Those Heartless Boys

by E. M. Moore

  Stone drops his spoon into his bowl and lifts his head to meet my gaze. “I’m sorry.”

  The contrite look in his blue-gray eyes is sincere. I nod, refusing to say that it’s okay because it’s not.

  When I start to walk away again, he says, “I’d prefer it if we all rode to school together. It’s safer that way.” My hands ball to fists, but before I can object, he cuts me off. “I know you don’t like being told what to do, but we’re better off. If you don’t trust me, ask one of the others.”

  “Like I trust one of the others,” I snap.

  “Ouch,” Lucas says.

  “And here I thought we were bonding over food, Tits,” Wyatt says as he breezes past me. “Come on, assholes. I’ve got a date with a nice boo-ty this morning.” He pinches the air in a crude gesture.

  Stone shoves away from his place at the bar. “Please make it clear with this one up front that you’re not looking for anything more than a quick fuck. Your last girl was horrendous.”

  Wyatt shudders then composes himself. “I assure you,” he says, mocking Stone’s professional tone. “They always know. I’m just that good.”

  I roll my eyes, and the four of us start for the front door with bags in tow. Instead of using mine or Wyatt’s truck, we head toward the second bay in the garage. Stone presses something on his phone and the door opens, revealing a Silver Audi.

  My mouth drops open. It’s the same Silver Audi that threw water at me the first day of school. “You assholes.”

  Wyatt smirks. “Oh, come on. My hand slipped.” He winks at me again, and I don’t find it charming at all.

  I do have the sudden urge to stab them though. “On second thought,” I say. “I’ll be giving myself a ride to school.” I turn on my heel and walk the other way, thrusting my middle finger into the air as I put distance between us.

  “I’ll come with you,” Lucas calls out.

  “The fuck you will.” I grab my truck keys from my bag as I approach the truck and then heave myself into the cab. Lucas still strides toward me, but I lock both doors before he can get to the passenger side.

  I turn the car over with a saucy smile, but nothing happens. No sound. Anything. I try again. The pretty purr that it had just a couple of days ago is gone. It acts like it’s dead for good. It may as well be a toy. I bang my hands against the steering wheel, cursing the metal beast.

  When I look up, Stone has his arms crossed. Just the way he’s looking at me, I know he’s done something. I throw the car door open and lean out, coming to a stand with my arm draped over the door. “What the fuck did you do?”

  “Your truck is perfectly fine, but I had a feeling you’d try something like this, so I took a precaution. You’ll get the part back when you can be trusted.”

  “Trusted? Are you serious? You want to talk about trust?” I hop out of the truck, slam the door, and step toward him. “How about you guys stop acting like assholes and then I won’t want to be by myself. Would you step into a vehicle with someone who’s treated you the way you’ve treated me? I highly fucking doubt it. You’re Stone Jacobs. No one gets to say a bad word about you.”

  He ignores everything I’ve just shouted at him. Instead, he answers with, “The previous incident was before we teamed up.”

  “And you’re still controlling everything,” I growl, pointing back to my poor, useless truck.

  “It’s for your own good,” he says, checking his watch. No doubt the proper rich kid is worried about being late to his first class. He would’ve hated growing up with my dad.

  “You’re...insufferable,” I stammer out.

  He raises his eyebrows, and I just glare at him. I first read that word in Pride and Prejudice, and it totally suits this douche. I highly doubt Stone Jacobs is going to turn out anything like Fitzwilliam Darcy, though. He’d have to rearrange every thought in his pea-sized brain.

  “We can argue about this later,” Stone says curtly, “but we need to leave for Saint Clary’s now.”

  “Why? Your fan club awaits?”

  His eyes flash. “As a matter of fact, yes.”

  The jealousy that tears through me makes me furious. Has he been talking to Meghan the whole weekend while I’ve been in my room? Logically, I want to drill a hole in my brain right now to empty all those thoughts. I should not be thinking that way about Stone. My stepbrother. My nemesis.

  Lucas sighs. “Give me the keys to your truck, Wyatt.”

  Wyatt cocks his head. “What?”

