Thankfully, the hallways are empty as I make my way through the house and when I get to the kitchen, I only find Luca standing, still shirtless, with a bowl of pancake mixture in his hands.
It's the thing dreams are made of.
"Aw, look at the Panthers all-star quarterback getting his bake on."
He looks up at me where I’m resting my hip against the doorframe and his face lights up.
"You sure I can't tempt you?" He tilts the bowl toward me and my stomach silently grumbles.
I'm just about to agree when movement above our heads reminds me exactly why I need to get out of this house.
I don't mind Luca and Leon being front and center to my disaster of a life, but I don't need half of the team and however many girls they hooked up with last night knowing.
"No, I really need—"
"Hey," a deep voice rumbles from behind me before arms snake around my waist. "I thought you'd ran away from us last night."
"She did. I found her passed out in my bed," Luca announces causing Leon to tense behind me. It's brief but I don't miss it.
Extracting myself from his hold, I turn to look at him but I can't help but laugh when I get a look at his face.
"Feeling rough?" I ask, taking in the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes.
"Someone—" He shoots a look at his brother. "Decided shots would be a fucking fabulous idea."
"Do not blame this on me. You are your own person and make your own decisions."
I laugh at the pair of them as they continue bickering.
"Just cook the pancakes and shut the fuck up," Leon mutters, ripping the refrigerator open and pulling out a can of energy drink.
"Okay, well I'm gonna…" I point toward the front of the house.
"Wait," Leon calls before I get a chance to escape, although I've no idea how seeing as my car is parked at the dorm. "How are you getting back?"
"I'll call an Uber."
I reach into my purse for my cell, but when I pull it out, I find it dead.
"I'll take you," Leon offers.
"It's okay, just—"
"I said, I'll take you," he repeats, leaving little room for argument.
"O-okay."
"I'll call you later," Luca calls as I follow a fully dressed Leon out of the kitchen.
"Thank you, Luc, for last night…" For not asking too many questions.
"Anytime." He winks at me before going back to his batter.
"Come on, Cupcake."
"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" I ask after dropping into Leon's BMW.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He reaches over and squeezes my thigh as he starts the car and pulls away from the curb. "So, slept in Luc's bed, huh?" He tries to make it sound like a casual question but I don't miss the tightness to his voice.
"Yeah, things got a little too much and I escaped."
"I was going to come to find you but then the shots happened and—"
"It's fine," I say, cutting him off. I wince as I think about what he might have seen had he have come looking for me.
Jesus.
No one needs to witness that.
How Kane treated me. It was degrading. It was rough. It was… Everything you craved and you're getting wet just thinking about it.
Shaking my head, I focus on the houses passing by out of the window.
"You want to talk about it?" he asks, clearly sensing that I'm holding things back.
"No, not really. Did you have a good night?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Yeah, it was okay. Missed you though."
"Did you pull?" I ask, ignoring his previous comment.
He chuckles and I look over at him.
He's pushed the sleeves of his hoodie up his forearms revealing the rippling muscles as he turns the corner.
I run my eyes up his arm until I find his face.
His profile is perfect. If football doesn't work out for him, he should really consider being a model because damn.
"I know I look like hell, you don't need to stare."
"You're hot and you know it."
"You think?"
"You know I do, and the majority of girls, and a good portion of guys at MKU." A smile twitches at his lips. "Don't let it go to your head though."
"I guess Dad's genes we're good for something, eh?"
"Your looks and your ball skills. Hell yeah."
"Let's be honest, no one wants any of his other… qualities."
"Oh I don't know, Luca got some of his ego."
Leon barks a laugh as he turns toward my dorm. "That he did, Cupcake. You want me to walk you up?"
I glance around. It's stupid, I know he's not here waiting for me but still my skin prickles as I think about it being a possibility.
"Nah, you get back and enjoy those pancakes."
"Okay. You know where I am."
I nod at him and climb from the car. I love them both dearly but I am more than ready to stand under the hottest shower I can bear and crawl into my own bed for a few hours to sleep off the rest of this hangover.
Stupidly, I opt for the stairs instead of the elevator, thinking that the exercise might wake me up a little. Wrong. My thighs burn by the time I hit our floor. It's just a reminder of last night's mistake.
I'm still building up a wall to keep the memories out when I walk into our dorm to be met with a face I really don't need to see.
"Morning, Miss Scarlett. Nice little walk of shame on your first weekend at MKU," Brax announces from somewhere in the room but it's not him I'm focused on.
"Ellis?" His name falls from my lips before I've even realized I've said it.
"Hey, Let. How's it going?"
His eyes run down the length of me that's clad in Luca's clothes and I want the ground to swallow me up.
It's no secret that the Harris brothers have enrolled here. It's a fact that I'm sure every pill-popping, powder-snorting, acid-tripping student loves.
When we were kids, Victor Harris's reach didn't span out of Harrow Creek, but as his greed and need for power has grown and so has his patch.
