by Ruby Vincent
Ryder didn’t appear to have heard me. He was still stroking my neck—an intimate gesture so out of tune with the secret promise to throttle me. My heart was rocketing out of my chest and beating against his. My palms felt slick with sweat. I needed to stop this. Smack him. Throw him off. Run. Something!
My brain screamed at my frozen body as Ryder closed the distance between us and pressed his lips to my mouth. “Maybe before this is all over... I’ll steal another one.”
“You won’t.” My lips puckered on the last word and caressed his in a way that could have been a kiss. But it wasn’t. This—like everything with Ryder—was a game. “Because if you try... I’ll bite them off.”
He chuckled, his laughter rolling out of his chest and transforming into warm air on my lips. “I’d be worried about that”—his hand tightened—“if I couldn’t feel your pulse.”
“Excuse me? What is going on here?”
Just like that the hand disappeared.
“Valentina,” Noemi’s voice broke through. “Are you okay?”
Words were too difficult at that moment so I nodded. My bodyguard stepped up to me and pointedly put herself between us, forcing Ryder back. “Is there something you need, Mr. Shea?”
“I’ve got everything I need.” Ryder held up his hand and released my bag. “See you around, Val.”
I rescued my stuff off the floor once Ryder was well and truly away. Together, Noemi and I walked past hostile faces on the way to my room, and I looked around and sighed.
“Welcome to another semester at Evergreen.”
SOFIA SNUCK INTO MY dorm that night after curfew. I had never met Gus or the rest of the security team, but we were trusting them not to reveal we were hanging out again.
“I can be like your spy,” she said as we flicked through our movie choices. The two of us were lounging on my bed getting ready to queue up Netflix like we did over winter break. “I’ll warn you whenever I overhear someone plotting some shit. We can have a code word like we did when Ryder was around.”
I pulled out the pack of Oreos I had snuck in my bag from home. I tossed them to her. “I love it. It can’t be too weird though. Something people would believe you’d randomly say to me.”
She hummed around a mouthful of chocolate and cream. “How about... virgin?” She clapped, falling for her own idea. “That’s perfect. Everyone is calling you that anyway. If I say it, no one will think twice.”
I tapped my nose. “Pretty and smart. You’ll go far in this world, Sofia Richards.” Laughing, I ducked when she sent a pillow flying at my head. “I’m lucky I have you on the inside.” A bit of unease pushed through my amusement. “Ryder is saying they’re going to get more creative this semester—bodyguard be damned.”
Sofia’s fingers stilled on the keyboard. She gave me a look that would have been reflected in my eyes if I would allow myself to give in to fear. No matter what Ryder believed, he wouldn’t break me.
“But he won’t— They won’t touch you,” she reminded. “No one is allowed to hurt you.”
Visions of crackling fires and ripped photos flashed through my mind. “There are other ways to hurt someone,” I said simply. “Plus, not everyone is as obedient to the Knights as you think. Natalie had no problem sending me skidding along the track.”
“That won’t happen again. Noemi has your back, and Ryder is just trying to get in your head. I’ll bet he’ll be too busy to invent new ways to torture you. This last semester is the most important. Our grades are weighted heavier and if we don’t pass, we’re out.”
I groaned. “You know, normal high schools don’t have a GPA cutoff. Especially as high as 3.5.”
Sofia patted my arm. “You haven’t figured out yet that this isn’t a normal high school?”
Now it was my turn to whack her with a pillow. She screeched and set off the pillow fight of the century, but even while I laughed, part of me knew she was wrong about him.
Ryder would never be too busy to torment me.
“BREAK WAS AWESOME.”
I put my phone in its slot and closed the wooden door. Jaxson’s voice floated to me as I walked to my desk. A bunch of students surrounded him, all obsessed with hearing about his vacation.
“Dad had The Undisturbed in for a few recording sessions and I heard their entire new album.”
