“Lauder’s staying,” Cam says to Drew. “And he will keep his hands to himself.” Cam drills him with a look, and Jackson holds up his palms.
“Fuck, you’re all so uptight. It’s a joke. I’ll be on my best behavior. Scout’s honor.”
“You still haven’t told me where you’re going or what you’re doing?” I shout as they move toward the door.
“We’re going out,” Cam says.
“For burgers,” Drew adds.
“And we might catch a movie after,” Xavier supplies.
“She doesn’t leave your sight,” Sawyer says, sending Jackson the evil eye.
“Sorry,” Charlie says, kissing my head. “We’ll tell you everything when we get back.”
I shove my middle finger up. “I hate you all!” I shout after them, stomping my foot in annoyance.
“Holy shit,” Jackson exclaims, chuckling. “You stomp your foot and have the nerve to tell Cam he’s cliché?” He tuts. “I didn’t have you down as a stomper.”
“Sometimes, situations call for it,” I holler, heading into the kitchen.
“Stop waving your ass at me,” he says, while I’m bent over with my head buried in the refrigerator rummaging for ice cream. He walks to my side, his eyes glued to my butt. “Unless you want me to rip those pants down and fuck you from behind.” He rolls his hips suggestively.
“You’re not allowed to flirt with me. Remember?” I take out the chocolate ice cream and pop the lid, licking my lips.
“And I don’t follow the rules. Remember?” He smirks, moving in so close his chest brushes against mine. “They really shouldn’t have left me here with you. Who knows what I’m liable to do?”
I nudge him aside, removing two spoons from the drawer. “Nice try, Casanova, but that won’t work.” I grab his arm. “We’ll eat ice cream while you tell me what’s going down.”
“We could get naked and eat it off one another,” Jackson suggests when we’re in Cam’s bedroom, sitting cross-legged on the bed in front of one another, dipping our spoons into the tub.
“Have you ever done that?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“Kind of,” he cryptically says.
“How do you kind of eat ice cream off a chick’s body?”
His eyes darken. “I licked ice cream out of this chick’s pussy one time. It was hot.” He chuckles. “Well, it was hot for me. It was probably cold for her.” He frowns, thinking about it. “Nah, she was definitely into it. Sweetest thing I ever tasted.”
I throw a pillow at him. “I’m sorry I asked.”
“I’d offer you an opportunity to experience it, but I value breathing.”
“Quit stalling, stud. What’s going down?”
“The guys are torturing the safecracker dude to see if he’s trustworthy,” he casually throws out, and I spit chocolate ice cream all over Cam’s black silk sheets.
“What the ever-loving fuck?” I ask, spitting more bits of ice cream over Cam’s bed.
“Oh, my God. You should see your face. It looks like someone shit all over it.” His chest rumbles with laughter as he grabs the box of tissues from the bedside table and hands them to me.
“Who came up with that harebrained idea?” I huff, wiping my mouth clean. “Wait. Let me guess. It was Neanderthal Fighter Boy.”
“Actually, it was Charlie Barron’s idea.”
“No way. Charlie’s not like that.”
Jackson sends me an incredulous look. “You know what they do at Parkhurst, right?”
I shake my head. “I only have my imagination because the guys say jack shit about what goes on there.”
Jackson leans in closer, his eyes twinkling. “We’ve heard rumors it’s a front for an elite sect-like organization. They have to do all these mad, dangerous initiations to pass through the ranks. Including killing people.”
I want to deny it, because it sounds like something Hollywood would make up for a movie, but I’m not some naïve cookie cutter little rich girl. I know how ruthless my father and his associates are, so it’s not that hard to believe.
“That’s… I have no words.” My emotions are veering all over the place. I can imagine Trent feeling right at home someplace like that, but not my brother and Charlie.
“Yeah. It’s some fucked-up shit all right.” He takes a blunt out of his pocket.
“Do you ever not smoke weed?”
He thinks about that for a second. “When I’m asleep?”
