The Saint: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Haven Grace Prep Book 2)

by Kelsey Clayton

  Picture? What picture? As soon as I realize what they’re talking about, everything goes completely still. The calm before the storm. The only picture I have of Delaney that’s anything less than completely innocent is the one I took of my dick in her mouth—the one I was supposed to show Stone for the bet but kept to myself and paid him instead.

  “You’re messing with me,” I say. Zayn takes out his phone and hands it to me. There it is in all its fucking glory. “I didn’t send this.”

  “Really?” Gage questions sarcastically. “That’s what you’re going with?”

  I toss the phone back to Z. “I swear, I didn’t fucking send it! You really think I would do that shit? Hell, I paid Stone fifty bucks so that I didn’t have to show it to him. Why the fuck would I send it around?”

  They all exchange looks before Zayn sighs. “Well, if you didn’t, who did?”

  It only takes me a second to realize who could be responsible—the only person who has had access to my phone recently. Immediately, I storm through the doors of the school and toward her locker.

  “Hailey!” I roar.

  She turns to me with an arrogant grin on her face. “Oh, hey, babe. What’s up?”

  “What the hell did you do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I slam my fists against the metal locker, making her flinch and caging her in. “Don’t play fucking coy with me. It’s not cute. I’m talking about the picture of Delaney.”

  “Oh, that.” She smirks. “Looks like she’s not such a Virgin Mary after all.”

  Everything in me wants to deck her, and if she wasn’t a girl, I wouldn’t hesitate. Unfortunately, I can’t. Not personally, anyway. Thankfully, though, I know of a psychotic and protective Callahan who will be more than happy to give this bitch what she deserves.

  “You are a disturbed little cunt, and I can’t fucking wait until you get what’s coming.”

  With that, I force myself to walk away and head straight for the front doors.

  “Where are you going?” Zayn calls out, not bothering to stop me.

  “To try and fix this shit.”

  25

  DELANEY

  All weekend, I can’t seem to get Knox out of my head—not that that’s anything unusual. The way he acted at the party Friday night proved that things between us are far from over. Now, if only I could understand why he’s so insistent on pushing me away. If I can figure that out, maybe there’s hope for us after all.

  AFTER GETTING READY IN the morning, I jump in my car and head to school. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally got Tess and Savannah to realize I don’t need to be tended to every second of the day. Besides, seven in the morning is way too early to deal with both of them treating me like their doll.

  My phone dings inside my purse, but I brush it off. I’ll check it later. Right now, I just want to enjoy the small amount of time I have to myself. I listen to music, check my makeup, and try to get a handle on my mood before I end up breaking down again.

  Maybe it’s pathetic that it’s been over two weeks and I’m still torn up about this, but I can’t help it. I thought what he and I had was real. For the first time in my life, I had someone to call mine, and I genuinely fell in love with him for everything he is—despite the fact that he thinks he’s some kind of scary monster. He was, and still is, my favorite person.

  I pull into the parking lot and take a deep breath, grabbing my books from the passenger seat. There are barely any free spaces left, which means I’m about to be running late, so I don’t have time to mess around. I get out of my car and head inside.

  The second I walk through the doors, everyone’s eyes are on me. My brows furrow at the sudden silence. The only sounds are shared whispers.

  Suddenly, a guy I’ve never met before comes up to me and whistles, checking me out and glancing between me and his phone.

  “Damn, what would it take for me to get some of that?” he questions, biting his lip.

  “Excuse me?”

  Just when I’m about to ask what the hell he’s talking about, Carter comes out of nowhere. He slams the kid up against a locker and rips the phone from his hand.

  “Say one more word to her and I swear, I’ll break your fucking face.”

  The device in his hand shatters as he spikes it onto the ground, and my eyes widen. However, before I even have a second to process what happened, Tessa and Savannah come on either side of me, looping their arms with mine and pulling me away.

  “Don’t worry,” Sav tells me. “We’re going to take care of this.”

