“Someone better be dead,” I grumble, annoyed.
“Someone will be if you don’t get down here—now, Tillie,” Madison rushes, her tone has me on edge, but not enough to leave the comfort of my bed.
“What time is it? And I told you, I’m not coming.”
“Tillie! Nate is drunk as fuck and he’s fighting. I need you to get down here now.”
“What the hell makes you think I can stop him?”
She pauses, seeming to think of what to say. Or what to lie about. I rub the sleep from my eyes. “Because I know!”
I fling my blankets off my body. Annoyed that he’s interrupted my sleep. “Fine! Where are you guys?”
“At Brantley’s, and Tillie, I’m serious, hurry.”
I get a Snapchat notification from Tate. I open it and see Nate with no shirt on and blood smeared over his chest, his jeans hanging off his waist. When she zooms in, he’s laughing, but his eyes are wild. He’s absolutely drunk. Drunk and crazy. I don’t know if it’s a good idea I go… then the phone drops and there’s a guy not moving on the ground with people crowding around him. The guy finally gets up, but he’s in a bad way.
“Who’s next?” Nate grins, his arms stretched wide.
I shoot off the bed and bolt out the door to the main house. God, I really don’t want to do this, but I have no other choice, thanks to her crazy ass son.
Knocking on Elena and Joseph’s door, I yell, “Elena?”
The door opens after a few seconds and she wipes the sleep from her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, careful not to wake Joseph. “But Madison just called me, and Nate is drunk and fighting people and for some reason, she thinks I can help. Can y—”
Her eyes pop open. “—Shit. Yes, go.” She pauses just before I go back to the room to get changed. “Tillie? Be careful when he’s like this…”
I try to push down the fear that comes to the surface at her warning, and then nod and run back to my room.
I throw on my black yoga pants and my Harley t-shirt, tucking it in slightly on the side. Tying up my Chucks, I pile my hair into a high ponytail and grab the keys.
God. I have a really bad feeling about this.
I get to Brantley’s in record time. Jumping out of the truck, I quickly run into the house, shoving past the bodies of teenagers. People start moving for me when they recognize who I am. Walking past a group of girls, one with sleek black hair snickers to her friend. “That’s his baby mama. Tragic, really, that she tried to lock him down…”
I bite my tongue, moving to outside. The cool air is welcome after the humidity of ass and sweat in the house. “Crank That” by Travis Barker is roaring through the speakers and my head snaps to the circle of people behind the pool. I can’t see anything clearly, so I quickly start to make my way when Madison’s face appears.
“Thank fuck!” She yanks me toward the crowd.
“Why the fuck hasn’t Bishop or any of The Kings stopped him?”
“Are you kidding?” Madison snorts, shoving through people to get to the middle. “They’re putting bets down.” She shoves a group of girls who are in the front. “Fucking move!” They slide away and I gasp. Nate is on top of a guy triple his size, Nate’s fist plowing into his face. Blood splatters everywhere and my eyes go to his chest and back where there is dry blood crusted over.
I’m at a loss for words, because what the fuck…
Something kicks up inside of me. “Nate!” I bark. He falters but then carries on.
I go forward. “Nate get the fuck off him before you kill him.”
He stops now, turning to face me over his shoulder. “Forgot About Dre” starts playing now.
Nate turns his head slightly and then climbs off the boy. He’s— “What the fuck are you doing here?”
I knew this was a bad idea, but fuck it. “Madison called—you know what? That’s not the problem here!”
His eyes are on fire, furious as they go up and down my body. Then he licks his lip and grins. “Actually, yeah, sure thing, baby, you stay here.” Then he turns to face the crowd, snatching his drink off Eli who is standing beside Bishop who is also filming this whole thing.
“Nate…” I warn, my jaw clenching.
“What the fuck do you want, Tillie? I fucking told you, I don’t want you near me. Stop acting like my fucking girl just because we have a kid!”
I freeze, my eyes flying to Madison, who looks at me apologetically. I scoff, shaking my head. “You know what, Nate? Sure thing, you’re right. Kill him for all I care.” Then I turn to leave, annoyed that most of Riverside Prep just witnessed Nate and I screaming at each other.
“Oh no you don’t!” His hand comes to my arm, yanking me back.
I turn around, seething. “Get your fucking hands off me.”
He smirks, his other arm snaking around my waist to yank me into him. Then his mouth drops to my ear and I try to block out his scent. Sugar, spice, and leather only now mixed with a pang of liquid metal and sweat. “You just caused a scene, baby. I don’t know why you’re here, but now, you’re going to do exactly as you’re told.”
Then he bites my ear and stands back, his hand coming to mine and turning me around. He starts dragging me toward Bishop and The Kings. and I turn just in time to see a smug looking Madison. She’s such a little shit.
Nate points to a seat around the pool. “Stay there.”
I roll my eyes, annoyed that I came. But when my eyes look around the
