The Enemy Series

by M. E. Clayton

  The fuck?

  “What do you mean, she broke up with you?”

  “Just what I said,” he reiterated. “Our arrangement isn’t working for her anymore, so she broke up with me, and you’re next.”

  I gave not one fuck that there were people standing outside the classroom. “What the fuck does that mean, it’s not working out for her anymore?!” I roared.

  Deke’s eyes flicked towards the classroom window and back to me. “She said she wants a boyfriend, and we’re not in the running for that position.”

  What. In. The. Actual. Fuck?

  “She actually said that?” I knew something was off, but I had never expected something like this.

  “More or less,” Deke replied. “She was worried that it might make things awkward between us, and when I assured her we would be fine, that’s when she mentioned she was dumping you too.” I growled at Deke’s choice of words. Granted, I’d be feeling unhinged no matter how he had chosen to phrase this fucked-up news but mentioning my dumping so casually had me ready to deck the asshole.

  I shook my head. “She’s not fucking ending things with me, Deke.”

  He laughed.

  The twisted fucker laughed.

  “I didn’t think so, Lee,” he replied, grinning from ear to ear. “But I think you should know that she sounded serious. She wants a boyfriend. You know, someone who walks her to class, takes her to the movies…you know, shit like that.”

  “And why can’t that be me?” I knew I sounded like a little bitch, but she wasn’t breaking up with me. If Roselyn was willing to dump us in order to have a boyfriend who took her to the fucking movies, then that meant one guy was more than enough for her. She didn’t need a Deke in her life. And if she didn’t need a Deke in her life, then that meant I was enough.

  And I had better be enough, because there was no fucking way I was going to let her dump me for some random pussy who walked her to class and took her to the goddamn fucking movies.

  No motherfucking way.

  I shook my head at Deke again. “She’s not breaking up with me, Deke,” I repeated.

  “Look, let’s let Mr. Rollins and his gang back in, and then you can hit her up during seventh period,” he suggested.

  I nodded and agreed. “I’m going to hit the gym,” I told him.

  Deke arched a brow. “You don’t have gym right now,” he reminded me.

  “It’s skip sixth and hit the gym or it’s lose my motherfucking mind, Deke,” I pointed out.

  Deke cocked his head at me. “I knew you liked her, I just didn’t know how much until now,” he said quietly.

  I wouldn’t lie to him. “I started liking her months ago, Deke. Now, I…”

  He gave me one terse nod. “Now, you love her,” he finished for me.

  I let out a deep breath. “Yeah,” I confirmed. “Yeah, now, I love her.”

  This time Deke shook his head. “Man, why didn’t you say anything? Why d’you let it go on this long?”

  “Because I never paid attention to you when we were all together like that,” I explained. “I paid attention to her. I paid attention to Roselyn and how turned on she became by what we did with her. I paid attention to every reaction she made, and I…I was willing to give her that. I was willing to give her the pleasure two guys could give her as long as it was with you. I trust you.”

  Deke smirked. “While I appreciate the sentiment, you should have said something way earlier, Liam. I should have been out of the picture months ago.”

  “Well, you’re out of the picture now,” I pointed out.

  He laughed. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, clapping me on my shoulder and pulling me with him.

  We exited Mr. Rollins classroom and ignored his stink-eye as we passed him and his students in the hallway. We didn’t speak another word as Deke finally made his way to his classroom and I headed off towards the high school gym.

  I was changing out in the locker room when a voice reached me that I could have gone without hearing today of all days. “You don’t have gym this period,” Brandon Greene said, coming from the other row of lockers.

  I didn’t bother looking at him when I said, “I make whatever school schedule I want to, Greene.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you do,” he replied, a hint of envy in his voice.

  I went back to ignoring him. It was stupid to be envious of me, Ramsey, or Deke. All us Windsor kids had more money than sense. We all did whatever the fuck we wanted. Brandon Greene wasn’t a hapless victim who had to abide by the rules when the rest of us didn’t. He was just as much of a spoiled teenager as the rest of us were.

