Page 12 of Reckless at Westbrook High

He used to be so fucking happy.

Just as I think it, Kai walks over and snatches the bottle from my hand, grinning like an asshole when my eyes cut to his. The little shit tries to take the last candy bar from the bottom drawer in the fridge so I smack his hand away, laughing to myself when he smacks me right back and tries to take it from me.

“That’s my stash.”

“Don’t care.”

“Bitch–”

“Boys!” Dad barks, sighing heavily when he catches the tick in Damon’s jaw. “Look, this isn’t a joke, alright? I told you not to go after him again.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Derek was attacked in his room at the hospital just now. His doctor said he’s got a broken collarbone and two broken ribs.”

Callie’s brows snap in the center and she looks between us, first to voice what we’re all thinking. “It wasn’t us.”

Dad scans our faces like he’s searching for a lie and Damon glares, dropping down in the seat opposite him to look him dead in the eye. “She said it wasn’t us.”

He nods, satisfied he’s telling the truth, but I don’t miss the defeated look in his eyes or the fact he looks like he hasn’t slept in days.

“Why are you so worried?” Kai frowns, snatching the half eaten piece of chocolate from my mouth to toss it in his own. “You paid them all off, right?”

“That’s not the point, Kai,” he mutters, dropping his head to run his hands through his hair. “Someone’s after Derek.”

“So?” we say together, shrugging unapologetically when he cuts his eyes to us. “Who fuckin’ cares?”

“Yeah, but who did it?” Callie throws back, dropping down on Damon’s lap to wrap her arm around his neck. “And how the hell did they get away without getting caught? I don’t care how big or bad you think you are, if someone’s snapping your ribs like that you’re screaming. There’s no way no one heard him.”

“The doctors said he was high on painkillers and cocaine,” he tells her, not noticing the way me and the boys tense at her words because how the fuck does she know what those kind of broken bones feel like?

She snaps her mouth shut when she realizes what she said and drops her eyes to her lap, telling us all we need to know.

Jesus.

Damon glares and tightens his grip on her waist, locking his jaw when her hand automatically moves for the empty space where her necklace used to sit. He takes her wrist to lock her fingers with his and she clears her throat, looking at Dad.

“What’s Derek saying?”

“Nothing,” he sighs, oblivious to the thick cloud of tension filling the room. “He’s refusing to talk to anyone. Won’t even give the police a statement of what happened last weekend or how he ended up in the hospital.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” I ask, looking between him and Damon. “No statement, no case. Callie already said she doesn’t wanna press charges unless he tries to go after Damon. Maybe he knows that and he’s keeping his mouth shut to save his own ass.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t explain who attacked him or why he’s refusing to go to rehab,” Dad argues, helplessly scrubbing his hands over his face. “I’m gonna go stop by the hospital to see if I can get some sense out of him.”

“You do that,” Kai mutters, leaning his ass back on the counter beside me.

“Oh, and I want you all back in school first thing Monday morning,” he orders, standing to pull his phone from his pocket. “You’ve already missed enough over the last few weeks and believe it or not, you actually need to be there in order to graduate. That means you too, Callie.”

“Yes, Mr Kingston,” she winks, grinning when he blinks at her in surprise.

Damon looks like he’s ready to choke her out right here on the kitchen island but Dad just shakes his head at them, tossing a wave over his shoulder while he walks for the elevator. “School. Monday. No fighting.”

We mutter our agreement and Damon wraps Callie’s hair around his fist, pulling her head back to speak in her ear. “Do you want me to hurt you?”

“Maybe a little bit,” she smirks, jolting when he drops his mouth to her neck to bite her there. “Fuck.”

“Careful what you wish for, punk,” he teases, lifting her up to carry her over to the stairs.

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