Soft female voices drift down to me as I step toward my trailer and at the last minute, I change my mind and head toward the main house. I don’t really have any desire to go inside but the temptation to torment her is too much.
When they come into view, they’ve both got their heads down, a pile of books, pens and notepads in front of them as they do their homework like good little girls. A little nagging voice in the back of my head shouts that it’s probably something I should also be doing instead of filling my need for vengeance using the innocent new girl but that’s all I seem to be able to think about these days.
“I hope you realize that nerds have no fun,” I comment once I’m close enough for them to hear me clearly.
“And those who skip class end up flipping burgers. Problem?” Poppy says, her eyes coming up to meet mine, full of amusement. It might not be the first time she’s mentioned my destiny being in a fast food joint.
A quiet whimper beside her drags my attention away, and I’m so fucking glad I do because New Girl is playing right into my hands. Her chin’s dropped as her eyes roam over my naked skin. If it’s possible, my body heats even more under her stare but I don’t allow her to see any reaction from me.
“You about finished?” I bark, making Poppy blanch at my outburst.
Her cheeks flame red and I don’t miss that it creeps down onto her chest and even as low as the swell of her breasts and she sheepishly looks back down at the book in front of her like nothing ever happened.
Falling down in the seat in front of her, I keep my attention on Poppy. “Any chance you could get me a bottle of water, Pops.”
“I...uh…” she stutters, looking between the two of us. I understand her hesitation, I probably wouldn’t leave her with me either.
“Please.” I smile sweetly and lean forward, placing my elbows on my knees.
Moving my eyes away from Poppy as she hesitantly gets up and leaves us alone, I stare at the bowed head in front of me.
“What? You shy all of a sudden? I didn’t think whores got embarrassed.”
“Fuck you,” she spits, standing up so fast that the plastic chair she was sitting on goes crashing backward.
I stand, her breasts brushing against my chest where we’re so close. Her breath catches at the same time some weird spark shoots through my veins.
“We’ve been through this. I don’t fuck whores.”
“Yeah, so you keep saying, but here you are. Again.”
Fury bubbles within me at her referring to herself that way. It’s irrational because I started it but still, I fucking hate it.
Standing only a few inches shorter than me, she stays stock still, her blue eyes boring into mine. The hate I’ve been putting on to her suddenly feels insignificant as other urges start to take over. It’s easy to imagine that she’s someone else at a distance. It’s easy to picture another face and fake blonde hair, but up close she’s just a girl who’s just about as lost as I am.
My eyes drop from hers in favor of her lips and I start to imagine how sweet she actually might taste, how soft her lips might feel pressed against mine.
“Back off, Jake.” The harsh sound of Poppy’s voice is enough for me to break my stare.
Looking up, I find her in the doorway with the bottle I requested poised like she’s about to throw it at me.
The mortified look on her face is enough to distract me, so much so that I miss the movement of arms in front of me and by the time her palms slam down on my chest it’s too late.
I take a step back to try to steady myself but there’s nothing there. My stomach jumps into my throat as I start falling. I just hear the sound of her evil chuckle before I hit the water and go under.
Fucking bitch.
By the time I resurface, she’s kneeling down at the edge waiting for me with a shit-eating grin on her face. Pride swells in my chest. I think I may have underestimated this one. She’s not as weak as I first thought her to be and it’s only going to make this thing between us more fun.
“Oh, Brit. You just seriously fucked up.”
“Is that right? Because as far as I see it, you’re the one losing right no-ah!”
The sound of her scream before the splash might be the most satisfying thing I’ve ever heard.
She fumbles around, arms and legs flailing in her panic. I eventually take pity of her and reach out.
Her waist is so damn small that my fingers almost meet at her spine. I pull her up and she sucks in a lungful of air while simultaneously fighting to get away. That is until I pull her flush against me. The temptation of feeling her curves against my hard planes is too much.
Her hands come up to brush away the wet hair that’s sticking to her face and the second our eyes connect she stops fighting.
My fingers tighten around her in my need to show her just how much she’s fucked up my life. Close up like this, she’s nothing like the woman who caused me the real pain, so I focus on the present. This girl’s the reason my life’s gone to shit this past week. She’s the reason why Mason is still avoiding me and why my nights are filled with dreams of times in my childhood that I’d rather forget.
Leaning in, my rough cheek brushes against hers and her entire body shudders against me. “You want to fight dirty, Brit? I can guarantee that you’re going to lose. You have too many weaknesses that I can exploit whereas nothing can touch me.” My tongue runs around the shell of her ear and she gasps in shock, every muscle in her body locking up tight.
To outsiders, like my cousin who’s stare I can feel burning into my skin, it might look intimate, like I’m whispering sweet nothings into her ear. Well... I guess I am whispering promises as such.
Her chest swells as she sucks in some strength to respond. “I’m not the weak, pathetic girl you think I am. I’m not going to bend over and take it.”
“Maybe you should, it’ll all be over quicker.”
“I didn’t think you fucked whores.”
Her words make my breathing falter.
