Beyond Vengeance: Pacific Prep #3

by R. A. Smyth

  “Mmm, something smells good,” Hadley states as she walks into the room, wearing her hoodie and leggings from last night, her damp hair framing her face.

  Grabbing a mug she must have been drinking out of earlier, she refills it before sitting at the island.

  “Where’s Hawk? He not up yet?” I ask, lifting out plates and cutlery for us.

  “He went to the gym with Mason,” Hadley informs us.

  “More for us then,” I grin at her before dishing up the food and setting all three plates down on the island, and putting a plate each for Mason and Hawk in the oven for when they get back.

  “Mmm, this is delicious,” Hadley blurts out around a mouthful of food. She eats like a half-starved savage, shoveling her food into her mouth as quickly as possible. It’s as if she’s afraid if she doesn’t eat it quickly enough, someone will take it away from her. What sort of childhood do you have to endure to grow up with such a mentality?

  “I wouldn’t have pegged you as knowing how to cook,” she says as she finishes off the last remnants and pushes her plate away. West and I are barely halfway through our meals, and I notice him watching her closely out of the corner of his eye, likely picking up on the same behavior I am.

  “I’m just full of surprises.” I give her a dirty wink across the island, making her laugh.

  “Oh, can I get whatever information you have on the other students?” she asks, turning to West.

  “Sure, I’ll get it all together and give it to you tonight.”

  “Thanks.” She smiles at him like he hung the moon for her instead of just grabbing a bunch of folders from his room. “Well, that was delish, but I’d better get back to my dorm before anyone thinks I’m doing the walk of shame.” She laughs at her own joke as she slips off her stool. “See you at breakfast,” she calls over her shoulder before heading out the door.

  Chapter 11

  I’ve spent the last few evenings going through the files West gave me, completely sucked in by all the drama that’s been going on here over the past four years. Girls cheating on guys, guys cheating on girls. Friends sabotaging friends. It’s downright vicious. And that’s before you even start in on the blackmailing of teachers to improve grades and the threatening of other students to do people’s bidding.

  Then there’s the out-and-out illegal shit. This is where things get seriously fucked up. Apparently our fifty-five-year old chemistry teacher moonlights as the school’s drug dealer. The great thing is that he offers flexible payment plans to his clients. Can’t front the cash for your coke or Ritalin? No worries, he’s happy to accept payment in the form of underage sex. The best part is, he’s not fussy whether it’s dick or pussy. You won’t get any sexism from this guy.

  The downside is that most of these kids don’t realize they’re being recorded as they perform these sexual acts, and based on the videos on the teacher’s OnlyPorn account, he’s uploading them and selling them as soft porn. Fucking gross.

  It actually pisses me off that none of the guys have put a stop to this. Are they seriously okay with this dude getting away with that? I fucking hope not; I had higher expectations of them. All of us have been flat out with schoolwork and ensuring the Princes still have control of the school, so I haven’t had a chance to call them out on any of it yet, but you can be sure that talk will be coming real soon.

  For now, my focus is on the material I can use against the girls. Whispers and rumors have been spreading all week as girls speculate about the reason behind the Princes’ change in behavior. I’ve heard everything from the plausible, to the hilarious, to the downright absurd. I swear I overheard some guy telling his buddies he was certain the guys were all in one big gay relationship together—I laughed my head off at that.

  Of course, a lot of the rumors involve me. It’s far too coincidental that I show up this year and the guys suddenly change things up. Thankfully, no one seems to have worked out the truth. I don’t know if it’s because Hawk’s my brother and the guys very much give off the impression that they do everything together, that has people not immediately jumping to the fact I’m sleeping with two—well, now three—of them, but whatever the reason, I’m glad. The last thing I need is the girls breathing down my neck, or our parents finding out about us. The most popular theory seems to be that our parents have demanded the change due to my sudden reappearance—a theory we are all happy to go along with.

