Page 26 of Unmask (Crew of Elmwood Public #2)

I didn’t even get a chance to brace before an arm looped around my shoulder and yanked me into a very Mason-style chokehold.

I stumbled with a surprised grunt as he leaned in and planted a kiss on the top of my head like I wasn’t two seconds from stabbing him with a pen.

“Morning, my little kitten,” he said, grinning.

I shoved at his chest, but the bastard barely budged.

Kreed was on him a heartbeat later. “Keep your lips off her.”

Mason just beamed wider as if poking the bear was his favorite pastime. “The gang is back together again.”

Maddox sidled up beside us, shooting Kreed a narrowed look. “Where were you last night?”

Before Kreed could answer, Mason threw his hands out. “Seems obvious, doesn’t it? They showed up together. Smells like sin and regret.”

Kreed didn’t take the bait. He slid his hand into his pocket calmly. “I’m staying with her.”

That silenced them for all of two seconds.

“We’re protecting her now?” Maddox asked as we strode up onto the sidewalk leading into school.

“It’s not her fault what happened,” Kreed replied.

Maddox’s gaze narrowed. “Just because she sucks your dick doesn’t make her one of us.”

“Hey!” I protested, not that anyone gave a shit what I had to say. They just railed right over me like they had forgotten I was there.

A muscle feathered along Kreed’s jawline. “Don’t be bitter because she chose my dick over yours.”

Mason’s brows shot up. “Can we stop talking about your junk?”

“I’m being serious,” Kreed bit out. “I don’t want another death on my hands.”

Maddox opened the school doors, the warmth beckoning me inside. “Is that the only reason you’re staying with her?” he pried.

“Why does it matter?” Kreed countered. “I’m not asking you to get involved.”

“But we are involved,” Maddox said, stepping in behind us. “We’re crew. Always have been. We don’t let each other fall, and I’m not about to let you break up the crew over a girl.”

“That wouldn’t happen,” Kreed muttered, his lips turning into that brooding frown.

Mason flicked my nose. “We seem to be breaking all kinds of rules for you, kitten.”

“Dad won’t like this,” Maddox added, glancing down the hallway like Donovan might step out of the shadows.

“I’m done following his rules,” Kreed said simply.

I became too aware of the number of eyes on us as the Corvo boys ushered me through school, and despite my attempts to break ranks and sneak off into the crowd, they seemed to always know, blocking me off.

Maddox clapped a hand to Kreed’s shoulder. “Then you’re not doing it alone. That’s not how we work.”

“For once,” Mason said, sobering slightly, “he’s right. Crew is crew. We do this together. Even when it’s a disaster. With or without Dad.”

Maddox risked death and slung an arm around my shoulders. “So that means we’re staying too.”

I’m sorry, what? I held up both hands like I could halt a freight train and stopped dead in my tracks. It took only a second for me to have three brooding Ravens glaring at me. “Absolutely not. I can’t have all of you squatting at my cousin’s house. This isn’t some kind of crew stakeout.”

Kreed removed Maddox’s arm from around me.

“Why should it only be Kreed?” Maddox asked, tilting his head in that careful, observant way of his.

“We should take turns,” Mason added, the glint in his light-green eyes pure chaos. “Fair is fair. Equal opportunity and all that.”

Kreed’s expression was flat and lethal. “As if I’d trust either of you alone with her.”

Let Raven mayhem rain.

The boys started bickering with snarky remarks, growled threats, and shoulders squaring as if the school was suddenly a battleground. I groaned and shoved myself between them. “Does anyone care what I want?” I snapped.

Maddox snorted.

Mason huffed. “How much do you know about keeping someone alive? It’s not as easy as it seems. Trust me. We know.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you implying I’m a difficult case?”

“Yes,” the three of them replied in unison.

I snapped my mouth shut as the bell rang. I was supposed to be in class.

Kreed rubbed a hand along his jaw, glancing over at Maddox and Mason.

“I need at least one of you at the house. I want ears on the ground. Dad’s been quiet…

too quiet. He’s holding something back about who the Viper informant is.

I can feel it. He’s got something on the bastard.

We need to find out what and, more importantly, who. ”

Maddox tilted his head, smirking. “Still think we should rotate. Keep it fresh. What do you say, menace? You and me? A proper sleepover?”

We stopped at my locker, and I turned the dial. “Drop dead, Maddox.”

Maddox’s lips twitched. “That’s my girl.”

Kreed pressed his back into the locker beside mine, shooting his brother a cold scowl. “She’s not yours.”

Maddox shrugged one shoulder, completely unfazed. “Yeah, so you’ve said, but you’re not the only one who gets to claim her.”

I was starting to think agreeing to this was a bad freaking idea.

“No one is claiming me. Is that clear?” I shoved shit in my bag, uncertain it was the right stuff.

I turned to look at each of them one by one.

Mason with his lazy charm, Maddox with his calculated grin, and Kreed with his unreadable storm cloud gaze.

“I’m not property. I’m not a prize. I don’t belong to anyone. ”

The words hung between us, brittle and daring someone to challenge them, but none of them did. Instead, they all smirked, amused, like I was theirs anyway and they didn’t need to say it out loud to make it true, and damn it, part of me hated how that didn’t make me want to run.

It made me feel…anchored even if they drove me crazy. Even if they made me want to scream and punch walls and possibly commit actual crimes. I had them, and in a world like this, where loyalty was rare and betrayal was a currency, that meant everything.

The bigger question was, what the fuck was I going to do about them?