by Mae Doyle
Brett reached up and stroked my face. “God, you are the most beautiful thing, Rose. I can’t believe that I have you back. I love you.”
My eyes flew open. “I love you,” I told him, then I began to move on him, taking care to go slow, rocking my hips and rolling on him. He filled me. It was obvious by the look on his face that he was trying to hold back and keep from tearing me open.
I was in complete control. For the first time in a while, I was the one who got to make decisions, and I wasn’t going to let that pass me by without fully taking advantage of it.
“You’re killing me, Rose,” he moaned, reaching up and pulling me to him for a kiss. When his lips crashed into mine I felt a tugging between my legs. He dropped his hand down between us and rubbed my clit, using my own wetness as a lubricant.
“I needed you, Brett,” I moaned, pushing back up to sit and arching my back. “You’re mine.”
“I’m yours.”
All of the rogues were mine. I had them all and I loved them. It wasn’t fair for me to think that I ever had to choose, and, luckily, they didn’t want me to.
What he was doing with my clit was enough to send me over the edge.
I bit my lower lip hard enough to taste blood and threw my head back.
The orgasm rocked through me, leaving me breathless. I felt like I was falling, like there wasn’t anything for me to hang onto. It took all of my control to hang onto Brett, to try to stay grounded.
I did it, but barely.
When I could catch my breath again, I rolled off of Brett and snuggled up next to him. He was warm, and safe, and I knew that we could make it.
I just hated that all of the rogues were asking me to drop it with Amelia. There had to be a way to take her down and hang onto them without anyone else getting hurt.
Right?
Chapter 16
The dining hall was buzzing with talking when we walked in. Even though we’d tried to keep a low profile all day yesterday, everyone at Taylor Prep knew that Brett was back from the dead, and they all wanted to get a good look at him.
Harper and Maggie had swung by my room yesterday afternoon to say hi to him, but they were the only people we let in. Everyone else who came and knocked on my door, we ignored.
We didn’t want to invite the real world in any earlier than we needed to.
But now we didn’t have a choice.
Even though the four of us had taken a moment to steel ourselves before we pushed through the double doors, there wasn’t anything that could prepare us for what we saw and heard when we walked in.
Everyone was staring. Waiting. They knew he was back but they couldn’t believe it until they saw him with their own eyes.
“He lives!” I wasn’t sure who yelled that out, but the cry carried throughout the dining hall with other people echoing it. Squeezing Brett’s hand, I pulled him to the food, trying to ignore everyone calling out to us.
“So it’s true.” Joanna positioned herself in front of us, blocking our path. “We heard that you pulled a Lazarus, Brett, but nobody really believed it. I thought that it was just a stunt by your little whore to make us think that she was crazy but not a murderer.”
She grinned and I had the distinct desire to punch her in the face, but the way Brett gently squeezed my hand kept me grounded.
“I’m fine,” he said, forcing a smile. “It was a long road of recovery after the accident, but everything’s okay now.”
We brushed past her, completely ignoring whatever she was about to say. After we loaded up our trays the four of us joined my friends at their table.
“It’s only going to get worse, Rosita,” Jackie said, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand. “None of us will fault you if you want to dip out for a while and avoid being with us all the time. It may be the best way to give yourself a bit of a break from all of this.”
“Not a chance. I’m not dipping out on you three.” Even as I said it, I could feel the stares of other students as they looked at us. Everyone wanted to know the truth about what happened.
We could pretend all that we wanted that Brett had been injured in the accident and simply needed time at home to rest and recuperate, but that wouldn’t explain away the funeral.
“We love you, Rose.” Kaleb took my chin in his hand and turned it so that I was looking at him. “Don’t do something stupid right now that you will regret when this is all over.”
I swear, it was like he was reading my mind. I’d felt the urge to stand up and address everyone in the dining hall, but when I looked at his face, I knew that it wasn’t a good idea.
I didn’t want to push my sweet rogues away from me. I was breathing hard and I could tell that my face was getting red because I was on the verge of tears, but I wasn’t going to let everyone see me cry.
Instead of answering them, I took a bite of my breakfast. Truth be told, I hadn’t paid any attention when I filled my plate, but I was pleasantly surprised by the burst of blueberry in my baked oatmeal. It tasted like heaven, but even the sweet flavor of maple syrup couldn’t make me feel any better.
“You okay?” Maggie caught my eye and I gave her a stiff nod, but it was a lie.
I wasn’t okay.
I wouldn’t be until all of this was over.
◆◆◆
“Everything okay there, Mr. Cox?” That was it. That was all that our homeroom teacher, Mr. Staton, said when the four of us walked in.
We were all fooling ourselves if we thought that Mr. Taylor hadn’t told the entire staff already what was going on. They all knew that he was back, but it really didn’t seem like Mr. Staton was nearly as happy as we were.
Brett nodded at him and slipped into his desk. I sat behind Jackie, where I always sat, but kept my eye on Brett. This was our first time being separated since we all got back to school and I wanted to make sure that nothing happened to him.