One of the girls, Michaela, gasped. “Jaxson, that’s amazing. I love that band.” She scooted her seat closer and slipped her hand under his blazer. “I’m so jealous,” she purred.
I barely restrained myself from rolling my eyes. It was incredibly cool and I’d sell my teeth for a chance to look at The Undisturbed, let alone listen to their recording sessions, but still it rankled seeing that smug look on his face.
“Course you are,” the ass replied. “But if you’re good, I’ll let you listen to a few tracks. Dad would flip shit if he found out, but I snuck my phone in and recorded a few tracks.”
Michaela giggled. “Oh, I’ll be good.”
It couldn’t be helped. I kissed my teeth loud enough for their eyes to fly to me.
Jaxson lifted a brow. “Got something you wanna say, baby?”
I put my books on my desk and folded my arms. “Nope. Nothing except to remind you I’m not your baby. Why don’t you record that and play it whenever you forget.”
A smile curled his lips. “You won’t believe this, but I missed you over the break.”
“You did?”
He nodded, his smirk growing wider. “But whenever I wanted you too badly, I pulled up the sight of you in that towel—strutting that ass for everyone to see.” He winked. “That got me through the cold nights.”
Michaela glanced from me to Jaxson. From her glower, she didn’t like his not-so-subtle implication.
“You’re disgusting, Jaxson.”
“Come on, Val. When are you going to stop playing hard to get?”
I smiled at him. “The second you stop playing impossible to want.”
“Ooh.” He flinched theatrically. “She comes back with a good one. But you shouldn’t have told me that. Now I know I’ve got a chance.”
If things had been different, I would be hiding a smile at falling into this familiar dance. But things weren’t different. There would be no finding a stairwell and banging it out. I’d never forget that Ryder and his buddies had made me a bet.
“You have no chance,” I said honestly. “But the sad thing is, you might have if you hadn’t been such a... you.”
Jaxson’s good-humored expression disappeared, and I knew my strike landed. He clicked his tongue. “Whatever. I don’t have time to waste on you anyway.” Jaxson turned back to Michaela who lit up at having his attention again. I was dismissed.
It was a relief when homeroom was over. I couldn’t stand to hear Jaxson’s bragging or Michaela’s giggling. It had gotten to the point where their flirting had gotten pornographically detailed and I wondered how everyone in their vicinity wasn’t blushing.
I stomped out of class with Noemi on my heels. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“That guy your ex?”
I almost tripped. “No, he’s not! What guy?”
She gave me a knowing look. “Why’d you say no if you don’t know what guy I’m talking about.”
I huffed. “He’s just a flirty jerk who I used to think had a good side. I was wrong.”
“Everyone has a good side.”
My eyes were drawn over her shoulder. Across the marble floors, Ryder sauntered down the hall alongside Ezra. Ezra must have said something funny because he threw his head back and laughed—infusing his glacial features with warmth. As I looked at him, I could feel his soft lips on mine.
I could feel his fingers on my throat.
“Not everyone,” I replied. I picked up my feet and continued to English class.
Professor Strange was up and standing behind her desk as we filed in. I walked past Sofia on the way to my desk and she tossed me a wink.
“Good morning, class,
” Strange began after the bell rang. “Welcome to another semester at Evergreen.”
There was a polite applause.
“As I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear,” she continued. “Your workload will only get more rigorous as you pursue your journey to graduation. My job is to prepare you for that.”
I do not like where this is going.
“This semester you will be undertaking a special writing assignment. You will choose one famous writer in history and craft a detailed paper analyzing their body of work, characters, setting, prose, imagery, etc. You will couple this with a biography of their life.” Strange’s wrinkled face shone with excitement. It was the only one. “Both papers will be due at midterms and presented to the class. This will comprise a quarter of your grade. Any questions?”
A boy in front of me raised his hand.
“Yes, Mr. Myles?”
“Will we have partners?”
She shook her head. “This is a solo project and no two students will share the same author. Today you will choose your writer and tell me by the end of class. First come, first served.”
