by Fox, Logan
I shift, and realize my thighs are coated with my own arousal. God, can she smell me? My cheeks glow but I shrug, and try to sound diffident. “Maybe it came from outside.”
“No. It came from here.” Her eyes narrow. “You don’t have a radio in here, do you?”
I shake my head. I’m too fucking tired for snark, and that would just get me into hot water again. Instead, I stare down Marigold until she sniffs and leaves my room. I hold up mom’s necklace, watching light glimmer from it in rays of blue and white. I’m tempted to wear it under my school clothes, but then I’m sure the smell would wear off too soon. I take it off and put it back in its box, and then hide it in the back of my closet. Then I grab my uniform and dash to the bathroom for a quick shower.
Not wanting to run into my grandmother again, I sneak out the front door while she’s busy in the kitchen, climb carefully into my car, and freewheel the first few yards before turning the ignition.
I glance in the rearview mirror, expecting to see her standing on the porch, arms crossed and lips pursed, and breathe a sigh of relief when she’s not there.
Most of the trip to Lavish Prep I spend thinking about Addy. In all the fun and excitement lately, I’d forgotten I have a bone to pick with her.
I park and head over to her sports car. She gets a fright when I rap on the window, and I frown at her as she unlocks the door.
“Everything okay?”
Her hair isn’t as smooth as it usually is. She’s only wearing a touch of mascara, as if she was in a rush or couldn’t have been bothered to do her usual morning makeover routine.
“Yeah, course.” She smiles at me, and grabs a joint from the ashtray. Half of it’s gone already.
So that accounts for the red eyes. For a moment, I’d thought she’d been crying.
She unlocks the passenger door for me, and hands me what’s left of the joint as I slide in. It’s already lit, and I hit it hard as she starts to speak.
“So you ready to—?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you argued with Jess that night?” I exhale a plume of smoke.
Addy looks away, grabs the steering wheel, and straightens her arms. “I didn’t?”
“Tiffany said you two had a huge fight.”
“Tiffany exaggerates about everything.”
“So you didn’t fight?”
Addy licks her lips. “I’ve never seen her that drunk before.” She glances at me and then stares straight ahead again. “But she didn’t want to leave.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“So your fight had nothing to do with the fact that you both had a thing for Briar?”
Addy’s hands fall into her lap as she lets out a rough laugh. When she turns to me, her eyebrows are arched. “What did you say?”
“You. Briar.” I use the joint to gesture from one side to the other, trailing smoke. “Nothing going on there?”
“Pfft. As if. He’s a fucking prick.”
Which isn’t a no. Not even close.
But I’m also not getting any jelly vibes from her.
“Sure there’s nothing else I need to know?” I lean to the side a little, trying to catch Addy’s eye. “I mean, we are about to go after this guy for rape and murder. I need to know what I’m getting myself into.”
Addy grabs the wheel again, and chews on her lip. Then she snatches the last bit of the joint from me and finishes it. When she grinds it out in her ashtray, her long manicured nails come back dusted with gray.
“I…after the cops dropped the case, I went…I kinda went a bit nuts.”
“How nuts?”
Addy shrugs, and then clicks her fingers at the cubby hole. I open it and take out a packet of wet wipes. She plucks one out and cleans her fingers, eyes downcast. “Briar almost got a restraining order against me.”
“Wh-what?” I say through a laugh. “You’re shitting me!”
“I know he did it, Indi. I fucking know it.” Addy’s throat moves as she swallows. “Turns out I was the only one.” When she looks at me, there’s moisture welling on her bottom lids.
“Can you prove it?” I murmur.
Addy’s silent for the longest time.
“Addy?”
“Proof,” she says. “Everyone always wants fucking proof. We don’t live in a perfect world. If we did, people wouldn’t get away with shit like this.”
She blinks fast, and then turns away to stare out the window.
“I hear you,” I murmur.
My mom’s murder case is still open, but before I left Lakeview, the police told me they had no suspects. Despite the mess the thief had made, he hadn’t left much useful evidence behind besides a partial fingerprint, and it wasn’t in the system.
Either it was his first crime, or it was the first time he was careless enough to leave a clue.
I don’t know if Mom’s murderer will ever be found, and even if he is, who knows if he’ll get the justice he deserves? I hear about cases being thrown out on technicalities all the time.
Cases like Jessica’s.
Because who’s gonna investigate a suicide?
I reach over and squeeze Addy’s shoulder. It makes me think back to when she did the same to me a few days ago.
“We’ll get him, Addy. You hear me? He’s gonna pay for what he did.”
“How?” She throws up her hands. “I’m not even supposed to be talking to him. If the principal sees me anywhere near him, then—”
“Then it’s a good thing we’re friends, isn’t it?”
Addy glances over at me. “Talking isn’t going to help. I’ve tried that. No one saw anything.”
“Briar did.”
Her eyes narrow and she shakes her head. “I don’t like where you’re going with this.”
“You know what they say about why boys pull your hair, right?”
Addy rolls her eyes. “He’s done more than just pull your hair.”
“We’re not kids on a playground anymore.”
“So what, you’re gonna seduce him? Get him drunk? Hope he tells you everything while you record him?”
