by KC Kean
I was drawn to her in a way I can’t even explain, which is why she is a siren, luring me out to the water’s edge. I watched her jog all the way to our home, which juts out at the edge of the cliff before circling back.
I’d watched as she talked with Archie at the bottom of the stairs in his house, noticing beads of sweat trickled down the side of her face and her chest heaved rapidly with each breath she took.
Her long wavy blonde hair was pulled back from her face, which was bare of makeup, and I couldn’t deny her raw beauty. The smallest sprinkling of tiny freckles were scattered across her cheeks and on her nose as her full pink lips begged to be touched. Her hourglass figure and long legs made her a hot topic for Knight’s Creek for sure.
I didn’t ask Archie who she was. That goes against all the codes written in hidden ink in Knight’s Creek. I know everything and everyone, right down to bra size. I don’t ever ask for details because I should already know the information.
So I acted completely unfazed by her presence, but when she didn’t come down to party with us, my curiosity got the better of me.
I’d seen her on her balcony a few times, so I knew where to head. I was supposed to question her, find out exactly what I wanted to know, then rejoin the party. I wanted to know who the fuck she was and what the hell she was doing in Knight’s Creek without me knowing. But one sultry glance from her sapphire blue eyes, and I found myself breaking all of my rules.
For one night only.
She said who she was didn’t matter because she wouldn’t be around long enough. Now she’s showing up at my fucking school, in my fucking town, and I know little to nothing about her.
As if sensing my internal battle, Hunter raises his eyebrow at me as Tobias shouts after the girl in question.
We don’t keep secrets. None. This town is already full of enough of them, so there’s no room for them in our circle. But I didn’t tell them about her, since I expected her to be gone.
When they questioned where’d I’d disappeared to, I murmured an excuse of a migraine, all while her coconut scent lingered all around me after showering in her en suite. I never hook up with girls I’m unfamiliar with, especially with a girl who didn’t even offer her name.
She’d blown my mind, and I’d almost fallen asleep beside her—another rule broken. I can feel her getting under my skin again, and I won’t fucking allow it, even if my subconscious felt safe enough around her to lull me to sleep.
“Archie, man, who is that fine specimen?” Tobias asks, still watching her as she climbs the steps, hands on his hips as he bites his lip, already picturing her beneath him.
“That’s Eden. She’s staying with us for the foreseeable future. My dad didn’t care to tell me any more than that,” Archie offers, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze flickers between us. He’s not watching her ass sway like Tobias is, so he’s not hot for her. Yet I feel like a bond has already formed between them.
A light growl draws my attention to Roxy, who’s pouting at not being the center of attention, and I have to physically force myself to not react to her childish shit.
“Let’s go,” I grunt, not waiting for any acknowledgment as I head for the steps. As expected, everyone follows suit, all while Tobias continues to pepper Archie with questions.
“You need to tell me what she’s into, Arch, so I can cut the bullshit and find a connection with her.”
Hunter snickers beside me, mumbling under his breath, “She’s about the only girl his dick hasn’t had a connection with.”
He’s not wrong, but that’s Tobias.
“Honestly, Holmes, from what I can tell, she’s going through a rough time right now,” Archie answers sincerely, and I almost pause to find out what exactly is causing her pain, but I catch myself just in time.
She refused to tell me herself the other night, and when I find out, it’ll come from her lips. But I will find out, whether she likes it or not.
As I step inside the school doors, the sea of bodies suddenly parts as we stroll through the halls. If you see an Allstar, Hunter, Tobias, and me, you step the fuck out of the way. We are not above ruining you. Maybe someone needs to get Eden up to speed because I don’t think Archie did a good enough job. I can already sense the trouble she’s going to be.
Eden. It fits her. Just like the Garden of Eden, luring unsuspecting Adam in to take a bite of the forbidden fruit. Fuck.
“English first,” Hunter murmurs, walking beside us as we head straight for the end of the hall.
