In the Arms of the Elite

by Stunich, C. M.

  John grits his teeth, but he doesn’t drop the weapon, not until Tristan steps forward, still clutching his arm.

  “You know why you all welcomed back in an instant?” he asks, voice echoing in the quiet empty space. “It’s because I’m the King of Burberry Prep, and I always will be. Now get the fuck out of the way, or the emails we have set to go out at midnight tonight are you going to wreck your family’s businesses in ways you never could’ve imagined. If you fancy being poor, by all means, be my guest.”

  Both guns are lowered, nice and slow. And that’s when I hear the scream.

  “Where is Harper?” I ask, just before Becky comes stumbling out of the trees.

  “Harper’s been burned. It’s, like, really, really fucking bad,” she sobs, and the others look at each other for a moment before several take off to follow Becky back into the trees.

  “We could help, but maybe it’s best if we call the fire department?” Creed drawls, and Zayd nods.

  “Yep, let’s get the fuck out of here while we still can.” He reaches down to take my hand, and we make our way out the gate and over to the Maserati. If we need an explanation for why Zayd’s car was here, I’m sure money could take care of that. I’m not sticking around to try to move it.

  The Maserati rolls down the road as I glance over the back seat, the flames from the fire licking at the darkness of the sky. In the distance, I can hear sirens blaring, but it’ll take them a while to get here. For now, we head toward the hospital, and toward Charlie.

  Please let my dad be okay, I think as I lean back into Creed and his arms go around me. Please let him be okay.

  Charlie Reed doesn’t die that night.

  Instead, he lives for many nights after that. Not a lot, but enough that we get a proper goodbye, enough that when the time comes, I’m there by his side, our fingers curled together. I’m there when he smiles for the last time, when he looks up at me and tells me he loves me.

  “I’m scared, Marnye,” he says, but I press my cheek to his, tears streaming down my cheeks to hit the pillow beneath his head.

  “Don’t be. I’m here. I’ll always be here,” I whisper, and when he finally slips away, it’s with me by his side, holding onto him, always holding on.

  Afterward, I let the boys drive me to Jennifer’s house, and I use my key to let myself in.

  She gives me the warmest hug I’ve ever had from her in my entire life, and then I climb the stairs to the bedroom that will never be mine and fall asleep. Pretty sure I sleep for an entire week after that.

  The funeral is nice. Sad … but nice.

  I stand in the cemetery in Tristan’s black dress, lifting my head to the sky to look at the gently waving limbs of the trees.

  “I heard you stopped by to visit Harper at the hospital,” Zayd says, putting his hand over mine. I glance slightly to the right, and force a smile.

  “I tried. She’s got burns all over her face. It’s likely she’ll be scarred for her life.” I look back at the fresh patch of dirt in front of me. The crowd is gone, Jennifer and Marley and Isabella are gone. It’s just me, Andrew, Miranda, and the boys.

  “Hung with her own rope, huh?” Zayd whispers, and we all go quiet again. There’s not much to say that’ll make things better. In a few weeks, I’ll be attending orientation at Bornstead University, finding my dorm room, imagining my future.

  And Charlie … he won’t be there to see any of it.

  My eyes fill with tears again, but I bite down hard and hang my head. It doesn’t stop them from falling into my lap as I curl my hands into fists, probably squeezing Zayd’s so hard it hurts. He doesn’t complain. Not at all.

  “I made my choice,” I whisper after a few moments. Zack sits down on my other side, and Miranda tugs on Andrew’s hand, pulling him away to give us some privacy.

  “Your choice?” Creed asks, his voice soft and unsure.

  “I’ve known since we started dating that I couldn’t keep all of you forever,” I say, still looking at the shiny surface of the tombstone. My eyes blur, and grief rackets through me in a painful wave. It’s like getting hit with lightning … over, and over, and over again. For a few minutes here and there, everything seems like it’ll be okay.

  The sun still shines.

  Birds still sing.

  But … then I remember that Dad is gone, and my whole world rearranges itself. Colors don’t seem as bright, music doesn’t seem as pretty.

