Maddoc squints.
“Buckle up, big man. We’re ready to get it on the road.” I grin and he lifts a dark brow.
With a laugh I sit back, snagging a bag of chips from his bag and pop them open.
“So, what’s this place like anyway?”
“It’s chill,” Royce says. “Ours is the farthest in the back, up against the creek.”
“Yours?”
“Yup.”
When nothing else is said, unease circles in my stomach.
“Wait ... what?”
Royce spins in his seat, shooting for innocent, but looking like a damn problem child. “Half the senior class will be there.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Royce.” Fuck. “I don’t wanna play with your friends,” I snap.
“You’ll play with nobody,” Maddoc butts in with a scowl.
“Stop acting like you’d have a say.”
“Stop pretending like I don’t.”
I shift in my seat to face him full on. “I’m not a fucking whore, but if I wanted to act like one, I would. And there’s not a damn thing you could do about it. I won’t bend at your will.”
“No, but you’ll drop to your back at yours.”
My mouth gapes, but I quickly close it, glancing off before my eyes give me away. Hate to admit it, but his floppy ass attitude delivered a small sting. I don’t appreciate my mind and my emotions not being on the same page here.
He opens his mouth to say something else but, Royce beats him.
“Speaking of the female species and horizontal positions ... don’t go around choking chicks or cutting off ponytails this weekend, aight? Pussy will be slim pickin’, and I want a new rider every night. No cockblocking.”
“Seriously?”
“Hell yeah.”
“So ... you expect me, the ghetto girl from the group home, a literal fucking charity case, to step into some rich kid zone, and let them run all over me if they try?”
Royce pouts like a child and Captain clears his throat.
“I might be with Royce on this one. Maybe you can get yours when we get back?”
“The fuck?” Maddoc bites out, making Captain laugh.
“I only meant, if you feel the need to kick someone’s ass, wait until we get back. Nobody will fuck with you, Raven.”
“Exactly,” Royce pipes up again. “So let’s keep the legs loose for the weekend.”
“For fuck’s sack.” I stuff the chips between the seats, cross my arms and look out my side window. They’re trippin’, hardcore.
Maddoc moves closer so he can whisper, “You really think we’d sit back and allow someone to fuck with you?”
“I have no idea what you’d do.” I roll my head to meet his stare. “You’re as hot as you are cold, big man.”
“Stop making me crazy and I won’t have to be.”
I scoff, speaking low since he is. “Whatever you say. But don’t act like I can’t handle myself.”
“I know you can,” he says slowly, the green in his gaze almost unseen as black takes over.
Want. Confusion. Need. It’s all there.
My body grows hot, and I fight the sudden urge to swallow. He’s got me all wanton crazy with this whole ‘fuck you while you fuck me’ thing he’s got going.
“We know you’re as capable as we are, Snow. It’s why you’re here.”
“Thought it was so you could keep an eye on me?”
The corner of his mouth tips up slowly. “That too.” His fingers find my wrist and feather across, leaving an eclectic shock in their wake. “But let’s be real, Raven. My eyes have been on you, haven’t they?”
I search his eyes for intent but come up short.
What are you playing at, big man?
“If you think you’re gonna catch me in some twisted shit, you’re wasting my time,” I whisper. “I told you before, I’m no planner.”
He hums, a smirk now coming out to play. He leans in, his mouth now grazing my ear right as Royce’s eyes find mine in the mirror.
“Those lips of yours will be on me soon.” His tongue hits my earlobe and I dig my nails into my thigh to keep from reacting. “Plan on that.”
He pulls back, moving over to retake his seat by the window and I close my eyes, forcing myself to repeat the national anthem in my head, over and over again until we’re pulling onto a dirt road surrounded by large trees.
The boys roll the windows down and the smell of fresh, clean air hits my nostrils.
I sit forward, reaching over to roll my window down as well and take another deep breath.
“What is that?”
“What?” Captain asks.
“The smell.”
He meets my stare in the rearview mirror. “Pine?”
When I shrug, he spins, looking over his shoulder at me. “Have you never been to the mountains?”
Suddenly I’m hit with a need to lie, but before I do, I look at the other two.
Again, no judgment stares back, so I go with honesty.
“No. Is it, I mean, is it always fresh like this? Like, clean air or whatever?”
Captain nods and continues to pull forward, swerving around a few large cabin homes.
“People live here?”
“Nah,” Royce answers. “These are vacation spots. Nobody stays year-round.”
Must be nice to have not one, but two homes.
“Is that?” I lean out my window and take another deep breath, ignoring the chuckles behind me. “Campfire?” I look over my shoulder. “Real campfire?”
“Is there such a thing as fake campfire?” Maddoc’s brow lifts but amusement shines in his eyes.
“Yeah, there is. We had bonfires all the time, but that was, I don’t know, a burnt, smoky smell. A fire kept going by beer boxes and trash. This is ... clean and” – I look out the window again – “intoxicating. Almost...” I can’t find the word.
“Peaceful?” Captain offers, staring at me in the mirror again.
I nod but don’t meet his eyes.
“Come on, Cap, move the car.”
