I frowned. “I don’t know. Not much.”
“Uh huh.”
“I’m not drunk, so if you’re worried about taking advantage of me, don’t be. Kiss me.”
“Don’t be shy, man. Give the girl a kiss,” a guy behind me said.
I whirled around to see Cooper. He looked a little worse for wear today in jeans and a T-shirt with his dark hair tousled. His blue eyes were ice cold and his expression tense. I wondered what was going on with him.
“Cooper,” Ryan said, and the two bumped fists. When Cooper moved his arm, I saw several dark tattoos that looked like angel wings with words in the center of them that I couldn’t read.
“Heard there was some shit with Chanos.”
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Ryan said.
“If it turns into something, call me.”
“Yeah, thanks, man.”
Cooper’s gaze swung to me, raking over my figure from head to toe before he raised an eyebrow at Ryan. They had some kind of secret communication that I didn’t understand.
“Coop. No.” Ryan didn’t say anything more, but Cooper’s expression changed and he nodded. He walked over to the kitchen counter and helped himself to a beer. Twisting off the cap, he threw it toward the garbage can.
I figured out what he’d meant with the raised eyebrow look at Ryan. He’d thought I was one of the girls in line for Ryan’s revolving bedroom door. “I’m Ryan’s friend,” I stressed the word friend.
He grinned, clearly not believing me. “If that’s your story.”
I crossed my arms. “I didn’t know Brooklyn invited you.”
“She didn’t. I’m crashing the party.” Cooper gave Ryan another look.
“Think he’s here?”
Cooper took another swallow of the beer. “Could be. I’ll take a look around.”
Fear jackknifed in me. “Are you two talking about Chanos?”
“No. We’re talking about someone who shouldn’t be here, that’s all,” Ryan said.
“I’m not the little woman that you have to protect, Ryan. I know the world can be an ugly place sometimes.”
Cooper’s face twisted. “The ugliest thing in your life is deciding what to wear. You don’t know the first thing about ugliness.”
My mouth dropped at the anger radiating from him.
“You need to step back. She’s not the problem.” Ryan slapped his friend on the chest in warning and Cooper blinked as if he was coming back to the present. “I’ll kick your ass if you fuck with her.”
Cooper shot me a look. “Sorry.” Then he muttered at Ryan, “Didn’t you learn anything from my life, huh?”
Tired of the conversation I didn’t understand, I stepped away from Ryan. “You want to get a plate? Unless you changed your mind about the blonde?”
“Jealous?”
I scoffed. “Of that skank? No.”
“I don’t know. You sound jealous to me,” Cooper said. He took another drink of his beer.
I gave him a dismissive look, then told Ryan, “I’m going to grab some food.”
Ryan set his cup down. “I’ll walk with you.”
To my surprise, he put his hand on my back and guided me through the crowd. I liked the strength in his hand. The nearness of his body. Spending time with him felt like our lives just fit together, that we belonged to each another and always would. No matter how far away I went to school, there would always be a part of me that stayed behind with Ryan.
*
RYAN
I walked with my hand on Tana, needing that connection as we headed toward the patio where the food was set up. I needed to know she was within reach so that I could protect her. Cooper suspected someone from his past was at the cookout. The same someone who was the reason why he’d ended up on probation. He’d nearly beaten the guy to death for raping his older sister. She’d committed suicide and Cooper had unraveled. The only reason he hadn’t done hard time was thanks to a sympathetic judge. The sadistic asshole liked to pop up every now and then to torment Cooper. I was afraid that one of those times, Coop would blow and kill the bastard.
If the guy Cooper was looking for was here, I didn’t want Tana to get caught up in what Cooper was going to do to him. We went outside and ate and while she chatted with her friends, I kept searching the yard and glancing back toward the house.
Tana took the paper plate out of my hands and leaned in close, making my jeans grow tighter when her lips brushed my ear. “I haven’t seen Brooklyn in a while. She’s had a lot to drink. I’m going to look for her.” She straightened up and tossed the plate into a black garbage bag.
I stood and walked back into the house with her. “Try calling her.”
Tana tried, then shook her head. “No answer.”
“Brooklyn’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.” I’d seen Brooklyn fight at school. I knew for a fact she could hold her own but I said that more to ease Tana’s mind.
“I guess you’re right, but I’m ready to go and I’d like to at least tell her goodbye.”
