Always Crew
Chapter 38

BREN

Tim Harper was coming toward us.

Some people noticed, stopping to watch. Some were too drunk and kept on partying. I skimmed the rest of his group, my gaze landing on Zeke. He fell to the back, and he kept glancing down. If I were to guess, he was sending the call out to Blaise. With Aspen as blitzed as she was, Harper actually seeking us out, and from the look on his face, he wanted to fight, so I was saying no matter what, we were fighting. One, Blaise would start it if it already weren’t going by the time he got here, and two, I wanted it.

I’d been sidelined for two weeks, and while I hated what I did to Harper, I couldn’t deny that it had woken something up in me. Something that’d been sleeping. The old Bren, but I knew now that I couldn’t keep suppressing her.

I needed the old me and the new me to merge. If I didn’t allow it, I didn’t want to think of the consequences, but Harper was coming right at me and the old Bren was rallying.

He was a bully. He was coming to push his weight around, show off his power, hoping to intimidate us. He was mistaken.

I lowered my head, locking it in place, and just like that, Cross and Jordan got into place beside me. I heard Jordan bend down, telling Aspen’s friend to move her back and away…far away.

“Why?”

He replied, “Just trust me. Her boyfriend will flip his shit if she’s here.”

Zeke looked up then, also noting the interaction. He watched, and then tracked Aspen as she was moved back into the crowd. Once she was clear, he seemed to take a breath and his shoulders relaxed a little bit more. He looked down, and again, I was betting money he sent off another text to reassure his boy.

But then the last of the crowd moved aside, and Harper was now standing in front of us.

I waited, expecting it.

His gaze skimmed over me, going above and over my head to Jordan. He sniffed, actually sniffed. “You’ve been banned—”

He didn’t acknowledge me.

He didn’t look at me.

He didn’t speak to me.

He was scared of me.

He was still speaking, “—from all fraternity and sorority events.”

Jordan scoffed. “This is a street party.”

“It’s a fraternity event.”

Jordan shot back, “It’s a street, a*****e.”

I looked at Zeke, seeing his gaze solely on me.

Before, he always had a smirk, something smug to say. Not this time. He was sober, somber even, and he was staring right at me. I tilted my head to the side, and he didn’t react. He didn’t break eye contact.

I frowned at him.

Still. No reaction from him, except his eyes danced to Cross and back to me. He looked again, off in the direction Aspen had been taken, and he nodded, letting out a noticeable breath.

Cross moved so the back of his hand grazed mine. He always did that in these times. Sometimes it was to hold me back, sometimes to give me strength, sometimes to anchor himself, but this time, as I looked at him, he gave the slightest nod. This time, it was to let me out of my cage.

He showed me his phone’s screen.

Channing: We got her. Whatever you’re going to do, be safe. Don’t let Bren get arrested or I’ll toss you in jail myself.

I gave him a smile, and he hissed under his breath, but he grinned back. He knew what he was doing.

“Harper…” I made sure there was a taunt in my voice.

He froze for a second before looking at me. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he raised his chin up. “Yeah?”

I settled back on my heels, getting comfortable. “Remember me?”

It was a matter of time before he talked. I was controlling it. I was deciding when it happened, and it was happening now.

Harper didn’t respond, but I got distracted. Just for a moment.

Beyond him, farther in the crowd was a girl. I frowned, moving to the side for a better view. Kess Foster. She was a blast from the past, the only other girl in the crew system back at Roussou. Her hair caught my attention first, it was like a beacon at times. Almost pure white, but her eyes were the other recognizable attribute. They were like an ice blue color. Sometimes I swore they were grayish white, but she was looking through the crowd. Seeing me, frowning, her eyes narrowed, she started toward me.

Kess was like that.

Her crew had been small, and one of the ones that most forgot was even a crew, but that hadn’t been her fault. It’d been her crew’s fault. Still. She came from crew roots. She scoped out the situation and was coming to help.

That was, until a guy moved ahead of her.

She stopped, still frowning, and looked up.

The guy—he seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Dark hair. Blue eyes that almost matched Kess’, but not quite. A brother? I didn’t remember if Kess had any other siblings, but no. There was an air about them, about them both. He moved into her, also looking at us, but he wasn’t looking at me.

He was watching Harper, and seeing who Harper was talking to—now he saw me and he saw me watching him. That was enough. He grimaced, swearing under his breath (not hard to read lips when someone says ‘f**k’) and then two guys walked past them, and they were gone.

I looked but couldn’t see them.

That was… odd.

“We want you gone.”

I tuned back in. Harper was taking the charge, motioning for Jordan to leave.

The guys around Harper were rallying, moving in as if they were going to physically force Jordan from the premises.

Cross growled, moving to meet them.

