“Nope.” He rolls his eyes while taking a slow drink from his bottle.
“I thought you guys spent your Friday nights here?” I jerk my head in acknowledgment as the bartender hands me a cold beer.
“Since he coupled up, I have barely seen him.” J clinks his bottle against mine. “Wanna be my new wingman?”
“A year ago, I would have agreed without hesitation, but I have zero interest now.” I swallow back a mouthful of beer.
“Ah, I’m not the only sucker pining after a woman.”
“She still holding out on you?” J mentioned in passing he was interested in the friend of the girl Jude is dating.
“I’m giving her space to come around to the idea.”
“Nah, bruh.” I shake my head, swilling another mouthful of beer before adding, “Don’t give her space to talk herself out of it. Go for the kill, and nail her down. It’s what I should have done.”
“Wanna talk about it?” he asks, glancing over my head and smiling.
I shrug, swallowing more beer as I consider it. “I needed to do something,” I start, carefully choosing my words, “and it meant targeting a girl to use her for payback.”
“Harsh, dude.”
“I know.” Acid churns in my gut. “It was shitty, and I hated myself for using her, especially when I developed strong feelings. But there was a bigger picture.” I tear at the label on my bottle, not able to meet his eyes. “I took her virginity. It had been the play all along, but it was the best fucking night of my life.”
He almost chokes on his beer. “If you say so.” Amusement lingers on his lips, and it aggravates me.
I drill him with a look. “It was incredible. I’ve never felt anything like it. I realized that night she was fucking meant for me, that she was the one, but I couldn’t back out. I had to see it through.”
“What’d you do?”
“Recorded it without telling her and then used it to blackmail her piece-of-shit father into doing my bidding.”
J’s eyes pop wide. “Ho. Lee. Shit. Man. That isruthless.”
“I know.” I tear the label fully off the bottle and squeeze my eyes closed for a brief second. Why the fuck did I think it was a good idea to open up tonight of all nights? My heart is already shredded after my run-in with Emery, and my confidence is in the toilet. I blink my eyes open, staring at the bottle as I say, “I hated every second of it. Her heart broke right in front of me. Mine too.”
“And you haven’t seen her since?”
I shake my head, not wanting to explain what went down earlier. “I’ve kept tabs on her.”
“Stalker much?” J says over a cough, and he has no idea.
“It was for her protection,” I bark.
J holds up his hands and pins me with a serious expression. “This was some elite bullshit.”
“Kinda.”
His gaze locks mine in place. “I know you think Kai and his friends are filling your head with bullshit, and I get it. Kai is a fucking know-it-all bossy prick at times. I have butted heads more times with him growing up than anyone else in my life. He can be hard work, but here’s the thing about our brother.” He stops to throw a few nuts from the bowl in front of us in his mouth, looking deep in thought as he chews. “He has never lied to us. Kai would never do that. He’d take a bullet for us, man. Family means everything to him.”
He clears his throat, looking a little emotional. “Kai and Rick sacrificed a lot to be there for me and Harley, and they were always looking for you guys.Always.” He stabs me with a piercing stare as he knocks back some beer. “He’s not lying to you, Zayn. None of them are. They are telling the truth, and I know you said you don’t want to hear it, but you need to let them tell you what’s gone down from the time Kaiden showed up in Rydeville during senior year. If you knew the shit the elite have pulled, you wouldn’t be digging your heels in about any of this.”
“I’m not in the mood for a lecture,” I say, draining the rest of my beer and standing.
“Sit your ass down, and stop being so fucking sensitive.” J grabs me back down onto the stool.
“Fuck you,” I hiss, sending him a daggered glare.
“Fuck.You.” He grips my arm, holding me in place. “Everyone is giving you time to settle in and come to terms withit, but the situation is fucking dangerous, and it’s time to get your head out of your ass.”
