King of Regret: An Academy Surprise Baby Romance (Boys of Almadale Book 2)

by Jacie Lennon

  “I’m not sure that’s the best idea, considering …” he says, arms crossed and still lounging. He reminds me of a large cat, deceptively casual on the outside but ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

  “Yeah,” Landry says, and I look at her. “Corbin told me what went down at the compound. It’s not safe for you—any of you—to go back there.”

  My good feelings toward her start to recede.

  “I know you both are coming from a good place, but you can’t expect me to stay here without any of my stuff, clothes, or money.”

  “I can get you anything you need,” Brock says. His tone has a note of finality to it.

  “I know you can, Mr. Richie Rich,” I say sarcastically, turning my narrowed eyes on him, “but that’s not the point. I don’t want to have to rely on you for everything. Doesn’t allow me any bargaining room when you make executive decisions for me.”

  “Exactly how I like it,” he says, a smirk on his stupidly handsome face.

  Bodhi picks that moment to join us, and I see my chance.

  “Hello, fuckers, lil sis, and … possible sis-in-law?” His grin is pinned on me for a second as he winks.

  I can’t help but like Bodhi even if his twin is a douche who got me expelled.

  “Bodhi,” I say, proud of my plan, “would you want to go for a little drive with me?”

  “I would go to the ends of the earth for a pretty girl,” he says, placing his hands on the back of my chair and hanging over me for a second as I tilt my head back to look up at him.

  I smile at him, upside down, and wink back.

  “Bodhi,” Brock growls, but Bodhi ignores him.

  “Great. Meet me outside the girls’ dorm after school,” I say, and he ruffles my hair up, like a brother would do to a sister.

  “You got it. See ya then,” he says before striding off.

  Peyton: 1, Brock: 0.

  “Can I talk to you for a second?” I ask Brock, scooting my chair back.

  He stands with me, striding a few yards away until we are hidden from most of the prying eyes, behind a large potted plant on the far end of the commons.

  “What’s up?” He has his hands shoved in his pockets, one shoulder leaning against the tree, and I busy myself, undoing my backpack instead of staring at him.

  “I got this at the clinic. For the paternity test. You swipe it around your cheek, and we mail it in.”

  I hold out the packaged swap and tube, and he takes it from me, worrying his bottom lip.

  “You sure you want to do this?” he asks, sticking it in his pocket.

  “Yes,” I say, the determination making my chest clench.

  After lunch, I have Economics, and we are asked to pair up into research groups of four. It looks like no matter what kind of school you go to, you can never escape the group projects. I glance around, thankful that I see Trixie in this with me as she smiles while walking toward me. The entire class is in disarray at this point with everyone moving quickly to get to whomever they want to do projects with.

  Finally, everything starts to quiet down, and I glance around, noting that Trixie and I are one of two groups of two. And the other group of two includes Kelsey and Savannah, two of the girls who helped get me expelled.

  Great. Looks like no one else wants to work with them either. Or us for that matter.

  “Girls, I said, groups of four. Get together,” our teacher says, pointing at each of our groups and bringing her fingers to meet in front of her.

  If only it were that easy.

  Trixie sighs and gets to her feet, and I follow. We move to two empty desks beside Kelsey and Savannah, who are actively looking as uninterested in us as possible. This is just my luck, honestly. Kelsey is the girl that I fought at the end of freshman year, which led to me getting kicked out. And now, I have to work on a group project with her. We hate each other, and I can’t imagine, in the time that I’ve been gone, that has changed.

  Fuck.

  “Perfect. We get paired with the reject and the charity case,” Kelsey says with a sigh as soon as we sit down.

  “Didn’t look like anyone else was rushing to partner with you two,” I say with an eye roll.

  “Peyton, you are looking … bigger,” Savannah says as she eyes me up and down.

