King of Nothing: An Academy Bully Romance (Boys of Almadale Book 1)
Page 15
“Get in the car, Landry,” Bodhi says, his window rolled down now that she’s on his side of the car.
“Fuck. Off.” She doesn’t even look at us.
“It wasn’t a question,” he says, arm up casually, sunglasses hiding eyes that are most likely flashing with amusement. Bodhi loves a good chase.
“I don’t care,” she replies.
I think part of her is having fun with this since she’s still answering us. I swing the door open and jump out as the car is still moving. I hear muttered curses behind me as I stalk toward Landry. I sweep her into my arms, like I’m carrying a bride, and stride back to the vehicle. The whole thing is done in less than a minute.
“Scoot,” I say, climbing in behind her after gently setting her in the SUV.
“Still kidnapping people, I see.” Her tone is dry as she eyes us. “I guess I’m glad you didn’t wake me up for it this time.”
She rolls her eyes and moves as far over as she can get from me. I scoot closer, letting my thigh touch hers, and this time, she doesn’t move hers away.
Victory, I think as I suppress the urge to smile. I don’t want to piss her off too much.
“Where are we going?” she asks, staring out the window.
I watch her profile, the slight tilt of her nose, the way she sucks her bottom lip in and nibbles on it. She’s probably unaware she does it, but it gets my dick hard every time. I shift a little in my seat, throwing my arm on the rest behind me. She cuts her eyes to me for a second before pretending she isn’t aware that my fingers are touching her hair.
“We want to show you something,” Brock says, and my eyes widen.
This is big. He’s going off script. We didn’t discuss bringing her into it, but maybe he thinks more drastic measures are needed.
“I don’t know that I can take in anything else today,” she says, staring down at her mangled to-go box.
“What do you mean?” I twist a lock of her hair around my index finger, wanting to pull it to my nose and inhale her fresh scent. The scent that has haunted me since our last intimate encounter. It seems like it’s been so much longer than it has. There have been moments that I’ve wanted to text her, and then I was thankful that I didn’t have her number, until I took her phone, because it put a stop to my idiocy. I was right to pull away. I need to stop being so wishy-washy.
I continue to twirl the strand, even as I think those thoughts. Her head leans back toward my hand, almost subconsciously, and I brush her scalp, watching the goose bumps that erupt along her arms with rapt interest.
“Uh, just family drama,” she says.
“So is ours.” Bodhi grins and turns around to look at us. His eyes land on my hand wrapped up in her brown locks, and he gives me a wink.
We pull up to our dorm and park. Hopping out, I grab Landry’s hand, letting her know to come with us as we make our way up to our room at the end of the hall. She steps inside, taking in the three beds, desks, and odds and ends that belong to each of us.
Bodhi walks to the window, unhooking it and pushing it open. He props himself up on the windowsill, grabbing a carton of cigarettes off the nearest desk and pulling his lighter from his pocket.
“Have a seat,” I say, extending my hand toward my bed, and Landry turns toward me, worrying that damn lower lip again.
I lean against the wall next to the window and watch Landry stare me down. Landry’s eyes are focused on my lips, and it’s almost like the other two aren’t in the room, as hyperaware as we are of each other. Everything else has faded away.
“Damn, you can cut the tension with a knife,” Bodhi mutters, arm propped on his raised knee, cigarette between two fingers.
She’s still standing in the middle of the room when Brock finally pulls out a chair, flipping it around and gesturing for her to take a seat. She sets her box on the desk and sits, sighing as we all look at her.
“Out with it. What did you bring me here for?” She clasps her hands together in her lap, meeting each of our gazes with her chin up, eyes flashing. A far cry from the flustered girl who emerged from the restaurant earlier.
I’m praying like crazy that she isn’t involved in anything. I don’t know that I could take it if she was.
“I hear you want to pursue art in college,” Brock says, taking a seat on his bed.
Landry’s eyes snap to mine, and I give a subtle shake of my head. I didn’t tell the guys everything about her, only what was needed.
“How do you know that?”
“That’s not important. What is important is how I can help you.”
Landry narrows her eyes as she stares at him. “What are you wanting in return?”
“Smart girl. You know nothing is free in life.” Brock leans over and grabs his laptop, typing in something before looking up. “My dad has an art friend in Chicago,” he says, and I see Landry gasp.
She’s putting it together. Her dream is in reach, but she knows it probably comes with a large price tag attached.
“The Art Institute of Chicago,” she murmurs, and Brock nods, his lips pressed together. “Why would you help me?”
“I’m not—unless you help me.” He sets the laptop in her lap, and her eyes scan the screen, the light reflected in her pupils.
Her brows rise and then furrow. She looks back at the beginning, reading through the information Brock has now, and then her eyes snap up. She finds mine and holds the stare. Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out. She licks her lips and tries again.
“You knew?” she asks me.
Brock’s expression goes stormy.
“Wrong answer,” he says, slamming the laptop closed.
20
Landry
Why is this all happening now? Did I invoke some bad Karma, and it’s all crashing down at once?
I need a long nap. Hopefully, when I wake up, it will be morning again, and I’ll realize none of this happened.
