Our eyes meet.
And then … my eyes stray to the rest of the room.
What fresh hell is this? I wonder as I notice a sea of … like, cute things. There are unicorn figurines, stuffed bears, and enough pink to choke a horse. My gaze widens as I take in the giant bed with its frilly white coverlet and canopy.
“Get the fuck out of my room before I decide you’re not too cute to kill,” Ranger says, his voice like a venomous snake, slithering right for me, fangs bared. But I can’t move. I can’t move because he’s naked, and his room is like, precious as hell, and I just want to go and hug the crap out of him. Even though I know I shouldn’t, even though I know it’s a bad idea, I step into the room and shut the door.
Ranger’s eyes widen, and he yanks his phone off his bed, tapping out a rapid-fire text.
“What did you just say? And to who?” I ask, carefully moving into the room. It’s tastefully done, not nearly as gaudy as it sounds. But it shows me a whole other side to this gruff asshole that I never would’ve believed existed if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.
“I said get here now, or I’m going to fuck your girlfriend,” Ranger tells me, standing there naked and erect and sweating. We stare at each other as his phone pings about a dozen times, and he glances down at the messages.
He looks back up.
We keep staring.
The tension almost hurts at this point.
“Get. Out. Now.”
I back up suddenly, turn toward the door, and then find that he’s slammed his palms on either side of me. Now I’m trapped in here, and his erection is hovering very near my bare ass. My heart races, and I can’t breathe.
“What did they say?” I ask as Ranger lowers his lips to the side of my neck. As soon as he touches me with them, I lose it. A groan escapes me, and I end up arching my back involuntarily. That move puts his dick right between my cheeks.
“They said, it’s her choice.”
“No they didn’t.”
Ranger puts the phone in front of my face, and there it is.
The message is from Micah, but I figure they’re all together somewhere.
Ranger: Get here now, or I’m going to fuck your girlfriend.
Micah: What? What the hell, man? Are you serious?
I mean, we talked about this, and you said you didn’t want to date.
Shit, Spencer is freaking.
What’s Charlotte want?
It’s her choice.
Let us know that’s happening.
I stare at the messages until I’m practically cross-eyed.
“Shit.” My voice is ragged, barely human. Ranger kisses down the side of my neck, giving me goose bumps. His hand slides up my side and then underneath the front of the apron, kneading the bare flesh of my breast.
“I knew I shouldn’t have let you put that apron on,” he whispers, grinding himself against me. I lean into it, my head spinning with the sudden rush of hormones. My body wants one thing, but my heart … I’m not sure I can do this to Spencer. To the twins. Micah may have said it’s my choice, but … that doesn’t mean he wants me to do this. And he did say Spencer was freaking out.
Ranger’s other hand drops to my waist, and he leans his big body in close to mine, smelling like sugar and sweet things mixed with a little bit of leather.
“You know my secret now. I like cute shit—including you. With your stupid, hideous glasses, and your mop of ridiculous hair, and that mouth …”
“It was hardly a secret,” I choke out, closing my eyes. “You always blush when you see unicorns or kittens or—” A moan escapes me as he pinches my nipple and twists it just enough to make me see stars.
“You.”
He presses himself to my opening, and I lean back, encouraging the move, wanting to take him right here and now.
And then my brain snaps to, and I realize we can’t do this. Not like this. I have to see the others first, I just have to.
“Wait.”
Ranger pauses, and it’s a very questionable position we’re in. He’s almost … not quite …
“We can’t do this.”
He lets go of me like I’m on fire and steps back, turning away suddenly, breathing rapidly.
“Please get out of my room.”
This time, when he asks, I listen.
And then I run.
Of course, I don’t run very far. Just until I find the guest room with the penis on the bed. Then I lock myself in, strip off the apron, and climb in an ice-cold shower. The shock of the water knocks the horny right out of me, and I’m shivering as I get out and dig around in the drawers and closet.