  Regardless of the reason, though, the girls aren’t happy. None of them have acted on it yet, but it’s only a matter of time. The discontent is heavy in the air. It’s in every conspiratorial look they share. It’s in the hurt, angry, confused glares they throw at the guys, and the sneers and dismissive looks at me. None of them are pleased, and it won’t be long before they make their objection known.

  Bianca has been keeping her distance since the party, but I’ve noticed her watching me, as though she’s measuring me up and trying to decide if I’m a threat. If she hasn’t figured out by now that I am, there’s no hope for her. She should know by now, I’m the big bad wolf. I may look innocent, but my claws are sharp and I like to bite. If she pisses me off any further, I’m going to tear her to pieces, and I’ll fucking enjoy it.

  But then, because I’m a sick bitch, I actually want her to come at me. We’ve been butting heads since day one, and the tension is only rising. I’m just waiting for her to present me with the perfect opportunity to bring her down, and show the whole school what happens if they mess with me.

  I’ve spent the last few nights familiarizing myself with all the possible blackmail information I have, trying to work out who people are and remember their names in case I need to recall any of this shit on the fly. It’s been the perfect distraction from the nauseating butterflies doing somersaults in my stomach. Cam asked if I wanted to meet him in the dining hall tonight, just like old times. Ever since I agreed, my stomach’s been in knots. I don’t know what the hell has come over me. This is Cam. There’s nothing for me to be anxious about. We’ve done this a dozen times before.

  As I gather up the folders and pull the bookcase away from the wall far enough that I can drop the folders into the hole I made, a giddiness takes over me. It feels like it’s been forever since Cam and I had one of our late night chats, and I’m pleased to see him reaching out. I was worried he’d be awkward after what happened the other day. It was unexpected, but honestly, I think it’s what we needed to move forward.

  Throwing a hoodie over my head, I shove my feet into my boots and grab my key as I head out the door, trying to ignore the fact I feel like someone who’s going on their first ever date—at least, that’s how I imagine it feels like.

  With sweaty hands, I pull open the door to the dining hall, but the high-pitched whine of fucking Bianca has me hesitating in the doorway. Shifting my body so I’m hidden behind the door, I hold it ajar to eavesdrop on them. I know, I shouldn’t be listening, but I’m curious as to what they’re talking about and, well, I guess I wanna hear what Cam has to say. After his back and forth with her all year, who can blame me?

  “I don’t understand what’s going on,” I hear Bianca grate. “Why have things suddenly changed?”

  “Bianca.” Cam sounds tired, making me wonder how long she’s been bothering him for. “Things change. Just accept it.”

  “But why?”

  God, she sounds like a stropping two-year-old.

  “Because of her?” she sneers, the venom clear to hear in her tone.

  “It’s got nothing to do with her,” Cam snaps sharply, making me wince. I know he’s only trying to get rid of her, and he can’t let her think there’s anything between us, but damn, that hurts.

  “But we used to be so good together.” I can picture the pout on her face as she changes directions, trying to suck up to him instead. Peeking my head around the door, I see she has stepped closer to him. So close her breast grazes against his arm, momentarily making me see red. A little voice in my head snarls, Mine, and even though that’s not techni
cally true, it feels fucking right.

  “I even got these for you,” she goes on to say, lifting her tits. It would be fucking impossible to miss her double D’s that are so out of proportion to the rest of her slim body. “Because I know how much you liked to fuck them.”

  Eww! Yup, that lasagna I had for dinner does not taste so nice on its way back up.

  Cam grimaces. “You shouldn’t have done that, B. It was just sex. Nothing more.”

  “So what, you’re fucking celibate now?” she snaps, instantly dropping the ‘woe is me’ act as her temper flares. “Don’t bullshit me, Cam. If you’re not getting it from me, then you’re getting it from someone else. What makes her so fucking special, huh? You know when the school finds out—and they will find out—they’ll crucify her.”