Captain licks his lips and continues down the path again until we’re pulling up in front of a huge cabin.
It looks like a plain square, nothing fancy but with a porch that wraps all the way around.
When they get out, I do too, and the closer I move to the place, the more I see. It may be simple as far as the front goes, but there’s a huge deck on the back, held up by thick wooden beams, it sits at what looks to be the second story of the cabin.
“The rooms are on the bottom, top floor’s the party room, kitchen and deck. It’s got a sick view of the creek.”
“It’s badass.”
Maddoc passes me with my bag, so I try and take it from him, but he glares, yanks it away and keeps moving.
I raise my hands and trail behind him.
Right when you walk in the place, it’s an empty entryway. To the right is a set of stairs and to the left a small hallway with several doors. Maddoc keeps moving until we reach the one farthest to the end.
“This is yours. You’ve got the bathroom, so you don’t have to come out at night once you’re done partying.”
I nod, walking in to find the bathroom on the right of the room, not even a door to close it off from the small room. There’s a dresser and bed with a mini fridge tucked beside it, and nothing else. But it’s way more than enough.
“So, you guys don’t have a bathroom in your rooms?”
“No, but that first door we passed was one, so we have our own.” He turns to me with a glare. “Don’t let Royce tell you different.”
I laugh, dropping my jacket on the bed.
“This is cool, thanks.”
He eyes me a moment but then his brows furrow and he walks out.
“Come on.”
I follow behind him, stopping at the next door, the room right next to mine.
“This is me, across from me is Cap, then it’s Royce, a spare for Leo, in c
ase he needs it, and then the bathroom. You’re the last room in the hall ... surrounded by us. Don’t try to pull no shit.”
Dick.
“RaeRae, Madman, let’s go. Shots!”
I wiggle my eyebrows then follow the boys’ voices up the stairs.
“Oh man.” I look around the room, grabbing the shot Royce hands me. “This place is dope.”
Wooden log futons act as couches on both sides of the room, a wide-open kitchen on the right and slider doors on the left.
Captain nods his chin, so I open the door and we all shuffle out on to the deck.
I lean over the edge and stare down at the ground then look out and over the creek that runs the back of the property, noticing a small bridge that leads to the other side.
“What’s out there?”
“Bears.”
When my eyes widen the boys laugh.
Whatever.
I go to lift my shot, but Maddoc stops me.
“Together.” His eyes lock on mine before moving along each of us and my chest grows warm.
I’m really sick of that happening.
“Watch out for each other and don’t act alone.”
They nod then all eyes are on me.
I’m not part of this team, so I don’t understand the sentiment or the seriousness that shines back at me in three separate sets of eyes, but I nod anyway and all at once we let the cinnamon flavored liquor run down our throats.
Right then, several sounds hit.
Music, laughter, slams of car doors.
Royce yelps and runs down the deck stairs, Captain heads inside for another drink and Maddoc’s eyes lock on mine.
I go to follow, but Maddoc blocks my move.
“A lot happens out here, don’t go disappearing.”
“You mean don’t follow a big bad wolf home?” I tease, using the Brayshaw mascot for fun.
But the way he grinds his jaw tells me he doesn’t think it’s funny.
He steps against me, until I’m forced to lean back over the railing to meet his eyes. “You want a wolf?” he murmurs and that pulls in my abdomen. “I can make that happen.”
I dig deep to force a steady breath. “I bet you can, big man...” I trail off and he steps back, disappearing the way Royce ran.
I need a drink.
The party isn’t really a party tonight, apparently most of the others will be here in the morning. Tonight, it’s just the ones who ditched last period or prepacked and loaded their vehicles. Still, there are a solid thirty or forty people around.
Honestly, it’s pretty chill. It’s dark out except for the glow of the fire pits, and some string lights trailing down the pathways. I’m assuming they lead to more cabins. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing what this place looks like in the daylight.
“So, Raven.”
I look to my right at the girl who spoke.
“Are you having fun?” she asks, her voice peppy as she looks.
She couldn’t care less – it’s gossip she’s after.
I lift my drink and wave it her way with a tight smile before turning my attention back to the boys who’ve got a little game of horse going with a trashcan. They’ve got a pile of pinecones someone rounded up they’re using as the basketball so they don’t have to dig out of the garbage every throw.
Course, Royce had to make it more fun and instead of earning a letter to spell out the word horse with each basket made, they have to spell pussy. He made sure to let them know he wasn’t referring to ‘pussy’ as afraid or an actual cat, but ‘the place his dick was spending the night’ kind of pussy – as if they didn’t know what he meant.
They had a childish laugh over it.
“So, Raven, what cabin are you staying in?”
“Depends,” I answer and all the females who have placed themselves near me, look my way.
The girl clears her throat and leans forward. “On what?”
When I smirk, the fluffy attitude falters and her claws show despite her best effort.
“You think you get top pick over all of us?” She sits back slowly and her friends glare along with her. “Nobody even knew you’d be here. You don’t get to ruin the plans the rest of us made because someone felt the need to drag you along.”
“Janessa,” a golden-haired girl warns quietly, her eyes wide in apology – she’s clearly worried about the Bray’s little “touch her not” rule.