I didn’t think I would find out that my mom was a thieving gold digger or that my stepbrothers knew about it or that Corbin knew and didn’t think he should, oh, you know, let me in on the secret.
I leap up from the chair, hands on my hips, anger thrumming through my veins. I know I look irrational right now, but I have a right to be. All these fucking secrets swarming around me are making me crazy.
“Okay.” I blow out a breath. “Okay, I didn’t know. Not before today.” I deflate, curving in on myself as I can feel their eyes on me. “Fuck, why didn’t you tell me?”
“How do we know you aren’t involved? You expect us to give you the upper hand by letting you know that we are onto you and your mom?”
“Well, isn’t that what you are doing now?”
“Now, we want answers. We have enough to take you and your mom down if you don’t cooperate.”
I search Brock’s face, finding nothing but a stone-cold facade staring back at me.
“I don’t know anything else. Only what you know.”
“You are telling me, you aren’t involved at all?” Brock stalks toward me, and my legs hit the chair, forcing me to sit again. He leans over, planting his hands on the armrests, blocking me in. His face hovers close to mine, so close that I can feel his harsh breaths on my face.
“Hey, back off,” Corbin says, moving forward. He hits at Brock’s arm, who lurches up to glare at him. There’re a few moments of tense silence before Brock backs away. “Look, I get that you are upset at her and her mom, but maybe now, you need to entertain the idea that she isn’t involved.”
“You think I’m in on this?” I shriek, looking between the three. “Is this why you’ve been tormenting me, why you hate me and my mom?” I try to lower my voice, but it still comes out strangled.
“We don’t hate you,” Corbin says.
Bodhi looks away, blowing smoke out the window, and Brock pins me with a glare, saying nothing.
“I don’t hate you,” Corbin corrects.
“We know that your bitch of a mother—”
“She migh
t not be doing what is good right now, but she’s still my mom.” I seethe. I can’t help the anger coursing through me.
Maybe my mom is right about one thing. We are blood, and we help each other.
“We know that Linda is stealing from us, and we aren’t happy about it. Our dad refuses to listen to reason, so we are the only ones who can put a stop to this.”
I blow out a breath and nod. “Yes, you are right. She’s stealing.”
You’re going to out your mom like this?
Well, it’s not like they don’t know.
“Glad to hear you finally admit it.”
“I swear I didn’t know until she told me today.”
“Damn, we should have gotten to you quicker. You could have recorded it.” Bodhi’s usually cheerful voice is glossed over by a growl, showing he might not always be all sunshine and happiness.
“I wouldn’t have recorded it,” I snap at him. “That’s my mom.”
“And he’s our dad. What gives you the right to protect her illegal doings against our family?”
“You haven’t given me any reason to want to be on your side. You have shamed me, made me an outcast, and treated me like scum at every turn. And you!” I stand up and whirl around, poking Corbin in the chest, driving my finger into the hard flesh on top of his sternum.
Damn, I’ve missed touching him.
“You are more to blame than either of them.” I bristle. “You acted like you liked me. Oh, what a fool I am. What a damn fool to fall for your act. Was it only to get information out of me?” I watch his face fall before he quickly covers it again with his mask of cool indifference. “It was? It was?” I’m heated now. “I can’t believe I’m such an idiot. I hate you, and you, and especially you.” I end my rant, staring at Corbin, breathing hard and struggling to calm myself.
Bodhi breaks the silence with a slow clap, still seated in the window, his cocky grin back in place as he winks at me. “Damn, there’s the fire we need.”
I swallow and clench my hands and then unclench. I would give my right tit for a punching bag just about now; my need to hit something is so strong. I stare at Corbin’s chest in front of me and contemplate it, but I know I can’t touch him again because it weakens my resolve.
“I’ve got plenty of fire,” I say.
“Then, use it,” Corbin says, surprising me.
My eyes snap to his. “What do you mean?”
“You can make this right. You have the control here.”
“Don’t talk to me about control. You and these two asshats have had the control the whole time. You probably sit in your room at night and cackle loudly with each other.” I watch Corbin’s lip quirk up in a quick smile before he straightens it out.
“I can assure you that I’ve never cackled with Brock and Bodhi before.”
“You know what I fucking mean,” I groan, planting my hands on my hips.
“As much as we’d love for you to continue your lovers’ spat, we have a plan to implement and carry out,” Brock cuts into our arguing.
I turn, about to lay into him and let him know that Corbin is not my lover, but his words sink in. “Plan?”
“That’s right, Panda Bear,” he says with a smirk, and I want to reach out and throttle him. “We want to know what your mother told you, so we can decide how we want to use you. She’s not getting away with this even if my dad refuses to acknowledge what’s happening under his nose.”
I nod and relent, realizing that as much as I love my mom, I can’t be okay with what she’s doing, and I should help get her the best deal possible.
“Before I tell you anything, I want your word that you won’t get authorities involved. That everything will be taken care of out of the public and governmental eyes.” I stand tall, displaying confidence I don’t think I feel.
“Aw, that’s precious that you want to protect mommy dearest. But let me remind you, your name is attached. If you don’t help, we can take you down as well.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. He’s right.
