by Janie Marie
Kylie didn’t know that. “Did you sleep with her?”
He shook his head. “Hell no. I don’t want to catch something, and I don’t like her. I just took her out because I said I would.”
Kylie breathed out, relieved. Finally, there was someone not interested in Maura or Janie.
“Did you sleep with Logan?” he asked quietly.
She jerked back. “What?”
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m just hoping he didn’t do that to you. I mean, it’s one thing to be obsessed with Janie, but to use another girl to get her jealous . . .”
She didn’t want to listen to this. The breakup was supposed to be fake, but it felt more real as the day went by. And Logan hadn’t once contacted her. She had assumed he was busy straightening things out with losing the team, but now it was clear he’d just been playing boyfriend with Janie.
“Oh, God.” Trevor covered his face. “He raped you, didn’t he?”
“What?” She almost spat out her drink.
He lifted his head. “I thought it was just a rumor. That the cops got proof he’d raped you.”
She shook her head, frantic. “No, we never had sex.”
“You didn’t?”
“No.” She smiled, pulling his hand down. “I swear. The cops questioned me before he, you know . . . I’m still a virgin.”
“Oh, thank God.” He squeezed her hand. “I didn’t want to blurt it out and end up freaking you out. I mean, you seemed okay, but I just overheard someone talking about it. I guess the cops were questioning some girls here about some prostitution thing with his fighting team. And they brought up your name.”
Her heart raced. She was supposed to be protecting Logan from the cops, but all she could think about was how worried Trevor was about her possibly being raped. “Thank you for worrying about me. I promise he never touched me like that. We did things, but it never got that far.”
Trevor let out a breath. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ve been going out of my mind at the thought of him hurting you. He just uses girls to please him. Even that day he met you he—“
“Mr. Grimm?”
Kylie and Trevor whipped their heads around as the principal came strolling into view.
“Mr. Prince,” Trevor greeted. “Can I help you?”
Mr. Prince slid his eyes to her and smiled, but it was a sort of calculating smile that made her stomach tighten from fear. She still hadn’t figured out who the principal had a sort of allegiance to. He was one of the Princes, she knew, and it seemed they all stuck together. The town she lived in wasn’t the fairytale woodland she had believed it to be. It was a town full of fairytale lunatics who thought they were gods.
“Well,” Mr. Prince said as he crossed his arms. The action caused his sleeve to pull back a bit and Kylie nearly gasped at the words tattooed on his forearm: The Wolf Prince. That was a story in the American fairy tales.
Those words weren’t the last of his inked skin either. There were two clawed wolf feet—feet not paws, because it looked like the animal was standing upright—but the rest of the animal disappeared under his sleeve.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to arrange another day to have a lunch date with Miss Hood,” Mr. Prince said. “I’ve already instructed her she’s to attend study hall during lunch.”
“Oh, gosh.” Kylie dropped her fork. “I’m so sorry. I forgot, Mr. Prince.”
Her phone vibrated, and she was going to ignore it until she realized Logan was probably still in the building. “Let me just get my stuff.” She looked at the text.
Fucker: Why the fuck are you eating with him?
Fucker: Go with Prince. Now.
Her eyes watered. How was she in trouble? The Godsons must have told on her. It wasn’t like she was kissing Trevor. He was the only one checking on her, making sure she was okay.
“Are you all right?” Trevor asked her.
“Yeah.” She smiled at him as she picked up her tray. “Thanks for lunch, Trevor. And for keeping me company. It means a lot to me.”
He smiled at her. Just her. “You’re welcome. Um, I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah.” She ignored Mr. Prince’s stare. “I’ll give you my number next time I see you. I can never remember it.”
“Okay.” He chuckled, waving as he stood with his tray. “Bye, Kylie.”
She watched him walk away before looking up nervously at her principal.
Mr. Prince gestured toward a dark doorway leading out of the cafeteria. “Shall we?”
“Are you here to have me locked up?”
He chuckled and turned to head down the hall. “We thought you could use a little help. It would be a waste if you strayed off the right path. After all, these aren’t simple fucking favors you’re being given. Yet you seem to overlook them left and right and find your way to the darkest of paths with ease.”
Kylie’s mouth fell open and she looked around. “First, I don’t think you’re allowed to talk like that. And second, I’ve never asked for favors.” She waved her hand toward the dark hall they were approaching. “A bit ironic, don’t you think?”
He smirked, not looking at her. “You may not have asked for it, but you need help. In more ways than I think you realize. You should be thankful for what you’ve received, not turning up your nose because you don’t like who’s offering it. And this is my school—I make the rules. When I feel like saying fuck, I say fuck.”
Kylie swallowed because he looked downright scary. It was clear as day now that Mr. Prince was involved with Ryder’s and Janie’s nonsense. “You’re the principal though. You should put a stop to bullies. I’ve been harassed all day.”
“Really?” He tilted his head, observing her. “From what I’ve heard, there’s been speculation about what a whore Janie is after her naked body was displayed for every student, and now the world, to see. Her ass even showed up on a martial arts page I follow. They’ve had to shut down several sites because her identity, even her address and phone number, was posted. I believe you were the one responsible for that. You’ll find I have no sympathy for people who bring pain unto others to gain pity for themselves.”
