My gaze snaps to Maddoc’s and I frown, but when I glance around, I find they’ve all made their plates already while I was sitting here staring into space the last few minutes. I look back to him.
“I do.” I don’t say anything else, and the way he cocks his head just slightly tells me he knows something was on my mind.
Nothing else is voiced, and we spend the next few minutes eating in silence.
“Thanks, brother, good as always.” Royce pushes to his feet. “I’ll do the dishes in a bit. Imma head over to Mac’s for a quick game. Catch you guys later.”
“Hold up, I need a workout too.” Captain follows after him and they both turn to look at Maddoc.
He pauses a moment before pushing to his feet. He looks to me. “We’ll be back.”
I nod, picking up my coffee to take a drink, and they walk out the back.
I take my time eating and then make quick work of cleaning the kitchen and collecting the few empty cups from around the living room from last night. Grabbing my blanket, I head back downstairs for a shower.
Dressing in my dark grey joggers, tennies, and white hoodie, I head down to the little creek and follow along the carved-out path, wrapping around the outskirts of the cabins.
This place is so much bigger than the dark night let on. With trees so high you can’t see the top and miles upon miles of forestry, I can see why Captain used the word peaceful. It’s just ... different out here. Quiet yet loud. There’s a freedom in the air here you can’t find on city streets.
As I come around the first corner, I run into a bunch of my new classmates jacking around outside their own cabins.
I keep going.
Eventually, I’m a solid mile away and at the farthest point of the circular area. I decide to cut through the center to head back, and wouldn’t you know it, sitting around a morning fire is Collins.
What the hell would he and his people be doing here?
He’s the first to spot me from his clan, and his eyes narrow, but when they shoot past my shoulder, finding me alone, he grins and waves me over.
“Raven Carver.”
“In the flesh.” I tuck my hands in my pockets and half sit on a large tree stump, nodding hello to the other guys who feel the need to stare.
“Thought I might find you here.”
“Really?” I tilt my head. “’Cause I never would have thought I’d find me here.”
He grins and I relax a little.
My hands form fists in my pockets when he stands and steps toward me.
He waits until he’s right in front of me before whispering, “Anything change since our last conversation? You an official ‘Bray Girl’ now?”
“Don’t act like you’d care either way.” I don’t bother whispering and at first, he glares. But it’s true and he knows it, which is why he laughs in the next second.
“’Bout to play some air hockey.” He steps back, looking me over with clear interest. “You in?”
I’m about to pass on the invitation to go inside what I’m assuming is his cabin – I’m not a dumbass – but then I glance left where his friends are unfolding a portable table and figure fuck it. Nothing else to do. “Sure. Why not.”
He nods and heads for his cabin. “I’m getting another drink. You want something?”
“I’m good.”
“I bet you are, Rae.” He winks and walks away.
I roll my eyes and look back to his buddies.
A tall dark-haired guy with crazy grey eyes and a scar above his eyebrow hands me the puck and handle, but he doesn’t say a word.
I make my way over to the table right as Collins is coming back out, suddenly shirtless.
I lift a brow because really? It’s fucking cold out here, hence the need for the fire pits.
He only winks again, making it a point to brush against me as he passes.
I keep my eyes on him as he steps around the table, laughing when he grips the edges, purposely tightening his muscles.
“Don’t be so extra.” I scan his chest and abs and meet his eyes again. “You don’t need to be.”
“You saying I look good, Carver?”
“You really gonna stand there and pretend like you don’t?”
He grins, waving a hand out for me to start us off.
We play three rounds and I whoop his ass each time.
“Damn it!” he shouts with a laugh, slamming his handle down on the table.
I smile to myself, setting mine down as well so I can push my sleeves up and tie my hair back in a high ponytail.
He makes his way around the table, stepping right in front of me. “Good game, Carver.”
“Thanks, Collins.” I squish my lips to the side to keep from laughing at his bull. “But maybe back up a few steps, huh?”
He’s trying to appear harmless, and for the most part, he might be, but the slight gleam in his eyes gives him away. He’s a stature driven, khaki-wearing, preppy bastard who craves a dirty victory.
He’s only getting warmed up.
I should go.
His head snaps up in the next second, the sound of tires against gravel catching his attention. His brows dipping in the center. “What cabin did you say you’re in again?” He looks back to me.
I lick my lips, staring at him head-on. “I didn’t, but you didn’t ask.”
“What cabin you staying in, Rae?”
“Aspen.”
Nobody says anything, but based on how each head turns toward Collins it’s obvious they know who the largest cabin on the lot belongs to.
I move my eyes around the group.
Each sits up taller, a few stepping closer to their leader, closer to me.
And then Collins steps into me, quickly wrapping his arm around my middle as he pulls me against him.
I frown and go to shove him back, but his lips quickly fall on mine.
I’m about to knee him in the nuts when I’m yanked backward and basically tossed onto the dirt.
I look up just as Maddoc lands a nastyass punch across Collins’ jaw. In the next second Royce jumps clear over the three-foot-high, two-foot-wide air hockey table, quickly moving forward to keep Collins’ friends from jumping in to help their boy.