  “Just give them to me. I’ll take Dakota to school, and you two can go in the Audi.” Wyatt sends Lucas a warning look. “I’ll be careful,” he promises.

  Wyatt fishes in his pockets and throws the truck keys in Lucas’s direction. I’m not keen on riding with Lucas either, but it’s the lesser of two evils, so I follow him into the other garage and get into the passenger seat of Wyatt’s enormous truck. The one that almost plowed me over. Since that incident was also before we teamed up, I suppose Stone wants me to forget it ever happened, too.

  I grit my teeth as I gaze around the interior. Wyatt’s truck is nothing like mine. It’s brand new with all the technology mine lacks. Hell, mine doesn’t even have a working radio, while this has satellite radio along with a GPS. It starts with a barely restrained growl.

  Stone floors it out of the garage, kicking up little stones in his wake. His engine thrums like a tiger, and I hiss “Asshole” under my breath.

  “You bring out the worst in him,” Lucas says, shaking his head to himself.

  “By breathing?”

  He backs the truck out of the garage carefully and hits a button on the ceiling that lowers the garage door. “Nothing gets under his skin more than you.”

  I’m reminded of what his father said on Saturday. Stone’s “infatuation” with me. Surely, he’s not using infatuation for the usual meaning. He must mean his infatuation with being a prick toward me. Or his goal of trying to ruin my life. Either could work.

  “I understand what you see when you look at him. I used to see it too. The rich, pompous kid. He’s not like that though. Yeah, he has more money than he knows what to do with, but despite all that, you guys are more alike than you think.”

  “I highly fucking doubt that.” I glare at Lucas like he doesn’t even know me at all, which he doesn’t. Of course. Sure, he saw me when I was a kid. We go to school together now. We’ve had glimpses of each other over the years, but that doesn’t mean that any of these fuckers actually know me.

  Sometimes, I’m not even sure I know myself, to be honest. What I do know is, I am the furthest thing from being Stone Jacobs, pretentious asshat extraordinaire.

  Fuck that notion.

  17

  Stone is in most of my morning classes, and we manage to ignore each other. His fan club hovers around him. Most of them ask about teaming up with my family... Well, just me, I guess. More than a few girls giggle snort like teaming up with my family is the worst thing his could’ve ever done. Stone, though, unlike the other days, doesn’t seem to be in the mood. It’s not just me he’s ignoring. It’s everyone.

  During lunch, I stand in line to get food when a body hovers behind me. I know who it is, but I don’t acknowledge him until that rich voice of his sends a blast of heat through me. “Hey,” Lucas says.

  I turn my head, and he offers me a tray. I take it with a small smile. “Hey.”

  “I thought maybe we could take our food outside.”

  “You want to eat with me?”

  The smile on his face grows. “Don’t sound so surprised. I would’ve bothered you more over the weekend if I hadn’t thought you needed time to process things yourself after the press conference.”

  I groan and turn back to the cafeteria line, telling the food servers what I want. At the end of the line, I hold my student ID up, so they can take the meal off my plan. Lucas is right behind me as I turn to find a seat.

  “Come on,” he says when I go to sit at a vacant table. He motions toward the doors at th
e far end of the cafeteria that lead to a sitting area. “Let’s sit outside.”

  Lucas is an enigma to me. I’ve read so many books in my short years of life. Books that have every type of person you can imagine, yet I can’t quite make him out. He’s the quiet one, but not really. He can be an asshole. He’s pulled the “You’re mine” bullshit just like Stone did, but from him, it didn’t sound as bad as when Stone said it. It seemed like something else entirely.

  “Well, I—”

  A girl bumps into my shoulder and the pizza on my plate slides. I try to save it, but she hits me again, “Oh, sorry.” The plate and the tray hit the floor, clattering over the tile, silencing the room for a second before the closest table bursts out laughing. Lo and behold, Meghan is front and center, giggling into her friend’s shoulder.

  “I didn’t see you there,” the girl says. She bats her eyes at the seething hunk next to me. “I couldn’t keep my eyes off Lucas here.”

