Good.

I swing, hitting her right in the jaw and she stumbles back. Her friends shriek and rush to her side.

I turn around, walk past the boys and lead us out the door and into the vehicle.

Once we pull in front of their house, Captain sighs and drops his head against the seat.

Royce lifts a hand, smacking it down on his brother’s shoulder. He squeezes.

I sit forward and lean my head against the side of the seat, inspecting Cap’s bloody hands. “Come on, packman. We need to ice those babies.”

His head jerks and he curses like he just saw the damage done.

He steps out slowly and so does Royce.

When Maddoc holds back, I turn to him.

With a frown on his face, he inspects his own knuckles.

He glances at me.

“What?”

He licks his lips, reaching for his door handle. “Nothing.”

I meet Captain in the upstairs bathroom. He tries to push me off, but I smack him, and he chuckles, finally propping himself against the counter so I sit on the toilet and play doctor to his wounds.

He hisses when I poor the hydrogen peroxide on it.

“Don’t be a baby,” I tease, earning a half smile.

After the right is done, I move to the left.

“You really not gonna ask?”

I look up confused. “Ask?”

His brows lift. “Seriously? You don’t wanna know why we went there, who they were. You ... the girl...”

I shrug and go back to work, tilting his hand to see how far the cut goes. “It’s not my place, packman. Besides, you told us not to ask so why would I?”

“Because you don’t listen to shit,” he laughs and I join in.

“Yeah, but this is different. This isn’t about me, this was personal. I’m betting there isn’t much in your guys’ lives that you get to keep just for you.” I pat the final bandage and he flexes his hand.

I sit back.

“You’d be right, there isn’t.” He eyes me, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you wanna ask, I’ll tell you a little bit.”

I laugh and stand, tossing the wrappings in the garbage. “Sorry, packman. I’m not gonna make this easier for you by doing what you pretend you don’t want.” When his frown drops to his chest, I keep going. “When you’re ready to talk, you will on your own. You gotta be strong enough to make that choice by yourself.”

He glares at me and I lift my shoulders.

I go to walk past, but he grabs a hold of me, pulling me in. He squeezes me tight against him, and I let him, wrapping my hands around his lower back.

A shuddered breath leaves him and unease grows in my stomach.

My eyes lift, connecting with Maddoc’s in the hallway.

“Don’t fuck this up for us, Raven,” Captain whispers. “We need this. He needs you.”

Maddoc’s eyes search mine and I drop mine to the floor.

I slip from his hold, past Maddoc, and into my room.

The room. Not my room.

Shit.

I start pacing, running my hands down my hair, I lift the ends, inspecting the blue I touched up this morning.

I move to the window, pulling it open. I take a deep breath of fresh air, spinning to sit on the sill.

I close my eyes.

These boys, they’re making me feel what they feel. I can’t stop it.

I shouldn’t be here.

I shouldn’t feel the need to protect them.

I shouldn’t want to.

I shouldn’t—

My door is thrown open and Maddoc charges in.

He stops right in front of me, a wild glare making his green eyes appear darker.

I shouldn’t...

I reach up, grip the inside front collar of his shirt and yank his lips to mine.

I kiss him, hard, punishing and fucking reckless, and he meets my demand with anger of his own.

His tongue sweeps mine and I push back, fighting for control he won’t give.

I bite his lip until he growls and yanks away.

He glares and so do I.

I stalk past him, rushing into the bathroom, closing and locking it behind me.

I throw on the shower and start stripping.

I’m an idiot.

I kissed him.

And I’m pretty sure I’ll do it again.

The lock jiggles for a half second and then the door is thrown open and slammed shut in the same second.

Maddoc holds up a bobby pin, tossing it to the floor. He stalks over to me, so I hop in the water with my top still on and slink back against the wall.

He steps in, clothes and all and presses himself against me, the rough material of his jeans rubbing against my clit.

I drop my head back and his eyes trail my chin and neck. He doesn’t move back to look over me but grips my jaw instead.

His eyes bounce between mine, and then his mouth crashes against me.

I moan, growing limp and he presses close to hold me up, his own groan escaping. His hands move to my waist and slide down my wet ass. He grips my ass cheeks tight, spreading them slightly as he pushes harder against me.

My entire body shakes and he grins against my mouth.

And then he’s gone, and I’m left panting in the shower with nothing but my fingers to get the job done.

“You’re sick,” I laughed at Royce as he dips his pizza in his soda then stuffs the entire thing in his mouth. I bump his shoulder. “Move, I’ll wait outside.”

He grins with his mouth full and I roll my eyes, sliding from the booth.

“I gotta take a piss, here.” He hands me the keys and disappears.

I walk out front and toward the car, but stop when Collins plants his feet in front of me.

“Hello again, Rae.”

“Collins, we really need to stop meeting like this.” I give him a blank stare.

“We could...” He steps closer and my spine straightens. “Meet at my house, or a hotel room.”

I scoff and glance off.

“I’ve got five grand with your name on it.”

“Five grand, huh?” I pop a brow. “That what I’m worth to you?”

He smirks, showing off his movie star veneers. “Ten if you help me out.”

Ten thousand dollars – chump change to this asshole.

“Sorry, Collins.” I shrug. “I don’t have the cure for erectile dysfunction. Not really sure what I’d be able to do for you.”

I push past him.

Royce walks out then, Captain behind him and they both stop when they see Collins on the sidewalk.

He looks from them to me. “Think about it, Carver. That’s a game changer for you.”

I keep my face blank – the bastard was serious.

“Get the fuck out of here, Collins. Graven ain’t nowhere near here, pretty boy,” Royce tells him and Collins jerks a chin, turning to walk off.

“What was that about?” Royce waits to ask when Collins can’t hear.

“Rich boy doing what rich boys do. Trying to throw money around to get his way.”

Both frown but neither says another word.

“Where’s Maddoc at today?”

“He went to see our dad.”

Uh ... what?

“He do that often?”

“Nope,” Royce replies and looks to Cap.

Captain clears his throat, but nobody says a word. Really, I shouldn’t have asked.