  “And you look as fake as ever,” I say, a sweet smile on my face while Trixie snorts from beside me. “This whole mean girl thing is played out and, frankly, unimaginative. What do you say we forgive and forget?” I stick my hand out between us, feeling tired of the mind games everyone here wants to play.

  “Oh, sweetie,” Kelsey says, cocking her head to the side, “I could never forget, and I don’t forgive.”

  “Duly noted,” I say, withdrawing my hand and sitting back. At least I tried.

  I think about outing Brock for a second, telling her that it was him who messed with her freshman year, but what’s the point? She would probably sit there, simpering, and think it was so cute that Brock took an interest in her and that it was only a joke since he did it.

  Fuck that and fuck girls who think that acting like an idiot is attractive.

  “Okay,” our teacher says loudly, clapping her hands. “Now that everyone is paired up, let’s talk about what the project entails. You’ll each be working on creating your own countries. Individually, you will come up with your own resources and products, and together, as a foursome, you will become trading partners and create a business plan for getting along with your neighboring countries. Your end goal is to have a flourishing economy and to also assist the other three in your group with their economies.”

  “We already know what Peyton’s country won’t have,” Kelsey says, leaning in with a smirk. “Money.”

  Savannah snorts, and I roll my eyes.

  21

  Peyton

  “So, how was the first day back?” Bodhi asks as we fly down the drive out of Almadale Prep in his Aston Martin.

  If I thought Brock’s Maserati was nice, I had no idea what riding in this beast would be like.

  I breathe a little bit lighter with each second that passes as we leave this fenced-in place of horror.

  “Exhausting. I think I could sleep for five years straight,” I say, laying my head back against the headrest and closing my eyes.

  “You’d miss a whole lot of life if you did that,” Bodhi says, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “What life? I’m currently hiding out at an elite prep school I have no business attending, pregnant with two possible baby daddies—one of whom is trying to kill the other with his dad’s motorcycle club behind him. I have nothing to my name—no money or possessions—and I have to rely on everyone else’s generosity to get by.”

  “When you put it that way, it sounds pretty bad,” Bodhi agrees, grimacing. “But look at it this way. You are attending an elite prep school that will open lots of doors for you once you graduate, and you have two guys fighting over you. Every girl’s dream, am I right?”

  I snort.

  “They have added a little bit of excitement to your otherwise boring and mundane life.”

  “My life wasn’t boring.”

  Okay, it was a little bit boring.

  “Shh,” he says, holding up a finger. “And now, you’ve gained some amazing new friends, including yours truly, and we are rich bastards who can give you whatever you might need. ’Cause we like you, not because we want you to pay us back or anything. What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t help you out?”

  “It does sound better when you say it like that,” I agree, picking at my thumbnail. “I don’t know. I thought that, one day, I would get out, have my whole life ahead of me to make my own choices, and now, my life is still being controlled by everyone around me.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know that anyone is ever fully in control of their life,” Bodhi says with a shrug. “There are always going to be other people whose choices will affect you and your decisions. It’s a part of being human.”

&
nbsp; “Bodhi Montgomery, I would never have pegged you for a deeply emotional thinker.”

  “I’m not all beauty,” he says, smirking, circling his face with his finger.

  “Speaking of emotions,” I say, turning more in my seat to face him, “what happened with you and Trixie? You two were attached when I was here last.”

  I’m not surprised to see the grin drop off his face or the serious look that takes over.

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  “You don’t know? Or you don’t want to tell me?”

  He gets quiet after that, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, and I think I’ve pushed too far, but then he speaks again, “I don’t know. One minute, we were fine, great even. Then, we went home for summer break, and when we got back, she was done. She won’t talk to me, hardly looks at me. When I pressed her for answers, she gave me bullshit replies. You know, the it’s not you, it’s me type of reasons. So, eventually, I stopped asking.”

  “Damn.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, if it helps any, we are still in high school for one more semester, and then you will be launched into whatever you have planned for the summer. I’m sure it will be swimming in your pool of money or coating everything in the Montgomery mansion with gold—whatever you rich kids like to do.” I wink at him, and one side of his mouth kicks up as he snorts.