  I look up and see Tristan Vanderbilt staring at me with a soft tenderness in his gray eyes that wasn’t there before. His arm is still in a sling, but he’ll heal. In time, he’ll heal. Maybe my heart … will feel normal again one day, too? Doesn’t seem like it, but I know life goes on, whether I want it to or not.

  “You don’t have to do this now,” Windsor says, kneeling down in front of me.

  I shake my head.

  “But I do.” I stand up, and the boys move aside, so I can approach the grave, kneeling down to lay out a bouquet of white roses in front of it. I’m smiling now, but I’m crying at the same time. “I love you, Dad. Watch over me, okay?”

  I stand up and turn around to see the five of them staring at me.

  They’re all so beautiful, each in their own way. I know in my heart that the streaks of wicked darkness inside each of them are still there, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take. All human beings are capable of being cruel … they’re also capable of loving.

  And I see love reflected back at me in five pairs of eyes.

  “I was thinking … if this were a manga,” I start, sitting down on Dad’s headstone and pretending for just a moment that I’m five years old again, and sitting in his lap. My left hand clamps over the charm bracelet hanging off my right wrist. “If this were a manga—a reverse harem manga, to be exact—then I’d probably pick … Tristan.”

  The boys shift uncomfortably, exchanging weird glances.

  “You’re not?” Creed asks, voice still hopeful.

  “If it were a manga though, I’d pick him but he’d leave me for Lizzie.” Tristan makes a small sound under his breath, but I don’t look at him. Instead, I’m staring at the shiny toes of my shoes. “Windsor would end up dead, probably killed trying to save me from the Harpies and the Company.”

  “Ah, so that’s to be my fate,” he whispers, voice mildly amused but respectful.

  “Creed would go overseas to live in Paris and be a writer who spends most of his time lounging at outdoor cafes.” My smile gets a little wider, but I can still taste the salt from my tears. “Zayd would become the biggest rock star the world has ever seen, and although he’d still love me, he’d disappear on a world tour, and I’d marry Zack. We’d go to Bornstead U, and he’d play football, and I’d cheer—badly—while I worked on my four year degree. One day, we’d move into a nice house and have kids, and we’d be very much in love.”

  “So you’re picking Zack?” Zayd asks, sounding slightly confused.

  I look up at them all then and shake my head, and Zack grits his teeth, his face darkening with a dreadful melancholy. I’m not done though, standing up and brushing the loose dirt from my dress.

  “That’s what would happen in a manga, but … this isn’t a manga.” I glance back at Dad’s grave, and another surge of pain flows through me. “This is my life, and my choice is … no choice at all.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Zack whispers, his voice rough and broken. He misses Charlie, too, I know that. They were friends. Windsor and Dad, too.

  “It means she doesn’t want to make a choice,” Tristan clarifies, but I shake my head, looking up to see his raven-dark hair billowing in the wind. He looks good in black, they all do. They’re all wearing their fourth year uniforms for the final time. It’s appropriate somehow, seeing the rich boys of Burberry Prep arrayed in front of me in a half-circle.

  “It means I won’t make a choice,” I say, smiling through the tears and cocking my head to one side. “I don’t want to choose. I love you all. I do. And losin
g Charlie, it’s taught me that you don’t throw love away because of some arbitrary rules or because someone tells you to. Because the world wants you to. I love you guys, and I … I’m not ready to say goodbye to anyone else, at least not yet.”

  “What you’re saying then …” Zayd starts, getting it before anybody else does. “Is that you want to keep doing what we’re doing?” I nod, and he steps forward, cupping my face in his inked hands. “Does that mean we get to go to college with you?”

  “I’d hope so. It’s a little late for you to change your minds,” I start, my lip protruding as a sob wracks over me. I’m weeping now, missing Charlie like crazy as Zayd takes me in his strong arms. “The application deadline’s passed, so you’d have to take a gap year—”

  “Marnye, shut up,” Zayd whispers, burying his face in my hair. He holds me tight and close until the crying passes, and then he steps back, looking me in the eyes without flinching. “Nobody tells me what to do. I make my own rules. If I want to date a girl with four other boyfriends, I will. Fuck the world. It’s none of their business anyway.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper, my hands shaking.

