He’s turned angry and rigid. Like stone.
Which only lasts for maybe two to three seconds before he fists his hands at his sides.
And then I already know what’s going to happen.
I already know that Reed is going to hit my brother, and when he lands a mean punch on Ledger’s face, I flinch.
I flinch even more when Ledger goes in for a payback punch.
Suddenly the crowd that had calmed down grows heated once again and somehow everyone is on everyone. There are shouts and curses and thumps and grunts.
And in the middle of it all are Ledger and Reed.
They’re grappling, beating each other up. There’s so much malice between them. So much pent-up aggression, years of trying to best each other, to come out on top, to bring each other down.
Years of hatred that are just pouring out on their last day of practice together.
Suddenly I realize that it doesn’t matter what I tell them, my brothers, or what I tellhimeven. They’re never ever going to get along.
Not if they can help it.
Chapter Eight
He’s sitting on the hood of his car, facing away from me, staring at something in the near darkness.
He doesn’t have his hoodie on – it’s May now so he shouldn’t feel all that cold, but still – and through the thin material of his light-colored t-shirt, I can see the slabs of his muscled back shifting with each breath he takes.
I knew he’d be here.
At this spot, in the woods.
Located at the edge of town, where his party was that night. This is also where we usually end up when he takes me out on rides.
He looks so still, so deep in his thoughts, that I feel like I’m intruding. That I feel like I should leave him alone.
But I can’t.
He hasn’t said it but I know he needs me.
I know he needssomeoneby his side.
So here I am.
As it turns out, it’s too late to leave anyway. Because I already have his attention.
He already knows that I’m here and he turns abruptly, his eyes zeroing in on me.
I suck in a breath then.
The moment I get to see his face.
All bruised and battered, covered with cuts. So much so that he’s using his half-bunched up hoodie to put pressure on his jaw.
Back at the field, when their fight continued to escalate and a crowd was gathering, teachers were called in. They made us all leave while Conrad and the group of coaches tried to break up the fight. In the chaos of it all, I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see Ledger either.
I’m pretty sure he looks the same.
My heart squeezes painfully as I study his bruises in the rapidly vanishing evening light.
