Wrong Crowd (Kingsley Academy Book 1)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  I throw my head back, my hair tumbling down my back as I moan, my body shaking with the need to come.

  “Scared?” I rasp out.

  His fingers slide to the back of my neck as he pulls me towards him. His lips slam against mine, our teeth knocking together in our frantic need.

  With one hand around the back of my neck, the other at my hips, his thrusts become harder, deeper, sending delicious waves of pleasure through me.

  And yet… I need him to go harder, deeper.

  The sound of skin slapping together and our panting mingling together fills the small space.

  Nothing has ever felt this good.

  “Fuck! You’re so fucking tight,” he groans, his arse clenching in my hands with each thrust.

  “Yes!” I moan, my orgasm building. “Yes!”

  His lips slam back down on mine when my movements become frantic, my nails breaking the skin of his arse cheeks as I try to get him to go faster.

  Then it happens.

  For one moment, one blissful moment, nothing else matters. Not the person who is buried deep inside of me, not my mum, not Nova. Nothing.

  My back arches as I slam myself against him one last time, before I lose control of my body and my orgasm rips through me.

  “Fuck,” Kaiden grunts, slamming into me, one, two, three times before burying himself to the hilt. He shoves his face in my neck, breathing hard.

  Voices nearby break up whatever this was between us.

  “I’m just going to check if she’s okay,” Selina whispers harshly.

  “I don’t think she’s going to appreciate you babysitting her,” Lucca chuckles, before Selina squeals.

  “Put me down this instant!”

  “I will—over the side of the boat,” he replies, his voice sounder further away.

  I pull back from Kaiden, pushing him away a little. I’m unable to look him in the eye, afraid of what he will say to me. It was sex. It doesn’t make me a slut. It doesn’t make me like my mother. And I certainly don’t need him to make me feel that way.

  Before he can open his mouth, I jump off the counter, grabbing my shorts and knickers from the floor and pulling them on. Next, I grab my bikini top, still not giving him any attention. I can hear him pulling his own shorts on, but I’m too afraid to look, too afraid of what I’ll do when I see his perfectly sculptured body.

  He shouldn’t be able to make me feel like this. He shouldn’t be able to control me the way he does.

  “Ivy,” he starts.

  I close my eyes, pained as I wait for his harsh words. “It was sex. Let’s just pretend it never happened.” I step past him, ready to go outside, but he grabs my arm, stopping me.

  “Don’t act fucking cold.”

  An undignified snort escapes me as I turn to face him. “Me? I’m acting cold? Turn around, dickhead, and take one long, hard look in the mirror. That is cold.”

  “You’ve just been fucked, come so hard I thought you were trying to squeeze the life out of my dick... Aren’t you supposed to be in a good mood or something. You know, mellow?”

  I arch my eyebrow at him. “Maybe you didn’t do a good job. Maybe I faked it.”

  He grins, stepping forward. “You can’t fake that shit. If you are, you’re one hell of an actress. But I don’t mind proving you wrong.”

  My cheeks heat a little as I look away from his smouldering gaze. “Just go before someone else comes looking. Maybe your girlfriend.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend.”

  I know that, but I don’t tell him. “Does she know that?”

  He eyes me for a moment, making me feel uncomfortable. “This isn’t over.”

  I look him dead in the eye, my body tensing. “It never is with you.”

  He shakes his head once more before turning and leaving the small bathroom. The minute he’s gone, I lean back against the counter, letting out a puff of air.

  And I thought my hangover was the worst that could happen to me.

  Maybe I was wrong.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  I don’t recognise the girl staring back at me in the mirror. How did I become this person, someone who let a guy control her, manipulate her body in a way no one else can? It’s frustrating. Infuriating. I want to hate him more because of it, but staring into the mirror, it dawns on me that it’s me I hate.

  I’ve gone from a girl who went days without food, scared to fall asleep in case one of Mum’s ‘boyfriends’ thought they could keep it in the family, to a girl I barely recognise. I knew what to expect in life back home. I knew who not to push, who to avoid and how to take care of myself.