  Lucas rolls his eyes, and the girl smirks like this is all a part of a mating ritual. She trails her fingers up and over his shoulder while Meghan watches, sticking her chin in the air and glaring at me. The girl, who is one of Meghan’s cheerleader friends from high school, flicks her gaze over to the table, and it erupts again. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this was all pre-planned.

  “Wow. You went to school with these bitches?” Lucas asks.

  The girl, Lucille, rears back. She fights for control over her astonished smile. “Bitches? I think you may have mistaken me for someone else.”

  “No, what you’re mistaken about is that you think I have the temperament to sit here and watch you fawn all over me.”

  Behind the girl, Wyatt strides toward our group. My cheeks blaze. We already have the attention of the entire room, but Wyatt’s appearance only makes it worse. I bend over to pick up the mess on the floor since it certainly isn’t any of the cafeteria workers’ responsibility. Plus, it’ll hide my flaming cheeks.

  “Maybe you can find a clue somewhere down there,” Lucille mocks. She kicks my silverware back toward me.

  “Stand. Up.” Lucas growls the words like he’s having a hard time restraining himself.

  When I glance up, Wyatt’s wearing a huge smile. He places his hands on Lucille’s shoulders. When she jumps and looks back at him, she automatically melts into his touch like he’s just made her whole day. See? The guys in Clary are severely limited. I don’t fault her reaction to them, but I loathe that they belittle me to get their attention. “Hey,” she says, batting her eyelashes again.

  His smile thins, and her mouth drops into a pout. He moves around her, gesturing toward the floor. “I see you dropped your tray.”

  “It’s not mine,” she says. “It’s Blue’s Clues’.”

  Lucas steps up to her. With their height difference, she has to tip her head back. “Say that again.” His voice is a warning if I’ve ever heard one. A skitter crawls up my spine.

  She smiles. “You guys are fucking with me, right?” She looks around, her gaze landing on all of us, even her table of cronies.

  Lucas grabs my hand and pulls me to a standing position while Wyatt places his hands on his hips, tipping his head down low, so he can give her his cowboy stare. “Did no one ever teach you that it’s the worst kind of shame to be someone’s bitch?” he asks, tipping his head in Meghan’s direction.

  Meghan stands. She wobbles on the short heels she has on and then takes short little steps to greet us. She has on a short, jean skirt, her makeup meticulously done. “What’s going on here?”

  “What’s going on here,” Lucas says, “Is that you’re so transparent, you’re practically glass. If you even want Stone to look at you again, I suggest you tell your little friend here to pick up Dakota’s tray and walk her little ass over to the line to get her another one.”

  I start to slink away, but Lucas holds my hand tightly. Meghan’s jaw ticks. “Listen,” she says, lowering her voice. “I know you guys are new, but—”

  “What a mess,” a cold voice says from behind me. Stone’s presence pricks my skin. “Care to tell me what I’ve missed?”

  Meghan puts her manicured hand on her hip, tossing her hair over her shoulders. “Blue’s Clues walked into my friend.”

  Stone smirks. He comes up on the other side of me before placing his hand on my shoulder. “Dakota, are you okay?”

  Everyone in the lunchroom looks on. They would be looking anyway because of Wyatt, Stone, and Lucas, but right now, there’s a line being drawn. Meghan and her high school bitches on one side, and the most significant thing to happen to Clary for a long time on the other.

  With the way Meghan and Lucille stare at the guys, they think they have this in the bag. They think the hot guys will just realize how stupid they’re being and suddenly remember I’m the social pariah here, not them.

  Stone moves in front of me. He has the same hard face as this morning when he told me he disabled my truck. I don’t trust him. Not at all. If it weren’t for Lucas’s steady hand in mine, I probably would’ve shriveled away by now.

  “I’m fine,” I say, putting more confidence in my voice than I usually do. “Lucille was just going to replace my food that she knocked over. An accident, of course.”

  Stone’s gaze twinkles. He clearly loves this shit. He’s in control, and he has the spotlight. It’s a Jacobs’s wet dream.

  “The fuck I am,” Lucille says, scoffing at what I’ve just said.

