Page 87 of Brutal Prince

Ms. Parson’s got as much of a dressing down as we did for pairing us up. Denard had her pegged as some kind of pedophilic matchmaker, and I’ve never felt as sorry for her in that moment as I did right then while Denard’s forehead grew pulsing veins.

Even Briar’s rapport with the French teacher did nothing to reduce our sentence. We each got a week, and Denard’s sincere vow that our parents would be notified about our lack of attendance before the day was out.

I almost laughed at that, and I caught a glimmer of something that might have been amusement in Briar’s eyes. If anyone can communicate with the fucking dead, it’s Mr. Denard.

“So…was he a good fuck?”

My eyes snap over to Addy. Her nose is up in the air, her jaw bunched like she’s gritting her teeth.

“The fuck, Addy?” I whisper furiously. “Nothing happened.”

“Mmm,” she says.

“Addy.”

But she ignores me, now and for the rest of the fucking class. Even my texts go unanswered, and I give up with a growl of irritation that makes our teacher glare at me.

As soon as class is over, Addy’s out the door. I’m only a step behind her, but fuck she’s got long legs.

“Addy. Addy, come on! Just—” I break off with a frustrated curse and put all my effort into catching up with her.

She’s waiting for me around the corner, wearing a mask of such cool indifference it’s like she transformed into a robot on the way over here.

“Thanks,” I say, trying to talk and haul in a breath at the same time. I really gotta take a look at getting my fitness levels up. I mean, fuck, racing after Addy, running away from Briar? Then again, if shit keeps on like this, I think I’ll be ready for the Olympics come Christmas.

“Thanks for what?” Addy prompts, crossing her arms over her chest.

“For listening.”

She shifts, and glances away. “You haven’t told me anything yet.”

“Not for lack of trying.”

Her brown eyes settle on me, but they flit away an instant later like nervous butterflies. I sling my arm through hers and start walking. I have one more period before home time. If I don’t iron this out with Addy, who’s to say she’ll even listen to me tomorrow? She obviously thinks I broke her trust by sleeping with Briar. I can only hope she’ll listen to reason.

“We didn’t…there wasn’t any sex.”

She rolls her eyes at me.

“We just…spoke.”

With that, Addy spins to face me. “About?” Her eyes are wide with expectation.

I look away before I can look at her again. “Not that. Not yet.”

My skin starts crawling. As much as I thought this whole amateur sleuth thing would be a blast, I don’t think I’m cut out for it. I keep feeling eyes on me, and it doesn’t matter where I look, I can’t spot who’s watching me.

Paranoia. Just some standard high-school geek paranoia, Indi. It’ll pass, most likely when you’re twenty-five and high school is nothing more than a bunch of vague and slightly disturbing memories.

“I shared stuff with him,” I say.

“Like herpes?”

I close my eyes as a laugh bubbles out of my mouth. When Addy glares at me, I shrug. “I know you don’t like this, Addy, but it’s working. I think he’s opening up to me.”

She shakes her head, but more like she can’t believe how stubborn I am. Stand back, Addison Green — you ain’t seen nothing yet. “Next you’ll be telling me you’re pranking him back, just for fun.” Her words are heavy with sarcasm, but I let out a little squeal of joy and hug her arm.

“That’s a fantastic idea!”

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