  Zack steps up next, panting heavily, tears resting on his lashes.

  “Charlie …” he starts, and then he shakes his head, reaching up to scrub a hand down his face. “He raised an amazing daughter.” I keep smiling, even though everything hurts. Everything. My heart, my soul. “I’m in. I … don’t want to know what college is like without you.”

  “You know I’m here for you,” Windsor says, voice soft and low. “Always.” The wind tousles his hair, and he smiles. “Maybe one day, you’ll really marry me. You can even keep these assholes around. I don’t care.”

  “I knew it when we kissed on the boat that night, in the cold,” Creed interjects, stepping forward. “You’re my soulmate, Marnye. I’m sure of it.”

  “Told you!” Miranda calls from somewhere nearby, pulling a small, sad laugh from me. “#TeamCreed!”

  I pause then, and notice Tristan’s eyes are closed.

  When he opens them, he looks up at the sky.

  “If you’re worried about your tuition, I’ll pay it,” Windsor says, and Tristan drops his gaze to the prince, smirking.

  “I got a full-ride scholarship, you pompous ass. Guess next year, I’ll be the freshman charity case at a new school, won’t I?”

  “Hopefully the students don’t try to bully you,” I whisper as Tristan turns to look at me.

  “God help them if they do,” he says, and I know he means that. There’s a long stretch of silence as he studies me. That’s when I know it for sure: he’s going to say no. Tristan is going to say no, and he’s going to walk away, and that’ll be the end of all this.

  Not every story wraps up in a beautiful package at the end, huh?

  My time at Burberry Preparatory Academy is over, and with it, ends this chapter of my life. Marnye Reed, scholarship student, daughter of Charlie and Jennifer, honor roll enthusiast, lover of old architecture and boring historical facts.

  “Marnye, when I make a decision, it’s swift and immovable.”

  “I know,” I choke out as Zack scowls and Windsor’s shoulders stiffen. Creed and Zayd exchange a look, glancing back at their fellow Idol like they are more than willing to kick his ass.

  “So when I decided that I was in love with you, and that you were mine, I chiseled that decision on my heart in stone.” He steps forward and puts his fingers under my chin, lifting my face up to meet his. “You’re mine, Marnye, and I’m not letting go. Not even if I have to share your heart. The way you love, it’s infinite. That’s more than enough for me.”

  I throw my arms around his neck, and Zayd exhales with relief.

  “Group hug, everybody? Yeah, yeah, group hug.” He throws his arms around us next, and even though Tristan makes a growling sound, he accepts it. Creed is next, when Windsor. Zack wraps us all in his huge arms before Miranda comes bouncing around the corner, dragging Andrew with her.

  We embrace right there in the graveyard, with Charlie Reed watching over us.

  And the warmth of the sun … it feels just like his smile.

  Bornstead University has one of the biggest and most beautiful campuses in the country, situated in the picturesque mountain air of Colorado.

  I carry a box of personal effects up the steps of the girls’ dorm, Miranda on my heels. She’s got Good Charlotte’s California (The Way I Say I Love You) playing on her phone, humming the lyrics as we climb the stairs. I don’t tell her, but the lyrics are making me cry.

  If only Charlie were here, I think as I step into the empty dorm room, opening up the window and closing my eyes against the cool, fresh breeze of autumn. A few weeks ago, I turned nineteen, and the boys and I went to have waffles (covered in peanut butter and syrup, of course) at the Railroad Station. We saved a seat for Charlie, and I put his picture on the table across from me.

  Isabella and Jennifer joined us, and I enjoyed their company more than I expected. Of course, neither of them understands how I can possibly be dating five guys, possibly be in love five times over, but … that’s okay. They don’t have to understand. The only people that have to understand how it works … are us.

  “Babe, my dorm is so far away from yours,” Zayd groans as he slinks in and collapse on my bare mattress. I've got some cute new sheets with little harps all over them. I think they’re supposed to be Christmas sheets or something, but hey, a harp’s a harp. “And the second floor? How cruel. I’ll need to bring a ladder, so I can sneak into your room.”

