His eyes went flat.
Zeke was protective of his sister.
Then his nostrils flared and he dropped his tone, moving in closer to me. He made a show of putting his hands in his pockets, but his words were meant for me, and I knew they were a warning. “Walk, best friend. We can talk about this later.”
I snorted. Zeke didn’t talk. He’d either organize a beatdown on me or he’d let it go. Studying him, I was guessing the latter, but one never knew with this kid.
“Yeah. Right.” I looked at Oliver and Jamie, but didn’t say anything else. They hadn’t stepped in to help Brian, and they hadn’t moved in to back Zeke up. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have. I didn’t know where their heads were.
I moved down the hallway, and a second later, I saw them following.
I didn’t say a word. Neither did they. I wondered if Zeke told them to tail, but then Oliver nodded at me.
I took that to mean something. I just didn’t know what. As I moved past a classroom, I caught sight of someone slipping inside. They had disappeared by the time I fully looked.
I kept going.
I wasn’t looking forward to the wave of whatever I’d just set in motion.
6
Aspen
“You get off on watching? Is that your thing, or is it just my cock you like?”
I was heading to my car after school when I heard him.
My heart stopped, almost literally. If I looked down, it was likely the entire contents of my stomach would be at my feet.
He’d found me.
I looked up, and Blaise DeVroe stepped out from behind the truck parked next to Maisie. His hand was on her back end, and he waited there, in the shadows (thank God), his head tilted to the side.
He looked so good, so delicious. All hard edges and angles. That jawline. It could give me razor burn between my legs, and I’d climax just by breathing hard.
I saw the flare in his gaze and felt his edge. I had to rein in a bit of my inner weirdo.
I’d heard about what happened that morning. Hell, I’d witnessed it myself, but then I’d also heard all the whispering about it afterward. It spread through the school like wildfire. And what they were saying hadn’t been kind. Most bets were that Blaise was going to be kicked out of school. Others said Zeke was going to have him beat up. Still others thought Zeke could have him arrested. How that even made sense, I had no clue.
But I also saw those guys interact through the rest of the day as if nothing had happened. Zeke still smiled at Blaise, even if he seemed more cautious. Some people said there was a rift forming in school. But again, why did that even matter? We had a week and four days left to be here. Then it was summer.
“You talk?” His head cocked forward. There was a slight bark to his words.
I jumped, then gathered myself. “Oh. Um…”
Shoot. I bit down on my lip. What did I say here? Okay. I had nothing, so I guess honesty was the best policy. Besides this guy playing a major role in my schoolgirl fantasies, I couldn’t deny that I was a little scared of him right now. I’d always felt there was something more in him, a wild edge, but no one ever said anything. There’d been no rumors about it, until today.
Today, everyone had seen. Today, everyone was talking about it.
“I, uh…” Screw it. I shrugged. “It was live porn. What did you expect?”
His eyes lit up. His nostrils flared. And he stepped toward me. “To turn around and leave.” His eyes narrowed. “I looked for you the rest of the weekend. No way were you there for the party, so what’s that mean? Were you spying on us?”
Ooooh boy. So not good. I didn’t want him to get anywhere close to that realization about me.
My stomach shriveled up. I swallowed over a knot. “Um...”
“Were you?”
Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.
I could not talk about that. No way. That was my big secret, and it was embarrassing. If he found out, if he said something, I’d be the laughingstock of Fallen Crest. I couldn’t handle that—not at this school. At Hillcrest, they would’ve left me alone. People knew me there. They knew Owen.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” His nostrils flared again, and he moved even closer. He was almost within touching distance now, his gaze locked on mine.
I had to distract him. That’s the only way I could get out of this one.
“I like you,” I blurted.
“What?” He blinked, seeming stunned.
I got him. Crisis averted.
And I doubled down. “Yeah. I mean, girls have crushes, and you’re mine. I crush on you.”
His eyebrows went up. “You crush on me?”
I blushed. That was embarrassing enough, but the other secret would’ve been worse. So much worse.
I ducked my head, shrugging. I kicked at a rock. “Like you don’t know. Like you don’t know a ton of girls like you, so whatevs. I like you, and I mean, do you want me to apologize for crushing on you?” I lifted my head, peering at him.
He looked confused and backed away.
My lungs could expand again.
“I—wait.” His head cocked to the side. “So you were following me?” Even as he said it, I could tell he didn’t believe it. I heard his tone. It was suspicious.
“No. I mean…” Crap. That wasn’t as much of a distraction as I thought. Arrogant much? I tried to smooth it over. “I was going for a walk. I got lost, and then I saw you and I—” Fishbowl effect. My mouth was moving like a goldfish, and I was thinking. I was stalling. “What do you want from me? This is embarrassing.”
I didn’t need to act. My face was beet red. I was starting to sweat too. Gross.
He coughed, clearing his throat. “I saw you today. I saw you duck into your first-period class. Didn’t realize it was you until later. You’re in my fourth period. I watched you the rest of the day. You don’t talk to anyone. No one knows who you are. I asked around.”
My chest puffed up. Pride swelled there.
He looked taken aback, those eyebrows shooting up. “What? You feel good about that shit?”
I frowned, my chest deflating a little. “Wouldn’t you?”
“Fuck no. You have no friends here.”
That stung. I blinked a few times, trying to erase the feel of that invisible hand across my face. “Uh. Thank you?”
“No.” He shook his head, his eyes becoming way too determined and way too focused on me. He moved closer again. His arm rested on the top of Maisie, and he was almost leaning over me. “What’s your damage? I mean…” He leaned back, giving me a onceover. “You’re hot.” He motioned to my car. “You drive a chill car, so you’re not hurting for money. What’s your deal? You’re just known as ‘that girl’ or ‘she’s in my class’ and that’s it. Someone thought your name was Colorado. What’s your last name?”
“My name is Aspen.”
“I know that much. Mr. Latham is a lazy fuck, but he still does roll call.” He nodded at me again. “What’s your last name?”
I hesitated another beat. “Monson.”
He was quiet a second. I could almost see him connecting the dots before his eyes went flat. “Your parents are doing that documentary thing?”