That set off a chorus of paper ruffling and unzipped bags. No one wanted to be stuck with some obscure random guy, or worse, one that wrote a thousand novels they’d have to compare. But I didn’t reach for my laptop.
I stood and approached Strange’s desk. She peered curiously at me over her glasses. “Yes, Miss Moon?”
“I’d like Aldous Huxley.”
“I see, and are you familiar with him?”
The class fell hushed behind me. “Yes. Aldous Leonard Huxley. English writer born 1894.”
She hummed, looking pleasantly surprised. She was already reaching for her pen when she asked, “Why Aldous Huxley?”
“Because he saw the world around him for what it was and wasn’t afraid to call it out. He knew the society he lived in needed to change—to be better.” I turned slightly, letting my voice carry. “And he reminds us that we need to challenge the problems in our society, not blindly go along with them.” I shifted back to face her. “Plus, he’s got a great quote about the power of music that I’ve loved since I was little.”
Strange clapped. “Very well said, Miss Moon. I look forward to your presentation.”
I returned to my desk, passing Natalie and Airi’s table on the way. “Go back to sucking dicks,” Natalie scoffed. “Your mouth is a lot better at that than preaching.”
Half the class burst into laughter.
I sighed. It begins.
ONE THING SOFIA WAS right about was that this semester would keep us busy. For the next few weeks, I practically lived in the library. With all the projects, assignments, tests, and homework, I didn’t have time to worry about whispered insults, the threats, or the website the Diamonds had created for me listing all the sex acts I’d perform. The assholes topped it off by linking my school email to the site and now every day I opened it to at least a half dozen messages from pedophilic old men.
Sofia had to talk me down after I read the first few messages and what those men wanted to do to a fifteen-year-old girl. In the end, we decided to forward all the emails to the police, but I still had nightmares for a week.
The fact is the Diamonds operated on a whole other level of vicious, proving their desire to be the best. They were almost as bad as the Knights, but those guys were awful in a different way. At least the Diamonds came at me head-on. The Knights were being worryingly quiet.
There had been nothing from them since the start of school. Maverick continued to not say a word to me. Ezra plastered his bland smile on his face when he passed me in the halls. Jaxson had seemed to grow tired of propositioning me for sex, and Ryder...
I sunk onto the couch and balanced my spicy carrot and hummus sandwich in my lap. The Knights’ room was even messier than usual. Apart from their usual gears, gadgets, records, and schedules, the place was loaded up with textbooks and library borrows. Midterm exams and presentations began the next day and they were clearly feeling the pressure like the rest of us.
I kicked a funny-looking robot thing aside and propped my feet on the coffee table. I quite liked eating in here. I liked the peace, the quiet, listening to Jaxson’s music collection and, every now and then, moving things slightly out of place to get the boys scratching their heads. It wasn’t much in the way of revenge, but I couldn’t bring myself to sink to their level. The only thing that would truly piss them off is withstanding everything they threw at me.
Sighing contentedly, I got comfy on their couch and polished off my crunchy sandwich.
After classes I’ll have to redo my section on Brave New World. Probably should have picked an author that wrote pulpy entertainment but I had to make a point.
I reached for my banana bread. Good thing I’m almost done writing the—
Click.
My eyes snapped to the doorknob. Time slowed as the knob turned and the bread slipped through my fingers. In the seconds it took to bounce onto my plate, the door had swung open to reveal Maverick.
Our eyes locked—surprise mirrored on our faces. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but only a croak came out.
In a blink, Maverick’s face smoothed out. He stepped inside. “So this is where you go.”
The tray clattered to the ground as I lurched to my feet. “Maverick, I—”
“We wondered where you disappeared to every day and the whole time you were hiding out here.” He inclined his head. “Smart.” Maverick let the door swing shut and then positioned himself in front of it.
“Yes, it was.” I stepped over my mess. “And now I’m leaving so if you could move—”
Maverick reached behind him and I heard a soft click. “No.”
