Free Lennox by Dallas Cole

betrayed Amber. Although, I could always tell
when they were on the outs, because he’d spend even more time around you . . .”
    I press my face in my hands, feeling a rush of heat to my cheeks.
    “Man, it drove Nash nuts, though, that Lennox had your approval
and he didn’t. Nash never could stand it when Lennox got one up
on him, whether it was a faster time on trials or a pretty girl’s
eye . . . anything.”
    I arch one eyebrow. “Really? I never noticed they were so
competitive with each other.”
    “ Moj Boze , Ellie. Are you kidding?” Drazic helps
himself to another forkful of fried eggs. “It’s the main
reason he asked you out, I think, after you turned eighteen. Lennox
had been locked up by then, and it was just one more way to stick it
to him.”
    I stare at him open-mouthed. “Seriously?”
    Drazic shrugs before answering me around his food. “That’s
how it looked to me, yeah.”
    “And you were— okay with this?”
    “Okay? Please. He asked me for permission, but let’s not
kid ourselves. I’ve always wanted you to decide for yourself
who you are. Who you want to be with. If you didn’t like the
way Nash treated you, well—that’s for you to decide.”
    “I guess I did a crappy job of that, then,” I say. The
first sign of trouble between us, and Nash is ready to ditch. My
anger still burns inside of me, both at Nash and myself.
    “Not at all, djevojka .” He reaches across the
table and pats my hand. Once more, I’m smiling to myself. “It
takes time, but we always find ourselves in the end.”
    I snatch the fork away from him and help myself to some of the eggs,
as well. “And what about the crew?” I ask. “What’re
you going to do about Lennox and Nash?”
    “Nash is . . . a problem still,” Drazic
admits, looking down. “But I had words with Mama McManus. If
Nash tries to attack Lennox, he does it alone. Now, whether she’ll
honor that or not is another matter . . .”
    “You really think he will?” I ask. But then I shake my
head at myself. “I just can’t believe he’s still
this angry.” And that he could toss me aside so easily over
this, though if that’s how he really feels, maybe I should be
relieved.
    “Troy is a wound that he never let scab over,” Drazic
says. “But right now I think Nash is just looking for an
advantage. He got in some good hits on Lennox after last night’s
race—I think that’ll help him calm down.”
    I swirl the fork around, gathering up the last of the eggs. “And
what about Lennox?” I ask softly. “Can you ever forgive
him?”
    Drazic sighs. “He tore up my crew. Our family. I can’t
forgive him for that.”
    I squeeze my eyes shut, but I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s
Drazic’s code, through and through.
    “And if Nash does anything to tear us up—really tear us
up—you better believe I’ll treat him the same.”

 

Chapter Seven
     
    Lennox
     
    I pick up the pool stick and almost want to weep with relief. Long
sticks, heavy balls, arguments, betting—believe it or not, pool
isn’t exactly something we were allowed to play in prison. I
missed it almost as much as I missed driving. And thanks to the
McManus clan, I’m once again free to do both.
    Well. I scrub a piece of chalk against the tip of my cue and glance
over at my pool partner. “Free” is definitely a relative
term these days.
    Rory McManus scrubs at his too-sharp jaw and eyes the table. He’s
the physical inverse of his brother, Sean, who is a major reason I
survived life on the inside. Hollow-cheeked where Sean was soft and
kind, sneering where Sean always found a way to smile. Rory seemed a
little slow that day I drove my piece of shit Camry out to meet him
and Mama McManus farther down the ridge to see if they’d be
willing to work with me. But every now and then I catch him looking
at the people around him with this sharp, vicious glint in his eyes
that warns me that there’s a lot more going on under the hood
than I