The sickness of my reservations I forced down as I watched Knight step away, which allowed LJ in for his own hug. Paige actually lifted the motherfucker off his feet, a good head or two of height the guy had on her. She liked to show her strength, that she wasn’t weak, but she didn’t need to do things like that to prove her place with us. We knew who she was, stronger than all of us.
After putting LJ down, she grabbed Jax’s basically buzzed head. He always had his hair shaved down so he didn’t have to do anything with it, the lazy shit. She pulled him to her by the head, and after telling her to be safe, Jax let go of her. The guys came to me after that, pushing fists into my arms and giving Paige and me a moment. My friend stood before me in her jeans and a dark hoodie. It was the start of summer but it still could get terribly cold at night.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said, one final plea. “We can find another way.”
We could find another haze, not one that had been banned by the brotherhood. Ramses Mallick’s little bitch ass had let it get out that he’d been challenged with this haze, failed by denying this haze, and though I resented him at the time, he was right. Doing this could get someone hurt, even killed. It didn’t matter these particular tracks rarely got used. That’s why they’d been chosen for this haze, but still, shit could happen.
Instead of talking, Paige came over to me, and when she put out her arms, I grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulling her into me. She didn’t get to be the guy on this one. She was going to let me.
“That’s why I’m doing it, ass,” she whispered, holding me close and smelling like candy. I always loved that, how she could smell so sweet but still be such a badass. She braced my back. “You know those assholes will never accept it if I do anything else.”
Her doing the one haze that was banned amongst us would make a statement, get her acceptance. Not one woman had attempted to be a part of the brotherhood, and if she did this, her presence wouldn’t be challenged. She was breaking the horse that couldn’t be broken before and making us all look subservient to her because of it. Though she was right about what she said, that still didn’t mean I had to like that truth.
“You’ll call me,” I said, pulling her away. “You’ll call if you need anything. My dad’s summoned us tonight, but I’ll try to come back as soon as—”
“You won’t.” She put her hands on my chest, putting distance between us. Dark strands of her short haircut crossed her face, the wind breezing them over coal-black lashes. She pushed the hair away. “Because you can’t. It has to just be me.”
“It’ll be whatever I want. I can be here.” I could do whatever I wanted, my place high in our ranks. My dad owned half this fucking town. I could do whatever the fuck I wanted and would.
Paige shook her head. “I don’t want you to be. You can’t. I need to do this, Royal.”
With every word, she was ripping me apart, and I turned away.
Paige grabbed me this time, pulling me in. A quick hug and she was pulling my head over into the line of her voice. “Now help me.”
Help consisted of me getting her settled. She lay on the tracks, but when she pulled out the ropes, I hesitated again. This was a part of it. The haze had to be tied down to make it more of a challenge, but the whole thing made me sick.
Paige frowned. “Royal, please.”
I’d do anything for this girl and she knew that, taking advantage of that. We were each other’s everything, had been for so long. She was there through all the bruises, all of the pain of my father. In times I thought I’d give up, I didn’t want to because she was there. She was there with her own problems, and I was there for her too. We were an unbreakable unit, bonded through so many hurdles. She knew I’d do anything for her because she would for me.
In the end, I tied those ropes around her wrists, binding her to the tracks, but I kept them so loose it was laughable.
“You tug these if you need to,” I told her, the knots tied in a way so all she’d have to do to get up was move her wrists. “The knots are loose. You can get free easy.”
And she wouldn’t fight me on that no matter what she said. She was tied to the tracks. She was bound, and she could tell people that for the sake of the challenge.
Understanding, Paige let me have my way for once, smiling at me. Her chuckle was light. “Got it, and I’ll be fine.”
She better be, and after making sure she had her phone to call me, I did something rash. I took my own Court ring, pulled it right off my finger and put it on hers.
“This is yours now,” I told her. “I’ll get a new one. You’re Court after you finish this. No one can contest that.”
Her smile widened, and when the tears glassed her eyes, I almost broke down too. I had no idea why she was getting emotional, but because she never did, seeing it fucking did me in too.
Fighting it, I put a hand on her head, leaning down and kissing the top of her hair. She owed me one more thing