I blinked. “No? What do you mean no?” Advancing on him, I grabbed his arm and tugged. “Get out of the way. I won’t come into your stupid clubhouse again, so—”
“No, I didn’t know.”
I tugged harder. The guy was a block of stone. Honestly, they shouldn’t be allowed to make fifteen-year-olds this big. “What are you talking about?! Just move!” I wouldn’t lie, I was starting to panic. I knew the boys wouldn’t take it kindly if they ever found me in here, but I wasn’t expecting to be locked in with no one around to help. “Maverick, I swear, if you—”
“About the video or the private investigator.”
I stopped as his calm words penetrated. “What?” I breathed.
“I didn’t know about it, Val. That Ezra was going to broadcast that video or that Ryder found your father.”
I gazed at him; eyes wide. Maverick didn’t look blank now. His face was tight, forehead scrunched up as though saying this pained him. “I didn’t know about any of it, Valentina.”
“But... you wouldn’t have stopped it if you did.”
He pressed his lips together, but didn’t deny it. I dropped my hands and stepped back. “I don’t know what to do with that, Maverick. I don’t know why I asked you at all because it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change the fact that you guys made a bet over me. It doesn’t change that you’ve done nothing but lie to me since we’ve first met.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?” I cried, throwing up my hands. “You can’t tell me it didn’t happen. I was there.”
“I didn’t lie about everything.”
“Really? Then what were you honest about, Maverick? Tell me.”
“This.”
That was all the warning I got before Maverick seized me and crushed me against his body. My cry was quickly swallowed by his lips. Despite the almost feverish way he kissed me, his hands were gentle as he curled them around my waist.
What the fuck does he think he’s doing?!
Rage swelled within me, hot and pulsing as it beat out the shock. He can’t just—
Maverick slipped his hand under the fabric of my shirt and brushed his thumb along the tender, sensitive skin of my stomach. Electricity surged through my body and swept me under. A sof
t moan escaped my lips, parting enough for Maverick to deepen the kiss. My anger fled like a bat exposed to light, and the hands meant to push him away, traveled over the ridges and dips of his muscles and settled on his neck.
Kissing Maverick was like being plunged into a roaring fire. My body sizzled with heat that promised to overwhelm and burn me away. His fingers skimmed the top of my skirt and the feel of him on my skin made me quiver. He didn’t try to head higher or lower, but I could only guess at the effect it would have on me if he did.
The thought no sooner crossed my mind than the hands disappeared. Before I could miss the loss, Maverick was grabbing my thighs and lifting me up. He carried me to the couch and sat us down without breaking our kiss. I was straddling him, rocking against his lap, as his hands moved up my thighs and slipped under my skirt. I didn’t know if I was thankful or regretful that I had put on a thong that morning.
Maverick cupped my cheeks.
Definitely thankful, I thought as another moan escaped my lips.
We broke apart, our breaths ragged as he gazed at me through hooded eyes.
“So beautiful,” he whispered.
“You’ve gotten so beautiful.”
Ryder’s words slid through my mind and brought me crashing back to reality. What the hell was I doing?
I yanked Maverick’s hands off my ass and scrambled off of him.
“Val, wait!”
I didn’t stop. I tore out of the Knights’ room and didn’t look back. I’d have to find another place to eat lunch.
“I’M SORRY, I MUST HAVE hallucinated. There’s no way I heard you right.”
I paced up and down the carpet. My body was brimming with too much nervous energy to stay still. “You definitely heard right.”
Sofia gaped at me from among my sheets. “You and Maverick Beaumont kissed. Again?!”
I winced. Flashes of seeking fingers and soft moans plagued my mind. “Kiss is too small a word for what we did.”
“What? You had sex?!”
“No!” Heat flooded my cheeks at the thought. “I only meant we got carried away.”
“What are you going to do now?”
I groaned. Veering off, I flopped down face-first on the bed, narrowly missing Sofia. She patted my head.