  There was one thing that separated us from them though, and that was the fact that we weren’t afraid to face the consequences of our actions. We weren’t afraid to cross the line because we knew we’d never have to cross it alone, just like when Jamie Turner, Roman Cruz, and Ricky Peterson had attacked Emerson those months ago.

  When I had come upon them attacking Emerson, I hadn’t hesitated. I had gone after them with the intent to kill. Ramsey had joined in when he happened upon us, but it wasn’t until after Ramsey found out what they had done that shit became dark. We had picked up Deke, and he had joined us-no questions asked-and we had crippled Jamie, Roman, and Ricky. We knew there was a chance we’d get arrested for what we had done to them, but we hadn’t cared.

  We didn’t do scared.

  And that’s what made us different from the rest. We could live without everything that’s been handed to us. The rest of these pussies couldn’t.

  Not giving Brandon another thought, I headed towards the weights section of the gym and began working out my frustrations, but forty minutes later, I was no closer to being calmed down.

  The plan was to meet Roselyn at her locker and, calmly and quietly, ask her about what Deke told me. However, that plan was shot to shit when I rounded the corner and saw her leaning up against her locker, her books hugged to her chest, looking up at the smiling face of Todd Sanders.

  That’s all it took.

  In that one split second, everything inside me snapped. The thought of another guy who was not Deke touching Roselyn, making her moan, making her cum, making her out of her mind with pleasure, making her fucking smile…it wasn’t going to happen.

  I stormed over there without one thought to those consequences I wasn’t afraid of.

  Chapter 7

  Roselyn~

  I had never really paid much attention to Todd Sanders before, but he’d always seemed like a decent guy, considering.

  I mean, he was just as spoiled and as entitled as everyone else who went to Windsor, but I’ve never seen him be cruel to anyone. He didn’t act snobby or arrogant; he just wore Rolex’s, drove an Audi…you know things like that. I knew he partied, but I’ve never seen him act so much a fool that he ended up an internet clip.

  He had light blonde hair and hazel eyes. He wasn’t super tall, but tall enough. I knew he played golf, but that was just because I’d seen him in crossing during P.E. and he’d be playing golf some of those times. Todd was a good-looking guy and a girl could do worse.

  His stop at my locker surprised me a bit, because while we’ve said hello to each other a time or two, we weren’t chitchat-by-the-lockers kind of friends. I should have known it was schoolwork related. While I thought he was attractive, in that wholesome kind of way, I was still the girl with rainbow-colored hair and a nose ring.

  “Hey, Roselyn,” he greeted. “How’s it going?”

  I finished grabbing my books out of my locker, hugged them to my chest, and turned to look at him. “I’m good, Todd.” I smiled. “What’s up?”

  He smiled back. “So, everyone knows you’re a genius in-”

  I never got to hear what he was going to ask me because the next thing I knew, a very pissed off looking Liam McCellan was wedged in between me and Todd. He had his back to me, but there’s only one six-foot-plus, blonde god who’d be so bold.

  “Can I help you with some
thing Sanders,” he snarled, and I leaned to the side just in time to Todd’s eyes round.

  “Uh…uhm, hey,” he stuttered. “Uh, I was just…just going to ask Roselyn for some help in econo-”

  Poor Todd didn’t get to finish as Liam barked down at him, “If you need a tutor, go pay for one, Todd, because Roselyn’s not going to be it.”

  “Liam!” What in the hell?

  Liam whirled around, dismissing Todd, and focusing his unreasonable anger on me. “I just had a talk with Deke, Roz,” he seethed.

  I winced.

  I couldn’t help it. It didn’t surprise me that Deke had told him about me wanting to end our arrangement, I just wasn’t expecting Liam to show this kind of reaction. My eyes darted around, and sure enough, the hallway was crowded with students who just witnessed Liam McCellan losing his shit on me, and they were all sticking around in hopes of finding out why.

  I looked back up at Liam. “Can we maybe discuss this after-”

  “Good idea,” he snapped out, interrupting me before his hand latched onto my arm.

