Page 82 of Be My Brayshaw (Brayshaw High 4)

Royce gapes at me. “Mother of god damn, VicVee, that’s some scary shit right there.” He chuckles lightly, but then he leans forward, his mask slipping over his eyes, darkness taking over. “Say a word and I’ll...”

His threat never follows.

He gauges me and when he nods, I decide he might just trust that I won’t.

But I can’t be too sure.

He moves by me, but before I can turn to follow, a warm body is behind me, locking me against the railing.

Captain’s arms come around me, loosely holding me to him as his head falls to my shoulder, seeking out the skin of my collarbone.

He plants a small kiss there, and he doesn’t lift from the spot.

He hugs me to him, so I allow my body to relax, giving him the weight of mine, and he accepts it with a heavy inhale.

We stand there, my eyes closed as I think his are too, listening to the creek below us, neither of us letting go until somewhere behind us, Zoey calls for her dad.

That night, Captain lays blanket after blanket on the balcony and pulls me outside with him.

He turns off all the lights, nothing but the stars above us to light the area, and settles into the pallet, tugging me down beside him.

We lie there, staring up at the sky until we fall asleep, and in the morning we pack up and head back to the unknown reality awaiting us.Chapter 25Victoria“And that right there, is the best lasagna you’ll ever eat in your life, Zoey Bear.” Royce winks at her, picking up his and Raven’s empty plates on his way to the kitchen.

Zoey laughs, licking her fork, little feet swinging beneath the seat.

The others roll their eyes playfully, and when I look to Captain with a grin, I find his frown focused on the screen of his phone.

Before I frown myself, I clean my mess and step out onto the porch for some fresh air. Raven follows.

She drops beside me, pulling a blanket over her legs.

I look to her stomach, which seems to be growing a little more by the day.

She catches me, and the side grin takes over her face. “There’s a human inside me, weird shit, right?”

I chuckle, but it dies off on a sigh. “Yeah. It’s a crazy process.”

“How much do you know about the process, Vee?” she asks instantly, her eyes sliding back to mine.

I glance across the yard. “Too much, Rae, can we leave it at that?”

“For now.” She frowns. “Is he okay?”

My eyes fly to hers. “How would I know?”

“He spends his nights with you Victoria.”

“Does he?”

Restless thoughts spin in my head as for the millionth time I try to weigh the events of the last few weeks.

Is he with me when he’s in my bed?

Raven glares, but it’s not for me, and then the front door opens and closes, and Captain barrels down the steps.

“Pacman,” she calls.

He skids to a stop, whipping around with his phone in his hand.

His eyes fly between us.

“I’ll be back,” he says, quickly looking away. “Zoey’s in the media room with Dad and Royce.”

“Where are you going?” Raven asks.

“To grab somethin’.”

Only when his taillights disappear does she turn to me with a scowl. “Why do I get the feeling he just lied to me?”

“I think he did.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re right here.”

A laugh bubbles from me and she joins in, dropping her head back on the seat.

“Yeah, Raven.” I sigh. “Maybe.”

It doesn’t take long for Maddoc to come for his girl, so I follow them inside and up the stairs.

The two continue down the long hallway, following Royce and Zoey’s laughter into the media room while I disappear into mine.

I must have fallen asleep, because I’m woken hours later when Captain comes inside my room.

He kneels at the side of my bed.

“You awake?” he whispers.

“I am.”

“Go on a drive with me.”

My brows pull in, but I nod, climb from my bed, slip my shoes on and walk over to where he now waits for me.

He holds my eyes a long moment, and then takes the hoodie from around his arm, pulling it over my head. It swallows me whole, of course, but I don’t care.

Captain inhales, long and deep, his hands coming up and pushing the hood down, his fingers slipping around my neck to free my hair from beneath the expensive cotton. He leans in, skimming his lips along my cheek, kissing where my jawbone meets my neck.

My eyes close, my palms lifting to his chest and his join.

He holds my hands a long moment before dropping one and tugging me along until we’re out the front door and he has the passenger one open for me to climb inside.

We drive in comfortable silence for hours, going nowhere, simply around the town and up and down the country roads on the outside of it, his hand latched tight with mine the entire way.