Page 14 of Bear
Fury pounds through my veins, and my fists clench so hard my knuckles turn white. The level of aggravation makes my words scrape up out of my throat, gritty and raw. “Tucker. That prick is gonna get his ass beat when I get my hands on him. Might happen here. Might be at practice. Either way, he’ll regret it.”
Lennon’s eyes go wide. “I happened to be cutting up an apple at the time. I think it took him a little by surprise when I held the paring knife under his chin.” She gives us a worried look. “I made him bleed. It was running down the blade. I thought it was the right move at the time. But now… maybe not.”
Mason grits his teeth. “Fuck. Pierre was acting like a dick earlier, too. Trying to coerce her into the pool with him.”
I growl. “What the fuck did he say?”
Lennon dampens her lips with her tongue, almost as if she’s stalling for time, trying to decide how much to tell me.
“Stop.”
Her eyes flick to mine, registering the anger rising inside me.
My voice comes out sounding lethal when I murmur, “I need for you to tell me what that asshole thought he could get away with.”
“Let’s just say he was very suggestive, and he was touching himself while talking to me. I wasn’t going to say anything—thanks, Mase—because it wasn’t as big of a deal. He’s obviously caught wind of whatever everyone thinks went down last night and implied the guys at the other end of the hall would like to show me a good time. Wait— I think it was more that they could show me abettertime. In any case, Quincy and Arik are also constant assholes to me, and Kai and Brendan aren’t much better. I don’t know how we could ever pinpoint a culprit.” She bites her lip with a shrug.
Duke’s blue eyes have gone hot, like there’s a fire raging in there. “Stella,” he huffs before stopping to scrub his hand over his cheek, “you’ve gotta fucking tell me when this shit happens. Itisa big deal. All of it.”
She wets her lips again, tongue slicking over them slowly as she considers him. “And you’d do what? Join in with them?” The challenge—the dare—is clear in her eyes.
My eyes flick between them and then to Mason, who lifts his shoulders ever so slightly. He recognizes it, too. The tension between Lennon and Duke is a palpable thing. Heavy. Vibrating. Intoxicating. Raw. They don’t have a clue how to handle it, either.
I let out a hard breath when neither of them says a damn word. “I can’t decide whether knowing exactly what went down today will be distracting for me or whether it’ll fire me up enough to knock this Gamma Chi kid out with one punch.”
Agitation washes over Duke’s features as he looks down at his watch. “Fuck, we don’t even have time to sufficiently deal with any of this right now—”
Mason shakes his head, interrupting. “This happened under our noses with all four of us here. With this unresolved BS, there’s no way in hell we’re splitting up tonight.” His eyes connect with Duke’s. “You should come with Lennon.”
I nod. “I’d feel better knowing no other crazy shit is happening while I’m trying to concentrate on not getting knocked out. You okay with that, Little Gazelle?”
“Yes.” She gestures to the dress hanging from the knob of the dresser. “I need time to get this out of my head. Can— Can someone get rid of it?”
“I’ll take care of it.” Mason hooks the hanger over his finger. “Meet all of you downstairs in five.”
EIGHT
LENNON
My eyes are wideas Mason pulls the SUV up to an old, run-down warehouse. I’d never guess what goes on inside—not that I’m one hundred percent sure what I’m getting into, but I think I have an idea. Fights. Gambling.Definitely.Drinking? Drugs?Quite possibly.
And while I want to check all this out and learn what these fight nights of Bear’s entail, me being here is kind of a problem. Tristan and Derek will no doubt be present, which is why the guys didn’t want me coming tonight in the first place. Not after the shit show in the VIP box. Tristan talking about me wearing a jersey to show off my feminine form… Derek suggesting I’m fucking the entire brotherhood… and then putting his arm around me while telling me his son doesn’t like to share?Get the fuck out, old man.
But I have no wish to stay home, either. Someone is out to get me—someone who knows way too much and has access to me all the time. I’ve been attacked after class, at the football stadium, and had things in my own damn room defiled. There simply isn’t a safe place for me, and that thought makes my head pound and my skin crawl. So yeah, I get why the guys are freaked out.
I force myself to take some deep, cleansing breaths, my gaze moving over each of them as Mason puts the SUV in park. They’ve promised me that they aren’t responsible for what’s going on. And I believe them. I do. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still scared shitless. Possibly even more so because I can’t fathom where the threat is coming from. At least being here keeps my mind off how the hell I’m going to sleep alone in my room tonight.
Mason and Bear roll quickly out of the vehicle. My eyes follow as they meet at the front of the car, their heads immediately together in quiet conversation. I frown. Game plan, maybe? I try to read their body posture and facial expressions, but I’m not getting much out of it other than the fact they’re both tense and keep looking my way.
Mason catches my eye and winks. Maybe he sees the tension in me, too. I wouldn’t have thought after last night that Mason and I would even be approaching okay, but here we are. There’s definitely more buzzing around in that head of his, but I knew what little he’d shared had been huge to him. It makes me wonder how much detail Bear and Duke have. Do they realize the exact circumstances that led to Lily Mikaelson’s death? I glance at Duke from the corner of my eye. I’d ask him, but if he doesn’t know everything, I’d feel like shit for even opening my mouth and putting focus on it.
As I reach for the door handle, Duke touches my forearm, bringing my attention to him. “Here’s what we’re doing, Stella.” I scrape my teeth over my bottom lip, my eyes flicking to his.Bossy.“We’ll enter through there”—he points toward the old rusty-looking door we’d pulled up next to—“and try to keep out of sight. Bear’s dressing room isn’t far, and I figure we’ll stay there for the most part, you and me. I don’t want to alert my father that either of us are here after I told him earlier this afternoon we specifically wouldn’t be.”
“I won’t get to see the fight?” My heart does a little dip, and I know I’m pouting, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
Duke smirks, his lips twisting. “No promises. Once things get going, I can see if there’s a spot out of the way where we can watch some of the action. We have a ways to go before it even starts, though. There will be a preliminary match before Bear’s, which is the main event, and during that time, we help him get ready. Kinda get in the zone, wrap his hands, get him all suited up.”
“Okay, that all sounds fine.”
