Page 19 of Wicked Dreams

Just another thing I learned in my first week at Emery-Rose Elite.

Caleb is royalty, and it gives him certain privileges I could never hope of holding. One is that no one says a word to him about his treatment of me as he winds through the tables. He heads back to his friends like nothing happened.

I glare at his back, hoping he can feel it. If he does, he’s unfazed. His shoulders remain even, his back straight. When he sits back down, he leans into Savannah and kisses her.

Their lips part, and his tongue plunges into her mouth. They aren’t so much kissing as… he’s invading her. She’s trying to keep up, but this is so much more of a show than true intimacy.

He must get off on that shit. Or he’s doing it to drive another nail into my heart, because my whole body feels like I’m drowning. At the same moment I’m glad he’s out of reach, I don’t want him to touch anyone else.

Why do I care?

If he kissed me like that, I’d punch him. I haven’t actually had a boyfriend, but I’ve read enough romance books to know that kissing someone like you’re conquering them isn’t showing them you care.

It’s just a performance, and I’m sick of being his captive audience.

When it doesn’t stop, I frown. “We need to leave.”

She sighs. “Figured you’d say that.”

“I just need to get the paint for Robert, and then we should go.”

We do that, and I practically drag Riley to her car.

“I don’t think I like the mall,” I tell her.

She laughs but nods, too. She picked up a few things, including a little crafting set for her mom in the art supply store. Bags dangle from her wrist. The car beeps, the trunk clicking as it opens. We put our stuff inside, and I exhale.

Caleb is probably still lording over the food court, but I can’t stop looking over my shoulder. While my wrist has a few red splotches, my pride hurts worse.

“Hey, Applebottom.”

Riley turns instinctively, her face shuttering when she sees Eli.

“Where you running off to?” he asks her.

He’s more sly than Caleb. A bit on the leaner side, a hair shorter. His hair is light brown, almost blond, and hangs over his forehead. The tips just barely brush his eyelids. He rakes a hand through it, displacing the strands for a moment. They fall right back in place, and he smirks at her.

Not me. He doesn’t give a shit about me.

“Just leave us alone,” I say to him.

He smirks. Hands in the pockets of his jeans, he’s the picture of ease. But something about him seems almost predatory, and Riley is definitely his intended target.

He’s handsome, too. Maybe not as much as Caleb—or I have a one-track brain—but still enough to get himself in trouble. Hot guys are always in trouble and slip out of it just as easily.

His dark-brown eyes stay focused on Riley. “Come talk to me.”

Riley eyes him, her teeth worrying at her lower lip. She’s holding on to my arm, and for a moment it seems like she’s going to tuck herself harder against my body. Forcing him to leave or pry her away.

He lifts his chin, the picture of bored indifference. “Just you. I don’t give a shit about your friend, and Asher isn’t going to scare her while we’re gone.”

I scowl at him, but surprise radiates through me when Riley releases my arm.

“I’ll be okay.” She nods, more likely attempting to convince herself than him, and follows Eli around the corner of the building. She doesn’t even leave me her keys.

I lean against the car and wait, and ten minutes pass before Riley comes storming back toward me. Her expression is fierce, but her hair is messed up… and it might be my imagination, but her lips seem swollen.

“You okay?” I raise my eyebrows when she gets close enough.

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