My cheeks heat and I wish more than anything I could disappear beneath the counter. It’s almost comical how quickly I go from relaxed and at ease to epically uncomfortable and Aaron sees it. His jaw tightens, a vein in his neck popping out.
The waitress’s eyes narrow in confusion as she flicks her gaze between Aaron and a now standing-and-heading-in-our-direction Roman who, I might add, looks royally pissed. This isn’t going to end well.
“I’ll leave you three love birds to your squabble,” Emilio chuckles and heads to the bathroom.
I grit my teeth. Bastard.
Roman crowds in beside Aaron, propping his forearm on the counter as he drinks me in. I don’t miss the hunger in his gaze or the fury rising in it. I flick a glance toward Dominique who’s settled back in the booth with an amused smirk on his face as if he’s settling in to watch the show. Roman clears his throat, drawing my attention back toward him.
“Care to explain?” His lips press into a thin line. I don’t know why I’m looking at his lips. Scratch that. I absolutely do know and it’s because he kissed me in the lunchroom today. I’m still pissed at him for it, too. Why does he continue being the asshole showing off that he’s got the girl when he doesn’t even want me?
“She doesn’t have to explain anything to you, man.” Aaron pushes up from his barstool, but a firm hand on his shoulder shoves him back down into his seat. Roman doesn’t even look at him. His eyes stay locked on mine, a tick now forming along his jaw.
“Alejandra…” He draws my name out, the sound low and seductive, sending fire through my veins. He’s using his bedroom voice, and God does it do things to me that it shouldn’t.
I take a deep breath. Come on, Allie. Be strong. I square my shoulders. “I’m having dinner with a friend,” I say, proud when my voice comes out even. “Is there a problem with that?”
His eyes darken as he straightens. “Yeah,” he says, “there is.”
“Umm…” Our waitress opens and closes her mouth. She looks like a goldfish, and I almost laugh.
“We’re good, Heather. Thanks.” Aaron waves her off, and we all watch as she scurries away to help other customers before Aaron turns to face Roman head on. “Look, man. I get you don’t like me or trust me—the feeling is mutual, by the way—but Allie’s my friend. I don’t care what you two have going on, that’s your business, but stop being an asshole for no reason. Why don’t you try being a normal guy and, I don’t know, call her or ask her out sometime?”
The urge to say “Yeah,” in a snarky told you so voice is strong, but I hold myself back and wait for Roman’s reaction. With exaggerated slowness, he swivels his head to give Aaron his undivided attention. I swallow hard at the look in his eyes. White. Hot. Rage. Had I been standing I would have taken several steps back—and I’m not even the one on the receiving end of that look.
Aaron’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down, but he manages to meet Roman’s glare and hold it. Impressive. Whatever issues lie between them, Aaron’s no coward.
Hostility radiates off both boys as Roman stares at him, unmoving, never saying a single word. Tension builds in the air. It’s suffocating. I rub my palms over the tops of my knees debating whether or not to intervene when Emilio finally pops out of the hallway, oblivious to the tension in the air.
“Hey, fuckers. We still chatting?”
Like a bubble being popped, the pressure releases and I noisily exhale. “Nope.” I turn to Emilio, a fake smile plastered across my face. “Roman’s just being Roman. You guys should probably get back to Dom, though. He’s looking lonely over there.”
Emilio looks over my shoulder and his grin widens. “Yeah, he doesn’t look so lonely.” I turn and spot our waitress—Heather—leaning toward him, her breasts intimately close to his face. Dom licks his lips.
I sigh. And then my stomach does the unthinkable and growls like a rumbling bear. How em-barr-essing. “Come on, vanilla. We need to put some meat on those bones.” Emilio tugs me from my seat angling me toward the booth Dom is still sitting in but I dig in my heels.
He stops and scowls over his shoulder at me. “What?”
I tilt my head toward Aaron and Emilio snorts. “You’re going to pick Henderson over us?” he asks as if the very idea of doing exactly that is unfathomable.
“Uh, yeah. I came here with him. I’m not going to just bail because you three showed up.”
