I frowned and he shook his head.
“Listen, the thing with Geri is complicated.”
“How so?” I asked “For some reason all of you are in love with her and have to share her? What is it about her that has all of you guys under her spell?”
I tried to move out of his arm, but he threw his head back and laughed heartily and I couldn’t help but laugh along with him.
“Is that what you think?” he asked. “You honestly think we’re all infatuated with her?”
“Well she’s infatuated with you. I talked to her in the toilets earlier and… I don’t know. It’s weird. It’s like she’s obsessed.”
The smile faded from his face and he took his arm away from around my shoulders and turned his body so he faced me. His light eyes looked into mine earnestly.
“As long as it stays between us, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
I nodded and crossed my chest with my finger.
“I promise nothing that’s said here will leave the beach.”
“Good.” He looked up over to the rest of the group further away. “The Crest Club is about brotherhood. It’s about loyalty and code and generations of some of the best local families coming together to always keep that bond.”
He paused.
“Okay, go on…”
“If more than one of us creates a special connection with someone…we’re not afraid to share. Only amongst the club, though.”
I felt my heart pound. So, it was a rule and most probably what Pen had described as a Crestie Slut.
“So you’re just trying to say in a nicer way that you pass girls around each other?”
“No… I’m saying that James and Elliot both like Geri. They both have the connection. She’s not being ‘gang banged’ against her will. She wants to be with them. There’s no obsession or trickery or foul play going on.”
I thought for a moment.
“Then what about you? Are you interested in her? Have you joined in with the guys and slept with her?”
He reached out and put a hand on my leg, making me jump slightly at the feel of him against my skin.
“Not at all,” he answered gently. “I think we both know there’s only one girl in this school that I’m interested in pursuing.”
He looked down at my lips and I smiled as he leaned forwards, sliding his hands up over my arms and to the back of my neck, helping to pull me to him quicker.
His mouth found mine and instantly our kiss turned urgent. He lifted himself up from where he was sitting, pushing me backwards slightly, but I resisted and pushed him away, panting and longing for the feel of his lips on mine again.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I…” I moved back in the sand so I was away from him slightly. The image of James coming into my mind again, but no, I wasn’t going to let that idiot ruin things with Harry and I. Harry was the complete opposite to him. He was beautiful, smart, funny, gentle and sensitive. I felt safe in his arms. Safe to be sat there with him and safe knowing that he’d respect my boundaries. That was what was important to me.
Harry lowered himself back down and ran a hand through his hair.
“We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” he said quickly and part of me wondered if Seb had told him what had happened, but from the way he was acting I knew he was none the wiser.
“Sorry, no I’m fine, I just. I guess I don’t understand why she called you? Or, why you were taking her into the boys boarding house? Was she worried? Scared? Were you delivering her like a parcel…?”
“Hughes, stop,” Harry interrupted. “All she wanted was for us to sneak her in. Nothing more or nothing less. You’ll end up talking yourself into an early grave if you keep thinking about it. Geri and I have nothing going on. Absolutely zero shagging.” He smiled ruefully and stroked my chin, coaxing a smile out of me. “By the way, I love your dress.”
I looked down at it and covered my face with hand hands. I’d forgotten I was wearing the frumpy party number.
“Oh you’re lying,” I cringed, but he pulled my hands away and shook his head.
“Nope. Never. I happen to think you look beautiful.”
I looked into his eyes, seeing the sincerity that remained there.
“You do?”
“Ever since I first saw you…”
He pulled me up towards him and with an awkward tumble I pushed him back into the sand, landing on top of him.
I gasped with embarrassment and tried to laugh it off, but instead of protest, complain or die beneath my weight, he pulled my head towards him and kissed me, running his hand down my back until he held my arse in his hands. He squeezed it, then pressed me down onto him as I straddled my legs around his waist.
All of a sudden, I didn’t care if anyone saw us. I didn’t care if Tre and even Geri had warned me off the Crest Club boys or if it ignited more of Pen’s wrath because there was something about him that held me captivated. Something that told me it was okay to trust him.
He broke free from my kiss and kissed his way down my neck, causing me to moan and arch my back on top of him.
I could feel his cock harden beneath me and I squeezed myself down on it, feeling the tingle that shot through my clit.
He groaned deeply, I was sure I felt it deep within him as his hands crept over my thighs, forcing the skirt of my dress up, over my arse.
My first instinct was to pull it down, but Harry grabbed at what I could only describe as my love handles.
“Oh fuuuck!” he breathed against me as he ground his hips up to meet mine.
I sat up, looking down at him and he moved his fingers up over my waist and pushed them under my bra, so he cupped one breast in each hand.
The feel of his fingers rolling over my hardening nipples sent an impatient jolt through me and I reached down to pull off his shirt, tucking my fingers into the hem and sliding it up over his smooth body.
“Harry?”
The voice behind us made me jump and I scrambled off him, horrified that my dress was still hitched up above my hips. I struggled to pull it down quickly as Harry coolly sat himself up. I could see the bugle of his erection pushing through his jeans as he casually put a hand over it to shield it from our interrupter’s eyes.
