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“I tried—”
Johnny cuts him off. “We can’t stay here all night. Can we have this conversation somewhere where I can take a shower and maybe lie in a bed?” He starts to move forward but doesn’t go anywhere because it’s Magnum and I who have his puppet strings, practically. Even though he’s the worst off out of all of us, he’s still trying to pull the strings.
“Take a chill pill, Rocket.” Oscar grins. “Kyla’s been downright emotional, so give her a moment to take this all in before you start turning into the prickish dick you can be.”
I press my lips together. At first, Johnny eyes Oscar with a sneer, but his lips twitch. Eventually. Half-heartedly at first, but then a genuine smile crosses his face. “Are you saying my girl was worried about me?”
“I’m sayingourgirl was worried about you,” Oscar retorts.
Mag shakes his head, finally moving Johnny forward. I step in line, keeping up. We help Johnny into the car and then the rest of us get in. Much to Johnny’s displeasure, I sit on Brawler’s lap to give him enough room, so he doesn’t have to sit straight up and down and hurt himself even more. I want to ask him so many questions about what happened while he was there. We checked the place, and Gregory wasn’t one of the thugs there, though some of his girls were. Oscar’s mom wasn’t one of them, and despite the fact that he looks cool about it, I know he’s wondering where she is. If she’s not at her usual haunts in the Heights and she’s not where Gregory’s other girls were, where the fuck could she be?
Mag starts the car, but then just sits there, staring out the windshield. His shoulders slump forward. “I don’t know where to go,” he confesses.
Johnny moves his foot, dragging in a breath. “What do you mean? Go to the tower.”
Mag gazes into the rearview mirror, locking eyes with me. None of us think that’s a good idea. K is not our friend. He’s not our ally. And, he’s definitely my foe. Maybe Johnny doesn’t remember what happened in the box. Even if he didn’t, he certainly doesn’t know what happened when we got back to the tower.
“What did he fucking do?” Johnny scowls. His eyes are bloodshot. Streaks of dirt and ash mar every visible piece of skin. It sucks that we have to do this right now, but when else are we going to do it? Johnny and Mag are the ones who know how to deal with Crew shit the best.
“Listen, bro,” Oscar says, voice smooth. “Your dad’s all pissed off. He thinks Kyla ruined you.” He eyes me, and I give him a quick shake of my head. I’m not telling Johnny why I’m here yet. Fuck that. Not right now. I need to do it eventually, but now is just not the time.
Johnny licks his lips. They’re suddenly pinker than they were just a moment ago. He can probably taste ash on his tongue. “Did he hurt you?” he asks me, eyeing my face.
I shake my head. I got the feeling he wanted to, but I also think K is smarter than that. He knew we were on his side about Johnny. He wanted to make sure he had us to get him back. Now that we have, I don’t know what he’ll do.
“Listen, I can’t hide from my dad,” Johnny says. He darts his gaze around to the guys, kind of like a skittish pup. He’s still wondering if he can trust Brawler and Oscar. “I don’t want to,” he says finally, lifting his chin. “He’ll want to know right away that you found me. How did you find me, anyway?”
“About that,” Mag says. “We can’t tell your dad how we found you. I’ll take us back to the tower.” He turns around in the seat and gives Johnny a dark look. “But for right now, that piece of information stays between us.” He gives Oscar, Brawler, and I a warning look.
“Fine,” Johnny says through clenched teeth. “Listen, I’m so fucking tired, and I hurt too fucking much to come up with an excuse right now. We go to the fucking tower because we have nowhere else to go, and even if we did, I need to see my father.”
Oscar sighs and shakes his head, dribbling his fingers over the car door in the front seat. Brawler holds me to him.
Just before Magnum pulls away from the curb, Johnny sighs reluctantly. “Thank you,” he says, almost inaudibly. It’s tight, like giving thanks isn’t something he’s used to, but it’s genuine. “I’m glad you guys came.”
Johnny’s gaze is glassy when I look over. I don’t know if it’s just lethargy or something else, but it’s like there’s a clear-plated door slamming closed between us. I don’t know why. I don’t get it. Sometimes, the things Johnny does don’t make sense to me. He’s in a constant push and pull over his thoughts and emotions. If I had to guess, it’s one of those times where he’s wondering if what he feels is really real. If it’s foreign to him, he rebels against it.
Which probably means we’re getting somewhere with Johnny Marx.
We might not all be on the same page, but at least we’re all in the same chapter in the same book, reading the same story. Our paths could still divert away from each other, but I’m going down fighting. I’ll fight until that last sentence—the last period—that signals The End.
14
Before we get to the tower, Mag drops Oscar and Brawler off at their apartments. We figure the least amount of people implicated in this, the better. K is going to want to know exactly how we found this information, to exploit them for more, I imagine. Hopefully, Johnny being back will distract him for the moment.
Johnny’s out cold when we pull into the parking lot. Magnum tells the security guy in the booth to alert K we need to see him right away. It must be late.Reallyfucking late. Even the streets of Rawley Heights are sleepy. I’d rather be going to the cabin with all of them than come back here with just Johnny and Mag considering how awful K has been lately. However, I also know Johnny is right. His dad will want to see him. If we take him somewhere else tonight, it’ll just make him suspicious and ask more questions about what’s going on.
As soon as Mag parks, I run my hand up Johnny’s arm. He still looks bad. Tonight is going to be rough for him. His eyelids flutter open at my touch. A small smile turns his lips up until they drop again. “You’re really here?”
I nod, trailing my fingers down his hands. “I’m really here.”
He peers over his shoulder out the window of the car. The shadowy underground parking garage greets him. The halos of synthetic light only brighten some sections of the parking area. “I need to ask you something.” I slide over the backseat to get closer to him. He lifts himself into more of a sitting position. “At The Ring...”
“Yeah?”
“After I got shot.” He licks his dry, blood-stained lips. Looking at him hurts my soul. I never want to see anyone I love look like this again. “And after you guys came in...it was just us at the end, wasn’t it?”
My heart ricochets in my chest. I squeeze his fingers. “What do you mean?”