Start a Fire: A Dark High School Bully Romance (The Savage Crew Book 1)

by Julia Wolf

  “I don’t—”

  He jostled my head back and forth, moving close enough I could see the freckles dusting his nose and the individual whiskers above his lip.

  “Your nipples get hard when you’re scared.”

  Boiling on the inside, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Don’t talk to me that way.”

  In a flash, he caught my arm and tugged me against his chest. He stared at me so long, my eyes burned, refusing to blink. After what felt like an eternity, his lips twitched.

  “Good night, Grace. Lock the door behind me.”

  Then he let me go, sauntering down my hall like he had no cares in the world. For the hundredth time, I asked myself what I had done to end up on this boy’s radar. Or, better yet, how in the world was I going to get off it?

  Chapter Six

  Bex picked me up for the soccer game in her mom’s minivan. I laughed when I saw neither of us were wearing our school’s colors. She wore her customary all black, and I had on a pleated leather mini with a ripped-up Nirvana tee and my platform Docs.

  “Rah, rah, etcetera,” she drawled.

  I buckled my seat belt and twisted to face her. “Remind me why we’re going to this thing?”

  She twirled her hand in the air. “Supporting Cassie’s man, Aiden. And one day, my future children might ask for evidence of my school spirit. I’ll have photographic evidence of the event.”

  “Is that something children care about?”

  She slid a sideways smile my way. “Who knows? I need to be prepared for all circumstances. If I tell them I was an anti-social misanthrope, they might think they’re allowed to be that too. And no, mama ain’t got time for cranky teens. I’ll be running the bake sale or some shit.”

  I snorted with laughter. It was the only response I had. Bex was amazing. And she had no idea how badly I’d needed to laugh. The last couple years had been pretty dark, and this past summer had been midnight. Hanging out with her cracked the black veneer surrounding me, allowing sunshine to pour through.

  The school’s parking lot wasn’t too busy. I guessed soccer didn’t draw the crowds like football did. In my cheering days, we’d have games where the parking lot overflowed and fans had to park in the surrounding neighborhoods. Savage River’s football team was more than decent, so people were always thirsty to watch them in action.

  A mom-type stood at the entrance, handing out blue and white pom-poms. “Here you go, girls. Let the boys know you’re here to support them!” She shoved the sticks into our hands, giving us no choice in the matter.

  Out of hearing distance, Bex kicked out a leg, cheering, “Go team!” I handed her my pom-pom like it was laced with acid. My cheering days were dead.

  “You need two for all the pictures I’m going to take of you being spirited,” I deadpanned.

  Snickering together, we climbed into the stands where families and a few students dotted the benches. A blonde in pigtails and a Savage River jersey tied below her breasts waved at us frantically.

  “That’s Cassie. She’s morphed into a WAG,” Bex muttered, pulling me toward her friend.

  “WAG?” I questioned.

  “It’s an adorable acronym: wives and girlfriends of soccer players.”

  I chuckled. “Cute.”

  “You came!” Cassie squealed. “And you brought Grace!”

  So, Cassie spoke in exclamation points. No surprise, given how she was dressed, but I was surprised she and Bex were friends. Talk about polar opposites.

  Cassie and I hugged, and I reminded myself to be friendly. Judging a book by its cover was something I’d done in my old life. Some habits were hard to kick, but that was one I needed to punt into outer space.

  Attempting to get to know Cassie, I asked her about the topic at hand. And let’s face it, I really didn’t know much about soccer, nor our school’s team. “I need the down low on the team. Who’s the best, who scores the most goals, who should I keep an eye on?”

  She perked up. “Well, my boyfriend, Aiden, is number twelve. He’s fullback, which is defense. Obviously, he’s the best,” she winked, “but Gabe Fuller is forward, and he can’t be beaten. The boy runs like the wind.”

  The second she mentioned Gabe, I twisted in my seat to check if Sebastian was here. I didn’t see him anywhere, but I did catch Nate’s eye. He sat toward the top of the stands with a few guys I vaguely remembered from the football team. The cocky chin dip he directed at me had me swiveling back around fast. I wasn’t giving him an opening. I knew better now.

