I haven’t been with anyone since Luis’s father. Pathetic, I know. I get one night of incredibly reckless sex only to become a spinster afterward. It’s unfair. I grit my teeth and silently curse him. Thinking back on that night all this time later, my skin still prickles with heat, my body still desperate and longing for him. It’s naive of me to think one day our paths will cross again. I know that. But it doesn’t stop me from looking. The little girl inside of me still believes in fairy tales regardless of how stupid it sounds. I think a teeny, tiny piece of me will always wonder what would happen if I saw him again? If he knew about Luis?
It’s not like I owe him my fidelity or anything but … I don’t know. A part of me feels like the idea of pursuing something with anyone else would be a betrayal.
It’s been eighteen months since Monique and I crashed a Sun Valley Party, and unless he was a lot older than he looked and already graduated, there is a chance he still goes to Sun Valley High.
If he does, I’m going to find him. And if he doesn’t, maybe I’ll finally be able to put that night behind me.
Two
High school is the same hell I remember it being, only somehow worse. At the academy, people at least smiled my way before they ignored me. It was like church where everyone is nice to your face for the sake of appearances. They keep their pettiness and bullshit for moments behind your back where you can’t hear them.
Which is all fine. There, I had a solid friend group already in place. I knew who to trust. Who was a real friend, and who was fake and should be avoided. As a scholarship kid, I wasn’t Miss Popular by any means, but I had Monique and that added a layer of protection. No one fucked with the Price family. If their money didn’t intimidate you, Dominique Price, the town’s football legend, star quarterback and self-proclaimed Devil would. It only took one time during freshman year for the entire school to realize that Dominique would always defend his sister’s honor whether he attended Suncrest Academy or not. And he did one hell of a job using his fists to accomplish that.
Here, there is no mock politeness and there is zero common courtesy in these hallways. I’m the new girl and everyone has already decided to hate me on sight. I’m greeted with looks of disgust or ignored entirely.
It’s infuriating and not the reception I’d been hoping for, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. The best I can hope for is to skate through and not cause any waves while drawing minimal attention to myself. The school’s administration know I’m a breastfeeding mom. They’ve made some accommodations for me, and my teachers have been made aware that I’ll sometimes arrive a few minutes late if I need to pump before class. Thankfully, the school is letting me duck into the nurse’s office when I need to, so I don’t have to resort to using the girl’s bathroom.
I’d rather keep my single-mom status a secret if I can help it.
I’m not ashamed to be a mom. Luis is the best thing that ever happened to me. But I don’t want to broadcast it to everyone in the school either. Teenagers are assholes. I would know. And I refuse to give anyone here ammunition against me.
I make it through my first two classes without incident and spend the second half of lunch—after pumping—alone in the library, which is surprisingly pleasant. There’s something about being surrounded by worn books that I take a special sort of comfort in. I’m skimming through a fantasy novel when voices a few book stacks away draw my attention. Setting the book back on the shelf, I edge closer, curious to see who’s there. The library had been empty when I arrived. I wonder if maybe there are others like me who don’t blend in with the crowd hiding out in here.
“Why are you doing this to me?” a girl’s voice whines.
I peek my head around the shelves, spotting a blond with her arms folded across her chest. Her hair is a tangled mess of curls thrown into what I’m assuming is supposed to be a bun, but instead is a riot of crazy that she somehow manages to pull off. She’s wearing red basketball shorts, white sneakers, a black Sun Valley High Red Devils t-shirt, and an annoyed expression directed at whoever it is she’s talking to.
“Kasey, I’m just trying to be supportive,” another girl says, though I can’t quite make her out from my position.
“Liar. If you come to my game, the Devils will come and you know it.”
A snort. “And that’s a bad thing because…”
“Because they’re assholes.” A pause. “Okay, fine. Roman isn’t as much of an asshole, but Emilio and Dominique totally are.” Devils and Dominique can only mean one thing. The Sun Valley High mascot is a Devil but no one talks about just anyone like that.
