Chapter Fourteen

Darius

Three weeks…

“Throw the fucking ball then, you pussy!” I yell. Corvin takes his helmet off and throws it to the ground, then storms toward me. I do the same until we both smack into each other.

“You think you can do better?” he grits out through clenched teeth.

I press my forehead against his. “Yeah, I fucking do!” Corvin and I have been fighting daily over the stupidest things. None of us thought Leah was serious when she said she was leaving three weeks ago. When Corv went over to speak with her the next day, Cody slammed the door in his face after telling him it was his and my fault that her best friend left. She hasn’t returned his calls or texts. He had no choice but to tell his mom and dad, they are worried sick. He didn’t tell them why she ran just that some shit went down and she bolted. He made it seem like she just gave up, when that wasn’t the fucking case at all.

“Both of you, get the hell off my field and hit the showers. You are done for the day!” Coach shouts. I shove him back and stalk off the field, heading for the locker rooms. The second I barge through the door, I throw my helmet across the room then punch the locker beside me. I grit my teeth when pain radiates up my arm.

“Hope you’re pleased with yourself.” I spin around and glare at Corvin. I clench my fists at my sides as he walks toward me, leaving an inch of space between us.

“Fuck you,” I snarl.

“Nah, you’ve fucked enough Williams, I think,” he snaps. I punch him right in the jaw. He stumbles back a step before he roars and charges at me, tackling me into the lockers. I grunt then drop an elbow to his back. It doesn’t have the desired effect because he’s still wearing his pads. He lands a solid punch to my side before I manage to shove him back. I land another hit to his face. His head snaps to the side and he spits blood on the floor. When he slowly turns back to face me, his eyes are filled with hatred as he looks at me. “You and me, we’re done.” He spits blood at my feet. My anger begins to dissipate, then I curse and stab a hand through my hair.

“Corvin–”

“No, Darius. You’ve done enough!”

“I didn’t do shit!” He charges at me again, this time I don’t defend myself when he hooks me in the cheek. I stumble and quickly right myself as I wait for him to come at me again.

“She was doing good… you fucking ruined it!”

“How the fuck did I ruin it?” I shout. He reaches up and tugs on the strands of his hair in frustration.

“You should have left her alone.” All the anger flees my body, I decide I need to be open with him.

“I couldn’t, Corvin.” His gaze bores into me. I push on knowing that I need to tell him so he knows she wasn’t just some random girl I was fucking. “I tried to stay away from her, I swear I did. But then after time, I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from her.”

“Were you fucking my sister the whole time?” I shake my head.

“No. I swear, the first time was on her sixteenth birthday.” He scrubs a hand down his face.

“What the fuck happened, Darius?” I blow out a loud exhale as I dive into the story.

“I told her that we could never be more than friends because she is your little sister and was fourteen at the time, she didn’t take that well.” He snorts knowing how stubborn his sister is. “Then a year went by and we hung out a lot more, she started becoming… more. Then about three months before her sixteenth birthday shit changed and I couldn’t deny how I felt for her. Look, shit got real and I had planned to tell you until I got to that party and saw her in bed with Gary. We fought earlier that night and in my head, I thought she assumed I had chickened out and decided to fuck me over by sleeping with him. I had no fucking idea that he had drugged her. If I had, I would have killed the bastard for hurting my girl.” He quirks a brow at me.

“ Your girl?” I don’t cower, I hold his gaze as I nod my head stiffly. “How exactly did—do you feel about my sister and don’t fucking lie to me?” I mull over his words for a second and decide I need to stop lying to myself.

“I’ve been in love with Leah since I was seventeen.” His face slackens in shock at my honesty. “I thought us going away to college would help me get over her, but it didn’t. I could only fuck another chick doggy because I couldn’t stand the sight of their face. Shit, Corvin, the only girl I have ever kissed is Leah. I’ve never kissed another girl.” He throws his head back and groans.

“What the fuck happened that night after you and Beck brought them back from the club.” I scrunch my face. “Fucking hell, skip the dirty details.” I nod.

“I… let her go,” I say quietly.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

I throw my hands in the air and scowl at him. “You didn’t give me a choice. You told me to stay the fuck away from her,” I shout.

“Seems like you didn’t listen though, huh?”

“I can’t, Corvin. I fucking hate drugs and you know that, but she is a fucking addiction that I can’t get rid of. She’s under my skin, she’s inside me,” I say as I pound my fist against my chest.

“Do you still… love her?”

A whoosh of air escapes me. “Yeah, Corv, I still love her and I’m sorry I lied to you. But I have to be honest with myself, if you ask me to choose between you or her…” I hold his gaze so he can see how serious I am. “I choose her, I fucking love her and I know you will hate me for that but it’s the truth. I’m done lying to myself and everyone else.” He stands there silently staring at me for a long time. I begin to prepare myself for him to tell me to get out and stay away from him. It’s gonna suck losing my best friend but she is worth the sacrifice.