And that was my cue. I went, too, reaching for an old friend of mine. I pulled out my knife. It’d been a graduation gift from Cross. A little wolf had been carved into the handle. I loved it, I now slept with it at my bedside, but it accomplished its desired effect.

The old Bren was here and pushing to join the fight. She wanted out of her cage.

I smiled.

They stopped in their tracks at the knife, but the smile, a smile that I knew was eerie, sent them edging backwards.

Harper didn’t move. His gaze was transfixed on my knife and he paled, his jaw slackening.

What happened next, I’d think back on later.

I’d wonder if we continued how we were going, what would happen. If we would’ve contained the situation, scared the guys off, and Jordan could’ve stayed and had a good night, or if things would have inevitably turned bad anyway?

In a way, maybe it didn’t matter?

Because what did happen was chaos. Then again, I was learning that’s what happened when Cross’ brother joined the mix, and as I was noting Harper’s feared response to me, there was a commotion to the side. People were talking. Conversations were loud. A couple shouts, and then Blaise arrived in a rush. He was a force, like a pin being taken to a balloon, and at his presence, Harper was pulled out of his trance.

His eyes went feral—it was eerie to see it in someone else—and he growled. He lunged for Blaise, actually lunged.

“You motherfucker!” His hands were up, going for Blaise’s throat.

Someone knocked him around. Their body pushed in, giving him a hard hit to the side, and as Harper caught himself, rubbing at his face, he looked. Another snarl started to form. At this point, his frat brothers had moved to form half a circle, but they weren’t engaging.

I thought they would. That was something I would wonder about later, too. If it would’ve been a fight between us and Harper’s frat, but Blaise showed up, and his presence flipped everything upside down.

That body who had stepped in to block Harper? That was Zeke, and he was standing in front of his best friend, his hands in fists, and he was staring down at Harper like he was a bull getting ready to charge.

“You f*****g kidding me?” Admonishment from Harper.

Zeke’s nostrils were flaring. His neck was locked and getting red. “You tried to throw me out of the house.”

Harper snapped upright. His gaze went over Zeke’s shoulder to Blaise, then scanned the rest of us and he looked at his friends. He turned back, losing some of his fight. His hand fell from his face. “Zeke. It was a conflict of interest. Even you have to admit that. I mean, look.” He gestured to Blaise. “Your best friend wants to ruin my life.”

Blaise smirked. “Because you make it so easy. Keep being a douche, and I’ll continue trying to ruin you.”

“Shut the f**k up!”

Blaise rolled his eyes. “I made a promise, just seeing that promise out.” He put a hand on Zeke’s shoulder and walked around him, taking point. His head angled down, getting in Harper’s face. “Look around you, bro. None of your guys are backing you against Zeke. Think on that.” He tapped the side of his head, and he reached forward.

We saw it happen.

Cross clenched his jaw. I tightened my grip on my knife.

And then, in slow motion, Blaise tapped the side of Harper’s head with his finger. And his trademark smirk appeared. “Get it?”

I checked.

Zeke looked shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth opened a small bit, then his gaze snapped forward to Harper.

I felt Jordan moving in behind me.

Shit.

Cross’ brother was going to force a fight. It was a different matter if Cross, Jordan, Zellman, or I did it, but someone not crew? Our hand was getting played without our permission. That would not fly, but we were here. We were in this situation. We’d do what we needed to do.

A primal sound came from Harper, but he only jerked forward and shoved Blaise back. “What is your issue with me, man?! Because of what I said about your girl? I was complimenting yo—”

He hadn’t noticed that absolute raw rage that was coming over Blaise.

Punch!

We all stopped for a second, because it hadn’t been Blaise who hit Harper. Or Zeke.

Standing at the side, the same twin-like, murderous look on his face was Cross.

His face was grim, his jaw set in stone, and as Harper fell down, Cross stepped forward, his foot coming down on Harper’s hand. He ground his heel over it.

Screams filled the air, sending chills down my spine as it mixed with the techno and rap music.

There was a pocket of silence and a snapping sound was heard.

I cringed. That was a bone being broken.

Some of Harper’s frat brothers started to move in, but Zeke threw his hands out. “No!”

The guys held back, but they weren’t happy. One snapped at Zeke, “What the hell, man?”

Blaise looked at his brother, a vein sticking out from his neck, and he shoved Cross back. “I don’t need you to do my work.”

Oh, hell no. Now he didn’t need us to do his work?

I moved in. Jordan was at my back, but Blaise bent down and scooped Harper up. He threw an arm around his shoulder and scanned the crowd. Ignoring the phones and cameras recording us, he kept looking, jerking Harper with him as if he were a rag doll. That told me Blaise’s adrenaline levels were off the charts. He might look like as if he’s tightly controlled right now, but he wasn’t. He was every bit as wild as Harper was looking, though Harper was starting to look green in the face. His hand was flapping in the air, too.