  “Take care of what?”

  The two of them share a look as they lead us into an empty classroom. When we’re finally alone, Tessa shuts and locks the door. Then, she turns to me.

  “You haven’t seen it?”

  “Seen what?” I snap at my sister. I’m getting really annoyed with never knowing anything.

  She sighs and nods at Savannah, who takes out her phone and hands it to me. The picture on it is clearly of me, but I never knew it existed. I’m on my knees in Knox’s bedroom, with my eyes shut and his dick in my mouth. He didn’t.

  It all hits me like a ton of bricks, and my chest tightens to the point where it becomes hard to breathe. There’s only one person who could have taken that picture, meaning there’s only one place it could have come from. But why?

  “H-how many people have seen this?”

  Tessa looks like she’s ready to lose her shit while Savannah rubs her hand on my back. I know my sister isn’t going to answer me, so I look to my best friend. She gives me a sad smile.

  “We think it was sent out to everyone at both schools.”

  The room spins and I think I’m about to be sick. “Everyone?” I gasp out.

  Tess throws her water bottle across the room. “I swear to God, I’m going to fucking kill him.”

  It’s only then I realize hundreds of my peers have seen me, like that. The only thing I can’t wrap my head around is what would motivate him to do this? On Friday, he made it sound like he was trying to protect me, but this is the total opposite. This is an emotional annihilation.

  A commotion in the hallway pulls my attention to the door, and it only takes a second before I hear Knox’s voice. My entire body goes completely still, listening to what sounds like an argument between Grayson, Carter, and my ex. Despite Savannah pleading for me to stay in here, I open the door and step into the hallway.

  “I didn’t fucking send it!” Knox shouts, Carter up in his face.

  “No? So that isn’t your fucking dick? You’re not the one who took the picture? Is that what you’re saying?”

  Being the arrogant little shit he is, he smirks. “Jealous, Trayland?”

  Carter goes to hit him but Knox jumps back and dodges it. When he does, his eyes meet mine.

  “Delaney!” he yells.

  Grayson and Carter turn to me in shock, but my attention stays focused on the guy who has caused my heart to break in ways I didn’t even think possible.

  “You need to leave.”

  He tries to come closer, but Grayson puts his hand out to stop him. “Leave does not mean go over there.”

  Knox gives him a nasty look but switches back to me. “You have to believe I didn’t send that. I would never.”

  “Don’t give me that shit. You took the picture for some reason. What was it? An insurance plan? A joke between you and your friends?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It fucking does!” I shriek. “Why the fuck did you take the picture, Knox? Tell me.”

  He drops his gaze and rubs the back of his neck. “Stone and I had a bet going,” he tells me, and I stagger slightly, the betrayal cutting deep. “But I swear, I didn’t show it to him! I kept it to myself.”

  “Until now.”

  “No. This wasn’t my doing. Hailey… she got ahold of my phone last night and—”

  “Hailey?” I hiss. “You’ve got to be kidding me! So, you said all that bullshit about
this break-up being for me, and then you went and hook up with your crazy ex-girlfriend? You are a piece of fucking work.”

  He shakes his head. “Nothing happened. I was just drunk and high, and I crashed at her house. Come on. You have to know me better than that.”

  I cross my arms over my chest. “Pretty sure I never knew you at all.”

  “Bambi,” he breathes.

  The anger inside of me bubbles over, and I start to walk toward him. “No! I’m not your fucking Bambi. I’m not your girlfriend. I’m not even your friend.” I shove my index finger into the center of his chest. “You wanted to end us, right? Well, congratulations. Now I’m fully on board.”

  I go to walk away when he grabs my wrist. “Delaney, please.”

  The pain in his eyes is evident, the first sign of it I’ve seen since he took a torch to our relationship. Only this time, I don’t care. I yank myself from his grasp and turn to Carter and Grayson.

  “Get him out of here.”

