Start a Fire: A Dark High School Bully Romance (The Savage Crew Book 1)

by Julia Wolf

  After ten or fifteen minutes of hanging out in the shade with us, Elijah hopped up from his seat with a gasp, pointing at the horizon. “Shit, look over there.”

  Bex leaned forward. “Where?”

  He motioned her up. “Come here. You have to see. Shit!”

  She stood up beside him, her hand over her brow as a shield from the sun. “What am I looking for?”

  In one swift motion, Elijah bent, grabbed the backs of her legs, hauled her over his shoulder, and ran toward the ocean with her dangling and screaming, reaching out to me for help. I just laughed, thankful it was her and not me. When he got to the water, he didn’t toss her like I expected, but lowered her slowly until she found her feet. As soon as she was free, she splashed the hell out of him, shoving half the ocean in his face.

  I met them down at the shoreline, dipping my toes in. The water still held a morning chill, so I wasn’t quite ready to rush in. The sun would heat it up in an hour or two, then it was game on.

  “Asshole!” Bex squeaked. “You’re lucky I took my glasses off!”

  Elijah held his hands up. “Hey, as a glasses wearer, I never would have tossed you in if you’d been wearing them!”

  She splashed him again, but there was something closely resembling a smile tipping her lips.

  “Why didn’t you save me, Grace?” she called as a low wave lapped at her legs, pushing her forward. Elijah caught her arm, steadying her.

  “Oh, Elijah was way too fast for me. I had no idea what he was up to.” I gave an exaggerated shake of my head, earning me a middle finger from Bex too. The girl was getting pretty flagrant with the birds she flipped.

  Elijah came walking out of the waves, patting his hip. “Shit, my fucking phone’s in my shorts. My parents are gonna kill me for ruining another one.”

  Bex cackled. “Serves you right!”

  The gleam in Elijah’s eyes didn’t fool me. He was up to something, and I had a feeling it would end in me doused in sea water. When he swerved, coming straight for me, my suspicions were confirmed. I swiveled on my toes, digging into the sand to make a run for it, but he only let me get three steps before he had me in his arms, cradled me like a bride, and plowed toward the water.

  Those three steps were enough for me to see the newcomers to our little group. I screamed as I flew through the air—Elijah wasn’t nearly as gentle with me as he’d been with Bex—both from the exhilaration of my momentary flight and utter disbelief Sebastian and Gabe were looming by our beach chairs.

  Cool water smacked my back, knocking the wind out of me. I floated, suspended for a few seconds, until my brain caught up with my sudden change of location. Bex’s was the first face I saw when I broke the surface. I’d expected her to be laughing at me, but worry painted her features—probably due to the raging bull storming our way.

  “Come on, man—” Elijah held his hands up, and Sebastian knocked him down in the water with one arm, not even stopping until he got to me. His nostrils flared as he took stock of me, dripping with sea water, wearing a bikini that showed a whole lot of skin. I wasn’t injured, only shocked, by both my trip underwater and the boy standing in front of me.

  “What are you doing here?” I whispered.

  He ignored my question. “You okay?”

  “Of course I am.” I pushed my wet hair off my forehead. “Did you really have to knock Elijah over? He didn’t do anything wrong. You’re a beast.”

  Elijah had righted himself behind Sebastian, and now he cautiously skirted around him, giving him a wide berth.

  “Jesus, dude. What’s wrong with you?” Elijah scowled at Sebastian, but wisely stayed far out of his reach. From what I had seen at the bonfire, the two of them knew each other pretty well. That meant Elijah was well aware of Sebastian’s violent tendencies and smart enough to avoid them.

  Sebastian took a step toward him, but my hands flew up, shoving at his bare chest. “Don’t,” I warned, so low, I wasn’t sure he heard.

  He turned his gaze back on me, that simmering rage he carried with him reaching the surface. “He threw you like a fucking sack of potatoes.”

  “And? I’m fine. I don’t need my honor defended. If I want to get back at Elijah, I’ll dunk his ass.” I shoved him again to gain his attention. “Do you hear me?”

