Ever Found: Lost Boys of Neverly Prep: Academy Romance

by L. E. Bross

  I know she doesn’t understand what’s going on and I wish I could explain it to her, but not while she’s with Trey.

  “Hey.” I step up next to her and open my locker.

  She slams hers shut and spins away from me, but I grab the strap of her bag.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Her eyes are rimmed red like she’s been crying and I take a step toward her.

  “What’s wrong? Did Trey do something?”

  “Why do you always ask that?” she shouts, drawing the attention of everyone in the hall. “God, Ever, he’s been nothing but nice to you since that first day and all you’ve done is bad mouth him. Did you tell Luc to hit him last night? You’re such a fucking hypocrite, stringing along four guys, playing them off each other. Do you want a fifth? Is that why you keep trying to drive a wedge between me and Trey?”

  I’m so stunned I can't move. Can’t speak. The venom in her voice has all but paralyzed me.

  “It’s because your boyfriend’s a dick,” a low voice growls behind me right before strong arms wrap around and pull me back. I pull strength from the warm, solid body propping me up.

  Meri’s eyes narrow. “Of course you’d say that, Riot. You hate him for no reason, too. Now you’ve turned one of his best friends against him?” Her anger is directed at me again. “I can't believe I thought you were my friend.”

  My mouth falls open as she storms away, not even giving me a chance to defend myself. Tears burn my eyes even as Ry turns me in his arms and pulls me to his chest. His hand goes to the back of my head, holding me tight.

  I can’t believe Meri would say that to me. I thought friends gave each other a chance to explain. Friends have each other’s back and that’s what I’m doing. Trey is a piece of shit and Meri deserves better.

  I fight to be free of Riot’s hold. I won’t cower, won't let the curious eyes see me fall. I open my locker and take out my things, then shut it softly when all I want to do is slam it closed. With gritted teeth, I head toward English, Ry by my side. His dark look dares anyone to say anything, but I hear the whispers behind us anyway.

  I’m easy.

  I tried to steal Trey from Meri.

  The LB pass me around like a joint.

  A growl rips from Riot’s throat, but I twine my fingers with his and squeeze. It doesn't matter. None of these people get to define who I am. A lifetime of being unwanted has already done it and I have nothing to prove.

  “Fucking idiots,” Ry grinds out. “Don’t matter what any of them say, Peep. We got you. Nothing's gonna touch you. Hell, you even got Golden Boy on your side now.”

  The fact that Riot lumped Luc into my supporters means more than all the shit going on around me. If he can try to get past his differences, then I can put on my big girl panties and do the same.

  I’ll give Meri a chance to cool down and maybe after this all plays out, I can explain and she’ll understand.

  Outside of English I stop.

  “Hold on, I need to know what’s going on with Luc.”

  What happened?

  Halfway through class he answers.

  Three day suspension.

  I’m sorry.

  I’m the one who punched him. I’d do it again too. Worth it. ;P See you at the race tonight?

  Steely grey eyes track my every movement.

  “Are you guys racing tonight?”

  “X and I are.”

  See you there. And thank you again.

  <3

  “He got suspended,” I tell Ry as we walk to our seats. “Should we do something?”

  “Nothing to do, Peep. Just gotta wait it out.”

  I actually pay attention to the rest of the class as Mr. Reynolds goes over what will be on the finals. Then he gives us an essay assignment that’s due on Monday.

  Habit has me looking to Meri, but her chair is empty. I really hope she’ll listen to me because I don’t want to lose her as a friend. Maybe when she finds out what Trey did, she’ll believe that I would never try to take him from her.

  The mere thought of being around Trey on purpose makes me want to vomit. Maybe before he showed his asshole side, but not now. Not ever.

  Riot hands me off to Baz in Calc and then X is waiting to walk with me to lunch. It’s not until that moment I realize that they haven’t let me out of their sight this morning.

  “Is something going on?”

  X looks around in confusion. “Uh, lunch?”