“He can take care of himself, Rosita,” Jackie told me, turning around in his seat to look at me. “Remember, our boy over there came back from the dead.”
I smiled at him, but it felt weak. Just as I was about to say something, Amelia sat next to me, the twisted smile on her face making my stomach lurch.
“Hey, whore. I bet that you’re glad you have all of your dicks back in one place, huh?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and pointedly ignored her cousin, who rolled his eyes.
“You know, Amelia,” I said, turning to her, “I met your mom over the weekend. I’d always wondered why in the world you were such a sour cunt, but now that I’ve met her, it all makes sense. You two are just alike, you know that?”
Her face darkened instantly, but before she could say anything, we all heard the familiar click of the intercom turning on. I’d been tuning Mr. Taylor’s announcements out for a while, but now that we’d brought Brett back from the dead, I thought it might be a good idea to listen in.
Apparently, everyone else in the class thought so, too. For the first time since I could remember, all of the students in class turned and faced the front of the room and stopped talking.
Everyone wanted to know if he was going to mention Brett.
“Happy Monday, students. As you are all probably aware of by now, we’ve had the miraculous recovery of one of our students previously thought dead.” He paused, and I waited for everyone to turn around and look at Brett, but nobody moved.
The intercom crackled and I thought for a second that we had lost him, but then he was back. “This is wonderful news and worth celebrating, of course, but there are some new policies that will need to be implemented following Mr. Cox’s remarkable return to our school. All off-campus field trips have been cancelled immediately.”
There was a slight gasp throughout the room. I knew that there was supposed to be a huge senior trip that a lot of people were looking forward to, but it sounded like that was off the table.
As if unaware of the stir that his news would cause, Mr. Taylor continued. “Additionally, I’m sorry to say, Taylor P
rep is no longer issuing passes for students to leave the campus. This means that students not only are required to stay on campus for the rest of their senior year, but that if you have any passes already issued to you, they are no longer valid.”
This time when he paused to let the bad news sink in, students started to shift in their chairs. A few people turned around to shoot dirty looks at the four of us. I avoided eye contact with everyone by staring at the black box of the intercom.
This had to be a joke, right?
He wouldn’t punish everyone because we weren’t able to get back to campus yesterday. Right?
“So in this time, I ask that you continue your studies. Make sure that you are applying yourselves to the best of your ability and do everything you can to make Taylor Prep proud. Remember our motto. Ab Ordine Libertas.”
With that, he clicked off. Mr. Staton sighed and pushed himself up from behind his desk. “I know that things are a little confusing right now,” he began, but I tuned him out.
I didn’t want another lecture on how the boys and I had screwed up. The last thing I needed was to pay attention to how much everyone in the school now hated me.
Mr. Taylor had said it himself. From order comes freedom.
Chapter 17
Mr. Collins didn’t even look up when I walked into the voice room. He and Amelia were looking over her sheet music. She had one hand propped on her hip, the other pointing at some imaginary flaw in her work that she wanted him to correct.
“But don’t you think that I could use a little more work here?” Amelia pointed and then glanced up at me, shot me a dirty look, and then batted her eyelashes at Mr. Collins, all in the span of a few seconds.
It was impressive, really.
“Honestly, Amelia, I think that you’re a shoo-in for the competition. You don’t need to worry about working on any little parts of your piece because it’s about as close to perfect as I think that anyone could get it.” He sighed and stood up, his face paling a little when he saw me listening.
Interesting. That was the first time that I’d seen him look abashed at all of the one-on-one attention he gave Amelia.
The only thing that had changed was that I’d stood up to the council and brought Brett back. Even though I was curious what Amelia’s mom had told him over the weekend, I couldn’t worry about that just then.
“Good afternoon,” I said, acting like I hadn’t just heard him almost promise Amelia that she was going to win the entire competition. “I’m ready for my solo work when you are, sir.”
“Let’s get you warmed up.” Amelia started to protest but he ignored her, walking over to the piano and motioning to me to go with him. I did, digging my music out of my backpack as I went.
When I pulled it out, I put it on the stand and gave him a smile. It was strange for him to be giving me any attention when Amelia was in the room. She always took all of the energy out of the space and commanded that he pay attention to her, so I was a bit nervous.
We warmed up, slowly increasing my range as we went until I was ready to go. He gave me an encouraging nod when I hit my high notes.
“Sounds nice, Rose. Where have you been hiding that lovely voice?” As he spoke, he glanced over at Amelia, who was standing off to the side of the piano, glaring at me.
“I guess that I just got a little overwhelmed with the stronger personality in here.” It was an obvious jab at Amelia, but if he recognized it as such, he didn’t respond. Instead he flipped open my sheet music and settled it on the piano.
“Let’s sing, Rose. Keep impressing me, okay? I really like what you were doing just now on the warmups.”
I sang harder than I had ever sung before.
This was a song of my redemption.
It was me showing Amelia that she didn’t stand a chance in getting us to back down or stop. I wanted her to know that I wasn’t afraid of her.
When I finished singing, I was flushed, but I felt amazing. It didn’t matter what she tried to do to me. I showed her that I was passionate and not afraid of her. She couldn’t stop me.
