“Dude.” Travis shakes his head, sighing when Noah slides his glare this way. “Just.. sit your ass down and chill out for a sec, yeah? You’re acting crazy.”
“I don’t give a fuck!” he shouts, throwing his hands out to emphasise his rage. “My girl is gone, you idiot. What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
“Maybe try keeping your dick out of her best friend,” I offer, shrugging while I finish the last of my drink. “See if that makes a difference.”
Several pairs of eyes pop wide in shock and Noah pulls his head back, gesturing to me with a thumb thrown over his shoulder. “Who the fuck is this freak?”
I cock my head at him and my cousin looks at me, raising a brow with a look that says aren’t you gonna tell them? He’s probably expecting me to sit here and brag about who my parents are, but I’ve got something better to brag about. Smug as fuck, I stand and place my empty cup down on the kitchen island, stepping closer to the boyfriend until our noses are just a few inches apart.
“I’m the freak who’s gonna steal your girl.”
His nostrils flare and Travis closes his eyes, dropping his head to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Fucking hell, Xan.”
I laugh lightly and shove my hands into my pockets, backing away from Noah to tilt my head at the front door. “You comin’, Trav?”
“Yeah,” he sighs, pushing himself off the counter to toss a half hearted wave at his friends.
They mumble their goodbyes and he follows me outside, snatching the keys from my hand with a drunken shake of his head.
“What?”
“I wasn’t kidding earlier,” he says, bypassing my car to tip his chin at the road up ahead. “It’s not that far. I’ll give you a ride to get your car in the morning.”
I shrug and fall in line to start walking, not missing the obvious slump in his shoulders or the way he won’t stop running his hands over his face.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” he mutters, rolling his eyes when I hit him with my best I call bullshit look. “I just feel bad for JJ, man. I mean, it’s bad enough finding out you’re being cheated on, but to catch them on her birthday in front of almost everyone she knows.. it fucking sucks.”
Wait..
“It’s her birthday?”
He nods and I frown, turning my head to glance back at the direction she drove off in earlier.
Fuck.
6
Jordyn
A loud, persistent knocking sound echoes through my bedroom and I groan, blindly reaching for my pillow to bury my head beneath it.
Go away.
“Come in,” I call, feigning a cheerfulness I don’t feel.
The double doors open and a heavy sigh fills my ears, followed by a thick British accent that grates on my nerves. “Why aren’t you up yet?”
“Because it’s Sunday,” I mutter, rolling my eyes when she taps her stiletto against the floor beneath her feet, impatiently waiting for me to show my face.
Maryanne’s a beautiful woman in her early forties – tall and slim with a gorgeous head of thick, black hair. She’s been with us for as long as I can remember, practically raised me herself thanks to my absent mother and her love for work and men, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a massive pain in my ass.
“There’s someone at the door for you,” she informs me, lifting a defensive hand when she catches the glare on my face. “It’s not Noah. We’re all very aware you told us not to bother you if he showed up here today. It’s someone else. Another boy.”
“What boy?”
“I don’t know,” she sighs, moving for the patio doors on the north wall to fling the curtains open. “Come downstairs and see to your.. visitor. And for goodness sake, put some clothes on. Your mother would have a fit if she saw you walking around dressed like that.”
I flip her off behind her back and stand up to grab my white robe from the floor, throwing the cool silk over my shoulders to cover the short pyjama shorts and cropped tank top I’m wearing. I make my way down to the front door and swing it open, pulling my head back when I find Xander Reid standing on my front steps in the exact same spot as last night, only he’s not smoking a cigarette this time. His eyes widen a little bit when he sees what I’m wearing and he curses, blatantly checking me out from head to toe.
“My eyes are up here,” I point out, crossing my arms over my chest to hide my body from him.
“Yeah, but your ass is down there.”
I drop my jaw at that, honest to god wondering if he was dropped a lot as a kid. “You’re..”
“I’m what?”
“Disgusting,” I decide. “You’re disgusting.”
A real life grin spreads across his stupid face and he dips his head, glancing up at me from beneath his lashes in a way that’d make him look hot as fuck if he didn’t irritate me so much.
“What do you want, new boy?”
“Me and Trav are gonna go grab some breakfast at Lucky’s,” he tells me, tilting his head at his cousin’s car parked behind the Camaro on my driveway.
Travis offers me a nervous smile from his spot in the drivers seat and I reluctantly smile back, working my jaw when I catch the look on his face. It’s pity, and I don’t miss the way he can barely look me in the eye after what happened here last night.
“You wanna come?” Xander asks, purposely ignoring the tension between me and his cousin.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Because all my so called friends will be there and I don’t have the courage to face them right now. I’m fully aware I’ll have to see them at school tomorrow, but this is my day – the one day I’m giving myself to wallow in my own self pity until it’s time to face the music.
I don’t tell him any of that, though.
