“You okay, Tate?”
“Your friends are assholes,” I pointed out.
“Nah,” he said with an edge to his tone I didn’t miss. “They’re just waiting for you to prove your mettle. You’re doing good so far. Impress them at the initiation tonight and they’re gonna like you a lot.” The way he said those final words and paired them with stroking his thumb down my side had a deep shiver running through me.
I glanced over his shoulder, finding Saint and Kyan waiting for him. They weren’t looking at me like they wanted to hurt me anymore. They were looking at me like they wanted their hands on me too. And it set off a fire in my flesh I couldn’t ignore. But after the dodgeball bullshit and the hair pulling, I only had time for one of them.
I turned back to Blake with a smile, gliding my fingers over his arm. “I don’t care if they like me, golden boy.” I ran my hand all the way up to his shoulder, his muscles flexing beneath my touch.
“But you care if I do, right?” he growled like he needed to know the answer to that.
I leaned in close to his ear, a smile pulling at my mouth as I prepared to tease the hell out of him. “No, not really.”
I turned and walked away to join Mila in one half of the class, scooping up a dodgeball and preparing to get some revenge on Saint and Kyan. Blake wasn’t deterred and he crossed the room to join my team too.
“You okay, girl?” Mila asked, her brows pinched in concern.
“I’m fine,” I said firmly, casually tossing my hair over my shoulder in case anyone around me was sniffing for weaknesses.
“Monroe always does that shit to newbies. Although, you’re the first one I’ve seen fight back. You were lucky they were playing nice.” She grinned at me and I broke a smile.
My dad had taught me to scream, kick and bite if I ever got backed into a corner by an enemy. But the key was to never get cornered to start with. So if the Night Keepers were intent on testing me tonight, I had to be ready for whatever their initiation involved. Because if that was an example of the boys playing nice, I wasn’t looking forward to finding out what it was like when they played dirty.
The dodgeball game was as savage as expected with this bloodthirsty lot. Eric Balthers was the first to be sent to the nurse when Kyan Roscoe slammed a ball into his face hard enough to break his nose and Kirstin Effers followed him as Blake Bowman’s ball took out the backs of her knees and she fell hard on her elbow.
I was sure she hadn’t broken it, but I couldn’t stand a crier so I’d sent her scurrying off too. She could wipe her snotty nose and dry her damn eyes good and proper before she came back into my class. No. Thank you.
I watched the princess as she darted around the sports hall. Her aim was good and she had the cutthroat instincts she’d need if she expected to survive this place. She wasn’t even afraid to go up against the top dogs and I suppressed a smirk as she aimed a ball perfectly, catching Saint Memphis square in the back of the head. It was against the rules to hit above the shoulders, but I didn’t give a shit about enforcing that particular rule. Especially for him.
Saint swung around with the glint of the devil in his eye as he snatched up a ball of his own and threw it back at her with his full strength. The princess didn’t even flinch, planting her feet and catching that motherfucker like a pro. She stumbled back a step, but it was clean.
“You’re out, Memphis!” I shouted, punctuating it with a blast of my whistle.
Saint stalked from the game with a heat in his expression directed at Tatum which said he was gonna kill her or fuck her. Maybe both. I just hoped she didn’t lose that spark in her eyes once she fell prey to him and his friends. Which she would. The Night Keepers weren’t even trying to hide the fact that she’d become their latest infatuation and the sad truth was, that probably wouldn’t end well for her.
I glanced at my watch as we closed in on the end of the lesson and released two short blasts on my whistle to call time on the game.
“Next time, let’s see if any of you can actually dodge the balls,” I growled, letting them see my disappointment in the piss poor effort I’d just seen from most of them. There were a few exceptions to that, but I didn’t hand out praise like candies at halloween. If they wanted my flattery, they’d need to do something a lot more impressive than be good at a game designed for kids.