What I didn’t expect though was her slow clapping. I turned to her, still smiling, but the look on her face made the smile fall off of mine.
“Bravo, little Rose.” Amelia walked towards me, sashaying a little bit. “I’m surprised to hear that you don’t totally suck. You know, because that’s apparently all that you do in your free time when hanging out with your boyfriends.”
I flushed and heard Mr. Collins shift position on the piano bench, but I didn’t turn to look at him. This was between me and Amelia, and while she totally crossed the line, I didn’t want to bring the teacher into it.
“I guess that for regular people like me practice makes perfect,” I responded, walking in front of the piano to get in her face. “Unlike you, who only needs to ask mommy and daddy to pull strings so that you can get what you want.”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this was true or not or if she’d even feel bad about the way she got whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it, but I was happy to see her cut her eyes at Mr. Collins.
She paused, and I thought for a moment that I had thrown her for a loop, but then she charged ahead, as confident as ever. “Just give up, Rose. I heard all about your little escapades over the weekend. Now you’ve gone and made it so that nobody can leave campus for the rest of the year. You really think that you have any real friends here?”
“I do.” Crossing my arms on my chest, I tilted my chin up to look at her. “And my friends are the real deal, unlike yours, who all have to be bought.”
“You suck, Rose, just admit it.” She was closer to me than I was comfortable with, but I knew that if I backed up that it would only make her feel more confident and aggressive. “Just admit that even though you managed to get Brett back here, you don’t belong.”
“Do you have any idea how much you sound like a broken record?” It was true, and I was honestly tired of hearing her damn mouth run all the time. Ever since day one, Amelia had been saying one thing – I didn’t belong here and I needed to leave.
It had gotten old.
“At least I know how to take a hint.” Amelia rolled her eyes and batted me in the chest with the rolled-up sheet music she held.
That was it. “You want a hint, Amelia? Here.” Before she could stop me, I grabbed the sheet music out of her hand and ripped it in half, dropping the pieces so that they fluttered down to the floor. “Here’s your hint, Amelia. I’m going to kick your ass at the competition.”
At first, I thought that she was going to hit me. It wouldn’t have been the first time, but it would have been the first time she attacked me in front of a teacher.
Her nostrils flared and her eyes darkened. “Dumb fucking move, Rose. Why don’t you step on back and listen to what a real singer sounds like?”
Before I could move, she brushed past me, knocking into me with her shoulder so that I had to catch my balance. She leaned on the piano and addressed Mr. Collins. “Play my song now.”
He did, his eyes wide like he was worried about what she would do if he refused.
Rolling my eyes, I sat down to listen. By this time, all of the rest of the students in our voice class had filed in and were waiting to hear her sing. She opened her mouth and nailed her song.
As much as I hated to admit it, I got goosebumps. Amelia was a bitch, no doubt, but she was easily my biggest opponent when it came to winning the voice competition. I’d have to work really hard if I was going to take it from her.
And I planned on it. Defeating her in front of everyone was only one part of my plan for how I was going to ruin Amelia.
When she finished, she turned to me, a triumphant flush on her face. “Hear that, Rose? That’s the sound of a winner. Unlike you, I know how to pick one thing and stick to it. That’s why I’m going to be successful and you’re always going to be second best.”
It was a direct slam against my harem and my boys, but I tried my best to just let it roll of
f my back.
They loved me.
I had something that Amelia could only dream of.
I had to remember that and hang onto it when I was feeling frustrated.
“Sure, you can think that, Amelia,” I said, without thinking about what I was saying, “but everyone knows that I’m better. Plain and simple. That’s why I have my rogues, that’s why I have friends. You’ll see.”
My hands were sweaty but there wasn’t any way that I was going to wipe them on my legs and let her know that I was nervous. Amelia was pissed.
She was backed into a corner.
She thought that the only way out was to destroy me.
What she didn’t know is that I felt the same way.
And I wasn’t going to let her take anything else from me.
Chapter 18
“You’ve got to stop pushing Amelia’s buttons.” Jackie stood in my doorway, watching me on my bed. I’d come up immediately after dinner to start working on homework. Voice practice ran late, as usual, which meant that I was behind in the rest of my classes. If I was actually going to get things done then I needed to buckle down, but one of the hottest guys I’d ever seen was standing in my doorway and making that difficult.
“She should stop being such a bitch.” I stood up and stretched, enjoying the way his eyes slid over my body.
“I’m serious, Rosita. Amelia’s bad news, and she has more resources than you do. You don’t want to piss her and her mom off anymore than you already have.”
“But you don’t see, Jackie,” I explained, crossing my arms, “that I’m not afraid of her.”
“You should be.” He took a step into the room and I was suddenly reminded of just how tall and strong he was. He wasn’t the most athletic of my rogues, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t easily overpower me.
“Just let me handle it, Jackie. I think that I’ve proven by now that I can take care of myself and deal with whatever she tries to throw at me.” I loved Jackie. Adored him. But I didn’t want him worrying about how I handled dealing with Amelia.