  I jab him in the ribs. “Why have you guys been on me all morning?”

  When his eyes start to dance with what I know will be a sexual reference, I clap my hand over his mouth before he can say it. Then I feel something slimy and wet move over my palm and yank my hand away, scrubbing it on my skirt.

  “Did you just lick me?”

  He’s about to deny it when a screech echoes down the hall. Everyone stops walking and turns to gawk.

  “I already bought a dress, you can’t back out now!”

  I crane my neck to see over the heads, but bodies block my view. I already know who’s doing the yelling, though. There’s no missing Aine’s high-pitched angry voice. I shove my way through the crowd, elbows flying, with X on my heels. Of course they move for him.

  Aine has her hands on her hips and her posse behind her. She’s got her finger in Riot’s face and I can tell the bored look on his face hides how pissed off he is.

  “Get over it and find someone else.”

  “Everyone else has a date already. It’s next week!” she shrieks.

  Riot shrugs. “Not my problem.”

  Aine pokes her red-tipped finger into his chest. “You asked me, so you owe me this.”

  His eyes narrow and he pushes her finger away. “And I don’t owe you shit, Aine. You asked me and I didn’t have a better offer. Now I do. ”

  When his gaze lands on me, Aine whirls around.

  “You.” Before I can blink she’s in my face, her fingers wrapped in my jacket. “Luc wasn’t enough? Stealing your best friend’s guy wasn’t enough? Exactly how many dates do you have to have? Riot is my date. Shae is going with X. Get over yourself, Ever, there’s nothing special about you.”

  She shoves me back and lets go and I stumble into X. His strong hands lock onto my arms steadying me, then he steps back, letting everyone know that I am running this show now.

  The energy of the crowd shifts.

  Aine really didn’t think this through.

  I take a step toward her, then another. All the pent up anger bubbles to life inside me. She must see it because her eyes widen and she looks around for help. When her gaze lands on Riot, her head tilts with accusation.

  “Really? This is what you’re passing up for that?” she sneers.

  I fist my hand at my side and a ripple of excitement washes over the students around us.

  “Aine,” I say softly.

  “What?” She turns and roll her eyes at me and my fist shoots out, popping her in the jaw.

  I don’t hit her hard, but you’d think I drove a knockout worthy uppercut to her chin. She stumbles back and howls, holding her face in her hands.

  Now I roll my eyes.

  “She hit me,” Aine sobs. Her tear-filled eyes peek over her fingers at Riot. “Are you going to let her get away with that?”

  With a sigh, Riot moves toward me and I don't miss the glimmer of satisfaction that flashes in her eyes. Her tears have miraculously stopped, too. Ry stops in front of me and when I look up, he shakes his head.

  “Don’t tuck your thumb next time, Peep. You could break it.” He ducks down and claims my lips in front of everyone.

  I hear a few burn comments mixed in with laughter, but I’m too busy kissing him back to care. He devours me right there for everyone to see until the deep voice of Principal Camden breaks through the noise.

  “What going on here?”

  Riot kisses me for a few more seconds, making the principal wait. When he pulls back, my lips are deliciously swollen and I can’t catch my
breath. Holy shit. If anyone in school doubted where I belonged, they don't now.

  I stare up at Ry and he winks.

  “She hit me, Principal Camden,” Aine whines. She’s holding her chin so I can’t tell if I did any real damage or not. Some bruising would be sweet, so that when she looks in the mirror all week, she’ll remember me.

  “Ms. Darlington isn’t it?” Principal Camden asks, his gaze swinging to me. He briefly glances at Riot and X, then squares his shoulders and looks at me. “Is this true?”

  “I did hit her, yes. That high-pitched whining was hurting my ears.”

  A few muffled chuckles morph into fake coughs when the principal glares at the crowd.

  “Everyone else get to lunch. You three, in my office. Now.”

  He points at Aine, Riot and me.