He frowns like he never thought of it like that and I have to smother a laugh. The Devils really are used to always getting whatever they want. I tug my hand free from his grip and reclaim my seat, but rather than heading to the booth as I’d expected, Emilio grabs the stool beside me and Roman takes the empty seat beside Aaron, who looks anything but thrilled to be seated beside him. As soon as he reaches for a menu, Dom rises and heads toward us, taking the last empty seat next to Roman.
Aaron’s jaw ticks and he clenches his hands into fists on the counter. I rest a hand on his knee and mouth one word—Sorry. Roman sees the touch and his eyes narrow so I quickly snatch it away.
“We can head out,” I mutter. “Grab something on the way back to—”
“Nah. Don’t be like that.” Emilio moves to squeeze between Aaron and me, throwing his arms around both our shoulders and pulling us toward him in a weird side-hug embrace. “Stay. You want us to get along, right?” he says to me. “Be friendly and shit?”
I nod.
“Alright then. We’re doing our part. Henderson,”—he meets Aaron’s frustrated green gaze—“you don’t mind, do you? It’ll be just like old times.”
Aaron shoves out of his seat, forcing Emilio to stumble back a few steps. “I’m not fucking doing this.” His chest rises and falls with each heavy breath and he bares his teeth. Roman and Dom also stand, folding their arms over their chests.
I jump to my feet, eyes wide. “Hey, it’s fine. We can—”
“No. It’s not fucking fine.”
I flinch at Aaron's tone.
“Don’t talk to her like that.” Roman comes to my defense, taking a menacing step forward. All of this is escalating way too fast.
“Hey. Hey!” I draw everyone’s attention back to me. “What am I missing here?”
“Nothing,” Aaron is quick to snap back.
Emilio laughs. “Keeping secrets, Henderson? Then again, that is your M.O., isn’t it?”
“Fuck off. I’m not dealing with your shit.” Aaron storms past him, making a beeline for the door before he catches himself and turns back to me. “Come on, Allie.” I step forward to follow, but a hand on my elbow stops me.
“Not happening. You wanna storm out that’s on you. But she’s not going anywhere with you like this.”
Before I can argue—because, yeah, Aaron is angry but it’s not like he’d hurt me—he’s cursing out a, “Whatever.” And leaving me behind.
Un-freaking-believable. I consider chasing after him. He’s my ride after all, but a firm shake of Roman’s head has me deciding against it. Was it too much to ask to have a normal day for once? No mean girls or asshole fathers or stupid boys to ruin it?
My stomach rumbles again. “Come on, vanilla.” Roman steers me toward a nearby booth. “Let’s feed you. I’ll take you home after.”
Roman
A flare of something eerily close to jealousy burns hot in my chest at the thought of Allie on a date with Aaron fucking Henderson. No. Scratch that. I’m not jealous. I’m pissed. Who the hell does Henderson think he is?
I told him to stay away from her. Emilio made it public knowledge that she belonged to the Devils. He saw us together at Shadle Creek. He knows she’s mine. And he’s still sniffing around.
It’s like the guy has a death wish. After what happened that summer before junior year—when the asshole nearly got all four of us killed—you better believe I’m not taking his shit anymore. I can’t believe I was ever friends with that asshole.
I pull Allie closer to me, conscious of my mounting anger. My arm wraps around her narrow waist as I lead
her to our usual spot. Lust stirs and my dick twitches as I take in her slim legs and narrow waist, breathe in the strawberry scent of her shampoo. She isn’t wearing a lick of makeup, exposing a faint sprinkling of freckles on the top of her nose. God, she’s so fucking beautiful.
And she was here with him. The get-up she’s in is all for him.
I grind my teeth together as we take our seats. Heather returns, takes our drink orders, and slaps a few menus down on the tabletop before retreating to the counter. She isn’t trying to flirt with Dom anymore and that’s fine by me. Every chick in this place is team Henderson. His aunt owns the place, so I’m not surprised.
For a while there we stopped coming around, but the Sun Valley Diner has the best burgers, and after sweating my ass off on the field, I decided I’d earned a little reward. It’s a good thing we came into enemy territory, too, or who knows what Aaron would have tried to pull with Allie. I don’t trust the fucker. He might seem squeaky clean now, but I’m not buying it. He’s just good at hiding his demons.
