Page 23 of A Little Bit Reckless
I moved my arm out of his hand. “I’m getting another beer.”
Mine was still pretty full, but I had a feeling I’d need another, maybe several.
“Wells?”
By the time Bru called after me, my back was already turned. I shot through the house toward the kitchen where the beers were, but a scream sounded. It made me pivot, and I instantly became aware of the people gathering on the stairwell to the next level of the house. People were clustering like a motherfucker on it and damn near trampling each other.
“Rainbow Reed’s going to jump!” one of them said, and my eyes flashed.
Bru’s did too.
I didn’t know how we found each other. We were on opposite sides of the room, but our eyes managed to find each other in that moment. Right away, Bru dashed toward the stairwell like the Superman fucker he was, but I was The Flash I think.
How else would I have beat him there?
CHAPTER
NINE
Bru
I’d never seen Wells in such a way…
He was shoving people over the banisters.
Wells was literally tossing people off the stairwell, and I was helping him. Someone mentioned Bow. She was jumping off something?
That didn’t make sense.
It didn’t, and, what also didn’t make sense was Wells’s reaction. He seemed to be blind as he plowed through people. I supposed thiswasThatcher’s sister, and all of us protected her. Wells did too, whether he liked it or not. He would on Thatcher’s behalf, so I guess that made sense.
Wells grabbed a dude. “Get the fuck out of the way or I’ll literally end you.” Wells tossed the guy before growling to the crowd. “That goes the same for all of you motherfuckers. Get. Out. Of. The.Way!”
The response was immediate. People started flooding off the stairwell and those who were going too slow both WellsandI handled. We were a tag team, and soon, I found myself as his wingman. I was clearing people out of the way so he could gofaster. We played football together in high school, so I knew he was quicker than me. He could get to her sooner, faster…
I didn’t know what was going on, but so much fear hit me. Whoever yelled Bow was jumping off something had to have been mistaken.
“Where’s Bow Reed?” Wells asked a girl at the top of the stairs, and she pointed ahead. The hall was still packed with people trying to get to wherever the alleged action was taking place but, with one bark from Wells, they cleared again. The whole hallway of partiers literally parted, and, when people started to follow us, I made my own threats. I didn’t know what was going on up ahead, but no one else needed to be privy to it.
Especially if it involved Bow.
My last conversation with her played over in my head. I hadn’t wanted to leave her. I only wanted to hold her,kiss her, and that didn’t make sense for many reasons. I was still trying to figure out this shit with Wells, and there was still the fact that Bow was Thatcher’s little sister.
None of that seemed to matter in the moment when I talked to her. I forgot about everything else, but I also rejected her. I did because I was fucked up, and she didn’t deserve that.
No one was ahead of Wells and me anymore, or behind us. Between the two of us, we got the job of a cleared path done. Folks had been attempting to get into a room that appeared to be locked.
“She’s in there. On the balcony,” someone said, pointing toward the door. It was a girl with flushed cheeks. I didn’t know if that was from panic or booze. She flailed. “People can see her from the street.”
What. The. Fuck.
Again, Wells and I made eye contact but only briefly before weboth kicked in the door. It was quick, easy. The door shotopen with a snap, and, right away, people started to flood inside with us.
“Stay back, or you’ll regret it,” I gritted out. I wasn’t typically a violent person, but I had my moments. I could definitely be fucking violent, and I was sure everyone on this campus knew that. Everyone knew everything about my friends and me, and I had a rep. I could hurt someone.
And I would.
The threats worked when people stayed back, and I realized right away that I was by myself. Wells was already inside the room. It was dark in there, and he stood frozen at the entryway. He stared off toward the sliding door of a balcony. The door was opened, and we both appeared to be in a bedroom in the house.