  Ignoring his pleads and shouts for Gray and Carter to get his hands off him, I go straight back into the empty classroom. I used to think Knox Vaughn was the best thing in my life, but now he’s nothing but dead to me.

  I SIT ON TOP of the picnic table in the courtyard, not wanting to be in the cafeteria where everyone is still talking about the picture of the year. It’s not every day that racy photos get sent around school, and certainly not of their potential valedictorian. Therefore, the further I can be from that gossip, the better.

  “Mind if I join you?” Carter asks, taking the seat next to me as I scoot over. “How are you doing?”

  I shrug. “As good as can be expected, I guess.”

  He nods thoughtfully. “Well, I got Wyatt to send out a text that cleared everyone’s message history when they opened it. So, unless they saved the picture, it’s gone. And he’s going to be keeping an eye on it for the next few weeks.”

  The effort is appreciated, but the damage is already done. Still, he’s trying.

  “Thank you,” I tell him.

  “I also really need to apologize.”

  I shake my head. “You don’t. It’s okay.”

  “I do. Jumping Knox like that, while it was well-deserved on his part, it was out of line. You were right. I was jealous.”

  “No, really?” The sarcasm drips from my lips.

  He chuckles and nudges me with his elbow. “My feelings for you have never been a secret, but I don’t think I’ve ever straight out said it.” He turns his head to look at me. “I like you, Delaney. A lot.”

  The honesty is sweet, and while a part of me wonders what my life would be like if I had originally chosen Carter instead of Knox, the timing couldn’t be more off. I may be ready to leave Knox in the past, but I’m definitely not ready to move on just yet.

  “You’re sweet, Carter, but I’m not—”

  He holds his hands up. “You’re not ready, I know. I can respect that.”

  The corners of my mouth raise. “You can?”

  “Of course, but I hated when you were mad at me. So, are we good?”

  I exhale. “Yeah, we’re good.”

  The two of us spend all of lunch just goofing around, Carter doing his best to make me laugh. It’s nice to be around him and not feel like I’m doing something wrong for once. Thoughts of Knox still manage to plague my mind, but I do my best to push them away.

  By the time that the bell rings, I’m somehow feeling a little better. However, I know the second I go back into school, the stares and whispers will bring me right back to my problems. Carter must sense my hesitation, because he comes over and drapes his arm over my shoulders.

  “Just stick with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  I smile up at him, knowing it’s probably a horrible idea, but one I’m not in the position to turn down. Not right now.

  26

  KNOX

  Three weeks. Twenty-one days. Five hundred and four hours. That’s how much time has gone by since I last heard from Delaney. Since the wounded look on her face and the words she yelled sliced right through me. No matter what I do, I can’t get her out of my head.

  Every morning, I wake up and hope to find a text from her in my phone. One I’d fight like hell to not answer, but it would still be something to let me know I’m on her mind. I find myself trying to catch a glance of her before I get to school, and when I do, I imagine the times when I was the reason for that perfect smile.

  The worst, however, are the nights I dream she’s still in my arms. That we’re still happy together, before everything got so fucked up. When I wake, there’s a split second when I think it’s real—until the truth slaps me across the face.

  Will I ever get over her? No, probably not. But do I still think this needs to be done? You’re damn fucking right I do.

  I’ll set myself on fire before I ever let Cal lay a finger on her.

  I DRIVE TO SCHOOL, the world looking a little less bright every day. As I pull into the parking lot, the urge to leave is strong. I can’t bring myself to care about school. But I need to stay. If I went home every time I felt like it, I’d never graduate.

  Walking up to my friends, I watch as Zayn pushes Easton’s phone down and away from me. The looks on their faces show that they’re up to something. Whatever it is, we’re not leaving here until they let me in on the damn secret.

  “What’s up?”

  Stone plays it off well. “Not much, fucker. What’s up with you?”

  I shake my head. “You idiots are hiding something. What the fuck is it?”

