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The Hazed Series (New Edition)

Page 32

by Brittany Butler


  He snorts, “Girlfriend? You mean you picked up some hoe for an alibi?”

  He laughs, looking from me to Chandler. The idiot never knew when to stop. I try to swallow my anger, but it isn’t possible. I swing, and he went goes with the first hit.

  Chandler shoves me back. Josh holds his nose and looks up at us. He still has a grin on his face as if this is still a joke. I take a step to him, but Chandler shoves me back again.

  “Campus police will probably be here in a minute.”

  With clenched teeth, I nod and walk from the building. Luckily, class has already started, but the few students that were out are watching me. I can hear their whispers and feel their stares as I walk to my car. Knowing one of my knuckles is cracked, I cradle my hand in my lap as I slide in the driver seat.

  I am about to leave until I remember Taylor. I grab the door handle and shove it open. A golf cart with campus security swings in the open space beside me.

  “I need to ask you some questions.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Taylor

  “Special delivery,” Lea says, handing me a stack of large envelopes.

  Eager to tear into the letters, I shove my food away. My heart is about burst from my chest as I look at the addresses. This is it.

  “There’s Hayze,” Lea says. I shove them in my backpack and look at her. She nods, and babbles on about her classes when he sit down.

  He kisses my head, and I notice tape over his knuckles.

  “What happened?” I shriek.

  He looks at his hand. “You know my temper.”

  “But do the cops know about this?” Lea asks, rolling her eyes at him.

  “Some douchebag we went to school with started shit with me.”

  Even if I tried, I couldn’t explain the anxiety that floods my body when Hayze tries to defend himself. This could mean he’s in serious trouble, and I know I can’t take anymore. It’s probably been said before, but in less than twenty-four hours, I already regret sleeping with Hayze Clark.

  “How bad is it?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “Not bad. He started it, I punched him, and I left.”

  “Where?”

  “Right outside my class. Seriously, it’s not bad. That was it,” he says.

  “It’s not bad this time, Hayze. You could be in serious trouble because of Joel. It doesn’t look good that you’re punching people.”

  Lea’s eyes bounce between us before moving in. She props her elbows on the table. “What happened with you and Joel?”

  Hayze drops his head. “Fuck, I forgot to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” She urges.

  “Joel’s MIA,” I say, making light of the situation. We don’t know for sure what happened, so we shouldn’t panic anyone.

  She looks at Hayze, her eyes are wide. “What happened?”

  “I wouldn’t know. It was over the weekend…I was either in Houston or at my mom’s.”

  Her jaw flies open. “Tell me you had nothing to do with it.”

  “I had nothing to do with it,” he says. He doesn’t sound convincing as he mimics what she said.

  “Hayze,” she warns in a low voice.

  “What the fuck? Why does everyone just assume I had something to do with it?” His voice booms with anger.

  His fingers drum on his jeans as he tries to contain his temper. Attempting to calm him down, I take his hand in mine. His shoulders relax as I lean into him.

  “I don’t think you would do anything. You’re just acting weird about it, that’s all,” she says.

  “Tell that to the detectives that showed up,” he says, acting nonchalant.

  “What?”

  “It’s just a standard thing…They have to ask everyone that knew him, but it sure as hell didn’t look good that we’ve been arrested for fighting each other.”

  “Joel fights everyone. You’ll be fine,” she assures.

  “I think so, too,” I say, smiling as he places a soft kiss on my lips.

  “Um…What in the actual fuck?” She laughs, looking between us.

  “We talked last night,” I say.

  He leans into my ear, whispering so only I can hear, “Actually we talked this morning. We fucked last night.”

  Playfully, I push away from him. “I don’t think Lea wants to know that.”

  “I don’t want to see it either,” she says, cringing. I laughed at her horrified expression.

  I check the time on my phone. “We have to be at work soon,” I say.

  He sighs, “I need to talk to Lea first.”

  “What is it?” She asks.