Blake Bowman cupped his hands around his mouth and crowed like a rooster to celebrate his team’s victory, running over to Tatum and slapping her a high five. In all honesty, I hadn’t bothered to keep track of the score so I had no idea if they’d really won. Who gave a shit anyway? Aside from Blake of course. That kid had to win something at least five times a day to keep his ego propped up and he invented competitions for himself to win if there weren’t enough real ones to keep him satisfied.
Kyan Roscoe strolled up to me, re-tying his top knot as he offered me a dark smile. “Are you free tomorrow night, Nash?” he asked me casually like we were old friends instead of student and teacher.
“It’s Monroe around the other students,” I reminded him, rolling my eyes. Not that he ever listened.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Actually I’ve got a hot date,” I joked. The only chance of that would be if I went off campus, and with the staff meeting planned for tonight I’d have to do an extra workout tomorrow to stick to my goals so there wasn’t much likelihood of that. Besides, the closest town was ten miles away and it wasn’t exactly filled with bars and nightlife. No, once I set foot on campus I basically got to say goodbye to my dating life until the holidays.
“Yeah. With me. I promise to treat you real nice before I get you on your back and start pounding you,” he joked and I snorted a laugh.
“You know I prefer being on top,” I replied, earning me a heated look from Pearl Devickers as she walked by. I swear that girl could scent testosterone from a mile off and always came panting like a bitch on heat at the slightest whiff. I cleared my throat as Kyan laughed. “Fuck off before you get me into trouble.”
“Yes, sir,” he said mockingly as he backed away. “Tomorrow at nine?”
“I’ll text you. I do have other students to teach, you know?”
He nodded, hiding his smile as he headed away after his friends. It wouldn’t matter if I told him to meet me at four am, he’d still show. Kyan was even more addicted to training than I was and he was damn good at it too. It didn’t hurt that our little sessions earned me a cut of his illegal brawl winnings either. Although officially I didn’t know anything about those of course.
I folded my arms and watched as all of the students headed away to the locker rooms to get changed.
The princess fell into step with Mila Cruz, laughing her head off once again as she sashayed out of the gymnasium without so much as a backwards glance.
My jaw ticked as I waited for her to remember her rendezvous with me, but she just kept walking. And walking. And fucking laughing.
I blew out a long breath through my nose and started counting to one hundred as I gave her one final chance to realise her mistake.
One, two, three…
What was it about these jumped up little rich kids that made them believe they were so superior? Was it the solid gold diapers they wore to catch their shit as babies or the thoroughbred ponies they were gifted for their fifth birthdays?
Twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight…
Maybe it wasn’t the stuff though. Perhaps it was the careless way Daddy ignored the cleaning lady or the look Mommy got on her face whenever the bellboy dared to open his mouth.
Forty one, forty two, forty three…
It could be the casual way their parents tossed hundred dollar bills out as tips as if they weren’t even worth the paper they were printed on.
Seventy five, seventy six, seventy seven…
Maybe it was all of those things, but I had another theory. I was willing to bet it was the way their parents just made problems magically go away. DUI? Sorry Officer, maybe I can just pay the fine
this time and we can forget the paperwork. Disgruntled employee? Just talk to my team of lawyers, they can wrap up your issues in a mountain of red tape and you can sign an NDA for good measure.
No problem was too big or payoff too small. And that just had to fuck up an integral part of a kid as they grew up. What was life without responsibility, accountability, consequences? They were given free rein to be little assholes as often and as aggressively as they liked. It was no wonder they all grew up to be a bunch of fucking dicks.
Eighty eight, eight nine, ninety…
My jaw locked tight as my gaze remained fixed on the door to the girls’ locker rooms.
Yeah, that was what was wrong with this bunch of next generation pricks: no culpability, no responsibilities, no repercussions.
Well that shit didn’t fly with me.
Ninety eight, ninety nine, one fucking hundred. Alright then, princess, you asked for it.
I lifted my chin and strode towards the girls’ locker rooms with a deep scowl etched onto my features.
