People have restarted with their insults, girls are batting their lashes again, and the guys are suddenly braver.

Captain keeps quietly handling things while Royce has taken pleasure in letting his fists fly every chance he gets, and me? I’ve kept my knife in my jeans and my hands at my side. My mouth has stayed shut but I’ve cataloged every word with every face and when I snap, they’ll be the ones who feel it.

To make it all worse, still no Maddoc. Not a word from him, not a word about him.

Royce and Captain have to realize the only reason these assholes are acting this way is because we’re missing a link. Maddoc being MIA makes it seem like there’s a crack in our armor.

I’m fucking over it. They want to run their mouths, I’ll give them something good to talk about it.

They decide to push after that? We’ll shove harder.

I jolt off the bumper and move quicker than the others can follow, stopping beside Collins’ car, where he stands... with Leo.

Another disgrace let back in as a condition to our contract, a hand for Collins bitch ass to hold.

Both their heads snap my way, then toward the others I left with gaping mouths, deep frowns and clenched fists.

“Rae... whatcha doing?” Collins draws out, suspicious.

“Getting to know my future...” I make a show of pretending to trail off in thought. “What will it make you when I marry your cousin?”

Leo chokes on his drink, his wide eyes flying between the two of us.

That’s what I fucking thought.

If Collins hasn’t even confirmed to him, the only guy who can stand him here, then nobody else has heard. Their game must be the aftershock that’ll come with the knowledge, the storm it would create amongst the students here if they get left out.

Well, too fucking bad.

Collins licks his lips. “I guess it makes you a bit of a whore, hm?” He glares, a nice bite to his words.

There we go.

“Guess it does, huh?” I tilt my head. “How’s it feel to know you couldn’t even get the whore?”

His jaw clenches. “Guess I dodged a bullet then.”

“Guess you did.” I look to Leo, knowing he’ll never be able to keep his mouth shut. He’ll share what he’s learned, what half the damn school is likely already thinking. “I tested them all out, Captain won in the end. I’m sure Collins would love to have you as the plus one to the wedding.”

Leo is a weak bitch and can’t hold in his shock – he’d be a useless hands man.

When Collins body shifts toward me, movement over his shoulder catches my eye.

Bass moves from behind a tree, takes a step forward only to pause a moment later.

“Raven.” Captain’s steady voice hits my ears.

With a masked face, I turn to him. “Baby.”

His eyes slide between mine, a blank slate for the others to see – concern clear as day to me.

I’m tired of that, too.

I’m sick of the concern, the worry, the eggshells that seem to have been scattered around me the last few days. I’ve been treated as the weak doll, and then to my own horror, I slightly filled that mold. I fell into a brand new type of fuck-it mode, let the jaded me fall away and allowed these people to run their mouths while I brushed it off, because fuck them, right?

Wrong.

This is my home now, was supposed to be all along, and now it’s more confirmed than ever before it forever will be.

I made a choice and we have to live with it. There’s no room for unnecessary emotions in a place like this. I gave away one Brayshaw while gaining another. I can’t sit here and claim I lost. It could be worse.

The Gravens, they wanted a Brayshaw, but in the end, gained two.

We’ll show them what that means.

These people, they fell into a comfort they shouldn’t have, privileged assholes who forget – this is only high school and once it’s over? They’ll be nothing but the rich of this town. Our town.

I push against Captain and silence surrounds us.

His brows drop low as he studies me, and slowly his hand slides around me. He pulls my body into his, moving us back a few spaces, his mouth hitting my ear.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“We’re losing respect by the second. Collins is back, Leo too. Maddoc isn’t here and in their eyes, I’ve traded more times than I can count now.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Show them we aren’t falling apart, make them think we’re stronger than ever.”

Cap pulls back and looks at me.

“We should be. That’s the point of this right, join the families? Create a power couple?” I whisper, my gaze flicking between his. “A couple in general.”

A sharp pain shoots up my spine at the words, but I welcome it.

His fingers tighten against me, his expression not changing. “You can’t even say it, can you?”

“Why should I have to, Cap?” I shake my head.

At that, his brows wrinkle and he moves his lips back to my ear to hide it. “You don’t know this side of me, how I am with a girl who’s mine, so I’ll fill you in on one thing now.” There’s a slight rumble in his voice. “Words, Raven. I need them.”

“I’m standing here, already yours, right? So what’s the point?”

“Wrong and that in itself is the point.” His words come out sharper this time. “You’re not mine, Raven. Despite the promise we made, you’re not.” He hesitates before adding, “Not yet.”

Not ever.

That’s what we’re both thinking but don’t say aloud.

A moment later, the silence surrounding us is quickly overtaken.

First, it’s music, then the screech of tires. Gasps follow, then low whistles and laughs. Heads snap my way then the other and both mine and Cap’s follow.

A black SUV, identical to the one I drove here in pulls up beside Captain’s. Royce and Victoria both stare at me with tight eyes, but mine are locked on the passenger seat of Maddoc’s ride as it opens and a girl with sleek straight, blonde hair chopped at the collarbone steps out. I’ve seen her before, though the hair is new.

Graven Preps queen bee.

She steps around the hood, Maddoc meeting her there and the two walk over to Royce and Victoria like it’s any other day and she belongs.

It’s not and she sure as fuck doesn’t.

I embed my fingers into the skin of Captain’s chest, and apparently subconsciously attempt to move past him, but he grips me tighter, forcing my feet to stay planted where they are.

He holds firm, his way of trying to steady me on the inside, but my body is numb, my face blank, my mind void.

And somehow my chest still stings with the prick of a thousand needles.

I want to rip her head off and stick it back in the Barbie box it came out of.

The girl holds her hand out to Victoria but gets a bored blink in return. Royce and Maddoc exchange a fist bump and then the two shift toward us.

His eyes are hidden behind dark lenses, his face smooth, mouth closed in a tired, lazy line.

So much effort to look so careless.

“You’re shaking.” Cap’s words waft across my skin and I drag my eyes to his.

My throat starts to close, heat spreading across my face as I attempt to squash the sudden anger boiling. An emptiness forms at the base of my ribs, and I almost bend to erase it.