Page 92 of Give You Up

I roll my eyes. Seriously, I rolled my eyes. Booker is something else. I fill him in.

“Dare designs his games in layers. Win one layer and move on to the next. Each layer builds on the next, getting more difficult to beat. You do the math. Five years is because there are so many layers to get through, like peeling a gigantic onion.”

Booker blows out a breath. “Fuck.”

“No worries,” Dare says. “We’re only testing three layers. That’s all it takes to be jetted off to Blaise’s place for a slamming good time. The girls she brings in for us guys are fucking hot.”

At the mention of girls, I check out Will’s reaction. Would he cheat on his girlfriend for easy tail? Is he capable of drugging and raping a girl? Again, what would be his reason for getting the snake and butterfly tat? Rhett had a messed-up reason, but a reason no less.

What if the attack had nothing to do with Natalie but everything to do with Syn? When I found Natalie in my bed, she reminded me of Syn, with her slender, petit build and long blonde hair. Did the dickwad hurt Natalie because in his mind, she could be Syn?

Fuck me.

What if we’ve been going down the wrong path this whole time?

The game starts, and I return my attention to winning. The sooner my team beats Dare’s, the sooner we can jump in that pool. And then I can get my answer. Or not.

Foreboding crushes my chest.

This insane thought surfaces.

The attack on Natalie isn’t a random attack but a message.

He is coming for Syn next.

Who the fuck is he?

It could be anyone.

Any of Syn’s random hookups.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

I won’t let any harm come to her.

I wasn’t there for her four years ago, but I am here now, goddammit, and I won’t be going anywhere. Not until I know she is safe.

37

Syn

Shades has never been this full and this loud. It’s filled to overcapacity, and Midnight follows the rules for a change and turns people away at the door.

It is Saturday night. DU won their second game, another home game. I went to that game, too, and cheered on my guy and my football team.

Thank goodness none of the six who went to Dare’s party have the snake and butterfly tat. Except there’s a guy out there who believes it’s okay to hurt a girl and that he’ll get away with it again.

I won’t let that happen. After the pool party, Taron and I regrouped back at my place.

Taron filled me in, and then we decided to get Midnight and Dare’s help. There was no need involving Riley. She’d help in a heartbeat even with having to spend more time with Midnight, but the same old guy who got sick is going through rough times again, and it’s important we let her have her time with him.

Riley doesn’t go into detail, but from the pictures she shows me of the two of them, it’s obvious he is her grandfather. Goodness sakes, where is her mother in all this? Riley shouldn’t be left to care for her dying grandfather.

“Syn, order’s up.”

---