The blue door stood closed before it and I banged my knuckles against it heavily three times.
“Male staff member coming in, cover up your tits and put your pussies back undercover. You’ve got five seconds to comply!” I barked.
Squeals of alarm came from the girls who were changing inside accompanied by some fuckwit going wooooo. I was pretty sure that was Pearl Devickers and if I could prove it she’d be enjoying detention for a week.
My temper rose as I waited for them to get their shit together and I knocked the door open once they’d had enough time.
I strode straight into the open space between the lockers. A few of the girls looked scandalised, most of them seemed resigned and a couple had accidentally forgotten to cover themselves up properly.
“Heathcot, Devickers, Smith and Pride,” I snapped. “Cover yourselves up and report to detention on Monday.” They all started giggling, clearly wanting detention with me but they were out of luck. I’d had enough practice dealing with horny schoolgirls to know how to disarm this kind of shit. “You can report to Mr Hutchins straight after class.”
Their faces fell at that and I fought a smirk. Hutchins had B.O. and bad breath coupled with a great passion for cataloging dusty old books which he found in the back of the library. His detentions consisted of way too much time stuck in a small room with his stench and a boring as hell task which took hours to complete. Maybe after enduring that they’d think again about trying to flash me their udders.
Silence fell as the offending girls gaped at me in horror and hurried to cover themselves properly. I looked through the cloud of bimbos for my prey as the rest of the girls in the room waited to see what I wanted.
“Princess,” I snapped as I pointed her out. She turned those big blue eyes on me and blinked innocently.
“Yes, sir?”
Good to see she knows how to be respectful sometimes.
“Did you forget something?”
She stared at me for a long moment, batting those long lashes, but I could see the cunning hiding behind the bimbo mask and I wasn’t falling for her shit.
“Oh! I’m so sorry, I thought you meant for me to come and find you after I got changed?” she tried.
“I did not. My office. Now.”
“Okay…I’ll just finish getting changed and-”
“Are you deaf, princess?” I asked in a deadly tone as I stalked towards her. “I didn’t say to come in a minute. I said to come now.”
“I could come now if he wanted me to,” Devickers murmured behind her hand and I pointed a finger at her without turning from the princess.
“You just earned yourself a whole week with Mr Hutchins after school, Devickers,” I snarled and she gasped in alarm.
The princess hesitated, glancing to Mila Cruz who had the good sense to nudge her towards me. She was still wearing her forest green gym skirt and sports bra so I didn’t know what she was blushing about. Actually, on second look that red tint in her cheeks wasn’t a blush, it was rage, pure and simple. Bring it on, princess.
I gave her a mocking bow and pointed her ahead of me towards the door.
She pouted her lips in that way rich girls always did when life was being oh so fucking unfair and strutted out of the locker room ahead of me.
I followed and waited for her to turn right before barking, “Left!”
She whirled around angrily and I directed her along the corridor to my office.
I hounded her all the way there, walking close enough to catch the scent of vanilla and honey blossom which clung to her skin and enjoying the way she tensed up at the feeling of me on her heels.
We reached my office and I leaned around her to open the door, pointing at the wooden chair before my desk. It was a damn uncomfortable piece of furniture which I’d taken great pleasure in selecting especially for the little shits I had to drag in here for a tongue lashing.
The princess dropped down onto the chair and crossed her legs as she waited for me to move to my desk. But I didn’t. I closed in behind her, moving closer and closer until I was rewarded with her straightening uncomfortably in the ass numbing chair. No one liked to know they had a wolf at their back.
“There are several things which I won’t tolerate in my class, princess, care to guess what they may be?” I asked in a dangerously low voice.
She cleared her throat before she answered, tossing that long, blonde hair in a casually flirtatious way. But I wasn’t going to be tempted into looking at her like that.
“My name is Tatum,” she said in a surprisingly strong voice. “Tatum Rivers.”
