Page 1 of Filthy Few

Chapter One

Nova

Moving to Hollow Hills wasn’t something I was on board with, but I couldn’t deny my mother the chance at happiness, and Thomas gave her that. He was kind enough to me, but it still felt strange being in his home and around his son, Nexus. Thomas and my mom married a couple of weeks ago, they chose to keep the ceremony small and intimate and held it in the Bahamas. I hadn’t ever been on a plane until then. Nexus and I did manage to find some common ground and even got along. It made me feel less anxious about sharing a house with him and my new stepdad.

“I hope everything is to your liking?” I turn away from the window that overlooks the lavish backyard and smile at Thomas.

“This is the biggest room I have ever had, it’s perfect. Thank you, Thomas,” I say sincerely.

“I’m glad it is to your liking.” I don’t know what else to say so I just smile. Don’t get me wrong, he is nice, but it’s still awkward being alone with him and trying to find ways to fill the strained silence. “I had Lisa place your school uniform in the closet, Nexus will accompany you to and from school.” I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from lashing out. Mom and I had planned to check out the local high schools next week and pick which one I would like to attend.

“I don’t think Haven Hills is the school for me?—”

“Nonsense, every Valerian goes there.”

“I’m not a Valerian, I’m a Quinlin.” At the mention of my last name, Thomas’ eyes darken and narrow slightly for a second before he blanks his face and smiles. If I hadn’t been paying such close attention, I would have missed it. He tried to convince my mother to change my last name and allow him to adopt me, but I put my foot down and so did my mom. I may not know who my father is or where the fuck he is, but I would never allow some strange man to erase a part of me without even having the chance to find out who I truly am.

“Your mother and I will be out this evening, Nexus and you will have the place to yourselves,” he says before he leaves me standing here, staring after him. For the remainder of the day I try to brush off the weird encounter with Thomas but a niggling feeling in the pit of my stomach feels like it’s trying to warn me that Thomas isn’t a good man.

I shuck off the feeling and return to my task of unpacking and making my new room my own. It’s going to take a long time to get used to having my own bathroom as well as a closet that is bigger than my last bedroom. How Thomas has managed to become this wealthy is a mystery to me. As I finish unpacking my last box, light tapping on my open bedroom door brings my attention to Nexus standing there.

His green eyes shine with mischief, and I can’t help but smile at him. “Feel like causing some trouble?”

I beam up at him. “What did you have in mind?”

“I feel like being the big bad wolf and blowing some shit up, piggy.” I scrunch my face and shoot him a loaded look.

“Piggy?”

He shrugs his shoulders, causing his black hair to flop forward onto his face. He brushes it back before smirking and shooting me a wink. “Get changed,piggy. We leave in half an hour,” he calls out as he stalks away, then adds almost like an afterthought. “You’re fresh meat, so don’t let my boys fuck you.” I jerk back and scoff.

As if I would let any of these preppy fools touch me!

Nexus drives us across town and I spend the drive gazing out my window, taking in my surroundings. Nexus wasn’t pleased to see what I was wearing, but he doesn’t get to tell me what the hell I can and can’t wear. I have never been ashamed of my body, and I won’t allow my new stepbrother try to make me feel differently about myself. Women are scrutinized enough as it is, we don't need some pigheaded male trying to control our wardrobe choices as well as every other aspect of our lives.

Plus, I think my outfit is cute. It may not be designer or a brand name like the clothes he wears, but I think it shows my assets. The skin-tight, dark wash jeans sit low on my hips, and the black cotton T-shirt I wear has a V-neck that exposes my ample cleavage. I have the shirt tied in the back to expose my toned stomach. I paired the outfit with Retro Jordan Ones and a black and white flannel shirt tied around my waist. My longraven hair is straight and loose. I don’t really care much for makeup so I just applied some eyeliner and mascara to make my green eyes pop.

“My friends are off limits.” I pull my gaze from the window to peer over at Nexus.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask as he parks the car, my eyebrows raising when I realize we’re at the beach. I can see a bonfire in the distance and people milling about. The bass of the music and the laughter of the kids partying can be heard over the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

Nexus reaches out and grips my chin between his thumb and index finger and draws my gaze back to him. “It means, Vox, Ezekiel, Hayze, and Archer are not making themselves at home between your legs.” I reel back in disgust as I bat his hand away.

“I’m not some easy chick who spreads her legs for the fucking team.” I cross my arms over my chest and slouch back in my seat, staring out the windshield. “Take me home, I’m not in the mood for this shit,” I grit out.

“No can do. Either sit in here and pout or come make friends before school starts on Monday,” he says as he climbs out of his fancy Audi. I ignore the asshole and watch him walk toward the party. Nexus is stopped at least five times by people wanting to say hi. I watch the girls flock to him and practically throw themselves at him. I scrunch my face in disgust. Why do girls always think portraying themselves as easy is going to get them what they want? Hey, they may get dicked at the end of the night, but that’s it. They won’t get a relationship or a ring.

I shake my head when I see some blonde in a gold sequin dress fake stumble into Nexus. She bats her lashes up at him and giggles. The sight of her in a pair of high heels in the sand has me scoffing and shaking my head. I step out of the car and shove my hands in my pockets as I head toward the fire. I can feel people staring at me and I know it’s because most of them just saw meclimb out of Nexus’ car. I’m not deluded enough to think it’s because they are curious about who I am or anything like that. It’s clear to me that my stepbrother is some kind of king around here.

The crowd around the fire is giving off weird vibes; so I walk toward the water's edge and gaze out at the ocean, the moon is high in the sky and casting its reflection on the surface of the water, the sight brings a smile to my face. I have never been so close to the ocean before. Mom and I moved here from the city, where it was always loud and busy, but being here in Hollow Hills is a stark change. To be a short drive to the beach and able to have a bonfire without the cops turning up is not something I am used to.

“I’m assuming you're the sister that is off-limits?” I turn my head to the side to see a guy standing beside me—he’s hot. His brown hair is windblown, the smile on his face is warm and his green eyes hold a kind edge to them.

“What makes you think that?” He jerks his chin to the side, and I peer over my shoulder to see Nexus standing in front of three guys. I can see he is angry from the way he is gesturing from them to me. My gaze is captured by the one standing in the middle, his hood is up and covering his face, but I can feel his gaze on me. Not wanting to be caught staring, I turn back to my new companion and snort. “He can take a tall glass of fuck off with a side of kiss my ass.”

The guy chuckles and tips his bottle toward me before taking a sip. I can’t help but stare at him. Unlike Nexus, who wears expensive clothes and struts around with an air of superiority, this guy doesn’t. He seems laid back. His board shorts are faded, and the plain white cotton T-shirt he wears has a few blotches of paint on it.

“I’m Hayze.” I nod, not offering him my name, which just brings a smirk to his full lips. He may be hot, but I’m not trying to complicate my life more than it already is.

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