Her mouth fell open before she glared up at him. “I didn’t know. It was a normal reaction.”
“An emotional reaction,” he said calmly, “but do you not realize this will never go away for her? As they say, the internet never forgets.”
She glowered at the floor tiles. All the shit about the breakup was too real, and now she was being treated like the bad guy because they messed up the plan. “I can’t believe you’ve been the one getting her out of trouble. You help all of them get out of trouble. It makes so much sense now. You do whatever she wants. Do you even care about any of your students?”
He paused, staring her down as though she were a vile insect. “You may recall a fight between Ryder Godson and Philip Miller.” He waved toward the empty hall. “Right here?”
She remembered. She’d been giddy about it until Janie had come along.
“If you had talked to anyone that day,” Mr. Prince continued, “you may have heard a rumor beforehand that Philip had gotten a freshman girl drunk, possibly even drugged her, at a party that weekend. That he took advantage of her?”
She frowned, trying to think. She couldn’t recall anything.
“Perhaps you don’t pay as much attention as you like to give yourself credit for,” he said. “Philip raped that girl, but she was so distraught after finding herself naked and alone, she washed off all the evidence. She told a fellow student, only then discovering Philip had made his own tale of how she begged him to fuck her and what a shitty lay she was.” His aqua eyes swirled like a violent Mediterranean Sea. “That student notified the police. When it became clear she had no evidence, and Philip had plenty of witnesses to say she had willingly gone with him for sex, Than’s hands were tied.” He gave her a cruel smile. “But Ryder’s were not.”
Her mouth popped open as she remembered Ryder
destroying pills he said were roofies. “You let him do that as revenge?”
A light laugh slipped out of his mouth. “I don’t let Ryder do anything. He does what he must. And I do my part to save who I can, which means keeping him out of trouble.” He started walking again. “The same can be applied to an epic girl fight that took place. I believe someone chose to stand between a cowering girl and the school’s queen bee and her squad. Funny this girl would do such a thing, when you consider she’d stood in that very hall years ago, surrounded by twenty vicious girls and laughing boys.” He raised an eyebrow. “No one stopped them when they laughed at her for getting pregnant and losing her boyfriend and her baby. But yes, let’s ignore that she put herself in the same place again for a girl who would sooner see her burn than even offer a simple thank you.”
Kylie was shaking. He worked for Janie. He got Janie out of trouble.
“You think you know this world,” he continued. “You think you’re the only victim. And you think you’re the only one who deserves to be saved.” He came to a stop in front of a door, his normally handsome smile nowhere to be found. “You know nothing, Miss Hood. Stay on the path being shown to you. The wolves are everywhere. And you’re fucking with our queen.” With his words still floating in the air, he shoved her into the classroom and shut the door.
Twelve
You Don’t Glow
“Let me out!” She banged on the door in the dark and felt along the wall for the light switch. She found it and flicked it on.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Kylie screamed and turned toward the sound of a male voice.
Ryder looked up from the ground.
“What are you doing down there?” she asked as she kept trying to open the door.
Ryder rolled his eyes and pushed himself up. “What does it look like?”
She flinched at his sharp tone and tensed when he started to get up.
“What time is it?” he asked.
Kylie tried the doorknob as he patted his pants.
“I think it’s just turning twelve.” God, had he heard anything Mr. Prince said? Why was she in here with him?
Ryder nodded as he ran his hands through his black hair before pulling a beanie over his head. “Good, I’m ready to get out of here.” He started scrolling through his phone. “Is there a reason you’re trying to break the doorknob?” He didn’t look up as he started typing something.
“I don’t know why I’m in here,” she said, her voice shaking because Ryder, though he had been protecting her in his own strange way, was still terrifying to be around.
“We’re waiting,” he said, lifting his green eyes to hers. “Sit.”
She looked over to him and walked slowly to the desk he was looking at. “Waiting for what?”
“You’ll see.” Ryder stared at her, his head tilted. “What’s up with you, Blondie?”
“Nothing.”
He kept watching her in that weird way of his. “Nick doesn’t seem to think so.” He held his phone up. “He just told me not to ask him to help you again. You must’ve pissed him off.”
“He didn’t help me.” She frowned. Why did they all think they were helping her? “And I did nothing to piss him off.”
Ryder looked bored, but he kept his gaze on her. “Let me guess, you’re already fuming about your broken heart.”
“Oh, shut up.” She looked down at her tray, no longer hungry. She dumped the entire thing in the trash and walked to a desk, pulling out her phone. She’d call Kevin to come get her. This was bullshit.
Ryder chuckled quietly. “There’s something about you I can’t put my finger on . . .”
“Put your finger up your ass,” she snapped, not sparing him a glance. “There’s nothing to figure out about me.”
“Oh, there’s a shit ton to figure out. You’ve just buried yourself deep. Now you’re in between shouting at the world who you think you are and fearing the truth will cost you your Grimm fuckboy.”
She looked up, frustrated because she only bothered to bring the phone Ryder had given her instead of the one Logan had. And she didn’t have Kevin’s number.