I swat him with the pillow again before shoving him onto the floor while I change the sheets on Cam’s bed. Then we lie back, side by side, propped against pillows, as we shoot the shit and pass the blunt back and forth. When we’re stoned, Jackson decides it’d be funny to watch a porno, and we roll about the place laughing at how staged and cheesy the whole thing is.
I don’t remember falling asleep. Only waking up, in the early hours of the morning, as the bed violently shakes. “Ow!” Jackson moans, his voice heavy with sleep. “What the fuck d’you do that for?”
“What the fuck are you doing sleeping with her?”
“Christ. Hunt’s right. You’re a real fucking psycho when it comes to Abby.”
I rub my tired eyes, blinking repeatedly to ensure I’m seeing things straight. Cam has Jackson in a headlock, and he looks like he wants to rip him limb from limb.
“You’re overreacting, Cam,” I venture, sliding off the bed. “We’re both still dressed, and we were on top of the bed. We just fell asleep.”
At that precise moment, a loud moan echoes throughout the room. On the TV screen, a woman is being fucked by two hot cops with big “sticks” in an alleyway. “Yes, Officer. I’ve been a very bad girl. Punish me,” she purrs, moaning as he slaps her ass with his cock.
“What the actual fuck?” Cam says, staring wide-eyed at the TV.
I burst out laughing because it’s so comical. I’d say Jackson would laugh too, if he wasn’t turning a scary shade of blue. “Let him go, Cam, before he chokes to death.” I turn on the light in time to see Jackson drop to his knees, gasping for air.
“You’re lucky I love you like a brother, man,” he pants.
“I could say the same.” He pulls him to his feet, “You good?”
Jackson slaps him on the back. “I’m good, psycho.” He winks at me before fixing his gaze on Cam. “And for the love of all things holy, lock that shit down.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“That shit’s not to happen again,” Cam growls, pulling his shirt over his head, balling it up, and throwing it in the laundry basket’s direction.
“Fuck off trying to tell me what to do.” I plant my hands on my hips and glare at him.
He steps up to me, leaning his face in close. “We both know you’re mine, so quit trying to piss me off.”
My mouth drops open, and my heart swoons at his words before my head interjects, reminding me he’s a cruel, arrogant a-hole. Cam smirks, walking off into the bathroom, and I hear the shower turn on straightaway.
After a few minutes, the sound of the shower being switched off snaps me out of the argument doing circles in my head, and I stomp into the bathroom. Cam has a towel wrapped around his hips, and beads of water trickle over his wet skin as he stands at the sink with one hand under the faucet, wincing as water cascades over his split knuckles.
“Let me see.” I push my way in, trying not to drool over his semi-naked body, pretending my panties aren’t damp, as I take his hand, lifting it up for closer inspection. “And the other one.” I take both his hands, examining the bloody torn skin. “I presume you played the role of chief asshole tonight?” I bring both his hands under the water, gently cleaning them.
“Actually, that accolade belongs to your brother.” He winces a little. “And I thought I had anger management issues.”
Jackson’s earlier words resurface, and I wonder how well I know my brother and Charlie. Trent is such an arrogant fuckface he doesn’t shield who he is from anybody.
But have my brother and his other
friend been hiding who they are? What really goes on at Parkhurst, and how afraid should I be?
“What’s the verdict on the guy?” I inquire, patting his hands dry with a towel.
“Suspect. Guy shit his pants which doesn’t invoke a lot of confidence.”
“So, we’re back to square one?” Disappointment washes over me as I apply antiseptic cream to his damaged skin.
“We’re mulling over options.” He tilts my chin up with one finger. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
I’m still wide-awake an hour later, listening to Cam toss and turn in the chair as my mind refuses to shut down. I bolt upright, flinging the covers back on the empty side of the bed. “This is ridiculous. We’re up for school in a couple hours, and neither of us is getting any sleep. Just get in the bed already.”
He must be exhausted because he’s slept in that chair the last three nights. Which is ridiculous with the number of spare beds in the house. But he refuses to leave me in the room alone, and I’ve got to admit I feel safer with him in here.
