Page 54 of Boys of Brayshaw High (Brayshaw High 1)

Maddoc jerks to a sitting position, so I push up onto my elbow to mirror him. “Keep going.”

“Waking up to men hovering over me, their hands in their pants as my mother made them coffee with yesterday’s grinds.”

“Your knife.”

“That’s a story for another day, big man.”

“Tell me now,” he demands.

“Nah.” I lay back down, and he glares. “It’s your turn to share, but something tells me you’re not the sharing type, so let’s end this little therapy session.”

He runs his hands through his hair and drops back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling.

Not sure how much time passes, and I assume he fell asleep but then he talks.

“All that and you’d still go back.”

“I don’t have other options like you, so yeah. For now. Until I don’t have to.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I’m seventeen. I’m not gonna turn tricks to live and I don’t have an ID to get a real job. I’ll wait until I can hit the DMV on my own, and then I’ll leave everything behind and start over. On my own. And I’ll do it with nobody else’s influence or help or opinion.”

“So, that’s your plan. Float until you can run.”

“It’s not running.” My voice lowers to a whisper on its own accord. “It’s survival.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Maybe.” I yawn. “But it’s the best option I have.”

He licks his lips. “Go to sleep, Raven. You’re safe in here.”

A tired chuckle escapes me. “No such thing, big man.”

His green eyes bounce between mine, and a flicker of something I can’t name passes quickly before it’s gone. “Close your eyes.”

I do as he says, not necessarily believing him, but I’m already in here now so fuck it. I’ve made stupider decisions than lying in bed with a half-stranger.A warm palm running up my thigh has my eyes popping open and my muscles lock, but only for a second before I realize I’m in Maddoc’s bed – not a dirty couch in a trailer park.

His hand stops at the apex of my thigh, his fingers pressing into my skin firmly, and then he sighs. Heat spreads through my abdomen as his warm breath fans across my cheek and throat.

Without so much as moving a muscle, I peek up at him.

He’s fucking sleeping. Shit.

I squeeze my eyes closed as I try to work out the right move.

Everything I know tells me to run, that a man is touching me without permission, but my heart rate is stable and my breathing calm. I don’t have that inner inkling telling me to get the hell out of dodge.

Which is the exact reason I decide it’s necessary – no need in it getting comfortable, that’s when the wool falls over your eyes.

I shift on the mattress, attempting to crawl from the bed and back to my own but his eyes pop open and find mine.

“What are you doing?”

“What are you doing?” I widen my eyes and his tighten in confusion.

I squeeze my thigh muscle and he drop his gaze to the contact.

But he doesn’t move his hand.

He closes his damn eyes and tells me, “Go back to sleep.”

“I wasn’t sleeping,” I lie.

“Yeah, Raven, you were.”

Without moving the hand on my thigh, he uses his other to help flip me over, so my back is to him and he scoots forward. He’s not against me but makes sure his large presence is felt.

It’s felt all right.

But—

“Sleep, Raven.”My eyes pop open the second the bed shifts and I jolt upward.

Maddoc glances back at me with a frown, running a hand through his dark hair as he yawns. “I gotta take a piss, be right back.”

I don’t say anything, but I sure as hell watch the way his back muscles shift as he walks away. At first glance, I’d call it a cocky, intentional gait, but I’m learning that’s not the case. He simply can’t help himself, it’s a natural swagger he couldn’t dim down if he tried – not that he’d try. He likes it.

And it suits him.

With a groan, I glance around. I can’t believe I slept in bed with Maddoc. And I mean I actually slept in his bed, as in without my knife, completely comfortable.

I groan.

So not good.

When the sound of a toilet flushing is heard down the hall, I jump up and hustle for my designated room.

I go to shut the door, but before I can, Royce pushes it open, effectively throwing himself in the center of the mattress.

“’Sup, RaeRae.” He tucks his hands behind his head, and I move to drop beside him.

I pull the covers over my exposed legs, folding my hands under my pillow.

“Nothing—”

“Yo,” Captain shuffles in wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, rubbing at his eyes.

He drops on the foot of the bed, laying his head across my feet, his legs hanging halfway off the other side.

I look out the doorway when Maddoc’s footsteps draw him closer.