He took over Rosewood while we were seniors, and now he's after Maddison. I get it, I guess. He's a businessman. If you can call a gangster one of those.
All I know is that he's terrifying, and he's single-handedly ruining the kids of Harrow Creek by convincing them that the best way to survive that hell hole is to become one of his boys.
Bullshit. All of it. And just another reason why I was so glad we left when we did.
Zayn was always a bright boy, and I'd have hated to see him fall into that trap.
The same one that we all know Kane and Kyle fell into, if Kyle's recent stint in juvie was anything to go by.
My eyes shift from Ellis to Micah who's sitting beside him on the couch, both of them with computers on their laps and looking equally as nerdy. It's almost endearing, or it would be if I didn't know that Ellis is as terrifying as his brothers, possibly more so because he's so fucking intelligent.
"It's g-good. You?"
"Can't complain. I was made for college. You know that."
"You two know each other?" Micah asks, looking between the two of us.
"Yeah, we go way back, right Scarlett?"
"We went to school together."
"You a fucking twin magnet or something?" Brax barks from his spot at the dining table. I don't look over though, I'm too intrigued by how Ellis tenses at the almost mention of the Dunn twins.
"Yeah, something. We were never really friends though, were we?"
Ellis's lips part as if he's going to respond but I put him out of his misery.
"If anyone needs me, I'm going to be in my room working." I march through the living area, aware of all sets of eyes in the room following me.
"Letty?" My spine straightens at Ellis's voice. I stop but I don't look back. "I know it wasn't your fault. It was just a tragic accident."
I nod, not wanting to get into the past with Brax and Micah listening to our exchange.
After last night, I'm done with people for a few hours.
I'm halfway across the room when I feel it.
Something isn't right.
A shiver runs down my spine and I spin on my heels half expecting to find Kane hiding in the corner ready to pounce on me. But I'm the only one here.
My eyes flick around the room looking for something that is out of place. But as I find everything as I left it, I begin to feel ridiculous. I'm giving him exactly what he wants, I'm letting him get under my skin.
It's not until I lift my arm to place my purse on my desk that I see it.
Stuck to my laptop is a Post-It note.
Whose bed did you sleep in last night, Princess?
My entire body turns cold as I stare down at his words.
Taking a few steps back, my hand lifts to cover my racing heart as panic begins to consume me.
He was here. In my room.
I'm not going fucking insane.
I back up until I'm by the window. I've no idea what makes me look, a sixth sense or some shit, but when I turn to the left and stare down at the quad below, I find him standing down there and staring right back at me.
"Holy fuck," I gasp.
My head screams at me to move, to act like a normal person, and pretend that I haven’t seen him staring up at my window like a creepy stalker.
I think back to the other night when I got this same feeling.
He was out there, wasn't he?
His eyes hold mine for another two seconds before he takes off running across the quad and finally out of sight.
It's not until he's gone that I'm able to breathe.
All the air rushes from my lungs as I stumble back to the bed.
This isn't ever going to be over is it?
I'm going to constantly be forced to remember everything I want to forget.
Maybe I should just try to talk to him. Have a rational conversation and get everything out.
But nothing about dealing with Kane is normal or rational. It's all anger, hate, vicious words and brutal touches.
I fall back, my purse landing on my stomach.
Reaching into it, I pull my cell out and blindly reach for the charger.
I plug it in and wait for it to power up.
I don't expect to have missed much. A message from Mom or Harley maybe. A few memes from Brax.
It buzzes after a few seconds but when I look at the screen to see who it is I find it's a number I don't recognize.
I open it, ready to immediately delete it but the words that stare back at me make me still.
Unknown: You're wet, aren't you? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t come straight up there and continue what we started.
My hand trembles as I stare at his words but my body betrays me as heat and lust wash through it. And fuck if he's not wrong because just reading that threat gets me going.
There's something very, very wrong with me.
I was in bed with the hot QB1 of the Panthers barely an hour ago and I didn't feel like this but one message from that psycho and I'm practically panting for a repeat of last night.
Flipping over, I bury my face into my pillow and scream out my frustrations.
I need to reply. He's going to see that I've read it and I can't have him turning up here. I can't. No matter how much my body might think it's a good idea, my head knows better.
Sitting up, I stare down at his words once more, my head going straight back to last night.
I shouldn't have liked the pressure of his hand around my throat, but I did. I shouldn't have wanted his fingers to dig into my hips so they left bruises, but I did.
He wants to punish me for the past, and it seems that I'm more than willing to take it like I am in fact the guilty party.
Fuck. My. Life.
I tap out a message, lower my cell for a beat before picking it back up and deleting it.
Fuck.
Scarlett: Because I hate you.
It shows as read immediately as if he was waiting for it. I glance at the window and wonder if he's back. If he's waiting for my word and he's going to bolt up the stairs and storm inside to take what he wants.
