by Dawn Doyle
I looked up into his eyes, and when he lowered his head to mine my heart pounded in my ears. Just when Lucian took the lime, barely touching me as he did, he immediately spat it out and closed his mouth over mine. His lips parted and kissed me again, stealing every last breath from my lungs.
He pulled back, his lips brushing mine as he spoke. “Better than I remember,” he whispered.
I slowly opened my eyes, and looked up into his humor-filled expression. Dread crept up into my throat as the emotions I’d felt earlier returned. I’d been treated like a game, and was finally played.
“Get off me,” I whispered, and when he didn’t move, I pushed against his shoulder. “I said, get off!” I jumped down from the table and ran to the laundry room where my clothes were in the dryer. I grabbed them and my purse, then called my mom while I got out of that fucking party and away from the guy that had just humiliated me.
So fucking stupid!
Chapter 4
Lucian
“Murphy didn’t make it.”
Those words ran over and over in my head. Internal bleeding, brain hemorrhage, mass organ damage… The fucking list went on and on. It made me sick to my damn stomach that the assholes would get away with it yet again. Murphy was only twenty-two, and his life was over.
Out of seven of the original fighters, only two remained. I wasn’t one of them; I was a replacement. I’d never intended to have more than one fight—that one was because I’d fucked up, but then ended up in a worse fucking situation that could drag anybody I knew down with me if I didn’t comply.
I shook my head, putting the past back where it belonged for the time being while I looked down at the mahogany casket being lowered into the ground.
Murphy’s mom wailed on the other side of the grave, clinging on to her sobbing husband while her legs slowly gave way under her. I couldn’t look, and I wished I lost my hearing until the service was over. A certain pair of eyes burned into me while I stood there, and I couldn’t bring myself to meet them because I knew exactly what I would see—blame. I wasn’t responsible for Murphy’s death, I knew that, but a part of me insisted that I was. He’d taken a fight that was too much for him. I tried to warn him that we knew nothing about the guy they’d arranged to fight, but he agreed to the ten-K payout if he won. I just couldn’t figure out what was in it for Larry Sykes by letting one of his best fighters get beaten to death.
A hand clapped down on my shoulder, and I turned to see my brother standing next to me, his tie pulled down and the top buttons of his shirt open. The heat was unbearable in these black suits, but while I continued to stare down at Murphy’s resting place, it was only Brady’s interruption that made me aware of the sweat beads running down my spine and my temples.
“Come on, bro, it’s time to go,” he said solemnly. He took my arm and tried to pull me around, but I shrugged him off. “Lucian, there’s nothing you, or any of us can do about this. You know we just have to carry on like nothing fucking happened.” I slowly turned my head to glare at him. “You know how it is. Larry makes the deals, the fights are booked, and somebody walks out with a shit ton of money.”
“Not everybody walks out,” I growled, pointing out the fucking obvious. “Why does he keep letting this happen?”
Brady shrugged, then thumbed over his shoulder toward the guys. “No clue, and we’re never going to find out.”
I snorted. “Yeah, cos he makes shady deals behind closed doors, and the fight’s happening before any of us know it.” I turned around away from the grave. “Two days prep wasn’t enough, Brady,” I snapped and he hung his head. “I’m fucking tired of this shit.”
“We all are,” Charlie said as he walked toward us. “We might not fight, but we can’t exactly stop you from working for him, can we?”
I kept my mouth shut. If I said anything at all, I’d damn near take their heads off. They loved it—the attention, the girls, the fucking admiration… It was all a front. I was somebody’s bitch, plain and simple, and all because we hit the wrong car.
What a complete and utter cluster fuck. But, it just so happened that I was good at it, and the high I got from standing in that pit was more than anything I’d ever felt in my fucking life.
Until Luca.
I scrubbed my hand down my face as my temper flared from how she’d yelled at me to get off of her. I knew she liked me; the way her body reacted to me was so goddamn obvious. Her nipples stood out of her T-shirt, her flawless skin flushed, her pupils dilated, and she swallowed every couple of seconds when I made it fucking clear she held my interest.
