Page 16 of Chaos at Westbrook High

“What, Damon?” I ask, not missing the look on his face.

Wren and Callie don’t look all that concerned, but Damon and Levi look a little nervous, both protective of all of us and paranoid as fuck.

Still frowning, Damon steps closer to ensure no one outside of our family can hear us. “What is she doing here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Senior year’s almost over, brother. How the fuck did she get in so late?”

I shrug because I don’t know that either, but I’m going to find out, and I’m gonna have a lot of fucking fun while I do it.

“Maybe her parents have money,” Wren says, lifting his Valerie’s to-go cup to take a sip.

“What’s her last name?” Damon asks, his temper rising when I shrug again.

“I don’t know.”

“And why would she work seven shifts a week in a coffee shop if her parents are loaded?”

“I don’t know.”

“Kai.”

“What, Damon?” I ask again, laughing to myself when he looks like he’s about to bang my head against the wall to knock some sense into me.

“Will you grow up and stop thinking with your dick for five minutes?”

“What’s wrong with my dick?”

“He’s an idiot.”

I snort. Putting him out of his misery, I look at Wren to check he’s up for what I have planned. He nods, already knowing what I’m thinking without me having to say a word. This won’t be the first time we’ve broken into the office to get a look at a student’s file—we did it when we learned Callie was moving in with us before we’d even laid eyes on her—and it probably won’t be the last. Not when our older brother has this compulsive need to know everything about everyone.

“There.” I turn to Damon. “Happy?”

He grunts, and I take that as an enthusiastic yes. Problem solved, I close my locker and fall in line beside them.

Hailey’s in every single one of our classes, and even though she hasn’t said a word since this morning, I can tell she’s furious about it. Damon’s even more paranoid than he was earlier, even after we found nothing out of the ordinary in her file.

Me? I’m fucking thrilled.

She’s talking to the teacher when we walk into fourth period, nervously nodding along to whatever Mrs. Tanner’s saying from behind her desk. It looks like Hailey’s getting chewed out, even though it’s her first day and she’s barely been in here thirty seconds, but I’m not surprised. Mrs. Tanner’s a hardass, especially with the pretty ones.

I’ve never seen Hailey nervous. It’s turning me on, my own nerves buzzing with excitement as I stare at her ass in those tight jeans she’s wearing.

I can’t help but touch her as I stop behind her, just a tiny brush of my finger over the soft fabric of her shirt at her waist. She doesn’t look back as she boldly shoves my hand away from her side. She doesn’t need to check who it is. She already knows it’s me.

Taking a small step forward, I stop just before my chest hits her back, resisting the urge to bury my nose in her hair. “Go sit down, Hailey.”

She finally looks at me over her shoulder in outrage, then back to Mrs. Tanner, who only rolls her eyes and waves her away. After a beat of stunned silence, I hear Hailey’s quiet scoff and force myself to walk away, side-eyeing her as my family and I make our way to the two back rows. Damon and Callie take the two seats by the window, Wren and Levi take theirs in front of them, next to Ryan and Rachel, and I take the seat next to Callie, slowly shaking my head at Madison, the head cheerleader, when she takes a step toward me.

“No.”

“But—”

I cock my head, and she stops talking, her nostrils flaring as she drops down into the chair in front of Rachel. “Unbelievable,” she mutters under her breath.

I ignore it, only interested in the girl who’s glaring at the only seat left in the room. She waited for everyone else to take their usual seats first, just as she’s been doing all morning, not wanting to step on anyone’s toes. But now her only option is to sit next to me. I don’t miss the instant regret on her face.

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