Spotting someone, Blaise pointed into the crowd. “Jessinda. Come here.”

A girl moved forward, stepping into our circle, and I recognized the handprint girl.

Unlike a lot of the other girls, she was wearing a dress. Strapless. White. As she moved forward, it shimmered. Her hair was styled so it looked natural, but hair like that was never natural. Diamonds were dangling from her ears, matching the diamonds on her sandals and around her wrists. She looked very classy, and annoyed, judging by the pinch of her nose.

“What do you want, Blaise?”

He pulled Harper tight against him, looking as if he were jerking around a friend. The hard look in his eyes didn’t match his grin, and the sight was a little unhinged. “You know this boy and your girl Tab dated, right?”

Her eyes were narrowed, her mouth flat. “Yeah. Why?”

A bunch of girls came in, crowding behind her. They were all dressed similarly, in white dresses with diamonds hanging from their ears. A few looked nervous. Some were annoyed. Some were intrigued, casting glances at Jordan and Cross, then the rest of the other guys. More than a couple were fixing their hair, but Jessinda kept on point, staring hard at Blaise.

“Did she tell you it was against her will?”

Jessinda’s eyes went flat—wait. What?

I jerked around to Blaise. “What are you doing?”

That was my narrative to say. Well, mine because I was the one who handed out the beatdown the first time, but also Tab’s and Jordan’s.

“What are you saying?”

Harper was still cringing, cradling his broken hand against his chest. He didn’t seem to hear what Blaise was saying.

Blaise raised his eyebrows at Jessinda’s question. “I’m saying your girl Tab was with this douche because his dad,” he shook Harper a little, “owned a bad loan over her dad. She was with this d**k because he told her if she spread her legs, he’d get his dad to back off the loan.”

Wait.

WHAT?!

I shared a look with Cross, but Jordan was at our backside. He was rushing in. “The f**k you’re saying?!”

This was different from what he’d been told. Tab said she went to Harper, not Harper extorting her. That flipped everything on its head, again.

Blaise’s grin was still cool, scanning over us as he went back to Tabatha’s sorority sister. “I bet you didn’t know that about your girl.” He was looking over at the rest of the girls. “I know your house is connected to theirs. You guys cool with keeping a guy like that in Zeke’s frat?”

I chanced a look at Zeke. His eyes were closed, and his head was hanging. His mouth was pressed tight. Then his lips moved, and I saw he was counting down under his breath. Ten, nine, eight, and so forth.

Jessinda looked at the other fraternity guys. “That true?”

They all shared a look, all shifting on their feet.

Zeke opened his eyes now, giving his best friend a hard look before turning his eyes to her. “Yes. We had a house meeting last night. He admitted it to us.”

Jessinda’s mouth hung open. A startled laugh came from her, but it was harsh sounding. “He did that to one of my sisters?”

“She was one of yours for two months. She’s gone—”

She snapped at the fraternity guy who had stepped forward, “She took the pledge. She’s one of ours. That makes her one of mine.” Her eyes were fierce, her whole face tightening up and rigid. “You all know who my father is. My mother.”

I studied the sorority sisters and then Zeke’s fraternity brothers. Not one of them spoke up. Acceptance and resignation seemed to hang over the guys, and one by one, they looked at Zeke and gave him a small nod. As they did, they turned and left until it was just Zeke standing. He looked at Blaise, who was still holding Harper upright.

Zeke’s hands were still in fists at his side, but he cocked his head to the side and his arms jerked. He forced his fists open, his palms pressing against his sides before he took a large breath. “Let him go, dude. We got him from here.”

Blaise shoved him at Zeke, who caught him, and Zeke and Harper took off, too.

Jessinda cast us a shrewd look before addressing Blaise. “Kinda shitty you did that in front of witnesses.”

Blaise shrugged. “Did that for my boy and my girl. I keep my promises.”

Her head lifted back, and she was taking him in in a whole new manner. Want and l**t flared for a brief second before she stamped it back down. “Too bad you and your brother are taken.” She looked at me. “I know you’re friends with Tab. I’ll tell her myself, but maybe it’d be good if she heard from you as well. She’s welcome back anytime. We’ll all have her back. There’ll be no judgment or shame in our house, not when it comes to one of our sisters.”

I nodded.

She dipped her head down before turning. She and her sisters left after that.

Then it was Blaise and the rest of us.

Cross and I had been holding Jordan back. He’d been moving in, closer and closer as that whole conversation happened, and sharing one look, both Cross and I stepped aside.

Jordan was through in a flash, and he punched Blaise, a clear hit across the face.

“What the hell?”

Jordan stood over him, seething. “You knew that shit for twenty-four hours and didn’t tell me? F**k. You.” With that said, he left.

Cross and I followed.