  He looks at me from the corners of his eyes. “Do you want to talk alone?”

  “No, you’re freaking me out. Just say it,” she says, scrunching her nose.

  “I talked to my mom this morning. Our…father isn’t doing very well,” he says. He said father as if the very word made him ill.

  She rolls her eyes. “He’s always sick.”

  “It’s different,” he replies.

  She looks at him and the color drains from her face. She grabs her purse and stands up from the table. “I have to get to work.”

  “Lea!” Hayze yells, walking after her.

  “I’m fine, seriously. I’m just late.” She waves and disappears through the door.

  “Fuck,” he mutters, hitting the table.

  The drive to the bar is silent. I can almost hear Hayze’s thoughts. He sighed a lot, shifted in his seat at every stop light, and watched me from the corner of his eye. I wasn’t upset with him, but I was starting to feel like we were in the same ugly cycle again.

  “I was going to tell you everything. I wanted to tell Lea about our dad first,” he says as we walk to the bar.

  “I get it,” I smile, smiling reassuringly.

  He stands in front of the door to the bar. “About earlier. I didn’t mean to hit that guy. I was already on edge and he wouldn’t shut the fuck up.”

  I hold my hand up. “It’s fine. But only this time. Don’t make a habit of this.”

  He wraps his arms around me, pulling me tight. “I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

  He throws his arm over my shoulders and drags me into the bar. I knew we would cause a scene, but I didn’t ask him to stop. Our friends at the bar, along with everyone else around us, never know what is going on.

  Shea’s the first to see us. Her mouth hangs open as she places her hands on her hips. “I don’t know who to start with.”

  I laugh, “No more drama, promise.”

  “My heart can’t take anymore,” she jokes.

  She walks ahead of us into the bar and sits in the booth. We sit on the opposite side of her. Hayze wastes no time, he dips a chip in salsa and pops it into his mouth.

  “So, how did this happen?” She ask, motioning her finger between us.

  “It’s been a long time coming,” I say.

  “That’s news to me,” Hayze says with a mouthful of food.

  I crinkle my nose at his manners. “You knew this would happen eventually.”

  He cocks a brow at me. “Yeah…I was reassured every fuckin’ time you left my place with another guy.”

  I clamp my hands over his mouth while Shea laughs. “It was one guy, one time.”

  He holds his hand out, reaching for my phone. “Let me call that prick and tell him we’re together.”

  Grabbing it off the table, I hold it away from him, laughing. “No!”

  “I’ll get my chance,” he says.

  I shake my head at him. “Leave that poor guy alone.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” Shea ask, confused.

  “Taylor’s ex is in love with her. Calls her all the time, asks her out. I’m going to kick his ass.”

  “You’ve already used your one ass kicking pass, sorry,” I say, clenching my teeth, pretending to be sincere.

  “You’ll forget soon enough,” he says, confidently.

  Randy wal
ks through the bar in a rush. “Doors are about to open. Taylor, Hayze, how are you two?”

  “We’re good,” Hayze says. A look passes between the two, but Randy keeps walking and Hayze stands before I can ask what it was about.

  Randy stands at the door, resting a hand on it; he claps, gathering our attention. “We’re making some changes. After we close, I need the guys to stay for about an hour.”

  “What’s going on?” Eric ask, walking into the bar.

  “I’ve had some requests. We’re opening up the second room for dancing and karaoke, things like that. So, if you have any ideas, I’m open to them.”

  “How fun!” Shea says excitedly.

  “We’ll be slammed for a few weeks, so no more taking off.” He looks around, but I can’t help but think he is talking to Hayze and me.

  There was a chorus of agreement as he opens the front door. Hayze plants a kiss on my cheek and walks behind the bar with Jace and Eric.

  Shea slings her arm through mine, guiding me to the back. “So, some of us have been talking about going somewhere for spring break.”

  “After Randy made the speech about not taking off? Good luck,” I say.