In all my embarrassment I’d almost forgotten someone was there and I glanced over at them. Three people to be exact.
Sebastian, who was looking directly at me with his shimmering green eyes and Rupert who was holding up a worse for wear Geri.
“What the hell happened to her?” I asked after I’d composed myself and I got to them at the same time Harry did.
Rupert looked me over.
“I think she’s somehow got alcohol from somewhere and according to James and Elliot she’s drunk and saying things about the club.” He lowered his voice. “Stuff that we’d rather remain secret.”
I looked at each of the boys.
“I’ll get a taxi and take her back…” I said quickly. “She’ll come with me.”
Geri looked up when she heard me speak.
“If they don’t love you, it will leave your heart black…” she said looking directly into my eyes. “They’ll find you and you’ll never get away…”
“Geri, what do…?” I started to ask but Rupert decided to steady her just at that moment and pull her away.
“You won’t be able to make sense of what she’s saying,” he responded firmly. “What she does need is a good sleep.”
Harry looked at me. A long look that I couldn’t quite decipher. Was it because he knew what I might have been thinking or because it was another issue he had to deal with regarding Geri?
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” he said regretfully. “I promise.” He turned to the others. “Let’s get her keys and take her to the boarding house. I’ll drive.”
“Wait, Harry…” I started as he hurried away with an arm around Geri, keeping her upright, but over the sound of the waves and Rupert’s voice h
e didn’t hear and as I kept back and followed behind them, watching as they neared the group and seeing some of the amused looks that a barely standing Geri garnered from the crowd I couldn’t swallow back the uneasy feeling seeing her like that gave me.
I followed them all up to Rupert’s car, a freshly polished Mercedes G-Wagon an helped them load her into the back.
“She better not be sick,” he moaned. “I’ve just had the leather valeted.”
“That she be the least of your worries,” I quipped as I strapped her in. “What will you tell the staff if you bump into them? How are you going to explain to people that this is to do with your precious club?”
Rupert glared at me.
“Listen, this has nothing to do with us or the club. It’s James and Elliot’s mess and we’re just here cleaning up the mess so nobody can point any fingers at us.”
“Shifting the blame, you mean?” I pressed and he narrowed his eyes at me.
“Harry…” he warned, and Harry turned to me, a slight curl of amusement on his lips.
He planted a kiss on my lips.
“Shouldn’t be more than half an hour,” he said closing the door and walking round to the passenger seat. “If everyone leaves, just wait by my car and I’ll come back for you.”
“Let me come too,” I whispered as he climbed into the cabin. “This is a girl’s job, putting another girl to bed. It won’t look right if all three of you do it.”
He leaned out of the car to speak to me, lowering his voice in contrast to the other guys talking.
“I’ll not have you involved in this. If we get caught, they’ll think we gave her the alcohol and it will all go tits up. Just stay here, okay? Stay out of this miss and I’ll come and find you.”
He gave me another kiss and I stood back as he closed the door, that uneasy feeling I’d felt earlier made its way back to the forefront of my mind and I tried to shake it away as the car drove off and I went back down the dunes to join the others.
I’d been so consumed with Geri drama that catching sight of James, standing with Elliot and another boy I didn’t know just yet made my heart jump. He was laughing despite his girl having to be carried away by three guys. Prick. He was a sorry excuse for a boyfriend, and I couldn’t wait to bring him crashing down to his knees. He actually thought he could roam around the school treating people like shit all because his father owned some crappy fields? When I was finished with him and his friends, he wouldn’t even begin to know what hit him.
I arrived back with Tre just in time to hear him laugh heartily, throwing his head back, garner everyone’s attention and say:
“Now that bitch will be their problem, not mine. Now who wants to see the photos I took of her spread eagle?”
A handful of people laughed, but all it did was sink my heart.
Chapter 15
I spent the next half an hour with Tre, keeping as far away from both James and Pen as I could, and it wasn’t until Harry sneaked up behind me and wrapped his strong arms around my waist that I realised I hadn’t been enjoying myself
Immediately I felt my spirits rise when I saw his smile.
“Miss me?” he asked into my ear, pressing his body up against my back.
I turned my head to the side to get a better look at him and his mouth met mine in a lingering kiss.
I pulled away and immediately my eyes met Pen’s dark stare.
“That was quick,” I said turning in his arms and ignoring her. “How was she?”
Harry looked at me for a moment.
“Exhausted,” he said eventually. “But let’s not dwell on her. I want to enjoy the rest of the evening with you. Or, maybe we can ditch this lot and finish off where we started?”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he peppered kisses on my nose and cheek.
“Sounds like a plan,” I whispered. Anything that would put distance between James and I was a winner in my book.
Harry let his hand slide to my arse before he squeezed it and turned to Rupert by his side.
“Hughes and I are heading off…” he said quietly and I tuned out the rest because my eyes were set on watching Seb scurrying over the dunes with his phone in his hand and I was taken back to the moment when he burst into the door and came to my rescue.