  He jerked his head. “I hear you.”

  When I was certain he had himself under control, I twisted around to catch Bex’s eye. I nodded my head toward Elijah, counting to three on my fingers. She got my drift immediately, and together, we jumped on him, pushing him under the surface before he could defend himself.

  Brushing my wet hands off, I raised an eyebrow at Sebastian. “See? I can handle my own revenge.”

  His lips twitched, and his bunched muscles relaxed a fraction. “I guess I should be afraid then.”

  Elijah sputtered out of the water, rubbing the salt out of his eyes. “I hate all of you. I hate the ocean, I hate the beach, and I might even hate the entire state of California.”

  Bex punched his bicep. “You deserved that—and you know it.”

  Apparently, he hadn’t learned much of a lesson, because in the next second, he splashed her. Bex screamed in indignation, chasing a laughing Elijah onto the beach. That left Sebastian and me on our own, but not alone. A few little kids splashed in the waves with their parents out of earshot, but anyone could see us. I wasn’t afraid to be alone with him here.

  “How did you know I was here?” I crossed my arms over my bare stomach.

  Sebastian stood two or three feet from me, barely swaying from the movement of the ocean. We were waist-deep, and the sun glinted off the droplets scattered on his broad chest.

  “Elijah told me.” He said it so matter of fact, I almost didn’t question him.

  “How did you know I was with Elijah?”

  “Gabe overheard you and Bex talking about it at lunch. Gotta say, I’m pretty disappointed I wasn’t invited, Grace.”

  I would never apologize for wanting to hang out with my friends without the object of my torment looming around, threatening violence on whoever glanced at him askew. If he expected me to say sorry, then he was far more demented than I thought.

  “Yet you came anyway. Do boundaries mean nothing to you?”

  He let his eyes rake over me, and my triple layer of spandex suddenly didn’t feel so protective.

  “Have I touched you once since you told me not to?” he asked. “You look like that and I’m keeping my hands to myself. If that isn’t respecting boundaries, then what the fuck is?”

  I nodded. He had a point. I was finding it hard not to reach out and trace my fingertips over the ridges of his muscles and I hated him. At least…I wanted to.

  I held up a finger. “One boundary. You’ve respected exactly one. If I wanted you here today, I would have invited you.”

  “You don’t really mind me being here. You just think you have to fight me.” He scrubbed at his jaw. “Say it.”

  “You almost beat up Elijah for tossing me in the water. He was the one who told you where to find us. It seems like you should be more grateful. Isn’t he your friend?”

  He cocked his head. “Elijah would be on his ass if I wanted him there.”

  That was the truth. Sebastian had stopped himself from attacking Elijah when I told him to, but it hadn’t been me holding him back. He’d chosen to let his friend live to see another day. If he had truly wanted to, he would have killed him and spit on his grave no matter how much I’d begged him not to.

  Maybe it meant more that Sebastian chose to stop himself. He’d held himself back from fucking Elijah up.

  “Are you here to keep me afraid?” I asked.

  “I’m here for the sand and sun.” He jerked his chin. “Also because I like seeing you wear next to nothing.”

  “So, I can have a normal, relaxing beach day?” Not that I would ever be able to fully relax around him or feel normal. But I really needed this day to take a damn breath. If he wouldn’t give that to me, I migh
t just swim out to sea.

  “Do you think I’m going to fucking drown you?” He folded his arms across his chest. “What use would you be to me then?”

  I snorted. “How romantic. You won’t murder me because you’re not into necrophilia.”

  He groaned, but I swore I saw something close to a smile before he covered his mouth with his hand and schooled his features into an impassive, hard expression.

  “Damn straight, baby. I like you best when you put up a fight. Corpses don’t keep my dick warm.”

  I couldn’t stop the giggle from bubbling out of me. “This is so ridiculous. I hate you.”

  “You wish you did.”