  Lucas squeezes my hand again. I take a deep breath, and with everyone watching, I drop his hand and step forward. “I think you will, Lucille,” I say, giving her a broad smile. My heart is pumping a mile a minute. I’m so scared I think I might throw up, but at the same time, there are three assholes behind me, and those three assholes don’t mind being that way to anyone. Not just to me. I reach my hand up and pat Lucille’s head. “Go ahead. Be a good little pet and do as you’re told.”

  She growls and steps forward, her shoulder knocking into mine again.

  Wyatt steps between us, and I’m thankful my feet don’t move. My limbs tingle. I’ve kept my responses to their bullying inside my head my whole life. My snappy comebacks were held in, reserved for just me, myself, and I. My father was always inside my head saying, “Just be a good girl.” Or “Those dumbasses don’t matter.” And he’s right, they don’t. Not in the grand scheme of things, but in the halls of high school and college, they matter. They’ve been walking over me my entire life because I felt like I could never stand up for myself.

  Not anymore.

  “Lucille doesn’t have to,” Meghan says, keeping all the bravado. She’s grinning, but I can see the fear underneath her mascara. Her gaze keeps darting between the guys as if any moment now, they’ll wake up and realize what they’re doing.

  Stone steps up to her. He places his finger under her chin and tips her face up to his. My breathing halts. I’m transfixed. Jealousy burns through me because I clearly have some issues when it comes to Stone Jacobs. I hate him. I really fucking do. But the thought of him kissing Meghan right here in front of everyone burns my ass. Stepbrother be damned.

  Like me, it looks like Meghan is having a hard time breathing too. I get it. Stone is drool worthy. If it weren’t for the natural contraception of his personality, I’d be putting him in my spank bank every fucking day. My skin turns to fire. Just the thought of him has liquid lava singing through my veins.

  Stone hovers over her lips. Meghan moves onto her tiptoes. There’s barely any distance between them. I want to look away. I need to look away. The whole cafeteria is waiting to see what will happen though.

  “Tell your little dog to do as Dakota says.”

  Meghan blinks. “Lucille,” she says. Her voice is almost angelic. She’s caught in Stone’s gravitational pull. “Do as Stone says.”

  “Meghan...”

  She turns her head. “I said fucking do it,” she snaps. Lucille still hesitates, so Meghan bites out. “Do it or I’ll tell everyone wh
at you thought you did with tampons.”

  Lucille’s jaw snaps shut, and the whole cafeteria erupts into laughter. I have to hand it to Lucille. She pulls her shoulders back and crouches to pick up the tray. She crosses the cafeteria, discards the trash, places the tray back in the return window, and then gets in line.

  “You had a chocolate milk, right?” Wyatt asks.

  I shake my head.

  “Get her a chocolate milk!” Wyatt calls out, ignoring me. “There were also two slices of pizza on that tray. Napkins, silverware, and one of those chocolate cupcakes.”

  Lucille shakes her head and tips her chin in the air some more, but she does as he says. I barely restrain a laugh, but when I gaze over at Stone and Meghan, they’re still transfixed with each other. My stomach curdles. I can’t believe he sees something in her. He sure as hell is eating her up right now.

  Meghan is someone Lance might approve of. No one in Clary is rich, but her family fakes it the best. That’s how she got to be the queen bee. Isn’t that always the way it goes? I mean, I only have books and Mean Girls to compare to real life, but I’m fairly sure that’s how it works more often than not.

  “Here,” Lucille says as she walks back up to us. She thrusts the tray at me, and I start to take it, but Stone interrupts.

  “One more thing,” he says. He leaves Meghan there, still dazed as if she’s two seconds away from falling into a hot boy coma. He spins away from her and grabs my hand, pulling me to him. Our chests collide. His hand roams over my hip, gripping me as his other hand fists in my hair, elongating my neck. Showing it off like it’s a precious metal. “Dakota is ours. She’s no longer your punching bag.” His hot breath filters over my skin. Fear turns to lust. Arousal awakens my body, starting from the curl of my toes all the way to my core. It continues in a sweep that hardens my nipples while Stone holds me against him. He leans over, grazing his lips across my cheek. I close my eyes, suddenly fully aware of how Meghan felt a second ago. His lips trail up the line of my cheek to my ear. “You...” he whispers. “…are so much better than them.”