The only people that knew what happened were here at the beach. Me, James and him. I was almost certain he hadn’t told Harry about it and I had to keep it that way because I knew the minute he found out it would be all over the school and if my dad lost his job as a result he’d be devastated. Working at Atherton meant everything to him. I got that from the way he spoke about it.
“I’ll be one minute,” I said to a deep in conversation Harry, who nodded and turned back to Rupert and I made my way across the dunes to follow Seb.
It wasn’t until I’d walked a few minutes away from the group in the direction that I’d seen him go, that I heard his voice, slightly raised above the sound of the waves and it sounded like he was arguing.
I crouched down and, on my hands, and knees crawled in the sand to get closer.
“Yes, I know dad, but you said you’d be there!” he snapped. “If you do this, I’ll never forgive you.”
I moved position, realising that maybe I should head back to the others. This conversation was clearly more private than anticipated and I’d find another time to corner him about what happened, but his next words made me stop and chilled me to the core.
“You’ve hurt us all before and I’ll never let you touch us again.”
Fuck.
Was it his dad? His dad was hurting him? In what way?
I went to edge back, hoping to be as discreet at disappearing as I had when I’d followed him, but he went quiet.
“Ally? What the hell are you doing?”
I looked up at him sheepishly from my position on the floor.
“Oh, I… I lost my um, you know…?”
“No. I don’t.” he watched as I pushed myself up and brushed down the dress I was beginning to hate with all my passion.
“Sorry, I was…”
“Eavesdropping?” he finished, unimpressed. “How much did you hear?”
“Well, not much, I don’t know. I… is your dad hurting you? Are you in trouble?” I blurted out.
He started to walk past me but stopped when I asked him and took hold of my arm.
“Whatever you think you heard? Forget it. There isn’t a problem.” He let go of me roughly and walked past. His bad boy persona reflecting in his black jeans and black t-shirt. There was nothing cooler in my eyes then the edginess he brought to the table and I watched his back from a number of seconds before running after him.
“Wait. Wait…!” I called and he stopped and turned to me, an angry glare In his eyes.
“I might have saved you, but we’re not friends, Ally and we never will be. The sooner you realise that, the sooner you can stop making an embarrassment of yourself with Harry and the other girls.”
His words hit me hard in the stomach and took me by surprise. For some reason I hadn’t had him down as one of those from the ‘you don’t belong’ crowd, but I let his words sink in and he shook his head as he looked at me.
“I just want you to promise that you’ll never tell Harry what happened…”
I saw his jaw clench.
“As long as you stay away from me and the other members of the Club, you have my word.”
“What about Harry?” I asked, taken aback by his demand. “You know we’re…”
“That’s the only offer on the table. Take it. Or, leave it…”
He turned and started to walk away just as a blood curdling scream filled the open beach. He looked back at me, eyes wide with a look I didn’t quite understand and then without a second thought, we ran.
It was pandemonium when we reached the others. A couple of the girls were hugging each other whilst they cried and Pen was conveniently being comforted by a pensive, yet handsome looking Rupert who let go of her as soon as we
arrived and made his way over to Seb.
“What the fuck is going on?” Seb asked barely out of breath compared to me despite us sprinting over at speed. “We heard the scream from over there…”
Rupert glanced down at me and I could tell he was wondering what we’d been doing out there together.
“It’s bad,” he said gruffly. “Further up they found Geri….”
“Geri?” her name piqued my attention. “What do you mean you found her? I thought you took her home?”
“We have! I mean, we did. She was back in her dorm and…”
I glanced past him, just about making out Harry’s head from behind the dunes and I left the others and ran to him.
“Ally wait!” I heard Rupert call, but something wasn’t right. The screams, the crying… the look on everyone’s faces…
I ignored him and climbed up the sand. I stumbled in my sandals, pulled myself back up again and pressed forwards.
As I neared, Harry’s head popped up and looked at me.
“Hughes! Don’t come any closer!” He warned, but I ignored him too and hurried up beside him, but the sight I saw made my stomach flip and I grabbed hold of him and wretched.
It was Geri, alright, but her eyes were wide open and so was her mouth. She looked as though she’d been frightened to death.
He steadied me until I was able to take a deep breath and hold my arms to face him.
“We have to help her,” I gasped trying to break free from him, but he held me back.
“She’s dead, okay? I’ve checked. She’s gone…”
I broke out of his arms and dived towards her, doing the chest compressions on her I’d seen on the ‘save a life’ advert.
“1,2,3,4,” I mumbled as I pressed. “God, don’t just stand there, Harry! Call the ambulance! Call the police!”
“Ally stop!” he said sharply, the first time he’d called me by my first name in a long while. “Tre’s up the top where the signal is. She’s called for help. They’re on their way. But you have to stop. She’s dead. There’s no pulse.”
I put my fingers against her neck and then her palm. I couldn’t feel anything, but I knew that if you kept with the chest compressions there was less chance of brain damage once they were able to get her back. I’d watched that on an ambulance programme several months ago.
Diamond - A British Academy Rich Boy Bully Romance (Atherton School Crest Club Book 1) Page 12