  “Just the days we aren’t open. Like leave Sunday night and come back Tuesday or early Wednesday.”

  I nod, “That could be fun.”

  She looks back, searching the bar, then leans in closer. “I didn’t want to mention it before. I never know with you and Hayze.”

  “I understand. I’ll talk to him about it tonight and see what he says.”

  She claps her hands together; her brown eyes light with excitement. “I hope you guys come!”

  “Will you drop me off at the apartments after work? I don’t want to wait on Hayze,” I said.

  “Of course,” she says.

  I follow her to the bar. Students are already packing the small space. I overhear Eric spilling the details of what is to come for the bar. I scan the room before greeting tables; maybe it was spring break approaching in a few weeks, but the crowd is buzzed with excitement.

  Shea finds me again, “There’s this guy that’s asking for you. I tried to wait on him,” she says, shrugging.

  “Who is it?” I stand on my tip-toes, looking over the group that just walked in.

  “I’ve never seen him before. He’s cute though, like in a dorky way.”

  My stomach drops. Without another word, I stalk over to the table Joseph is waiting in. He is sitting at a table, looking at a menu. He looks out of place with his hair combed over and a polo tucked in his pants.

  I look over my shoulder as I approached him. Hayze is at the bar, grabbing a drink order.

  “What do you think you’re doing here?” I ask.

  His head snaps up, grinning when he sees me. “I wanted to see what the fuss was about.”

  “You came, you saw, goodbye,” I say as I grab the menu from his hand. I shove it across the table, waiting for him to leave.

  “I took your advice,” he says. I sigh and take the seat across from him.

  “What did you do?”

  “I decided to ask a girl out,” he says, pulling the menu in front of him. It is obvious he plans on staying.

  “That’s great! Tell me how it goes.” I stand, thinking he would leave, but he just sits there, grinning.

  “She hasn’t said yes yet.”

  I look around, noticing the bar is getting full, I am on edge. “I’ll help you later, okay?”

  “I came to ask you out,” he says. I started walking away, but I freeze.

  “Hayze and I are back together. If you aren’t ordering anything, you need to go,” I say.

  This time I do walk away. I greet three tables and return their drinks. I walk to the tall, wooden bar. The black counter tops, usually clean, are sopping with drinks that spilled. I dodge the wet spots and run into Hayze. His expression is unreadable as I hand him the drink orders.

  “Shea said some guy was askin’ for you,” he says, scanning the order.

  He turns his back to me, pouring drinks into glasses. It would be impossible to yell over the loud noise. So, I don’t respond. He hands me three glasses and walks around the bar with the others.

  Without so much as a word, he follows as I lead him to the tables. The groups have pushed their tables together, making it easier to slip their drinks in and leave without being seen. I need to find Shea, but five strong fingers grip my thin arm, stopping me in my tracks.

  “Who is it?” He asks.

  Without facing him, I say, “I took care of it; it’s fine.”

  “I’m walking over there. A heads up would be nice.” He releases my arm and walks away.

  “Hayze! Wait!” I say, going after him.

  He doesn’t slow down, not even as Joseph comes into sight. I look over my shoulder. The dim lighting catches Eric’s dark hair as he hustles around filling orders. Jace is leaning over the top, talking to two men dressed in suits.

  I stop dead in my tracks as they glanced around the bar. The detectives that were at the apartment days before, were questioning our friends. This can’t be good.

  I run to Hayze, knocking into bar patrons. Joseph stands as Hayze approaches the table. Joseph sizes him up, as if he could hold his own in a fight with Hayze.

  “Those detectives are here,” I say.

  Hayze stops and looks over my shoulder. He closes his eyes and brings his hand to his head, frustrated. “Fuck,” he groans.

  “What’s going on? Is he bothering you, Taylor?” Joseph asks. The color from my face drains as Hayze clenches his fists and meets his glare.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Hayze ask, stepping toward him.

