by Janie Marie
It became clear why when she noticed the Godsons in the doorway.
Ryder guided Janie to her desk, but his violent gaze was on Philip. “Got something to say, bitch?”
Philip leaned back in his seat, clearly not ready for another beating from the bad boy.
Archer chuckled, snatching one of the balled-up pieces of paper from Kylie’s desk as he passed by. He threw it right at Philip.
“Archer,” Mrs. Demoness shouted. “Sit down, or you will get detention for disrupting class.”
Archer flipped her off and took his seat.
Philip and his friends didn’t bother Kylie for the rest of the class.
Thank God for bad boys.
“You think you’re so hot, don’t you?”
Kylie stopped walking. She’d been focusing on the floor since people were still picking on her, but now she realized she was surrounded by six girls. The one who had spoken was the school’s version of a queen bee—Melody Sokolav. She was the head cheerleader, and she also happened to be Maura’s best friend. Well, Maura liked to say they were best friends, but Kylie was certain no one really liked Maura.
Speaking of Maura—Kylie locked gazes with her dreaded stepsister. This wasn’t going to go well.
Melody’s lip curled up in disgust as she looked her over. “I asked you a question.”
“I’m not trying to be anything, Melody,” Kylie whispered, looking around to see that a few people were coming to watch the confrontation.
The girls laughed at her as she stared back with wide eyes. All she could do was stand there.
“Look at what she’s wearing,” someone said, laughing. “She wears the same thing every day.”
“I heard she gave the whole football team blow jobs,” another person said.
“Yeah, that was after she finished a three way with Trevor and his hot cousin.”
“The whole team had to go get tested for herpes.”
“She gave Ray crabs.”
Tears welled in her eyes as the crowd grew. Many were laughing while others just watched without helping her.
“They said she was begging for more. What a whore.”
“None of that’s true,” Kylie said, fighting with all her might to keep her tears at bay. She refused to cry.
They laughed at her pathetic attempt to defend herself.
“Maura,” Melody called, “didn’t you say you caught her trying to seduce your stepfather?”
Kylie shook her head at Maura, begging with her eyes to end this.
“I caught her completely undressed on his bed when my mom was gone,” Maura told the group.
“That’s a lie,” she shouted. Her head throbbed as she tried to look for a way out, but they had her trapped between them.
Maura grinned evilly. “Just like it was a lie that you had to have an abortion for your real dad’s baby when you were twelve?”
Kylie gasped. Others started screaming out that she was sick. A murderer. A whore. The world spun around her as their insults became louder and more hostile.
“Well,” a new female voice said from outside the circle, “climbing into bed with older men was always Melody’s fantasy. Y’all sound jealous.”
The crowd moved to reveal a group of four girls with Janie Mortaime smiling at the front.
“Isn’t that right?” Janie smirked as she placed herself between Kylie and Melody.
The whole hall went silent, waiting for someone to say something. Kylie darted her eyes around and saw Ryder Godson and his brothers leaning against some lockers a few feet away.
“So,” said Janie, a wicked little grin on her lips, “how’s business these days, Suckthemoff? Earn enough to pay off that boob job yet?”
Melody’s mouth closed in a tight line as the three girls behind Janie snickered.
“It’s Sokolav, Janie, and you know it,” Melody spat.
“All I know is that you suck them off for a little green.” Janie smirked, adding, “But you swallow for free.”
Monica, Tonia, and Elise—the girlfriends of Ryder’s brothers—all laughed.
“I hope they gave her a discount,” Monica said, tilting her head to the side as she observed Melody. “The left one looks a little lopsided.”
Several laughs sounded around them. Kylie still wasn’t sure what was going on. These were the bad kids. While she didn’t think Ryder and Archer had been defending her in English class earlier, there was no denying Janie was putting herself between her and Maura’s friends.
Speaking of Maura, her stepsister was trying to distance herself from the confrontation, like a coward.
“Maura Payne.” Janie turned a cruel smile toward her. “How’s it been? I see mommy dearest paid for your nose to get fixed after I broke it.”
