Better When He's Bold
Page 94
My phone shone like a beacon where I had left it on the bed after talking to Dovie. I dove for it with every intention of taking it into the bathroom with me so I could call for help, only a heavy weight hit me from behind and knocked me to the floor. I yelped as pain exploded in my already injured head and tried to scramble away as I was yanked onto my back and straddled with a heavy weight across my chest. I went to scream again as my arms were yanked ruthlessly above my head and then I went deathly silent as the barrel of a handgun was pressed directly between my eyes.
I made myself be absolutely still, shock and recognition rippling through me like a tidal wave as I gazed up into Drew’s deranged blue eyes. My head was aching, my reality was spinning around and turning upside down, but there was no mistaking that the guy who had just shot Booker and was now pointing a gun directly to the center of my forehead was someone I had considered a friend up until moments ago. Gone was the guy I walked to class with. Gone was the easygoing guy I borrowed notes from. Gone was any semblance of a stable and caring human being. He looked enraged. His cheeks were bright red and his breath was whooshing in and out like bellows, and I could feel the hatred pouring off of him as he jammed the gun even harder into my forehead.
“Thanks for warning me about your bodyguard, Brysen. That’ll make this so much easier for me.”
I gasped and stared up at him in shock. “Where is Dovie?” My voice was thready and I could hear how scared I sounded. He laughed like a lunatic and bent over me so that our eyes were locked right over the gun. I saw his finger twitch on the trigger, and I was pretty sure I was going to die.
“She served her purpose. This has nothing to do with anyone but you and me. I just needed the guy guarding you out of the way. He’s just one more body you have laying at your feet.”
I had no clue what he was talking about. “What?” I tried to wiggle my fingers because they were going numb, but that just had him yanking my arms higher up over my head and the gun pressing even more tightly into my skull. It was like he was trying to shove it through my face. Drew sat up a little and dragged the gun across my cheek, down my nose, and stopped with it shoved into the soft skin under the curve of my chin.
“You’re never responsible for the people you kill. Never stop to wash the blood off your hands, do you, Brysen?”
I still wasn’t following, so I just kept my mouth shut and stared up at him. I could feel tears burning in the back of my eyes, but after everything he had put me through, after he had pretended to be my friend just so he could torment me, there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction of crying. I gave my hips an experimental wiggle to see if I could dislodge his weight and almost threw up when the action made him leer at me.
“I don’t have blood on my hands, Drew. You’re the one who tried to run me over, spied on me, and pushed me down the stairs. You’re the one covered in blood. What did I ever do to you to deserve this?”
I hollered out in pain as he lifted the gun and brought the butt of it down on the side of my head. I saw another galaxy. I felt agony, sharp and blinding from the strike, and immediately I had black spots dancing in front of my eyes. Drew used his hold on my hands to pull me up into a semi-sitting position and loomed over me.
He barked right into my face, “You don’t play by the rules. You think you’re better than everyone else and that you’re special.”
I absolutely didn’t think that, but it seemed stupid to argue when I heard bells ringing in my ears and had starbursts of pain exploding in my head. “This is because I wouldn’t date you? You want to kill me because I don’t have romantic feelings for you?”
I sounded confused and it wasn’t all because of the echoing hurt rattling through my brain. None of this was adding up and I needed to shake the cobwebs loose and figure something out. My sister needed me, Race needed me, and I wasn’t about to let either of them down by continuing to be a victim at the hands of this madman.
“No, you dumb bitch.” The gun clattered on the side of my head again and this time I felt my skin split open. The coppery and rusty scent of my blood wafted into my nose. My neck no longer felt like it could hold my head up and it flopped back heavily to smack into the side of the bed. “This has to do with you and your family thinking you’re above the law. That because you have money and connections, the law and justice don’t apply to you. Your mom ruined my life by being a dumb, drunken piece of shit—and what happened? Not a fucking thing. Your dad threw some money at the situation, at the pitiful, pathetic family from the Point. He talked to some people, and poof, it all went away. Meanwhile, my mom is strung out on painkillers and my little brother ate a bullet because he couldn’t stand the thought of being in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. And what happened to the Carters? You just get to go on living life like nothing happened. Your dad and your mom, even your perfect little sister, all happy and secure in a fucking bubble. You think you’re untouchable.”