“She said she wanted to get drunk and have sex, so she might not want to be found.”
Tana raised her eyebrows and grinned. “Oh. Okay. Guess she’s moving on to Four.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” Tana waved her hand.
We headed to the door and Cooper followed, clearly pissed off. He jerked his head to one side when I looked at him. I touched Tana’s arm to get her attention. “Hang here, okay? I’m going to talk to Cooper for a second.”
He and I walked out front to the sidewalk and Cooper said, “He’s here. One of the guys told me he’d seen him dancing with Brooklyn.” His jaw was locked, his eyes burning with vengeance. “Do you have my back?”
“Always, man. Let me get someone to keep an eye on Tana and I’ll help you get him.”
“Hang on.” Cooper held up a hand and turned to face the side of the house. “Did you hear that?”
I listened and heard a muffled noise coming from beside a house next to Brooklyn’s. The noises sounded wrong, like someone was scared. We ran toward the sound and dove around the side of the house.
“C’mon, man. Get her panties off.” Two shadows hovered around her, panting, their voices excited.
I recognized one of the assholes as the guy who’d danced with Tana. Sam. He had his hand over Brooklyn’s mouth while another guy, the one Cooper had history with, was trying to take off her clothes.
Cooper launched himself at the guy holding her down. His first blow snapped the guy’s head back and when he tried to stand up, Cooper took him back down.
Anger pouring through me, I took on Sam. My fist connected with the side of his jaw and he flew away from Brooklyn. I went after him and jerked him to his feet. He put his hands up defensively. “Man, she wanted it. In the house I heard her say she wanted to have sex. Then she said no and faked being scared. She’s a tease.”
I hit him with a jab to the mouth hard enough to loosen his front teeth. Blood and spit spurted. He ducked his head too late and I hit him again. And then again with all the darkness and fury that I had in me. I didn’t stop until someone grabbed my arms from behind.
Like the coward he was, Sam took advantage of the hold and punched me hard right under the eye. It hurt like a sonofabitch. Twisting my body, I rotated free and the guy who’d held me was down in two hard right hooks. He crawled along the ground, shaking his head. Wobbling, he managed to make it a few feet away before he collapsed, moaning and writhing on the grass.
I wiped the side of my mouth with the back of my hand and walked over to tap Cooper’s arm. “C’mon. Not here.” He sat back on his haunches, breathing hard, blinking, then glanced at Brooklyn.
She scrambled to her feet, crying, her tears mixing with her mascara. Her shirt was torn, exposing her breasts and her skirt was missing. In nothing but her skimpy panties, she stared at Cooper and he stared back at her and I knew he wasn’t really seeing her but was slammed with a long ago image that still haunted him. He snapped out of it, stripped off his T-shirt and gently pulled it down over her head to cover her. I took mine off, passed it over, and he helped her wrap it around her waist sarong style.
When Cooper wrapped his arm around her to help her back to the house, she clutched his arm and resisted. “No. I don’t want anyone to see me like this. They’ll all know. Could you just get Tana?”
“I’ll find her.” I kicked one of the assholes still writhing on the ground in the ribs as I walked past him.
Chapter Eight
TANA
Ryan was shirtless and the tanned width of his chest glistened with sweat. He was breathing fast and the area below his eye was swollen and bruised. I rushed to him, framing his face with my hands. “Oh my God. What happened to you?”
“I’m fine.” Ryan looked toward the house where a few people were watching us from the open doorway, then lowered his voice. “It’s Brooklyn. She needs you.”
“Where is she?”
He turned around and with a sick feeling in my stomach, I followed him.
Ryan explained quickly, “Two guys attacked Brooklyn. Cooper and I stopped it, but she’s pretty shaken up.”
Brooklyn was sitting on the ground beside Cooper, her head bowed. “Brooklyn,” I ran forward and sat beside her, pulling her into my arms, patting her back, rocking her back and forth. I could feel her shaking all over. I smoothed her hair, telling her that I was here and everything would be okay. I cried as she cried. She sniffed when a car pulled up out in front of her house, then groaned “Oh, shit. It’s my brothers.”
Her brothers, Gabe and Daniel ran over to where we were gathered, and took in the situation.
“Did you call the police?” Dan knelt beside her. “Brooklyn? Did you call?”
