Wicked Academy 3: Dirty Little Secrets

by Nissa Leder

  While I’m thankful to have remained in my own head, there’s still a part of me that’s curious. Since I was in her mind, the only thing I saw was the change in her arms and hands, which went from looking like those of a sickly hundred-year-old woman to someone in their forties. Did her face change just as much? Does she still look younger or was it just a temporary thing?

  The only way I can find out is by stopping my meditation and waiting for another vision, which isn’t something I’m willing to do.

  Thanksgiving arrives. Despite barely seeing my parents the entire break, they’re hosting a Thanksgiving party and inviting all their friends in the area, including Zane’s family. No time for their kids, but hey, let’s invite all of New York City over.

  Except for a check-in here and there, I haven’t seen Zane or Callum all break. Which is probably the best, since I’m not sure exactly what Callum and I are to each other, and Zane and I are finally in a good place. No need to screw it all up.

  But in just a few hours, they’ll both be at my house.

  And so will Elaine, which is probably why Beck has been extra quiet all morning.

  “I feel like I’m in another world.” Olivia spins in the mirror in one of the designer dress options Mom picked up for her. “What do you think of this one?”

  The sparkly gold fabric layer hangs loosely over the tight nude-colored dress underneath. She stops when her ass is facing the mirror. “It isn’t too much, is it? This seems like a lot for Thanksgiving.”

  “You’ve never been to a Thanksgiving at the Jacobsen’s before.” I flip through the dresses Mom grabbed for me, settling on a red one. Usually, I’d ignore them all and pick something else out, but on the hanger, this one looks the right amount of seductive, so I might as well try it on. “The dress is perfect and you look amazing in it.”

  I slip into the red dress, having to use a little force to tug it over my hips.

  Olivia whistles. “Holy smokes. That looks hot.” She steps to the side and lets me look it over in the mirror.

  The high neckline and three-quarters sleeves keep the dress up to Mom’s modest standards, but the snug fit gives it a sexy vibe.

  It fits too perfectly not to wear.

  Olivia does my hair and makeup, then her own. By two o’clock, we head downstairs.

  All the furniture in the formal living room has been removed and replaced with long dining tables. The only thing remaining is the grand piano, where a pianist in a black suit sits and plays. The second living room on the bottom floor has also been rearranged into little conversation sections for guests to sit and mingle.

  I catch Zane grinning at me from the sectional in the corner. He pats the empty spot next to him, with Callum sitting on his other side.

  I hold up a finger and Olivia and I grab glasses of wine before joining the guys.

  “You ladies look amazing,” Zane says as we both take a seat.

  The snugness of my dress makes bending difficult, but I manage to find an angle that works. “And look at you two.”

  Zane is in gray slacks and a black button-up shirt and white tie.

  Callum is in navy slacks and a matching navy vest, with a magenta tie, which he pretends to adjust. “Zane kept rambling on and on about the last Thanksgiving he spent here, so I wanted to look like I belonged.”

  “You look great,” I say with my eyes locked on his. I blink, remembering where I’m at. “You both do.”

  Elaine enters the room, followed by her parents. She’s in a black dress that’s lower cut than anything I’ve ever seen her wear. The expression on her face isn’t something I’d label happy, but it isn’t sad, either, which is what I expected. When she sees us, she grins, says something to her dad, and walks towards us.

  “Meow,” Olivia says as Elaine sits next to her. “Who is this vixen doppelgänger of Elaine?”

  Elaine’s cheeks flush pink as she shrugs. “It’s Thanksgiving.”

  A server approaches us with a tray of fruit skewers. We each grab one and the conversation shifts from Elaine’s attire to the academy and finds its way to the Carmichael party.

  “Wait, aren’t you part of the Mystics,” Zane asks Olivia.

  “I was.” She folds her hands in her lap.

  “So, you were part of that stupid prank?” Elaine clenches her jaw.