I made myself be absolutely still, shock and recognition rippling through me like a tidal wave as I gazed up into Drew’s deranged blue eyes. My head was aching, my reality was spinning around and turning upside down, but there was no mistaking that the guy who had just shot Booker and was now pointing a gun directly to the center of my forehead was someone I had considered a friend up until moments ago. Gone was the guy I walked to class with. Gone was the easygoing guy I borrowed notes from. Gone was any semblance of a stable and caring human being. He looked enraged. His cheeks were bright red and his breath was whooshing in and out like bellows, and I could feel the hatred pouring off of him as he jammed the gun even harder into my forehead.
“Thanks for warning me about your bodyguard, Brysen. That’ll make this so much easier for me.”
I gasped and stared up at him in shock. “Where is Dovie?” My voice was thready and I could hear how scared I sounded. He laughed like a lunatic and bent over me so that our eyes were locked right over the gun. I saw his finger twitch on the trigger, and I was pretty sure I was going to die.
“She served her purpose. This has nothing to do with anyone but you and me. I just needed the guy guarding you out of the way. He’s just one more body you have laying at your feet.”
I had no clue what he was talking about. “What?” I tried to wiggle my fingers because they were going numb, but that just had him yanking my arms higher up over my head and the gun pressing even more tightly into my skull. It was like he was trying to shove it through my face. Drew sat up a little and dragged the gun across my cheek, down my nose, and stopped with it shoved into the soft skin under the curve of my chin.
“You’re never responsible for the people you kill. Never stop to wash the blood off your hands, do you, Brysen?”
I still wasn’t following, so I just kept my mouth shut and stared up at him. I could feel tears burning in the back of my eyes, but after everything he had put me through, after he had pretended to be my friend just so he could torment me, there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction of crying. I gave my hips an experimental wiggle to see if I could dislodge his weight and almost threw up when the action made him leer at me.
“I don’t have blood on my hands, Drew. You’re the one who tried to run me over, spied on me, and pushed me down the stairs. You’re the one covered in blood. What did I ever do to you to deserve this?”
I hollered out in pain as he lifted the gun and brought the butt of it down on the side of my head. I saw another galaxy. I felt agony, sharp and blinding from the strike, and immediately I had black spots dancing in front of my eyes. Drew used his hold on my hands to pull me up into a semi-sitting position and loomed over me.
He barked right into my face, “You don’t play by the rules. You think you’re better than everyone else and that you’re special.”
I absolutely didn’t think that, but it seemed stupid to argue when I heard bells ringing in my ears and had starbursts of pain exploding in my head. “This is because I wouldn’t date you? You want to kill me because I don’t have romantic feelings for you?”
I sounded confused and it wasn’t all because of the echoing hurt rattling through my brain. None of this was adding up and I needed to shake the cobwebs loose and figure something out. My sister needed me, Race needed me, and I wasn’t about to let either of them down by continuing to be a victim at the hands of this madman.
“No, you dumb bitch.” The gun clattered on the side of my head again and this time I felt my skin split open. The coppery and rusty scent of my blood wafted into my nose. My neck no longer felt like it could hold my head up and it flopped back heavily to smack into the side of the bed. “This has to do with you and your family thinking you’re above the law. That because you have money and connections, the law and justice don’t apply to you. Your mom ruined my life by being a dumb, drunken piece of shit—and what happened? Not a fucking thing. Your dad threw some money at the situation, at the pitiful, pathetic family from the Point. He talked to some people, and poof, it all went away. Meanwhile, my mom is strung out on painkillers and my little brother ate a bullet because he couldn’t stand the thought of being in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. And what happened to the Carters? You just get to go on living life like nothing happened. Your dad and your mom, even your perfect little sister, all happy and secure in a fucking bubble. You think you’re untouchable.”
