by Stella Hart
I turned back to face the table, where Ruby was ladling mulled wine out of the barrel into red cups. “Enjoy!” she said, handing the cups to Laurel and me.
We stayed in our own little cluster for a while, chatting and watching the chaos around us as we sipped on our delicious warm drinks.
A group of guys—all tall, tanned, and muscular—were standing across the room, raising fists in the air and chanting while one of them drummed his free hand against the side of a wooden cabinet.
“Dulce periculum! Dulce periculum!” they chanted in low, menacing tones, in what I guessed was Latin.
Their faces were flushed, their eyes glazed. With the rhythm of the chanting and drumming near the skull pendants hanging from the ceiling, I felt like I was watching some sort of satanic ritual being performed.
“What are they doing?” I asked Ruby, who was entranced by the sight as well.
“I think it’s one of the fraternity mottos,” she whispered back to me. “Each fraternity here has a few of them. Secret handshakes, too. I guess it’s meant to strengthen their bonds of brotherhood. Sharing stuff like that, I mean.”
“Dulce periculum means danger is sweet,” Laurel said, rolling her eyes upward. “I bet they think it makes them sound totally badass. I just think it’s cringey.”
“Agreed,” I said, pursing my lips as I saw Nate Lockwood join the chanting frat brothers, raising a glass high in the air as his eyes gleamed with drunken excitement.
After a while, a group of girls bounced up to us, cheering and squealing at the sight of Ruby. All of them were wearing little silver rosettes around their necks or in their ears, so I gathered they were her sorority friends.
They were all friendly and bubbly, and one of them even hugged Laurel and me when she was introduced to us. For the first time I didn’t feel totally out of place at Blackthorne. I guess all the students needed was a few drinks to take the sticks out of their asses.
“Come dance with us!” one of them demanded, yanking Ruby’s arm and gesturing for Laurel and me to follow. We went over to a spot where the music was louder, and I danced with Laurel, letting the music flow through me along with the warm liquor.
Ruby never strayed far from our side, but after a while, Laurel attracted the attention of a cute blond guy. Giggling, I waved her away to go and talk to him. Then I moved closer to the other girls, provocatively swinging my hips as I swayed to the pumping music.
After a while, I noticed a guy looking at me from across the room. Not Nate, thankfully. He was cute in a preppy kind of way, with light brown hair that kept falling over his eyes and dimples that showed up when he smiled at me. I held his gaze, and he interpreted my signals correctly and made his way over to our group.
“Hi,” he said, leaning down to my ear so he didn’t have to shout over the music. “Can I get you another drink?”
I smiled. “Sure.” I’d already had two drinks by this stage, but another one couldn’t hurt. Also, Ruby was giving me the thumbs up from behind the guy, letting me know she approved if I wanted to slip away from the group for a while.
I followed my new mystery guy over to the drinks table, where it was quiet enough to talk without yelling.
I found out his name was Harry. He was obviously a nice guy. He went out of his way to make sure I saw him pouring my drink so I could feel safe and comfortable around him, and he didn’t immediately try to touch me like some other guys would.
“You’re a freshman, aren’t you?” he asked as he handed my drink to me.
I raised my brows. “Is it that obvious?”
“No. I just figured I would’ve noticed you before now if you’d been here longer than a week.”
He blushed as he said that. It was adorable.
“How about you?” I asked, moving a little closer so I could make my interest clear.
“I’m in my second year. Engineering.”
I giggled. “You just reminded me of that joke. How do you know if someone is an engineer? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.”
Harry grinned. “Ouch,” he said, touching a hand to his chest as if I’d just burned him. “What are you studying, anyway?”
“Journalism.”
“Nice. Are you in a sorority, or do you live in one of the residence halls?”
“Residence hall,” I said. “Redstone, to be specific.”
“That’s a nice one. The rooms are surprisingly big.”
“Been in a lot of them, huh?” I asked in a playful tone.
His blush deepened. “No. I just have some friends who live there.”
