Hidden River Three (Hidden River Academy Book 3)

by KT Strange

  “Don’t let him,” Colt said, looking back over his shoulder before grabbing my bag. “Hey, lemme carry this for you. How’re your arms?”

  “Sore, but I’m not an invalid,” I said, trying to reach up and grab my backpack from him. “Give it.”

  “Nah, it’ll make those fuck boys jealous, and nothing is better to me than making a fuck boy jealous,” Colt said, dangling my bag over my head as we walked.

  “I hate you, a little bit,” I muttered, giving up. He nudged me with his hip, the brush of his arm against mine sending tingles of electricity through my body in a way they had no right to.

  “C’mon, admit I’m right. Nothing is better.”

  I sighed. Okay, so maybe I was feeling vengeful enough to want to make Buck and Shawn really feel what they’d lost when they’d decided to play tonsil-football or whatever.

  “Yeah, sure, it’s satisfying,” I said. Colt shot me a wicked little smirk that did nothing to calm the tingles that were devastating my nervous system and threatening to cause me to ruin my underwear if he didn’t stop. Something about him… I swallowed hard as we turned a corner, a big crowd of students filling the space as they moved from one classroom to the next.

  Colt was taller, so he saw them first. Shawn and Buck, standing at the end of the hall, with half the football team.

  “C’mere,” he said, his hand gentle but firm as he caught my shoulder.

  “Huh?” I asked, as he spun me, until I was pressed right against his chest.

  “Revenge is best served warm,” he murmured, and my eyes widened as he kissed me, right there in the hallway, in front of everyone.

  I heard laughter, and a little cheer erupt, the noise deepening when Colt’s hand wrapped around the back of my thigh and lifted, slipping up under my skirt.

  I jerked away with a gasp as his thumb just barely grazed the elastic of my panties.

  “Colt,” I hissed. His lips were blushing red, probably matching my cheeks. “Jesus.” I wasn’t even mad though. In fact, warm excitement was spreading through my body. I glanced down the hall as Colt tugged me back to him, kissing my cheek as I tumbled against his chest.

  Shawn and Buck were staring at me, faces blank of all emotion. I looked away, then leaned up, catching Colt’s mouth with mine.

  If they didn’t care, then I’d do what I wanted. And right then, I wanted to kiss Colt and chase all the bad feelings away with the good ones only he could give me.

  Four

  “You know there's a dance right?” Shiv looked at me. I blinked.

  “No. I had no idea there was a dance. Hidden River has dances?” I asked. One of the other girls laughed at me. It was my first day sitting back at the main table with all the cheerleaders, and other girls who wanted to be cheerleaders. It helped that Paige was out sick. That was it, the only reason I would sit with them for lunch, is if she was gone. I had a hard line in the ground. It was me or her.

  Paige had done too much to me, and I wasn’t going to put up with sitting around someone like her. I had a few choice words that I really wanted to say about that the rest of the girls. They needed to know how staying friends with someone like her was so toxic, for all of us.

  She was pretty cutting with me on a regular basis, but I’d seen her be just as terrible to everybody else at different intervals. Honestly, I had no idea why anyone was her friend. It was obvious that Paige had some serious damage and needed to get her shit sorted out, but like so many things in life, I was coming to realize it wasn’t my job to babysit her. I was not her parent, and I was not going to spend the rest of my life trying to tell her how wrong she was and how she needed to change how she was behaving.

  Not only was she not going to listen to me, the rest of the girls seemed to worship her the more she was a massive bitch to them. They’d have been mad if I picked a fight with her. I swear she was still pissed at me that Buck had dated me. Even though now, it was clear that me and Buck were on a… a break, I guess, she was still shooting daggers at me with her eyes. Maybe because he hadn’t run back to her immediately after things had hit the rocks with me.

  “Earth to Mia?” Georgia said with a laugh. “Of course there's dances. They’re held in the assembly hall. Don’t worry, it looks really nice with all the lights and decorations up. But there’s a dress code for us girls. You have to wear a dress. Plus you want to look super-hot, right? The girl smirked. I was slotting right back in with them as if nothing had happened at all. It was kind of unreal, to think that they could just put everything behind them. Like they hadn't been part of the huge group trying to make me feel miserable.

