When we leave the restaurant, he helps me up into his truck: he’s driving a raptor today and not his usual red corvette.
And when he stops in a quiet spot by the sea front, I think that obviously a corvette is too small to have sex in but the raptor’s just fine.
It’s quite dark around us and as he kills the engine, Devon stares ahead for a few minutes.
I look at his perfect profile: he's movie star gorgeous and his black hair looks so silky that I can't wait to touch it.
He also smells incredible: he's got this ocean scent, alluring and masculine and subtle enough that I can only smell it because I’ve been scooting closer to him on the bench seat.
I run my hand on the smooth, tanned skin of his forearm and when he turns to look at me, I offer him my lips to kiss.
And this is when he grabs both my biceps to hold me still.
“Margaux, I need to tell you something.”
“Why don't you kiss me for now? We can talk later.”
I give him my sultry smile and I’d placed my hand on his thigh, to suggest that kissing is just the beginning but his hold is quite firm.
“Margaux, this is my senior year and I don't think I have the time for a relationship. I need to concentrate on my academics and hopefully football, if I want a scholarship to Harvard. It would be really unfair to any girl to tie her up when I know that I won't have the time she deserves. And also, we’ll all go to college next fall, so I don't see the point in starting something that we know has an expiration date. I hope we can stay friends but I don't think it would be fair to take things further.”
I can't believe he's rejecting me!
Any other guy at school would fucking die to be in his shoes right now!
But I try to stay calm and try a different angle: most guys can be talked into a relationship if you're slutty enough.
So I keep my smile firmly in place and whisper:
“We don't have to put a label on it, Devon. We can just act on our attraction and see where that takes us. Plus my daddy knows the Dean of Admissions at Harvard and I can have him write you a letter or even introduce you in person—”
“I wanna make it on my own. I—”
I interrupt him.
“Nonsense! Why would you wanna risk not getting in when your girlfriend can make sure that you do?”
His gaze hardens and so does his grip on my arms, but it's just a little, he isn't being forceful or squeezing too hard.
“It's not that simple, Margaux. I play football with your brother and I know how much he hates when other guys on the team treat you like a meaningless hookup.”
“That's not for you to worry about. I’m a big girl and I don't let my brother tell me who I can and can't see.”
Devon sighs.
“Margaux, you aren't listening to me. I really can't make my life more complicated than it already is. And getting involved with you, or any other girl for that matter, would be a stupid idea. Please don't hate me. I’m only trying to do right by you.”
I narrow my eyes annoyed and incredulous that he's refusing even a hookup.
“Is it because you still have feelings for Aubrey?”
His pupils dilate in surprise.
“Did she tell you—”
“I’m not an idiot, Devon. I saw you two coming out of the locker room, remember? She certainly seems to have moved on from whatever was going on between you two. At least if I have to judge by the fact that she fucked my brother last night.”
He doesn't seem surprised by my revelation, his eyes darken and I see that he's closing off: I have to bring in the heavy artillery.
“I don't suppose you thought things were serious between you? Or were you already dreaming about making her ‘Mrs Whitbeck’ and riding with her into the sunset?”
At my mention of what was Devon's last name up until a few weeks ago, his head snaps back as if he'd been punched.
He better know that if I can't have him, I'll make sure that his status at school will be affected.
Devon
WHEN SHE SAYS ‘MRS Whitbeck’, I realise that my secret will be out soon.
Whatever happens at school, I’ll have to face but I know that I need to talk to Aubrey before she hears the rumours.
I’m really scared that aside from the way I treated her, learning the truth about my origins will be a deal breaker.
And Margaux knows it too, because she has a little satisfied smirk on her face.
She must see my troubled expression because she becomes suddenly serious.
“Look Devon, I’ll put my cards on the table, so to speak. As your rally girl, I had lots of awesome plans to lift your ... morale. I wasn't gonna be as slutty as Macy and Rachel, offering their player a blowjob in the middle of the school parking lot. I was gonna surprise you by bringing you some of your favourite treats and the sweetest treat of them all: me in a skimpy underwear set with our team colours. To do that, I needed your home address and I asked you, remember? I sent you a text. But you never texted me back, so I thought to go to the admissions office and get your address from your records.”
“I thought students’ records were confidential.”
I grumble but my murderous expression doesn't seem to concern my date, because she continues, completely undeterred.
“Of course Mrs Avery told me that the records were confidential but the principal called her into his office and I happened upon your file. Unbelievable that in this day and age, a prep school like ours still keeps a paper backup of every student’s personal file, isn't it?”
“With ‘you happened upon’ my file, do you mean that you illegally looked into the school archive?”
Again, she seems completely comfortable with her actions.
“Well, I was there to deliver the records I maintain for Mrs Stubbs on the cheerleaders uniforms, so the file cabinet of the varsity sports participants was unlocked. Anyway, how I came upon it is irrelevant, babe. All I wanted was your home address so that I could deliver a sexy surprise. But think of my shock when I saw that you changed your address and your last name since school started. And you had been accepted on a scholarship but it's no longer the case. So I became curious and I started digging.”