  “Gabe and his friend have a hard-on for Grace,” Bex said to Cassie. “They like to shadow her in the halls and intimidate her.”

  Cassie leaned around Bex to clamp her hand on my knee. “Which friends? Not Sebastian…”

  Lips pressed into a tight line, I nodded. “You guessed correctly. The pair of them are in my math class.”

  Her thumb dug into the side of my knee. “Stay away from that boy. He’s angrier than the devil. Sophomore year, he and Nate Bergen got into a fight in the hallway. Bash walked away with a bloody lip and a black eye. Nate’s ribs were cracked, wrist broken, and his eyes were swollen shut. He had to sit out most of the football season, and Sebastian got sent to a school for troubled youth. He’s psycho.” Remembering herself, she took her hand back, flashing an apologetic half smile.

  “Were you there for the fight?” I asked, curious more than surprised. Sebastian struck me as a boy whose rage constantly simmered just below the surface. He scared me, but I’d learned the very bitter lesson that there were plenty of guys who walked around simmering with rage. They had just learned to hide it so well, when they lashed out, their victims were caught off guard. Those type of boys scared me a little more.

  Cassie shook her head. “No. Everyone heard about the fight when it happened, but I had no idea who Bash was back then. When I started dating Aiden and met Gabe, that’s when I put a face to the name.”

  Bex arched a brow. “A wicked hot face. I remember hearing about the fight, but I’d completely forgotten about it.”

  Cassie’s pert little lips pinched. “Wicked being the operative word. I’ll take my nice guy any day.” She leaned her chin on her fists, staring dreamily at her boyfriend down on the field. The teams were in position, so from my far-from-expert vantage point, it seemed the game was about to begin.

  The whistle blew, signaling the boys on the field to start kicking. I had to hand it to them, their athleticism was top-notch. But the game couldn’t keep my attention, not when Bex started taking selfies with her pom-poms and I was on a constant lookout for Bash. I had no idea if he would even show up at a school-sponsored activity, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins wouldn’t allow me to calm down.

  At halftime, I was so jumpy, I volunteered to stand in line for snacks. Cassie found a few other baller girls to squeal with, so Bex tagged along with me.

  “I swear she used to be normal,” Bex said once we were out of earshot.

  “I like her. She hasn’t gone fully rah-rah princess yet.”

  She elbowed my side. “Unlike how you used to be.”

  “True. Like recognizes like, sadly. I shudder to think what I’d be like if I had stayed.”

  Bex tapped the side of her head like she was deep in thought on the subject. “Hmm...probably a brown version of Elena?”

  A laugh burst out of me. “No doubt.”

  Bex and I said hi to a few classmates we recognized while we stood in line, but the hustle and bustle was minimal compared to football games.

  “You know, I can’t think of one thing I miss from those days.”

  She glanced up at me. “Really? Wasn’t it nice to be adored by the girls and desired by the boys?”

  “Not really.” I rubbed my arms even though it wasn’t cold. “The girls only adored me to my face. They’d cut a bitch without a second thought. And the boys...well, I was only fifteen. Being desired was brand new to me, and I had no idea what to do with it.”

  “I’m still wait
ing for those days.”

  I scrunched my nose. “I find it hard to believe you’re not in those days. You don’t have some cute little emo boy on a string?”

  She scoffed. “Right. They’re lined around the block for the weird, artsy Asian girl.”

  “Why wouldn’t they be? I’m a weird, artsy half-Asian girl, and according to you, I was desired by all the boys.”

  She pointed down. “Your legs are six feet long and you hide your weird a lot better than I do.” She shrugged. “I’m not worried about it. College is going to be where I shine.”

  “You’re shiny to me, baby.”

  She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide her grin. “Oh my god, let’s order snacks before you start making out with me.”

  With our hands full of soda, pretzels, and nachos, we started to make our way back to the stands. We’d only gotten a few feet when Nate and his gang of pretty boys blocked our path.

  My glower didn’t cause him to budge. “Excuse me.”

  His cocky smirk was still firmly in place. “No need to excuse yourself, Grace. I noticed your hands were full, so I thought I’d offer my services.” He wiggled his long fingers in front of me. “What do you say, let me carry something for you.”