Lifting her head, Brooklyn said in a trembling voice, “No, please. I don’t want to deal with that. Everyone in the neighborhood will know. Can you clear the party out of the house? I just want to take a shower.”
Dan wanted to argue with what Brooklyn wanted, but after Gabe shook his head, Dan gave in. “Fine.” He ran back toward the house.
“The streets can judge them,” Cooper said with a look in his eyes that scared me.
“What?” Sam mumbled.
Gabe grabbed him up from the ground and gave him a hard shake. Cooper reached for the other guy, but Ryan beat him to it. “No, Coop. Let the SB justice work.”
Cooper, Ryan, and Gabe got the guys up and shoved them into Gabe’s car.
Dan came outside several minutes later and told us the house was cleared out. “Hurry. Our parents weren’t far behind us on the interstate. I’d rather they not see Brooklyn like this.”
I helped Brooklyn into the house, my heart aching for my friend. Anger and sadness pelted me. With shaking hands, I dug out a pair of pajamas for her and went to start the shower. When I came back, I said, “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the police? I’ll go with you.”
She shook her head, her eyes huge in her face. “The police, maybe a trial, maybe the guys get off with a slap on the wrist, the hurt in my mother’s eyes. I can’t deal with any of that.” Moving slowly, she got up from the bed and shuffled toward the bathroom.
An hour later, after Brooklyn showered and climbed back up onto her bed, there was noise in the hallway, then Cooper and Ryan knocked on the doorframe of her room.
She looked at both of them and then at me. “Do you think I was asking for it?” she said in a sad, broken voice.
“No, you weren’t.” I said.
She searched Ryan’s face. “Even after what I said in the kitchen?”
Without hesitation, he shook his head. “No, I don’t think you were asking for it.”
Cooper walked all the way into the room and hovered beside her, taking care that he wasn’t in her personal space. “It’s not your fault and you don’t have anything to be ashamed of. Understand?”
Ryan nodded. “Coop’s right. Those guys got the memo and they won’t bother you again.”
Cooper watched Brooklyn’s bowed head for a second, then tore a piece of paper from a notebook on her desk. He wrote something on it, then handed it to her. “My number. If you want to talk or need me to kick someone’s ass.”
Brooklyn crumpled the paper into her hand. “Thank you both for what you did.”
“I’ll stay with you, tonight,” I said, pushing back a strand of her hair that fell across her face.
Brooklyn shook her head. “No, I just want to go to sleep.” She reached for a stuffed bear on her bed and hugged her arms around it. “I need to be alone. Please.”
I rubbed her back. “I wish you’d let me stay.”
“I’m okay, Tana.” She looked at me with haunted eyes.
I gave her a gentle hug, wishing I could say something, wishing I could somehow rewind time and prevent what happened. “I’ll check in with you later and I’ll come the second you say you want me here.”
“Thank you.”
As I walked toward the door of her room, Cooper said something to her that I didn’t catch. Brooklyn’s lower lip trembled and she nodded.
I hung around for a second, waiting for Cooper to leave with us but when the two of them kept talking in a low voice, I finally left with Ryan.
On the drive back to my house, even though I wasn’t sure I was ready to know, I asked, “What’s SB justice?”
Ryan draped his wrist across the top of the steering wheel and glanced in the rearview mirror. He changed lanes, then said, “Southtown Boys.”
“The gang?” My eyes widened. I’d heard stories about their exploits. Bad ass boys with a penchant for fast cars, fast girls and a life bound for prison. I tried to work down the lump in my throat and didn’t ask any more questions. I took out my phone and sent Brooklyn a text and got one back in response. She was fine. She was okay. She was lying to me. I sighed and leaned my forehead against the window. I couldn’t stop the shudder that rippled through me. I’d danced with Sam, the creep. That could have been me. I should have warned Brooklyn about him. I should have said something. Maybe if I would have said something she wouldn’t have been hurt. I started crying. Burying my face in my hands, I sobbed with bone deep tears that shredded me.
The Charger slowed, then stopped as Ryan pulled onto the grass by a ditch. We were in a stretch of the road where there were no houses, no businesses, just the wide-open fields and wildflowers. Ryan got out and came around to the passenger side. He opened the door, released my seatbelt and pulled me into his arms. He held me tightly. “Everything’s okay.”