Page 105 of Chaos at Westbrook High

Letting go of me, she closes the distance between them and grabs the little shit by the scruff of his neck, dragging him off the couch. Surprised and impressed at how strong she is, I follow behind them toward the elevator, the others falling in line beside me. Derek smiles at Hailey over his shoulder, and she shoves him in the back, making him stumble.

“Keep pushing me away, Der,” she mutters, allowing me to wrap my arms around her from behind. “It’ll hurt less when I leave you, right?”

The smile falls right off his face.

She’s trying to kill me.

For someone who doesn’t like parties, she sure as shit looks like she’s enjoying herself. “Pro” by NEFFEX is playing from one of the cars parked on the beach, and she’s dancing with Callie and Rachel by the bonfire, the orange glow of the flames licking at her skin as she rolls her hips back and forth.

The guys from school know they’re not to touch her, but I still catch a few of them stealing glances at her as if they can’t help but look. It makes me want to throw them into the fire, but I can’t really blame them. Hailey’s ridiculously beautiful, sweet, and sexy as fuck all at once. She’s fucking perfect. They’d have to be crazy not to want her.

As I’m watching her little body sway to the slow beat, she glances at me over her shoulder, her arms bent above her head, her top riding up to expose more of her body. One of the boys from our class almost falls over himself as he passes her. My eyes darken at the sight of her, and Hailey’s lips curl up into a smirk. There’s a defiant little gleam in her eyes that says, You made me come here, now you have to watch me and deal with it.

I must be a masochist because I fucking love it.

While Damon’s watching the girls with eyes like a hawk beside me and Wren and Levi are tongue fucking each other behind us, I check Derek’s phone. Still nothing from Freya. Maybe we were wrong and she’s back in New York with her parents. Maybe she’s not showing up for Derek because she’s onto us. Or maybe she just doesn’t give a shit about the guy unless she wants something from him. It wouldn’t surprise me.

I text her again to ask where she is, then walk over to Derek. He’s sitting alone on the other side of the fire, glaring at me as I snatch the solo cup he’s drinking from. I pour the vodka on the sand and toss him a soda.

“That was water, you little dick,” he lies, tossing the soda right back up to me.

“I’m not little, and neither is my dick,” I say, amused by the way he thinks he can bully me like he did when we were kids. Just as I open my mouth to tell him he can ask his little sister how big my dick is, I stop myself and say, “You’re still a shitty liar.”

“Fuck you.”

“Yeah. Fuck you too.” I sit on the sand next to him and place the soda in front of him, propping my elbows on my knees as I keep one eye on Hailey and scan the crowd for Freya. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you warn her?”

“You stole my phone,” he says slowly, swaying slightly. “How would I have done that?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I told you we’re not drinking tonight. How many did you have?”

“I lost count.” He leans back on his hands and smiles as if he’s proud of himself for being such a sneaky fucker, but his face falls when he catches Hailey’s eyes on him. “You were too busy pissing all over my little sister to babysit me.”

Hailey glances between the two of us with a nervous look on her face, and I lift my hands in mock surrender. She squints at me but makes no move to walk over here.

“Why do you even care if I drink?” Derek asks, tipping his head back to look at the dark sky. “We stopped giving a fuck about each other a long time ago.”

“She gives a fuck about you,” I tell him. “And I give a fuck about her.”

He scoffs out a bitter laugh, shaking his head.

“You got somethin’ to say to me?” I ask, raising a brow when he looks like he’s got several.

“How are you doing it?”

“Doing what?”

“Making her fall for your shit.”

“I use my tongue a lot,” I joke, sliding it between my teeth.

He sits up straight, wrapping his sandy hand around my shirt to pull my face into his. “Say that again.”

I don’t. “Don’t make me hit you in front of her.” With my hands at my sides, I don’t touch him, waiting for him to release me on his own.

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