  “We’re good, actually.” When he still didn’t move, I added, “Let us by, Nate.”

  He moved to the side, but as I carefully walked past him, he plucked the soda from my hand. “Allow me to carry your drink and escort you back to your seat.”

  One of the other boys stole the nachos from Bex’s hands, leaving her gaping at him. He winked back, then scooped up some cheese with a tortilla chip and stuffed it in his smug mouth.

  These boys.

  “Fine. You can carry our food, but that’s it. We’re not friends. You’re not sitting with us. You’ll go your way, we’ll go ours.” I stalked off with Bex at my side, figuring Nate and his buddies would follow or they wouldn’t. If we ended up with no snacks, it wasn’t the end of the world, but I wasn’t going to stand around watching them wag their dicks at us. Nope. Their power move was stealing our snacks. Mine was not giving a damn.

  Cassie’s eyes bugged out when she saw Nate and company trailing right behind us. I stopped at our seats, facing our escorts.

  “We’re here now.” I held out my hand. “Can we have our stuff?”

  Straddling the bench in front of me, Nate handed over my soda. The other boy stole one more nacho before returning the rest to Bex. She stared him down as she dumped it between the slats of the bleachers, letting the cheese drip onto the ground below.

  Cassie’s eyes bugged impossibly wider. So wide, I feared they’d plop right out of her head. To be fair, I was pretty impressed Bex could be that audacious. If I were able to channel her, I’d dump my soda on Nate Bergen’s head, then dump him on the ground with the rest of the trash.

  “Thanks for everything. You can go now.” My fake smile was more of a sneer.

  Nate stretched his long arms over his head, then climbed to his feet and up to my row. He plopped down beside me, curling an arm over my shoulders and leaning so close, his breath was hot on my neck.

  “Remember when we used to be friends?” he murmured.

  I squirmed in his hold, flashing back to the last time he touched me this way. It wasn’t quite non-consensual because the words couldn’t seem to climb out of my throat, but if he really cared enough to notice, he’d know I didn’t want his hands on me.

  “That was a long time ago, Nate.” I wriggled in his hold, but his arm could have been an iron band around me. Each of his fingertips dug into my upper arm hard enough, I was sure there would be marks when he finally let me go.

  “Come on, man.” His friend, the nacho thief, swatted Nate’s knee. “I’m bored. Let’s get outta here.”

  Nate leaned his head against mine. “I’m good here. Think I’ll watch the rest of the game beside my girl, Grace.”

  A phantom voice cut through the night from behind us. “I don’t think your pretty girlfriend would like that too much, Bergen.”

  Nate jumped to his feet, spinning to face my defender. “Fuck off, Vega. You don’t know shit.”

  Bex clutched my hand as Sebastian Vega slowly climbed down the metal stairs, his hands tucked in the pockets of his black jeans like he didn’t have a single, solitary care in the world.

  Where had he come from? How long had he been watching this particular drama unfold?

  “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Bex chanted under her breath. “The devil is defending you from the villain prince.”

  “I know Grace doesn’t want you sitting beside her.” Sebastian tipped his chin, smirking down at Nate. He wasn’t afraid of Nate. Not at all. That didn’t soothe me, though. It only told me Sebastian thought of himself as the bigger bad. “I know you can’t take a fucking hint, big guy. I know you’re gonna have an angry little blondie at your throat when she gets wind of you sniffing around Grace. I know you better choose to leave before I crack a couple more of your ribs. Seems I know a lot.”

  Nacho Thief slapped Nate’s shoulder. “Not worth it. None of them are.”

  What was meant to be an insult, I saw as a goddamn blessing. Hell yes, I agreed with him. I didn’t want to be worth Nate’s trouble.

  Nate’s nostrils flared, seeming to be at war with himself. Impulse versus common sense. The need to act versus the need to still be seen as the good guy.

  The angel on his shoulder won out. Nate walked away, back to the top of the bleachers, his tower above the peasants. I had no doubt he would be leering at me for the rest of the game. I’d just try my hardest to pretend he didn’t exist.