  It was hard to wrap my head around. But there I was, eating fancy grilled cheese with organic cheddar flown in from France, surrounded by a bunch of girls who’d proven they were two-faced and untrustworthy.

  But it wasn’t like I was stupid. I knew I had to play the game, at least a little bit.

  Also, something about Colt was… well, something about him showing me affection affection in public places constantly around the school, had everyone cheering for me for the first time. It was the weirdest feeling. It's not that people didn't like him, rather I kind of got the impression that everyone was terrified of him, and I still had no idea why. Other than being a sarcastic bastard all the time, he was pretty sweet to me. We weren’t dating, but it felt like that might end up happening at some point. We were just, well, doing a little PDA in the hallways. It was the kind of affection I needed, and about as much emotional connection is I could handle. There was still too much unfinished business with me, Buck, and Shawn. My emotions were too raw and I was strung out every day.

  “I guess I need to get a dress,” I said, and Shiv smirked at me.

  “The best thing about a dress,” she said, her voice a sing-song. “Easy access, right?”

  ***

  I was well enough to go to a dance, I insisted to my uncle. My headaches had faded fast, and I was up to full time at school. Most of my scrapes and scratches were healed and the skin pinkish and new where the scabs had washed off in multiple showers. Still, I picked out a long sleeve dress that fit me like a glove, molding to my curves before it flared out at my hips. I knew it was good because it got the Bootsie Slut Seal of Approval when me and a bunch of the girls went shopping. My uncle dropped me off at school, warned me to behave myself, and Colt met me at the front door. He looked good, in a slick black shirt and jeans that definitely hugged the muscular curve of his thighs.

  “You’re staring,” he said, with a tiny smirk on his face as we waited in line.

  “Those jeans make your ass look nice,” I replied. He laughed.

  “Have you seen yours?” His hand was floating on the small of my back, and it dipped down slowly, making me shiver.

  “Not now,” I hissed at him. He rolled his eyes but smiled anyway, his hand slipping back up.

  The hall was dark, lit up by a DJ set up at the front of the room, on the stage that performances and announcements were normally made from. It was already crowded, and I stuck close to Colt. It was overwhelming, and reminded me a little bit, painfully, of when Shawn and I had gone to the Phoenixcry show.

  “I don’t want to think,” I said to Colt suddenly, and dragged him deep into the crowd, pressing myself into his arms. He looked surprised for a moment and then wrapped me up, his body firm against mine. I rested my head on his shoulder, letting my eyes shut.

  This was real. This was real and good. The music wasn’t too fast, down-tempo, and it let me lean against him and soak up his warmth. His hand cupped the back of my head and I glanced up at him.

  “You okay?” He asked. I nodded, and tip-toed so I could brush a soft, friendly kiss across his lips.

  “I’m good,” I promised. I really was. I just had a moment of sadness, grief pricking at me. I swayed against him as the music ended and he tangled his fingers in my hair.

  “I like this,” he said, “with you. I normally don’t like these fucking meat shows, but this isn’t half bad.” />
  I laughed.

  “You’re so antisocial, I’m surprised you came out.”

  “Couldn’t let you go alone,” he teased. “You’d be standing up against the wall, lonely and sad the whole time, no-one to ask you to dance-mmmh!”

  He shut up when I kissed him, although I felt the laughter shaking his body. Idiot. Another song picked up, this one faster-paced, and suddenly I was surrounded by girls.

  “Hey Lawson,” Boots said, bumping into me and smirking up at him. “You clean up nice.”

  “Too bad you don’t,” he said, although she didn’t take him seriously, dragging me away with her arms wrapped around me.

  “Give up Mia, you’re boring, and we need our friend with us when we go to the bathroom,” she said, pulling me with her. I waved to Colt as he laughed, watching me go.

  “Jeeeesus, Mia, Colt is hot tonight,” Boots breathed into my ear, looking wide-eyed as she stared over my shoulder. “Buck and Shawn are gonna shit themselves.”