  Cheshire Grove is a whole new world, a whole new crowd. It’s filled with lies, secrets and deceit. With wealth, beauty and power.

  And in the middle of all that? There’s me.

  A girl from a town that had prostitutes on street corners, and gangs and drug dealers living in the same block of flats. A girl who had to pinch shoes from a clothes bin because even the price at a charity shop was too steep.

  To confuse all of that, I went and slept with one of the wealthiest guys in Great Britain, a guy who clearly hates me because of who birthed me.

  I didn’t just survive back where I came from, I fought.

  Being in Cheshire Grove is either going to make me or break me. I knew that from the start. It’s high time I stopped letting their words get to me, stopped the past from defining me.

  I agreed to move in with Nova because I didn’t want to live like I was anymore. I wanted more.

  And if I let him, Kaiden could potentially take all that away from me, all the while living freely, without a care in the world.

  With a deep sigh, I take a step back and wobble on my feet, my legs still like jelly. If I hide out any longer, it will be too obvious that something happened.

  Looking at the door in the mirror, I shake my head. “Come on, Ivy. You’ve got this,” I mutter quietly.

  With one last deep breath, I head out, making my way through the hallway to the stairs leading to the back deck.

  The minute Ethan sees me, he winks, walking backwards to the ledge before doing a backflip off it.

  “What took you so long? Ethan said you were on an important phone call,” Danielle hisses.

  “Like he said, I was on the phone,” Kaiden deadpans.

  “To who?” I hear Danielle ask, her voice whiney.

  My stomach sinks. She might be a bitch, but she’s clearly claimed him, and I just fucked him with her close by.

  And Ethan clearly knew what we were doing to keep her away from us.

  The minute I step further onto the decking, Danielle spins to face me, her expression hard and deadly. Her gaze goes from me to Kaiden, a knowing look in her eye.

  Did her mother never tell her that her face will stick like that?

  “Enjoying yourself?” she bites out. “I bet you’ve never even seen a boat before.”

  I pointedly look to Kaiden when I say, “Immensely.” The heated look we share makes my stomach swirl, and I want him all over again.

  I look away before I’m caught staring too long.

  Danielle flips her hair over her shoulder, cocking her hip to the side as she runs her finger down Kaiden’s chest.

  Her gaze flickers to me briefly before she turns back to him. “Want me to spend the night tonight?”

  I watch as his jaw tightens and he takes a step back, enough so her finger is touching air. Her gaze narrows on him.

  I feel out of place standing here watching him, but everyone is in the water, splashing around and having fun. It’s just us three on the boat.

  “No. You know I’d never let you stay.”

  “Kaiden,” she whines.

  “Danielle, come in the water. It’s really cool,” Krysten shouts, squealing when Kyle lifts her out of the water and throws her.

  Danielle turns to the water, her lip curled. “I’m not getting into that water. I dread to think what is in there.”

  “Come on,”
Sophia yells, laughing at one of the twins.

  I stand awkwardly, watching the scene play out, not knowing what to do. The bar grabs my attention, and even though I promised myself I wouldn’t drink this morning, I don’t care.

  I need that drink if I’m going to put up with Danielle all over Kaiden.

  “No. I’ve just had my hair done. I’m not getting it wet.”

  And it happens. The moment that will define my time at Kingsley Academy.

  An undignified snort escapes me, and Danielle’s ugly snarl turns my way.

  “Do you have something to say?” she asks harshly.

  I press a finger to my chest, arching my eyebrow at her. “Me?”

  “Yes, you.”

  “Why don’t we grab something to eat?” Selina asks, climbing up the ladder.

  “No. I want to know what the charity trash has to say,” Danielle interrupts.

  I chuckle, staring at her. Could she be anymore pathetic? “Is that supposed to hurt my feelings? I’d rather be trash than some plastic Barbie who couldn’t tell her left from her right.”