She’s quiet as the guys jump right into talking about the upcoming game. It’s the biggest one of the season and we’re all hyped for it. The Saints are the only school with a shot of ruining our record. So far we’re undefeated, and once we beat them, it’ll be smooth sailing all the way to state. Scouts will also be there, and while we all have a scholarship lined up, it’s never a bad idea to have a back-up.
My parents are even showing up for the game, which was one hell of a surprise when my mom told me. Neither of my parents support my decision to go pro. Hell, neither supports my decision to go to college. My pops wants me to go straight into the police academy following graduation. Not fucking happening. He might enjoy being a boy in blue, but I have zero plans to follow in his footsteps. Mom does the whole I just want to see you happy bit, but really, she wants me to do whatever will make my pops happy to make her own life easier. If she really cared about my happiness, she wouldn’t nod and smile and tell me how my father knows best every night at the dinner table. He does not fucking know best. Not where my life is concerned.
They humored me during my freshman and sophomore years. Even came to a few of my games. But when that pending scholarship offer came through end of junior year from Suncrest U and they realized just how serious I am about playing football, everything changed. Football isn’t a career. It’s a game. I’m almost eighteen now. I need to be a man. Show some responsibility. Blah, blah, fucking blah.
Pops is married to his badge. All the man ever does is work. And I get it. It’s how he provides for his family. But as the Sun Valley Police Chief, he’s got time for little else beyond work. Certainly not time to see his only son play ball. But he’s coming to Friday’s game—the first one he’ll be at all year— and I know once he sees me on the field, sees how good I am, he’ll finally drop the subject of me going to the academy. Friday’s game is more than just a chance to secure scholarships. It’s a chance to prove to my pops that this is what I was born to do.
Allie’s quiet as the guys talk until Emilio asks what we’ve all been secretly wondering. “So, you and Henderson a thing now?”
She stiffens beside me and swings her head toward him, frowning. She better not say what I think she’s about to because no, no fucking way is she going to date that douchebag. She’s way too good for a tool like him.
I brace myself for the admission, not that it’ll matter, because Allie Ramirez is mine. She can like Henderson all she wants, I’ll wedge myself right in the middle if I have to.
But instead of confirming their relationship, she says, “We’re just friends.” I raise a brow and she sighs, shaking her head. “Why is that so hard to believe?”
Our waitress drops off our orders before making a hasty retreat.
Emilio pops a fry into his mouth before saying with a grin, “Because Aaron wants to bone you.” He chews, swallows, then eats another. “Can’t say I blame him. You’re hot as hell, Allie.” She blushes. “But I know who you belong to. Henderson does, too, and he’s still making his plays.” He taps his temple with his index finger. “Not smart on his part but Henderson never was the sharpest crayon in the box.”
“I don’t belong to anyone.”
I snort, leaning back in the booth and spreading my legs to get comfortable. “Yeah, you do.” She frowns, looking from Emilio to me. “Time to get with the program, vanilla. Admit you’re mine. It’s not nice messing with a guy's emotions like that. Letting Henderson believe he has a chance.”
“I’m not,” she snaps.
“Yeah, you are. Admit it.”
She scoffs before hissing, “You do not own me. I do not ‘belong’ to you. I am my own person with my own autonomy.”
“Keep telling yourself that, but look where I am and look where you are. This is a thing between us and I for one do not fucking share.”
She sets her jaw, turning away from me. Gripping her chin, I force her to meet my gaze, fully aware of Dominique and Emilio’s interested stares. “You. Are. Mine. Got it?”
She jerks away. If it weren't for the fact that she’s trapped beside me in the booth, I’m sure she’d have already stormed off. “Screw you.”
“Already have. And I’m happy to make a repeat go at it, too.”
She makes a sound of disgust in the back of her throat, but it’s all for show.
“Don’t pretend you're anything but flattered. You don’t want Henderson. You don’t want anyone else. Just admit it already. You want me. I want you. Stop being a child and we can all move on.”
