Page 39 of Crew
So he thought his cousin was. If he thought that after the first day, he was in for a rough ride this year. And the way he looked at me, it was always changing. Now I was a new puzzle. He was unlearning what he thought he knew, trying to find the place where the new pieces fit in.
I shook my head. "Do yourself a favor. Stop trying to figure me out."
He let out a rueful laugh. "Maybe I should." He glanced in the direction of the guys.
"Alex is going to kick you out of the house. And that's if he decides you going against him was a family issue, not a crew thing."
"And if he doesn't? If he decides it's a crew thing?"
"Then you're fucked. His entire group will turn on you. You'll become the number-one enemy at school."
He barked out a laugh. "This whole system--it's like nothing else matters. Your rules, your way, your lifestyle. That's it."
Exactly.
I offered an olive branch. "You need to decide where your loyalties lie. If you're not joining a group, you better get to your cousin ASAP and kiss his ass until you got no lips. Alex can be a somewhat decent guy on a good day, but if he thinks someone's looking down at him, he turns into a viper."
"What about you guys? You taking on new members?"
My chest grew tight. "We don't work like the Ryerson crew. There aren't applications or written rules for us."
"I'm not much of an ass-kisser, and I've got a feeling Alex isn't going to be my biggest fan here." The side of his mouth lifted. "Good thing I know how to fight."
Yes, he did.
He seemed to have real training, not the rough-scraping most of the guys used in fights.
I was glad to hear about the bluff, but why do that? Why mess with us on the first day, then back us up that same evening? Only time would tell. And with that last thought, he was officially no longer my concern.
I nodded to where my guys were. "I'm heading back."
The guys were still laughing with my brother when we got back, and everyone looked over as we approached.
Jordan extended a hand to Race. "Thanks for backing us up in there." A cocky grin appeared. "Even though we're the right choice, I know Alex is family to you."
"Yeah." Race shook his hand, glancing sideways at me. "Got a little advice on how to act moving forward."
Jordan nodded, settling back against his truck.
I felt Cross' gaze on me, but Channing spoke up, drawing my attention.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked me.
No. I sighed on the inside. "Yes."
Things were stifled between my brother and me. That was the best word to describe it. After Mom died, he hardly ever came home, choosing his friends instead. Then Dad went to prison. And because he'd fucked up the financials so much, on top of his crime, we lost the house. It came down to me going into the foster system or with Channing. We had no other blood family in the area, no one who would take me.
Things were still...distant, on my part too. We'd been little more than roommates the first year and a half. It'd only been the last six months that he'd started to want to know more about me and where I was.
This talk right now was not something I wanted to deal with. He was in no place to lecture me. He'd gotten into worse shit younger than me.
He nodded to the side, and I walked away from the group for a second time.
"I know I said it before, but Heather's not going to press charges," he assured me. "Because of that, though, she's responsible for all the damages. You and your guys need to help out, come in and clean, do a fundraiser for her or something to help with the repairs."
I nodded. "Yeah. I can see that."
It was a technicality that we'd started the fight. The real person who'd started it was Alex Ryerson. He'd cover the damages; he just didn't know it yet.
