He props his forearms on his knees, leaning close. “This position’s familiar, ain’t it, RaeRae?”
I don’t have to look to know all eyes are now on us.
Royce waits for me to snap back so I say nothing, just tilt my head a little.
Captain is next to step up. He drops to one knee, his hand grabbing onto the table top, the other on the back of my chair. “Yeah, I remember it. Didn’t take her long before it was my turn.” Captain looks to Royce. “Bet she can take us deeper next time around. That is...” He looks back to me. “If your jaw’s not too tired.”
Laughter and more mutters start around me. These kings have trained their people well. They know when to shut their mouths and when to play into the mockery.
I glance up right as Maddoc appears, towering over all of us as he stands tall and broad, all alluring with that arrogant tip of his chin. He’s on the opposite side of the table, his focused stare making my mouth run dry. I’m guessing this is his game, look at me like he wants to eat me alive – make them think he already has.
His gaze cuts to Royce as he shifts closer and the creases between his brows deepen. His eyes slice back to mine.
“Tell me, baby,” Royce regains my attention, whispering loud enough for others to hear. Reaching out, he tries to touch my hair, but I jerk away. “You think you could go longer tonight, hmm?”
I should slap the fuck outta him for attempting to touch me, for getting into my space like this, but I don’t.
Everyone is listening, it’s dead fucking silent around us now that big man is standing here, so I lean in, enjoying how his eyes widen before he can stop them when my palm swipes across the zipper of his True Religions. “You want me to go longer?” I drag out each word, sounding every bit the breathy whore I’m thought to be because of them, my left hand moving to rub along Captain’s bicep without bothering to look his way. “I tell you what, let me play with the big man first tonight.”
I slowly lift my eyes to Maddoc and as if sensing my stare, his glare jerks from where I’m touching his buddy to mine and I swear, he stands even taller than his six-foot-four frame, a tiny, almost unnoticeable tip at the left side of his mouth.
I keep my gaze locked on his. “We’ll call it a warm-up, and then I’m all yours.” When Maddoc’s nostrils flare, it’s my lips now fighting a smirk. I lazily lower my eyes back to Royce. “You know, since he can’t satisfy me like you can.”
At my dig at their boy, both Royce and Captain’s muscles tense for a split second before they pretend to laugh it off, and imagine that ... suddenly they’re done here and get up to leave.
I slowly drop against the chair and meet Maddoc’s stare once more.
His lips are in a tight line, and the vein at his temple is protruding. I think it’s safe to say he’s pissed.
Good.
When they exit the building, the principal catches my eye from the corner of the room he’s apparently been lurking in. He quickly looks from the boys to me, his forehead creasing but before he can come over and ask me stupid questions, I shoot from my chair and hustle out the back door.
It makes me sick when I have to act like that, but it’s also the only power I have if any at all.
That alone is sickening.
My mother would be proud.
“Um ... Raven?” I look up from my textbook when one of the youngest girls in the home sticks her head inside my door.
“Yeah?”
Her eyes are slightly wide as she speaks. “There’s someone out front who wants to see you.”
My brows dip. “Do you know who it is?”
She nods.
“Are you gonna tell me?”
She shakes her head and then the little shit runs off.
With a sigh, I pull my left earbud out and toss the MP3 player under my pillow before making my way to the door.
Victoria glares from her spot on the couch, but I ignore her and walk out front, only to meet that first step and turn back around.
“Now hang on a minute, you don’t wanna be rude,” Royce jokes and I spin back to look at him.
“What do you want?” I sigh.
“Come down here, Raven.” He leans back against his SUV, folding his arms over his chest. “Or I’ll follow you back inside.”
“Like I care.”
“You will when I tell Maybell I fucked you in her bed Saturday night. You know, when she was out at Bingo.”
My brows crease. So they know Maybell’s schedule, interesting.
He scowls at my curious expression. “Come down here. I even have a party favor.”
He lifts up a decent size joint and leisurely steps into his ride, jerking his head for me to follow.
I frown, contemplating what to do here, but only for a second before my feet decide for me, carrying me closer to the shithead waiting. With a deep sigh, I slide in his front seat, just like he wanted.
He pulls around the house and heads a short way down the dirt road behind the property and parks off to the side. When he steps out, I follow.
He opens the back of the SUV and moves to sit on the ledge, patting the space beside him.
Rolling my eyes, I pull myself up and take the joint after he lights it.
“Thought you didn’t smoke?”
“I don’t,” he snaps with narrowed eyes.
When I laugh, he grins and looks away.
“Gotcha.” I take a hit and hold it in, looking out across the orchard. “Maybell doesn’t let us come back here.”
Royce nods.
“I’ve tried to sneak off this way to smoke a few times and before I can even hit the tree line, there she is, yelling from the back porch for me to head back to the house. She’s got some telepathic shit going on, always popping up the second I make a move she might not like.”
“She’s got that predator intuition,” he agrees, and my eyes widen slightly. Before I can ask any questions, like how he would know, he keeps going. “Surprised you listen.”
“I’m surprised you’re here.”
Royce drops his head to the side to look at me.
