Page 27 of Reviving Kendall

“He wouldn’t have even been out that night if it wasn’t for you,” he says digging the knife a little deeper.

Derrik has moved even closer and I’m sure at this point that my ass is getting wet tonight. I can only hope that he won’t try to drown me after I go in. I try to stall him and get a question off my chest at the same time, “Why do you care so much?”

I watch his face as the pain flashes there, and it’s in that moment that I know. He must see something on mine, because he makes a quick move to push me in.

“Hey!” a voice yells from behind him. My stomach falls into my butt in relief when I hear Teagan’s voice.

Derrik turns around with a smile plastered to his face, “Hey man, what’s up? Killer party.”

“What the fuck was just going on here?” he asks. “It looked like you were going to push her in.”

The laugh that he lets out is fake and I hope Teagan can read straight through the bullshit. I’m not opening my mouth. If they find out that Derrik was the cause of my bruises, I have no doubt that he would have a rough night afterwards. I should have known that I wouldn’t have to say anything.

Derrik opens his mouth and inserts his foot, “Oh, you mean trailer park? She was just offering me sex for money, and I had to be a little forceful in telling her off. Figured a swim might do her some good.”

“Is that so?” Teagan asks in a chilly voice I’d yet to hear from him.

Throwing up his hands, Derrik says, “Look man, I wasn’t trying to start any trouble. We were just talking.”

“I thought she was offering you sex for money?” Teagan says crossing his arms. “Can’t be both, so which is it, dickhead?”

He laughs and looks to me, “This is who you’re whoring around with now?”

“Don’t fucking call her that or it’ll be your ass in that lake,” Teagan says, taking a step closer to him.

Derrik throws his hands up again, “You’re more than welcome to her, dude. I’m out.”

We watch as he makes his way to the end of the dock. I breathe a sigh of relief. Only, it’s short lived when he turns around and walks backwards as he says, “See you around.” It would have been fine if he hadn’t reached up and tapped the side of his nose.

Teagan, who had come to stand at my side, stiffens as Derrik’s laughter echoes back to us, “Kendall?”

I look up to his face, only to see a fury that I associate with Maverick not him. “Please tell me that he didn’t just mean what I think he did,” he says barely containing the rage.

Refusing to answer him is enough of an answer, apparently. He storms down the dock as he yells, “Mother fucker!”

“Wait, Teagan,” I say catching up, and trying to pull him to a stop, “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

He stops and turns around to look down to me, “Tell me that prick has nothing to do with the bruises on your face.” When I say nothing, he nods, “Thought so.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

If he makes it to the guys before Derrik leaves, it’s going to turn into a bloodbath. I’m way the fuck out of my element, and I have no idea how to stop them. Ryleigh. I’ve got to find Ryleigh.

By the time that I find her, I almost cry in relief. She’s sitting in Eddie’s lap inside the house. Just as I motion for her to come outside with me, one of the guys’ teammates runs through the middle of the room, “Fight!!!”

Forgetting Ryleigh, I rush out with the rest of the crowd to the front yard. What I see turns my stomach. Maverick has Derrik on the ground pounding fist after fist into his face. Goose tries to pull him off the bloody mess that’s Derrik, but Maverick just pushes him away. So, of course, I do the stupidest thing I can think of.

Pushing my way through the crowd, I get in Maverick’s face, “Stop it! Maverick! Look at him! Stop!”

There’s so much anger when he looks at me that I know some of it is meant for me. He jerks up away from Derrik, who is moaning on the ground.

I want to say something to him, but he’s gone before I get the chance to.

Ryleigh comes up and yanks on my arm, pulling me away from the scene. She walks us back to Eddie, “Go find my brother and tell him that I’m taking Kendall home.” He nods and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Once we’re out of earshot of everyone, she starts grilling me. It takes me all the way to her car to get it all out and when I do, she says nothing. She just stares at me, open-mouthed. At least I think she’s staring at me, until I realize that she’s actually been staring right over my shoulder.

“Why did you lie to me?” Maverick’s voice growls in my ear.

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