  Olivia confessed the whole thing to me the first night we were at my house. As shitty as I think it was, I couldn’t not forgive her. With things finally being good between us again, I didn’t want to hang on to a grudge. But I hadn’t thought about the others and what they would think.

  “I…” Olivia drops her head.

  As her friend, I defend her. “We’ve all done things in the past that we regret. Olivia was blinded by love and, while I understand forgiveness takes time, don’t forget how bad you felt when you’ve messed up.”

  Callum is the first to speak. “I’m glad you found your way out of the Mystic web.” He, more than anyone, knows how leaving the society feels.

  “No one actually got hurt,” Zane says. “And things turned out for the best.”

  Elaine stares at Zane. I think she might argue, but instead, she says, “Zane’s right. The night wasn’t all bad, and it sounds like you really are sorry about it. Unlike some people.”

  Callum changes the subject, and starts telling a story about when Olivia recently stood up for their group member when she was having a hard time doing a spell.

  Sometimes I almost forget that Callum is actually Sebastian. It sounds like an easy thing to do since he’s in an entirely different body, but there’s a lot of him that never changed. His mannerisms, the cocky but sexy smirk he’s perfected, his control of magic. But not everything has remained the same. There’s something about him that’s different, and I can’t help but think that this whole experience has changed him for the better.

  That or he’s just an amazing actor.

  Soon, Mom calls for the attention of the room and gives a toast about friendship and gratitude. When she calls for everyone to clink glasses, I excuse myself to the bathroom. She always puts on such a show, which I used to just ignore, but now I can’t pretend it’s all just daisies and roses.

  She will go on and on about how friends make life worth living while spending my entire break away from the house. Should your own family not qualify as friends? Only one time, when we happened to cross paths in the kitchen, did she ask how I’ve been.

  I lied and said school has been great and I’ve never been better, which is so far from the truth it isn’t even funny, but she didn’t question my answer. And she doesn’t know me near well enough to know if I’m lying.

  When I come back out, everyone has moved to the tables for dinner. I grab a fresh glass of wine and pick at my food, barely eating even a quarter of my plate.

  After dinner, my group and I move our party to the guest house out back. There’s no snow on the ground tonight, and I manage to make it there and unlock the door without spraining my ankle. A better start to the night than last New Year’s eve.

  Zane breaks out a deck of cards from a kitchen drawer while I grab some liquor from a cabinet, and the six of us play drinking games until long past sunset. Olivia is the first to excuse herself to head back to my room to go to bed. Next Elaine says she should check on her parents. Zane thinks that’s a good idea and so they head inside together, leaving Callum and I alone in the guest house.

  I break into laughter when he knocks over the deck of cards onto the ground.

  We both bend down to pick them up. Somehow, they managed to scatter underneath the table, so I crawl there to get them.

  “Now that’s a view,” he says, and I remember the snugness of my dress.

  “You like what you see?” I tease as I stack the cards into a pile.

  When he touches the back of my leg, I shiver. His finger teases me by grazing down my leg and making circles on my bare calf. As sexy as I can—which isn’t very well—I back up with all the cards in my hand.
r />   He’s sitting, legs spread eagle, with cards still sprinkled all over the floor.

  I practically dive at him, the cards in my hand flying everywhere, until our lips are locked and his hands are on my hips. My breath hitches as I can’t seem to get enough of him. Tongues twined, we barely breathe as we passionately kiss. It isn’t until his hands slip underneath my dress and tug at my panties that reality strikes me.

  “We can’t,” I say, breathless.

  His touch retreats, and my heart cries. “Zane, right.”

  “Right.” My pulse thuds as I fight the urge to ignore the little voice reminding me we have a friend to think about.

  “I don’t want to hurt him, but I want you, Wren. So much.”

  When the door swings open, Callum and I both jump like we’ve just been electrocuted.

  “You two okay?” Zane asks as he comes back into the guest house.

  Callum picks up a few cards. “The deck fell off the table.”