I purse my lips, sticking my fingers through a gap in my shirt and rubbing my collarbone. “Not a bad idea.”
“It’s a fucking terrible idea. Jess was his girlfriend, and you know how she ended up.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“You’ll be dead.” Addy’s brown eyes are round, her lips in a thin line. “Don’t do this. We’ll think of another—”
“You’re right,” I say, waving away the idea with a grimace. “I mean, he’s probably forgotten all about his new bully victim.”
Addy nods, and gives me a tremulous smile. “We’ll figure something out.”
I let out a long sigh and sink back into the seat. Is it weird that I kinda wish I could go ahead with everything Addy said? I’ve never tried seducing someone before — I’ve usually been the prey, not the predator. Could be fun, especially with an arrogant prick like Briar. Getting him to bend to me, instead—
“Shit, we have to go,” Addy mutters. “School’s starting.”
I sigh again, reluctant to move. But she’s right — we won’t be solving any crimes sitting stoned in her car.
I have to get close to Briar. Maybe even through one of his friends. Addy said his whole crew was still there when she left. One of them must have seen something.
Especially that guy that sticks to him like a burr.
“Yeah, let’s go,” I say, levering my stoned ass out of the car. “Do you still speak to any of Briar’s friends?”
Addy laughs. “As if.”
Damn. Guess I’ll have to work my way into their circle by myself. If I can figure out who the weakest link is… maybe, just maybe, I can get someone to talk.
Chapter Nineteen
Indi
I’m lost in a fog of jumbled thoughts, moving on automatic as I head for my locker. I’m vaguely aware that Addy’s chatting to me, but I honestly couldn’t have remembered a
word she said if she’d held a gun to my head.
There’s a strange smell in the air when I reach my locker, but there are so many different smells inside a school that I don’t think anything of it.
I should have.
My locker opens easily. Too easily.
I yell out in surprise. Red roses spill out and land on my shoes, thorns scratching my bare legs.
Music blares out of my locker, and everyone around me stops to stare as something blue tumbles out and lands on the floor.
Like a virgin, touched for the very first time.
Madonna screeches out to my massive audience.
Like a vi-ir-ir-ir-gin—
The entire school erupts into laughter. Addison pulls up short and throws me a wide-eyed stare before slowly coming closer. She reaches down to pick up the thing on the floor where it lays in a pile of long-stemmed red roses and petals.
“Don’t,” I say in a strangled voice.
But everything moves like a dream, and my warning comes too late. Addison picks it up, holds it out.
Lingerie.
Dark blue, ridiculously sexy, lingerie.
I snatch it from her. Then I fumble around inside my locker until I find the offending Bluetooth boombox, and pluck it out so hard that it stops playing the moment it hits the floor.
But that doesn’t stop the laughter. That does nothing to prevent red-hot shame flooding my face.
I see movement further down the hall.
Briar.
He’s at his locker, the door partly open, but with zero interest for what’s inside.
Instead, he’s watching me.
Waiting for my reaction.
Hey, maybe it’s because I’m still stoned. Or maybe it’s because I have a fucking death wish.
Instead of running away to go sob in the bathroom like anyone else in my position most likely would, I push back my shoulders, take out the lingerie, and hold it up for him to see over the laughing crowd of students.
“How thoughtful,” I yell out. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m the same cup size as Jessica.”
“What are you doing?” Addison murmurs, coming closer and making a grab for the underwear.
I move out of her way and hold the piece of erotic blue fabric even higher. “I mean, it’s not as if she’ll be needing it anymore, amiright?”
Briar’s face turns to stone. He slams his locker so hard it rattles, and storms off down the hall. His entourage breaks away from their lockers and follows him like sheep.
All except one.
I catch sight of Marcus. He’s wearing an open leer on his face, as if he’s picturing how I’ll look in the lingerie. I hurriedly shove it back into my locker.
When I look up, Marcus is gone.
Addy steps closer and leans in. “What the fuck was that about?”
“Briar pulling my fucking hair again,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. I grab a bunch of the roses, sniff at the offending piece of underwear sitting in my locker, and slam closed the door. “Catch you later, Addy. Gotta trim my roses.”
* * *
Briar
Fuck, I’m tired. Marcus and I stayed up until two in the morning playing video games, drinking, and smoking weed. And when I finally did get into bed, I spent another hour thinking up kick-ass pranks for my little virgin. I’ve already been in homeroom ten minutes, and I’m about to put my head down and take a nap when I hear someone nearby murmur, “There she is.”
Indi storms inside the classroom, faltering when she sees me in the far corner. She purses her lips like she’s bitten into sour candy and flings herself down in her usual seat close to the door.
I allow myself a grim smile, but it doesn’t last long. I’d thought she’d been sobbing in the bathrooms, but she just looks angry. That prank was legit — she should be a blubbering mess — but that’s not how Indi fucking Virgo rolls, is it?
My phone vibrates with a new message. I sigh and take it out of my pocket as Ms. Parsons starts going through the day’s announcements.
Leave Indi alone.
I frown at the message, and then at the strange number. Who the hell sent this? When I look up, my eyes latch onto Indi. She’s glaring at me.