“Help me find my sister?” My brows rise to my hairline.

“Seriously?”

He narrows his eyes. “Don’t fucking push me. Help me find her and then… we’ll deal with this shit but, Darius?”

I swallow audibly. “Yeah?”

“You need to let go of the drug shit. You and I both fucked up. She needed us after that shit with Gary and neither of us were there for her.” I hang my head in shame.

“You both might not have been, but I was.” I spin around to see Beck leaning against the wall with a smug look on his face.

“How long have you been there?” Corvin demands.

Beck shrugs. “Long enough to know you two have kissed and made up.” Both Corv and I snicker while Beck shrugs. Saint and Crue appear, drawing a groan from me. Clearly the three of them have been standing there listening the entire fucking time!

“So, is this the part where we tell you that Leah has been talking to Beck every day?” I snap my gaze to Beck’s the second I register what Saint just said. He stands there staring directly at me, daring me to come at him. I refrain from giving into my instincts of wanting to rearrange his face.

“Where is she?” Corvin demands as he slides up beside me. Beck pushes off the wall and stands a couple feet away from us with his arms crossed over his chest. Saint and Crue stand either side of Beck mimicking his stance.

I roll my eyes over their display of power they think they have. “Spit it the fuck out or I’ll beat it out of you.” Beck cuts his gaze to me and narrows his eyes.

“What guarantee do I have that you two won’t fuck it up again?” I grind my teeth and try to take some deep breaths through my nose to calm my temper.

“I need to apologize for being a right prick and make it up to her, please, Beck.” I can tell that was hard for Corvin to say from how tense he is. Beck nods and then flicks his gaze back to me expectantly, I narrow my eyes.

“Her ass needs to get back here so I can remind her who the fuck said ass belongs to. Happy now?” No sooner have I finished speaking, than I am shoved into the lockers. I shoot Corvin a glare.

“Don’t ever fucking talk about my sister’s ass!” I last a whole two seconds before I laugh. Before long, the five of us are all laughing. It’s been a long time since the five of us have been in a room and actually laughing, it’s been nothing but tension and dirty looks for weeks.

“Okay.” I turn back to Beck and wait. “I suggest you two plan something good for Thanksgiving and be ready to grovel!”

“Fucking tell me where she is!” I snap at Beckett.

He shakes his head and smirks smugly. “I was sworn to secrecy, my dudes, plus it serves you both right to suffer for being fucking assholes.” I gape at the motherfucker as he turns and walks out with the cocky duo following after him.

“I’m gonna beat their asses,” Corvin growls.

“Fuck, yes!”

“Prank war?” I slowly turn to face my best friend and grin like a kid on Christmas.

“Fuck yes, those bastards are going down!”

Corvin and I wait out back for the three assholes to get back from practice. Excitement thrums through me when they realize what we have done! I stuff my hands into the pocket of my hoodie, the weather is starting to get colder and I couldn’t be happier. I fucking love winter.

“You know Saint and Crue are going to take this to the extreme, right?” I lull my head to the side to smirk at Corvin, who is reclined on the lounger beside me.

“They can try.” The sound of the front door opening alerts us to their arrival. Corvin wiggles his brows at me as we wait.

“Fuck!” We hear Crue shout, then we are both launching out of seats and racing over to peer through the back door as we watch the three of them slip all over the wooden floor. We poured oil from the front door to the stairs. Corvin and I both burst out laughing at the sight of them skating all over the place. I completely lose it when Beck begins to do the running man and falls flat on his ass.

“I’m gonna fucking kill them!” he roars from his spot on the ground. I open the back door and step inside with Corv right behind me, the three of them swinging their angry glares our way.

“Oh my goodness gracious, what is going on here?” Corvin mocks.

Saint points at the pair of us. “You’re going down for this motherfuckers.” If they think this is bad, I can’t wait for them to see what awaits them in their rooms.

Corvin and I decide to help them out and give them a hand. The fuckers think we are trying to suck up so they won’t turn this shit around on us. Truth is, we just want them to go upstairs, which they are doing now leaving us to clean the floor. The moment the three of them turn their backs and head upstairs, Corvin and I shake with silent laughter. Once they reach the landing we move to the base of the stairs, I count to three and then it happens.

“Darius!”

“Corvin!”

“You motherfuckers!”

They all shout in unison. Corvin and I race out the back door laughing our asses off as we race around the side of the house. I push the side gate open and we make a break for Corv’s car. We can still hear the three of them shouting inside. I’m laughing so hard, I have tears and my stomach is hurting. I yank the passenger door open and slip inside the car. Corvin is a second behind me, just as he slams the car into reverse I spot Beck running around the side of the house looking furious.

“Go, go, go!” I yell as he plants his foot and peels out of the driveway, with a pissed off Beckett chasing after us until we hit the end of our street.