“I don’t see what the big deal is. Aaron goes to your games.”
“He’s my brother and he does actually want to support me. The Devils want to go hoping I mess up so they can make fun of me for it later.” I pause at the mention of the Devils and consider what I know about Monique’s older brother. Yeah, I could see him doing that. He can be a real asshole when he wants to be.
Despite going to Suncrest Academy, I know all about the Devils. Hell, even without for Monique I would know about them. They’re legend in these parts. A group of four best friends. Three football gods and one skateboarding king. The Suncrest Academy Saints have always hated the Devils because when they showed up freshman year, the Saints began losing. Every single football game against the Devils from that year on has ended in defeat. As far as I know, the score is still the same.
“Oh, so for the same reason you go to their football games?”
Yep. Definitely those Devils.
“That’s not the—”
Having stepped too close to one of the shelves, I accidentally knock over a few books. They make a loud clatter and the voices cut off from what they’d been saying. I silently curse as I rush to pick them up, kicking myself for not paying closer attention to what I was doing.
Footsteps grow closer just as I place the last book back on the shelf. I turn to head in the opposite direction as a voice calls out, “Hey!”
Shoot.
I spin around, hands raised and a grimace on my face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I just, uh…” I’ve got nothing. No valid reasons or excuses come out of my mouth as I stand there like an idiot faced with two girls I don’t know. God, I hope they’re not the catty type. I’m not prepared for an in-your-face confrontation on my first day back.
The blond I spotted initially looks annoyed but the other girl—a petite brunette with distinctly Hispanic features—eyes me curiously without any anger or annoyance in her gaze.
“You’re new here, right? I don’t think we’ve met before,” she says, offering me a kind smile that takes me by surprise.
“Yeah, sort of.” I tuck my hands into my back pockets. “I lived in Sun Valley growing up, but I went to Suncrest Academy before.” I wince. Probably should have left that part out. There’s no love lost between the two schools. “I moved and did an online school thing for a while. Now I’m back. And here I am.” I cringe. “Sorry. I’m rambling. I do that when I meet new people. Just ignore me.” Why can I not stop talking? Oh my god, Bibi, get it together.
She laughs off my awkwardness. “You didn’t want to go back to the academy when you moved back?” she asks conversationally, and my shoulders relax.
“It wasn’t really my choice, not that I’m upset or anything. Sun Valley High is great. Err, well, I hope it’ll be great. I guess I can’t really judge it after one day, but so far it seems fine.” I shrug. “Suncrest Academy doesn’t accept subpar credits in their program.” I make air quotes when I mention subpar credits and the brunette chuckles. “If I want to graduate on time, I had to come here.”
“Well, welcome.” Her smile widens. “I’m Alejandra, but everyone just calls me Allie. I transferred in last semester.”
I perk up at the mention that she’s a transfer student too. “Really? Where from?”
She nods. “Yeah, really. I moved from Richland. This is Kasey.” She indicates the girl beside her
who offers me a halfhearted wave.
“Oh, I lived in Richland this past year in a half. Before moving back, I mean. It’s nice.” I am definitely ruining this first impression here. “So uh, are you both seniors?” Please let me have classes with one of these girls. I could seriously use someone who doesn’t look at me like I’m ruining their day.
“I am,” Allie says. “Kasey here is a freshy.”
“Do not call me that. It’s as bad as baby Henderson.”
Allie laughs. “Ignore her. She’s in a mood.”
Kasey rolls her eyes. “I’m not in a mood.” She folds her arms across her chest, and I fight back my laugh. She’s pouting like Luis. Bottom lip jutted out and brows furrowed into a scowl.
“Sure,” Allie drawls.
“Urgh. Whatever. Do your friendly chat thing with the new girl. I’m off to ruin Sarah’s day.” She turns on her heel and heads straight for the exit.
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?” Allie calls after her.
Kasey turns, walking backwards. “I caught Emilio making out with some random in the hallways after first period this morning. Sarah is going to lose it when she finds out.” Her eyes glitter with mischief.