“You got something to say, say it.” I pass the joint back to him.
“You need to watch yourself,” he warns, a dull look taking over his eyes.
And I’m out.
I hop down and move toward the house, but Royce snatches me by my arm and yanks me back.
I spin around, my hand held up to slap him, but he catches it.
“Knock your shit off, I’m not trying to be a dick here. Sit the fuck down, finish smoking at least then you can storm off like a fucking child.”
My eyes harden, and I yank myself from his hold. “Fine. And only because it’s a free high.”
He gives me a side glance when I drop back beside him. “For real though, RaeRae. You can’t cause a power struggle at the school.”
“Fuck you and your boys.”
“Everyone already thinks you are,” he throws back at me.
“Yeah, thanks to you guys. Now I’m not only the newest school slut, but I’m the only girl ever known to have a pass to fuck all three of you whenever I want.”
“Yeah,” he winces. “I think that might of backfired on Maddoc a bit.”
“Yeah?” I study him. “And how’s that?”
He shrugs. “What was supposed to cause you problems, gave you power.”
“How do you figure?”
He tosses a perfectly good roach in the dirt. “There’s been plenty of Bray girls, but like you said, you’re the only one to get to fuck all three of us on no timeline ... and we appear to want more. That makes you the dominant female.” He stares at me. “There’s never been one of those before.”
I lick my lips and look off. Fucking great.
So much for laying low.
“Let’s pretend you’ll tell me.” I look back to him. “What happens now?”
“Nice try.”
I pop a shoulder. “Worth a shot.”
“Look, it’s complicated now.�
� He shifts toward me. “First you pushed us in front of everyone, we had to make sure the lines were clear. We run shit around here because we have to for shit that don’t concern you. Period. Yet you took it in stride. Then you showed up at the party, helped us get the upper hand back over the Graven douchebags. No Brayshaw students should have been there for any fucking reason, but since you were, we have to cover our tracks in case it gets back to the school. Better to pull you in than make us look weak by not being able to control one fucking female. Now, if it comes out that you were at that party, it’ll be because we allowed it, because we brought you along. Not because you went off on your own.”
I scoff, shaking my head and he shrugs unapologetically.
I watch him closely, deciding it’s fine to fish just a little since he came to me and started talking. “You called the cop from the courts a Graven.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but an engine is heard in the orchards behind us and Royce hangs his head instead.
“Fuck.” He gives a blank stare and I shift to look behind us. A black SUV, identical to this one, is rolling up beside us.
It stops once we’re in view of the driver window and slowly, the tinted window rolls down and Maddoc is revealed, Cap in the passenger seat. Both their eyes hidden behind those dark sunglasses they like so much.
I glance back to Royce and he winks before hopping down and offering to help me, but I move on my own and he hides a grin.
As he closes the back, I peek over at Maddoc, finding his jaw locked tight. I’m not positive, what with his glasses on and all, but it looks like his eyes are on Royce.
Guess his boy has stepped outta line by fraternizing with the enemy.
“I think you’re in trouble,” I whisper to Royce with a slight grin and he glares, moving to get into the back seat.
“Head back for the house, Raven,” Captain tells me from his seat.
I bend to get a better look at him. “Whatever you say, packman.”
He looks away, not entertaining me at all.
Maddoc’s grip on the wheel tightens and he jerks his head to me before slowly creeping forward and down the small path to the roadway.
I step around Royce’s now abandoned vehicle and glance the way they came from, seeing nothing but almond trees and a thin dirt road as far as you can see.
I head back for the house, high as hell and craving ice cream.
I hand the girl a five and she sneers when I wait for my change. Yes, it’s only ninety-five cents, but I’ve been down to that with no food before. Ninety-five cents can buy four packs of noodles or an entire loaf of bread at the right store.
She’s got an Apple watch on her wrist – my change will serve me better than it’ll do her as a tip. Yes, I’m judging, but I’ve been forced to latch onto the tiniest of details in my life. Sometimes it’s the things others don’t pay mind to that ends up being the key to keeping my head above water another day.
I exit the little shop and head the opposite way of the house, just cruising the street. When I pass a small sports supply store, a voice calls out.
“Hey, sweetness.”
I turn, finding the guy from the house party this weekend, Collins, and a couple other guys chillin’ at a small table.
“Oh, there’s nothing sweet about me,” I tell him.
“Bet that pussy’s sweet.” He smirks and his buddies chuckle to themselves.
When I laugh with them, Collins’ eyes tighten.
“You’ll never find out.” I let him know with a slow shake of my head, but he’s undeterred. His smirk only deepens.
“What I tell you, baby?” He stands and walks toward me. “Never say nev—”
“Raven,” an even tone calls from my left and we both turn.
Maddoc is parked the wrong way against the curb. “Get the fuck in.”
My head pulls back, and beside me, Collins growls under his breath.
“Fuck the right off.”
“Now,” he calmly demands which pisses me off more.
“No.”
The refusal has only made it past my lips when Cap hops out of the front and rounds the hood as Royce steps out of the back. Collins steps forward, his friends moving to stand as he does.