  “The going rate for hitting a fellow student is three days, right? That’s what you gave Luc. I’ll just take that and make it easy on you.” I look him directly in the eyes. I’m not going to cower. I own my shit and I knew exactly what I was doing when I punched Aine.

  Feeling fucking good aside.

  He looks flustered for a moment while Aine whines that it’s not enough time. That I should be expelled for a week and not be allowed to go to prom. Riot curls his arm around my waist.

  “Unless you want to get the school board involved because you’re favoring the male students, I’d leave it how it is. Wouldn't want to be called sexist now, would you? Not after last year’s little...problem.”

  Principal Camden pales just a little then he straightens his tie.

  “Three days is sufficient. Just…keep your hands to yourself when you return, Ms. Darlington. There’s only a few more weeks of school and you’ll be graduating and heading off to greener pastures.”

  “Like the cow she is,” Aine says under her breath.

  “Aine, enough. Go see the nurse and make sure everything’s okay. Ms. Darlington, I don’t want to see you back here until next Thursday morning.”

  I give him a curtsey and he rolls his eyes and walks away, saying something about retirement under his breath. Riot chuckles and X leans in for a quick kiss.

  There’s a sharp intake of breath and we look over to see Aine staring at us. Before she can say anything, I wrap an arm around each of my guys.

  “Find another date to prom, Aine,” I tell the thickheaded girl.

  “What about me?” Shae asks. Her gaze moves from Aine to X. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Sorry, my girl doesn't like to share. Maybe you two can go together?” X says with a wink.

  We leave the slack-mouthed girls behind and I grab a few things I’ll need from my locker. Thank goodness assignments are digital so I won’t miss any work due.

  “You do know it’ll be all over school in about ten minutes, right?” I tell them, like they don’t know it already.

  They both shrug. “We have two and a half weeks of school left. Who gives a fuck what they think?”

  As we walk out, X texts Baz to let him know what’s going on. By the time we get to the car, he’s jogging out the side exit.

  “You seriously punched Aine in the face?” are his first words to me.

  “It was just a love tap,” I argue, but Baz just laughs and pulls me in for a hug.

  “Well you got Ry out of going to prom with her, so that’s something.”

  Ry leans back against the Challenger. “So what are we going to do until the races start tonight?”

  X gets a wicked grin on his face. “I don't know about anyone else, but I’m feeling a little hot. A swim sounds good about now. Clothing optional, of course.”

  I roll my eyes but have to admit, it does sound pretty damned fun.

  Chapter Sixteen

  We do swim all afternoon, but everyone keeps their suits on.

  Mostly because I told X if he took his off, I’d hide all the snack cakes that Hanna buys for him that he thinks no one knows about. I’m not quite ready to be surrounded by three naked guys who look like gods.

  After we get too tired to swim, we end up in the game room, sprawled on the couch eating popcorn and watching Walking Dead because I’m addicted now.

  X has his head in my lap and I’m drawing circles around his ears, Ry is next to me, his arm around my shoulders, hand driven into the bag of popcorn in his lap, and Baz is sitting on the floor between my legs, his fingers toying with my ankles.

  Every once in a while his drags his fingers up the back of my legs and then around to my inner thighs. I don’t know if it’s on purpose or not, but each time he goes a little higher.

  Each time my breath hitches.

  It’s getting really warm in here despite the air conditioning.

  X shifts and turns his head so that his cheek is against my stomach now and he’s cupping my upper thigh with his fingers dangerously close to the apex. My breath catches when his thumb starts making small circles. As if they coordinated it, Ry brushes his fingers along my collarbone.

  There isn’t an inch of my body that isn’t pebbled with goose bumps now and I’m having trouble focusing on the life sized zombies on the screen. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not going to stop it. Not when it feels so good.

  We turned another corner today and I’m reaping the rewards.

  I just don’t know what they are yet.

  My pulse speeds up when Ry leans in close and presses his lips to the spot where my neck and shoulder meet. I can’t hold in the low groan any longer. Baz slips his hand to the inside of one thigh and X has the other. Slowly they inch my legs apart until there’s enough room for X to move higher.