I barked a laugh in surprise. The girl had balls. I liked that. It would just make it all the more entertaining to break her in. Which I would. Because they all fell into line with me one way or another when they realised that their money, influence, family names and plastic perfection looks didn’t mean shit to me. I wanted respect. And the best they could hope to earn from me was my respect in return. Though that was a hard won prize.
“I don’t think you’re quite grasping the seriousness of this discussion, princess,” I growled, circling her like a predator about to go in for the kill. “I don’t tolerate backtalk, name calling or fucking giggling in my class and you’ve started off our relationship by offering me all three.”
I came to a halt in front of her and she was forced to tilt her head back as she looked up at me. Her golden hair spilled down her back and the sports bra offered me a way too easy view of her full breasts as they strained to escape the elasticated material. Goddammit.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, widening those big blues at me as she laid on the innocent act again. But this one was a far cry from innocent. She reeked of trouble and the endless depths of those eyes sparkled with nothing but disobedience. Hell, I almost could have sworn she was enjoying this. She liked going toe to toe with a strong opponent, but I’d be damned if she’d be coming out on top with me.
I sat back onto my desk in front of her, spreading my legs wide as I curled my fingers around the hand-carved oak.
“You’re not leaving this office until you tell me what you were giggling about,” I said, snagging her gaze and keeping hold of it.
She bit her bottom lip, not nervously like she should have been, but seductively like she knew exactly the way to a guy’s libido with that one practiced move. But that shit wasn’t going to work on me.
My eyes narrowed on her and I folded my arms as I waited.
“I can only apologise again,” she said and she almost sounded sincere that time. “But I can’t remember what made me laugh now...”
I didn’t reply. My jaw tightened and I scowled down at her as I waited her out, giving her a look which let her know in no uncertain terms that there wasn’t going to be a free pass here.
Kudos to her though, she made it longer than a minute in silence before she cracked. Most of the kids couldn’t go beyond ten seconds of that shit.
“Do you seriously need
to know?” she asked, her gaze slipping from my face for a moment and landing on my crotch before she flipped it back up quickly. This time the colour in her cheeks really was a blush.
“Enlighten me,” I demanded, but I was pretty sure I had the gist of it from that look.
When I’d taken this job I hadn’t given much consideration to the fact that I’d be put in a position of power over a bunch of girls who were only a few years younger than me. I’d had my own reasons for wanting this position. For needing it. And my goal didn’t have anything to do with school girl crushes and horny teenagers. But they had certainly caused me more than a few headaches since my arrival.
“Well, I was just commenting on how you don’t look like your average teacher,” she said, keeping her features straight as she forced her tongue around the words.
“And?” That wasn’t all of it, not by half and I was more than happy to mortify her with the goal of earning the respect I needed from her. Besides, it didn’t exactly hurt my ego to have a beautiful girl talking about me like that and I wasn’t beyond enjoying the words even if I’d never act on them.
“And…someone might have mentioned that they wouldn’t mind…dating you…”
“Dating me?” I asked scathingly. “The truth, princess, or you’ll be earning detention for being late to your next class too.”
“Fine,” she growled, raising her chin as fire flared in her eyes. This answer would be the truth. “We said we wouldn’t mind fucking you.”
My pulse spiked at that sentence coming out of her pink lips. I’d guessed Little Miss Innocent was more than used to getting dirty with the commoners from that look in her eye and now I had my answer.
“Is that so?” I deadpanned. “Well, sorry to burst your bubble, princess, but I have no interest in screwing little school girls.”
Her nostrils flared with rage at my insult and I swiped a hand over my mouth to hide my smirk.
“Don’t worry, I have no interest in screwing assholes, either,” she ground out.
I snorted a laugh and leaned back against my desk. I should have chewed her out for it, but I was quietly impressed that she hadn’t just flushed beetroot and dissolved into tears of embarrassment.
Kings of Quarantine: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 1) Page 6