Cruel Elite: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Princes of Ravenlake Academy Book 3)

by Nicole Fox

  Today at the yoga studio, I threatened a microscopic section of my mom’s social life, and she’s taking away a meal.

  How much worse will it be if I threaten her male-shaped coin purse?

  I swallow down my pride and smile, pulling my hand back. “Right,” I wince. “Guess I forgot.”

  I go upstairs, shaking from hunger. Then I shower off the sweat and shame.

  Long after I’m clean, I stand in the stream of water and take deep, shaking breaths, waiting for them to even out.

  Waiting for the air to fill me up and take away the gnawing ache in my stomach.

  Looking back at my life, I can’t pinpoint the exact moment things changed.

  Had they always been like this? Certainly not.

  If they had been, I’d be dead by now. No way I would have been able to survive it.

  As it is, I only have one more semester left of my demons. Of Momma, the Hell Princes, and Noah Boone.

  One more semester, and then I’m gone for good.

  If I can survive that long.

  12

  Noah

  The first day of a new semester school pep rally.

  Yet another pointless Ravenlake Prep tradition.

  “My mom already sent them a check. What more do they want from me?” I ask, flopping down on the front row of the bleachers.

  Usually, I’d choose a seat towards the back, but I want to make a clean exit at the first possible moment.

  These things suck. I avoid them whenever possible.

  Sophomore year, I skipped the spring semester rally in favor of making out with Krista Sanders on the tennis courts.

  Last year, Finn and I smoked a joint in the parking lot

  The only reason I’m here now is because of Caleb and Haley.

  “It’s our last one,” Haley says, making puppy dog eyes and squeezing Caleb’s arm. “Gotta enjoy high school while it lasts, right?”

  Principal Cooprider taps her hand on the microphone and calls order before I can respond.

  The students milling around rush to their seats.

  And as the crowd parts, I see her.

  It’s almost cinematic the way the room seems to divide in a straight line that points directly to her.

  But I don’t know why I’m surprised. It has happened before.

  All of this has. Like this exact moment is on replay from three years ago.

  So much has changed since then.

  But two things are still the same.

  Penny.

  And me.

  Three Years Earlier

  “If I have my mom donate some extra money, can I skip this pep rally?” I joke, taking a seat between Finn and Viktor on the front row of the bleachers.

  “Not the fall one, but better luck in spring,” Finn says with a wink.

  Finn and Viktor are a grade ahead, so they know everything about Ravenlake already. Thanks to them, the other Golden Boys and I have been going to high school parties all summer long, making friends and connections.

  Still, I feel more like a lost freshman than I’d like to.

  Finn’s dad speaks, then Principal Cooprider. I ignore them both.

  Halfway through the assembly, I look up.

  And there she is.

  Penny LaFevre.

  I realize with a start that the last time I saw her was the last day of eighth grade. I was so busy chasing high school parties all summer that I forgot to check in with her and see how she was handling all the stuff with her dad.

  By the looks of it, she’s doing just fine.

  She was always pretty, but in a kiddish kind of way. A cute way.

  Now, she’s… hot. Sexy. Curvy.

  Can all that really happen over one summer?

  She looks up quickly, almost like she felt me looking, and our eyes meet.

  I should probably look away, but I can’t seem to divert my eyes. Penny lowers her chin nervously, tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, and smiles up at me.

  And I’m gone.

  Somehow or another, we end up at the same party that night. It’s at Finn’s place, of course.

  The place is packed to the rafters with grinding Ravenlake Prep kids. Alcohol is flowing, music is thumping, hormones are surging through the roof.

  I see her and make my way over.

  “Long time, no see,” she says, leaning in close so I can hear her over the music thumping through the speakers.

  “I was… a bit busy this summer.”

  She narrows her green eyes at me, a suspicious smile on her lips, but she doesn’t press.

  We both know I forgot about her, but that doesn’t seem to matter now.

  Instantly, it’s like no time has passed at all.

  I grab Penny a drink—a beer can from a mini fridge under the kitchen island—and we wander around the party together.

  We talk about nothing in particular, but it feels important. Momentous.

  “It’s too early to start pairing off,” J.C. whispers in my ear as we pass by the pool table where he is trying to teach three freshman girls how to chalk a pool stick as graphically as possible.

  I elbow him in the stomach and keep moving.

  Eventually, we wander into the downstairs living room. The furniture has been pushed to the edges of the room and a group of people are sitting cross legged in a circle like they are about to perform a séance.

  Finn waves me over and nudges people so they make room for me and Penny.

  She has on a tight pair of jeans with a white crop top that slips up to reveal most of her stomach as she sits down. I try not to obviously stare at the indent next to her hip bone and the way her body curves gracefully up to a trim waist, but God, it’s hard.

  She’s worth devouring.

  “Welcome, welcome,” Finn says, addressing the whole circle.

  Everyone quiets so all I can hear is the bass of the music from upstairs. Then, Finn throws his arms into the air like the ringleader of a circus. “To Truth or Dare!”

  Penny covers her mouth with her hand and laughs. “Oh no. What are we getting into?”