  Cam’s hands snap out and he grabs onto her upper arms, shaking her roughly. The look on his face is like nothing I’ve seen on him before. Even when he wanted to murder me, there was always this spark in his eyes that told me he would never take things too far, but today that spark is gone. His gaze is ice-fucking-cold, his eyes nothing but a blank void as he towers over her.

  “You better be careful, Bianca,” he snarls, menacingly. “Threats like that will get you in real trouble one day.”

  In the next second, he’s shoved her away from him, shrugging his shoulders indifferently as he tucks his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans, looking a complete one-eighty from the gargoyle he resembled a second ago.

  “Anyway, you’re wrong. There’s no girl. We’re graduating school—moving on to bigger, better things. The four of us are just over the whole skanky, desperate thing. We want someone with more…substance. With a bit of a backbone. Not a whiny bitch.”

  Having heard enough—and admittedly feeling a tad smug after Cam’s little speech—I push open the door, announcing my entrance before Bianca can start off on another unwanted tirade.

  Bianca’s back is mostly turned toward me, so Cam notices me first. A wicked glint enters his eye.

  “I wondered what that smell was.” My voice echoes around the otherwise empty hall as I wrinkle my nose in disgust and grimace.

  Bianca turns in her deathly tall high heels, giving me the stink eye. “What smell?” she snaps irritably.

  “The stench of desperation that’s coming off of you. I could smell it all the way from the dorms.”

  Cam barks out an arctic laugh as Bianca’s eyes narrow and her lips purse.

  “Get out of here, trash. Cam and I are busy.”

  I scoff. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  “Fuck off, Bianca. And stop sending me twat shots. I don’t wanna see that shit,” Cam sneers, going into full asshole Prince mode.

  Her cheeks tint in embarrassment, or rage—probably both—and she throws each of us a dirty look, but I don’t miss the hurt in her eyes.

  “Word of advice, girl. If you don’t want to be treated like a walking, talking cumbucket, don’t act like one.” It might sound harsh, but it’s a life lesson she clearly needs to learn. Although if the murderous look she tosses my way is anything to go by, she doesn’t appreciate the advice.

  Oh well, you can’t help people who refuse to help themselves.

  With a venomous snarl, unable to form any actual comeback, she stamps her feet and storms out in typical Bianca fashion.

  “Twat shot?” I chuckle after she’s gone.

  Cam shrugs. “Like a female dick pic. I’m going to need therapy if I have to look at them anymore.”

  “Just stop looking at them,” I retort, rolling my eyes.

  “You think I look at that shit?!” He fake gags. “Hell no. The image automatically comes up at the top of my screen when I get a notification. That’s more than enough to have me wanting to pluck out my eyeballs, never mind looking at it on the full screen.” He shudders, looking thoroughly sickened.

  I can’t help but laugh at his dramatics, although, yeah, I’d probably feel the need to scrub the image out of my eyes too, if I had to see that shit.

  “Anyway, enough about her. I, uh, wasn’t sure if you’d want coffee or ice cream, so I grabbed us a coffee-flavored ice cream to share, if that’s okay?”

  His demeanor has completely changed from the asshole he acted like in front of Bianca. Now he seems nervous as he rubs awkwardly at the back of his neck, looking unsure.

  I smile reassuringly at him. “Coffee ice cream sounds awesome.” The tension drains out of his posture immediately and he smiles back as I close the distance between us, sitting down in a chair facing him. Neither of us talks as he pops the lid off the tub and hands me a spoon, the two of us digging in.

  The tub is nearly empty by the time my stomach screams in protest, and I lean back in my chair, watching as Cam finishes it off.

  “I missed this,” I say quietly, as though the truth of the words would be too much to handle if I said them any louder.

  Setting the empty tub on the table along with his spoon, Cam glances up at me. A softness enters his eyes, and a sad smile dances along his lips.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Awkward tension burns up the air between us until Cam laughs sheepishly. “I don’t know how to act around you now. I have no idea what we’re doing. Do we go back to the way things used to be? Is that even possible?”