I expect him to argue, but he complies without uttering a word. My pulse thrashes wildly in my neck as he slides under the covers, turning on his side to face me. We stare at one another, neither of us making any attempt to go to sleep.
My heart thumps so loud I’m sure he must hear it. My eyes drink him in, and he’s so beautiful up close. Almost too beautiful to be real. His eyes are like giant pools of liquid chocolate, and I’m diving right in.
Electricity swirls around us, and every part of my body tingles in anticipation. His eyes lower to my mouth, and my tongue darts out, wetting my lips. I gulp over the tension in the air, silently begging him to make a move.
The longer we stare at one another, the more heated my body becomes until I’m inwardly screaming, my body achy and needy, my lips crying out for his.
In the end, we both move as one, falling into each other as if some invisible force is drawing us together at the same time. His arms wind around my waist, and our lips collide in a searing-hot kiss that curls my toes. He draws me in flush to his body, keeping his palm flat on my lower back as he angles his head, deepening the kiss. Our tongues tangle, and I’m devouring him like he’s the luscious chocolate ice cream I was eating earlier.
Tasting him again brings all my memories flooding back, and I can’t deny what I feel for him anymore.
It doesn’t matter how obnoxious he is to me, because he burrowed his way under my skin that first night, and I can’t dig him out.
I’m desperate and needy, clinging to him and thrusting my hips against his, feeling his erection pushing against me through his sweats and my sleep shorts. He moans into my mouth, and I’m panting and writhing, my skin itching with unbridled desire.
When he pulls away, we’re both struggling to breathe. My thin tank is stuck to my back, and my leg is thrust between his. He grasps both sides of my face, kissing me softly in a way that undoes me worse than the frenzied kissing. “Sleep, baby.” He pulls my head to his chest, and I press my ear over his heart, allowing the strong rhythm to quickly lull me into sleep.
Cam wakes me the following morning, fully dressed, with his hair still damp from the shower. He pecks my lips. “Time to get up, princess. Unless you’ve changed your mind about school?”
“I haven’t,” I say, yawning.
“I’ll make breakfast while you shower. Don’t be long.”
I wear a lopsided grin the entire time I’m in the shower, but I physically wipe it from my face before I step foot in the kitchen.
The guys are quiet as we eat breakfast together, but it’s not awkward.
We are making our way out of the house when Cam pulls me back inside at the doorway, wrapping his arms around me before leaning down for a long kiss.
My lips are swollen when we finally break apart. “What was that for?”
“Two reasons,” Cam says, taking my hand as he activates the alarm system. “I’m reminding you you’re mine, and no one is touching you but me.”
He pulls the door shut, and I roll my eyes even though my heart is somersaulting in my chest. “And two?”
“If anyone gives you shit today, I want to hear about it immediately. I’m the first person you come to. Understood?” He opens the door to the back seat, grips my hips, and gently lifts me up before going around the other side and sliding in beside me. “Answer me,” he demands. “And put your seat belt on.”
I shove my middle finger up as I simultaneously smile at him and buckle my belt. He sends me one of his death glares that have never felt menacing to me. “I got it. You don’t need to go all caveman on me. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
“Good girl.” I’m opening my mouth to let a few expletives loose when he leans across and kisses me hard, instantly muting me.
Jackson chuckles. “If you’re going to kiss her every time she sasses you, you’ll be doing nothing else.”
“I have zero issues with that.” Cam sends him a smug smile, and Jackson laughs louder.
“If you guys are doing this, you’ll need to hide it at school,” Sawyer says, looking at us through the mirror as he maneuvers the car out of the driveway and onto the road.
Cam’s good humor evaporates as he leans forward, putting his hands on the back of the driver’s seat. “Do I look like a fucking idiot? We both understand the need for discretion.” He sits back, threading his fingers in mine. “We’ve got this.”
We say nothing else during the journey, but the silence is amicable and relaxed.