But they’re completely ignored as Cap bends slightly and with no effort at all, tosses me over his shoulder. I’m thrown in the back seat, the door closed and locked before I can even protest.
I jerk away from Captain only to bump into Royce on the other side of me.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I shriek, and they laugh.
I go to leap over the center console to the front, but Maddoc shoots a hand out, blocking me from climbing over. I fly back and hit the seat.
When I continue to try and escape, Royce sighs and pulls me on his lap, locking his arms around my middle to hold mine down, my back against his chest.
I growl, glancing over my shoulder. “I swear to fucking God ponyboy—”
“Re-damn-lax and I’ll think about letting you up.”
At that, Maddoc glances back doing a double take.
“Put her on the fucking seat!”
“You wanna come back here?” Royce shoots back. “She keeps elbowing, she’s gonna hit my nuts.”
“What nuts?”
“Baby.” With his arms still locked around me, his fingers move to dance against the jean covering my inner thigh and I jerk. “You felt ‘em real good when you rubbed—”
Suddenly, we’re knocked against the window when the car jerks to a stop.
Cap and Royce start laughing when Maddoc hops out and rounds the front of the SUV, but cut it off quick when the back, passenger door flies open.
Royce slides out without a word, wearing a huge grin, but Maddoc’s only move is lifting his head to look at Cap, who then also hops out.
Once Royce is behind the wheel and Captain is seated beside him, Maddoc slides in next to me.
I shoot across the seat and reach for the handle but just before I can grip it, a large hand slips between my legs to grip my thigh and I’m yanked back.
With a shriek, I spin and shove my elbow into his neck, but just as quick, I’m maneuvered so I’m forced to straddle him, my hands now locked behind my back and the car starts moving again.
“Chill the fuck out,” he tells me, his voice sounding bored while I’m heated.
“Let me the fuck out.”
“No.”
“What in the hell is your issue?”
“Quit fucking talking.”
His uninterested tone is pissing me off. Especially since his actions tell me he’s pissed or annoyed or something.
“And if I don’t?” I question, popping a brow like a brat, trying to wiggle free from his hold.
His forearms quickly press down on my thighs to keep me from squirming around and I freeze realizing what I was doing.
And now, with his little move to keep himself from enjoying my ass moving against him, his mouth is damn close to my heaving chest.
He licks his lips, eyes forever hidden behind dark frames, and whispers, “I said stop fucking moving. That means, your hands, your ass, your mouth.” He pauses a moment. “I’d tell you to stop breathing just to keep your tits outta my face if I thought you could control it.”
I bow my back outta spite. “Better, big man?”
“You better watch it, Snow.”
“Or what?”
The guys in the front start to chuckle and when I attempt to glare their way one of Maddoc’s hands shoots up to keep my eyes on him alone, before clasping my arm again.
The car comes to a stop and both boys jump out, closing their doors behind them, leaving me and Maddoc alone in the back.
With a groan, I shake my head.
This is beyond ridiculous.
“What do you want? Let go of me.” I attempt yanking free again.
“No.”
“This ‘no’ shit is getting real old real fucking quick.”
“You’re t
esting my patience.”
“As if I care.”
Suddenly, he shifts us, pushing off the seat some, he brings my chest flush to his, locking his arms in place around me so I can’t lean away.
I pull my lips between my teeth, watching as his pulse hits against the tan skin of his neck.
“I don’t trust you,” he spits.
A laugh bubbles out of me. “I don’t need you to.”
He ignores me. “Why were you at that Graven Prep party?”
“I was bored.”
“And today, why were you with Collins?”
“How is any of this your business?” I struggle against him and his grip tightens.
“People think you’re with us. We can’t allow you to be seen with Graven assholes.”
“Allow.”
“Yeah, allow. This is Brayshaw’s town, our fucking town. You live at a Bray house, go to our school. You belong to us. Stay away from them.” His chest raises rapidly against me and I grow curious.
He licks his lips, his mouth taking on a firm line.
I lift my chin, quickly snatching his sunglasses between my teeth, yank them off and spit them to the side before he has a chance to grab them.
I lock my stare with his.
Caged and covered by a sheet of armor his green eyes turn the color of a night’s jungle right in front of me.
That’s when I notice the cut under his left eye. “The fight,” I remember, my eyes shifting back to his.
He says nothing, but when I slowly twist my hand, he lets it slip from his grip.
I bring the pad of my thumb up to swipe across the broken, purpled skin and the hand that still holds onto my other tightens. “Why’d you fight in the first place?”
“Because he sent the girl.”
“Why?”
“I said I don’t trust you.”
My lips twitch at that. “Right.”
He stares a moment before releasing my other hand and sitting back. “Get out.”
With a roll of my eyes, I move to push open the door as I awkwardly climb off of him. I glance around, finding we’re back at the group home, but before I can take a step out of the vehicle, Maddoc grabs my arm and whispers one last thing, “Stay away from Royce.”
A taunting smirk slowly finds my lips and I wink, earning a menacing scowl. “Sure thing, big man.”
Boys of Brayshaw High Page 6