  “I don’t want to hear about them,” I said. As far as I knew, they were coming alone, but I didn’t want to think about them there with dates. It wasn’t that I was being a hypocrite… I just didn’t have any intention of rubbing Colt in their faces, and I hoped they would treat me with the same kind of decency.

  I got shanghaied into the bathroom for a bit, the lights blinding after the darkness of the assembly hall. It wasn’t until later, when I was on my own again, that he found me.

  “Little Quinn,” a voice drawled. I half-turned, glancing over my shoulder. Reid stood there, his gaze hot on my skin. I felt it immediately, like the glow from a campfire.

  “What, Reid?” I asked. “Don’t you have some freshmen to perv on?” He laughed instead of getting mad at my comment, and his gaze dragged down my body and back up again. I fought the urge to step away. I should’ve been insulted, or felt objectified, especially when his eyes lingered on the curve of my ass in my dress and he bit his lip at the same time.

  He bit his fucking lip, like he saw something he really wanted.

  “Kay, stop eye-fucking me. It’s rude without asking,” I said, turning away. I wasn’t going to give him the time of day-

  “Let’s dance,” he said, his ear an inch from mine, the warmth of him instantaneous and obvious though the thin fabric of my dress.

  His presence was heavy, and the scary thing was, I didn’t want to pull away.

  “So, are you here officially with Colt?” He asked he put a light hand on my elbow and turned me slowly. I was expecting him to force me to move, but his touch was gentle. It confused the fuck out of me.

  “Now I'm here by myself, I said. I don't need some guy to take me to a dance.” Reid smiled and nodded.

  “Yeah, you really don't need anyone do you, he said. He leaned in, his cheek brushing mine. I wanted to hold my breath, but I didn't want him to know how much he was affecting me. Maybe the girls who gossiped about me were all right. Maybe I was just a massive slut. If I was reacting like this to Reid, someone who I never had anything but disgust for, maybe that meant something was wrong with me?

  “I like that you don't give a fuck,” Reid said. “Barron and Riordan, both of those assholes didn't know how good they had it with you. They fucked that up, they fucked it hard. Did they? Did they fuck you hard?”

  I pushed away and glared him. Who the hell did he think he was?

  “Is this your idea of how to pick up a girl?” I asked. “What I do is my business, not yours. It’s none of your damn business. Got it?” I moved to pull away. Reid's pupils were wide, flared. There was a wild grin on his face. It was like he got off on fighting with me. He wanted to push my buttons, but not because he hated me. When he came close again, wrapping his hands on my hips and pulling me into him, I could feel the hard length of his cock through his jeans, against my hip.

  That… that shouldn’t have been hot, but it was. He was painfuly hard. Getting into a pissing contest with me, was apparently his idea foreplay.

  I couldn’t help the way the back of my neck warmed, or how my cheeks flushed. It was weird, that I was almost into the way that he didn't give a fuck about upsetting me, and that it wasn't really about pissing me off at all. A wave of bravery overtook me, in looking back I don't know what possessed me to verbalize my thoughts, letting the words pop right out of my mouth like I wasn’t barely a non-virgin.

  But I did.

  “Do you get off on the idea of me fucking other guys?” I asked. Reid let out a slow breath, the sound shaky.

  “Let’s dance,” he said and he grabbed my hand, pulling me onto the crowded dance floor. Students were pressed up against us from all sides, forcing me hard against his body. He didn’t even ask if I was okay with it, but I had a weird feeling that if I'd slapped him, or tried to pull away he would have let me go without a fight.

  The thick pulse of music in the air, and the heat of bodies all around me, made me feel like we were on a different planet. It was like nothing mattered. There were no consequences and if I wanted to press up against him, if I wanted to dig down into that dark place, deep inside of me, I could. I didn't belong to anyone. Not Colt, or Buck, or Shawn. I could do whatever I wanted, whoever I wanted, and none of them could stop me.

  I looked up at Reid. He really was fucking hot. Too bad he was such an asshole. His eyes were half closed, gazing down at me. His body was rock-hard underneath the T-shirt he wore, the play of his muscles begging me to touch them. The bulge of his cock through his jeans dug into the soft curve of my belly.

