Page 63 of Zero Chance

I bobbed my head and sent him a thumbs-up.He shoved me back one last time into the refrigerator, making me bump the back of my head before he stepped away, giving me air and enough space to bend over and rest my hands on my knees, coughing for more oxygen.

As Parker tugged Hope protectively to his side, Alec finally came forward to stand next to his sister, his gaze darting worriedly between me, Hope, and Parker, as if he wasn’t sure how to proceed from there.Xander peeked out from behind him to check on me, her eyes wide with worry.

I cleared my throat a couple more times as I straightened into a stand and stroked my hands soothingly over the front of my neck.

When my scowl veered toward Parker, he lifted his eyebrows, meeting my gaze in challenge.“You want to come at me the way you went after her?”he asked.“Because I know everything she does about your littlefriendyou met up with last night.”

My mouth dropped open.“You know who she is?”

He sent me a mocking smile.“Yes, I do.”

I shook my head, unable to believe this.“Well,who?”

His smirk turned into a chuckle.“Now why would I tell you shit after you just fucking harassed Hope?”

“Oh my God.”I lifted my hands in disbelief.“I wasn’t going to hurt her.I was just trying to waylay her to get her to talk to me.”

“Yeah,” Hope snorted.“Like that was going to work out real well for you, even if Parkerhadn’tcome along.”

“Seriously, man.”Alec shook his head in disappointment.“You can’t just hold a girl like that against her will.”

“Holy shit, I’m sorry!”I cried.“Grabbing her was…instinct.I just wasn’t done talking yet, and she was getting away.The idea of harming her never even crossed my mind.”

Parker folded his arms over his chest and lifted one eyebrow, not swayed in the least by my apology.

So I repeated, “I’m sorry,” and I looked directly at Hope this time to let her know I’d never meant to scare her.

She waved her hands, immediately excusing me.“Hey, I was over it the moment I got free of you.You’re good with me, bud.”

My shoulders relaxed a fraction before my gaze pleaded.“So you’ll tell me her name?”

“Oh.Uh…” Her eyes filled with dread, and she winced before sliding her gaze questioningly toward Parker.

Pleasure filled his evil smile.“Not on your life,” he announced.“I owed her a favor, and she cashed it in last night.We can’t tell you anything.”

I shook my head, not understanding.“You… What?”

“Your mystery girl did something helpful for me in the past,” Parker explained slowly, inclining his head.“So I owed her one.And last night when she begged us not to tell you who she was, we had to oblige.”

“The fuck if you did,” I insisted.

He and I were part of theseven.That was our brotherhood, our goddamn alliance.The members of the seven came first.Always.We had an unbreakable bond that had tied us together since we were kids.Nothing shook that, not even favors we owed fucking outsiders.

“She was actually hiding behind the tree we were standing next to when you raced up,” Hope told me, twisting Parker’s betrayal even deeper into my chest.

My mouth sagged open.“You’re kidding me?”When both Parker and Hope shook their heads, I blew.“This is bullshit.”Focusing on myfriend, I growled, “Did the nameless little liar tell you I thought I was with someone else the whole fucking time we were together?”

Parker nodded once.“She did.”

Shaking my head in disbelief, I muttered, “And she still gets more loyalty from you thanIdo?Wow.Thanks for letting me know where I rank.”

His expression changed.“Keene.”

He didn’t like me questioning our friendship or the sacred seven bond.But he still wasn’t going to tell me her name; I could see it on his face.

With a regretful sniff, I muttered, “You know what?Fuck you.”

As I pushed past him, he grabbed my arm and growled, “Hey.”

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