Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series (9 page)

“Guess you didn’t sleep last night either,” she says.

Well, she’s right about that. Except for the short, hot dreams I had
about snuggling with her, burying my face between her perky tits, there weren’t
a lot of things to make me want to sleep. Especially not the hellish thoughts I
had about my brother.

“Not really, no,” I say.

I stretch my arms and catch her peeking at me. I lick my lips in
excitement. Her sparkling blue eyes scanning my body gives me a boner. I feel
like she just ran her tongue over my cock.

Suddenly she starts fiddling with her pen, clearing her throat. She
clearly doesn’t feel comfortable being attracted to me. I wonder why.

“You always come so close to guys you barely know?” I taunt.

Her jaw drops and her eyes widen, but she doesn’t say a word. All
she does is utter words I can’t understand, and I grin at the sight.

“W-what?” she finally manages to say after shaking her head.

Seriously? Is she that flabbergasted?

“You were only a few inches away from my face a couple of seconds
ago,” I point out.

She blushes, and it makes me smirk even more. God, she looks so good
when she blushes. I wonder if she’d look the same if she was lying under me,
naked.

“I’m just trying to help,” she snaps, frowning.

There she goes again with her holy Samaritan act. She keeps saying
she wants to help, but she’s too goddamn afraid to actually be of any use at
all. She doesn’t want to be close to me, and that’s what I need most right now.

But I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be involved with me.
It would be dangerous.

“I don’t need any help,” I say, clearing my throat.

It’s not true, but I have to keep reminding her to back off. She can
dig all she want, but she’s not getting anything. I’m kind of done with this
‘helping’ thing she does. Unless, of course, she’d like to get it on with me.
I’d have no problem sticking my tongue into her mouth, or other places for that
matter.

Yep, I’ve been having a hard time not giving in to my urges since I
came to this school.

“You said the same thing last night,” she says.

“Yeah, and I meant it.”

“Well, you sure looked like you could use some help,” she says,
pursing her lips.

Goddammit, why does she have to make it so hard for me all the time?
I don’t want to keep talking about this. I’d rather just forget about
everything, but she won’t let me.

I sigh, trying to restrain myself. I’m getting tired of this. She
has no idea what she’s saying. “As if it could do anything. As if it could
solve my problems.”

“Maybe it could, if you’d accept it.”

That’s it. I’m done.

I slam my hand on the table, the impact stinging my fingers. It
makes her spring up from her seat. I glare at her, my teeth clenched together
as I try not to shout. She’s really getting on my nerves now.

“Nothing,
nothing
, can help me,” I growl.

She. Can’t. Help. Me. Not with this. No one can.

The least she can do is shut up about it.

But when I see her face, I feel bad. Really bad. Her smile is gone.
Her eyes are watery.

Shit. I don’t want her to cry because of me.

“Fine. Whatever. I’m just trying to help. You don’t have to take
it,” she snaps.

Oh, c’mon. Is she serious?

I try to relax, breathing out heavily as I turn my head and gaze at
something else for a second. I can’t look at her right now. Part of me wants to
yell and scream at her, another part wants to pull her in for a hug. Neither is
appropriate.

My mind drifts off to yesterday and how she offered me some water,
even though I’ve been treating her like crap since I met her. I feel guilty,
and I realize I’ve been such a jerk to her that I want to make it up.

“Look … I’m sorry,” I say, trying not to be overly loud.

I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. It’s not. I just don’t
like talking about my weak moments. Especially not when they have everything to
do with my brother and a secret gang.

“I just had a rough night, and I’m kind of pissed about it, okay?” I
say.

Pissed being the understatement of the year. I’m fucking furious
because of what the gang did to my brother, but at the same time I know they’re
the only way I have to get my brother out quickly. I hate that I’ll have to
depend on them. Just the thought of having to join them is making me sick, but
this is my only choice.

I’ve been taking out all these thoughts on Leafy, and that’s not
fair to her.

I look up at her, and she smiles briefly. I’m glad she’s not angry
at me. I don’t like to see her hurt.

“I understand,” she says.

She understands. Okay. So I can assume everything is all right now?
I just want to forget anything ever happened, really.

I nod, and say, “Okay.” Hoping we can just let things pass, I
concentrate on the class instead. It’s about time I did.

After our class ends, I find Jaret waiting at the designated spot, right
outside the dorm.

“You’re in, bud. I told them what you told me: that you don’t care
about your brother and that you can do much more for them.”

“Good,” I say. I’m not happy. I despise the gang, but I keep
reminding myself I’m in it for my brother.

“Wes is the one who’s going to give you the goods. He’ll be your
distributor.”

“Oh, really? The guy with the tats I met the first time?”

“Yep. That one. I knew he’d seen you already, so this was the
easiest way in.”

“Cool. So what now? Do I have to start dealing? And when do I meet
the rest of them?”

“He doesn’t want to introduce you to the rest of the gang just yet.
They’re gonna test you first.”

“Okay, whatever,” I say, frowning. I wonder what that means.

“You’ll have to do a drug exchange. That’s the first assignment.
He’ll be watching you.”

“There’s more?”

Jaret looks down at the ground. “They want you to do a fight, too.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

“Not the arena. I mean, they want you to beat up someone.”

“Seriously?” I hate to admit it, but I don’t like beating up random guys.
Unless they deserve it, I don’t like hurting innocent people.

“I’ll let you know who tomorrow. I don’t know the specifics yet.”