  I couldn’t help it, I ended up pressing closer to him. I was so turned on, the roll of his hips, he ground himself into me. I gasped with the sparks of arousal that flared in my stomach.

  “Ah, yeah, you like that,” he said.

  “No, I fucking hate it,” I replied. “You fucking disgust me,” my voice was breathy and the exact opposite of any kind of anger that I really wanted to portray.

  Reid let out a helpless laugh and pulled me closer. I guess, we were grinding, my hips moving against his. His eyes were closed, his head tilted back, and it was definitely like sex, except with our clothes on. Were there even any chaperones watching,?

  It seemed unlikely, given how close we were and nobody even looked twice at us. Reid dropped his head to my shoulder, and turned his neck. I felt his mouth on my pulse, his tongue flicking out of the skin. I couldn’t help it. I moaned and his arms wrapped tight around my waist, crushing me against him. His mouth kissed up to my ear and I could feel the hot puff of his breath on skin. “I want to fuck you so hard, you see stars,” he said.

  “So it’s me,” I said, “you keep thinking of me, with other guys, and that’s what does it for you. Not some random girl getting plowed by a bunch of guys, it’s me.”

  “Shut up,” he said, and kissed me, his lips hard and wild on mine. “Shut up. It’s none of my business who you fuck and it’s none of your business that I get off on it.” His tongue licked at my mouth, demanding I open up for him. I didn’t, and he made a noise of frustration. He pressed his lips to my ear and muttered, “I want to finger fuck you right here, with everyone around us, and not let you come, not let you until you’re begging for it.”

  Oh, fuck.

  I wasn’t sure how to react to that, but my body knew. It warmed all over, a familiar burn between my thighs that demanded relief. I shivered against him, and he rubbed into me.

  “You’d take it too, wouldn’t you?” His tongue caught along the edge of my ear, half-hidden by my hair as he whispered things I’d never even imagined before. “I’d hold you tight while, oh hell, maybe Cael, he seems to have it hard for you, what if he slipped up behind you? I bet he could fuck you right here, in the middle of this crowd, and no one would know. They’d just think we were dancing close, right? Me holding you, him fucking you from behind, lift that little skirt of yours up and sink between your thighs, I bet you’re soaked-”

  I couldn’t breathe.

  “The fuck d’you think you’re doi
ng?” Buck’s voice cut through the fog of my arousal, and I lifted my head. He was glaring, but not at me, staring hard at Reid instead.

  Reid laughed, a bark of a noise.

  “Oh that’s rich, you’re having regrets now? Too fucking late, bro. She’s anyone’s game now,” Reid taunted. Buck let out a low noise, his arm pulling back, and he punched Reid right across the face as I jerked back.

  “Fuck yes,” Reid hissed, and my eyes widened as he wiped the blood off his lip with the back of his hand before balling up his hand.

  “Whoa,” Cael was there in a second, Reid’s blond, tall shadow, wrapping an arm around the shorter boy and hauling him back.

  Buck’s eyes were on fire, and he looked furious that Cael was breaking up the fight. I stared at him, not sure what to say. Was he mad at me? Was he trying to let everyone know that only he got to touch me, and if he couldn’t have me, nobody could? I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind.

  “Mia.” Colt was at my side, stumbling slightly. He put a clumsy hand on my hip, pulling me into him. “This party sucks, let’s go.” When I turned, I caught the bitter scent of alcohol on his breath. Had he been drinking? Where’d he find the booze? They’d searched everyone when we’d entered the hall. Flashlights flickered along the crowd. Shit. The chaperones, and security were headed toward us, cause of the fight. If I could smell the alcohol on him, the teachers certainly would.

  “Yeah, this party sucks,” I agreed with him. “C’mon.” I grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the crowd, elbowing people on my way out. I didn’t care, I needed to get him out of there. There was a side-door, with a bored looking teacher texting on her phone. We snuck by her, and I breathed in the fresh air.

  “Hey, hey,” Colt said as I half-dragged him down along the side of the building. “Hey, what’s the… what’s the hurry? Sweetheart, c’mere.” I was no match for his bulk, and when he wrapped his arms around my waist and pushed me against the building, I had to go with it or risk falling.