“Please tell me he’s not still sleeping with that piranha?” Allie groans.
Kasey grins. “He’s a Devil with lots and lots of sins. You let him fool you with that smile of his, Allie. You should work on that. Emilio is a player through and through. He’ll sleep with anyone who has a rack and a nice pair of legs. Sarah knows it too.”
“Then why are you about to start drama?”
She chuckles. “I just want to give her a little reminder that just because she’s screwing a Devil, doesn’t mean she’s special.”
Allie mutters out a curse before turning back to me. “Sorry about that. Sarah and Kasey have some history. She sorta screwed over Kasey’s brother.”
I shrug, not really sure what she has to apologize for. “Don’t worry about it,” I tell her, though I’m adding Kasey to my be cautious of list because she sounded way too excited to go and mess with whoever this Sarah girl is. “I’m not really following, anyway. Is this Emilio guy a friend or boyfriend or something?” I hope he’s not her boyfriend. She seems nice and it would be really screwed up if he was hooking up with a bunch of other girls on the side while seeing her.
Allie laughs. “Just a friend. I don’t think Emilio has a single boyfriend bone in his body. Monogamy and him don’t mix. But that’s probably a story for another day.”
“I’ve got time,” I say and I do. The bell won’t ring for another ten minutes, and I like her. She’s friendly and has this open and welcoming personality. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but she is totally friend material. Monique would love her.
She waves me toward one of the tables. “Come on, I should probably give you the lowdown on the Devils, anyway. If you don’t get it from me, you’ll get it from someone else and it’s probably better you get it from me.”
We take our seats and I pull out a small package of Presuntinho—Piraque crackers. Allie tosses her bag on the floor and I wave the package toward her. “Want one?” I ask.
She purses her lips before shrugging. “Why not.” I hand over a cracker and she takes a bite. She chews slowly, her brows furrow before she swallows. “That’s….interesting,” she says, but takes another bite.
I nibble on my own and grin. “I take if you’re new to ham-flavored crackers?”
“Yeah. You could say that. They’re sort of weird but also kind of—”
“Addicting,” I finish for her, leaning across the table to hand her another.
She nods and takes it. “They are. Anyway, what was I saying?”
“The Devils,” I prompt, because any information about the guys who rule this school is sure to be useful.
“Right. So anyway, the school is run by the Devils. Three guys all the girls want and all the guys want to be.”
“I thought there were four?” I ask, thinking back to the gossip I’d heard when I lived here before.
She scowls and thinks for a moment. “Oh! You’re probably thinking of Aaron. Hmm…” Tapping her finger against her chin she thinks for a moment. “I guess he was a Devil. Before I arrived at least.” A shrug. “He’s not really one now. The guys kind of had a falling out. But they’re working it out”—she doesn’t bother hiding a mischievous grin that makes me think she plays some part in their working it out—“but no one really considers Aaron a Devil. He’s too nice for all that.”
“That’s…good?” I say, not really sure how to respond to that. “Are the Devils all assholes or something?”
She chuckles. “I’m sorry. They’re not all bad. The Devils, I mean. Roman, Dominique, and Emilio are great guys. They just take some getting used to. They’re not really trusting, which can make them come off as standoffish. But once you get to know them, they’re the sweetest guys. Aaron, too. And his outer shell, thankfully, isn’t as hard to crack. You’d like him.”
I raise a single brow and she laughs. “I’m not trying to play matchmaker or anything. Promise.”
That’s a relief. “So, if they’re standoffish and you’re a new girl too, how do you know them so well?”
Her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink. “I’m dating one.”
“Not the one screwing the piranha, right? That’s what you called her?”
Allie laughs, a deep chuckle that has the librarian shushing us from across the room. We both hunch down lower in our seats, effectively chastised. Allie’s next words come out softer. “No. Not that one. I’m dating Roman Valdez. The one Kasey was talking about is Emilio Chavez and the piranha is Sarah Draven. She’s a junior and a complete bitch. New girl to new girl, I would avoid her.”