“Ah, I see. So are you one of these Skull guys?” I asked, gesturing toward the ridiculous skull pendant hovering over the center of the room.
“No. I live over there,” he replied, pointing out the window in a vague direction. “In the gray house.”
“Ooh, so you’re not a Skull, but you’re still a frat boy.”
“Yes, but it’s the lowest-tier one, so you can hold your applause,” he said with a self-deprecating grin.
I raised a teasing brow. “I heard it’s quite an accomplishment to get into any of them. So what are you… the son of a billionaire, or the son of a former president? Or maybe a famous astronaut?”
He chuckled. “None of those, unfortunately. I was surprised they even let me in,” he said. “I managed to prove that my maternal great-grandmother was a Vanderbilt, and apparently that was enough.”
“Your great-grandmother? Really scraping the barrel there.”
“I know. They must’ve been short on applicants that year. But hey, it worked out for me, because I get to live on this side of the campus.”
I nodded slowly and looked around. “It definitely beats the residence halls by a mile, as nice as they are.”
“For sure.” Harry rubbed a brow and stepped a little closer. “So, er… I was just wondering. Are you seeing anyone at the moment?”
“No.” I held up my arms and did a little twirl. “I’m wearing green, aren’t I?”
He smiled uncertainly. “Well, yeah, but I wasn’t sure if you were actually single, because that guy has been staring at us for the last five minutes, and he looks pissed.”
He nodded toward my left as he spoke, and I turned my head over my shoulder to follow his gaze.
Nate was still standing with the group of drunk Skulls on the other side of the room, but they’d been joined by some girls now. Even though a blonde girl was hanging off his arm, desperately vying for attention, his cold gaze was laser-focused on me, as if he were trying to drill a hole in my skull through sheer loathing.
I hated that my stomach did a little flip-flop when I noticed the hard outline of his muscles under the dark forest-green sweater he was wearing. It wasn’t my fault, though. It was basic biology. The guy had the face and body of a god, so it was only natural that any woman within twenty feet of him would get butterflies from looking at him.
I rolled my eyes and turned back to Harry. “He’s not my boyfriend. I barely even know him.”
“In that case, would I be able to get your number? I’d love to hang out with you some other time, when we’re not surrounded by screaming girls and guys with coke in their beards.” He swallowed and scratched the back of his neck. “You know, like… a date. If that’s okay.”
I hesitated. I’d never done the whole boyfriend thing. I didn’t have time with everything else going on in my life, so one night stands simply had to do when I needed to relieve some pent-up stress and horniness. Harry was nice, though. He wasn’t trying to sleep with me tonight, and he clearly wanted to see me again in a romantic capacity. He was really cute, too.
Hmm. Maybe I did have time for a boyfriend, or at least a few nice dates.
“Sure,” I said with a bright smile. From the corner of my eye, I could see Nate’s disdainful glare as he moved closer to us, but I ignored it. Screw him.
I gave Harry my number, and he put it in his phone. “If you call me now, I’ll have your number too,” I said, pull
ing out my own phone.
Harry nodded and started to call my phone. Just as my screen lit up, Nate appeared beside me, ostensibly heading toward the nearby drinks table. The tips of his ears were red, and his jaw locked as he plowed right into my shoulder, sending my phone flying down into the barrel of mulled wine next to the table.
“Hey! Are you fucking kidding me?” I shouted as he grabbed a beer and strode away as if he hadn’t even noticed me.
“Shit,” Harry muttered, grabbing the ladle from the edge of the barrel. He managed to recover my phone, but it was soaked with hot red wine.
“Do you think it’ll be okay?” I asked anxiously, wrapping it in paper napkins from the table.
Harry nodded. “I hope so. It wasn’t in there for long. You should turn it off and dry it as soon as possible, though,” he said. “Take it apart and make sure you dry the battery first.”
“Okay.” I wrapped it up tighter in the napkins and shoved it into my purse.
“Rice helps too, if you happen to have any.”