  “It’s just an excuse for everyone to make out,” I scowl, rolling my eyes.

  The air is thick with a tension I can’t quite explain, and I think it has a lot to do with the curves visible under Penny’s crop top.

  My hand is itching at my side, desperate to reach out and touch her, any part of her. To claim it as my own so everyone at this party knows who she belongs to.

  For a time.

  Finn spins a bottle in the middle of the circle to determine who gets to go first.

  A sophomore girl dares a junior boy to kiss her. Someone else gets groped over their jeans. A top comes off, a shot of tequila gets poured and thrown back, and before I know it, more and more of our inhibitions are falling to the wayside with every spin of the bottle.

  “Are these parties always like this?” Penny asks, chewing on her full, pink lower lip. “You’ve been hanging out with these people all summer, right?”

  I turn to her, eyebrow raised. “How do you know that?”

  “Okay, so maybe I asked around about you,” she admits, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. “You disappeared, and I wanted to know where to. Now I know.”

  We’re still looking at one another when Finn gives a shout. “My turn!”

  So far, everyone else has used their turn on themselves, but Finn turns to me with a wide grin. “I dare Noah Boone to take a body shot. Off of her.”

  His finger jabs in Penny’s direction.

  I reach out and swat his hand out of the air without thinking. “You didn’t even ask Truth or Dare first.”

  “That’s because I assumed you weren’t a coward,” Finn says, wagging his eyebrows.

  This is the giddiest I’ve ever seen him. I’m guessing he’s more than a little drunk.

  “I’m not.”

  “Then do it,” he challenges.

  I glance over at Penny, and she lays a hand on my shoulder.
“It’s fine. I’ll do it.”

  An electric current seems to radiate from where her hand is touching me.

  Finn sets the entire thing up. He has Penny lay down on a coffee table, pours salt in a line on the flat expanse of her stomach, and then puts a lime wedge in her mouth.

  Then, he hands me a shot.

  “Lick, shot, lime.”

  “I know how to do it,” I snap, yanking the shot out of his hand.

  Penny shimmies her hips, readjusting her position on the table.

  The tension tightens.

  I place my hands on either side of her hips and lean over her. She smells like cinnamon and citrus.

  I take a deep breath before swiping my tongue along the salty line on her stomach.

  Her midsection clenches, holding in a laugh, and I linger there for another second, savoring my nearness to her.

  Then, at the crowd’s prompting of “Shot! Shot! Shot!”, I stand up and toss back the shot.

  It burns down my throat, making me wince, but before the pain can set in, I move up to Penny’s head and lean down.

  This time, our eyes meet.

  Her irises are almost as green as the lime in her mouth, and as I dig my teeth into the lime wedge, our lips brush. Just barely.

  But it’s enough.

  Her eyes widen, and I feel myself begin to harden.

  I suck on the lime and grab Penny’s hand to help her up.

  She slides off the table and bumps into me, our hips colliding—which does nothing to help the situation brewing in my jeans.

  We sit down, watching as the game devolves into wilder and wilder dares, none of which involve us.

  The entire time, I feel heat rolling off of Penny’s body next to mine. A few times, I glance over and catch her watching me, her long lashes batting against her cheeks, her full lips slightly parted, almost expectant.

  By the time the crowd begins demanding Seven Minutes in Heaven, the tension between us is a physical thing.

  Pairings are selected, and no surprise, Finn pairs me with Penny.

  I don’t wait to see what happens with the others.

  I just grab Penny’s hand and pull her towards the storage room in the back corner.

  A nightlight plugged into the outlet casts the two of us in a red glow.

  Penny tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks up at me, her eyes impossibly large and probing.

  “We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want.”

  I lean down and press my lips to hers, silencing her.

  A second later, she presses onto her toes and kisses me back.

  My hands slide down the length of her spine to her waist and around to her hips. I let myself touch her in all the ways I’ve been imagining all night.

  She feels even better than I thought she would. My hands seem to have been made for this very purpose.

  Penny curls her fingers in the curls at the base of my neck and drags her fingers down my neck. She rolls her body against me, driving me absolutely wild, and swipes her tongue across my lower lip.

  I have no idea if other couples are still going at it out in the other room or if the party is over or if the world is ending.

  I can’t think about anything beyond Penny in my arms, her breath in my mouth, her taste on my tongue.

  Slowly, I work my hands higher and higher on body, sliding from her hips to her waist, then up to her ribs, until finally, I’m holding her breasts in my hands.

  I can feel the lacy fabric of her bra through the material of her shirt—I’ve also been able to see the outline of it all night—and as I circle my thumb over the supple flesh, I feel her nipple begin to rise.

  Feeling the evidence of her arousal makes my own all the more painful. I’ve never wanted to satisfy my own desires more in my entire life.

  Which is why I’m more confused than anyone when Penny slides her hand down my stomach to the front of my jeans, and I stop her.

  She pulls back, her lips red and swollen from kisses. “Don’t you want to?”

  “Fuck yes,” I breathe, chuckling a bit at how much I desperately want to. I tip my head in the direction of the Santa Claus nightlight. “But maybe, not like this.”

