Page 16 of The Venom We Bleed

Instead of listening, Playboy jerks me around and glances at Nolan. “You’re really going to let her leave?” he demands, ignoring my words. “Just like that? She fucked up Meg’s face. She got into a fight on our turf. We can’t let her get away with that.”

Nolan frowns at Gio. “I don’t give two shits about your fuck buddy, G,” he says. “Megan White can handle her own fights, and if she can’t…” Those copper eyes are back on me and that frown of his shifts back up, as if he’s amused by the sight of me. All the while, I’m slowly seething at Gio’s hand still on my arm. “… then she deserves to get her ass beat.”

I tug on my arm, but Gio’s grip remains the same and he glowers down at me. My eye is starting to twitch.

“But you should take this as a warning,Princess,” Nolan states, recapturing my attention as my upper lip curls back. The sound of him calling me ‘princess’ rings in my ears like the shrieking of an unwanted child’s temper tantrum. “You’re not in Silverwood Prep anymore.”

My body begins to tremble, the rage I’ve kept so carefully contained starting to spill over. When I open my mouth, only one word comes out. “Hand.”

Nolan’s brows furrow. “What?”

I look pointedly at Playboy’s hand still on my arm. “Remove. Your. Fucking. Hand.”

Playboy’s eyes go from me and then back to Nolan. The hand on my arm falls away and finally, that small tingling sensation under my skin—the one that encourages me to go absolutelyapeshit anytime someone tries to fucking touch me when I don’t want them to—recedes.

I lift my shoulder, trying to shake off the last of the feeling before looking Gio right in the eyes. “Your girlfriend came after me,” I state. “I told her to back off. She didn’t. If you hit someone, you should anticipate getting hit back. That’s all. No one touches me, I won’t touch them.”

“You won’t touch anyone regardless,” Nolan replies.

“This is our territory, Prep Girl,” Playboy says. “You’re the outsider.”

“Okay.” I wait a beat. “And?”

“And?” Playboy repeats the word with disgust, swiveling his head to look at Nolan.

Murmurs rumble through the crowd of onlookers and I switch my gaze from Nolan and Gio to the man behind them, silently watching. Alexio Medicci’s eyes watch me with a dark emotion I can’t quite name. The heat of his attention burns through me, like hellfire and dry ice.

Whipping my head back to the two nearest me, I take a breath and then carefully move myself away from them. Nolan catches the deft action and narrows his eyes on me as his hand finds Playboy’s shoulder, gripping tightly as he takes a step forward. He moves, releasing his friend and I refuse to back up again as he comes up to me—chest to chest and eye to eye. Sort of. It’s eye to eye so long as I crane my neck back and he dips his head. The guy has to be at least a good half a foot taller than me.

He leans down into my face. His lips part, but I beat him to the punch. “I know you hate me,” I say. “This whole fucking town does. If you’re planning on threatening me or telling me to drop out, then I’m sorry to say, that’s not going to happen.”

His skin twitches right below his right eye. “Is that a fact?” His tone doesn’t sound angry. Instead, it sounds half-amused and half-curious. I don’t like that at all. I am something newto their little pond. Something they don’t know how to handle quite yet. I don’t want to be a curiosity to these people. I want to be invisible and I’m doing a piss poor job of it.

“It is.”

Slowly, oh so fucking slowly, his lips stretch into a wide smile. It’s such a contrast to the seriousness in his eyes, to the rigidness in his jaw, that it sets me on edge. “If you want to stay,” he says. “Then who am I to stop you?”

I narrow my eyes on him. “Does that mean this is done?” I ask. “You’ll leave me alone?”Please let it be that easy,I silently pray, but just like all of the other wishes I’ve made in the past several months, it’s futile.

Nolan chuckles, remaining right where he is. Face inches from mine. Shadow covering my frame, blocking out the rest of the parking lot. Red and brown swirl in his irises, daring me to come closer, to see just where the colors separate.

I don’t want to. I want nothing to do with him or his friends or anyone else in this school or town. If I had any other option—any other family—to turn to, I might’ve run the second my mom had. But I didn’t. All I have is myself to rely on and I'm not going to trust anyone else to fuck me over like the rest have.

Instead of answering me, Nolan simply continues to smile before finally leaning away. I inhale sharply, just realizing that I’d been holding my breath. He turns and starts walking back towards his friends, and Gio—sensing that this fight is over, turns and follows him—whipping his now soiled shirt over his head and tucking it into the back of his pants.

Holy… fucking hell.The rippling dips and valleys across Giovanni Vargas’ back are a masterpiece of muscle. More than one girl he passes lets out a sigh and I think I even hear one of them moan.

Nolan lifts a hand into the air as he walks, calling back to me as the three of them leave. “Welcome to the real world, Princess. We’ll be seeing you around.”

I whip around and start jogging towards the building’s side path. No one stops me this time, no one calls out, no one throws shit on me, but the lack of attention now doesn’t dim my anger.

This isn’t fucking fair. Life isn’t fair. Fuck them and their hate. The hate that I have to give back. It’s fucked up and wrong. I never did shit to these people, but still, they take it out on me.

I know this isn’t the last I’ll see of the Scorpion Kings. I’ve got a whole year trapped in this damn school with them. Graduation can’t come soon enough.

7

NOLAN

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