  “Did you guys plan this?” I ask breathlessly.

  Ry chuckles against my neck.

  “It might have come up in conversation.”

  The idea that they actually talked about doing this to me has heat shooting through my entire body.

  X turns his head and presses a kiss right at the top of my shorts before pulling the band down a bit to expose an inch of skin. I’m glad I only threw on loose shorts and decided against panties after we swam.

  “Figured when it happens, it happens.” X’s lips moving on my bare hip bone makes me jump. “Guess it’s happening.”

  “Oh.”

  That's all I can coherently say because Baz is moving his fingers slowly up the inside of my thigh, dipping under the hem even as X pushes the waistband lower. They both pepper kisses along every inch of bare skin they can find and I swear I’m ready to combust.

  “Lift,” X murmurs against me and when I do, he slides my shorts down over my hips. Baz takes them the rest of the way off.

  I’m naked from the waist down now, but don’t feel exposed. Not when I’ve got all three boys draped around me like the best kind of blanket.

  “Relax and just feel,” Ry whispers in my ear.

  He eases me back so that I’m leaning against his chest, one of his arms anchoring me there which allows X to lift one of my legs and prop it on the couch.

  I’m spread open in the flickering light but before I can feel self-conscious, their fingers start up again. I’m not sure who’s who now, X’s head blocks my view until Ry tells me to close my eyes.

  I can feel his erection pushing into my lower back and it makes me realize exactly what we’re doing. I wait for panic, or even a sense of wrongness, but it’s the opposite.

  This feels incredibly right.

  It may not be conventional, but in this moment, I finally accept that these three guys are mine. We belong together no matter what.

  I give myself over to the sensations as they creep through the darkest corners inside me. Slowly the feelings of being unwanted, unlovable, are replaced with a sense of belonging.

  I am theirs and they are mine.

  One of them groans, a deep, raw sound that sinks down to the very core of me.

  “Pretty, isn’t she?” Baz rasps.

  “Fuck yeah.” I feel lips press a light kiss right over my clit and I gasp.

&nb
sp; When a hot tongue swirls over it, I let out a cry that makes Ry growl in my ear. He gets even harder against my back and I wish I could reach around and wrap my fingers around it. Make him feel as good as they’re making me feel.

  “God, you look hot.” He nips at my earlobe, then just below on my neck. “I wasn’t sure I could share you, Peep, but knowing they feel the same way about you, watching them worship you like this, it feels right.”

  Fingers slide over my opening and I go to buck my hips, but strong hands hold me still.

  “Kiss me.” The plea turns into a cry when fingers slide inside, but the sound cuts off when Riot’s mouth crashes over mine.

  I cling to him, give him everything I have as the pressure starts to build between my legs. More fingers slide in, making me so full that I see stars, and then one of them sucks at my clit.

  I whimper and Riot growls in response, deepening his kiss, dominating my mouth. Feelings come from everywhere and overwhelm my senses. They all play me perfectly, each building on the other’s rise until I am perched so close to the edge it won’t take anything to push me over.

  Ry rips his lips free and runs hot kisses up my neck.

  “This is just the beginning,” Ry whispers. “When we get home tonight, we plan on owning you, Peep. So you better be ready to give us everything you have. Open your eyes.”

  I do and the sight nearly makes me climax right then.

  Baz curls his fingers to hit just the right spot and X sucks my clit between his lips as he pumps his fingers in and out. Riot loosens his hold and my hips buck up as I arch my back.

  Tension coils so tight that it hurts. My breathing is labored as I climb higher than I thought possible. The room fills with the sound of my whimpers, of fingers in wet flesh, of the boy’s encouraging groans.

  “This is ours now,” Ry grits out. “You are ours now.”

  His words push me over the edge. Riot slams his lips over mine, swallowing my cries as I bursts into the most explosive orgasm in my life.