Page 154 of Falling in Reverse

FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO…

“When are you going to leave him, Bay? How much longer do you want me to wait?”

His voice sounds louder with the surrounding trees pulling us into their sole focus and judgment.

Judah’s golden eyes help, pinning me to my spot as he glowers down at me with impatience and fury raining down on my chest, demanding I give him an answer.

His answer.

“I’m not,” I reply apprehensively, not helping this situation, but it doesn’t stop me from inching very slowly away from him. “Judah, please—” His hand shoots out and seizes my biceps, squeezing the flesh there and piercing immediate fear into my lungs.

“You told me you liked me,” he leers, his perfectly shaped lips curled back in a snarl that shakes me now to my core. “You said you watched me.”

I did, and I regret it now.

I’d had a very far-fetched crush on Judah Oslo for two years. And I’ve watched him sleep with every blonde, brunette, and redhead who swung their hair and clutched onto his arm in that flirty way that they do while batting their long eyelashes like they have something in it.

I waited until Matteo came through and pried my focus a tad. He was different, a confident guy who poised leadership and respect. He slept with girls—I think—but he didn’t flaunt it like Judah. And when we got to talking one night at a party, he made me feel wanted. I didn’t need to twirl my hair around my index finger or shove my tits out. I was playing a game of basketball on a Sunday with some guys from school while he watched. And later he approached me, giving me a sense that I didn’t require or have to wait around for a dude to finally wake up and act or ultimately notice me.

But after getting drunk months later, my feelings had fleeted from my mouth about my old crush and Judah hadn’t let it go yet since he was the one I told.

“I’m with Matteo,” I quaver as the pads of his fingers dig mercilessly into my arms. The smell of weed and tequila wafting around me and alluding that he’s high, drunk, or both. “I’ve been with him for over a year now, Judah.”

“I broke up with Mallory,” he spits out, then shakes me once to make sure those words cement into my head. “I left her for you.”

Fuck Mallory.

She’s been sleeping behind his back with Tarzan, one of Matteo’s buddies, for weeks. I told him that, but he swatted me away with his hand like a pesky fly and told me to fucking mind my own business.

“You broke up with her an hour ago.” And his declaration, as if that’s presumed to mean something to me, tears at my ever-loving nerves. A bold move strikes me then like lightning because I’m shoving Judah away and regaining my space. “What am I supposed to do with that? She caught you cheating like you were doing to her, so good for you. I’m not going to leave someone who cares about me because all of a sudden you want me, Judah.”

His brows clash violently together. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me? If you would’ve had the balls to tell me before, I would’ve picked you.”

I shake my head because, no, he wouldn’t have.

I’m not like the girls he fucks and “dates.” I’m not super sexual or free-spirited with the way I walk around with barely anything on. I can’t bear the thought of always worrying about what he’s doing and who he was with.

And rightly so.

Judah can’t keep a girlfriend for more than four to five days, always moving on to the next one. Mallory was the longest, but before he was regularly bragging about how many girls he’s slept with. And I don’t want to be another notch on his bedpost because that’s exactly what I would’ve been.

I don’t mind being friends with Judah, however, and the attraction I had for him is something that has slowly faded. But as of two months ago, something sparked inside him and he’s been getting weird. It started around the point Matteo started forming and building the Pistol Posse, that Judah began drinking more and appearing not to be sleeping. Every time I’m on Matteo’s arm or his side, I feel the heavy weight of his gaze. The way his glare dips into a murderous glaze of almost madness.

And this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation.

The more times he corners me, the more hostile it seems to end.

Judah is Matteo’s right-hand man and I’m off-limits. He comes from a family he rarely speaks about, leaving behind parents he just didn’t want to be around, I guess. I’ve known Matteo and Judah for years, and when Matteo decided to come up with his own gang to make money, Judah wasn’t far away. I went to their parties. I craved to get away from my own mother because she treats my dad and I like shit.

However, I don’t ever want Matteo to think I’m doing something behind his back. And I sure don’t want that sort of attention to ever have to fill his head. It’s not that I’m afraid of Matteo, it’s that I’m close to him. That he treats me like a princess. My best friend, Levi, loathes him so much that he’s threatened to beat him into a pulp, but he’d never hurt me like that. Levi might be hard on the outside, but he’s super soft when it comes down to me, and he’d never beat up my boyfriend because of their differences.

“Bay.” My name hurls me out of my thoughts and back to pretty brown eyes and a flawless jawline. The silver ring that he wears on his middle finger has the letter “W” engraved on it, and he brings it near to his mouth. “I’m good for you. I’d treat you like a queen. I’ve watched you for months get closer to Matteo, and he’s gonna change, babe. He’s gonna lead this group into something violent, and you’re not gonna wanna be around for that.”

“Matteo said he wasn’t,” I retort with a shake of my head. “It’s to protect South Shore and Shoreline Peaks from the Forsaken Crew.”

Judah rolls his eyes like I’m the biggest idiot in the world. “He doesn’t give a fuck about South Shore. He only cares about himself and the power he’s trying to obtain. He’s not gonna get it, Bay. Emilio Wildes isn’t going to pay him any mind unless to play him. And if he gets in the way, Emilio is going to demolish him.”

My face twists at his stupid assumptions. “How would you know?”

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