“Xav, darling, wait up,” Kate, aka KitKat, calls out, and I’m just about at my limit with fucking females today already.
I continue walking, but as I near the door for our English class, I feel her claws wrap around my bicep as she presses herself up against me.
“Darling, you didn’t answer my texts last night.” Glancing down at her, she flattens her vibrant pink hair down on her head. Her blue eyes filled with disappointment, already gazing up at me.
This is why you don’t fuck girls without further information. You can’t fucking shake them. I haven’t let her wet my dick in almost a year, but since we’ve been in school together since kindergarten, she seems to think we’re Mr. and Mrs. Knight’s Creek.
Just as I’m about to throw her off me, I see Eden walking in our direction, her gaze flitting between what’s in front of her and the piece of paper in her hand. She looks flustered, her eyebrows drawn together and her cheeks a little red as she flips her sunglasses up onto the top of her head.
Sidestepping us all, like we’re not the fucking gods of this school, she moves effortlessly into the class. My feet move of their own accord, following after her like Tobias, just as the teacher points for her to take a seat beside Charlie James.
Tobias is instantly at her side, laying it on thick, but she barely makes eye contact as I take my assigned seat right behind her.
“What do you say, beauty? Lunch?” Tobias asks, but before she can respond, Mrs. Leach interrupts.
“Tobias Holmes, can you please give Miss Grady a little breathing space? She’s barely been at Asheville High for five minutes and you’re already polluting her space.”
Tobias pouts as he takes the seat to my right as Hunter sits to my left, but my focus is on exactly what she called Eden.
Miss Grady.
Eden Grady.
I swallow past the lump in my throat as my mother’s words play through my mind.
A blood feud against the Gradys was started long before we were born, Xavier. We ran them out of town. You come across one, you stand by the Knight name. Do you understand? If you see one, I put them there for a reason and you reign hell down on them.
I understand loud and clear. Mother may be a cunt, but she brought me a brand-new toy to play with.
8
Eden
The lesson seems to be a general back-to-class overview as Mrs. Leach drones on about the importance of grammar, specifically commas, those little bitches. The girl sitting to my left has smiled at me every time we’ve made eye contact, and I can already feel her ready to approach me when the bell rings.
Maybe that won’t be so much of a bad idea if I don’t want to be following Archie around like a lost puppy, especially since I want to avoid his friends at all costs.
He sat behind me throughout the class, and I’ve felt his eyes burning the back of my head the whole time. I can feel the tension growing between us, almost like a sixth sense washing over me. Mr. Broody is not happy, which means I need to be prepared for whatever shit he wants to say.
The bell rings, causing everyone around me to jump from their seats.
“That’s it for today, class. Be prepared for the next lesson as we dig deeper into novels. The chosen title will be sent to your emails by the end of the day, and you’re expected to have a copy for the next class.”
Great, reading material of the variety I’m not interested in. What are the chances she’ll choose smut books? Not likely.
As expect
ed, I rise from my seat, lifting my bag off the ground as I do, and the girl beside me is waiting patiently with another smile.
“Hey, I’m Charlie. Eden, right?”
Her brown hair is pulled back in a sleek ponytail, and her big brown eyes are framed with black-rimmed glasses. She’s wearing a similar outfit to me—ripped skinny jeans and a T-shirt. We’re already matching.
“Right,” I answer, nodding towards the door for her to follow me out of the classroom.
“First day, huh?”
“Yeah,” I mutter in response, giving her a pointed look at her question, since the teacher already said I was new, but we’re cut off by the guy from earlier, Holmes, I think, as he groans behind us.
“For real, X. How can someone be off-limits before I’ve fucking boned them?”
A quick glance over my shoulder shows Archie’s friends all staring at me. Mr. Broody wears a smug ass grin as he stares me down, sending a shiver down my spine. Why do I feel like things just went from bad to worse? Because that statement was definitely about me.