Instead I keep my mouth shut and take a second to look at him, really look at him for the first time since I opened the door just now. He’s wearing yet another pair of ripped jeans and a black t–shirt, his purple hair still a little damp from the shower he must have taken before coming here. His eyes are hazel, I only just notice, so light they almost look gold in the light of day. They’re annoyingly gorgeous and magnetic, and I can’t help but wonder how he’d look on the other side of my camera, leaning back against the Camaro I’m not sure how he can afford, his hands shoved into his pockets with his head cocked to the side, that cocky little smirk on his face that makes me want to punch him..
Fucking sexy.
That’s how he’d look.
“What’s with the hair?”
He raises a brow and I blush before I can stop it, inwardly cursing myself for asking that out loud.
“It was a dare,” he says simply, shrugging like that explains it. “You like it?”
“I..” I consider lying to him but decide against it, knowing it’ll boost his already massive ego but telling him anyway. “I don’t hate it.”
He laughs lightly at that. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now go away.”
“Go out with me tonight.”
My hand freezes on the door knob and I turn around to face him, scrunching my nose when I realize he’s not messing with me. “What?”
“Go out with me tonight,” he repeats, slower this time. “No Travis. Just me and you.”
I blink, then I blink again, blinking several times while my brain attempts to process his stupidity. “You’re asking me out on a date?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, let me rephrase that. You’re asking me out on a date less than twelve hours after I broke up with my boyfriend for fucking my best friend?”
He grins that stupid grin again. “Yep.”
I slam the door in his face and flick the lock, heading for the kitchen to go find myself some breakfast. “Asshole.”
h
I pause the movie I’m watching by myself and wrap my arms around my waist, leaning my head back on the twelve seater couch to glare at the huge, cinema style big screen on
the front wall of the den.
This is beyond pathetic.
I’ve got everything a girl could ask for, always have and probably always will, and yet I don’t think I’ve ever felt this sad in my life.
Embarrassed and stupid and alone.
A defeated sigh leaves me and I wipe my eyes with my sleeves, standing up from my seat in search of some chocolate and ice cream. We don’t keep that stuff here, of course, so I grab my phone despite the fact it’s been switched off since last night and head out to my car, frowning when I spot the white envelope attached to my windshield. I walk around to the front and pick it off, squinting into the darkness to read the unfamiliar handwriting scribbled across the back of it.
Jordyn.
“What the fuck?” I whisper to myself, quickly glancing left and right to check for movement.
Finding nothing but my own driveway and the trees surrounding it, I shake off that stupid glimmer of hope in my chest and flip it over to tear it open.
My dad’s the only person who calls me Jordyn, but there’s no way he would leave this here, not after all this time without a word..
Something falls from the card and I scramble to catch it with my left hand, quickly looking around again before I turn it over to inspect it. It’s a keychain, a purple one in the shape of that smirking devil emoji Kian uses all the time. Still confused, I open the only birthday card I got this year and read the note written on the inside.
Smile, princess.
There’s always next year.
7
Xander
I pull up beside Travis in the parking lot and climb out of my car, desperately tugging on the air stealing leash around my neck while I look up at my new school. Lakewood Academy is just as I imagined it would be – a modern style building crawling with superficial rich kids. It’s admittedly not that much different to the public school I went to in LA – they were all rich assholes, too, myself included – but at least we didn’t have to wear these stupid ass uniforms there.
Travis looks my way and rolls his eyes, snatching the cigarette from my mouth to toss it on the ground.
“Hey.”
“Dude, knock it off,” he hisses, snatching my forearm to pull me towards the steps leading up to the main entrance. “My mom’ll kill you if she catches you smoking out here.”
“Why are you so worried?”
“I’m not worried,” he lies, sighing when I raise a brow at him. “It’s nothing. Just.. keep your head down and stay away from Noah, yeah?”
“Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he deadpans. “Maybe because you told him you were gonna steal his girlfriend in front of half the fucking school.”
I laugh at that, still tugging on the knot around my neck while I follow him inside. “You have to admit that was kinda funny.”
“It wasn’t funny.”
It was, but whatever.
He walks me to my locker and I unlock it with the combination his mom gave me at breakfast this morning. She didn’t look very happy with me and my appearance, but instead of going off on me like I expected her to, she kept her judgy little opinion to herself and handed me my schedule, warning me to behave myself or else.
I’m really not looking forward to finding out whatever or else means.
Kian appears at my side and I bump his fist, chuckling when he wraps his arm around my neck and walks me to class. “You sure you’re not gay, Xander Reid?”
“Positive.”
“Shame,” he teases, reaching up to run a hand through my hair. “I’d look hot as fuck with your dick in my ass.”
“Kian,” Travis growls, making him jump.
“What?”
“Get off him.”
“Jealous much?” he jokes, earning himself yet another glare from my usually chill cousin.