  “I don’t know,” I admit, chewing anxiously on my bottom lip. “What do you want to happen?”

  He takes a second to think over his answer, but a heated resolve enters his eyes.

  “I want all the things with you.” His voice has taken on a deeper tone. A hungry rasp that has my vagina waking up and suddenly paying attention. “I want what we had before, and so much more.”

  My eyes widen at his admission. Well, damn. I’d kind of hoped that’s what he’d want. I can’t explain it, but this pull between us is irresistible. Fighting it is exhausting. I was fully expecting him to go back to trying to put distance between us, and while I’d respect that if it’s what he wanted, I’m honestly tired of all the hate and anger. If he’s willing, I want to see how amazing things could be between us.

  Slipping out of my chair, I round the table and slide onto his lap. His hands instantly come to rest on my hips, as though he couldn’t bear to go another second without touching me.

  “I want all that too,” I murmur, looking into his eyes, right before he crushes his lips to mine and the two of us lose ourselves in one another. My fingers tangle with the still damp strands of hair at the nape of his neck, Cam having most likely come straight from a training session at the pool. We shouldn’t be doing this here, where anyone could walk in and see us, but the heat between us is an unstoppable force. We’re like two magnets being pulled toward each other. There was no stopping the inevitable collision.

  All too soon, we pull apart.

  “Come with me.” He hurriedly gets to his feet, pulling me up with him.

  “What…Why? Where are we going?”

  He steps into me, his nearness ratcheting up that magnetic pull between us. “If we stay here, I’m not going to be able to hold you. I won’t be able to kiss you, or do any of the things I want to do to you.”

  Well, when he puts it like that. “Lead the way.”

  A bright grin lights up his face, reminiscent of the old Cam that I’ve missed so much. I love seeing that smile on his face and I’d do pretty much anything to make sure he never loses that happiness.

  Leaving the dining hall, we step into the dark night. It’s nearly midnight so not many people are about, but we still need to be careful.

  “Are we not going to your dorm?” I ask when he starts to walk in the opposite direction. I’d just assumed that’s where we were going.

  “If I take you there, I’ll have to share you with West and Mason.” Leaning down, he whispers in my ear, “I want you all to myself for a little while.” The tickle of his breath against my ear and the sexual husk in his voice has me suppressing a shiver as my pussy clenches, already hungry for him.

 
; He’s all but sprinting as he pulls me after him, and I giggle as we quickly make our way through the forest toward the lake. We continue on at a hurried pace, skipping past the boat house until we reach the treeline at the opposite side of the lake. I’ve never been to this part of campus before. It’s so far away from everything that I just assumed there was nothing out here, but hidden amongst the trees is a small hut and a short boardwalk that goes out into the water.

  We walk to the end of the boardwalk and Cam shrugs out of his jacket, setting it down on the wooden boards. He sits down, patting the spare space beside him. Doing as he silently commands, my thigh presses against his, our legs dangling above the dark water.

  Neither of us speaks. Instead, we sit and listen to the slight breeze whistle through the trees overhead as we look out over the cavernous lake.

  “So,” Cam begins, back to his initial awkwardness, “my dad’s trying to trap you into being his bitch bride.”

  I snort. Of course Cam has to turn the whole fucked up situation into a joke.

  “I guess that makes me almost your bitch mommy.”

  His face scrunches in disgust before he bursts out laughing. “Fuck, that would have been super weird.”

  “You’re saying,” I agree.

  The two of us chuckle before Cam’s features become serious. “So how did you get away from him?”

  I glance away, looking out over the lake as I contemplate the answer to his question. “I ran away.” It’s difficult. I can’t give him many more details without coming right out and telling him about the rest of my fucked up past. I’m not entirely sure why I’m keeping it from the guys still. I told Beck after all. But out of all of them, he was the easiest one to open up to. Not because the others have made me feel like I can’t be honest with them. I guess it’s because they’re closer to their parents, and direct heirs of the company. It makes it that much harder to be completely open with them.