Maybe I’d got it wrong, but I seriously doubted that, and there was no fucking way I was gonna sit on my ass and not find out why the fuck she bolted out of the house.
I snorted a dry laugh and ground my teeth. Luca had bailed on me after I’d kissed her, and when I’d gone to go after her, Trent called with the news.
I let her go; I had to. Now that I’d had time to clear my head, I was going to find her, and I gave no fucks whatsoever about Grace’s warning to stay away.
‘What do you think you’re doing, Lucian?’ she’d spat, flames shooting from her eyes, and her lips so pursed they all but disappeared. ‘Luca isn’t for you, got it? You could have any girl you want, just not her. All of you, stay away from my cousin—especially you.’
A slow smile spread across my lips. Grace didn’t know it, but she’d made pursuing Luca a challenge, and as a lot of people already knew, I never back down.
*****
There she was, walking out of the building with the red-head by her side, her head down and her lips tight, just like after I’d tasted them for the second time. I didn’t move, didn’t call out or wave, I just sat against the hood of the car, my arms folded across my chest while I watched.
Luca kept her eyes forward, occasionally glancing at Paige and nodding along to whatever she was saying. Through the dark lenses in my shades, I took inventory of her. Long legs encased in tight black jeans, and slender arms that swung gently by her sides. The breeze caught the T-shirt she wore under her light denim jacket, making the grey and white striped fabric bellow out a little, briefly flashing the toned stomach I’d had the pleasure of running my tongue over. I salivated just thinking about it.
She flicked her ponytail behind her when the light wind caught it, and I swear it was like fucking slow motion when her lips parted and her eyes closed. It was a split-second, but more than enough time for my cock to take notice. It twitched behind my zipper as though waking up to the fresh smell of sex.
Every inch of her, from the top of her head to the white Adidas Superstars on her feet, had my mouth watering like a starving animal, and I needed to be fed.
Luca stopped walking when she spotted me across the parking lot, her eyes wide even in the bright sun, disbelief on her expression that I could practically hear the what the fuck coming out of her mouth when her lips moved. She shook her head a little, snarling in my direction then proceeded to rush off to wherever she was going, little red hot on her heels. Paige shot me a dark look, but quickly dropped when I straightened.
Paige almost walked into her back when Luca halted, and I had to fight the grin on my face when Luca marched over, stopping right in front of me. I wanted to reach out and grab her, tilt her head back and devour her neck, grabbing her ass and pulling her toward me, letting all the little shits at school know not to fuck with what was mine.
“You’re a fucking prick,” she seethed, pointing a manicured nail at my chest.
My eyebrows shot up. “How so?” I hadn’t seen this girl for a week and I was suddenly a prick? I’d done nothing to deserve that. Well, not that I knew about, and I certainly hadn’t said anything about her; not even to Brady.
“Don’t act like you don’t know, Lucian,” she spat. “Don’t think I don’t know what you were up to last week.”
My brows dropped back down, then drew together in confusion. “Seriously, I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about,
Luca.” I made sure to say her name just the way I had at the party, knowing exactly how her cheeks had flushed every time I did. And there it was, the cute tint rising up her neck to her face.
Her eyes blazed. “Don’t fucking smile at me. You played me, humiliated me, and if that wasn’t bad enough”—she swung her arm around to point toward the school building—“the new girl is already the talk of the whole damn place.” When I tilted my head to the side, she rolled her eyes and explained, “I’m the new girl, moron.”
“You’re feisty.” I couldn’t help myself. This girl was all kinds of hot when she was pissed, and if we didn’t have over a hundred people looking in our direction, I would’ve told her exactly what I thought.
“Feisty—” she scrunched her eyes closed then opened them before blowing out a breath through her full, gorgeous lips. “Don’t come near me again, Lucian, got it?”
