The Ruthless Boys (Adamson All-Boys Academy #2)

by C. M. Stunich

  Something seems a little fishy here, and it’s not the giant, glittering koi I can see beneath the red bridge.

  We head inside and find our rooms, all of which are on the first floor, with exterior doors that face a beautiful central garden. There’s a huge wall made of tightly woven logs that surrounds it, but when I my put my palms up against it and try to peek between them, I can see a glimpse of the hot springs themselves.

  “There are naked people in this one,” I comment as Church comes up to stand beside me. He leans forward and takes a look, too, although he doesn’t seem nearly as bothered by all the flopping dick on the other side of the fence.

  “One of the pools is clothing optional,” he says, and I raise a brow, glancing over at him with a skeptical expression on my face.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, when I say optional, I mean, you’re not allowed to wear clothing of any kind into the pool. That’s the one we’ll be using.”

  “Like hell we will,” I snort, following after him as he heads back into our room. There are traditional tatami mats on the floor as well as folded futons with bedding in neat stacks atop them, as well as a pair of what I think are yukatas hanging on hooks beside the door.

  Church pulls one down and hands it over to me before taking the other for himself. His is an intriguing silver-blue color with a woven pattern and a turquoise tie that goes around the waist while I’ve been given a charcoal gray one with a white sash. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with it.

  “Put it on,” Church encourages, smiling at me as he reaches up to undo his tie. I watch him pop each button on his shirt with slow, careful precision before I finally turn away, listening to the sound of fabric hitting the floor.

  “You’re not looking, right?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder to make sure his back is turned. It is, but I’m ashamed to admit, I ogle the smooth muscular line of his back before I avert my own gaze.

  “I wouldn’t dare peep. Where’s the fun in that? We’re saving it for marriage, aren’t we?”

  I roll my eyes.

  “Wow, you’re hilarious, you know that? Seriously funny stuff.” I strip down, leaving the bindings on my breasts, and … yes, the packer penis in my tighty-whities. Until we know more about what’s going on at the Adamson campus, I’m keeping my secret for as long as I can. If it means having a fake, floppy dick rubbing against my crotch all day, then that’s the price I have to pay, isn’t it?

  “Ready?” Church asks.

  “Ready.” We both turn around, and I find myself fucking awestruck at the sight of him in that yukata which, if you didn’t know, is a traditional Japanese robe made of cotton and worn during the summer months. Technically, we’re just about into fall here, but you won’t find me complaining.

  The garment’s a little large for him, so it slides off one shoulder, showing off the smooth, muscular lines of his body and stealing my breath away. He tosses that honeyed hair from his forehead with the heel of his hand, and smiles at me.

  “You’re a very handsome young man, Chuck,” he teases as I push my glasses up my nose with a single finger. They’re pretty fogged up at the moment which is embarrassing as hell.

  “And you know you cut an okay figure in that too, don’t you?” I ask, but Church doesn’t answer me. Instead, he opens the sliding screen door and leads me downstairs to the tearoom where the rest of the Student Council is already situated, kneeling on pillows around a low table that’s covered in steaming teapots and tiny handle-less cups in white, cherry blossoms painted onto the sides.

  “This looks crazy authentic,” I say, pouring myself a cup of steaming green tea and lifting it to my nose for a sniff. Dad’s in here, sitting at a table with Mr. Murphy, Mr. Dave, and several other teachers whose names I can’t remember. He glares at me, but only for a moment, redirecting his attention like I’m not worth his time.

  My hands tighten on my cup.

  “It’s not,” Church says, lounging in just such a way that one, long pale leg is exposed. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was doing this on purpose, trying to tease me with all that skin. His shoulder is still exposed, his elbow resting on his knee, fingers digging into the gorgeous golden color of his hair. “It’s very Americanized, but that’s okay. We are Americans, and you’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?”

