Page 33 of Betraying Bexley

“I-It’s c-cold.”

“Will you warm me up?” Eito wiggled his brows.

"O-M-Gee," Bronx grumbled. "You're shameless, Eito Watanabe."

He shrugged.

“W-What are y-your tattoos?” Bex pointed to where she’d seen a corner of them.

"I'm glad you asked." He pulled off his shirt. Rings of black, green, and blue formed patters over his body. It went down his arms and appeared as though he wore a jacket still.

“W-Wow.” Even if she took the time to explore every inch of his body, she knew she’d never see everything on his body. But, like the Yakuza tattoo on the back of his hand, those covering his body were Yakuza.

“Ask me any question you want, after all of this over, okay, Bexley?” Eito stared up at her. “I’ll answer all of them. Promise.”

She nodded.

“It’s starting.” Bronx let loose with an excited squeal while patted Bex’s leg. “Alé is first.”

She wasn’t expecting it to be polite. She figured it’d be an all-out brawl. Every man for himself, type of thing. Instead, Alé set up the rules with Kenner and when they shook hands, which surprised Bex more, Eito smirked. There was an edge of deviousness there. Bex didn’t understand. Why would they agree to rules or be so formal about their fight?

"It's to keep them at their word," Eito said, as if reading her mind. "Don't want one of those assholes jumping in with a weapon. Jacolbi and Alex might be right there, but it would give whoever jumped in, valuable seconds to do real damage."

“B-But, Alé is a gang member, isn’t he used to s-stuff like t-that?” Bex frowned.

“Hmm, I see your point,” Eito agreed. “Well, I guess we’ll see if they stick to the rules, huh?”

She inclined her chin. In front of her, Alé and Kenner circled each other. There wasn’t any extra movement between them. Alé arms were up in front of him and his hands were clenched into tight fists. Bex had never been so enthralled or so turned on about something as benign as a fight.

Kenner made the first move, swinging wide and hitting Alé in the shoulder. He took the hit and returned with one of his own, knocking Kenner backward. Alé advanced. He came in with a right then a left. However, if Kenner thought it was going to be a straight-up boxing-type match, Alé switched it up. He kicked at the inside of Kenner's right knee, the same one Bex had gone after when he tried to carry her off.

She gasped as the snap of bone shocked her. “I-I-It’s broke.”

“Dislocated, more like it.” Eito patted her thigh. “Nothing to cause too much damage.”

Kenner cried out in submission, waving Alé off. He stood over Kenner’s crumbled form and said something, she could see his lips moving but couldn’t make out what it was. When he turned around, he winked at Bex then high-fived Jacolbi, who stepped into the imaginary circle next.

“T-That w-was quick.”

“Yeah, it was,” Bronx agreed.

It was then she realized they were all friends.Crazy.They were treating her like she’d always been with them, but it didn’t make sense. She stared at Bronx who leaned forward as the next match began. Bex knew Bronx and Alé were foster kids with Jamie, but how had they met and then hooked up with Eito, Jacolbi, and Alex? The other thing she realized, before they included Bex, which still weirded her out, Bronx was the only girl in the group, was there a reason? Did she have a relationship with all of them? Bex had seen relationships like that in the manga she picked up in the library it seemed intriguing, but then why had Alé kissed Bex?

“Ask,” Eito said. “I can see your little wheels spinning over there.”

“How d-do y-you k-know each other?”

“We’re all foster kids together,” Bronx said, not taking her eyes off Jacolbi as he continued to land blows.”

“T-Together?” Bex blinked, surprised by Bronx’s admission. “W-whoa.” Which meant, had they been in the house while she’d been asleep? Did they see her at her most vulnerable?

“Yep.” Bronx grinned at her. “We’re all pretty close. We’ve got each other’s backs.”

What she wouldn't give to have a connection like they did, and, weirdly, she felt like shit for wanting what they had. For them to be foster kids something horrible had to have happened to their families. She also wondered if she'd gone into the system like they had, would she have friends by now too? Would she still have her right leg?

Bex rubbed the artificial joint. “O-Oh. T-That sucks.”

“Not really anymore.” Bronx took her hand. “We got to meet you.”

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