“Rolland has bigger issues than me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” she breathes.

The boys pretend to guard Zoey and she widens her little legs, lifting one and then the next as she leans from side to side, an adorable effort at juking before running completely around Royce, tossing it into the little hoop that is just slightly taller than her reach. She gets so excited when she makes it and almost falls over, but Maddoc is right there to catch her before she can.

“She’ll never have a scraped knee again if those three have anything to say about it...” Her voice trails off and I look to her.

She stares at Maddoc and Zoey, and her lips smash together, a deep crease forming on her forehead.

Wait.

She knows I’m watching, and slowly her eyes come back to mine. She holds back nothing, showing her pain and loss and... longing.

Something hits my foot and my eyes snap down to find the little basketball at my feet.

Steps echo across the cement and I freeze, unable to look up for some reason, but then tattooed knuckles come down on the ball and my eyes lift.

Cap reaches up, touching my cheek, his blue-green eyes on me. “Stop,” he whispers, then moves his mouth to my ear so Maria can’t hear. “It’s okay. I was scared at first, too. There will be a next time, Raven.”

I squeeze his wrist only letting go when I have to, and he walks back to his family.

My eyes slide right, and I spot Zoey, her big eyes are locked on me. She pushes her blonde hair from her face as she stares at me. Her little hand lifts, and she almost looks shy as she waves her tiny fingers at me.

My stomach muscles tighten and my teeth clench as pressure begins to knock behind my eyes. Somehow through that, I manage to raise my hand and wave back.

Her smile is instant and huge and I bite my tongue.

She spins around and throws herself in Royce’s arms.

“That way!” She points down the back of the house, where I can’t see, and they disappear.

“She has a little train back there, it’s tiny, goes in a circle around a tree, but she loves it.”

Me too, kid.

I push to my feet and head back for the truck.

“Raven,” Maria calls.

I don’t turn back but stop walking.

“Just because you didn’t know love as a child doesn’t mean you won’t know how to love one.”

Doesn’t it?

It’s not until the sun has started to go down that footsteps float through the cracked window. I sit up to find Maria has made her way back to the front door, and it’s only Captain who walks Zoey up.

She hesitates a moment but then offers him inside.

The three disappear, closing the door behind them.

Maddoc and Royce move over to the security guards, likely grilling them on processes.

I look from them to the house, to the basketball court and anger fills my veins.

Maria’s words were clear, the boys hint without hinting about protecting Zoey at all cost was crystal.

Me or Zoey.

I pull my knife from my waistband, glaring at the inscription.

Family runs deeper than blood, but Zoey is their blood. They love her with all they have. I’m the outsider. How dare they leave me in this position.

How dare they let their feelings for me cloud their judgment.

There is no risk, no fucking sacrifice too big in this instance.

They’re delaying the inevitable.

It’s become clear, this place is bigger than a power ran high school and its rival, though that’s been their world the last four years. This is bigger than the team they built there, and the plans they have for once they graduate.

This town and its secrets had the power to make a man of power, Rolland Brayshaw, choose to stay in prison instead of running free. It kept a money-hungry whore away, living in a rundown trailer with the kid she didn’t want instead of living lavishly in a mansion. It kept me hidden, kept Zoey hidden, ran Maria away. The reasoning may be unclear, but the result the same. If this place can do all those things, taking me is kid’s work.

The secret Brayshaw returns, not by accident, but intentionally. Give one to save the other.

The boys start back for the car and with each step taken, their feet drag a little longer, shoulders lose a little height, and heads hang a little further.

This kills them.

And as if this sight alone wasn’t fucked up enough, the front door is tugged open and a tear-streaked face and messy blonde curls bounds out.

She cries, calling after her daddy and the three-stop dead in their tracks.

Captain whips around, dropping to his knees right as Zoey reaches him, her little arms wrapping around his neck, cutting my air off.

My eyes move to Maddoc, but he doesn’t look at the little girl desperate to keep her dad with her. His eyes are on the SUV, temples taut, lips smashed in a firm line.

His hand lifts to his face, and he runs his fingers across his jaw, pausing once his entire mouth is covered. He squeezes his jaw, his eyes falling.

I lay across the seat, staring at the ceiling.

I’m pretty sure this trip backfired. We came out here so Cap could share his world with us, to hold him and them over until they could make it out here next. To convince them this was the right move, trying to keep us both, delaying.

There’s always a sacrifice to be made.

A few minutes pass and the three finally slide in the vehicle, a heaviness with them, threatening to crush me whole, but anger is enough to keep me together.

The car ride home is a silent one.

Once we get to the house, the four of us climb from the SUV and head straight up the stairs. Royce and Captain disappear into their own rooms and Maddoc pauses by mine.

He grips my chin, his eyes bouncing between mine, suspicious. Knowing. “We’re sleeping in my room tonight,” he says, leaving me to follow.

He turns on his shower, so I start stripping from my clothes, tossing them to the floor, and make my way to him.

We step inside, and he moves me into the spray with a soft grip to my shoulders. He smooths his hands over my hair as the water soaks it, running his fingers down my spine until he reaches the curve of my ass. He trails to my hips and turns me away from him.

His head dips into my neck, and he kisses there a moment before a small sting from his teeth pierces my skin. His lips hit my ear, but his words never come.

I spin in his arms, stepping backward until my shoulder blades hit the cool tile, bringing him against me.

He falls into me, his eyes hitting mine and I know.

He knows.

This is it.

The broody rich boy was never supposed to fall for the project problem child anyway, and the problem child never should have allowed herself to believe her world could be more than settling and survival.

I run my tongue along my teeth, lifting my chin to grip his bottom lip between them. I clamp down until he growls lightly.

“My baby.” His eyes close. “She doesn’t bare her teeth in vain,” he whispers, running his tongue along the wound. “She bites.”

His lips hit mine and he kisses me rough, demanding, but then it shifts. His muscles fall, his hands sliding into my hair with a gentleness he’s fighting to control. He savors every swipe of his tongue, every move of his mouth against mine.

He takes his time knowing we have no more.

Tomorrow, it all changes.