  “This is as close to international travel as I’ve ever gotten,” I joke, noticing a small-dark haired woman chastising rowdy students just outside the tearoom doors. I’m guessing she must be the owner, and the scrawny white guy nodding at her side and rubbing her shoulder could very well be her husband.

  “We’ll correct that one day,” Church says, and the twins nod, sipping their tea in perfect unison, dressed as a matching pair in black and white yukatas with red ties. “Maybe in November, if your father will let you go?”

  “Doubtful, and also, you’re assuming we’ll even survive until November. We might not, if we don’t solve our little murder mystery issue.”

  “Mr. Murphy’s been carrying that knapsack since we got here,” Ranger says, and I have to suppress an involuntary shiver at the sound of his voice. He’s been speaking so little to me that it’s like hearing his voice for the first time all over again. “Do you see anybody else with their luggage in here? He’s up to something.”

  “Let’s steal that shit tonight then,” Spencer says, glancing over at the teacher’s table. “It can’t be that hard. Have you noticed that none of the doors have locks? And even if they did, I could kick one of these screen doors down in my sleep.”

  “Not tonight,” Ranger suggests, his own yukata and tie a solid black. “We have a week here. Let’s give him a night or two to chill out, maybe forget his knapsack during a soak or something. In the meantime, we can always follow him, see if he’s up to anything suspicious.”

  “And Mr. Dave,” I add, cringing as Mark’s raucous laughter sounds from the opposite side of the room. I’d like to deal with him, too, but one suspect at a time. Or … in this case, two. But two suspects with strong evidence against them. Besides, Mark is basically just a dick who had a hole in his ceiling. Maybe once we figure out what’s going on with the two teachers, we’ll have a better idea of what students, if any, we should be looking into.

  “So Mr. Dave and Mr. Murphy, huh?” Spencer says, and we all glance surreptitiously in their direction. Everything looks fine, normal, good even. But that’s how bad people get away with what they do, right? They pretend.

  I’m just not expecting to find another pretender in our midst, someone I’d never have expected, that I didn’t want to expect.

  That night, the guys and I dress in black and split into two groups: Church, Ranger, and Spencer in one, and me with the twins in the other. They trail Mr. Murphy while we go after Mr. Dave.

  Suffice it to say, both men are boring as fuck.

  Well, other than the fact that Mr. Murphy fell asleep with his knapsack as a pillow. That’s a little weird, right?

  “What a waste of a perfectly good soaking night,” Spencer says, head in his hand as he yawns at breakfast the next morning. The white yukata he’s wearing goes perfectly with his silver hair and turquoise eyes; he looks like a fucking anime character. If I hadn’t been so tired last night, I would’ve asked Church to swap rooms, so we could … well, you know, fuck.

  “We’ll use the hot springs tonight,” Church says, holding his teacup by the rim, swirling the green liquid around as he muses. “May as well, since we’re here.”

  “Um, you mean you guys can use the hot springs. Even if I wore a baggy shirt and shorts, my bindings aren’t that good. Get those things wet, and everyone will know I’ve got boobs.”

  “Only because they’re so big and luscious,” Spencer says, and I give him a narrow-eyed look. He’s lucky we’re the only idiots down in the breakfast room at the butt crack of dawn. I blame Church; he made us all get up and trudge down here, so he could enjoy a traditional Japanese breakfast.

  I have to say,
I don’t recognize a damn thing on this table. Church, Ranger, and Spencer seem to be enjoying it, but I just copy the twins and go for the yellow roll that looks a bit like an omelet. Tastes … like scrambled eggs. We finish that tray off in no time.

  “We’ll use the nude bathing pool,” Church supplies, and I give him a look that clearly says are you too stupid to live, bro?

  “Oh, yeah, if my bindings under a baggy t-shirt are too obvious, I’m sure going in completely nude with my vagina hanging out will set a totally different impression.”

  Spencer and the twins snicker, Ranger clenches his teeth, and Church looks back at me with a knowing smile.