  “Liam?”

  He ignored me and I let him drag me to wherever he planned. I could have easily told him to go eat a dick and head to seventh period, but he was so pissed, I didn’t want him accidentally blurting out what he was pissed about.

  So, I followed him.

  I followed him into an empty music room, and thanked God. Because, like the Ag-Science building, no one played instruments for credit. Every in this school was business oriented. The other electives were for cultural growth, but that’s about it.

  Liam slammed the door behind him, locked it, and then whirled around to face me.

  Damn, the boy looked good infuriated.

  I dropped my books on the empty desk in front of the room. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the jerk. “What in the hell, Liam?”

  Liam dropped his gym back next to his feet, and crossed his arms over his impressive chest, mimicking my stance. “Explain,” he demanded without answer my question.

  My arms dropped, and I shrugged a shoulder. “What’s there to explain?” I asked. “Didn’t Deke tell you-”

  Liam stalked towards me until he was toe-to-toe with me. “He gave me some story about you wanting a boyfriend to walk you to class, or some such bullshit like that.”

  His words hurt.

  It wasn’t bullshit to want someone to love you and want to be with only you. He spewed those words as if I was asking for a trip to the moon; unreasonable and ridiculous. The only reason I was more hurt than pissed at his carelessness was because I knew where he was coming from. How idiotic was it for a girl who’s been passed back and forth between two friends to want a real boyfriend?

  “It’s not bullshit to want a boyfriend, Liam,” I argued. “It’s actually normal.”

  “Well, you have two of them, Roselyn,” he countered. “So, what the fuck is your issue?”

  Was he really so clueless? Was he really so dense? “No, I don’t,” I pushed back. “I have two guys who fuck me when they want to get off, and the only reason they’re not fucking anyone else is because they like to fuck without condoms!”

  Liam had his hand wrapped around my neck and my body bent over the desk before I knew what he was about. He loomed over me and, I’m not going to lie, I was nervous.

  This is a Liam I’ve never seen before.

  His body covered mine, and his face was only inches away from mine when he said, “You are not a girl we just fuck, Roselyn. You have never been a girl who we just fuck. And we’re not fucking anyone else because you mean something to us, not because we don’t want to wear condoms. We’ve worn condoms with every girl we’ve ever fucked since the first day we’ve ever fucked a girl, Roz. Condoms are not a hardship for us.”

  I almost cried at his words. As much as I wanted them to be true, I couldn’t move past the belief that no guy would want me for his real girlfriend after seeing me the ways Liam has seen me. “Liam, it doesn’t matter,” I whispered through the hand around my throat. “This thing with you, me, and Deke needs to end.”

  His fingers squeezed, and I almost moaned. His blue eyes cut into mine. “I agree,” he breathed over my lips, and I could feel my heart breaking. But then he said, “I’m okay with Deke being out of the picture, but there’s no fucking way you’re breaking up with me.” He let go of my neck and stepped back, allowing me to stand up.

  I stared up at him wondering what his game was. “What?”

  “If you want to kick Deke out of our bed, I’m fine with that,” he answered, “However, there’s no way this thing between us is over, Roz.”

  Our bed?

  This thing?

  I had to laugh. “Didn’t you hear me? I don’t want to keep fucking you, Liam,” I replied. “I want a boyfriend. I want someone who is going to give a fuck about me outside the bedroom.”

  “And didn’t you hear me?” he snapped back. “You have one. You had two.”

  “Yeah, right,” I scoffed. “I’ve never seen you or Deke with a girlfriend in all the years I’ve been here. Since when have you ever had a girlfriend?”

  “Since last year, when I started fucking you,” he hissed. “You’ve been my girlfriend for the past goddamn year, Roselyn. I just never took you to a stupid movie.”

  What?!

  “What about Deke?” He wasn’t making any sense. What we’ve been doing for the past year doesn’t resemble a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship at all. “Or are you really so disassociated from sex that you can share your girlfriend with another guy and it not bother you at all?”