Swallowing hard, she swings her glare back to me. Her eyes narrow and her expression is considering before she bites out, “Fine.”
Woah. “Fine?”
A shrug. “Yeah, fine. I want you. You’re hot and the first time around the sex was good.” Her nose crinkles. “Not so much the second time but we all have our off days.”
“Burn.” Dominique gives a rare chuckle.
“Right to the cojones,” Emilio adds.
“That wasn’t very nice,” I bite out.
“Neither is being left without an orgasm. And just so you know, I’m all about second chances in life, but don’t expect a third.” Her smile is slow as it morphs into a warning. There’s that fire I knew was buried inside her.
A slow grin stretches across my face. “Alright. I’ll try and remember that.”
“Be sure that you do.”
I demolish my food. Coach has us running two-a-day practices to prepare for the game and within minutes Dom, Emilio, and I have all cleared our plates, but I notice Allie has barely touched hers. Maybe half a chicken strip and a few fries. She catches me staring and looks away.
“I thought you were hungry?”
She shrugs. “Yeah. It’s not really sitting right with me.”
I haven’t known Allie long but she looks thinner than she did when she first arrived at Sun Valley High, but I brush it off. If the food isn’t settling with her then it isn’t settling. I’m not her mom. She can take care of herself.
“So, Allie, you coming to watch us play this weekend?”
She perks up in her seat and when Heather returns to clear our plates, Allie passes her unfinished food to her with little concern. I frown but don’t comment. The girl needs to eat, but maybe she’ll grab a bite when she gets home?
“I wasn’t really planning on it…” she begins.
“You have to come. If you’re one of us then you gotta represent. No excuses. Game’s Friday night at seven. Plan on being there.”
She worries her bottom lips then freezes when my thumb pulls down on her abused lip, my eyes meeting hers. “Come to the game.”
“Is that an order?” she quips.
I run my tongue along my teeth. “If it is?”
She shrugs, tearing her napkin into small little squares. “I might have other plans.”
I growl and pull her against me. I don’t know why it’s suddenly important that she be there but it is. “You don’t have any other
plans. You’re coming to the game. End of discussion.” She doesn’t say anything else, but I catch the small smile playing on her lips and triumph floods through me. She’ll be at the game.
Allie
I slip into English class with seconds to spare when an unfamiliar face pauses beside my desk. “Um… you’re Alejandra, right?” a girl asks.
“Allie,” I correct her while nodding and she slides into the seat beside me.
“I’m Kasey.”
I frown. Why is she talking to me? “Uh, okay.”
The bell rings and the last of the students claim their seats, but there’s no sign of Mrs. Beck anywhere, and as soon as the rest of the class realizes she’s MIA, they all begin talking, visiting their friends' desks, and tossing crumpled paper balls around in a game of catch.
My gaze wanders over the heads in the room and I meet Roman’s stare. I swear it burns right through me. Heat flashes through my chest with each passing second and my heart rate picks up before Kasey draws my attention back with a small wave of her hand. “So, yeah. Hi.”
I raise both brows. “Hi.”
“I know we haven’t talked before. I kept meaning to introduce myself but you seemed a little standoffish and”—her eyes dart around the classroom—“well, anyway. I was just wondering if you had a thing for Aaron Henderson?”
I scowl at her. Was she for real right now? “Why? Do you have a thing for Aaron Henderson?” I don’t need to turn to know that Roman’s stare is still boring into me but I decide to ignore it, giving Kasey my full attention.
She chokes on a laugh, her blond curls bouncing around her heart-shaped face as she claps her hand over her mouth. “What? No! He’s my brother.”
“Your brother?”
She laughs. “Yeah, sorry. I probably should have led with that. I kind of assumed you knew.”
I’m shaking my head. “No. I didn’t. He never mentioned he had a little sister.”
She sighs. “Yeah, we’re not very close. Four years between us and all. But he’s a good big brother. Maybe a little absent but what can I expect? You know?” No. I didn’t know. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters.
Wicked Devil: An Enemies to Lovers, High School Bully Romance (Devils of Sun Valley High Book 1) Page 12