  “I don’t mind.” Penny draws closer to me, the front of her jeans brushing across the bulge in mine.

  I groan and take a deep breath. “I don’t want our first time to be me taking you standing up against a rickety shelf of Christmas decorations.”

  She licks her lips, her breathing coming in ragged bursts. “If that’s not what you want, then please stop making it sound so appealing.”

  I smile, then I find her lips again and slide my tongue into her mouth, massaging hers with my own. It feels as natural as breathing. Like we were designed to fit together this way. How much more perfect will it feel when we are perfectly fit together?

  “I want to be able to lay you down and taste every part of you,” I whisper. “I want to have the time and the space and the lighting to enjoy every single second. To make it count.”

  Penny hands her head in disappointment for a second and then sighs, bringing her hand to rest on my chest. “Fine, I’ll admit, that sounds pretty magical.”

  She leans back against the shelving, her hips thrust slightly forward, and her curves on full display.

  My eyes trace the smooth lines of her waist up to the curve of her breasts, and my breath catches.

  “We better get out of this closet before I change my mind.”

  She laughs and takes my hand as I lead her back into the party.

  Present Day

  Penny is flanked by her Dreadfuls. But when I catch her eye and tip my head towards the exit a few minutes before the assembly is over, she whispers something to each of them and then follows me out.

  Good girl.

  The student body is cheering along and shouting insults as the dance squad and marching band put on a performance at the far end of the auditorium.

  No one pays much attention as I slip through the double doors of the auditorium and into the hallway.

  I walk to the end of the hall and wait. Penny comes through the doors a second later, looks around, and then sees me.

  As soon as she does, I take a left and head down a deserted hallway lined with windows.

  I march down the hallway and take another right into a small alcove beneath a stair well, not visible from the hallway.

  I’m not surprised when Penny slinks into the dark space across from me.

  We’ve always been drawn to one another. It’s a force beyond our control, one that makes no rational sense.

  Even when I’ve threatened to ruin her, she cannot make herself stay away.

  “What do you want?” she asks, her voice high-pitched and nasally. “Is this to apologize for your drunken behavior the other night? If not, I’m not interested.”

  She has on a pink suede mini skirt with buttons down the front, thigh-high boots, and a shirt that falls off of both shoulders, pooling around her arms.

  She is dressed like an actual doll. Like she’s headed to a runway rather than to school.

  Who is she working so hard to impress?

  “I just like knowing that you do what I tell you. This was a test. Congratulations, you passed.”

  Her glossy lips part in a huff. “You asshole. You’re so smug. I didn’t follow you because of you, I followed you because I wanted to tell you that I’m not going to spend my last semester in this town afraid of you. You don’t scare me.”

  “No?” I ask, eyebrow arched.

  She crosses her arms and shakes her head.

  In a flash, I move across the small alcove so I’m standing half a breath away from her.

  Penny, for all her posturing, gasps in surprise and throws her hands out to protect herself. Her palms land on my chest, her manicured fingernails digging into my flesh.

  “Hmm.” I smile and shrug. “I guess I got a different impression from you.”

  She grunts and slaps my chest, but I
don’t budge. I hold my ground and tower over her.

  “Oh, look at the big guy intimidating the short girl,” she mocks, rolling her eyes. “How tough you are, Noah Boone. How brave. Is this your plan? To beat up a girl who doesn’t stand a chance against you? Go ahead. Let’s see how that storyline plays out for you. I think we both know who will win.”

  I chuckle. “You think I want to hit you?”

  She stares up at me, unblinking.

  I can smell the trademark cinnamon and citrus smell of her skin, and I make an effort not to breathe through my nose.

  “I want to destroy you, Penny, but I won’t do it with my fists,” I say, leaning down to whisper the words against her skin.

  “What are you going to do?” She shivers, her body trembling against mine.

  I realize all at once how close we are.

  I pull back, flashes of my dream over the weekend coming back to me.

  I bat them away.

  Now is not the time to be distracted.

  “I don’t want to ruin the surprise.” I turn away and move out of the alcove.

  Penny calls after me. “This isn’t you, Noah. You aren’t this guy.”

  Even after all these years, Penny thinks she knows me.

  She thinks the kid she made out with in Finn’s close is still who I am.

  She thinks, despite all the shit she has put me through, that I remained the same wide-eyed, optimistic little boy.

  Oh, how wrong she is.

  I’ll show her how wrong she is.

  I lift a finger over my shoulder in a terse wave as I walk away, throwing a warning back to her. “You’ll be better off doing as I ask as we move forward. Otherwise, you’ll only make things worse.”

  13

  Penny

  I followed Noah because I wanted to tell him about my run-in with Tank over the weekend.

  Well, partly, anyway.

  I also followed him because I can’t seem to help myself.

  If I’d ignored his summons, I would have spent the entire day wondering what he wanted to say to me. What he wanted to do to me.

  But the Hell Princes were the main part.

  Whatever Tank wants with Noah, it doesn’t sound good, and surely, I should warn him, right?