I helped her put things away and had just started heading up to my room when Gunner stopped me. “Hey, you gonna talk to us now too?”

I hadn’t told Brady not to say anything to his friends. They were West’s friends too. But now that they knew I was speaking, I wasn’t sure how to handle them. I didn’t want a million questions from them, either.

“It’s okay. He told us you got limits. Come on and hang out down here with us,” Ryker called out as he sank onto the sofa, a bag of chips in his hand.

I turned around and walked back down the steps. If I wanted to fit into West’s world, I would have to do this.

“You’ve been whispering to West for weeks. I’ve seen it,” Nash said from his perch on the barstool. “I tried to get you to talk to me, but nothing. West crooks his finger, and you start chatting him up.”

“Nash.” Brady’s tone held a warning.

Nash shrugged, then smirked at me. “It’s okay. You can come talk to me now.”

“I asked her to stay down here and talk to us. She can come talk to me,” Ryker argued.

I glanced at Brady, who shrugged and rolled his eyes before grabbing the Xbox remote and sitting down on a beanbag chair.

Gunner’s arm rested on my shoulders, startling me. “She wants to talk to me, dontcha, sugar?” he said, sounding like his usual cocky, arrogant self.

“Gonna get that arm ripped off if West shows up,” Asa warned him.

Gunner flexed his arm that was around my shoulders. “I ain’t scared of West. He won’t hurt these priceless receiving arms.”

“Shi-it,” Asa drawled, shaking his head and picking up the other Xbox remote.

“Y’all, back off her. She decided she wants to talk, and y’all are gonna have her changing her mind,” Brady grumbled without taking his eyes off the screen.

“I just want to hear her say something,” Nash called from across the room.

I could stand here silent and let them go on and on, or I could say something and get this awkward moment behind me. Sucking in the courage I needed, I turned to Nash. “What would you like me to say?” I asked.

The room went silent. Then Nash’s face broke into a grin. “Well, hell, Maggie. Even your voice is pretty.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Gunner added, still draped around me.

“Thank you,” I replied, not really knowing what to say to that.

“You’re welcome, sugar,” Gunner said, sounding amused.

“Seriously, get your arm off her before West gets here,” Nash said, glaring at Gunner.

“You ain’t worried about West. You’re just jealous. You’ve been after her since she showed up. But you moved too slow and, dude, you snooze, you lose,” Gunner taunted him. I decided to end this before it got ridiculous.

I moved away from Gunner, causing him to drop his arm.

“I’m not your sugar,” I informed him. “And, seriously, if a girl likes being your ‘sugar,’ she needs her head evaluated.”

“And that’s how you burn his ass,” Ryker said through his laughter.

“Everyone knows that Gunner loves Gunner more than anyone else. A girl would be naïve to think differently,” I added.

Gunner laughed this time. “She’s been paying attention in her silent wonderland.”

“That ain’t real hard to figure out, douche,” Asa said with a chuckle.

“Not to change the subject, but did y’all know Riley Young was back in town?” Nash asked, looking from Brady to Gunner almost nervously.

Gunner’s easygoing demeanor died. Coldness came over his face that I’d never seen before. “She won’t stay long. No one wants her here,” he said as he stalked back toward the kitchen.

Once he was out of the room, Brady stopped playing long enough to shoot an annoyed look at Nash. “Did you have to bring that shit up? We all knew she was back. No reason to point it out. I saw her at a field party a couple of weeks back. I made sure she knew she wasn’t wanted, and then I told him I’d seen her.”

“You saw her at a party? Fuck. She’s got nerve,” Asa said, sounding amazed.

“She didn’t stay. Never saw her come into the clearing. Doubt she got out of her car.”

The dark-haired girl who’d driven up that night and who Brady had glared at before walking off. I’d forgotten about that. That had to be who they were talking about. But why did they hate her?