Charlie is waiting in the parking lot for us when we arrive at school, and he opens my door, helping me out. “Where’s Drew?”
“With Trent.”
“What the fuck?”
“Relax, Abby. It’s all part of the plan.” Charlie looks over my head. “Didn’t you fill her in?”
“There wasn’t time,” Cam coolly replies.
“You had time to kiss me!” I snap, shoving at his chest. “You could’ve made time to tell me.”
Charlie arches a brow but says nothing, taking my hand and walking toward the entrance. “Drew needs to stay tight with your father and Trent so we know what’s going down. As far as Trent is concerned, I’m siding with you and Drew is siding with him.”
“Great,” I grumble. “Now he’ll be all smug and superior thinking he’s turned my twin against me.”
“Who gives a shit what the douche thinks,” Cam says, coming up alongside us. “And if you value your life, you’ll remove your hand from hers,” he adds, giving Charlie the evil eye before turning his attention to me. “What part of no one else touches you didn’t you understand?”
“What part of fuck off trying to tell me what to do didn’t you understand?”
“People are staring,” Sawyer says, subtly pushing his way in between us. “And Charlie should continue to hold her hand. It’ll deflect attention.”
Cam looks like he wants to pummel Sawyer into the ground, but he says nothing, stalking ahead of us with frustration leaking from his pores.
“You sure you know what you’re getting into, Abby?” Charlie asks, just as we reach the steps.
“Nope,” I honestly admit. “But I’ve paid my ticket, and I’m on this crazy train now, so I might as well see where it takes me.”
Morning classes crawl by, not helped by the murmured whisperings and finger-pointing that follows me everywhere. I have one class with Trent and Drew, and the gossipmongers have a field day as we all purposely ignore one another. My cell pings with an apologetic text from Drew which I don’t respond to.
I know he’s doing this for me.
But I don’t know if it’s just to try to get back in my good graces or if he’s genuinely doing what needs to be done in the interests of keeping me safe.
Drew has a long way to go to prove his loyalty to me.
That’s the only thing I know for sure.
Lunch is fun. Not.
The division between the old elite has completely upset the balanc
e of power.
Charlie and I sit at the new elite’s table, joined by some members of the inner circle, but most have sided with Trent and Drew, which doesn’t surprise me. Chad sits with me, and I squeeze his hand, barely flinching from the kick Cam gives me under the table. “I really appreciate your support,” I say. “I know it can’t have been easy.” Chad has been one of Trent’s most loyal minions over the years.
“He made it easy,” he says, throwing a filthy look in Trent’s direction. “The minute he laid his hands on you without permission is the minute he lost my loyalty.”
No one outside the new and old elite knows exactly what went down last Sunday night, but I said enough in the cafeteria on Monday for them to get the gist.
Not that it’s garnered much sympathy for me or diluted female interest in my ex-fiancé.
In case there’s any doubt, I returned his ghastly engagement ring in an envelope Charlie gave him after first class. Drew had retrieved it from my bedroom when he was packing up my stuff. Word spread fast, and now girls are foaming at the mouth at the prospect of backfilling my shoes. It almost makes me lose faith in the female race.
Jane looks miserable sitting at Drew’s side, picking at her salad, and I hate she’s caught in the crossfire. This is the first time she’s really feeling what it’s like to be a part of this life.
To have your choices taken away from you.
To be forced to do something you don’t want to.
I never wanted her to experience that, but it’s inevitable.
I’m walking to the bathroom after lunch when someone yanks on my hand, pulling me sideways into an empty classroom. A palm clamps over my mouth as I prepare to scream, and Cam’s warm breath fans across my ear. “It’s me.”
“What the hell?!” I spin around in his arms, shoving at his chest. “Are you trying to give me a coronary?”
“Sorry,” he murmurs, not sounding in the least bit genuine as he rubs his nose along my neck. “I just needed to see you.”
“Why?” I’m instantly on alert. “Has something happened?” My eyes search his for the truth.
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