Page 10 of Unspoken Rules (Rules 2)

Ryan steps in my way faster than I anticipated.

“We weren’t asking.”

I’m not surprised that Ryan’s the one on speech duty. He can say what he wants, but he lives for the power. Out of all of the boys, he’s the one who’d take my place in a heartbeat if he could.

He wasn’t so cocky when he first started fighting a year ago. You’d think the fact that I taught him everything he knows would owe me some gratitude. But that’s just Ryan being his self-centered, arrogant, and power-starving self. I used to think that hunger made him a good fighter, but now I know it just makes him an asshole.

“Is it true?” Emmett asks, a frown upon his face. Emmett’s always been Ryan’s sloppy second. They’re friends. He got Ryan into the fights, but we all know Emmett secretly admires him.

“Is what true?”

“You’re against Tanner now?”

I hesitate at first but say it anyway. They’ll find out the truth soon enough.

“Yes, I guess I am.”

Their faces grow pale, and I curse under my breath. I should’ve known they’d react this way. My brother and I have been the West side’s main fighters for the longest time. Main is what we call the fighters who win the most fights in their areas. Each side has one. The main automatically becomes “the leader.” It may sound stupid, but it’s the only way we can maintain some semblance of order. Why would one deserve to lead more than another? You have to earn it.

Tanner and I were always tight on our victories, almost even. Until a few months ago, when I beat him. Things went downhill from there.

Just like I made Ryan, Tanner made me. Being the oldest gave him a head start on being the troubled Adams kid, and he got into this street fighting mess long before I did.

He started training me when I was fourteen. He took pity on me after what happened. Fighting was the only thing that made me feel alive back then.

I guess having the student beat the teacher didn’t sit well with him. He started getting all up in my business, almost becoming controlling and needy. Maybe because he was afraid I’d end up being more of his competition than his brother. We don’t have plenty of family to go around.

It got a hundred times worse when I met Winter. It’s like he was terrified that I’d be happy and leave him alone in the misery we’ve shared ever since we were kids—courtesy of our not-so-loving parents.

He’s not the main anymore, but that doesn’t make my guys any less scared of him. The tables can turn at any time in our world, and we had the proof of that multiple times

in the past.

Tanner’s been around a lot longer than I have, and they know it. So they might be following me now, but I don’t doubt for a second that they’d side with him if I lost my title, especially Emmett, who’s the type to support whoever wins when we watch football.

They’re afraid of standing up to him in case he takes the title back overnight. I get it. Whether it’s me or my brother, no one wants to get on our bad side.

“I’m not after revenge, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, their shoulders relax and the color finds its way back to their faces.

“We’re glad to hear that, man,” Trev says.

“He just wanted his brother back,” Ryan adds.

I can’t believe they’re agreeing with him. He just wanted his brother back. How ironic that all he managed to do was lose him even more.

“Have you thought of going after her?” Andrew speaks to me for the first time today.

Yes.

“No. Wasn’t planning on it. Will that be all, officers?” I shift from one foot to the other impatiently.

Andrew nods, his ginger hair covering his eyes as he stares at the ground. He’s always been the quiet one of the gang. But in contrast to Emmett and Ryan, he’s loyal. He and Trev have been with me since the beginning when we first formed our alliance. They’re more than my fighters; they’re my friends. Which is why it stings like a bitch that Trevor called up this “saving Haze” intervention behind my back.

“One last thing,” Ryan continues. “Do me a favor and go pay that Bianca chick a visit. Maybe she could…” He stops like he’s looking for the right words to say. “Get your mind straight.”

I almost puke right there and then.