  “Deke’s always been extra,” he replied. “It’s always been you and me, Roselyn. And are you so disassociated from sex that you can fuck a guy for a year and not care a thing about him? Because you just dumped Deke and were ready to dump me without a second thought!”

  My mind was screaming at me to pay attention to the actual words he said and not the intention behind the question, but all my private shame saw was Liam confirming that he saw me as a whore. “Fuck you, Liam,” I seethed, hurt and confused. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past few months.”

  “So, why didn’t you say something earlier if you didn’t want to continue with our arrangement?”

  The tears welled up in my eyes, but I was beyond pretending at this point. “Because…because…”

  Liam stepped towards me and his hand on my face nearly did me in. “Because why?”

  The only way he was going to accept this is if I showed him the real me. “Because I’d forget about wanting a boyfriend when you guys would…would…it just felt so good, Liam,” I admitted.

  “And now?” he prompted.

  “It still feels good, but…but it’s not enough. I want more, Liam,” I confessed. “I want a guy who isn’t okay with sharing me with his best friend.”

  Chapter 8

  Liam~

  I almost killed her.

  Had it not been for Emerson pounding on the door window, I would have strangled Roselyn.

  Apparently, someone had ran to Emerson telling her I had lost my shit on Roselyn in the hallway, and the girl came running to save her friend. Even though Emerson and Ramsey were now in a good place-well, as good as those two could be-Roselyn was still her best friend, and no one was confused about where Emerson’s loyalties laid.

  Roselyn had side-stepped my advance, and she had the classroom door unlocked and opened before I could stop her. And, make no mistake, had she not opened the door for Emerson, it would have stayed locked and Emerson would have gotten a front-row seat to me snuffing the life out of her best friend.

  I had been that pissed off.

  Emerson had grabbed Roselyn and stink-eyed me as she had asked her if she was okay. Ramsey stood in the background, his arms crossed over his chest, with a smirk on his face. He knew I’d never touch Emerson. Oh, he knew I had no qualms about strangling Roselyn to death, but he knew I’d never touch Emerson. There was so much respect between me, R
amsey, and Deke, he knew I’d never touch Emerson out of anger, just as I knew Deke would never touch Roselyn again in a sexual manner. Ramsey had been there simply because he was wherever Emerson was. The dude was crazed when it came to that girl.

  I had decided to let Roz escape because I knew I hadn’t been in the right mind frame not to murder her on the spot. When she accused me of not caring about her enough to not share her with Deke, I had seen red.

  Motherfucking. Red.

  The fact that she believed sharing her with Deke somehow made me unfit to be her boyfriend had me wanting to fuck some shit up.

  Look, I’m not a complete tool. I knew girls view sex differently than guys did, but I also knew there were plenty of girls who saw sex for what it was; just sex. And even knowing that Roselyn hadn’t been one of those girls, Deke and I had never given her a reason to think we thought she was a round-the-rosy whore. Sure, we did some filthy thing with her, but it’s not like hundreds were dropped on the nightstand and Deke threw up a peace sign as he walked out the door. And I always stayed with her afterwards. We even fucking cuddled a majority of those times.

  And a fucking year later?

  A year later, and she still thought she was an instrument Deke and I used just to get off? Fuck, that stung. That stung like a sonofabitch because, where we did our best to shield her in public, Deke and I had always treated her with respect in private. We never did anything to her that she hadn’t wanted or begged for. Even that first night, we had given her plenty of opportunities to back out.

  Deke and I had never planned on hooking up with Roselyn that first night; together or otherwise. Brandon had thrown a party and Deke, Ramsey, and I had attended. Ramsey had found himself bored out of his mind, and so he had cut out early, while Deke and I continued to drink and just bullshit.

  We had walked into the service kitchen to grab some more liquor bottles when we had overheard Brandon talking shit with some of his buddies…

  “Not for nothing, Greene, because I know you hate her, but your stepsister is hot as fuck,” Jack Carl drunkenly blurted out. “I’d love to get in between those thighs of hers.”