Archie steps out of the class, glancing between his friends and me, and I decide to keep walking.
Turning my back to them, Charlie suddenly links her arm through mine.
“So, you’ve met the three musketeers then?” she asks, and I raise my eyebrows.
“How are we defining met? One has already tried to get in my pants as soon as I parked my SUV. The other looks like he wants to bite my head off, while the blond just stares impassively at me. Yet I don’t know any of their names.” I sigh, frustrated by the fact that their names seem to matter to me.
She chuckles at my response, swiping a hand over her mouth. “I can meet you at lunch if you’d like, give you the lowdown. You’re going to need it,” she offers, and I find myself instantly nodding in agreement. “Awesome, do you have business class now?” she asks, and I groan.
“No. I showed up today and was given no say in my course schedule. So I have computer programming, which is actually awesome, but I don’t understand why that is a replacement for business. Surely I should be able to do both, right?”
“Oh, Eden, this town is as backward as it is wealthy. You do as they say, not as they do. Classic cliché. Computer programming is down the hall to the right, but my business class is here,” Charlie murmurs, pulling us to a stop as she points to the room at her left.
“Thanks.”
“No worries, do you have gym before lunch?” she asks as we stand in the middle of the hallway, not caring about people trying to get past us. Although many of the students from our English class are now walking into the business room Charlie just pointed out.
Checking my schedule, I smile. “Yeah, it says I have track before lunch.”
Why haven’t I told her to get off my arm yet? So strange, but I kind of like it. She reminds me a little of Lou-Lou, bypassing my ice queen vibes and friending me anyway.
“Awesome, I’m on the cheer squad, so I have gymnastics at the same time.”
My eyes widen at her statement. She is not the usual cheer squad material I would have guessed. The two girls with pink and red hair who glare at me as they pass us look more like cheerleader material, and I groan at myself for stereotyping. But those girls were hanging off the guys when I first arrived. #Cleatchasers.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t—”
Charlie’s chuckle stops me short as she interrupts. “Don’t stress it, Eden. I like to cheer, but I don’t like to be a bitch. Catch you after track.”
With that, she disappears into the room beside us, leaving me to head farther down the hall. I’m surprised the hallway is suddenly empty as I make my way to the end, clearly not many people take this class, or if they do, I just spent too long talking with Charlie.
Spotting the computer programming room to my right, I pick up my pace a little when my foot catches on something, and I’m suddenly flying through the air.
Bracing my hands in front of me, my knees slam into the hardwood floor as my bag falls off my shoulder and my belongings spill out around me.
What the fuck?
Brushing my hair back off my face, I glance over my shoulder while on my hands and knees and freeze in place.
Mr. fucking Broody.
He snickers as he looks down at me, making my blood pump even faster through my body as anger fills my veins.
The blond guy walks around us, nodding to Mr. Broody as he goes, leaving me alone with this fucking lunatic.
Turning my back to him, my body is on high alert. I fucking know he tripped me, and I can feel my dismissal of him with my back turned won’t make things any better for me, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction he obviously desires.
Pushing back onto my knees, I wipe my hands down my thighs before grabbing my belongings and putting them back in my bag. Thankfully, my phone doesn’t look damaged and my sunglasses look unscathed, and those are the most important things. Although I make sure to grab my spare condoms and tampons as quickly as possible.
Just as I’m about to finish, I don’t react quick enough as he loops his boot through the strap of my backpack and swipes it from beside me, flinging it straight into the wall.
What is this guy’s fucking problem?
Standing, I whirl around to face him, but before I can give him a piece of my mind, he’s stalking towards me, his shoulders back as he sneers at me, forcing me to walk backward as his hand wraps around my throat, and all too late, my back hits the wall behind me. The glare in his sinful eyes and the squeeze of his fingers has my heart pounding in my ears as I try to kick myself into action.