There’s nothing of Jenica’s in here. If this really was her room once upon a time, she’s been completely erased. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to wrap a towel around myself and go off in search of my clothes.
I only make it so far as the door, finding Spencer waiting there with my bra dangling from one of his fingers.
He looks pissed.
He steps into the room and kicks it closed behind him, flicking the lock and then tossing my clothes on the ground.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and he just stares at me with his intense turquoise eyes.
“If you mean is Ranger still alive, then yeah, for the moment he is. Maybe not for long. How was it?”
“Huh?”
“How was the sex?” Spencer stares at me blankly, and I blink back at him.
“We … didn’t have any. I mean, we got close, but we didn’t. I couldn’t do that to you.”
More staring.
He takes a few steps toward me and then pauses again, looking down into my eyes. When he reaches up and strips off the towel, I let him.
“I meant it, you know. I’m not scared of them or anyone else, Chuck.” Spencer pushes me onto the bed and climbs on top of me. I’m wrapping my arms around his neck, digging my fingers into his silver hair. When he unzips his jeans, and thrusts into me, I forget to be reasonable.
We do something quick and messy and totally wrong in that guest bedroom, and fortunately for both of us, Spencer remembers to pull out just before he comes. That poor fucking towel …
We lay there panting for a minute before I get up and hit the shower again. This time, my clothes are waiting on the toilet when I come out, and I get dressed before I have to look at Spencer again.
He glances over at me, and at least has the decency to look chagrined.
“I can’t believe you guys didn’t … I was sure of it.”
“You didn’t want me to sleep with him. You should just be honest,” I say, going to sit down beside him. We both fidget in the silence for a few moments.
“I don’t want it. I don’t want you with the twins either, but …” He slides his hand over his face. “I’m serious. Just, do whatever and at least we’ll have matching numbers.”
“Huh?” I ask, heart racing, trying not to think of our sex ed class that we just had, and how very clear Mr. Cruschek was about the pull-out method. Pre-ejaculate can have viable sperm, and we just did it without a condom, and I’m an idiot. Spencer’s an idiot.
And my dad was so surprised that I didn’t want to attend an all-boys school as a girl. Of course, I didn’t expect to be sleeping with everybody at said school … Am I a whore? No, no, that’s outdated and misogynistic and dumb. Shaming women for having sex is the oldest trick of the patriarchy.
I exhale.
“I’ve slept with five people, so you sleep with five. Be with Ranger. Or Church. He’s clearly in love with you.”
I snort, and Spencer turns to look at me with a brow raised.
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. He goes out of his way to avoid touching me.”
“Right …” Spencer trails off and then tries to smooth his hair down with his palm. “Because he’s in love with you.”
“He barely talks to me.”
“He paid millions of dollars and used up dozens of favors to give you a private afternoon in Disneylan
d, something they don’t even do for world leaders. You get that, right? It’s a big fucking deal.”
“He can’t be in love with me,” I continue, and Spencer sighs.
“Why not?”
“It’s not possible, not this quick.”
Silence. And then …
“Oh, really?” Spencer asks, just before the door bursts open and the twins come in.
Tobias gives the towel a look, and then glances back at us.
My cheeks flush.
“We have snacks for tonight, plenty of weed. Are you staying?” Tobias asks as Micah gives me a somewhat sympathetic look.
“I … is that a good idea?” I ask, and the twins exchange a glance.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” they reply, turning back to me and Spencer.
They help me up, and Spence takes care of the towel, carrying it downstairs and putting it in the wash. I’ve got a stomach full of butterflies, a mountain of anxiety, and I can’t decide if I should add another worry to my already lengthy list. A pregnancy scare would not be a fun thing to deal with.
“Chip?” Church asks, holding out a bowl full of Doritos as I move into the living room and sit next to him on the couch. Ranger’s in the chair to my right, and surprisingly, he doesn’t avoid looking at me.
We stare at each other.
There’s been a lot of staring going on here this afternoon.