  He looks around Hayze, smiling at me. “I had to ask Taylor a question.”

  Hayze steps up, inches from his face. “Don’t look at her.”

  “She doesn’t like being controlled. She’ll be done with you soon.”

  My jaw drops. I can’t believe Joseph would instigate a fight with Hayze. I put my hand on his back, letting him know I’m here, hoping to calm him down.

  “Don’t come back here. Don’t call her, don’t talk to her,” he says, his voice shakes with anger.

  “What if she reaches out to me?”

  Taking a step back, Hayze chuckles. “She won’t.”

  Joseph takes a few steps away then turns to face us. “Bye, Taylor. See you around.”

  Hayze walks after him. “If I so much as hear your fuckin’ name!”

  “The detectives,” I remind him.

  As Joseph leaves the bar, Hayze relaxes. “They’re the only reason I didn’t beat his ass to a pulp.”

  “I didn’t know he was like that,” I say, honestly.

  “Is everything okay over here?” The detectives walk up. One shoves a notebook in his jacket, while the other watches Hayze.

  “Everything’s fine,” he says.

  He nods and steps around us. “Have a good evening”

  My heart is about to jump out of my chest as we watch them leave. “That can’t be good,” I say.

  “What did they ask you guys?” Shea ask, walking to our side with a drink in her hand.

  “Nothing at all. What about you?” I ask, hoping they left Hayze out of the conversation.

  She shrugs. “When we last saw Joel. Stuff like that.”

  “Did they ask anything about Hayze?”

  As she is walking away, she laughs. “No, why would they?”

  “No reason,” I lie.

  I walk to the table I was waiting on, refilling their drinks as needed. The remainder of the night runs smooth, no exes threatening Hayze and no detectives watching us. I have a few tables, leaving my mind to wander to horrible places, places without Hayze.

  “Guys, don’t run off; I need your help in the other room. It should take an hour tops,” Randy says.

  Hayze walks over, circling his arms around me. “Do you wanna stay?”

  “Shea’s dropping me off,” I say.

  “Will
you be alright by yourself?” He asks, kissing my hair.

  I smile at him, “I think I can manage.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  I step away from him and grab my purse from behind the bar, I sling it over my shoulder and find Shea. Hayze is following me around like a lost puppy. His worry gives me anxiety, but I don’t ask him to leave me alone.

  “You ready?” Shea asks, walking from the back.

  “I am.”

  “I’ll be home in an hour,” Hayze says.

  I laugh quietly. “I’m fine.”

  He walks me to Shea’s car, following silently behind me. He opens the door for me. As I slide in, he bends down and places a kiss on my lips. He trails to my ear.

  “I love you. Call me if you need anything,” he whispers.

  “I love you. Now, go,” I say, smiling. Playfully, I put my hand on his chest and shove him back. He’s smiling as we drive off.

  “Never thought I’d see the day,” Shea says.

  “Everyone eventually falls in love.”

  “I wasn’t referring to love. I never thought I’d see him whipped,” she laughs.

  “He isn’t whipped. We’re just different. It’s hard to explain it.”

  She cocks her brow at me, but doesn’t tease me further. When we pull into the apartment complex, she stops in front of our door.

  “Thanks for the ride,” I say as I grab my purse.

  “Is everything okay with Hayze? Sorry, it’s probably none of my business, but when you asked about the detective it made me think something was going on.”

  I shake my head. “I just thought they would ask about Hayze since they lived together,” I lie.

  “Oh, that’s a relief,” she says.

  Her words are supposed to calm me. Instead, I am gutted.

  “Thanks for the ride,” I say, waving as I jumped from the seat.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Taylor

  I walk inside our apartment, clutching my purse to my chest. Deep inside, a part of me is glad Hayze had to stay late. It will give me the privacy I need to open the letters.

  I crawl in my bed fully clothed and dump everything out of my purse. I grab each envelope, studying the addresses as if I need them to live.

 

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