“What’s the matter?” he asked mockingly.
“What do you think?” She glared at him as she searched for Kevin’s office number online.
He nodded before popping his neck. “You know the breakups aren’t real though.”
Her thumb hovered over the website to Kevin’s office, and she looked up at Ryder. “It feels real.”
“Oh, I know.” He rubbed his neck, wincing. “First morning in a long-ass time that I’ve had to wake up without her, come to school without her, watch my brothers with their girlfriends while I only get a few texts from my baby.”
Kylie lowered her phone. “At least you got a text.”
He shrugged. “Logan’s a dumb fuck who can’t multitask.”
She laughed, wiping a tear that fell.
Ryder didn’t even smile. “It’s fake.”
“What if it’s not?” Her eyes burned as he stared at her.
“There is no if,” he said calmly. “They’re faking it because Logan brought you into shit you didn’t need to know about. Then his dumb ass is in trouble with the cops. He knew that shit with Chris was wrong, but he did it anyway. Then he fucked Janie over. And he’s clearly pissed someone off enough to call him a rapist. Obviously, he can’t deal with that after Janie and his—”
“This is always about her,” she bit out.
“Damn, you’re bitter.” He lifted his hands over his head to stretch. The movement caused his shirt to rise enough to expose his waist. The sinful V of his waistline dipping into his jeans, to be exact. The inked words ‘My Love’ were written in beautiful script just below the image of the Grim Reaper as he leaned over a girl who looked to be covered in blood. It almost looked as though he were kissing her: The Kiss of Death.
Hot damn.
Ryder tugged his shirt back in place. “You’re either really not used to being around people, or you have a problem with the people you stare at. ‘Cause it’s not a curious stare. It’s judgmental.” He leaned against the teacher’s desk with his arms crossed, waiting for her to respond. “Or possessive.”
“You have no idea what things have been like for me. I’ve been forced to stay hidden for a long time.” She swallowed, hating how Ryder seemed to figure things out so easily.
“Hm.” He went back to his phone. “I’ve told you before, I see everything. Before you got mixed up with us, I saw a little girl fuming because other girls got the attention she wanted.”
“What?” she screeched.
He kept looking through his phone. “You’re really good at hiding. But I never bought the sad little story Logan kept telling us about you. He thought you were shy and innocent? You don’t just go from battered girl being forced into isolation to a girl who yells at a person like me without any hesitation, tells mean girls how good Grimm’s dick tastes, then sixty-nines in someone else’s house. That shit just doesn’t add up.”
Kylie gaped at him, no words able to come to mind, but he clearly had plenty.
“I know you’ve been getting abused,” he said. “We all get that. It sucks. It hindered your social skills, but you have a lot of hate for people who’ve never done you wrong. Just because they have something you want, they’re awful in your mind.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” She unlocked her phone again, selecting Kevin’s website. “I didn’t ask for your help. I didn’t ask for Janie’s help. And I sure as hell didn’t ask for her to crawl onto my boyfriend’s lap and ask him to squeeze her ugly, stretch-marked ass!” Kylie didn’t care anymore. “Yeah, I said it. I’m not the only one who thinks so either.”
He slowly lifted his gaze from his phone and locked eyes with her. “Her ass is a fucking masterpiece, even with the few faded stretch marks from when she was pregnant. Stop being jealous Logan’s hand looked right at home grabbing her pretty round ass while yours is so flat it looks l
ike a fucking pancake and he probably hasn’t paid it any attention.”
She stared at him in shock as his words stabbed her heart. “Fuck you.”
“Wouldn’t touch you if this was the fucking apocalypse.” He looked at his phone again. “And before you flatter yourself that I even looked at your ass, it was my brothers wondering how Logan could go from Janie’s mouthwatering ass to yours.” His lips curved up with a dark smile. “I looked and agreed. Start doing squats and maybe he’ll feel a little joy when it’s one percent closer to hers.”
She wanted to kill him. “You asshole!”
“Just dishing back, Blondie,” he said without any emotion. “Don’t be nasty if you can’t handle it coming back at you. Do unto others, is what they say. And all you do is trash the only person I love.”
“Yeah, I’m trying to live my life with my boyfriend. Other people should do the same.” She pressed the phone number on her phone before raising her shaking hand to her ear.
“Blackwood and Associates, how may I direct your call?”
Kylie tried her hardest not to cry. “Kevin Blackwood, please. This is Kylie, his stepdaughter.”
“One moment.” The line went to on-hold music.
Of course, Ryder didn’t let her wait in peace. “Do you think we haven’t heard the same whispers you have today?”
She couldn’t stop from rising to his taunts. “I think she’s been playing her little pity party all day so she could fuck around with Logan. Just leave me alone.”
“She’s been with Logan’s father all day.”
Kylie frowned. “What?”
“Lance Grimm is out of prison,” he said calmly. “She had Luc get him out. It’s been in progress for months, but he finally got released. Yesterday. He went to see Logan last night before heading back to the Knight estate to stay with her.”
The fact Logan’s father was out of prison barely registered when she realized where the man had spent the night. “Why would she need him if she has a house full of people?”