“Okay.”

“But there’s one thing that Wes specifically stated you have to do
before you fight.”

“What does he want me to do?” I say, getting anxious.

“It’s a rule we have here in Alpha Psi that you have to know what
you’re selling. So before you go into the fight, they want you to take the
drugs.”

“What?” I scream. “No! No fucking way!”

“You have to. You’re in the gang now.”

“The fuck I will!”

I slam my backpack into the ground. I hate that crap. I hate it with
all my guts. It’s the one reason everything in my life is fucked up. Drugs and
I have a history I’d rather keep hidden away forever.

“Hey!” Jaret grabs both my arms. “Calm down.”

“I’d rather die than take that shit,” I yell.

Jaret squeezes my arms and looks me straight in the eye. “Do you
want to get your brother out or not?”

“Of course I do!”

“Then you’ll do what they ask.”

“But―”

“There’s no other way. You have to do this. They won’t accept no for
an answer. Not anymore.”

I bite my lip, trying to chew away the gut-wrenching feeling I have.
I hate drugs. There’s
nothing
I hate more than drugs.

But if this is the only way I can get accepted into the gang, I have
to do it. I have to find out who the leader is so I can free Jessie.

“If it’s the only way …. I’ll do it.” I’m already regretting what I
just said, but there’s no turning back now.

“Don’t worry. They’ll start slow. Pot, probably. They just want to
know what you’re made of.” Jaret gives me a friendly punch on the arm. “And
you’re made of bricks, remember?”

I snort and clench my jaw tight. I don’t like this. I don’t like
this at all, but I’ll do it. For my brother. For Jessie.

♥♥♥

I’m outside, working out on the fresh grass. Having a cold breeze
cool me down while I do some push-ups. I alternate them with stretches, pushing
my muscles to the limit. I want to be as fit and lean as possible. I need to be
focused and ready to take some blows before it’s my time to beat someone up for
the gang.

After I’m done, I shake my limbs, loosening them. I hang a ball on a
tree branch so I can use it as a target. It’s not much, but it’ll have to do. I
can’t just replace it with a living human being, and I don’t have the money to
get the real thing.

I blow out some concentrated breaths and ready my fists before
striking hard and fast. I’m throwing out as many punches as I can, forcing
myself to step over my boundaries. With each strike I drift further away into
my thoughts, into my memories, and I’m reminded of the pain. The gash in my
heart the moment my brother was ripped away from me. The gang that’s behind it
all. The gang that I’ve now joined.

My anger drives my fists even harder into the ball. With each hit, I
imagine it’s one of them that I’m hitting, and it makes my strikes so much
better. I’m fueled by my rage. I even hit it so hard I send it flying into the
air.

It reminds me of the times my brother and I used to do this. Just
the two of us, a long time ago. He’d teach me how to fight, how to fend for
myself. He always told me to use my anger as a tool to increase my strength.
Especially when the bullies were harassing me.

I guess he regrets part of that now, since I started beating them up
instead of it being the other way around.

I draw in a deep breath and wipe the sweat away from my forehead.
Taking a break, I look around campus and notice Leafy sitting in the grass with
her friend. The sun makes her glow, and she looks so radiant, so alive. So
oblivious to what’s going on all around her.

I like how she’s not involved in anything dangerous, and that I know
there’s at least one normal person in my life. Although we’re still not on
friendly terms. Not yet.

But I love looking at her, and the way she smiles at her friend, and
how she wriggles her nose when she’s embarrassed. How her tiny body could fit
perfectly in my arms.

When she turns her head and notices me, her eyes widen. My lips curl
up into a lazy, arrogant smile as her cheeks turn red. Damn, she looks cherry-poppin’
hot.

She doesn’t even look away this time. Courageous.

I wave.

She waves back.

Well, that’s a first. I wonder if she’s just a scared little geek
ready to be pulled into the real world. Maybe I can help her with that.

Or maybe I shouldn’t.

What am I even thinking? I don’t want to involve her in my life. No,
not like this.

Her friend pokes her, and they return to talking, so I look away.
Then I notice Jaret standing outside the fence with a bunch of guys. I assume
it’s the gang, because they all look shady as hell.

Guess this is it.

I shake off the excess nerves and walk toward the fence, making sure
I’m as inconspicuous as possible.

“Hey,” I say.

Jaret leans forward. “You gotta buy the goods off them. You’ll use
this in the fight.”

Shit, guess that means it’ll have to come from my own pocket this
time. They want me to buy my own drugs that I’ll have to use later. Assholes.

Another guy with slick hair and shades leans forward, pulling
something out of his pocket for only a short moment, showing me he has a
satchel filled with green crap. Probably the pot.

“Where’s the money?” he asks.

Sighing, I rummage in my pocket and take it out carefully, making
sure nobody sees me doing this. I don’t want to get caught.

Our exchange is lightning-quick, and the moment the satchel hits the
bottom of my pocket I feel nervous. I don’t like walking around with drugs, but
I have to do this. I have to earn the gang’s trust.

“Cool.” The guys turn around and Jaret walks with them after giving
me a wave and a thumbs-up.

My fingers tremble as I reach down into my pocket, feeling the drugs
push against my thigh. It’s disgusting, and it makes me sick to my stomach
knowing I’ll have to take them. Only now do I realize the full extent of what
I’m doing, what I’m getting myself into. This is for real. There is no going
back.

Chapter
8

Scheming