Maura glared at Janie, though the fear was still present.
“Looks good,” Janie said, taking a step toward Maura. “You should refer Melody to your doctor. Who knows, maybe he’ll give you a discount so you can get your tits big enough to fill out that padded bra you’re wearing. “
Kylie distinctly heard Ryder and his brothers laughing among the crowd.
Maura’s face flamed with embarrassment, but she still had the guts to fire back, “That’s not what your boyfriend said last night.”
Janie laughed, glancing over at Ryder. “Babe, I’m curious—where’d you manage to hide Maura and her huge tits last night?”
Ryder slowly slid his eyes down Janie. “I was wondering the same thing, baby girl. You know exactly where I was.”
Kylie was sure his eyes were glowing as they settled between Janie’s legs.
Archer was the one to say something to Maura. “They live together, dumb bitch. She’s in his bed every night.”
“You would know, brother,” Tercero said, smirking. “You tried to squeeze in with them before Ryder threw your naked ass out into the hall.”
Laughter filled the halls; the crowd was even larger now.
Janie focused on Maura again. “Did we ruin your Ryder-Loves-Me fantasy?”
“Go to hell, stupid cunt,” Maura said.
A strange smile touched Janie’s lips, almost amused, but something else too. “I’ve already been crowned queen there, silly. Now tell everyone you’re fucking my boyfriend again. But I’ll warn you”—she leaned forward and whispered—“you’re nothing to him. Not a damn one of you means shit to him.”
Maura screamed like a banshee. “You bitch!”
Janie threw a punch, hitting Maura right on the nose. Kylie gasped with the crowd, and all hell broke loose. Melody went for Janie, but her friends shouted, tackling several of the girls with Maura.
The crowd cheered, causing more and more students to rush over. Janie was still punching Maura, but her group was outnumbered and it wasn’t long before Melody broke free from the melee and grabbed Janie’s hair to pull her off.
Monica grabbed Melody’s ankle, yanking her down.
Melody smacked the ground face first, then cried out as Monica began dragging her off Janie, and in doing so yanked Melody’s leggings clean off.
“WOOOOO!” Tons of boys started to cheer, but they died off quickly with sounds of horror and disgust at the sight of her panties. They were big, and clearly not Melody’s regular pair.
“Oh, shit, it’s laundry day,” someone yelled, making the crowd lose it.
Ryder and his brothers were the loudest again, and Kylie found herself laughing with everyone until she saw Tonia, Archer’s girlfriend, being pinned down. Before the girl could punch Tonia, Elise, Tercero’s girlfriend, tackled her. Boys made cat noises while others filmed everything. Then a shirt suddenly went flying through the air.
There was silence for a few seconds.
“Oh, yeah,” a bunch of guys yelled, realizing that in the wrestling match, the girl Elise had tackled lost her shirt. “Take her bra off!”
Kylie couldn’t stop smiling, but her heart raced painfully fast because a flash of steel caught her eye. Maura had a knife. “Maura,
no!”
Janie turned just in time to miss the knife being swung at her back. The crowd gasped while Ryder and the boys sprang into action, pushing people out of the way.
“Showing off all your crazy today,” Janie said, grinning at Maura instead of running like she should.
“I hate you,” Maura screamed, still holding the knife up. It wasn’t big, but it was still a knife.
“Doesn’t everyone?” Janie smiled, not looking afraid. “Come on, we’re both crazy. Be original if you’re gonna threaten me.”
People started yelling that teachers were coming, but the bad girl kept her eyes on Maura, tracking her like she was the predator, not the prey. Her posse had abandoned their victims and stood off to the side.
“I’m not crazy!” Maura let out a wild cry and charged Janie.
Janie stepped forward and blocked the attack, grabbed Maura’s wrist, and twisted it behind her back.
Maura screamed out in pain, but Janie wrenched her arm up higher.
“Drop it,” Janie said, not letting Maura go. The knife clattered to the floor, and Savaş pocketed it before it could get kicked out of the way.
Ryder spoke calmly, but his eyes were ablaze. “Leave her, babe. She’s had enough.”
