The Win: Rebels of Ridgecrest High (Book 4)

“Give me the car,” I yell at Hunter for the tenth time today. I can’t sit back here and wait any longer. He shakes his head, his fist balled as if he’s going to hit me.

“No, you’re not going. We’ll stay here and wait until it’s the right time. We don’t want to make things worse for her.”

“Fuck this,” I spit out. Being there will not make things worse. But me not being with her will . . . I can’t stand this. I can’t be away from her any longer.

I need her like I need air. I can’t breathe without her, and it feels like I’ve been holding my breath for two agonizing weeks.

I need to touch her, hold her in my arms and keep her safe. She needs me as much as I need her.

I growl lowly in warning. “I’m not waiting anymore. You said she would be back for Christmas. You say that us being here is the right move; it’s not. She’s all alone, Hunter. She needs us . . . I need her.”

I’m shaking, I can’t go back to that place. That dark hole I know will eat me whole this time. There will be no coming back from there. I know it, and I think Hunter does too.

“I know,” he says. “I need her too. You don’t think I want to be there with her? Without her, I feel lost.”

Fuck. I need to stop taking this out on him. I know I’m not the only one in this relationship, and I have to think about my brother. Hunter’s my family too, and I didn’t think about how he’s struggling.

“I can’t take it anymore. Something’s going on, and James not being able to really see or talk to her. . . that’s not good.”

Hunter’s father told us not to go to New York. Said that it would only cause trouble for Mila and us, because of my father’s death. But if means having Mila home and safe, I’ll go to the cops and tell them I did it. I’m the one who killed my father, not Mila. They will have to let her go.

I will spend the rest of my life in prison to keep her out of it. What happens to me isn’t important. I only care that she’s safe.

“I thought she would be back.” Hunter’s shoulders sag as he drops onto the sofa.

I shouldn’t have yelled at him like that; I’m just so worked up. Without her, I can’t sleep, and I’m not functioning. Going to him, I reach for his shoulder and squeeze it.

I’m getting better at physical touch with Hunter. I don’t flinch away anymore when he touches me, and I can offer him the comfort of my touch, even if it’s just his shoulder. He looks up at me and gives me a small smile as he looks to my hand.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you. We all thought she’d be back.”

We did. I don’t think James and Kate expected that she would still be there. Kate came back and James stayed. We thought the cops would let her come back home here, but she has to stay with her mom.

“There’s no way she killed him. She had no motive. These cops are just incompetent.”

Except, who’s gonna believe her? The press has been calling her the killer stepdaughter, saying she killed him for his money. Only, she wasn’t in his will; she would inherit nothing. But her slimy mother inherits everything.

There’s just so many things wrong with that bitch, pointing to her being the actual killer. Mila said she didn’t do it, and I know she didn’t. She just needs someone there for her . . . I need her.

“I need to go to her now.” Need to feel her in my arms, need to protect her and be with her. Even if it’s to hold her at night while she sleeps.

“No, man. Just give it another week, and she’ll be back.”

He won’t even look at me, because he’s lying. He doesn’t have the answers this time. I can see it’s tearing him apart. What is his father holding over his head if he leaves? There has to be more to it than him wanting to protect Mila by staying here.

Hunter’s always so with it; he’s the one who keeps us all together. The glue. But now, he’s lost his way. I don’t know if anyone can help him but Mila. He needs her as much as I do. And I will bring her back for him.

I throw my hands up, and without a word, I storm out of the house to my Harley. I’ve contemplated riding it to New York, but the snow and ice that I’ll encounter on my journey has been the only thing stopping me. Never experienced snow before, but the first time I do, I don’t want to be on two wheels.

The engine vibrates underneath me as I rev it a few times before tearing out of the driveway and toward Jace’s house. It’s Grady who greets me. He’s closing his car door when he sees me, and smiling, he waves over at me.

“Roman, how have you been?” Then his smile drops and he shake his head. “Sorry, dumb question.”