  “Listen, future wife,” he says, and I roll my eyes, “we will take that side of the pool for ourselves, and nobody will see a thing.”

  “Two problems with that,” I say, using a pair of chopsticks to list my points. “First, how on earth are you going to get us the entire pool to ourselves? And second, somebody will see a thing. You. All of you will see.”

  “Nothing we haven’t seen before,” the twins say in unison, each of them picking up a bowl of what looks like porridge and sniffing it. With a pair of identical shrugs, they start to eat.

  “Besides the point,” I mumble as Church smirks and lifts his chin.

  “How we will secure the pool?” he repeats, as if I’ve clearly forgotten the most important fact of all. “We are the Student Council, that’s how. If I say that pool is ours, it is.” He takes a sip of his tea. “As for the other problem, well, I suppose we’ll just close our eyes until you’re fully submerged then, now won’t we?”

  “This is stupid,” I say, eying a bowl of rice with a yellow egg yolk sitting pretty on the top. “I’m not going.”

  The twins exchange a look, but they’re not tricking me into this one. No way in hell I’m going tonight.

  No way.

  Too risky.

  Not a goddamn chance.

  Several hours later, after a day spent relaxing by the koi pond and playing in the Zen garden, I end up getting dragged out a side door by the McCarthy brothers. I’ve got a t-shirt and shorts clutched in my hand; it was the best I could do before they kidnapped me.

  “This is stupid; I’m going to get caught, and you guys will be sorry.” They shove me in the changing room, and close the door, standing guard until I come out dressed in my shorts and t-shirt.

  I glare at them as I make my way toward the steaming waters where Church, Ranger, and Spencer are already situated, the steam hiding any important bits from view. My cheeks flush anyway, and I get ready to dip my toe in the water …

  “No suits!” I turn and find the twins wearing a pair of matching grimaces as the owner of the lodge comes out in her yukata and waves a broom at me. “No suits this side of the pool. You want a suit? Use the other side.” She glares at me, and then gives the twins’ matching cherry tattoos a look. She murmurs something about yakuza—Japanese mafia, I think—before disappearing back inside.

  “Great,” I grumble, standing there with one toe touching the deliciously warm waters. Now that I’ve touched it, now that I’m standing here, I want to get in so bad. It’s like being given a lick of frosting before the cake is taken away. “Thanks for dragging me all the way down here for no rea—”

  The twins shove me in the pool with a pair of palms on my back. I splash into the onsen waters and come up sputtering, only to see the owner poke her head back out the door. With a groan and a curse, I sink low and pull my shorts off first, tossing them aside. She waits until my shirt is off, and I’m buried up to my chin in the steaming hot springs, before she leaves again.

  The lodge door closes, and then quickly reopens, and there’s Mark fucking Grandam.

  The twins slam their forearms on either side of the door and then poke him in the chest with a pair of accusatory fingers.

  “Student Council only, asshole,” they say, and Mark scowls at them. I can barely see him through the steam, but his ugly expression is so severe, it translates across space and time.

  “What the fuck? You faggots sucking each other off out here or something?”

  “Does it fucking matter what we’re doing?” Micah snaps, breaking the twin routine to shove Mark back. “We said get the hell out. You come out here again, and we’ll kick your sorry ass to the curb.”

  “You guys are fucking worthless. Seriously, what is your problem?” Mark sneers and turns away, storming off as the twins close the door behind him. Tobias turns around and leans his back against it, nodding at his brother.

  “I’ll take first watch,” he says, and Micah nods, stripping off his clothes. I can’t look at his naked body without thinking about our little threesome on the pirate ship, so I turn away until he’s safely ensconced in the water.

  “I can’t believe you guys dragged me out here,” I murmur, even as the heated water soothes my sore muscles. According to the brochure, these two pools were carved out of rock, and all the hot water is pumped up from some underground stream. It was even insinuated that the springs have, like healing properties or something.