Oh, shit!
“Margaux, I—”
“I drove by your old house and met your mom. Then I saw the garage where you used to work. See, if you look at Devon Archer on Facebook, you see the prep school, rich athlete who lives in a mansion and doesn't need a scholarship or a job at ‘Downtown Motors’ in LA.
Devon Whitbeck is a completely different kind of guy.”
She grabs my hands, feeling the roughness that working at the auto shop has caused.
Her fingers caress my knuckles and I hate that her touch feels good. Her voice is nothing but a suggestive whisper when she says:
“I don't care that you're an illegitimate child that grew up on the wrong side of town. I still like you, Devon. But think about the way Aubrey and all the others will look at you when they learn the truth about you ...”
The way she described me is accurate but it makes me feel so dirty.
It's the same way my mother talks to me when she asks for money and I don't miss the veiled threat in her tone.
This is why I’ve been staying away from Aubrey: because I know that she’d feel disgusted by my white trash, gold digging Mom, who sleeps with rich married men and saw me as a meal ticket.
This is why I ignored her, pretending that our summer fling meant nothing to me: because I was worried that she'd break up with me anyway.
Her family would never approve of me.
I know how these rich people think. Caroline told me the day I moved in with her and my dad.
That I could live in a mansion and drive expensive cars, wear expensive clothes and go to a fancy prep school and an Ivy League college.
But rich people are really snobby about ‘new money’ and they would figure out the way I grew up immediately.
“You’ll
never belong, Devon. I’d keep quiet at school or people will know what you are. Nothing but the product of a dirty affair. And I’d be very careful not to screw up at school and bring ridicule upon your father’s good name. The novelty of having a son will wear off soon enough. Just be careful not to become a liability or be seen as an embarrassment or Nick will send you back where you came from.”
So I saw Aubrey as the weak link in my new image, the one that could ruin everything by revealing that I was working in South Carolina, that I wasn't there vacationing in my mansion.
Margaux concludes with an offer.
“If you date me, I’ll make sure that no one finds out. I don't care that you were poor and that your mom looks like a cheap stripper. We’ll be the power couple at BHPA, we’ll take the spot that the A-Team left vacant when Max, Reece and their friends graduated. No one has to know.”
I shake my head.
“Are you telling me that if I don't date you, you'll tell everyone that I’m not one of you? That I don't belong at BHPA?”
Margaux shrugs.
“No, of course not. I'm not that desperate that I need to blackmail you into dating me. But let's say that I’d be less motivated to keep your secret. You see, Macy was with me in the office as my co-captain and she saw your records. And you know how she's famous for her big mouth, and that isn’t only because of the sloppy blowjobs that are her specialty, that girl can't keep a secret like she can't keep her panties on. And the only reason why she's kept quiet is that I scared her into silence. Also, Aubrey is my friend and only earlier on, she was literally crying in my arms about how you and Teague hate her. If she were to talk about you again, my conscience wouldn't allow me to break girl code and not tell her how you’ve been lying to the whole school, posing as a rich kid. Of course I’d lie for my boyfriend ...”
And then all of a sudden I feel so tired!
Tired of being ashamed of who I am, tired of women like my mom and Margaux.
Margaux might have been born with all the privilege one can think of, but she's as petty, cruel and manipulative as my mom.
So unless I agree to be her boyfriend, she'll tell everyone, especially Aubrey.
I look at her, really look at her: she's gorgeous with that blonde hair, shiny and silky, her pale blue eyes and her svelte but strong physique.
Her tits are big and I wonder if they're real because they're the only soft part in her perfectly toned body.
Aubrey is softer and I know how full and soft her tits are, I know they're real because I touched them.
But while Margaux’s beauty stops at her exterior, I know how sweet, funny, and kind Aubrey is.
She's been kind to me even if I’ve been nothing but an asshole to her since that last night in Hilton Head.
I'm still afraid that if she knew where I come from, she’d never deem me worthy of her time.
And that's not even the only reason she has to tell me that she doesn't want anything to do with me.
I know that since I saw her again, I’ve been nothing but a cold hearted bully towards her.
For fear of being ridiculed at school and because I believed that she fucked with my drink as payback for ignoring her.
So I look at Margaux and she isn't any different than all the girls I fucked before, at my old school, who wanted me only because I was the popular quarterback.
Regardless of the veiled threat that she just issued, I know that if I got involved with her, it would be like it's always been in the past.
It would be about sex and about power.
It might be too late with Aubrey because of how I behaved or because she might really think that I'm beneath her once I tell her why I ignored her and how ashamed I am about my parents’ actions, about the circumstances surrounding my conception and about the way my parents are still using me to hurt each other.
But I also know that if I'm to have a chance to earn her forgiveness and to tell her how I really feel about her, I have to open up and the truth has to come from me.
Not from Margaux or from the rumour grapevine.