  Eyes narrowed, I deflected. “You never did answer my question. Are you going to let me relax, or do I have to keep my guard up all day? If that’s the case, I’ll just ask Bex to take me home now.”

  The look he gave me was so hard, it could have been made of iron. He shook his head slowly, glancing back at the beach.

  “Relax, Grace. Play with your pretty new friends. Don’t worry about me.” He turned his back to me, stomping his way back to the beach. Even though he was the one who’d intruded on my day, I’d managed to piss him off.

  I wouldn’t allow myself to feel bad about this. Not when my entire plan was to make Sebastian tire of me before he wore down my defenses and pushed his way inside me in every way.

  I lay back in the calm water, floating, allowing the sun to beat down on my face, and that was where I stayed until my stomach unknotted and I thought I could deal with whatever scene waited for me on the sand.

  Knowing Sebastian, that could’ve been anything.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The girls from Elijah’s school—Annabeth and Lark—who’d shown little interest in Bex and me, appeared to find Sebastian and Gabe fascinating. They were dancing together to the music Bex was playing, rocking their hips and sliding their hands over each other’s curves in a way I was certain Dashboard Confessional never saw coming when they wrote the song.

  Sebastian had taken my chair, and Gabe was sprawled out on a blanket beside him. Neither seemed to mind the show Annabeth and Lark were putting on, Gabe grinning like a madman while Sebastian looked on without expression.

  I almost turned back to the water, but I kept going. Bex handed me a towel, shooting me wide eyes of horror. Normally, I would have laughed at how obvious the other girls were being, but today, I didn’t see the humor.

  As I squeezed water from my hair with my towel, I asked in a low voice, “Are they really grinding on each other to ‘Hands Down’?”

  Bex nodded urgently. “You missed them humping to ‘Mayday Parade.’ I don’t know if I can ever listen to vintage emo music again.”

  “I’m really sorry I missed that.” I bent at the waist to check her cooler. “Anything good in here?”

  A whistle from behind me had me straightening and whirling around. Gabe’s eyebrows bobbed up and down as he leered at me.

  “Nice ass, little princess.”

  Sebastian kicked him hard in the back. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Gabe rubbed the area above his kidney. “Shit, dude. Your girl bends over in front of me wearing that and you expect me not to look? Come on, you know me. Your grandma could bend over in front of me and I’d look.”

  My hands went to my hips. “I might be insulted by that.”

  He beamed at me. “Don’t worry. You’re much finer than Bash’s grandma.”

  The dancing girls saw they were losing their audience’s attention, so one turned around and started rotating her hips in circles with her butt pressed against her friend’s crotch.

  Gabe clapped over his head. “Don’t worry, ladies—and I use that word loosely—you’re finer than Bash’s grandma too.”

  With a groan, I went to spread my towel out on Bex’s other side, but Sebastian caught my hand. Actually, his fingers curled around the very tips of mine. Such a light, barely-there gesture, I stopped breathing at the contact.

  “Come sit with me, Grace.” He patted his thighs.

  “On you?”

  “Yes, on me. Notice I’m asking and not dragging you by your hair?”

  Bex made a strangled sound, like she was trying not to laugh, having no idea how true what he said was.

  “Okay.”

  He straightened immediately, his tense jaw suddenly slackening. He’d been ready for a fight, but I wasn’t giving it to him. I was so mixed up about him, but I’d hated him watching Lark and Annabeth. Carefully, I slid onto his lap, planting my butt on his upper thighs and leaning my back against his chest.

  “Shit, I wasn’t thinking,” he murmured.

  I turned my head so I could see his face. “What?”

  “I’ve got you here, right where I want you, but I can’t touch you.” He ran his nose along my jaw for a beat before he pulled away, letting his head fall back.

  “I’m sure Annabeth or Lark—maybe even both—would be happy to let you touch them. You seemed to like their show.”

  His fingers flexed on the arms of the chair. “Jealous, Grace. So fucking jealous,” he whispered.