Wrapping the length of her sodden hair around my fist, I pull her head back so I can ensure her eyes stay on mine and I lift and press her into the pool wall. I’m confident that she has no idea her legs automatically come up to wrap around my waist, but the moment her heat lines up with my semi-hard cock I’m not going to point it out.
I press harder into her, ignoring the fact that she’ll know she’s making me hard right now. I allow myself a few seconds to take her in. The darkness of her blue eyes giving away her anger and desire, the droplets of water that are littering her face and blending in with her freckles, her wet hair, pushed back from her flawless face. She’s soaked yet there’s no makeup running down her face, it only proves that she really is naturally this flawlessly beautiful.
“Don’t,” I warn, my voice deep and haunting, my mouth running away with me. “Don’t ever call yourself that.”
“But it’s okay for you to?” Her voice is no more than a breathy whisper. My heart thunders and my cock threatens to go full mast knowing I’m affecting her as she is me.
“I do what I want, Brit. I thought you’d realized that by now.”
My eyes drop to her lips because if that statement were actually true, they’d be pressed up against mine right now.
That realization is enough to make me let go and step back. I don’t kiss girls. I use them for what I want and cast them aside. This right now, it confuses the fuck out of me and that only leads to more frustration.
“Amalie, are you okay?” Poppy calls. I spot her running toward the corner of the pool where I just was as sounds of water splashing fills my ears.
Jumping from the pool, I keep my back to both of them and begin to walk away to the sounds of their panicked voices.
“Hey, Brit,” I shout over my shoulder just before I know I’m out of sight. I don’t wait for a response, the silence is enough to tell me that they’re listening. “Remember, I never lose.” And with those final words, I get the hell out of there and away from th
e girl messing with my head.
21
Amalie
“Let’s go and find you some dry clothes and then I think it’s probably best we get out of here.”
I couldn’t agree more as I follow Poppy into the house and up to her bedroom.
My head spins with everything that happened in the last few minutes. I thought I was being smart pushing him when he was distracted but I should have known it would come and bite me in the arse, and if his warning as he walked away was serious then I think I may have just upped the ante where he’s concerned.
A long sigh falls from my lips as we walk into Poppy’s bedroom. “Bathroom’s there if you want to go and dry off. I’ll just find you something to change into.”
“Thank you,” I mumble, heading in the direction she pointed. She’s not asked me any questions yet but one glance in her eyes and I know they’re on the tip of her tongue.
I make quick work of stripping out of my sodden clothes and drop them into the basin to wring out. Goosebumps cover my chilled skin but it does little to reduce the heat within my body. I should have hated the feeling of his palms burning into my skin, the pressure of his body being pressed tightly against mine. My head was screaming at me but my body had other ideas. There’s something about that arsehole that calls to my body while in my head, I’m imagining a million ways to end him. It was confusing before he pressed the length of his body against mine and manipulated me into wrapping myself around him.
“Wanker,” I mutter to myself, resting my palms on the basin and looking up into my darker than usual eyes. I hate him. I fucking hate him. Yet why do I have this constant need to try to dig just a little beneath the surface and find out what’s really going on inside his head, what it was that really got his back up about me on my first day that he can’t let go of.
“Here you go.” Poppy’s hand pushes inside the door and I take the clothes she offers. “I hope they fit.”
“They’re perfect, thank you.”
Thankfully, Poppy and I aren’t all that different body-wise although she is a few inches shorter than me. If this happened while I was with Camila, then I might have had issues.
I unfold a loose-fitting vest and a denim skirt before quickly sliding them on and wringing out my own clothes. Finding a hairbrush on the shelf above the basin, I make quick work of brushing through my wet, matted hair before piling it all on top of my head out of the way.
With my damp clothes in hand, I pull the door open, expecting to find Poppy waiting for me, only the room is empty.
Not really wanting to snoop around her house, I hesitate at the door but hearing sounds from downstairs, I make my way down.
I find Poppy gathering up our books from the table.
“I’m so sorry for ruining everything.”
Turning to me, her eyes narrow in confusion. “You didn’t ruin anything. He’s the one with the issues. He’s always been a little screwed, but that was... shit, I don’t even know. You wanna get out of here?”
“Yes.” The relief in my voice makes her laugh and once we both have our bags in hand, we head toward her car.
“Do you want to go home or…” She trails off.
“We’ve still got loads of work to do and I’m not sure I’m ready for all the questions yet,” I say, knowing Gran will take one look at me in someone else’s clothes and not let up until I give her answers.
“And you don’t think I have any?” She chuckles making me groan. “Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere but Aces.”
“You got it.”
I stare out the window as the car travels toward the seafront but luckily Poppy parks at the opposite end to Aces and once we’ve collected our stuff, she directs me to a small cafe that sits a little back from the sea.
“This place is cute.” My eyes flit around the place thinking that I could easily step out of here and be back in London.
A long sigh leaves my lips. Poppy turns to me, her face full of sympathy like she knows exactly what I’m thinking.
“I thought you might like it.”
We find ourselves a table and grab the menus, my stomach rumbling right on cue.