  “Are you going to let her talk to me like this?” she asks, her attention on Kaiden. He’s watching me intently, a look I can’t decipher.

  “Danielle, why don’t you calm down. I’m sure Ivy doesn’t have anything to say,” Selina says, wrapping her towel around her.

  “Please don’t talk for me,” I tell her, forcing my tone to be gentle.

  Danielle laughs. “Oh, Farley, did you really just talk back to me?”

  Selina cowers a little, and it pisses me off. Danielle doesn’t get to bully me, or bully Selina.

  “And what are you going to do if she is?” I ask Danielle.

  She looks like a pit bull chewing a wasp when she turns to me. “You have no idea who you’re talking to.”

  “I don’t care to.”

  “You should. I’m going to make your life hell.”

  “Like it isn’t already,” I reply sharply.

  “Want to bet?” she asks snidely.

  “No. Because I don’t care either way.”

  “You will.”

  “Danielle, why don’t you just come in for a swim?” Lucca yells from the water.

  “Grab me my water, please, Ivy,” Ethan calls, and I know they’re trying to diffuse the situation, but it’s not going to help. I grab the water bottle anyway and walk over to the edge to pass it down to him.

  “Why doesn’t the charity case go into the water?” she asks, smiling brightly at me.

  Bitch.

  “Danielle,” Kaiden calls sharply.

  “What?” she asks innocently, before she points her finger at me. “Oh, that’s right, you can’t swim. Because mummy dearest couldn’t afford to pay for lessons.”

  “Actually, she didn’t love me enough to take me,” I tell her, stepping towards her. “But I mean, you wouldn’t know anything about that, right? I bet your parents love you unconditionally. Feed you with a silver spoon, still wipe your arse because, you know, their precious daughter doesn’t do minor tasks.”

  “You bitch!” she hisses, coming towards me.

  “Bitch I may be, but at least I’m real. All real. I don’t need surgery to try and hide who I really am,” I snap back.

  “Why don’t we teach you to swim,” she bites out, and reaches for me, trying to push me over the edge.

  I struggle with my footing, nearly slipping off the side as I grab her hands, swinging her until she goes off the side of the boat.

  “Oh my God,” Selina whispers, as the guys laugh.

  I step back from the edge as she screams in anger, splashing the water as she glares up me, wet hair covering her face.

  “You are going to regret this. I’m going to make life with your mum seem like heaven by the time I’m done with you.”

  Her friends whisper to each other, all shooting daggers at me. I don’t give a fuck. She has no idea what I went through, what my life was like. There is nothing she could do to me that I wouldn’t survive.

  It’s going to be fun to see her face when she realises that.

  “Here, I’ll help you up,” Sophia offers.

  “I can do it,” Danielle yells at her, wiping the wet hair from her face. She steps up the ladder, never taking her gaze from me. “I’m going to fucking ruin you in ways you’ve never imagined.”

  “Yada, yada, yada,” I reply. “Do you ever tire of hearing your own voice?”

  “Did you tire from hearing your mum fuck every man? Did you fuck them too? I bet you loved it.”

  I lunge forward when she steps into my space and grab a handful of her hair, causing her to scream out. I bend down to her face, ignoring the pain from her clawing at my skin.

  “I’m only going to tell you this once, and once only, don’t ever, and I mean ever, talk about me like you know me. Don’t presume that I won’t react if you talk shit about me. If you want to keep this pretty hair, I suggest you listen to me.”

  I push her away, and she falls into the arms of her friends who have stepped out of the water.

  “Don’t touch her,” Krysten yells.

  “Why? You were going to stand by and watch her push me into the water, knowing I can’t swim. I’m not one of those weak girls you bully. You push and I’ll push back. Harder.”

  “Are you going to let that piece of filth speak to us like that?” When Kaiden doesn’t speak, she looks over her shoulder. “Baby?”

  “We’re done.”

  “Kaiden,” Grant says with a warning in his tone, getting out of the water too.