“I don’t, but I’ll try my best,” I said. “Anyway, I’m really sorry, but I need to go and deal with this.”
“Hey, no need to apologize.” Harry held his palms up. “I hope the phone’s okay. If not, you can come and find me over in the light gray house. Number seven.”
“Okay. Thanks. It was really nice to meet you.”
I hurried out of the Skulls house, fuming. As I crossed the park which led back over to the connecting road, I spotted Nate in the central gazebo, sprawled lazily over a bench with his beer in one hand and an arm around the blonde girl from earlier.
Suddenly I wasn’t afraid of him or what he might do to my reputation. The alcohol had stripped away any apprehension, and now I was just pissed.
Super fucking pissed.
I wanted to grab that barrel of mulled wine from inside and tip it over his head. Hear his agonized cries as the hot liquid marred his perfect skin. Then I wanted to reach up and claw at him, scratching out his eyes and raking my nails down his cheeks until the blood flowed.
I strode up to the gazebo and narrowed my eyes. “Hey! I need to talk to you.”
Nate’s eyes coasted over me as he got off the bench and rose to his full height. A shiver ran down my spine; a primitive reminder of how dangerous he could be, and how much he could hurt me if he wanted.
“Leave,” he commanded the blonde girl.
“She can stay. This won’t take long,” I said, folding my arms.
Nate stared down at me, so full of loathing that I could practically feel it radiating off him in waves. “Leave,” he repeated, waving his hand at the girl.
Pouting, she left the gazebo and headed back to the party house.
Nate put his drink down and waited until the girl was out of earshot. Then he smirked and raised a brow. “How can I help you, Alexis?”
“You can fucking stop,” I said, glaring up at him as I took a few steps closer.
“Stop what?”
“Your little campaign against me,” I said, pulling out my phone. “I’m sure you’re used to girls falling at your feet and allowing you to treat them like shit just so they can tell their friends that you gave them five seconds of attention, but I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to roll over and take shit from you.”
A mirthless half-smile curved up Nate’s lips. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“This!” I waved my phone in the air. “If it’s broken—and I’m pretty sure it is—then you’re damn well buying me a new one.”
“Why? Can’t afford a new one?”
I bristled. “I can. But you broke it just to be a dick, so it’s on you.”
“It was an accident. You were in my way.”
“It wasn’t an accident,” I said in an acid tone. “You’ve made it very clear you don’t want me here, and I get that. But I’m not going to let you destroy my stuff and get away with it. So like I said, if my phone is broken, you’re paying for a new one.”
Nate cocked a brow. “Which phone is it? The same one you dropped in my house when I caught you trespassing?”
His arrogant half-smile widened as he spoke.
“Can you just get over that already?” I said. “I didn’t steal anything! I was just looking around.”
“Hm. Just innocently looking around a dead man’s study that you broke into.” He tapped his chin with one finger. “I love how you’re acting as if you have some sort of moral high ground here, when you’re literally a criminal.”
I stepped even closer. Anger was swirling in me; red-hot ribbons of rage. “Look, Nate, you might think of yourself as the king of this campus, but I don’t give a shit. To me, you’re just an abusive asshole. So if you think I’m going to let you bully me out of this place, you’re delusional. This isn’t high school. No one is going to give a shit if you spread rumors about me.”
“Rumors?”
I straightened my spine and took a deep breath, fueling my audacity with the liquid courage streaming through my veins. “Yes, rumors. Because that’s all it will ever be. Your word against mine. So go ahead.” I spread my arms wide. “Go and tell everyone that you caught me snooping in your house if you want to. I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m not sure anyone will actually care.”
“The cops might.”
I took a step back. “What?”
“The cops might care that you broke into my house.”
I scoffed. “The only proof you had was this phone, which you gave back to me,” I said, holding up my drowned phone again. “So good luck convincing the police that I did anything.”
Nate’s face darkened. For a second, I thought he was going to do something to me.
