He was right. Again. If he knew why I didn’t want to talk about my past, why the blood I’d seen on him affected me, then we would be having a different conversation that would ultimately shatter my soul. Especially once I saw the disgust in their eyes.
“Shut up and eat your food,” Krew cut in, his eyes on me.
Decker grunted and refocused on his plate of food. He wasn’t eating it, just stared at it with honed concentration.
“I’m between jobs. But I want to tattoo. That’s my passion. Been working on it for a while now—as you can see on my skin,” he said with his arms wide.
I took in every image on his flesh. Black and grey to colored. Individually, they didn’t tell a story, but looking at them as a whole book, his skin was an epic saga.
“I like them. Maybe one day, I’ll get one,” I admitted sheepishly.
“Just let me know, and I’ll do it.”
I felt heat creep into my cheeks, at the idea of Krew marking me with his ink, and quickly changed the topic. “How did you get into fighting?”
“I started seriously fighting while I was at Chillicothe Correctional. I had to learn to protect myself from the moment I was sent there,” Krew confessed easily, as though he was talking about a walk he had taken in a park.
I dropped my fork, and almost choked on the bite of meatball. “What?”
Decker chuckled. But there was no joy in it. “You didn’t know he went to jail after we were captured that night?”
“Neither did you,” Krew shot back at Decker.
I shook my head, afraid if I opened my mouth, I was going to vomit all over the table.
Jail. Krew in jail. My sweet Krew who never hurt a fly had to fight to protect himself. Oh, God.
“You have no clue that my father pulled some strings and gave me two choices—either go to jail or enlist in the military?” Decker added to the insult, completely destroying my perception of how they had lived their lives after I’d fled from Elida.
“Again, you didn’t know either, Deck,” Krew huffed out.
“Because I thought you were going to juvie—not jail.”
“I went to both,” Krew said flatly, stood from the table and picked up his plate. “It doesn’t matter anyway. That’s the past.”
“It does matter, damn it. Teke should have been in jail for what he did,” Decker railed as he slammed his fist on the table and the dishes rattled.
The realization that I wasn’t the only one who was affected by that monster’s choices hit dead center of my chest.
“No,” I croaked, but I couldn’t look away from Decker.
The corner of Decker’s lips dipped further down and he shook his head. “Neither of us had a choice when we got caught by the cops that night, Regi. But you did. Now tell us, why did you run from Elida—from us? Why didn’t you keep in touch—at least with Krew?”
I swallowed hard, afraid I’d blurt out the truth about what had happened that night. My throat hurt, as if an invisible noose had been drawn tight around my neck, and I could hardly take a breath.
I grabbed my glass of water and managed to drink the entirety to ease the strain, but the cold liquid didn’t help. “I didn’t know what happened. Maya?—”
“Fucking Maya,” Decker spat out. “That bitch has done more damage than—Fuck!” He shot out of his chair and began pacing.
“Maya didn’t tell you that she used to come visit me every weekend? Bring me things?” Krew questioned, his eyes wide with surprise.
It took everything in me to not scream. I wanted to track down my ex-friend and beat the crap out of her. Not only had she put me and Krew in this precarious dilemma, she had been lying to me for all these years about my guys.
“Did you know that, in school, she used to proposition us behind your back?” Krew landed another blow, and it felt physical, like his confession had literally punched a hole in my stomach.
“No,” I uttered, my eyes brimming with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me back then?”
“Would you have listened? She was your best friend, after all—really, the only one you hung out with, besides us,” Krew explained as he reached out and tried to take my hand. And I let him. “Regi, I promise you that we never did anything with her.”
