Page 3 of Give You Up

Deep in my anger, I run into a wall. Beer sloshes out of my cup and spills onto the wall, except it’s not a wall.

The guy is my height, six foot two. Blue eyes blazing, he looks down at the stain on his crisp white shirt. I zone in on his sleeve tattoo, a mess of colors and black ink. What sticks out is the tat of a snake wrapped around the body and wings of a large butterfly, the wings blood red and royal blue.

Why the hell does he have the same tat as Syn? I open my mouth. A hand clamps on my shoulder and squeezes. A warning.

“Midnight, hey, man, great seeing you,” Andy addresses the human wall.

The guy grunts. Glares. I ball my hand. Andy shoves his shoulder into mine. I get the hint and move my ass out of dickwad’s line of sight. There will be plenty of chances to smash his face to the back of his skull.

“Remember how I said there are guys who own this town and then there are guys who run Dumas?” Andy says out the side of his mouth. “Midnight Sterling is someone you need to respect and steer clear of. He ownsandruns this town. Same with his cousin, Dare.”

I glance over my shoulder. The coeds vie for this Midnight guy’s attention. He ignores them. What gives, and what is Syn to him with their matching tats? I get my answers.

“Steer clear of their girls too. I grew up with Dare and Midnight, and those Sterling dudes are possessive as fuck when it comes to their women. Midnight burned down a house ’cause he thought the guy living in it was poaching on his girl.”

“What are their names in case I run into them on campus?”

“We guys like to call them Night and Day. Night is Riley Lee. Long black hair. Light-brown eyes. Things go missing when she’s around, so be careful around that one. Day is Syn Winters. Pale. White-blonde hair. Where she is, Dare isn’t far behind.”

“Does this Dare dude look like his cousin?”

“Yeah.”

“Syn been with him long?”

“Since freshman year. Dare doesn’t go to DU. Neither does Midnight. Midnight followed his girl here from Cambridge. Dare got bored in Cambridge and settled in Dumas with Midnight.”

“What’s with the snake and butterfly tat?”

“Marked. Claimed. All four have the same ink.”

“What’s it mean?”

“Stay the fuck away. The girls try to come between Midnight and Riley, between Syn and Dare, but so far, not much success. Us guys? No way will we risk life and limb and playing ball for tail that belongs to the rulers of Dumas.”

“They hold that much influence?”

“Yeah, man, so keep it in your pants and don’t fuck with their crew. Got it?”

I nod. Mentally, I am shaking my head.

Syn owes me answers, and I will get them even if I have to go through her guys.

3

Syn

Three things make me happiest in the morning.

One is cruising the aisle of my favorite used bookstore in search of my next book boyfriend. Two is a cup of coffee, a caramel latte topped with whipped cream and drizzled with caramel sauce. And three is getting said latte made by one of my BFFs. I also can count on Riley to get the day off to an interesting start.

“Hey, Syn, can you do something for me? If it’s too weird or out of your comfort zone, I’ll understand. Just know I won’t be so generous with the caramel sauce if you refuse me.”

“Wow, extortion using my weakness. Not cool.” I set the book I am buying on the counter, expecting to see a smile on Riley’s face, but she is dead serious.

“Ask away, but if this has anything to do with jocks, porn, or you’re throwing down a dare for me to eat something exotic like cow tongue, I am out.”

“None of that. Okay, stand on the tips of your toes, bend your head over the counter, and show me your roots.”

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