  “Try an internship at my dad’s company, where I’ll have to wear a suit,” he says dryly.

  “Oh, the horror,” I say with a gasp, pressing my hand to my chest. “Bodhi in a suit? I might have to hold the rabid ladies back from you.”

  “Nah, let them through. I need a little fun,” he says before looking at me and winking.

  “It’s weird that you and Brock arrived together into this world. You might look alike, but you have completely different personalities.”

  “Believe me, the guy needs to loosen up sometimes and have fun.”

  “Yeah, I guess I’ve made that a little harder for him.”

  “Well, you probably had fun, making it hard, am I right?”

  “Shut up,” I say with a snort and a halfhearted punch to his arm.

  I glance out the window and see we are passing into Loredo, and my body tenses up. I know we aren’t in Brock’s Levante, which I’m pretty sure the Lions are watching for, but still, Bodhi’s car is way fancier than anything around here, and we will attract attention.

  “Hey, can you pull over here?” I ask, spying the small, run-down park across from my dad’s trailer. My former home.

  “Sure thing,” Bodhi says, whipping the wheel, and we jerk to the side.

  “Jeez, not so hard,” I say as we come to a halt.

  Bodhi drives like he does anything—with a lot of heart and rash actions that haven’t been thought through completely. He’s kind of scary.

  “Sorry, sis-N-L.”

  “Sis-N-L?”

  “Sister-in-law. Don’t like it? I’ll work on it. Maybe just a plain SNL or twin-wifey?”

  “Peyton is fine,” I say, but I have to laugh at his silliness.

  “Nope. I’ll find the perfect name for you soon,” he says as he opens his door.

  “What are you doing?” I tilt my head at him, waiting for his answer.

  “Uh … going with you.” He climbs out and turns to place his arms on the top of the car as he leans down to look at me.

  “Nuh-uh. Get back in the car.”

  “Nope,” he says with a smirk, and I roll my eyes, getting out of the car.

  “Fine. But stay with me and don’t make any loud noises.”

  I pin him with a stare, and he takes one finger and draws an X over his heart before placing two fingers to his lips and kissing them. Not sure what that’s all about, but I take it to mean he agrees with me.

  I walk around the front and grab his arm, pointing at the park.

  “We go through there, and on the other side of the trees is my dad’s home. The goal is to get in and get out as quickly as possible. If Dad is there, we can’t go in. Got it?” I can’t risk him trying to force me back to the Lions.

  “Yep,” he says, pulling a piece of gum from the deep recesses of his pocket and unwrapping it, popping it in his mouth. “Let’s go.”

  We head across the street and step foot on the park as fast as we can. I glance around, looking for anyone I know, and I’m relieved when I don’t see a soul. I find the gap between the trees at the edge of the park, and we step into the glory of Edgeline Trailer Park, where I grew up and have zero fond memories. I sneak a glance at Bodhi, curious about what he thinks, but he appears the same—no gasps of surprise or weird looks to show me he’s uncomfortable.

  “I banged a girl once who lives right over there,” he says, pointing at a trailer a few down from ours. “I think her name was Courtney … Connie … Caroline?”

  “Close,” I say, shaking my head. “Cassie Wickham.”

  “Cassie, right.” He snaps his fingers. “She was cool.”

  “Yeah, if you consider spreading a rumor that I shit my pants in gym class in third grade cool. I’d sat in mud.”

  “We hate her now,” Bodhi says firmly, slashing his hand through the air, and I laugh. “She was an awful lay. The worst.”

  “Okay, calm down there. Thanks for having my back though,” I say as I stop in front of my trailer. “Dad’s truck isn’t here, so come on in.”

  I climb the stairs and open the door, feeling Bodhi right behind me. I look around and note that not much has changed. It’s a little dirtier since I’m not here to pick up behind Dad. It’s weird to think that even though my life has morphed into something I don’t recognize, other people are going on like nothing is different.