I don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to this, and I’m angry with my mom over it.
How dare she do this to me!
I don’t want her to go to prison, but I’m not feeling any sort of bond with her anymore. She’s selfish and wrong.
I sit back in the chair with a sigh, clasping my hands together, and look Brock in the eyes. “What do you want to know?”
We spend the next hour going back and forth between Brock interrogating me and Corbin stepping in when he gets a little too, shall we say, passionate. When all is said and done, we agree for me to meet with my mom again, this time recording our conversation, trying to get everything on tape. From there, Brock will hopefully consult with his lawyers and dad to draw up a plea deal for Mom, where she can leave with her dignity intact and not with her hands in cuffs.
All in all, it’s more than I thought she would get.
I rake a hand through my hair once everything is decided, sitting back in the chair and taking a few deep breaths.
“Can I head back to my room?” I ask, standing and stretching a little.
“I’ll walk you,” Corbin says, stepping forward, and Bodhi snorts.
We both ignore him. I’m still angry with Corbin, but I nod and grab my box of Alfredo from the desk.
“Ready,” I say. I turn to Brock and Bodhi. “I know we’ve had our differences. And I see your side of things. But I still won’t forgive what you did to me during the assembly. However, call a truce, and I will help you.”
Bodhi jumps up from the bed he moved to once he was done smoking in the windowsill. “Truce, lil sis,” he says with a smile before wrapping me in a hug.
I’m stiff, and it feels foreign, but I think we are on the right track now. Brock gives me a chin up, respect in his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. These twins are night and day, but at least they are true to themselves. So, I’m going to be true to myself.
I turn and walk out the door, Corbin so close to me that I can feel his body heat. I stop suddenly, and he bumps into me.
“You can walk beside me. You don’t have to be a shadow,” I say, looking over my shoulder at his face that is right there. So close that I could turn around and capture his lips with mine. But I don’t. I smile to myself when I feel him move up, walking with his elbow touching mine. “I’m mad at you,” I tell him.
He doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “I know.”
We continue to my dorm in silence.
We get to the door, and I turn, craning my neck back to look into his beautiful eyes. I fidget with the Styrofoam box, making it crinkle underneath my fingers.
“Let me make it up to you,” he says. “Let me take you out on a date.”
“Corb,” I say, feeling strange when I realize this is the first time I’ve ever shortened his name. I lick my lips and start again. “Corbin, how do I know this is real? That you aren’t doing it out of a sense of duty to your friends?”
“I didn’t want to, Landry. You have to believe me.”
“But you did it.”
He doesn’t speak for a bit, just sticks his hand up to rub the back of his neck.
“We didn’t know. None of us did. We weren’t sure how involved you were with things, and I have a lot riding on this.”
“You have a lot riding on this?” I can’t believe he’s trying to justify how he lied to me and tried to trick me.
“This isn’t coming out right at all,” he says with a groan.
He shuffles one foot, and I stare at him, waiting for him to explain. He’s not getting the easy way out here.
“I like you, Landry,” he says.
“Could’ve fooled me,” I snap back, not wanting him to play the sweet card.
Fight with me. Don’t give up.
“I do. I’ve felt a pull toward you since the moment we met. That’s why, that first day, I left without speaking to you. I knew what Brock and Bodhi thought was going on with your mom, and I couldn’t get involved
with someone doing illegal things. Not when I want to eventually get custody of my brother. But I had to be on their side. I still have to be.”
“Why? Why is there even a side?”
“You are her daughter. Why would you think there weren’t sides?”
“I wish you had come to me with the information first.”
“I couldn’t risk it, Landry. They are my best friends, and I need their help.”
“That’s what this is about,” I spit out. “Their money and connections. You need their help, so you choose them.”
“I chose them because it’s been us three for the last three and a half years. I hardly had anyone growing up, so when I had a chance to have friends, friends who have become more like family, I took that chance, and I’m not going to do anything to fuck it up.”
I deflate at his words. I know what’s riding on this, what weighs him down. He’s only spoken of it briefly, but I can tell how much his brother means to him. It’s written all over his face.
“Even so, I have a lot to think about. I can’t focus on whatever it is we have or don’t have right now. I’m angry, and I need time.” I take a step back, my heart bursting at the look on his face.
I had no idea he even cared this much. But I can’t break right now. I have to remain strong, and if it takes distancing myself, I’ll do it. It’s not like I haven’t before.
“Just give me another chance, Landry. I can make it up to you.”
“I’ve made up my mind. It’s not a no forever, just for right now.”
“Don’t you realize that when your mom goes, you go? We might not have forever.”
His words cause my breath to catch in my throat, and I gasp a little.
What’s going to happen to me now?
“I need time,” I repeat firmly even though my head is spinning with his words stuck on repeat.
“We might not have forever.”
21
Landry
Over the next week, a new box is delivered to my door almost every single day after school. There’s never a name attached, but I know who they are from. The first one I opened had top-of-the-line art supplies in it. Canvases, sketchpads, acrylic paints, watercolors, and they were all expensive. I looked up prices on the new phone I finally received, gasping when I saw the dollar amount connected to it.