“Noted. Thanks for the heads up.”
She nods.
“Do you speak Portuguese,” I ask.
Brows furrowed, she shakes her head. “No, I’m Mexican, so Spanish.”
I frown. “So, why call her a piranha, then?”
She shrugs. “She’s like the fish. She hunts down men, has a pack of vicious girls with her at all times, and her mouth cuts like a blade when she opens it.”
Ah. That does make sense. “Good description.”
“Does it mean something else in Portuguese?” she asks, and I nod.
“Yeah. Slut.”
Her lips smash together, and I can tell she’s fighting to remain quiet as her shoulders shake with silent laughter. “I think I like your version better,” she whisper-shouts when she finally gets control of herself.
Me too, I think to myself, though out loud I ask, “Anyone else I should steer clear of?”
Her features tighten and she nods. “Yeah. Silvia Parrish. She’s a senior like us so you might have classes with her. She and some friends jumped me in the bathroom earlier this year. I wouldn’t mess with her. I think the guys have effectively put her in the doghouse but still…I’d be careful.”
“Oh, my god. You were jumped?”
“Shhhh…. Not so loud.”
I cringe. “Sorry. But seriously? Why were you jumped?” That sort of thing would never fly at the academy. There are rules and consequences. No one there can afford to be suspended let alone expelled which is what would happen if you got into a physical altercation with another student.
She huffs out a breath. “It’s another long story. But the Cliff Notes version is that she wanted my boyfriend. It’s not really worth going into but seriously, steer clear. You can’t trust her.”
I swallow hard. What sort of school did I walk into this morning? Brawls in bathrooms is not something I signed up for.
“Don’t worry, though. She won’t try anything with you. At least I don’t think she will. She hates me because I have the guy she wants, but unless you start dating a Devil, I think you’re in the clear.”
Relief washes through me. “No worries there. Not really one for dating guys right now.”
“Girls?” she asks, and
I choke on my cracker, coughing hard as I smack myself in the chest.
“What? No.”
She raises both arms. “Hey, no judgment here. If you’re into girls—”
I shake my head. “I’m not. I just…I don’t date. I have a lot going on in my life, and boys are a complication I don’t need.”
She smirks. “I’ve heard that one before. But if you change your mind, let me know. It might be fun to play matchmaker, you know?”
Ha. I highly doubt that.
Three
“Emilio. Hurry up. I’m not going to be late because of your ass,” Aaron calls, heading toward our last class of the day.
“Bro, I’m cutting. If you’re late, that shit is on you.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, Roman and Dom—who’d been walking beside him—stop and turn toward me, scowls stamped across their faces.
“Why? Something up at home?” Roman asks, concern immediately coloring his voice.
I sigh, wishing I could take my words back. I’d lie, but these two fuckers are like brothers. Hell, I’m closer with them than I am with Roberto and Antonio, my actual blood brothers. Aaron, on the other hand, he’s a work in progress. Definitely still a fucker. Dammit. I don’t want to lie to their suddenly concerned faces.
“Shit is what it always is, but that’s not why I’m cutting. I’m gonna kick it with Sarah. Smooth some shit over if you know what I mean?”
Aaron snorts. “Seriously? You’re skipping for a piece of ass?”
My eyes narrow. “I wouldn’t have to if your little sister minded her own damn business.”
His brows furrow and he glances from me to the other guys, an unspoken question on his face. Aw, man. He really has no idea. He’ll figure it out eventually.
Dom chooses to fill him in. “Kasey told Sarah he was getting some on the side.” It isn’t a lie. But she didn’t have to throw me under the bus like that. Baby Henderson should be team Emilio. Or at least stay out of my fucking business. But no, Baby Henderson always has to stir the fucking pot.
Savage Devil: A Secret Baby, High School Bully Romance (Devils of Sun Valley High Book 2) Page 3