“Riley Young don’t belong here. We’ll all make sure she gets that message if she tries coming back to Lawton High. No one wants her there. And Gunner doesn’t need that screwing with his head,” Brady said as if he could control it all.

She had been beautiful. I remembered that much. And she’d seemed sad and lonely. I couldn’t imagine that the girl I’d seen that night had done something so horrible, they all had a reason to hate her. Especially Gunner.

There was a knock at the front door before it swung open. West walked in, and his eyes immediately locked on me. I forgot everything else, and smiled. He made me smile. I couldn’t help it.

I Can’t Be Your Crutch

CHAPTER 42

WEST

The weekend went fast. Too Fast. I wasn’t home enough to notice Momma wasn’t there. But then I also wasn’t going home, because it was too hard. I slept in Maggie’s room until five then snuck out and went to my house to shower, change, and eat before heading out again. I just couldn’t stay there long.

It was the laughter that haunted me most. The times I’d run in the house, excited about something and Dad and Mom were there to listen to me. Our family dinners always came back to me as I sat at the table and ate all alone.

Monday morning, though, I was focused on Maggie. She’d be going to school today without her safety walls of silence in place. Her aunt was going with her this morning to talk to the principal about Maggie’s decision to speak. Also about Maggie’s preference not to have to see a counselor.

I wanted to pick her up and take her, but I settled for waiting outside the office until Maggie and Coralee walked out. The late bell hadn’t rung yet, but I wasn’t concerned with being late. I was worried about Maggie. She was going to have to face first period without me. Hell, she had to face all her periods without me.

Maggie’s eyes lit up when she saw me standing there, and she immediately came over to me and slipped her hand in mine. “Good morning,” I said, loving that she came to me so easily.

“Good morning,” she replied, then glanced back at her aunt. “I’ll see you after school.”

“Y’all, have a good day,” Coralee called after us as we walked off toward our lockers.

“Didn’t like not taking you to school today,” I said as soon as we were far enough away from Coralee.

“I missed you too,” she replied, a smirk on her sweet lips. “

Wish I were going with you to all your classes.”

She squeezed my hand. “I’ll be okay. Promise.”

I knew she would, but that didn’t change the fact I wanted to be holding her hand. I wanted to be there, making sure everyone was nice to her. That no one was too nice to her and that . . . No. I had to get control of myself. I didn’t want to smother her with my possessiveness. She was learning to live again, and I had to let her breathe.

It wasn’t until after third period that the fact she was talking to other people really hit home for me.

Seeing Vance Young standing at her locker as she looked up at him and talked to him felt like a fucking slice in my gut. I hated that. She was mine. She talked only to me. I didn’t want to share her.

My dad was gone. My mother had left me. And I wouldn’t lose Maggie.

“Back off, Young,” I snarled as I shoved him away from Maggie and slid my arm around her waist, pulling her against me.

“What the fuck, West?” Vance said, glaring at me. “You mad because my sister’s back? Y’all are a bunch of fuckers, you know that? You don’t know shit about what happened. About her.”

This wasn’t about Riley. That was Gunner’s battle, not mine.

“I couldn’t give a shit if Riley’s back in town or not. But don’t get that close to my girl again.”

Vance looked down at Maggie then back at me. “I thought y’all were friends. That’s what Serena said last period. I didn’t know she was yours.”

“She’s mine,” I said, leaving no room for doubt.

Vance shrugged and held up his hands. “Sorry. Thought she was single.”

After he left, I looked down at Maggie. She was standing very still and staring vacantly at the wall across from us. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t reply at first, and I was worried she was having some sort of panic attack because she’d started talking to everyone. But finally she turned and looked up at me. “You’re going to have to let people talk to me, West.”

Yeah, I knew that.

“You can’t shove them away and claim that I’m yours. It doesn’t work that way.”

Wait . . . what? “If another guy is hitting on you, then I sure as hell can. He needed to know you were taken.”

She frowned and tilted her head. Dark hair fell over one shoulder. “Will you act this way when every guy talks to me?”