  “But you’re glad to be here now, right?” Spencer asks, swimming over to me. My heart pounds, and my body aches at his nearness, very aware of the fact that it would take mere seconds for us to put ourselves into a compromising position …

  He grabs my arm and pulls me onto his lap, keeping me situated on his thighs, so that the situation doesn’t get too lewd, too fast.

  “I mean, it’s really nice,” I admit reluctantly, looking up toward the ‘upper pool’ with its fancy seating area, and partially submerged lounge chairs. That’s just a little too exposed for my liking, thank you very much. But it’s nice down here, too, with the wooden wall separating us from the other pool, the towering trees, and the garden that curves around the opposite side.

  Evenly spaced lanterns flicker on the log walls, and the moon and stars twinkle above us, obscured by the steam, but still plenty bright enough to see.

  “I can think of so many naughty things we could get up to out here,” Spencer purrs against my ear, tracing one of his fingers up my spine. I shiver, but push away from his chest, putting space between us. It was one thing to do it with both twins, but all five guys in a pool? No thank you, not yet. And I’m not even sure, what, exactly my relationship is with Church or Ranger. I’ve had moments with both; I’m technically engaged to one.

  A sigh escapes me, and I duck under the water to clear my head.

  When I lift back up, the first thing I see sweeping past is Micah’s dripping, wet cock as he trades places with his brother. Apparently, wearing clothes doesn’t occur to him, and he ends up just leaning against the door with it all hanging out, so to speak.

  “Torture, pure torture,” I murmur, as I find a nice smooth stone to sit on, hugging my arms over my breasts. “So. I’m assuming this is our activity for the rest of the night. What about tomorrow? Are we tailing people again?” I don’t bother to keep my voice down; on the other side of the wall, the rest of the Adamson academy students are loud and raucous. Makes me doubly glad I’m over here in the peaceful quiet.

  “We need to get that knapsack,” Ranger says, nodding his agreement. “I’ve got a feeling that we’ll find what we’re looking for in there. And if I’m right, if Mr. Murphy is Adam, and he really is trying to scare Charlotte away, he’ll at least be able to tell us what he’s scaring her away from.”

  “Maybe we knock on his door and ask for something early on in the day?” Spencer muses, dipping his hair in the water, and then tossing the shiny silver strands back. “Like, help with a college essay or something. If he takes the knapsack with him, I say we just have the twins hold him back while we go through it. I mean, worst case scenario, but if you’re that sure that we’re going to find something incriminating in his bag, then why not? What could he do if we did find something? His hands will be tied.”

  “We’re down,” the twins say, their voices perfectly synced, even with the distance between them.

>   “Maybe tomorrow evening, we could find somewhere private to talk?” Ranger says, looking right at me, and my mouth drops open.

  “Couldn’t we just talk now?” I choke out, but he shakes his head. “I don’t like surprises, Ranger.”

  “I need time to think about what I want to say.”

  Spencer gives his friend a look.

  “You could have thought of it first then invited her to talk? Why the torture, man? We all know what you want: you want to date my girlfriend.”

  Silence falls over the group, the only sounds coming from the other side of the pool.

  “I’m not sure if I was clear when we were in the Hamptons,” Church continues, exhaling and trailing his fingertips across the surface of the water. “Yes, the engagement’s fake, and it’s meant to keep you at Adamson, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested.”

  “What exactly does this all mean?” I ask, wishing we could have this conversation when I wasn’t naked in a super sexy hot pool with them all at the same time.

  “They both want to date you,” the twins drawl, and then they both sigh.

  “Fucking hell, you couldn’t let me just think it over for the night?” Ranger snaps, pushing his dark hair back with wet fingers. Church just smiles at me.

  “What do you think, Miss Carson, will you have us?”

  I glance at Spencer first, then Tobias, and finally over at Micah. They all just stare at me, waiting for me to make the choice.

  “This is … highly unorthodox,” I begin, and Church laughs.