Page 25 of Crew Princess
Race grunted. “I’m not surprised either.”
Taz turned her frown toward her boyfriend, reaching for his leg.
Jordan scooted to the edge of his seat. “Why are you guys here?”
Cross glanced at me. I glanced back, then sipped more coffee. I wasn’t quite ready to get into all of this, but we’d heard Zellman’s exclamation about how that “piece of shit Alex set the whole thing up,” so we were already here.
Cross stood as Zellman finished the coffee and started back for the chairs.
“Nah, man. You looked wrecked.” Zellman grabbed a stool and brought it over.
Cross rubbed his jaw, still standing. “If I sit again, I’ll fall back asleep. We—” He indicated me. “—had an eventful evening. You guys heard the rumor, then?”
“Yeah.” Jordan jerked his chin up. “What do you know?”
“We heard last night from Channing—”
I jumped in, feeling more alive now. “We caught Alex going into the gym this morning. We didn’t realize everyone would know about the rumor.”
Jordan waved that off, scooting back in his chair. “The fucker is blabbing to everyone. They don’t want the shit beat out of them, so they’re putting the blame on Ryerson.” He paused, glanced at Race, and amended, “They’re blamingAlex, I mean.”
Race glowered. “Too many of us, if you ask me.” He slid his eyes toward me on the couch, a simmering heat there. “Drake should not be here.”
I saluted him with his girlfriend’s coffee. “Couldn’t agree more.”
Feeling Cross watching me, I waited to see if he’d share what else we knew. But though Race and Taz were close friends to the crew and family, nothing could make them a part of the Wolf Crew. That sanctity was still there.
Jordan gave me a questioning head tilt, and I shook mine in response. He knew there was more to say, but he nodded. The message had been received.
Zellman spun around on his stool.
“What’s the plan then?” Race looked around.
“Since the rumor’s out, your cousin better transfer schools already,” Cross said. “Whether it’s true or not, he’s a target.”
Race said, “I know, but that’s on him. He dug his own grave.”
“All fucking six feet of it.” Cross moved toward the kitchenette and the coffee.
Taz looked down, but turned to watch her brother walk away for a moment.
“You never answered,” Jordan said to me. “When’d you guys roll in here?”
“This morning, after we talked to Alex.”
His eyes stayed narrowed. He was salivating to hear what we weren’t saying.
I smirked.
He scratched his nose with his middle finger.
I laughed, and then coughed to cover it up when Taz frowned my way.
“So…” Zellman was clueless to everything, stretching his arms over his head. “Where’s the party before the street dance tonight?” He looked from Cross, to Jordan, to me, and back again. “Party? Right? Or are we doing something else?”
Cross was coming back, a coffee mug in hand. “Do we have damage control after what you did last night?” He nodded to Z, then switched to Jordan. “People know it was you guys who did the cars.”
Zellman harrumphed. “Fuck that. No way. Besides, that’s payback for all those years ago. We still hear about that shit with the Broudou brothers. It’s been a long time coming that we explodetheircars.”
