John is doing the dirty work, but I know his older brother is the orchestrator. He’s tried sabotaging me every step of the way, but I’ve handled everything he’s thrown at me. It helps that Bry has my back, and the more time I spend with him, the more I realize him joining our ranks is a good thing.
Not sure I’ll ever be able to sell that to Saint, but I’ll try.
We pile into the truck, and Bry and I take seats in the back. We don’t talk as the truck ambles over bumpy terrain, but the silence is comfortable.
The bar is your typical back-end-of-nowhere ramshackle hut, but the beers are flowing freely, the music isn’t too cheesy, and the burger fills a hole in my belly. Bry and I are seated at the end of a long bench, as far away from the gnat as possible, talking quietly with our heads close together. “How did you and Dar meet?” I ask between sipping my beer.
“We met when we were ten. One of my older brothers was dating his sister Rita. He used to drag me to her place when he was babysitting me. Dar and I started hanging out in school after that, and a couple years later, he introduced me to The Arrows.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Three older brothers, and I had a sister, but she died a few months before I was born.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugs, picking at the label on his beer. “It’s cool. I never met her, so it was different for me. My eldest brother was super close to her, because there was only a year between them, and he’s never gotten over it.”
