Page 27 of Her Crew

“I promise, Ace didn’t hurt me.”

He finally relaxes, and so do I. “I love Ace like a brother, but I would disown him entirely if I found out he hurt you.”

I reach out and touch his arm, and my fingertips meet with stiff ridges of skin. Without being obvious, I steal a glance. Scar tissue runs along his inner arm in lines. He cuts? My mother self-mutilated, and I recognize the signs instantly. I don’t remove my hand from him because I don’t want him to notice that I noticed.

“He hasn’t hurt me. I promise.”

He brushes my hair behind my ear, and the simple motion sends shivers up my spine.

“Hey, guys,” Ace says as he approaches again. “Hate to break this up, but you know how Stacks is about the schedule.”

I nearly break my neck to get away from Tye’s touch. I expect Alec to get mad, to say something about what he just saw, but he only checks his phone. Meanwhile, I’m nearly pissing myself as if I just got caught fucking cheating.

“Be good to her, Ace,” Tye says with a warning snip in his tone.

Ace nods.

What a weird, cryptic thing to say. Either way, the tension seems to dissipate from them, but not from me. I’m overcome with panic as we head to the van. The anxiety goes right to my gut, and I’m suddenly starving. The muffin from an hour ago doesn’t feel like enough anymore. I want to eat. I need to eat.

Ace must notice something is wrong, because he pulls me aside and motions Tye forward. Tye leaves us alone after a moment of hesitation. We’re in the nook where the vending machines are, and all I can focus on is that hum—the sound of a vessel holding a snack. Or two. Or three.

“You don’t need to eat, pup. You aren’t hungry; you’re panicking. Don’t let what happened between me and Tye bother you. Tye is a good guy, and if he cares about you, I love that for you both. You deserve to have people who care about you.”

I blink up at him. His words soothe me like a balm. And when he puts his hand on my cheek and leans into me, I can’t even think about my hunger anymore.

“You don’t need food to calm your anxiety. If you’re anxious, let me feed you with this instead.”

He leans down to kiss me, and the worries evaporate. I haven’t even had time to process his words, let alone his kiss. Was he encouraging me to pursue something with Tye? And if so, why?

Probably so that he can go have some fun with Delia.

If that’s his angle, no thanks.

But for now, I return the kiss. There will be time to figure out everything later. Right now, we need to get in that van. It’s time to head to the next city.

Chapter 16

Alec

My fist raps against the mansion’s entrance. That’s the only way to describe it. This house is as big as some of the motels we stay at, and I can’t even see the roof. I’m not even exaggerating.

And I can’t wait.

“Are you ready?” I ask Tegan, though I know she probably isn’t. We haven’t had enough practice for a target this big and rich.

The order book burns against my chest with the prospect of more orders than usual. I won this house in a ruthless game of rock, paper, scissors, though I almost feel like Tye gave the game to me. He knows me well enough to know every move I’d make before I made it.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she says.

Multiple locks disengage before the big door swings open. A middle-aged woman with the air of a politician stands in the doorway.

“Can I help you kids?” she asks.

I internally panic for a moment. We have mere seconds to worm our way in, especially when the target already has her defenses raised. I shift my expression into that of a pitiful, woebegone teenager before dropping my shoulders and getting ready to speak.

“Hello, ma’am. I’m Robert, and this is Melissa.” I gesture toward Tegan, but before I can concoct my story, she steps in front of me.

“I’m a domestic violence victim,” she says, and I have to fight to hold back a smile. She lifts her hair away, exposing the shiner that I didn’t give her.