  “So, we just came down here to pick it up.” I grab a few close to me, not wanting to scandalously lean over again.

  “My parents are heading to the car. They’re ready to take off,” Zane says.

  “I can finish cleaning up,” I say, noticing Callum’s hands placed strategically over his boner. “You sure?”

  “Yep. Thanks for hanging out.” I smile at Zane first, then Callum.

  “It was fun,” Zane says.

  Callum gets up. “Have a good night, Wren.”

  “Bye.” I wave to them both as they leave.

  Then I fall back into the scattered cards, realizing just how complicated my life has become.

  Twenty

  The next morning, I spill the beans to Olivia as she packs her bag back up. Over the last week, she’s managed to take over the bathroom with her makeup and a third of my closet with her clothes.

  Which, strangely, was nice.

  “So, how far have things with you and Callum gone?” She pulls a shirt off a hanger.

  By spill the beans, I mean I told Olivia about me and Callum. Leaving out the part about Callum not really being Callum at all. But really, that part shouldn’t matter anymore. Sebastian is gone, and Callum is here to stay.

  “We slept together. Just once.” I take off my PJ pants and slip on jeans for the trip back to Wicklow.

  “And?”

  “It was amazing.” Nothing in the physical department has been anything less.

  “But you don’t want Zane to know because he still likes you?”

  I button my jeans and nod. “Exactly. We’re starting to fall back into friendship, and I just don’t want to mess it all up yet. And everything with Callum is so new.”

  “Where do you see things going with you two?” She grabs the empty hangers from the bed and puts them back in my closet.

  “I hadn’t thought about it.” Which probably isn’t a good thing. I don’t know what Callum is thinking. Clearly, we both want to rip each other’s clothes off. But is it more than that to him?

  And what about me? Any time a relationship gets serious, I bolt. So, I’ve learned not to think about the future and to only enjoy the present for what it is.

  “I know I’m not the poster-child for successful relationships, but maybe you should think about it,” she says. “Not thinking about it clearly got me into a lot of trouble. I only looked at Jake as what I wanted him to be, not what he actually is.”

  “Which is an ass,” I say.

  She smiles, which is encouraging. Being able to laugh about him is the first step into her moving on.

  “You’re right, though.” I grab the maroon sweatshirt hanging over my computer chair and pull it over my head. “I better make sure we’re on the same page before we both risk our friendships with Zane.”

  Mom is already at work, but my dad waited around to see us off. I’m surprised to see Beck already waiting by the car when Olivia and I head out. I barely saw him last week, and we only spoke one time. He’s probably still mad at me for telling Elaine the truth. Knowing him, he thinks if I hadn’t the two of them would still be together. For someone so book smart, he can sure be dumb.

  Back at Wicklow, classes pick right back up. Within a day of school, it feels like we didn’t have a break at all. The focus for all my professors has been finals. I’m given a sheet with everything I should know and have mastered by the time I take finals in two and a half weeks.

  Just like before break, I begin every day with an hour of meditation. Still no sign of any visions. I don’t want to jinx myself, so I do my best not to get too excited. But every day I make it without any strange symptoms it’s a little harder to contain my hope.

  I didn’t see Callum the rest of Thanksgiving break, and minus a couple of discreet texts, we haven’t talked except for a casual hello in our classes.

  Olivia and Elaine are the only ones I’ve told about our fling, and since we don’t want word getting back to Zane, we have to be careful when we’re in public.

  Finally, on Wednesday we agree to hang out in my room.

  Butterflies bounce around my stomach as I wait for him to get here. I’m sitting on my bed, scrolling through a newsfeed on my phone, not actually reading a thing.

  Every other time anything has happened between us, it’s been spontaneous. This is the first planned hang out session, and as hard as I’m trying not to be, I’m nervous.

  Olivia’s question still weighs against my thoughts. What exactly are we doing? Hooking up, a sort of friends-with-benefits situation like Zane and I had. And we all know how well that turned out.

