Page 16 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

KAYLOR

K reed had Carson by the front of his hoodie, fists clenched so tight the fabric puckered between his knuckles. They were chest to chest, Carson tense but unyielding, his jaw locked and dark-blue eyes hard.

“Kreed!” I shouted, heart slamming against my ribs. “Let. Him. Go.”

He didn’t flinch. His glare never left Carson, fury simmering just beneath his skin, like a fuse that had already been lit.

I stormed forward, boots scuffing the cold concrete. “I swear to God, if you don’t take your hands off my best friend right now, I’ll never forgive you.”

His head angled toward me slowly, silver eyes burning like coals. “It’s not your forgiveness I want.”

My breath caught. Something fragile inside me cracked, and I forced the words out anyway. “Then why, Kreed?” My voice broke around the edges. “Why the hell did you hit him?”

His nostrils flared, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he finally released Carson with a shove that sent my best friend stumbling back.

“He had his hands on you,” he growled, chest heaving, his eyes wild and unreadable.

He looked like hell. His hair was a mess, his lips were in a frightening scowl, and his eyes were bloodshot and unfocused.

He smelled like liquor and smoke, like sweat and rage, and all the things I hadn’t missed about him.

He was a violent storm barely holding itself together.

“What is wrong with you?!” I screamed, rushing to Carson’s side.

Blood trickled from the corner of his lip, and Carson wiped at it with the back of his thumb, eyeing Kreed with disdain that could rival mine.

Kreed didn’t answer.

He just glared at Carson like he wanted to hit him again, the two of them in an epic showdown. There was only one way to get their attention before things escalated.

“We’re not doing this,” I said, stepping between them, pressing a hand to Kreed’s chest, not to soothe him but to stop him. “Not here. Not like this.”

His chest rose against my palm, breath ragged and uneven, but he didn’t move. Didn’t argue. Just stood there with too much emotion in his eyes and blood on his knuckles.

I didn’t know whether to scream or fall apart.

Kreed’s eyes flicked down to me, emotion fractured in them. Regret. Fury. Hurt. It was all there, tangled and twisted and too much to take in at once. “I’ll hurt him and anyone else who gets in my way.”

My spine locked, pulse thrumming in my throat. “You’re psycho,” I said, but it came out quieter than I meant.

He stepped closer, the space between us crackling. “Only when it comes to you.”

I shook my head. “If I didn’t already hate you, I’d hate you so much right now.”

A ghost of a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, dark and cruel and so heartbreakingly familiar.

“We both know that’s a lie,” he murmured, brushing a knuckle along my jaw, slow enough to make me shiver.

“And I’d be more than happy to prove what a liar you are… in front of your little boy friend.”

I slapped his hand away like it burned, but he didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. Just stared at me with that feral gleam, as if he’d already claimed me and would raze the earth to keep me. The worst freaking part? My body remembered the feel of his touch before my mind could catch up.

“Let’s go,” I said as I grabbed Carson’s hand without thinking, threading my fingers through his and tugging him toward the passenger side of his BMW. A piece of me wasn’t sure Kreed would let me go. If he tried to stop me from leaving with Carson, what would I do?

Carson didn’t say anything, didn’t look at me, just followed, his jaw locked. The second the door shut behind me, he slammed his closed and gunned it out of the school parking lot, tires screeching across the blacktop. His hard eyes glanced one last time in the rearview mirror at Kreed.

I refused to look back. My concern was Carson, and as much as I wanted to make sure he was okay, I’d known Carson long enough to recognize his mood.

The silence in the car was heavy. I didn’t dare break it. I sat there, letting him breathe, letting him cool off, letting the hum of the engine fill the space between us.

Eventually, he pulled up in front of Bean & Barley, the little coffee shop off Main we tended to go to after finals or on weekends to gossip when we didn’t have a fucking care in the world.

So very different from today. I spotted Kenny through the window instantly, her honey waves bouncing as she fiddled with her drink and her phone.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, finally speaking.

Carson didn’t respond, just shook his head and got out of the car. I followed silently.

