Page 83 of The Venom We Bleed

GIO: Meet in parking lot after school

Glancing up to ensure the teacher isn't paying any attention, I type a quick reply and hit send.

JULIET: I have to work. I'm going to catch the bus.

Gio's response is almost instantaneous.

GIO: No.

With a barely restrained snarl, I shove the phone into my pocket again without responding. Ten minutes later, as the last of the class ticks past, it vibrates again. Double-checking the teacher's position a second time, I pull it back out for the new message, this one from Nolan.

NOLAN: Don't make me send Lex.

Using each other as threats. How original.I roll my eyes. I can't even say it doesn't work though. Of all the Scorpion Kings, Lex is one of the deadliest.

Fifteen minutes later, as the final bell ending the day rings out, I snatch up my shit and am out of the door, powering through the hallways towards the cafeteria and bus loop before the rest of the classes have fully unleashed. I'm practically sprinting to make it before they realize I won't be meeting them in the parking lot. I should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

I get one foot out of the cafeteria doors and into the dull sunlight of autumn when a muscled arm covered in tattoos comes around my waist and plucks me right off my feet. "You were warned, baby." Lex's soft but deep baritone settles right next to my ear.

I go impossibly still and don't fight as he turns me away from the surge of students coming out of the cafeteria doors, making their way over the circle of big yellow monstrosities idling against the ring of concrete to take them home. There are more eyes on the two of us, but it's pointless to try and stop the staring. Tapping Lex's arm, I release a sigh of annoyance.

"Fine," I say. "You've caught me. You can put me down now. I won’t run.”

He seems to hesitate for a long moment. So long, I wonder if it’s not because he doesn’t believe me or if he simply wants to keep carrying me. I open my mouth to repeat my words, butthen my feet touch the ground and he nods back towards the building, directing where we’re supposed to go without saying a thing. Grumbling under my breath, I hitch my bag higher on my shoulders and start walking away from the buses towards the student parking lot. Lex leads me back into the main hall and out a set of double glass doors. I spot Gio and Nolan, both who have adapted mirroring expressions of smug satisfaction, their arms crossed and eyes solemn.

"What was the point of that, Prep Girl?" Gio’s grin makes me want to sock him right in his handsome face. "Your shit's at Nolan's anyway. It’s not like you can run from us.”

“Who said I was trying to run?” I ask defensively. “I need to head to work and I don’t know the closest bus stop to Nolan’s.”

Nolan jerks his chin at the Firebird behind them parked right next to Lex’s SUV. “We’ve got practice, anyway,” he says.

“I’ll take her to work and be back—” Lex begins.

“No.” Nolan gestures to the Firebird again as Gio drops his arms and palms his hips. "G will take her; you’re with me.”

Lex doesn’t so much frown as his entire face pulls back, the skin tightening over the sharp jut of his jaw and cheekbones as his lips peel away from his teeth. “Don’t,” Nolan barks. “You and I need to talk.”

I glance between the two of them, but Lex doesn’t say another word. Instead, he turns and stalks away, back across the parking lot in the direction of the gym and beyond that, the football field.

“Come on, Prep Girl.” I nearly stumble under the weight of Gio’s arm as he slings it over my shoulder and directs me toward the passenger door of his Firebird. He opens it and holds it out for me. “Get in.”

I frown at him, my eyes moving down the bare flesh of his forearm and over the various whorls and lines of ink there. Each of them is tattooed, but Gio’s appear more out of sync—there’sno rhyme or reason to the lines that stroke over his skin. They almost look like veins rather than images or designs as they span across his arm and disappear into his sleeve.

“This is ridiculous.” I put a hand on the top of the car and turn towards him. "We're not friends. Why are you guys even bothering to do any of this?"

Nolan speaks up again, reminding me that he’s still there as he rounds the back of the Firebird and comes towards the two of us. “That's a very good question, Princess,” he says.

I whip around and pin him with a glare. His long legs eat up the distance between us in an instant. I sway backward, my ass bumping into the car’s door, but he doesn't let up. Hard fingers grip my waist from behind and hold me in place—Gio’s—as Nolan stands in front of me. I’m trapped between the two of them, their bodies creating walls on either side of me.

My eyes widen in realization when I spot a familiar face over Nolan’s shoulder.Roquel.

We’re in public. They shouldnotbe doing this.

Roquel lifts her head and comes to a halt between a set of beaters that both have matching rusted undercarriages. Her jaw drops and her brow creases, but she doesn’t move towards me. She just watches us as if she’s waiting to see what will happen. Just like every other person still in the student lot.

Nolan’s head lowers inch by minuscule inch until the hot fan of his breath drifts over the top of my ear. "Why do you think we’re doing all of this?" His voice is practically a purr. Cruel arousal stabs viciously at my insides and I beat that shit back with all of the self-control I can muster.

Needing the distraction, I force my attention back to Roquel. As soon as I do, a spike of unease slams into me. There’s something about her expression that bothers me, but before I can decipher what it is, Nolan’s lips brush the tip of my ear. I gasp, swinging my gaze back to him.

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