  “I don’t get you.” I leaned my head back so my lips were close to his ear. “You want to own me. You act like you’re borderline obsessed with me. You hunted me down here. But the second I look away, you’re flirting with a girl at the diner or watching girls dry hump each other like it’s your new favorite TV show. I don’t think I’m jealous. I would call it confusion.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “That’s it? That’s your answer? Hmmm?”

  “I didn’t hear a question.”

  I sucked in a breath. I had a lot of questions I wasn’t prepared to ask. Not only because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answers, but because asking would reveal too much of what was going on inside my head.

  “Do you want me to be jealous? Do you want me to think you want those girls so I’ll give in, forget about the two weeks, and allow you to touch me to keep your interest?”

  He went tense under me, his knuckles whitening from gripping the arms so hard. “I’m not that diabolical. In fact, I’d say I’m fairly simple. I think I’ve been quite clear I want you. Put two pretty girls in front of me, I’m gonna look. Doesn’t mean shit—not when the second you show up, you’re the only fucking thing I see.”

  His answer terrified me because I believed him…or at least believed he felt that way at the moment. Helen had said from day one Sebastian wasn’t the girlfriend type, not that I would ever be applying for that role.

  “Bash! Get your ass up. Time to ride those waves, my man.” Gabe held out a boogie board, another tucked under his arm. Elijah and the other guys were already out there with their own, and the girls had given up on them sometime during our heated conversation.

  Sebastian tapped the outsides of my legs. “You’ve been saved from having an honest conversation, baby. Let me up.”

  He pushed me up, then rose from the chair. Reaching into his board shorts, he rearranged his dick, but there was no hiding his erection. He didn’t seem to care, not even when Gabe called him out on it, howling with laughter. They jogged down to the surf together, wading into the ocean, and I reclaimed my chair, blowing out a long breath.

  “Okay, girl.” Bex slapped my arm. “What’s going on with you two? That’s a lot more than a crush.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t have words for what’s going on. He’s into me, and I’m…”

  “Into him?”

  Sebastian and Gabe rode a wave to shore side by side, cutting through the water with precision. Gabe grinned wickedly while Sebastian remained stoic, concentrating on what he was doing.

  “I don’t want to be into him. He’s just...always there.”

  Her gaze sharpened. “Should I be worried?”

  Probably. But I’d never tell her that. At this point, I’d dug my own grave. Now, I either had to claw my way out or scoop the dirt on myself and call it a day.

  “No, don’t worry about me.
I’m not falling for Sebastian Vega. My heart can’t take another break.” Not after losing my dad. The cracks in my four chambers were much too fragile for any new damage.

  “Well, I might’ve caught a glimpse of what he’s packing when he stood up, and…uh...congrats and good luck. I couldn’t handle that, but you’re tall. You can do it.” Bex pumped her fist as encouragement while I burst out laughing.

  I’d needed a Bex in my life more than I’d even known.

  * * *

  We spent the entire day at the beach. Bex had packed enough food to feed an army, and Elijah had brought sustenance for the opposing side, so we stuffed our faces, played in the water, and baked in the sun. Sebastian pulled me into his lap whenever he got the chance, but we didn’t have any more intense conversations.

  When we packed up to head out, he snagged my fingertips again. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

  One glance at Bex said she didn’t really care if I didn’t ride back with her. She told me to call her tomorrow, then pushed me toward Sebastian. We said goodbye to Elijah and his crew, and Gabe took off on his own motorcycle.

  Sebastian and I stopped at his motorcycle. He pushed his helmet onto my head, swung his leg over the seat, then held his hand out to me, helping me get situated behind him. I only wore a loose coverup over my bikini, so when my legs bordered his, my nearly-bare core pressed against him, making me shiver.

  “You want to go straight home or take a ride?” he asked, giving my leg a squeeze.

  “I have a choice?”

  He revved the engine with impatience. “I’m hoping you’ll make the right one so I don’t have to force the issue.”

  A barb was on the tip of my tongue, but I let it fall away. I did want to take a ride.

  “Promise not to drive too crazy? This is only my second time on a bike.”