“Get in the car,” I growled and her jaw dropped. “You’re causing a scene, Luca, so just get in the damn car and we’ll discuss this like adults.”
“Oh, get over yourself.” She walked off, but not before looking back and saying, “Grace was right about you.”
I snapped my jaw shut, my shoulders tight, and building agitation rolling through me. I took long strides and caught Luca’s elbow, spinning her around. “What the fuck did she say?” I demanded, removing my shades so Luca could see right into my narrowed eyes. If she didn’t know I wasn’t to be messed with, she did now. “Tell me now, Luca. What the fuck did your bitch of a cousin say about me?”
Luca tried to pull her arm free, but I tightened my grip. “Let go of me,” she said, her soft voice filled with spite.
I retained my hold while loosening my grip, and closed the gap between us. “Goodbye, Paige,” I said while keeping my eyes on Luca’s.
“But…Luca…” she stammered.
“It’s okay, Paige, this asshole won’t dare hurt me.”
I flicked my eyes to Paige and she scurried off like the frightened little mouse that she was, then turned my attention back to Luca. “So, you were saying?”
“Do you get off on scaring girls?”
“No, I don’t,” I replied curtly, “but when somebody bad mouths me, I want to know what the fuck they said.”
Luca slowly smiled. “You have no right to know what somebody thinks of you,” she said, and it was almost creepy. She tilted her head back, looking directly into my eyes, then tipped her head to the side, her face mere inches from mine. “It’s their opinion, so I don’t have to tell you shit.”
My gaze fell to her mouth, and while her lips were parted I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to cover her mouth with mine. “I want to taste your lips again, Luca,” I whispered. “You ran off before I could.” With a sharp yank, she was free. In my stupid fucking daze driven by the brain in my pants, I’d relaxed my grip too much.
I opened my mouth to yell at her to wait, to get in my car… Fuck, I don’t know, but watching her walk away from me caused a sinking feeling in my gut, and I didn’t like it one fucking bit, but when I saw the entire parking lot’s attention was still on us, I glared at each and every one of the mother fuckers to mind their own damn business.
I got in my car, and burned it out of there. There was only one good thing that had come out of that conversation, and it wasn’t what my dick had wanted. Whatever the hell had gone on in school, Luca would now be known for being one of the few who didn’t give a shit about me and who I was.
Fuck, that hurt.
Luca
“How fucking dare he!” I screamed, slamming my hand down on my steering wheel.
Lucian Moretz. That dickhead had shown up after a week and wanted to talk to me? Did he not know what he’d caused, what his stupid game had made me endure in just my first week at my new school?
I thought I’d go in, meet new friends, have a great time getting to know my classmates, but no… Lucian had fucked that all up and I was the pariah, the fucking outcast that had dared to be kissed by the one and only Luscious, whatever the hell that meant.
Nobody except Paige would talk to me about anything else other than the kiss at Grace’s party. ‘Was it good for you? Did you guys really hook up? You were upstairs with him for a while.’
I screamed again in frustration at the audacity. “Get in the car, Luca,” I said, mimicking his deep voice, then laughed in disbelief. Even though I was so damn mad for what he did to me, and then making it worse by showing up at school—no matter who it was he was actually there for—my senses honed in on everything about him. He smelled so good, like he’d just stepped right out of the shower and onto the parking lot. The sun hit him in all the right places, and although my anger took my mouth hostage, I just wanted to press myself against him like the women did in the old movies, swooning for the handsome gentleman, waving their delicate fans over their heated faces while in the arms of the sexy hero. But I was not a lightheaded damsel.
‘I think I’ll take my winnings…’ That had hung over my head all damn week. Lucian wasn’t going to win whatever game he thought he was playing with me, because I was no longer a ‘willing participant.’
I pressed the button on my visor, opening the roller on the garage. I slowly drove my car inside and pressed the button again, waiting until it had fully closed before getting out of my car. One of the things my dad had always said was, never get out of your car until you know it’s safe. Secure yourself before you do anything. I’m pretty sure he was scared that somebody was going to roll underneath and then follow me into the house.