“No, thank you,” I finally answer as Spencer, Micah, and Tobias file into the room and stand near the fireplace, like parents about to scold naughty children. “Guys, I’m really sorry …”
“It was my fault,” Ranger says, his sapphire eyes still firmly affixed to my face. I wish he’d look away, at something else, someone else, anything else. “It won’t happen again.”
“Man, we brought this up,” Micah starts, “at that emergency Student Council meeting we had the other night.”
“You guys have emergency Student Council meetings when school’s not even in session?” I ask, completely and utterly confused by the whole situation. “Why?”
They ignore me.
“We said if you liked Chuck, you should speak up, and then talk to her about it. And what did you do? Fed us that same bullshit about not dating. I get it, dude, but we need to have an honest discussion here. This crap is going to pull us apart.” Micah stares his friend down and finally—finally—Ranger adjusts his gaze.
“Sorry, yeah, yes.” Ranger looks back at me, cutting my two second reprieve short by half. He frowns. “I should’ve said something.”
“You’re into me?” I ask, pointing at him, and he sighs, sort of like Spencer did when he was lamenting being attracted to such an ugly, ornery boy.
“I guess.” Ranger rubs his face. “Yes.”
I blush again, curling my legs under me, and covering up with a blanket.
Church is very careful not to touch me, even though we’re sitting inches apart. See what I mean? All I got was that one hug on the last day of school, and then whatever that was in the rest stop lobby.
“Chuck-let?” Spencer asks, putting his hands in his pockets and tilting his head to one side, silver hair falling across his brow. “This is your last chance to speak up.”
“I …” I glance from him to Tobias, then Micah, Ranger, Church. His amber eyes meet mine. He won’t look away. I want him to, but he won’t. See what I mean about all the fucking staring? “Let’s … okay. Fine. Yes. I like Ranger. It just sort of crept up on me. I’m not sure what’s happening. I’ve had plenty of crushes in my life, but nothing like this. You guys just make such a solid unit.”
“I’ve got news I suppose I should share with you,” Church begins, and then sighs.
“News?”
“Not yet,” Spencer snaps, sitting down heavily in a wingback leather chair. “Let’s get through this first. Chuck can date … in this circle, I guess. Until we all sort of figure things out. Does that work?”
“Does it work for you?” Tobias retorts, and Spencer shrugs.
“Fair is fair, I guess. And you guys are my real family, like my forever crew.” As soon as he says the words, I feel this warm spot in the center of my chest. I’ve had that thought, too, about a forever crew. I lick my lower lip. “I’m not thrilled about it. Ideally, Chuck and I would just be together, but I can’t lose you guys.”
“You’d never lose me,” Micah tells him, sitting on the edge of Spencer’s chair. They give each other a weird sort of bro hug before separating. “But really, I appreciate you guys waiting to talk to us.”
“Sure thing,” Ranger growls, glancing away. He’s clearly ashamed, maybe a bit confused. So am I. I think we all are?
“Do you think we need a morning-after pill or something?” Spencer says, and everyone turns to stare at us. “We didn’t use a condom, but I pulled out …”
“Fucking Christ.” Ranger puts his head in his hand for a minute before standing up. “I’m going to bake a cobbler to calm down. You can take your stupid ass to the store for a pill if you’re that goddamn stupid.”
Only, he doesn’t mention that something similar almost happened between him and me just a short while prior.
I sit there, praying to the God of Holes for Embarrassed People as I try to puzzle out what’s going on. Am I dating … four guys now? Five? I glance over at Church.
“What news?” I ask him, and he smiles, reaching into the pocket of his blue jacket and pulling out a velvet box. I take it, expecting another Adamson All-Boys Academy Student Council pin.
Instead what I get is … a wedding ring.
“I’ve been having so much sex lately,” I groan, putting my forehead on my knees, blond hair dripping saltwater across my towel. Monica pats me gently on the back, but we’re not quite back to the level of friendship where she’s allowed to hug me just yet.