The bell above the shop door chimed as we stepped inside. Kenny’s head snapped up, and the second her gaze landed on Carson’s face, she gasped. “Holy. Shit, Car. What the hell happened to your face?”

Carson strode straight over to the booth and dropped into the seat across from her. “I met the infamous Kreed Corvo,” he said flatly. “It didn’t go well.”

Kenny blinked, wide-eyed. “I can see that.” Her warm brown gaze softened as she leaned forward. “Does it hurt?”

Carson shrugged like it was nothing. “I’m fine.” But his body was coiled, and I knew better. He wasn’t fine.

Kenny glanced between us, eyebrows drawn, sensing the obvious tension. “Okay, so…I’m guessing the two of you aren’t talking?”

I winced, sliding into the booth next to her. “I didn’t know he would react like that.”

Kenny’s stare sharpened. “Why did he punch you?” she asked Carson. “What did you say?”

Carson looked at me once before answering. “Nothing, but I’m assuming it was because I hugged her.”

Something Carson and I had done a million times before. I hugged my friends. It wasn’t a reason for Kreed to lose his shit.

Kenny let out a slow breath, sitting back in her seat. “Seriously?”

I looked down at the table, cheeks burning, heart heavy. Nothing about this was fair. Not to Carson. Not to Kenny. I never should have involved them in my mess because everything felt broken, and I didn’t know how to fix any of it.

“It’s a good thing you’re not still living there,” Carson grumbled, reaching across the table for Kenny’s drink and taking a sip.

“She didn’t just live with him. She slept with him,” Kenny muttered, adding salt to the wound.

I pinned her with a what-the-fuck glare.

“You didn’t.” Carson nearly spit out Kenny’s drink before touching the corner of his lip, blood smearing on his fingers. “You fucked that guy.” Hurt and disappointment flashed through his dark-blue eyes. “Fuck, Kay.” Shaking his head, he stood from the booth. “I need to clean this up.”

My heart ached as Carson walked to the back of the café toward the bathrooms.

Kenny gave me an apologetic glance, scooting her coffee cup toward me.

“How mad is he, do you think?” I asked, my knee bouncing under the table as I sipped Kenny’s latte.

“Pretty pissed, but can you blame him? He got punched for the first time.”

I winced, the guilt curling in low and bitter. Carson wasn’t a fighter. He was soft edges and quiet loyalty. “I never meant to involve either of you. I definitely never meant for Carson to get hurt.”

Kenny reached up to tuck a curl behind her ear. “He’ll get over it. Just give him space… And maybe an ice pack.” Her lips cracked into a partial smile.

I could count on Kenny to find the humor in any situation. I snorted, but the lightness didn’t last long. “God, he is so confusing,” I complained, taking another sip of the latte before passing it back to Kenny. I was too flustered to go to the counter and order one for myself.

“Who, Carson?”

I shook my head. “No, Kreed.”

Kenny’s lips twitched with a knowing sort of amusement, her expression too understanding for my comfort.

“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I know I shouldn’t be thinking about him. Not after what he just did, but I can’t seem to help myself. It’s maddening. He’s maddening.”

Kenny’s gaze drifted toward the window, unfocused and distant. “I get it. You can’t always help who you fall for.”

My heart twinged. I reached across the table and laced my fingers through hers, squeezing her hand. “No. You can’t.” We were a wreck, the both of us. She was quietly breaking over a boy who didn’t see her, and I was unraveling for one who saw too much.

“Neither can Carson,” she said quietly.

My hand stilled. “What does that mean?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You have to know. There’s no way you don’t know that Carson’s been in love with you since, like, seventh grade.”

Had I known? Had I just not wanted to see, fearing that our friendship would change? I couldn’t be sure. “What? But I thought?—”

“That I was in love with him?” Her laugh was dry. Sad. “I am. Doesn’t change how he feels about you.”

Sagging back in my seat, I closed my eyes briefly. “What a fucking mess.”

Kenny’s elbows pressed on the table as she leaned her chin on her hands. “So that guy, Mason… Does he have a girlfriend?”

I shook my head. “No. Nuh-uh. Not happening.”