Janie looked ready to argue, but the crowd started breaking up, everyone running away to avoid punishment.
Unfortunately, Maura was stupid enough to say something else. “I might be nothing, but you’re still a lying, cheating bitch. One day you’ll be nothing too.”
Kylie had no idea what Maura was talking about, but judging by the fury on Janie’s and Ryder’s faces, some of it was true.
“You don’t know anything,” Janie growled as Ryder tugged her.
Maura cradled her arm, her green eyes shifting between Janie and Kylie, but it was Janie she spat at.
Oh, no.
Janie was being dragged away, but even Ryder paused, taking in that Janie was wiping off her arm. He stood no chance of stopping the kick Janie sent to Maura, nailing her right between the legs.
“Dammit, woman!” Ryder lifted Janie up as Maura dropped to the floor, crying. Then he stomped past Kylie with the others rushing after him.
Kylie was in shock. She couldn’t believe everything that had just happened. She could only stand there and take in the sight of Maura sobbing with her hand between her legs as kids continued running in every direction to escape the teachers.
“Blondie!” Ryder’s entire group had stopped, and they were staring at her. Ryder had Janie over his shoulder, but he was staring at Kylie. “You’re coming with us. Hurry up.”
She didn’t move, but when Janie lifted her head and narrowed her teary, hazel eyes at Kylie, she took a step back.
Janie shook her head. “Get your little ass over here.”
“Babe.” Ryder smacked Janie’s butt but also squeezed and rubbed it as though he was soothing the sting. “Hush.”
Teachers yelled for students to stop running while others helped Maura’s damaged pack.
“We won’t hurt you, Kylie.” Janie’s hazel trained on her, and lost the violent, taunting gleam. “I promise. Just come with us, or they’re going to pin some of this on you.”
Kylie looked around, noticing that teachers were grabbing students for questioning. She saw a boy had stopped to help Maura, and she shook her head. Maura would turn this around on her, blame her for it. So she ran after them and followed them to the parking lot.
“Hanging with the bad kids now, Kylie Hood,” Janie said, her voice teasing as she rubbed under her eyes. They were red, and she had some swelling on her cheek like she’d been slapped.
Kylie’s face warmed as the group continuously sent her stares before breaking off toward different vehicles. She kept up with Ryder, figuring he meant him when he told her to come.
Janie smacked Ryder’s ass. “Put me down—I’m driving.”
“No, you’re not,” he told her as they approached a black SS Camaro.
“But it’s my car.” Janie started squeezing his butt cheeks.
“I know it’s your car.” Ryder muttered out a few curses while he dug through his girlfriend’s bag. “Where are your God d— Oh, here they are. Stop squeezing my ass.”
“I can’t help myself,” Janie said, squeezing more.
Ryder sighed and pulled open the passenger side door. “Get in, Blondie. Now.”
Kylie yelped and ran to jump in the back seat as Ryder placed Janie down on her feet. He was instantly kissing her, and Kylie looked away, unease tugging at her stomach.
“Are you okay, baby girl?” He didn’t sound like the cold-hearted guy she knew he was. “Damn, you took a few good hits.”
Kylie looked back to see they were done kissing, and Ryder was inspecting any wounds Janie had sustained, even the girl’s bruised knuckles.
“I’m fine,” Janie whispered as Ryder sweetly kissed her fingers.
It surprised Kylie when blood stained his lips, but he licked it and went back to checking over Janie’s face.
“You’ve gotten sloppy, babe. And soft,” he said, checking the parking lot quickly. “I warned you to keep your head together.”
“Whatever,” Janie muttered. “And it was her head that was the problem—hard as a rock.”
He gripped her chin, staring into her eyes. “You okay?”
A forced smile was Janie’s response, and Ryder sighed, kissing her one more time before he situated her in the seat and rounded the car.
Janie didn’t acknowledge her. She just started inspecting her reflection in the mirror.
Ryder got to the driver’s side, but as soon as he went to sit down, he said, “Dammit, woman, I’ve told you to scoot the seat back when you park.”