  She looks confused when she answers. “What?”

  “You heard me,” he says shortly, before whistling. The bloke driving the boat looks over the side and down at us.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Take us to the dock. We’d like to go home.”

  He nods before disappearing, and I stand, shocked. Is he actually sticking up for me? Or are we going so he can drop me back home?

  “For her?”

  “I don’t need to explain myself to you, Danielle. We were never an item.”

  “This is because of that slut.”

  “No, this is because of you. I suggest you and your friends go downstairs and get dressed.”

  “And call someone to pick you up,” Ethan adds, trying and failing to hide his grin.

  “Watch your back,” she hisses at me as she storms past.

  “I think I peed my pants a little,” Selina whispers.

  Feeling uncomfortable with the intensity of Kaiden’s stare, I move over to the bench and take a seat, staring into the dark, murky water.

  *** *** ***

  We dropped the girls off a few docks back. A group of people were waiting for them in their cars. It was awkward to say the least, and tension on the boat still hadn’t dropped. Grant was still glaring at me; not happy his fuck piece was kicked offboard.

  I was kind of hoping the people driving the boats back would take him with them. He was getting on my last nerve.

  The manors come into view, and even seeing my escape doesn’t relax me. It’s getting dark, still too early for me to hide away in my room and go to sleep.

  I was so tired this morning, but I’m too pumped up to go to sleep right now.

  “Uh oh,” Selina whispers, and I look over at the dock, groaning when I see Nova standing there with Annette.

  I don’t want to have a conversation with her right now. I’m not ready. I’m angry. Angry at her, angry at my mum, angry at everything.

  “I really don’t want to deal with her right now.”

  “I don’t think you have a choice,” Selina adds.

  Grabbing my bag, I head to the bridge leading off the boat, not waiting for anyone else. They’ve already seen me make a fool of myself too many times.

  “Ivy, we need to talk,” Nova calls.

  I roll my eyes childishly. “I—”

  “If you’re about to make an excuse, I don’t want to hear it. I’ll see you in the kitchen,
” she orders, giving me a sharp look. I swallow, finally seeing the lawyer in her. “Boys.”

  “Nova,” they all greet.

  I sigh when she starts to walk away, Annette following behind her. “I’m going to see if Elle needs help with anything.”

  “Elle?”

  “Mrs White,” I explain to Selina.

  “But Aunt Nova said—”

  “I don’t care,” I tell her sharply. “I need time and some space. I need to get out of here.”

  I start to walk away, ignoring her calling my name. I probably won’t go to Elle’s house. The sun is setting, and she’s probably getting ready for bed. She did mention she liked going to bed early so she can wake up earlier.

  As soon as I hit the driveway, I begin to run, before Nova finds out I don’t plan on going inside. I’m not sure how she’ll react. Will she come after me? Wait until I get home?

  Slowing down to a walk, I look around at the houses. Two couples are sitting outside their home, drinking wine and chatting. They stop when they see me, so I put my head down and walk faster, needing to get out of here.

  A car approaching from behind grabs my attention, and I begin to walk faster, hoping it’s not Nova.

  The car slows beside me, and I groan when I see the shiny red sports car. “Miss me already?” I ask dryly.

  “Get in,” Kaiden orders.

  I arch an eyebrow. “Does that work with everyone?”

  “Just get in.”

  “Are you fucking serious, Kai. She can’t come,” Grant states angrily from the passenger side.

  I bend down, winking at him. “Oh, I already have today.”

  “Really, Kai?” he asks, his face scrunched up in disgust. It brings me great pleasure.

  Kaiden turns to him and says something too low for me to hear. Grant sits back in his seat, throwing something on the dashboard. “This is a bad idea.”

  Kaiden turns to me, opening his door. He gets out, pulling his chair forward. “Get in.”

  I sigh, because right now, I don’t really have much of an option, and walking around the countryside where they don’t like streetlights isn’t my cup of tea.

  “All right, but only because Grant’s misery delights me.”