I frown at the obvious tension between them and round the corner, damn near tripping over my own feet when I spot Jordyn James walking through the double doors at the other end of the hall. She’s wearing a white button down tucked neatly into a black and white checkered skirt, her Lakewood Academy tie wrapped perfectly around her neck in a way that makes me wanna pull on it. Her heels echo against the tiled floor while she walks through the parted crowd with her eyes on her phone, doing a helluva good job to ignore the eyes following her every move. Most of the students lingering on the sidelines are all pointing and whispering shit with their heads in close, but the princess pretends not to notice, discreetly rolling her eyes when Sienna scurries to keep up with her.
“Dude, will you quit staring at her?” Travis whispers, knocking my elbow with his when I refuse to take my eyes off her. “It’s creepy.”
He’s probably right, but I can’t help it.
Something about her just calls to me in a way I’ve never experienced before.
She looks so put together and fake and trapped and so fucking hot I can’t stand it.
She looks like mine.
“JJ, wait!” Noah calls, pulling me from my thoughts.
She stops to open her locker and he glares at Sienna, effectively dismissing her without a word. She moves to stand beside Travis and Kian and Noah leans in to say something to Jordyn, not noticing the way her tiny little hands curl into fists around her books. She looks like she wants to go off on him, and fuck, I wish she would, but instead of punching him in the mouth, she forces that stupid smile and says something I can’t hear, then she side steps him and walks into class without looking back. Noah’s eyes immediately hit mine and he locks his jaw, glaring again when he catches the look on my face.
“The fuck are you staring at, freak?” he bites out, loud enough for all to hear.
“You’ve got lip gloss on your mouth,” I inform him, stepping closer to bump his shoulder with mine. “Clean it up, asshole.”
Penelope walks around the corner wearing the same fucking shade of cherry red and I walk into first period, winking at Jordyn when I catch her standing just inside the door with her head turned over her shoulder and her mouth parted. Her brows pull in and she moves her eyes over my disheveled uniform, shaking her head at me with a small smile on her lips – a real fucking smile – before taking her seat at the back of the class. I hide my grin and move for the teacher’s desk, finding a hot brunette woman in her mid to late twenties with her thin glasses perched on the edge of her nose.
“Hi, I’m–”
“Xander Reid, the principal’s nephew,” she finishes for me, not looking up while she scribbles something on her notepad. “Can you be trusted to sit with your cousin without disrupting my class?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She nods and rips the paper off, handing it to me with a tip of her chin. “Sit down and turn to page thirty one.”
I frown and move to take the empty seat beside Travis, laughing lightly when I realize she’s just given me a lunch hour detention slip. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Purple hair, tattoos and body piercings aren’t against school policy, Mr Reid,” she draws out, still jotting away at her desk. “The board wants students to feel free to express themselves, whatever that means, but while you’re sitting in my classroom, you will wear the uniform without looking like you just spent a half hour in the bathroom with a grabby cheerleader.”
The majority of the class bursts out laughing and I shake my head at her, discreetly sliding my eyes to the side to check Jordyn’s reaction. She’s not laughing like the rest, but I don’t miss the way she keeps stealing glances at me when she thinks I’m not looking. I’m not the only one watching her, though, and when Noah slides his narrowed eyes from her to me, I swear I can practically hear the silent threat there.
Stay away from her.
But unfortunately for him, I’m not afraid of pretty boy douchebags who depend on their rich daddies to fight their battles for them, which is why I drop back in my seat and hold his eyes with a silent message of my own.
Make me.
h
Detention comes and goes
and I manage to sneak out to the parking lot for a cigarette, pulling my brows in when I find Jordyn hiding behind her car with her eyes glued to the booklet in her hands. It looks like some sort of college brochure, but I can’t tell which school she’s looking at from here. I lean back against the side of my Camaro and tilt my head to light up, chuckling to myself when she squeals and spins to face me.
This girl is so fucking jumpy.
She quickly hides the booklet behind her back like she’s been caught doing something she shouldn’t, only releasing the breath she was holding when she realizes I’m alone. “Jesus, you scared me.”
“Sorry.”
She raises a brow at that, somehow knowing I’m not sorry at all. “What are you doing out here?”
“Smokin’ a cigarette,” I say simply, eyeing her curiously while I blow my smoke out to the side. “What are you doing out here?”
“Nothing,” she mutters, discreetly tossing the booklet across to her passenger seat in an attempt to hide it from me, but I already saw it.
“Washington?” I ask, amused. “What, did you pull out a map and pick the furthest school you could find?”
“Can you mind your own business?” she bites out, but something tells me that’s not a rhetorical question – she’s actually asking me if I can manage to keep my mouth shut about whatever it is I’m seeing here. “Please?” she adds, softer this time.
My brows dip and I run my tongue bar over my teeth, hiding a grin when her eyes drop to follow the sound.
“Fine.” I nod, pushing myself off my car to level with her. “I’ll keep your little college secret, but now you have to do something for me.”
“And what’s that?”
“Kiss me.”
“What?” she chokes out. “Why?”
“Why?” I echo, laughing lightly when I realize she’s actually expecting an answer to that. “Maybe I like you.”
“Or maybe you just wanna fuck a princess,” she fires back, crossing her arms over her chest with her head cocked to the side.
Little Devil Page 4