  “Thanks for that,” Cassie said. “Nate was being a total freak show. God, what is his problem?” She shuddered like she was the one he’d been creepy to.

  Sebastian gave me a long look, like he’d burrow under my skin if he could. Then his eyes drifted to my chest, and I knew he was checking to see if my nipples were hard. They hadn’t been, but under his searing gaze, they tightened to peaks beneath my thin T-shirt like plants to the sun.

  Without saying a word or acknowledging Cassie in any way, he took a seat directly in front of me. My legs were so long, my knees skimmed the back of his head. I would have scooted over, but he might have followed. Or maybe not. I couldn’t decide which to hope for, so I stayed rooted in place as the game started again.

  I tried to concentrate on the boys on the field, or at least the pretzel in my hand, but that was difficult when Sebastian kept pressing his head against my knees. After a few minutes, he reached behind him and lifted my booted foot, placing it on the edge of his bench.

  Gasping, I checked to see if Bex had noticed, but she was busy trying to listen to Cassie explain what was going on on the field. Plus, it was dark enough, it wasn’t obvious what Sebastian was doing.

  He cuffed his long fingers around my lower calf, just above my boot, holding my legs apart. When he leaned back, his head rested on the inside of my opposite knee.

  That was all he did, yet my breath was bated as I waited to see what else he would do. How far he’d take this. My black, cotton panties soaked through from the heat seeping between my thighs. And I didn’t want that. I hadn’t asked for any of this. I’d done nothing to attract the boy’s attention, yet it was on me.

  Pissed he had this effect on me, I kicked my foot free. He allowed me to withdraw and lower it to the ground, but his shoulder shook like he was laughing at me. Like he’d been waiting for me to put up some kind of protest and was amused it had taken me so long to do so.

  Fuck him.

  I crossed my legs, kicking him in the spine in the process, which only made his shoulders shake harder. He twisted around, amusement curling the corners of his full mouth, making him even more viciously beautiful.

  “The princess bites back,” he murmured so low, I barely heard him. “I like that more than you’ll ever know.” His dark, penetrating eyes flicked up to mine, holding me suspended in time until the cheers of the crowd
yanked his attention from me.

  There was one quarter left in the game when Sebastian Vega unfolded his long, taut frame and sauntered away without a backward glance. I tracked him as far as I could see, lost in the assuredness of his unhurried gait and the way he raised his chin like he dared the world to try him.

  “We’re going to a post game bonfire.”

  Bex’s declaration brought me back to the present. “We are?” I asked.

  “Yep. Some kids are having one at the beach in Sunvale. It should be chill. I’ll be your DD if you want to drink.”

  “I don’t really do the whole party thing,” I said.

  “It’s not a party. It’ll be like twenty or thirty people, max.” She bumped into me, grinning. “If you don’t come, I’ll have to be Cassie and Aiden’s third wheel. They make out constantly, tongue everywhere, no consideration for the innocent victims around them.”

  “Fine. But if Nate or any of that crew shows—”

  “We’ll be outta there before they can say my mom tucks me into bed every night.”

  She made me laugh and shake off my Nate-and-Sebastian-induced funk, so I agreed to go. After this soccer game, I could use some ocean waves and a couple beers. The idea relaxed me enough to even get a little excited about what was to come.

  Chapter Seven

  Sunvale was a little beach town thirty minutes from Savage River. Growing up, I’d spent a lot of weekends there with my parents, always envious of the cool kids who stayed after it got dark. By the time I got to high school, I’d realized the crowd I’d been sucked into weren’t the ones who hung out on the beach. We were house parties and pools, not sand and fire.

  For just a moment, grief for my old life squeezed my chest until I could barely breathe. It wasn’t that I missed my old friends. I didn’t. I grieved for how simple life had been. How easy it was to kiss both my parents and run over to my bestie’s house to gossip about boys. And yeah, I really fucking missed my dad.

  The bonfire was already roaring by the time Bex and I descended the wooden steps leading from the parking lot to the beach. I couldn’t make out who was there, only shadowy figures lit by the fire. Cassie and Aiden were already down there, somewhere.