The Win: Rebels of Ridgecrest High (Book 4)
The Win: Chapter 1

When shit hits the fan, I can always rely on Hunter to keep a level head.

Roman’s quiet and unpredictable. When something goes down, he switches to fight mode. He has for as long as I can remember.

I’m more than happy to run my mouth. I lose myself, drowning in my thoughts, before unleashing an anger that explodes over everything I touch. It’s something I need to work on. I haven’t always been like this.

But Hunter. He always thinks rationally, analyzing and thinking things through. Makes a small joke to keep me grounded. Holds Roman’s fight at bay long enough to figure things out. Or just stands by our sides when we need him and the fight is inevitable.

Over the years, this is just how we’ve been. I’ve relied on Hunter to always keep it together. To be the one in control.

But as I watch his fists fly, his mouth spewing anger, I realize he’s only able to keep it together for so long. I’ve seen him fight. Hell, we’ve had our fair share of fistfights. But this is a side of Hunter I’ve never seen before.

It scares me.

If he’s lost, then what hope do I have of keeping the darkness at bay? What hope do we have of stopping Roman from losing it completely? From sinking back into that dark place that took us from him when Mila first left. One that we worked so hard to get him out of. But he never fully came back to us until Mila returned.

I can’t do this again. The only person who can help isn’t here and is the reason this is going down. Fuck.

“Stop,” I yell at Hunter.

He looks at me, his eyes dark and full of sadness. I feel for him. Fuck, I feel the same way. He pauses for a split second, watching me, before turning back and slamming his fist into Asher’s mouth. Fuck. I have to stop this. Need to be the one with the level head. I have to keep us together while Mila’s not here.

I rush over and grab Hunter, shoving him back before he takes another swing. Asher scrambles back, trying to get away, bleeding from a gash on the side of his head. His eyes are wild, full of hurt and misery, the same as the rest of us. We all feel this way right now, and it breaks my heart to know this isn’t something we can just go fix for our girl.

One fucking day.

That’s all it took for Hunter to flip and go after Asher. We found out what happened with Mila from Asher. He told us about her stepdad—how she’s been taken into custody—and rushed over here as soon as we could.

Only, I thought we were here to talk about what to do next. How we can help her. But as soon as Hunter saw the look on Asher’s face, he lost it, unleashing hell on Mila’s almost-stepbrother. And Asher took it, not fighting back. Which only angered Hunter more.

Hunter lets out a strangled scream as Roman holds him back. He bucks and thrashes, but Roman doesn’t let him go, just standing there and taking it all as Hunter slowly wears himself out. Until he’s barely standing and Roman’s holding him up.

“I’m sorry, Hunter.”

I turn to see Asher. His eyes are full of unshed tears, and I shake my head. He doesn’t need to be sorry. This isn’t his fault . . . well, it partially is. But I can’t blame him for that. God, when Mila is finally mine, I’ll do the same. Only, I won’t be stupid enough to get caught.

“Let me go, Roman. I’m gonna fucking kill him.” Hunter’s voice is hoarse from all the screaming he’s done in the past ten minutes.

He’s trying everything he can to get out from Roman’s grip again, and I release a deep breath and run my hands through my hair. “Fuck. Hunter, just give it up,” I call out to him, and he stills.

His eyes are still on Asher, but I can see the hurt now. He hates fighting; he’s the one to kill someone with love rather than fists. And I know he’s going to feel guilty for what he did to Asher and then will spiral hard. Roman lets him go, and Hunter stumbles a little.

I reach my hand down to Asher, who eyes me wearily for a moment before taking it. As I help him off his front lawn, I can’t help but think the neighbors must be having a field day with this drama. Thank God James and Kate aren’t here. They’re on their way to New York for Mila.

“Thanks.” Asher nods at me and I grit my teeth.