  “You don’t have to sneak, you goofball,” I murmur, moving over to the bed and flicking him in the forehead. He pulls me down on the bed next to him as Miranda rolls her eyes and starts to put her pale pink sheets on her own bed, pausing only when a text comes in from Andrew, all the way down in Stanford. I wonder if his relationship with that Ross guy will work, this far apart?

  Only time will tell.

  “Andrew and Ross both say hi,” Miranda tells us as Zack comes up, carrying the heaviest of my boxes under his arm. Creed is yawning and carrying … a pillow, how appropriate. That, and a stack of manga under his other arm. He tosses a few boys’ love volumes down on my bed, all of them with embarrassingly explicit covers, and I snatch them up in my arms, giving him a look.

  Tristan and Windsor are last, each holding a medium-sized box.

  “That should do it,” Wind says, putting his hands on his hips and looking around. “Not bad, for a commoner’s dorm, that is.”

  “Hah,” I say, standing up and moving around the bed to shelve my new manga books. “You’re all in commoner’s dorms, too, don’t forget.”

  “So we are,” Windsor agrees as Tristan reaches down and takes the photo of Charlie out of my box. He looks at it for a moment before passing it over to me. I take it, our fingers brushing, fire shooting through my arm and straight to my chest.

  “Let’s hit the cafeteria, and see what they’ve got to eat around here,” he says, his voice low and smooth, just like cognac. Miranda lets the song on her phone play on repeat, so it starts all over again as I hug the picture against me for a moment.

  “You guys go ahead, and I’ll be right there. Wait outside for me, okay?”

  “Anything for you, Marnye-bear,” Zack says, using my dad’s nickname for me before he kisses me on the lips, a searing brush of mouths that leaves me wanting more.

  “Don’t take too long, or I’ll get lonely,” Creed purrs, trailing his fingers down my arm before he leaves the room, and the rest of the guys follow. Miranda pauses at the last second, looking back at me with soft, sad eyes.

  I wonder if she still has a crush on me … or if she’s over it now? It’s impossible to tell because she loves me so much, it’d be difficult to spot the difference.

  “I’ll keep them in line for you, beat off all the hungry co-eds with a stick.” She pauses, smiling again before she takes off down the hall, leaving her phone behind her, that damn song playing like t
he ending theme to my story.

  Here’s the thing though: my story isn’t ending.

  No, it’s just fucking beginning.

  I don’t know what’s going to happen later, or how the rest of my life will pan out. Nobody knows that sort of thing, but what I do know is that I’m at the university I always wanted to go to, with the boys I want to be with, and the best friend who was always by my side. The Infinity Club is still out there, but … that’s there. That’s there, and I’m here.

  I’m here, and that’s my happily ever after.

  Life is always ticking by, one second at a time, and nothing is over until it’s over, but … for now, I’m happy resting in the arms of the elite. For now, this is exactly what I need.

  “I miss you, Dad,” I whisper, putting his picture on my bedside table, grabbing my bag, and heading out the door to join my new family for our first on-campus dinner. I blow him one, final kiss before I close the door behind me, and step out into my new life. “And I love you. Forever and always.”

  The End…

  Author's Note

  Thank you all so much for reading and enjoying the Rich Boys of Burberry Prep series. The idea for these books came to me in a dream, and although I’d never written or even read a bully romance (not unless you count C.S. Pacat’s Captive Prince Trilogy!), I knew I had to bring this one to life.

  A lot of personal experiences went into this novel, and I’ll admit: I cried when I wrote the ending. I’m not ashamed of that. LOL.

  I love Marnye and her boys, and I know there’s so much more to their relationship: growing up, becoming adults, managing a complex alternative relationship in the real world, marriage, kids. I’d love to keep writing about them, but if I do, it’ll be under a new series name—Rich Boys of Bornstead U—which would feature the same characters, but read like a separate story arc.

  I haven’t decided definitively to do this, but if you feel strongly about seeing more of these characters, you can message me on Facebook, email me, or most importantly, post in my readers’ group here. Last time I asked the fans if they wanted more (with my Harem of Heart series), I got so many responses that I added that new project to the books. Your messages do matter!