Was it…?
I’ve known her less than a week, but she’s not the type to threaten me with a message. She’d rather get up in my face and say something, like she did in the hall this morning.
She’s either really brave, or very stupid. And I have a feeling she’s more than just a pair of tits on legs.
I type out a quick reply, and immediately look up.
Who is this?
Indi doesn’t move, but a second later I get another message.
I have proof.
My skin prickles.
Addison Green. It’s the only thing that makes sense. But she doesn’t have jack shit. Marcus took care of everything. And even if she did, she’d never have waited until now to use it. She’d have shown it to the police, and I’d be in jail right now.
What if she did show it to them? What if they found it inconclusive…or my father called in a favor?
Addy must have gotten herself a new number; I’d blocked her old one months ago after the hundredth message and threatening voice mail.
Crazy bitch.
Why the fuck is she dragging this all out into the open again? Is it because of Indi? Did she…?
I look up and lock eyes with Indi. She’d been staring at me with a soft frown on her face, no doubt trying to figure out why I look so fucking pissed off.
I draw a huge breath, and slowly let it out. Then I get up and walk over to her, ignoring how Ms. Parson’s stops talking mid-sentence, and take the seat behind Indi’s desk.
Ms. Parson’s doesn’t pause for long — she starts yammering on about something happening at assembly on Friday — but Indi’s acting like I’m a viper that just slithered up to her and now she’s too scared to run in case I lash out and bite her.
I lean in, my elbows on the desk and my fingers laced. “How much did you tell her?”
Indi’s sitting in her seat at an angle, and turns her head just enough to catch me from the corner of her eye. “What?”
“Stop playing dumb. Did you tell Addy about us?” I’m gripping my hands so hard, my fingers are starting to tingle from lack of blood.
Indi shakes her head.
“Sure about that? Not a single thing?”
“No.” Another shake of her head. “And even if I did, it’s not like she’d believe me. Not after all this time.”
I narrow my eyes at her, but I can’t argue with her logic.
But if it wasn’t that, then what? Something had to have spurred Addy into hounding me again.
I lift my chin. “What’s she been telling you?”
Indi shrugs, and blinks innocently at me. “Lots of stuff.”
Fuck, she’s gloating about what happened earlier. I shouldn’t have lost my cool and left like that. We could have teased each other until the bell rang. Instead I stormed off like a kid throwing a fucking tantrum.
I grind my teeth. “About me. What’s she saying about me?”
“I think you know,” Indi says, turning. She lays her arm on the back of the chair and tilts her head.
“I don’t know what she thinks she has on me, and I don’t give a fuck.” I grab Indi’s hand before she has time to move out of reach, digging my nails into her wrist. “So you tell Addison I’ll leave you alone as soon as she gets off my fucking back.”
A crease forms between Indi’s dark eyebrows. “What makes you think she’s got something on you?” But a second later, her face clears. “And fuck you, she’s not my baby sitter. I can take care of myself, asshole.” She rips her arm free and moves her chair closer to her desk.
“Don’t think for a moment that Addy’s your friend,” I say, my eyes turning to slits. “Jess made that mistake too.”
Indi sneers at me. “And you sure showed her the error of her ways, didn’t you?”
/> Anger wells hot and thick through me, strangling any words I could possibly have produced. I shake my head and push away from the desk, leaning as far away from Indi as I can.
Fuck Addy and her empty threats. She did this before, and for some reason she’s gotten the balls to do it again. Maybe it’s Indi’s influence. If I weren’t so pissed off right now, I’d have to admire this tiny chick with her fierce green eyes.
I curl up one side of my mouth. Indi turns her head, staring suspiciously at me from the corner of her eye.
“Wish we’d met under different circumstances,” I say.
Indi lets out a single, bitter huff of a laugh, her lips barely parting. “Really?”
“We’d be hot as fuck together.”
Her eyes widen in surprise, but a second later she’s glaring at me. “Never! You’re the biggest prick I’ve ever met.”
My smirk becomes a suggestive grin. “I also have the biggest dick you’ll ever see.”
In a flash, red tinges her cheeks. She opens her mouth in shock, but if she was going to retort, nothing comes out.
“Not even close, my little virgin.” I lean forward again, make a show of looking at her lips, and then shake my head. “You’ll have to open much wider than that.”
* * *
Indi
Oh man, there’s some fucked-up shit going on in my head right now. Even as I’m snapping my jaw closed, my mind takes a mental screenshot of just how wide open my mouth was.
He’s gotta be bluffing.
I turn in my seat, hoping to hell I don’t spontaneously combust. As if the movement catches her eye, Ms. Parsons turns to Briar and me and grins wide.
Shit.
“Indi, Briar? Did you two enjoy your ride yesterday?”
I groan, squeezing my eyes shut with my fingers in dread anticipation.
Wolf whistles, choruses of, ‘virgin’, ‘cherry popping’, and God knows what else erupt from the class.
Ms. Parsons’s attempts at hushing the kids are unsurprisingly ineffectual.
“Yeah, we did,” Briar says, raising his voice over the noise.
I let out another groan. Of course he’ll milk this as much as—
