Page 78 of Risking it All

“He and his wife are certified for emergency foster care placement. I guess he knows Mrs. Collins and the social worker. He and the social worker are going to the hospital. If they decide to pull Lev from his home, Isaiah’s going to try to have him placed at his house. Which, by the way, is next door to mine, so I hope that works.”

“Me, too.” Demarius walked toward a car pulling into the lot. “I’ll be right back. My parents are here.”

Macie gestured to the curb. “Sit with me?”

I did and she sat close enough that her knee and shoulder touched mine. The contact was the first breath of air I’d had since this whole shit show started. I looked her over again, concerned I had missed something before. “Did he hurt you?”

“No more than being shot twice in the chest,” she answered bluntly and honestly. Macie lightly bumped her knee against mine. “Are you okay? And I’m not just talking about all of this. There was something wrong before it all went downhill.”

What could I say to her? That Camila, Lyra and, I had been shot at? That if I didn’t work for Eric that he refused to protect us in some turf war? “I wish I could date you right.”

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. “I have no idea what that means.”

“I wish I could be the guy who picked you up at the front door in his own car, brought you flowers, took you to dinner and amovie, then kissed you at the end of the night.” I wished I had a normal life. I wished my father wasn’t a drug dealing, gang-joining addict. I wished I had parents who gave a damn, gave me a curfew and were up my ass to score good grades and to pick a college. I wish I could be a fraction of the man she deserved.

“I don’t want or need any of that.”

“Point is, I can’t ever offer you anything more than what I do now, and let’s be honest, I don’t offer much. My life is going nowhere fast.”

Macie weaved her arm around mine, locking us together. I closed my eyes with the peace her touch created, and I wished that for five minutes the world wasn’t so damn complicated.

“What’s going on, Relic?” she whispered against my shoulder.

Truth? I would miss her so much it would hurt. “My life is about to get dangerous, and I don’t want you to be a part of that.” I didn’t want to be a part of it either.

I could feel her studying me as I stared at the ants moving on the pavement. Finally, she said, “Is the pressure to join the gang too much?”

I gave a nod as that was the easiest way to answer.

“Are they threatening you?” she asked. “Your sisters?”

I nodded again, and her hold on my hand tightened as if she believed she could save me from destruction. “Don’t join them. We’ll uncover the carjackers, and you’ll have the money.”

She said it as if the choice was as simple as turning down a glass of water. I met her eyes so she could understand. “I’m all out of time and options.”

Devastation ravaged her face. Pain in my chest at her expression and I glanced away, cursing myself for falling for her, hating myself more for allowing her to fall for me. “We shouldn’t see each other anymore. I’m going down a road I don’t want you part of.”

Macie flinched yet kept herself tight to me. “You can’t break up with me.”

I lifted a questioning brow. “How’s that?”

She gave me a sad lift of her lips. “Because we were never together to begin with. I’m not your girlfriend. You’re not my boyfriend. We’re two people who need each other to get to and from work and who occasionally kiss, remember?”

My heart twisted. “You’ve always been more to me.”

“No labels,” Macie said. “You can’t break up with anything that doesn’t have a label. You still need a job, right? Which means you still need a ride. Nothing changes between us.”

“I can’t take that risk.”

“Then come home with me. Bring Camila. Stay with me until we figure it out.”

I could never abandon Lyra. Plus… “Your parents hate me.”

“They don’t know you.”

“I’m not the dream every parent wants for their kid. I’m the nightmare.”

Macie’s lips trembled as if she were fighting tears. “Please. Come home with me, okay? If anything, just for today. I don’t want to be alone waiting to see what happens with Lev, and I don’t want you to join the gang. Not today.”

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