My stomach flutters wildly at the thought.
Unknown: But doesn't that make it so much sweeter?
He adds a winky face emoji that stupidly makes my lips twitch into the beginnings of a smile.
Scarlett: No. It's bitter, toxic and dangerous.
Unknown: Exactly. Keep your door unlocked, Princess.
15
Kane
I smile down at our conversation before glancing up at her window. She's disappeared, but I know she's there. Thinking about me. About last night.
Reaching down, I rearrange myself.
Fuck, if I don't want a repeat. Although suspecting that she spent the night with a Dunn makes me question myself.
What happened after I left?
Whose bed did she sleep in? I might have left her in Luca's room, but Leon was the one to bring her back.
She probably won't believe a word of it, but I haven’t actually been hanging around her dorm all morning waiting for her.
Yeah, so I broke into her room with Ellis's help, but I wasn't actually waiting for her, that was just good fucking timing.
I wait to see if she's going to reply to my demand, but after two minutes, I get nothing.
Part of me wants to go up and see if she's followed orders, but I already know she hasn't. She makes a habit out of defying me and I don't expect her to change now.
I take off running, which was the reason for my trip around campus this morning, but not five minutes into it, my cell starts to ring.
Hoping it's her, I slow to a stop and pull it from my pocket.
I knew it was wishful thinking but disappointment floods me when I find the name of the person who's actually calling.
Victor fucking Harris.
"Yes," I bark. I would ignore it, but I know it's not worth it. If he wants me, he'll get to me one way or another.
"I've got a job for you."
"We're done, Vic. Or have you forgotten our deal?"
He laughs, and while it might make some of his boys cower, it does little to affect me.
They all might think he's God, but I know different. He's weak, hiding behind his money. But his power is nothing more than a reputation he's bought over the years.
The only person anyone needs to be scared of is Reid. And that motherfucker would take a bullet for me.
"No, I haven’t.”
“I've upheld my end, now it's time for you to do the same."
"All that can go away with one phone call from me, boy. Don't forget that."
"Don't fucking threat—"
"One job. It's Alana."
"I don't give a shit who it is."
"And I don't give a shit about what you think. I'll send you the details. You know the drill."
"But I've got—practice," I mutter the final word because he's already hung up. Cunt.
With one final look at Letty's dorm building, I take off in the opposite direction.
By the time I get back to the house, every muscle in my body aches.
"What the fuck is with the face?" Devin asks as I storm into the kitchen for a bottle of water.
I cut him a look and it seems to tell him everything he needs to know.
"Victor?"
"Yeah, fucking Victor."
"You knew this was going to happen."
"I know," I mutter before chugging the entire bottle. "I just hoped that maybe he wouldn't."
"He's not going to cut you free no matter what you do for him."
"He might not have a fucking choice when I kill him."
Devin stares at me with an emotionless expression on his face.
I'm sure most kids would look a little horrified if anyone threatened to kill their father but it's no
secret that the Harris brothers hate their sperm donor as much as I do.
Unfortunately, they also know as well as I do that we can't just take him out.
There's no fucking way I'm going to spend my life rotting in fucking jail because I couldn't control myself and end up wiping him out.
We need to be smarter than that. Smarter than him.
Our time will come—or more so the brother's time will come. By then I can only hope that I've turned my back on this life completely, although I know it's wishful thinking.
"Want to go a few rounds?" he asks, understanding my need to purge this anger and frustration out of me.
"Yeah, let's fucking go. I'll drive."
The drive to the Creek is quick. Mostly because I'm on autopilot. I pull up into the parking lot at Paddy's not remembering any of the journey or the turnings I'd taken, but my knuckles are white against the wheel with the need to blow off some steam.
The second we enter the old boxing gym, all eyes turn on us.
"Good to see they haven’t forgotten who we are," Devin mutters with amusement.
It's not likely they will any time soon seeing as we've beat most of their asses over the years.
We don't speak to anyone, not that any of our fan club try to talk to us, they just stare as we make our way to a suddenly empty ring.
Paddy sticks his head out of his office and nods in our direction before ducking back in. Probably to run and tell his boss that we're in town.
Fuck him. Fuck them.
I've had my every move dictated by that cunt this past year. He's owned my fucking ass. Yes, so far he's followed through on his end of the bargain. He made out that I had a stand-up job for the authorities when Kyle's time was up in juvie which ensured I'd get guardianship, even if it was only for a few weeks until he turned eighteen in the spring.
But in order for that to happen. I've had to do all his fucking dirty work. Most much less pleasurable than being forced to take care of the needs of Alana and whoever else he found who needed some company. Fuck knows what's wrong with their husbands. Maybe my rep is just that good.
A cocky smirk appears on my lips as I wrap my knuckles.
The Revenge You Seek: A Dark College Bully Romance (Maddison Kings University Book 1) Page 12