Page 18 of Arm Candy Warrior

“Yikes.” He hurries to catch up with me. “I was informed you wanted to come to school. I mean, I barely believed it, but…” He lowers his voice. “I can’t imagine being stuck with Johnny is all that pleasant for you.”

I quickly check the surrounding area. Oscar knows better than anyone that ears are everywhere. People who want to move up, who would just love to throw anyone under the bus as a stepping-stone are like vultures. Something like that would make it to Johnny within a few minutes.

“Relax,” Oscar says. “I whispered it.”

Oscar and I walk past Security without getting checked, proving once again that if there’s anyone to fear here in the school, it’s the Heights Crew. Oscar probably has a weapon on him. Sure, he’s not able to carry his favorite—his bat—around, but he, and everyone else in the Crew, at the very least has a small, concealable knife. I’d bet everything I own on it. Hell, I’d bet everything my aunt and uncle own on it.

“I need to get to my apartment after school today. Or during school. I don’t care which, but I need to get to my apartment.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Oscar says, catching my arm as I continue to walk down the hallway. I stop where I am and spin toward him. He tightens his grip for a brief second until I look him in the eye. He steps forward as people walk past us, making this as much as a private conversation as it needs to be. “Listen, I get you’re pissed, but we have to be very strategic about everything. You don’t think Johnny has people watching your apartment? He’d want to make sure it’s safe so maybe you can go back to it.”

“If he was, wouldn’t you know?”

He gives me a look like I’m crazy. “No, Kyla. That’s not how it works. Up there, at the top, they know everything. They only tell us what we need to know to do what they ask. Right now, I’ve been asked to watch my boss’s girlfriend. If I take you to your apartment and he finds out about it, guess what? I won’t be able to be around you again. Hell, I might be out on my ass. Or worse. So, no, I’m not taking you to your fucking apartment until I think we can get away with it. Or until Johnny tells me to.”

I grit my teeth. I want so badly to be mad at him, but it’s not him. Not at all. It’s everything that has to do with this Crew. It’s stifling under their umbrella. Or maybe it’s just because I’m so close to Johnny that it’s like living in quicksand. I can’t move forward. I can’t go sideways. I’m stuck in place unless I want to drown.

I pull my arm away from Oscar and wipe my hands down my face, trying to collect myself. I’m mad at the wrong people here. I get it. “I know.”

He steps closer. “Fuck. Please don’t have a breakdown at school because I’ll want to drag you into a closet to make you feel better, but that won’t help anything.”

I crack a smile, some of the tension leaving me. That actually sounds like a great idea, but I know we can’t. “I’ll try to behave.”

“Ha. Right. You were born to get people in trouble. Now, come on. Apparently, I have to go to all of your classes instead of mine.”

I shake my head. “Well, that’s not going to work, will it? You have to get somewhat decent grades in your classes to still do football. I’ll go to all your classes.”

Oscar swallows, and he pins me with his gaze. Despite his tight-fitting shirt and impeccably shaven hair, there’s a vulnerability he lets me see every time, cracking through that tough guy facade. I’m the one who sees the bags under his eyes and the worry lines on his face. “You’d do that for me?”

“Is that even a real question? You need football, Oscar. It’s what’s going to get you out of here.”

He rubs his neck. “What about you?”

I want to laugh. Instead, the backs of my eyes heat up. This is just my pretend life. This is the one I’m going along with until I can get back to my old one. What sucks is that I want to take elements of this one and bring them with me when I leave when I don’t even know if that’s possible. “I’m good,” I tell him. I take a deep breath and start to walk around him.

I accidentally run into a girl who apologizes profusely like I’m going to haul off and punch her in the face. I smirk because… Well, it’s kind of nice to be feared. Especially when you’ve spent most of your life afraid. I glance up and meet a pair of deep blue eyes.

I stop, and Oscar runs into me from behind. We both stumble, but I’m too fixated on the guy standing at the end of the hall to care.

He’sstopped, too. He clutches his book bag to him while we stare at one another.

Fucking shit. He’s alive.

Brawler…he’s here.

8

Ididn’t realize how much I was worried about him until right this moment. So many people told me he would be okay that I started to believe it. I just automatically assumed he was out here waiting for his chance to check in. To find me. But right now, I also recognize the weight being lifted off me, and the heat behind my eyes pooling in the corners.

“Shit,” Oscar curses. “Not right here.”

He pulls me into the women’s room and tells all the girls in there to get the fuck out. Crew business. They all scramble from the room, apologizing to us. There’s even one girl who runs from the stall, still pulling up her underwear. I watch in disbelief, but in the next moment, Brawler strides through the door, and I don’t give a fuck anymore.

I go to him, throwing my arms around his wide shoulders.

Oscar sighs angrily behind us, then moves to the door, probably settling against it to make sure no one comes in while we have our reunion.

“I was worried,” I manage to get out.

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