So I look at my date and take her hand in mine, kiss her knuckles in a chivalrous way and tell her that I’ll drive her home.
She looks at me as if she weren't sure about what's going on.
“Babe, I’m not sure that we’d have the house to ourselves tonight. Could we go to your place or a hotel?”
“I’m sorry, Margaux. You're beautiful and very smart but I don't think that we should be anything more than good friends.”
She narrows her eyes, I can see that she's pissed off.
“You're making a big mistake, Devon. Aubrey is into my brother and—”
“Tell people at school what you want. I can't date you. And this isn't about Aubrey. This is about me. I don't think we’d be right for each other.”
15.
Grovelling
Aubrey
I LEAVE MY PARENTS house with a heavy heart: I'm happy about the new sibling but I don't really know how to feel about my parents.
Before last year, before I learned about how they'd been hiding Abi and Alex’s existence from me, I thought I had the best parents in the world.
When I learned how their lie had affected not only me but also Alex and Abi, I started to look at them with new eyes.
Daddy’s many absences weren't due to him working hard for his family anymore but to his insatiable drive for money and power.
And the way he tried to basically sell Abi off to secure a business deal, only confirmed that I really didn't know my father.
My relationship with Mom had always been loving and I always thought that she was strict with me to compensate for Daddy being away so much, to make sure that I didn't grow up like a spoiled brat.
But after I learned how her refusal to take in Alex and Abi meant that my siblings grew up without a family, I started to see her differently too.
And ok, they might not be trying to sell me off like they did with my sister, but I realised that Mom is no different than Daddy.
She's selfish, she doesn't care that she's putting me in a situation that makes me uncomfortable because it will make her life easier.
My accepting to show Tyler around, means that Daddy can cut back on his work load and his travels, so she'll have the life she couldn't have when I was little.
I don't blame her entirely but she certainly puts her needs before everyone else's.
I slow down because it's starting to rain and I'm just on that bendy local road that leads to Chaz’s house, the one where they had that horrible car accident last spring.
I feel relieved when I pull into the driveway: I’m still an inexperienced driver and I think that when it rains, the roads become more dangerous because people seem to drive more recklessly.
My relief is short lived though because I spot a leather jacket clad form sitting on my door step before I even see his bike further to the side of my jeep.
Teague.
I sigh and get out of the car as slowly as humanly possible.
I'm not up for another confrontation and for being told how I’m a lying, scheming slut.
He's as gorgeous as ever, sitting with his head bent and resting on his knees, his long legs clad in light blue jeans.
His blonde hair looks darker in the cloudy late afternoon and he must have heard the car but he hasn't seen me approach him because he doesn't lift his head until I speak.
“Teague.”
I don't know what else to say and any words that might have been ready to leave my mouth, catch in my throat when our eyes meet.
His blue eyes look darker than normal, I’ve seen them look like that when Teague is excited or troubled.
He stands up and steps aside to let me unlock my door.
“Can I talk to you for a second, Aubrey?”
A big part of me wants to say no, that there's nothing else to say after the way he accused me of trying to get him expelled and after he implied that I was easy for getting naked with him afte
r we had brunch together.
If that's the opinion he has of me, what's the fucking point?
But something in his gaze pulls at my heart in a way that surprises me and pisses me off at the same time because I’m sick of being vulnerable in front of these guys.
I can't afford to be used and then be accused and ignored.
I have too much self-respect to allow them to continue to toy with my emotions.
But yeah, those eyes make it hard for me to refuse him and I avert my gaze when I invite him in.
We're standing in my living room and he looks at me for a long moment, as if his coming to see me happened on a whim and now that he's here, he doesn’t know what to say.
“Teague, I don't have a lot of time. I’ve spent all afternoon with my parents and I need to do my homework. Is there anything else you need to add to the stuff you said to me this morning?”
He takes a step towards me but then stops when he sees in my eyes that I’m really done with this game.
“I’m sorry, Aubrey. I know you didn't do it. I’m sorry I didn't believe you. I swear I’m not trying to blame this on Devon but it made sense that whatever they found in our systems could only have been in the drinks you handed us.”
I sigh and ask him what's changed since this morning.
“Teague, I can't prove my innocence and if you didn't believe me the multiple times I swore to you that I had nothing to do with it, what's different now? Seriously, I'm done playing games with you and the others. It hurts too much that you think that I could ever—”
He interrupts me:
“But this is what I’m trying to tell you, princess. I don't believe you could. I never really wanted to believe it and I felt like I was going insane when—”
He sees my reluctance to believe in his change of heart and he explains:
“It made sense that you’d wanna punish Devon for fucking you and then ghosting you. Especially because it was your first time. But this morning, after I was a total asshole to you, Knox and Landon made us realise that it didn't make sense. That if you really wanted retribution on Devon, you could have told everyone how he completely fucked up your first time. You could've destroyed his reputation before even attempting something like drugging him. But you never said anything, you were kind to Devon despite everything, like you were kind to us. I'm sorry if I didn't see it at first but—”
Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance Page 80