For more than a second, a treacherous part of me wanted him to.
“What makes you think I don’t have more proof?” he asked. His voice was soft but dangerous.
“I know you don’t.”
Nate cocked a brow again. “Are you sure? Because the footage from the camera in my father’s study tells a different story.”
My nose wrinkled. “You’re full of shit. I checked for cameras.”
“I know you did. But you didn’t look hard enough.”
“I used an app on my phone that detects any hidden surveillance equipment via radio waves, so I know you’re bluffing,” I said.
He nodded slowly and pulled out his cell phone. “Bluffing, huh?”
“Yes. You’re trying to scare me, and it’s not working.”
“Okay.” He clicked a few buttons on the phone and held it up to show me. “What does this look like?”
A grainy video started playing on the screen. It showed Francis Lockwood’s study in black and white, filmed from the window side of the room. A dark-haired girl was rifling through the Chippendale desk on the left, dressed in a black outfit and beanie.
“That… that’s not me,” I said. “You just recreated that night with some other girl to scare me.”
Nate smiled. “Are you sure about that? Do you really want to risk it?”
I wasn’t sure at all.
“What do you think will happen if I report you to the cops and give them that video?” Nate went on, sliding his phone back into his pocket. “My law knowledge is a bit rusty, but I’m pretty sure you’ll end up with some sort of record. That’ll make your life quite difficult, won’t it?”
There was a sinkhole opening inside me, gaping wider and wider with every second that passed.
“What do you want, Nate?” I asked in a hollow voice.
He rubbed his jaw. “I haven’t decided yet.”
I gritted my teeth. “Just tell me what I have to do to make you delete that video, and I’ll do it.”
“Okay. I want you to get on your knees and suck my cock,” he replied, eyes glittering like broken glass.
I scoffed. “You must be joking. I wouldn’t blow you even if you were the last man on the planet and your dick shot out diamonds.”
He closed the gap between u
s and pressed his body up to mine. “I don’t think that’s true,” he said, grasping my chin with one hand. His touch sent shockwaves ricocheting through me.
I tried to put on a brave face to mask the panic prickling down my spine. “Why’d you send that girl away if you’re so desperate for action? She seemed drunk and high enough to actually want to fuck you.”
“I didn’t want her tonight. I’d rather have your lips wrapped around my cock,” he said, leaning further down so that his mouth hovered only inches above mine. His hot breath was skating over my skin, but all I felt were chills of fear.
“I’m not going to blow you, Nate,” I said, wishing my voice wasn’t cracking from nervousness.
His muscular arms pinned me to the wall of the gazebo, one on each side. “Do it and that video gets deleted.”
“You probably have other copies,” I said, shaking my head slowly. “So even if I let you blackmail me into a blowjob tonight, you’ll just keep doing it.”
“I don’t have any other copies.” His lips moved even closer to my mouth, sending shivers down my spine. His thumb caressed my cheek, the gentle gesture at odds with his hostile gaze. “But I guess there’s only one way for you to find out for sure.”
I let out a shaky breath. “Why are you doing this?” I whispered, even though I already knew the answer.
It was about power.
He didn’t want me. He just wanted me to know he could control me and make me do whatever he wanted, like a puppeteer pulling on my strings.
His hands wrapped around my neck, and his smirk morphed into a cold sneer. “I’m giving you a chance here, Alexis. Take it before my patience runs out.”
He pressed against my throat until I could barely breathe. “Please, let me go,” I choked out. “I just want to go home.”
“And I want you to suck my cock,” he said, moving one hand to my hair. He fisted a handful of strands, pulling it until I yelped. “You aren’t leaving here until I get what I want.”
I stared into his eyes, finding them totally devoid of emotion. He wasn’t lying. I wasn’t going home tonight until he’d forced me to my knees.
I thought about kneeing him in the balls or spitting in his face, but then I remembered the video on his phone. Images of lawyers and jail cells flashed in the front of my mind, and I swallowed hard and bit my bottom lip.