  I’ve casually dated other guys. We’d hang out a few times and usually, after we slept together, they’d quit calling. And the times they didn’t, I’d quit answering their calls.

  The whole Zane-starting-to-like-me thing has really gotten into my head and messed me up.

  When Callum finally gets there, and the door is shut, we’re making out before either of us can take a full breath.

  Clothes are thrown across the floor as I get lost in his touch. His hands tease me, edging closer and closer to my most sensitive areas then pulling away, leaving me wanting more.

  Two can play at that game. My hand reaches down and grazes above his cock before sliding up to his chest.

  We play this delicate game of chess until he gives in and thrusts a finger up me, slowly at first, then faster.

  I lean into him, my legs weak.

  He guides us both to the bed, where the real fun begins. Until finally, we’re both lying naked on my bed, satisfied and out of breath.

  “That was…” I say.

  “—fun,” he adds.

  “Yes, very, but I was going to say unexpected. Then I realized, it probably wasn’t unexpected at all.” I laugh and rest my hands on my stomach.

  “We aren’t very good at keeping our clothes on when we’re alone, are we?”

  “Not at all.” I swivel my head toward him. “We’re pros at everything in the no-clothes-fun department, but is that all this is? I mean… What are we, exactly?”

  Clearly, I suck at trying to talk about stuff like this.

  “What do you want it to be?” He faces me too. “You know who I really am. And everything I’ve done. Can we be anything more?”

  “I’m still figuring that out.”

  “Then, we’re still figuring things out.” He takes my hand and pulls it to his chest. “And that’s more than I deserve.”

  After a few minutes of lying there, both lost in our own thoughts, we slip our clothes back on and flip on Netflix for a while before Callum has to leave to meet Zane to workout.

  I try to ignore the guilt of knowing that we just hooked up and Callum is about to hang out with Zane like nothing has changed, but it’s hard to push away.

  But we don’t even know what we are to each other, and even if Zane does still have feelings for me, he isn’t entitled to know about everyone I spend time with.

  So, for now, Callum and I will just have to remain a dirty little
secret.

  Twenty-One

  After over two months of silence from Lucas, he finally calls on Beck and me again, inviting us over to his house for a family dinner.

  I’m not looking forward to having to spend time with Beck, who I’m still mad at for treating Elaine like he did. And he’s still mad at me for exposing his secret, so I guess it’s a mutual feeling.

  I’d much rather be hanging out with Callum in my room again, but instead, I’m now sitting in the backseat of a car next to Beck, on our way to Lucas’s.

  Neither of us talks on the ride over or the walk up the stairs to Lucas’s house. His butler answers the door as the driver pulls the car away to the garage around back.

  “Welcome,” he steps aside and allows us to enter. “Your grandfather is waiting in the dining room.”

  “Thanks,” I say as I move around him.

  Lucas sits at the head of the long table, sipping a glass of red wine. “Hello, you two.”

  “Hi, Grandfather,” Beck says.

  Grandfather? How stiff does that sound?

  “Hey, Lucas.” I smile as I sit down in the chair to his left. “It’s been a while.”

  “It sure has,” he says. “Things have gotten a bit more complicated, but everything is back on track now.”

  Someone from the kitchen brings out a tray with three plates of food and sets them in front of us, making me feel more like I’m at a restaurant than Lucas’s house.

  There’s a bowl of butternut squash bisque, two slices of sourdough bread, a couple of slices of turkey, mashed potatoes, and a small bowl of gravy.

  “Thanksgiving was last week,” I joke.

  Beck stares me down, but Lucas laughs. “And since I didn’t get to spend the day with you then, I’m glad to have you over now.”

  Things grow quiet as we all eat. One of the staff members keeps our glasses of wine full, which earns no complaints from me. I pick at my food, moving stuff around to look like I really dug in. But my appetite has been lacking lately, so it only takes a few bites of soup and one slice of bread to fill me up.