I shrug. Not a dumb question. If it were any other day, Mila would still be here with us. “I’m here for Jace.” I let him know.

Grady nods toward the front door, and I follow after him. His parents are home, and I nod hello to Daniel in the living room. Ella rushes to me from the kitchen and hugs me. Grady pauses and raises his arm to stop her, knowing I don’t like to be touched. He’s one of the few other people who’s ever picked up on that, but I hug his mom back, welcoming the warmth and love from her. She’s always been like a mother to me.

“Jace is in his bedroom, Roman. He hasn’t been out in days. Maybe you can help him? Talk to him?”

I nod. But I know how he feels. I feel the same way, not wanting to get up to face another day without her here. Unable to help her. But we can’t just lie down and let her be taken from us like this. We have to fight for her, and he’s going to do that by giving me his car.

I stomp up the stairs two at a time and don’t even knock as I slam his bedroom door open. He jumps up in bed, spinning his head to me. It’s dark in here, and it smells like he hasn’t showered in days. I can see he’s naked as he uses his sheet to cover his junk.

When his eyes meet mine, they’re bloodshot, and he rubs away tears from his cheek. I wasn’t expecting that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry. I take a step back. This isn’t what I’d been expecting when I came up here.

“The fuck, man? Don’t you fucking knock?” he croaks as he sits taller, and I see his chest more clearly. He looks like he’s lost a few pounds.

“Have you not been eating?”

With a shrug, he reaches for his phone. When finds no messages, just like I did this morning, he slams his phone down and lets out a pained groan.

“You can’t stop eating. You need to take care of yourself for Mila. She’ll be stressed out if she sees that you’ve lost weight. Then she will give you all the hugs, and I’ll have to steal her from you.”

He rolls his eyes, flops back down on his pillow, and twists to look up at me. He quirks his brow, and I can see a hint of a smile. “You’ve been living with Hunter too long. You’re sounding like him.”

I shrug. He chuckles, but it doesn’t meet his eyes.

“Yeah, and he’s acting like me. That’s why I need to bring her back.”

I’ve never seen Hunter lose his cool before, not like he did with Asher. Fuck, I haven’t seen Asher since then. I now fear he will look just like Jace, and I can’t be worrying about them all right now. I need to get Mila back.

“I’m here to get your car keys.”

He raises a brow at me. “I thought Hunter said you couldn’t go.”

I grunt and Jace just chuckles. This time, it meets his eyes, and I know once Mila’s back, he will be just fine.

He points to his dresser, where the keys sit in plain sight. “Just so you know, if he asks, I didn’t give them to you. I’m gonna say you stole them.”

I don’t care what he says, because it won’t matter when I have Mila back with us. I place the key to my Harley on his dresser, and Jace shakes his head. He has no idea how to ride it, so he’ll have to get a lift with Grady.

I sweep his keys into my fist and walk out the door, turning back to him before I close it. “I’ll bring her back. So, have a shower and eat a sandwich. Because I’m getting all the hugs.”

He laughs. “Is that a bet?” he calls as I close the door.

“Game on,” I reply before I turn and meet Grady at the top of the stairs.

He holds something in his hand. “It’s a long drive, and gas isn’t cheap.”

I hesitate. He’s giving me cash. Fuck. I didn’t think about that. I don’t have a lot to my name. Normally, I wouldn’t accept it; I never want to be treated like a charity case.

But this isn’t a normal situation.

“For Mila.” He pushes the money into my hand. “You will get her back. I know you will.”

I nod, emotions I’m not used to bubbling up. As I step forward, Grady’s brows quirk, and I reach an arm around and pat him on the back a few times. It’s awkward and weird and I don’t think I’m doing it right. But then his arm comes up and gently pats my back.

He smiles, and I grunt as I pull away, no longer wanting to talk about what just happened. But it felt . . . nice. He’s always been like a big brother to me, so it felt . . . right.