  I walk down the hallway, stopping in the doorway to my room, and gasp. It’s torn apart. My drawers litter the floor, the contents dumped out and strewn everywhere. My bed is askew, the mattress heaved up and against the wall, sheets halfway off. The closet door is open, and half of the clothes on hangers have been pulled off and thrown in a pile, the other half still hung up. I cover my mouth as I feel Bodhi’s chest hit my back.

  “What’s wrong?” he says before peeking over me and surveying the damage. “Damn.”

  Yeah, damn.

  “Who did this?” he asks, stepping around me and further into the room, bending to pick up a pair of my lacy panties lying in the middle of the floor. I yank them from him, and he chuckles. “I’m trying to help you pick up.”

  Without a word, I stride to the closet, shove the clothes aside, and crouch down. I find the panel I pulled up a few years ago and insert a finger behind it, popping it out and thrusting my hand in the space behind it. With a sigh of relief, I land on a box and wrap my fingers around it, taking it out. I open the top and smile when I see the little stacks of cash that I squirreled away from working at Mooney’s. No doubt, Dad was trying to either find my money or find out where I had gone.

  Bastard.

  “It’s still here,” I say, turning and showing Bodhi the money. “Now, I need to pack up some of my clothes, and we can get out of here.” I pick up the small duffel bag in the bottom of my closet and stand.

  We make quick work of stuffing T-shirts, shorts, pants, and underwear in the bag, and then I tuck my money underneath it all. I walk to my bedside table and stare down at the top drawer that’s half-open. My mom’s face stares back at me, and it still takes my breath away, how much we look alike. Dirty-blonde hair and brown eyes that crinkle the same when we smile. She had a tiny birthmark beside her mouth, where I have smooth skin, but other than that, we look the same. I snatch the picture and put it on top of my clothes before zipping the bag up.

  “Done,” I say, turning to look at Bodhi.

  He’s standing there, staring at me with his head cocked to the side and his hands thrust in his pockets.

  “You okay?” he asks, his eyes darting to the bag and then back to me.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. But if you aren’t, I’m always free
to talk.”

  The open and honest way he says it sends a pang through my heart. Longing to be free enough to become close to Bodhi and even closer to Brock. But I think about our situation and try to rationally analyze what is going on. No matter how hard it is.

  Before I can say anything, I hear the front door open and a muffled curse when Dad finds it unlocked. I freeze and look at Bodhi with panicked eyes. He wastes no time in opening my bedroom window and climbing through it, holding his arms out for the bag and then to help me down. As soon as my feet hit the ground, we are running behind the trailer and back through the tree line. I’m breathing hard by the time we get into his car, slamming the doors closed behind us.

  “I’ve got to stop making a habit of escaping through windows,” I say, and Bodhi snorts before smiling at me.

  “Let’s go home,” he says, cranking the car and peeling out of where he’s parked, making a hard U-turn, and I hang on for dear life.

  22

  Brock

  I’m going to do it. I have to do it. Lying here these last few hours, wondering what is going on with Peyton in Loredo, has cemented the feeling inside me. I know what she told me, not to interfere with her life, not to try to protect her all the time.

  But sometimes, what someone wants and what’s best for them are two different things. It’s ingrained in me to protect the ones I love. I’ve always done it because family comes first. And although I wouldn’t call my feelings for Peyton love, I do have some sort of feelings. I was destined from that night on. The regret I felt for getting her expelled reared its ugly head after that summer night, and I knew that I was in for it.

  I swabbed my cheek and drove the package to the clinic myself instead of mailing it, wanting this to go smoothly for Peyton. But it’s made me panic a little, knowing that this might change things. Once the truth is out, if it’s not in my favor, we won’t be able to live inside this bubble anymore. So, I make the executive decision to try and play the odds in my favor.