“That’s normal for a virgin,” she says, and I look askance at her, one brow raised. The last few weeks have been … interesting. With the Student Council boys, they recover as quickly as they get angry, and everything seems normal, but there’s an underlying tension. Ranger and Church haven’t expressed anything further in regards to the whole dating thing, but you know, maybe they didn’t feel the need to, considering I’m now engaged.
I grit my teeth.
“Yeah?” I ask, and she nods.
“Perfectly normal. You’ll slow down eventually.” Monica pauses and lifts her shades up, dark eyes studying the guys as they practice with their surfboards. I’ve been giving lessons all day, and the only person who actually seems to have any skill at the sport is Church. Shocker, right? “Actually, no, I lied. I don’t think you slow down until you’re like thirty. Or maybe forty or fifty.” I put my forehead back on my knees.
Dad’s here now, in Santa Cruz, but so are the guys.
After my time with Mom in Los Angeles, I came up here to spend the Fourth with Archie, and the boys scattered to their various families across the US. To them, though, it’s no big deal to just hop on a plane and zip around, and so here they are.
Pretty sure Dad hates them now.
Maybe because he found the packaging for that morning-after pill in my backpack?
I almost—almost—quoted him this really great line from the TV show, the United States of Tara, where the teen girl snarkily asks her father if she should’ve let that fertilized egg implant itself in her uterus. But that would not have gone down well at all.
“I’ve got this big party on Saturday,” I tell her, lifting my head up and sighing. I can’t very well tell her it’s sort of my engagement party, now can I? That the only way Church was able to get me back into Adamson was to go to his parents.
They all keep mentioning the Montagues with this deep-seated fear in their voices, but I haven’t been able to figure out why just yet. Guess I’ll be learning soon enough? Church’s plan was to tell his parents we were engaged, and then let them put pressure on Dad. They clearly haven’t done that just yet because he hasn’t murdered me in my sleep, but they’re going to.
After the party, apparently.
I’m terrified out of my fucking mind.
“A Montague party, I know.” Monica sighs and sets her phone down on her towel. “As far as high society shit goes, that’s the cream of the crop. If you want to get more prestigious, you only have a few choices. There are the Cabots—they’re richer than god—but they’re new money. Maybe a Vanderbilt soiree? Or something to do with the Blackwells?” She shrugs, and I sigh. I honestly couldn’t care less about a fancy dinner party, but if this is the only way to get me back into Adamson, I’ll take it. “Where’s the party being held? Maybe I could crash?” She grins at me, but I shake my head.
“He just keeps saying he’ll send a car. That’s all I know. I guess it’s a secret or something.”
I lean back in the sand to watch the guys surf, and I try not to think of all the ways this could go wrong. If Dad finds out too soon, he’ll definitely stop me from going. And then even if I do go, and we pull this fake engagement off, he might push back against the Montagues—no matter how rich they are. He’s just stubborn like that. I must’ve inherited his pigheadedness.
“Well, take lots of pictures for me? I’d die to see a party like that. Do you know what you’re going to wear yet?” Besides my massive diamond engagement ring, you mean?
“No clue,” I say, laying back on the towel and staring up at the afternoon sunset. This plan is so crazy, it might just work. Might being the key word, of course.
Might also fuck up my whole life, so there is that.
But oh well.
Nobody ever said Chuck Carson was a coward.
On Saturday, I get up early, pack a bag and carefully tiptoe out of the dorm room I’m sharing with my dad for the summer. He’s being paid to teach some summer school classes at UCSC, and they’ve offered us up free housing in the meantime. Archie left early this morning, but if he sees me sneaking out with a bag, it’ll be hard to casually play off the staying with Monica tonight, love ya, bye thing I’ve got planned.
As promised, there’s a car waiting in the visitor lot. The driver helps me get my bags in, and then closes the door behind me. I don’t think about where we’re going as we drive, not until we pull up in front of the San Jose airport.
The Ruthless Boys (Adamson All-Boys Academy #2) Page 26