I’m too shocked to speak as I stare up at him, watching as he crowds my space. His nose nearly brushes mine as he lifts my chin, almost forcing me to my tiptoes, and even at five foot seven, he towers above me. He's that close, but there’s no intimacy, not like that night. Is he just fucking with me because I’m the new girl?
No. His eyes are filled with something else entirely. Fury and a tinge of intrigue darken his hazel eyes as he stares me down.
“Get. Your. Fucking. Hand. Off. Me,” I growl out, my throat bulging against the grip of his hand, but that only makes his fingers flex against my throat, making my pulse beat wildly as I try to push against his chest.
“Eden Grady,” he murmurs, and I hate how my body reacts to hearing my name on his gruff lips. “You said your name didn’t matter, siren. You said you wouldn’t be around long enough for it to matter, but now I know who you are. I’m going to rip your soul to shreds and make sure no one can piece you back together again.”
The dark threat laced in his words quickly dulls my body's reaction as fear coats my skin. I can tell he isn’t joking, but I refuse to be pushed around by some douche who likes getting his own way, especially when I have no idea why.
“I’m not fucking Humpty Dumpty, asshole,” I snap, but he doesn’t respond, ignoring me just like he did the other night.
Wrapping my hand around his wrist at my throat, I try to pull his grip away, but he doesn’t move an inch, his lip pulling in a sneer. Digging my nails into his skin, I’m sure there will be blood, but all he does is lean in further, bringing his mouth to my ear.
“Dig deeper, Eden. I love it rough, but you already know that, right? If that was part of some big plan to get under my skin and stop me from coming for you, you’re truly mistaken. If anything, it only makes it worse for you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, and you came to me, remember?” I purr, dragging my nails down his skin, and he jumps back like I burned him.
“Tell yourself what you want,” he growls out, straightening his jacket as I spy little drops of blood at his wrist. “But you’re mine to fuck with, you better get used to that.”
Turning on his heels, he marches away, entering the room for business before slamming the door shut behind him. I can feel the rattle from here, but I don’t have time to compose myself.
Quickly throwing everything back into my bag for the second tim
e, I hitch it over my shoulder and step into the classroom. I can’t help but rub my neck, feeling exactly where he held me, knowing it’s going to bruise. But I falter when I see everyone staring at me, including the teacher.
Clearing his throat, he refuses to make eye contact with me. Ah, so someone with authority heard but did nothing about it. Great. Dick.
“We don’t accept tardiness in this classroom, Miss Grady. Take a seat beside Hunter, and let’s get on with the lesson, shall we?”
Who the fuck is Hunter? Glancing around the room, the walls are lined with iMacs, and the only spare seat must be where he means, at the end of the line to the right, but I stall as I walk towards it.
Blondie. Mr. Broody’s friend is the person occupying the seat beside it. Fucking great. His focus is on the screen in front of him, his shoulders relaxed like he has no cares in the world.
Dropping down into the seat, I make sure to train my eyes on the screen. I could do with a minute to understand what the fuck just happened out there, but I refuse to show any weakness in front of this guy.
“Everyone’s ID and password details haven’t changed from last year, so if everyone can log in, we’re going to get straight to it,” the teacher announces, and I start rifling through my bag, looking for the details I might need.
Pulling all the paperwork out, I search again, struggling to find any information, when my eyes snag on a small piece of paper that looks like login details.
Placing it beside the keyboard, I throw everything back in my bag, but when I turn to log in, the paper is gone. I glance at the guy beside me, and he’s tapping away like nothing’s going on.
Finally getting a good look at him, I notice his blond hair is styled like he spent the morning surfing or running his fingers through it, while his green eyes shine like emeralds, but not with happiness. No, there’s trouble and pain shimmering beneath the surface of his calm, nonchalant façade.
Remembering what I’m supposed to be doing, I check down at my feet and under the keyboard and find nothing. It’s this douche canoe, I can feel it, likely playing petty games on behalf of his friend. Classy.