She cocked her head. “So, he has a girlfriend or he doesn’t?”

My eyes rolled. “Kenny, you just saw what Kreed is capable of. Mason might have a charming smile and dimples that make your lady bits tingle, but you do not want to get tangled up with a Corvo. Take it from someone who made that mistake.”

She gave a small shrug, playing with the edge of her sleeve. “I don’t know. I thought it sounded kind of hot—Kreed getting all possessive and alpha male.”

Heat prickled at the back of my neck. She wasn’t the only one. “Don’t mention that to Carson. I doubt he’ll agree.” Even if in some dark, twisted way, I did too.

The drive back from the coffee shop was quiet, but this time, it wasn’t angry silence. It was heavier and aching. Carson shifted the car into second gear, his bottom lip split and crusted with a thin line of blood. Every time I looked at it, guilt twisted deeper into my chest.

When we pulled up to Brock’s house, I didn’t even think before saying, “Come inside. Let me disinfect that cut.” Whatever he’d done in a public bathroom wasn’t enough. It was the least I could do.

He hesitated but nodded, and I took that as a good sign. Things weren’t hopeless between us, not that I thought Carson would hold it against me forever, but it sucked having tension between us.

Shadows darkened the corners of the house as the late afternoon light waned.

I led him to the kitchen, searching for the first-aid kit in the drawers.

He sat on a stool at the counter, eyes following me as I pulled out the supplies.

Standing in front of him, I dabbed a cotton pad against his lip gently, trying not to wince every time he did.

“I just don’t get it,” Carson said quietly, his breath warm on the side of my cheek.

I hadn’t realized how close we were or how I was positioned between his legs until then.

Stepping back, I opened the ointment and peeled a bandage from its wrapper.

“Don’t get what?” I retorted, although I had a pretty good idea what he was referring to.

I just didn’t want to talk about Kreed, not right now, not with him.

Carson looked up at me, his eyes shadowed with emotion too raw. “I don’t understand what you see in him.” His gaze locked on mine, full of that thing I didn’t want to name, didn’t want to be real. “Why would you hook up with someone like that?”

Kenny’s voice went through my head. He’s been in love with you since the seventh grade . How could I have been so blind? How had I had no idea? He’d been my best friend for years. We’d grown up together. When had it all changed?

Did I want it to change?

I never considered Carson as anything but a friend, but I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps I’d overlooked what could be between us.

Wasn’t the foundation of any good relationship friendship?

Kreed’s name flashed in my head like a warning sign.

With him, everything fell fast and uncontrollably, all teeth and fire.

We didn’t build anything slowly. We devoured.

We destroyed. We could barely stand to be in the same room together.

Things only went two ways when Kreed and I were alone.

Explosive or…explosive. One more passionate, the other more volatile.

Carson reached across the space between us with trembling certainty, his fingers brushing my hair behind my ear, lingering. “You should be with someone who treats you good,” he murmured. “Who’ll make you happy. Give you the life you deserve.”

My heart skittered. I could hear it, feel it, everywhere, in my chest, my throat, my fingertips. “Do you have someone in mind?” I asked even though I already knew.

He didn’t speak. Just looked at me like he wanted me to see him, for real this time. The boy who had always been there. The man trying so hard not to beg. His thumb brushed over the side of my cheek gently, and this time, I pulled away.

“Carson…” My voice cracked. “You’re amazing. You are. But if I say yes to this, whatever this is, I ruin us. I ruin you. And I can’t do that.”

His brow furrowed. “Why? Because of him?”

“No.” I shook my head slowly. “Because of our best friend.”

Confusion flashed across his face.

“Kenny,” I said. “She has feelings for you.”

His face twisted in confusion. “What are you talking about? Kenny doesn’t?—”

I shook my head slowly. “She does. I’d know. She’s told me.”

The heaviness of it landed between us, a fault line cracking open. Carson leaned back, as if the truth had shoved him there, his hand raking through his hair as if he needed something to hold on to, but everything was slipping.

I stood frozen in the silence that followed, watching my best friend splinter in real time because no matter what path I chose…someone was always going to end up hurt.