Don’t get me wrong—I want to slam my fist into his mouth just as much as Hunter. But I know Mila wouldn’t approve of me beating up her boyfriend, especially since I’m still not one of them. Not officially, anyway. I want to be in her good graces when she comes home. I’m not going to let her get away with toying with me anymore.

She will be mine.

I know she didn’t kill her stepfather. She hates her mom, not him. She told me he wasn’t a bad guy. Just dumb for marrying her mom. I don’t give a shit what the news is broadcasting; I know she wouldn’t have. It’s just a matter of time until they replace who did and let her go so she can come home.

Bending down, I pick Hunter’s glasses up off the lawn. He didn’t take the time to put in his contacts, since he rushed over here as soon as Asher called us and just laid into him.

Hunter takes his glasses from me with a small “thanks” and puts them on. He lets out a deep breath. I place my hand on his shoulder and he sags under my touch.

“I’m done.” He looks over to Asher then drops his head. The fight has left him and been replaced with guilt.

Roman holds his other shoulder, and we all just stand there, breathing deeply and letting Hunter know that it’s okay. We’re not upset with him; we understand. Blood trickles out from where Asher’s holding the gash against his temple. Head wounds always bleed more, so it looks worse than it is.

I move from Hunter to Asher and hold his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and work out what we are gonna do about Mila.” I nod my head toward his house, and he nods.

Roman and Hunter follow us to the house. Madison’s standing in the front door, her hand over her mouth and tears streaming down her face. Fuck, the sight of her hits me right in the chest.

She shouldn’t have seen that. I know Hunter won’t react well to knowing she did, and I don’t need him to completely zone out on us today.

“It’s okay. It’s over now. That won’t happen again.” I look back at Hunter, and his face pales at the sight of Madison.

He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Madison.”

Madison nods, wrapping her arms around herself tightly, and sniffs. Asher smiles at her, but the blood trickling down the side of his face and onto his tee has her letting out a small sob.

“It’s okay, Mads. I’m fine. Just a minor cut.” Asher opens his arms to her, and she hesitates.

Watching Hunter from the corner of my eye, I can see in his expression he’s disappointed in the way he reacted. But he’s still here with us.

He scared me, but from Madison’s point of view, it would have been much worse. She had to watch the one person left here to protect her getting attacked by someone who’s supposed to have his back.

Madison goes to Asher, and he wraps his arms tightly around her.

Hunter clears his throat. “I’m sorry, Madison,” Hunter whispers now. The guilt is going to eat him up.

She gives him a tight-lipped smile and whispers, “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, but I’ll make it up to you.”

She looks at me from her brother’s arms, and I nod for her to come help me, reaching my hand out for her to take. She pulls away from Asher a little, and he gently pushes her toward me. I can see she doesn’t want to be away from him, but I take her hand and squeeze it gently.

Turning to Roman, I ask, “Can you replace a towel and get him cleaned up? We will replace something to patch that up.” I point to Asher’s head and Roman nods.

Looking down at Madison, I give her my best smile, the one that makes all the girls weak at the knees. I know I shouldn’t use it on her, but I need to see her smile. I don’t want her to tell James and Kate what happened. That’s the last thing they need, especially if they tell Mila.

Luckily, Madison smiles back at me, blinking up at me under her wet lashes. I might not have a winning personality, but my smile sure does.

“Mads, can you show me where your mom keeps all the medical stuff? We will have him right as rain in no time.”

Her eyes widen at my use of her nickname, and she nods.

“Then we will order pizza, all pile into the living room, watch movies, and wait together. We won’t leave until your mom or James is back, okay? We’ll stay with you.”

Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, she sniffs. “Promise?” she croaks out. She’s so small now beside me. Since she’s only three years younger, I never think too much about her age, but those years show right now.

Fuck. This poor girl. Caught up in all this shit. I pull her to my side, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “I promise. Mila’s my girl. You’re her sister. I’ll take care of you until they come back.”

She gives me a watery smile. “Mila will come back.”

God, I hope she’s right.