Once we’ve ordered, Poppy almost immediately pulls all the books out that she shoved into her bag before we left her house so we can continue where we left off. Or at least that’s what I expect her to do so my stomach knots when she places her elbows on the top of everything and her eyes find mine.
“Go on then?” she prompts.
“What?”
“Don’t give me what,” she laughs. “You’re sitting there in my clothes because my idiot of a cousin dragged you into our pool after you pushed him in. You can’t tell me nothing’s going on there. It was like the ultimate school ground flirting I’ve ever seen.”
I scoff. “I can assure you that that was not flirting.” My mind flicks back to the moment he stared down at my lips like he was going to kiss me, my temperature spikes at the memory but I push it down. I read that all wrong, surely.
“I’m pretty sure the tension between you was definitely sexual.”
Someone at the next table glances over, my cheeks heat with embarrassment. “Shush. That was not what it was. He hates me. I’ve no idea why. Can we just forget all about it and get on with this?” I ask hopefully.
She’s silent for a moment as I start to think that maybe she’ll allow the subject to drop. Sadly, I’m not that lucky.
“My cousin’s a little…”
“Fucked up,” I offer when she pauses.
“I was going to say cut off or distant, but that works. He hasn’t had the best childhood. I know that’s not an excuse,” she adds quickly when I open my mouth to argue. “I think his perception of how to act normal at times is a little skewed. He acts out so he doesn’t have to deal with his emotions or feelings, well I think that’s what he does. I’ve never managed to make him talk about it.”
“What happened to him?” The words fall from my lips before I have a chance to stop them.
“His mother’s a total fuck up. I don’t really know the whole story, I was too young to understand, and no one talks about her ever. Enough about him, we’ve still got a ton of work to do.”
Relieved that she steers the conversation away from him, I grab one of the books she’s been leaning on and we get to work.
Thankfully by the time Poppy drops me home, Gran’s already gone out. Monday night is bingo night with her friends and I couldn’t be more grateful that I get to have a few hours to myself as I attempt to dissect every moment of my afternoon. My head’s a mess after those short few minutes with Jake in Poppy’s pool. He was his usual arsehole self but there was something else. The seriousness behind his warning about me calling myself a whore, the way he stared down at my lips like he wanted to suck them into his mouth.
Stripping out of Poppy’s clothes, I step under the shower and allow the warm water to wash away the scent of chlorine that still covers my skin from my unexpected dip and pray that it’s enough to wash him out of my mind too, although I think that could be wishful thinking.
His final words as he walked away repeat in my head over and over as I lie in bed attempting to get some sleep. “Remember, I never lose.” I don’t doubt for a second that those words were true. He wouldn’t hold the position he does at school if he dishes out empty threats. Every other student seems to have him on some kind of untouchable pedestal. The girls quite clearly want to shag him and the guys want to be him. Fuck knows why, he’s a wanker. A shiver runs up my spine reminding me that although that might be true, he’s a beautiful one. The image of him hot, sweaty and dripping in water is etched on the inside of my eyelids and when sleep eventually claims me, it’s still right there, inspiring my dreams.
When I wake the next morning, it’s with dread sitting heavy in my stomach. I’ve no idea why, it’s like a premonition or something. But something about his final words still haunt me and I just know he’s going to keep that promise.
&nb
sp; Camila pulls up right on cue and once again there are fresh doughnuts sitting on the passenger seat.
“I accepted your apology, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, but they were so good yesterday that I couldn’t help myself. Plus, Noah complained I didn’t get one for him so...”
Picking up the box, I climb into the seat and rest them on my lap. “I’m not complaining,” I say, grabbing one up and biting into it. The sugar immediately makes my mouth water, it’s exactly what I need.
“How’d you get along with Poppy last night?”
“Fine.”
“That good?” she says with a laugh.
Blowing out a sigh, I remember last night’s events once more. “Did you know Jake’s her cousin?”
“Yeah.”
“And you didn’t think to warn me?”
“I didn’t think I’d need to. Why, what happened?”
Much to Camila’s amusement, I recall the events of the previous night.
“You ended up in the pool?” she laughs.
“Yeah, I should have seen it coming, really. Pushing him was a stupid thing to do.”
“So how’d it end?”
“With him warning me that he never loses. I think I’ve managed to up the stakes. Fuck knows what I’ve got heading my way.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. What exactly can he do?” By the slight wobble of her voice, it’s obvious that even she doesn’t believe the words that just fell from her mouth. She slows at a set of traffic lights and turns to look at me. “Don’t be so worried. It’s not like he’s got any dirt on you. It’ll just be pathetic schoolyard gossip whatever it is.”
I mumble my agreement, but her words do little to ease the dread twisting my stomach the closer we get to school.
Everything’s fine until about ten minutes before lunch. I’m in English lit, hiding at the back and getting on with the assignment we’ve been set when someone’s phone goes off. The teacher barks at whoever it was but I ignore them and go back to what I was doing. That is until I feel eyes burning into me.
THORN: A High School Bully Romance (Rosewood Book 1) Page 10