Maddoc’s large, angry hand covers his throat, blocking off his airway, and he doesn’t let up. He continues to squeeze his neck to the point where Collins’ face starts changing shades and he frantically pulls at Maddoc’s wrist.
But Maddoc gives him no leeway and my pulse spikes. Shit could get real bad, real quick.
But Captain comes around the table then and calmly lays a hand on his brother’s shoulder. He whispers something in his ear and Maddoc’s stare snaps to mine.
I swear he’s fucking shaking, and I consider moving or speaking or something, but the manic look in his eyes has me thinking better of it.
With one more twitch of his wrist, he tosses Collins to the ground.
The boys back up a few steps until a solid line is formed in front of the others.
Outnumbered by a handful and still, they’re dominant. Looked up at.
Feared.
I push off the ground, not bothering to dust the dirt off myself.
I step toward Collins who fights for a solid breath and Maddoc snatches my wrist, his lip curling up as he gets in my face.
“He just put his hands on me,” I hiss.
I jerk my hand and at first there’s resistance, but then his frown deepens and he loosens his grip enough for me to yank free.
Royce jolts toward me, attempting to grab me just the same, but I dodge him with a glare.
I step to Collins and when he looks up at me, I lift my foot and plant it in the center of his chest, knocking his ass back down to the ground while he’s still feeling weak.
I drop down slowly, so my knee can take my foot’s place and Maddoc takes a step closer.
My eyes bounce between Collins, my neck heating in anger the longer I stare.
“You little rich prick with a hard o
n, how fucking dare you,” I breathe, anger vibrating against my ribs. “I tell you to step back and you grab me, forcing your lips on me instead? That how you like to play?” I lift my other foot off the ground, forcing all my weight onto his sternum. “What you’re feeling right now is nothing compared to what you will if you put your hands on me again.”
He spits to the side, asking a question of his own. “Thought you said you weren’t a Bray girl?”
“I’m not.”
All three boys fire off at the same time.
“The fuck you aren’t!”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
I turn my scowl to them, ignoring the bitter laugh that leaves Collins.
“I’m—” I start to argue, but Maddoc cuts me off.
“Later.”
Right then, Collins’ hand darts up, ready to grab ahold of me, but before he can, Maddoc is stepping down on his wrist, his shooting hand – basketball player and all – and his eyes go wide.
I don’t get to talk shit back, though, because in the same second, Royce’s hand clamps over my mouth and I’m lifted, his arm around my waist as he carries me off ... like a damn child.
He tosses me in the back of someone’s Jeep. He waits until they skirt off before he lets go and when he does, he shoves away from me.
With a jerky movement and a pissy attitude, he faces forward, not saying a damn word to me the short drive back.
The second the Jeep skids to a stop I leap out over the side, Royce on my heels, and not a second later more dirt flies in the air as a second Jeep pulls to a stop and two more large bodies rush forward.
I run into the house, quickly spinning to shove the door closed and lock it.
Royce smacks the frame with a growl and dashes to the right, Maddoc to the left and Captain stays right outside the front.
I run up the stairs, rushing for the back door, but Royce is already there shoving it open when I hit the top of the stairs, so I run back down, making a dash for the room they put me in, but skid to a stop when I find Maddoc at the bottom of the stairs.
He clicks the lock without taking his eyes off me and Captain steps inside with his chin lifted.
Right then, Royce’s chest hits my back and I jump.
“Nowhere to go now, RaeRae.”
“Fuck off,” I hiss, but I lift my head and stare down the two making their way up the steps.
“Start talking, Raven.”
“About?”
“Don’t play stupid.”
“Don’t be a little bitch. Ask what you wanna know.”
Captain’s brows jump slightly, but Maddoc’s only narrow more. He looks over my shoulder at Royce.
Royce shifts behind me so I snap, “Put your hands on me right now, Royce, and get your balls bruised.”
Maddoc’s jaw clenches and he growls, stepping closer, but I don’t back down or cower, and after what feels like forever, he backs up, spins around and storms out of the cabin. Captain follows.
“We ... brought you here,” Royce trials off so I turn to face him. I’d swear I see worry in his eyes if I didn’t know any better. “Don’t make us regret it, Rae.”
Rae.
Not Raven.
Not RaeRae.
Rae.
He walks out and suddenly I’m disappointed. But it makes no sense, because the acid on my tongue was poured by my own damn self and a direct hit, right at me.
And it pisses me off.
How could these boys bring me from fuming at them to mad at myself, and two of them with nothing but a look? And I don’t even like that stupid nickname!
I drop my back against the wall and close my eyes.
Taking a deep breath, I allow myself a few rare seconds of uncertainty, and then I force all thoughts from my head and when my eyes open, I’m good. Ready to party.
I’m getting fucked up.
They’re fucked up.
Each fucking one, completely fucking wasted.
Royce has some brunette chick on his lap and another standing at his back, running her hands down his chest over his shirt while his tongue plays connect the dots with the freckles on the lap girl’s chest.