But good ole Janessa, as she was called, is not deterred, she’s got some liquid courage coursing through her and purses her perfect lips and fuck this bitch.
I was fucking around, but now she’s insulting me.
No.
I see who she keeps eyeing when she thinks nobody’s watching. She’s not a sly as she assumes, but I do give her props for not going all out obvious.
Little miss blonde hair, blue eyes, prettier than me on my best day but more makeup on than my mom on cougar night at the bar, has her sights set on Captain.
“How ‘bout a bet?”
Her eyes narrow. “Bet for what?”
“The commander, the skipper...” I goad her, but the confused look on her face tells me it’s over her pretty little head. “You know, the Captain.”
Her mouth forms a tight line.
“Wonder if he follows the code and ... goes down with the ship.”
She flies from her seat, ready to get in my face, but I meet her one step forward with three of my own.
“This has been in the works for the last two weeks. Back off.”
“Bet.”
She falters a bit. “Bet what?”
“Bet if we approach him, he’ll walk away with you.”
A weak little chortle leaves her, and she looks to her friends who wear tight expressions. They’re as unsure as her, even though they pretend I’m talking crazy.
This is totally unnecessary, but now I want to ruin her fun since she got on my case for no reason.
“There’s no point.” She crosses her arms. “It’s already set for later. Once he’s done partying, he’ll find me.”
“I’m nothing for you to worry about then.”
“As if you could take my place.”
I shrug and step back.
She rolls her eyes and drops back in her chair. “Screw you and your bet, I already know for a fact he’ll be mine tonight.”
“Okay.” I shrug and walk off before she can say a word.
Cap is standing off to the side with Leo and a couple girls from school when I approach.
“Wassup, Rae?” Leo holds his fist out, so I give him knuckles.
“Not a damn thing.” I keep my eyes on Captain.
He studies me. “What’d you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing ... yet?”
I pop a shoulder. “You got plans with the bride of Chuckie over there?”
Leo spits beer, laughing and Captain grins.
“More like an open option, but uh...” He looks to the brunette beside Leo. “She’s not needed now.”
“I thought Royce was the slut?”
“I am.” Royce moseys up, throwing his arm around me.
Maddoc slides over and pushes it off.
“What’s going on?” Maddoc questions.
I look back to Cap. “Come on, packman. Let’s cause trouble.”
“Wait, I wanna cause trouble,” Royce whines but I shove him away.
“Not your turn,” I tell him, ignoring his pout. “She’s acting like a bitch, and I wanna bitch slap her, but I’m too tired to deal with your guys’ crap later. So, I’ll settle for an ego hit instead.”
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?” Maddoc snaps.
I grin and step toward Captain who puffs his chest out, a smile playing at his lips. “I’m tired, Cap.” I run my fingers down the center of his chest, cutting a quick glance at Maddoc when he steps closer.
“The fuck’s goin’ on?” Royce whispers not so quietly.
“Put me to bed?” I ask Cap, unable to kee
p from smiling.
Bride of Chuckie is standing now, I see her in my periphery.
“Captain,” Maddoc’s voice rumbles.
Leo steps back at the sound, putting distance between himself and the four of us.
“Chill, brother.” Captain doesn’t take his eyes off me, but reassures his brother in a whisper, “Just having some fun.”
He passes his drink to Royce, his other hand meeting my lower back and together we head for the cabin.
Yes, it’s the one I was already staying in, but she doesn’t know that.
At the door, Captain moves my hair over my shoulders and bends to whisper in my ear, his hands moving to grip my hips. He plays the part well. “It’s no wonder the girls can’t hang with you, Raven.”
“Why do you say that?” I turn the knob, then cover his hands with mine as we shuffle in.
“Because you do what you want and don’t let their shit get to you, at least not where they can tell.”
When we get inside, he pushes the door closed and steps back.
I head up the stairs, Captain on my heels. We both move for the kitchen, grabbing some snacks from the cupboards.
I pull out some Wheat Thins and he grabs a can of nasty spray cheese and a few waters.
“Anyway, thanks for that.”
I laugh, stuffing a couple of crackers in my mouth. “Thank you.”
“So what’d she say to you?”
I sigh. “Nothing that matters.”
“Keep talking.”
“People are assholes, especially when a girl like me is thrown in a world like yours. They feel the need to disrespect me to make themselves feel even more superior than they already believe they are. Like I get it, I have a stigma that follows me around, even hours from mine, it seems, but I don’t know why people go out of the way to piss me off. I don’t talk to people, I don’t get in the way. I stick to my damn self when they let me.”
“It’s because they’re jealous.”
I look up to find both Royce and Maddoc at the top of the stairs having heard our conversation.
“You guys are not that cool, not sure why they’re so desperate to stand where I’m standing,” I tease, motioning to Captain to squirt some nasty cheese in my mouth.
“They’re not jealous of you being around us,” Maddoc says as he moves to sit opposite of me and Royce drops beside me.
“I don’t get it.”
“Of course they want to be where you are, here with us, but that’s not what ticks them off,” Captain says.
Boys of Brayshaw High Page 14