“My car,” she said as he fiddled with the seat control to move it back so he could fit inside. “I can do what I want.”
“I bought it,” he deadpanned as he got in. “I want to be able to drive it if I need to.” He roughly pushed up the visor and started the engine.
Kylie had never sat in a car that actually made her butt vibrate, and it was a little terrifying. “Um,” she said to get their attention because they weren’t even bothering with her.
Janie turned to look at her. “Why didn’t you take up for yourself?”
Ryder shook his head, but he didn’t say anything as he drove through the parking lot.
“You can’t let people treat you like that,” Janie went on, her gaze running over Kylie’s face and taking in her hood.
It was like she’d never seen her before, and now she was sizing her up. Great.
Janie’s eyes met hers. “They won’t stop if you just stand there crying.”
“I wasn’t crying,” Kylie whispered. She wanted to, but she never would. “I’ll never cry in front of them. I just didn’t know what to say.”
Ryder sighed when a strange look danced across Janie’s face and raised Janie’s hand to his mouth, kissing it. “Don’t, babe.”
Kylie held her breath as Janie kept staring. Surely, she hadn’t said anything wrong.
A sort of manic smile appeared on Janie’s face, like she’d flipped a switch in her head. “I can’t stand your stepsister, but I fucking hate Melody. She never fails to spread lies to her minions about me. I should’ve hit all of them.”
Ryder gave his girlfriend a soft look. “Babe, you know they’re full of shit.”
“I know.” Janie sighed as she moved into her seat again. All Kylie could see was the girl’s profile, but she managed to catch the lost look on Janie’s face. Maybe the girl was envisioning how the fight should’ve gone.
It made Kylie wonder if bad kids just loved getting into fights. Ryder certainly made a game of it with the amount of fights he got in.
Or maybe she was thinking about the things Maura said, about her cheating—maybe the cheating was why he got in fights. Maybe they both just loved hurting people.
Ryder tenderly caressed Janie’s swollen cheek with the back of his fingers. “Don’t l
et any of their words get to you. We know the truth, okay?” Janie didn’t respond, and he added, “They can try to tear us apart but it’ll never happen. . . . I love you, angel. Longer than always.”
Holy shit, that was the sweetest thing Kylie had ever heard, and definitely not something she expected Ryder Godson to ever say.
Janie certainly seemed to think so too as she smiled dreamily at him. “That was romantic as fuck, babe.”
“I know.” He grinned at her, and it was a totally playful look that Kylie had never seen him wear before. “Are your panties about to come off?”
Janie laughed, then winked at Kylie before focusing on him again. “Who said I’m wearing any?”
Ryder glanced in the rearview mirror. “Blondie, I’m throwing your ass out the window at the next stop.”
“What?” Kylie saw them approaching a stoplight.
Ryder laughed, reaching over to Janie’s lap. “I want to see if you’re lying. Show me.” He smirked, looking back at Kylie. “Close your eyes and ears. She’s gonna start moaning in a sec.”
Her eyes bulged. Was he really trying to take his girlfriend’s clothes off with her in the car? Was he going to finger her or something dirty?
Janie giggled again, pushing his hand away. “Stop being horny.”
“With you? Never.” He smirked at her. “Let’s ditch the blonde. Our cabin in the woods just got stocked. All our toys are there. We can forget the world—everything. Just us, like we’re supposed to be.”
It was the most Ryder had ever talked around Kylie, and she was entirely stunned that he was actually sweet and well-spoken. He mostly spoke with his fists and with simple statements that made you want to piss yourself and cry. But this Ryder was like a totally different person.
Janie smiled at him like he was the best damn thing in the world. “Not yet, my love.”
My love, Kylie thought. What, are they from the eighteen-hundreds or something?
He sighed, removing his hand to shift gears. “Not yet.”
Kylie put aside the peek into Ryder’s world and found the courage to speak up again. If she didn’t, she feared they would forget about her and really go camping in the woods. “Where are you taking me?”
Ryder’s emerald eyes met hers in the rearview mirror. “To the gym.”
