Page 82 of Dirty Secrets

I held Raven close as we sat in silence for a while, her face buried in my neck as her fingers drew patterns on my back. It was peaceful, and part of me wished that we didn’t have to leave.

I’d spent a lot of time up on this roof. Almost jumped off it once too. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that I’d spotted Raven alone down by the gym before we’d met, spray cans in hand as she got to work on her art.

I’d watched her for hours, forgetting all about my plan to jump.

Surprisingly, not a lot of kids seemed to hang around the school since they had the track in Ashburn Valley, and placeslike the Pit here in the Heights. I’d slept here without problems for months.

I regularly sought Raven out after that, taking it as far as following her home when she was alone at night. I thought she’d just been terrible at being aware of her surroundings when she never noticed me, or the assholes I beat up for stalking her in a creepy way, but then I heard about her brother’s murder and couldn’t blame her for being out of it.

I’d been too old for her and tried to stay hidden, just ensuring she got home safely when she went out alone, but then she ventured into the school for once, finding me beat to shit from my father.

Hiding from him had been getting harder and harder, the fucker had eyes everywhere, and I’d been lucky to escape him and his crew that time.

We sat on this roof and smoked for hours before she’d left, and after multiple encounters, she invited me back to her house to use the shower.

Reid and Logan hadn’t been impressed by my presence, and both had happily threatened me. I respected them for that, they just wanted her to be safe. She was fifteen, and I’d been almost eighteen. They had a right to question my intentions with her.

To prove that I was only looking out for her, I kind of ratted her out to them about how she was sneaking out to the school at night on her own, and that I’d been following her around to make sure she was safe.

Earned me points with the guys, and before long, they’d offered me a room.

Not that I could stay much, since I was constantly running from my father, but at least I’d had somewhere to shower and get a decent night’s sleep occasionally.

The day he’d died had been the best day ever because I could stop running, and I hadn’t left since.

“Zav?” Raven mumbled, her lips tickling my neck.

“Yeah?”

“Are we terrible people for keeping this from Reid? He’s going to be so hurt.”

“He’s not exactly giving us much of a choice. If we told him, he'd only beat me and Logan up and yell for days. If you want to tell him, I’m okay with getting beat up over you. Maybe we can cuff him to a chair before telling him so we have the upper hand?” I joked lightly, but I was almost considering it.

Reid was going to kill us, there was no escaping it.

“He might be okay with it,” she said weakly, making me snort.

“Baby, Logan’s fucked you too hard and rattled your brain if you think Reid won’t blow the fuck up at us. I think you could fuckhimand he’d still shoot me and Logan for touching you,” I said dryly, making her laugh as she leaned back to look at me.

“You think I should fuck him?”

“I said you could, not that you should. If you do, make him take it easy. His leg’s still causing him grief when he overdoes it,” I deadpanned, giving her a quick kiss. “Then again, a good, hard fuck between you two might fix all of your problems. Maybe you’re both just angry from all the sexual tension.”

“I’m mad because he was a dick to me earlier.”

“Reid sucks with words. He’s good with his dick though,” I snickered, swatting her butt playfully. “C’mon, you want to head home?”

Her stomach growled and she cringed. “Yeah. I didn’t get to eat my breakfast this morning.”

“You want to go eat at Harley’s Bar? Harley owes me a favor,” I explained, making her frown.

“You’ll use your favor for food?”

“Why not? He doesn’t have much else I could cash it in for. If I need help from the Psychos, I’d just go to Beckett,” I grinned,helping her stand and making sure she was away from the edge before getting to my feet too.

I pulled my phone out, knowing Logan was probably worried about her.

Zavier: I’m with Rae. Taking her out for some food, then we’ll be home.