Always Crew
Chapter 6

CROSS

I was waiting for Blaise outside the soccer facilities. We all had psych together, so I knew he’d be heading across campus soon. When he pushed open the door, his backpack on and a phone to his ear, he paused only briefly.

“See you in a bit.”

There was no play here. My brother and I had a tense truce, but it was still a truce. We were both trying, but as I always did whenever I saw my brother, I locked down. Blaise, on the other hand, he went the other way. He took stock, knew I was tensing, and his grin turned a bit wild. That’s how he was. He liked riling me up, getting a reaction from me. And he was usually successful at it.

No one pushed my buttons like he could. I didn’t know why, and even knowing he could do it, I still let him have that power over me. It pissed me off, each and every f*****g time I reacted to him. Anyone else, I was cold as ice. Not with Blaise.

“Brother,” he drawled, shoving his phone in his pocket. He let out a small sigh and took me in again. A smirk came next. “I’m guessing your boy finally spilled the beans. You’re here to double-check with me, see if I noticed anything else about your boy’s ex-girl cheating on him. Am I right? Can’t think of any other reason you’d be out here waiting for me.”

My brother was smart. Had I mentioned that?

It pissed me off, too.

The urge to push his head into the pavement was rising in me, but no. I stopped it, and could feel every muscle in my face locking in place. “Why are you such a d**k sometimes?”

His laugh was low and smooth. “Only for you, brother. Only for you.” He jerked his head toward campus. “Can we walk and do this at the same time? We all have psych together, remember?”

I fell in step, noting the attention we were already getting.

Blaise and I looked alike. A lot.

That got under my skin, too. My real twin was at a school four hours away, and she was of the female gender. But no. Blaise, who grew up in New York, a secret to all of us, even our father, looked more like me than anyone else.

There were good qualities in him, but mostly he couldn’t stand me, and I couldn’t stand him. We were locked together no matter how much friction was between us.

Blaise ignored the attention. That also seemed something that came more natural to him, yet another thing about him that pissed me off, and I had no idea why. He said, “I took off somewhat early that night. Aspen showed up, but before that, I noticed Jordan’s girl in the kitchen. She was sitting in a guy’s lap, macking with him.” He glanced over, his eyes narrowing before his smirk only deepened. “God. It’s really pissing you off that you have to even ask me, isn’t it?” Another low chuckle from him. “I love it.”

My teeth ground on each other. I bit out, “Just f*****g tell me everything so I don’t have to come back and push for more answers. No matter what you’re acting like, I know you hate this as much as I do.”

Blaise’s smirk remained, but his eyes darkened, flashing.

Oh yeah. The prick wanted to fight just as much as I did. Sometimes I think he wanted to fight more than I did. I was known for holding my own back in Roussou, my entire crew was, but the one time Blaise and I did trade blows, he held his own. The fucker could punch. My ribs hurt for two weeks, and I hadn’t gotten a good swing in on his ribs. I aimed mostly for his face, though I was a lot prettier.

He paused, facing me. The smirk was gone.

I rallied, not knowing what to expect. If he would throw a punch or drop the act, either way, I needed to be ready. Then he said, “The guy’s name is Tim Harper. He’s one of Zeke’s brothers, so you’ll never get his name out of Zeke. Me, I’m not in their fraternity, and I happen to think Harper’s one of the biggest sleazes around. Why your boy’s ex was macking with him, I have no clue. I’m not over there much, but when I am, I’ve not heard any talk.”

“Did Zeke say how long Tabatha was with the guy that night? Did she sleep with him?”

Blaise was quiet.

“Blaise.”

“Don’t,” he snapped, his eyes flaring. “Zeke is my best friend. I know you guys have an opinion about him, and I can see why you do, but he’s unconditionally my best friend. He’s at my side when no one has been, so I’m not sure how the f**k to walk this line.”

He was shutting down. He was picking his side. And it most definitely wasn’t mine.

“So she did sleep with him, and,” and I was still gauging my brother’s silence and what he wasn’t telling me, “Zeke knew. He didn’t say she slept with him, just that she was making out with him.”

Blaise’s eyes got hard. “Do not put my best friend in the middle of this shit. You do, and there’s war again. I will pick him over you any f*****g day of the week. Got it?”

My b***d cooled. Yeah. I got it.

“Now I know, huh?”

Images of shoving him in the pavement were still fresh, still rallying in me.

I was starting to forget why I couldn’t do that.

“Now you know.” His jaw clenched. “I’m surprised you haven’t rounded him up, to be frank. I’m loyal to Zeke, not to that piece of shit Harper.” He gave me another pointed glare before walking ahead, and I had to stop.

I had to think.

Blaise was strong in his opinion of this Harper. I looked after him, frowning, and he glanced back over his shoulder. He paused, half-turned to me, and stared right back. He stared hard.

He was trying to send me a message without the words.

Blaise wanted us to go after this guy. That hadn’t been on the agenda, but maybe it should be? Tabatha cheated on Jordan, not that guy. Still, okay then.

My brother didn’t form opinions lightly about people. He didn’t like most people, but he didn’t have this strong of a reaction unless there was a good reason. I grimaced, remembering the last time I got enlightened as to why Blaise had some full-out hatred of the guy who raised him.

I pulled out my phone and typed a text.

Me: Something is going on. You need to talk to Tabatha about the guy she cheated on Jordan with.

Bren: Why?

Me: I’ll tell you later. Need to loop Zellman in 2.

Bren: Okay.

Me: How’s your day?

Bren: I’ll fill you in on that later.

Me: K. Love you.

Bren: Love you.

And then, I went to psychology. When I got inside, Blaise went left. I went right.

Seemed fitting.