“Mom, I’m home!” I yelled, dropping my keys onto the white counter top. I headed over to the double fridge and helped myself to a tall glass of orange juice. The carton shook, my nerves still on edge from my confrontation with Lucian. In my shaky state, I managed to slosh juice over the side. I grabbed a cloth and began to clean it up.
“Spill?” my mom asked as she entered.
“I’m just a little clumsy,” I replied, laughing it off.
My mom stood next to me and grabbed my wrist. “Honey, you’re shaking. What’s wrong? Did something happen at school?”
I shook my head. “No, everything’s fine. I think I just need some sugar.”
“Cookies,” she said with a grin. “Gives me an excuse to have some myself. I can’t let you eat alone now, can I?”
I almost choked on my juice at her words, the image of Blaine and Cadence—I now knew—flashed into my mind. “No,” I said, clearing my throat, the familiar burn of liquid down the wrong way causing different memories to come back. My mom patted my back. “Thanks, I’m okay now.”
“Wrong way?”
I coughed and nodded. “Yeah, but I’m good.” I took a large triple chocolate cookie from the plate and shoved a huge piece in my mouth. The longer it took to eat, the less time I had to talk. How could I tell my mother that a guy was the cause of my bad mood? She would call my dad and they would declare war on whoever had hurt their precious daughter, and I didn’t need them sticking their nose in to my business when I could handle it by myself.
But was I? As I was standing there, my mouth too full, crumbs falling and covering not only my T-shirt but the counter, all I wanted to do was go to my room and cry like a little girl that had been teased in the playground.
My stomach clenched and my nose stung. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I drained the rest of my glass and put in the sink before leaving my mom standing in the kitchen, looking as though she was having a cheat day.
I closed my door and then landed face down on my bed, screaming into my pillow until my throat was on fire. I rolled over, my eyes sore and my stomach tight from the exertion, but no tears fell from my eyes. I was way past being pissed off enough to cry now. It was as though something was building inside of me, and it was growing stronger with every second that I thought about Lucian and his fucking friends.
I heard my phone ringing, the distinct sound of torture in its incessantness. I didn’t recognize the number on the
front, so I declined the call. I couldn’t take any more, I had to change my number.
It rang again, and just as I was about to press the red button, I saw Paige’s name on the front. “Hi, Paige.”
“Hey, Luca,” she said, surrounded by the sound of voices all speaking at once. “What the hell happened at school?”
I blew out a long breath and sighed. “Nothing, really. I told him to leave me alone, and he wanted to know what Grace said about him. I told him to fuck off.”
“Oh my god, Luca, are you okay?” she whispered into the phone.
“Yeah. Why are you whispering?”
“Oh, um, I’m at Starbucks. Some kids from school are here, and they’re talking about what went down. They asked me what happened, but I have no idea what you two were talking about, I swear.”
I rubbed my fingers across my forehead, a headache forming there. “It was nothing,” I lied. “He was an asshole, I called him on it, and he didn’t like it.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t miss the disappointment in her tone, but since Paige was friends with some of the people who’d accused me of sleeping with Lucian, I didn’t know if I could trust her enough.
My first day at West Norton was a fucking disaster. The moment I’d walked through the door, the whispers started. I’d met Paige by my locker where I’d already heard mine and Lucian’s names mentioned at least ten times in the same sentence. She’d assured me it would die down, and that because Lucian used to go to that school, people still remembered him and his group of friends, one of which was his twin brother. They had quite the reputation and they were everything Grace had warned me about. People took great delight in telling me Lucian had slept his way through Junior year and most of senior year. Why hadn’t those people been harassed like I was? Oh, yeah, because out of those that were still in that school, I was new, I was an easy target, and I cared about what was being said about me, whereas those who’d eagerly spread their legs saw it as some kind of achievement.