  “Knox, maybe it’s better if you don’t push this one,” Zayn warns, but I don’t listen.

  “Someone better start fucking talking before I make you talk.”

  Easton sighs and hands me his phone. “Trayland posted a picture of Delaney.”

  I look down at the photo, feeling as pain rips right through me. There’s nothing revealing or provocative about it. It’s just a picture of Laney reading a book with the caption Sunday chills underneath it. However, it’s enough to tell me that they spent yesterday together—and that stings.

  “Hey, losers,” Tessa greets us as she comes around the corner.

  I arch a brow as I look at her. “What’s going on between your sister and Carter Trayland?”

  “No.” She shakes her head. “That was part of the agreement. I didn’t kick your ass for letting Hailey get ahold of that picture, but I will not talk to you about Delaney. No fucking way.”

  “Tess,” I groan, but it’s pointless.

  “If you want to know something, go ask her.”

  “You know I can’t do that.”

  She smirks. “Exactly.”

  The day that picture got sent around, Tessa showed up at my house and genuinely made me fear for my life. She gave the nickname CBP a whole new meaning as she stood there with an actual fucking Molotov cocktail, ready to burn my house to the damn ground with me inside. Thankfully, I was able to get through to her before she lit the thing.

  When she managed to track down Hailey, however, there was nothing anyone could say to stop her from beating that girl to a pulp. My ex is good at fighting, don’t get me wrong, but she didn’t stand a chance against Tessa. A lesson was clearly learned that day—mess with Delaney, and you’ll have her sister to answer to.

  “Just tell me this, are they dating?”

  She shrugs. “You’ll have to ask her.”

  My jaw ticks, and to avoid the risk of flipping out on the wrong people, I mutter a few obscenities before storming away. Fucking Carter.

  TRAINING IS SOMETHING I always used to dread, until the need for an outlet for my rage became greater than my conscience. Now, it’s a welcomed part of my day. Sometimes I even come here when I’m not ordered to, just to give myself something to focus on. Every minute my mind is distracted by what punch I’m throwing or the target I’m hitting is a minute it’s not overanalyzing every single move Delaney makes.

  “Great work,” Jackson tells me
. “Go take five and hydrate.”

  I give him a fist bump before heading over to the bench where Grayson is sitting, messing around on his phone. As soon as I sit down, he glances over at me and his brows furrow.

  “What’s got you so fired up today?”

  Chugging half a bottle of water, I wait until I’m done to answer him. “A certain douchebag.”

  He chuckles. “Ah, so you’ve become acquainted with Carter’s social media.”

  “Yeah, it’s real fucking funny, asshole,” I growl. “You’ve got to give me something, because nothing is worse than what’s going through my mind.”

  The unsure look on his face makes me wonder if he’s going to tell me anything at all, but after a moment, he clicks off his phone and puts it next to him.

  “All right, what do you want to know?”

  I feel like a fucking teenage girl as I get excited at the idea of finally getting some answers. “What’s going on between them?”

  “That I don’t know.”

  “Are they dating?”

  He shakes his head and relief rushes through me. “Not yet, at least. Though I’m pretty sure that’s all Delaney’s doing.”

  It’s been over a month since our split, and the fact that she hasn’t moved on yet tells me she wasn’t lying when she said she loved me. I don’t know whether that makes me feel better or worse.

  “Why? She just doesn’t like him like that?”

  Grayson shrugs. “I don’t know.”

  I throw my head back and groan. “What the hell do you know?”

  “Honestly? Not a whole lot. They joke around at school and hang out on the weekends. The only thing I’m sure about is Carter isn’t playing around. He hasn’t so much as looked at another girl since having Delaney’s attention.”

  Fucking great. It’s only a matter of time before that shithead wins her over and I’m left to deal with the consequences of seeing them together—all while still doing what I can to protect her. The problem is I can’t protect her from Carter Trayland. I just hope I don’t have to.