Captain has the bride of Chuckie chick grinding against his dick as they dance under the stupid Christmas lights – he glares my way every few minutes like his fucking with her is somehow sticking it to me. He’ll sure as shit be sticking it to her later.
Good for her, I guess. And he deserves all her crazy after if he wants to act like a dumbass.
And Maddoc. He hasn’t glanced my way once.
Not that I’ve been waiting but still. Hasn’t happened yet.
He’s busy, though.
I haven’t seen Chloe yet, but that is one of her minions with her paws all over him.
He drops on the edge of a wooden picnic table and she stands between his legs, her hand down his pants right there for anyone to see.
Sure, they’re tucked away a little, a dark shadow cast over their table, but there are still people all around. At least fifty or sixty more than last night are scattered all around between the dozen or so cabins.
“Trade?”
I look over and Leo who collects my empty bottle, popping the top of a new one with his lighter.
“Thanks.”
“Yup.”
When he stands there and stares, I drop my legs from the chair. “What?”
“Boys are pissed.”
“When are they not?”
He grabs a chair and drags it over, sitting in front of me.
“That was stupid, you going to the Graven side.”
“I’d have had to have known there was a Graven side to know to stay away from it, right?”
He nods. “Right. But let’s say you did. Would you have stayed away from it?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t know you.”
“Yet here you are, an opinion sitting on the edge of your tongue.”
He glares. “Fair enough.”
I scoff, glancing away but look back. “If schools don’t mix, why the hell are they here?”
“Nobody was willing to give this place up.”
“What do you mean?”
“A good forty or fifty years back, Brayshaw was the only high school in this town. All the families were tight, so they started buying these cabins. Eventually it became the party place for the kids – just another place for rich kids to run off to. But when the town divided, they built Graven Prep. Pulled half the students over there, which meant down the line –”
“They were forced to share this place.”
He shrugs. “Either way, tradition remains the same and all teenagers end up here. As long as they stick to their own and us ours, all’s good.”
“Right.” I nod, looking off.
I bring my beer to my lips, taking a long drink, but freeze when I hear a deep groan to my right.
I glance over to find Maddoc’s head falling back as the girl jacks him off. His head rolls to the side and his hazy eyes open just barely, but when they do, they hit mine.
And with his eyes on me, he sets his drink down against the table top. It falls over he’s so drunk, the beer running over the edge of the old wood but he ignores it.
His hands lift to the girl’s shoulders.
He is not...
He does.
He pushes the girl to her knees, and she happily obliges. She bends and then her head starts bobbing in his lap.
He moans again, and this time his head tips back completely.
“Damn, he’s fucked up.”
“He knows what he’s doing.”
“He doesn’t do PDA.”
“This isn’t PDA.” I look to Leo who raises a brow. “It’s not. She’s sucking his dick. He’s not touching or rubbing or kissing on her. No claim or mark is being made. He’s simply receiving. PDA would be him showing everyone else what he’s got.” I look back to the two, fire growing inside me – not sure if it
’s the angry or horny kind – as I watch the free porn. “There’s no pride in this.”
I look to Royce, his mouth fused to both girls, one hand in one’s shirt, the other under the second’s skirt, then to Captain, who may or may not be finger-fucking blondie against a tree.
“No pride in any of this. It’s using pleasure to pretend.”
“Pretend?”
I nod.
“Pretend what?”
Pretend they’re not worried and unsure. To pretend they’re not confused why it bothers them what I do or who I talk to.
To pretend they don’t hope I’m not like the rest.
For some reason, these boys think they need me.
Maybe it’s to help them in some way, a pawn of sorts, or maybe they crave the presence of a female constant, one who doesn’t require anything of them. One who doesn’t judge.
Or maybe I’m completely trippin’ and way off the mark. Who knows.
What I do know is, these boys in front of me, sure they act like sluts often, but this, right now, while not totally out of character for each is them acting out.
They’re angry, maybe hurt, little boys who don’t know how to process the emotion.
Damn it.
Running my hands down my face, I stand and pass my beer back to Leo, who sits back, eyeing me wearily.
He can’t figure me out either, but he doesn’t need to.
I go for Captain first. Yes, I look like the jealous girl, but oh well.
He puts up zero fight and allows me to pull him away by his hand, completely ignoring the girl when she whines from where we leave her.
I lead him into the house and deposit him on his bed. He falls into the mattress with ease, kicks his shoes off and tucks his face into his pillow.
Next, I go for Royce.
He glares at first, but when I offer him a small shrug and smile, he smirks drunkenly and wobbles to his feet. He’s a little harder to carry inside, but eventually, we make it to his room.
I push him onto the bed and when he makes no moves, I untie his shoes and pull them off for him. He grabs my hand before I can leave and pulls me in so he can kiss my cheek. I give him a wink on my way out, leaving him there to fall asleep.
And last, I go for Maddoc, who still has his dick down the chick’s throat.
I mean ... clearly she’s doing something real fucking wrong if he still hasn’t—
Boys of Brayshaw High Page 16
