Page 674 of Filthy Elites

Kelsey fisted her hands on her hips. “You got exactly what you deserved! Actually, you got less than what you deserve. They should have kicked you out of college. Your whole team should be punished. Everyone knows that!”

Adrian folded his arms across his chest and gave her a measuring look. “You’re unbelievable. You listened to campus gossip and passed judgment on me? On my team? You don’t know what happened. I didn’t do a damn thing.”

“You and all your friends treat everyone like crap! You all think you’re gods on this campus. That you can do no wrong. You think you can take whatever you want. Make people do what you demand. Slavery is illegal!”

His gray eyes narrowed. “What? You’re nuts.”

“I am not!”

Adrian smirked. “I get it now. This was your pathetic opportunity to punish someone popular because you don’t fit in. You decided to lash out at me because your life didn’t turn out like you wanted. Your little revenge tantrum fucked me over!”

Kelsey’s face turned red, and she leaned toward him. “You conceited jerk! That was not me throwing a tantrum! That was me serving justice.”

Adrian dropped his arms and shifted to sidestep her. “Listen up, Buttercup. Stay away from me and stay away from my team. We don’t want or need you doing anything.”

“See! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You think everyone is on this earth to serve you.”

“Your term, not mine. You’re the one who said you were serving justice.” Adrian arched his brow. “Forgot what you said already?”

Her temper flared. “I know what I said! Someone has to stop you and all the guys like you.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me, but I know your type.” He circled around her, taking her in. “You’re probably a psychology or sociology major planning to save the world. Dreaming of taking on corporate America and joining the peace corps. Not everyone who has money and power is evil. Maybe you should take the time to learn that before you make yourself more of a fool. Run along back to your loser friends, buttercup.” He turned and walked away from her.”

“You’re such an asshole! And don’t call me buttercup.” Kelsey seethed. He was just another spoiled rich kid who sponged off his parents and had no idea what the real world was like. Maybe community service would provide a valuable lesson.

She sighed. His wealthy parents would probably donate something to the university and get him out of it. The rich and powerful never had to face any consequences.

Adrian left her standing in the middle of the hallway glaring at his back. His life was destroyed by a girl who didn’t like the popular crowd and was using her position on student government to punish him.

He made it outside and sucked in as much air as he could. He felt like he couldn’t breathe inside the building but walking through the doors to the sidewalk hadn’t helped. He needed to get onto the water.

The problem with that was he was supposed to attend his International Business class. Technically, his punishment was set to begin the next day, so cutting one of his classes today would not violate their rules.

He might have been banned from competing with his crew team, but he could still take out his single scull boat on the Schuylkill River. His personal boat was stowed in Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, which is made up of a line of 19th-century boathouses behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Blackstone University’s rowing program didn’t allow students to compete with their own boats, so Adrian kept his with a local rowing club.

He jogged over to his sleek, metallic black Porsche Panamera, hopped in, and revved the engine. He was in the mood to drive fast, but he would probably hit city traffic. Blackstone University was just outside of Philadelphia, in Gladwyne, with the city only minutes away but having the privacy of a suburban location.

Twenty minutes later, Adrian was pulling his boat from the rack and slinging it over his shoulder to haul out to the water. The lightweight boat was long and sleek, and not difficult to carry.

Adrian slipped the two oars into their notches and settled onto the small seat. The boat was only about a foot across, not leaving much room to move around. Reaching forward, he pulled the oars to him and began to move into the center of the river. It was a calm day on the water, perfect for a ride.

Pushing and pulling the oars over and over, Adrian lost himself to the repetition. He would not be racing against another person or team; he would be trying to outrun his turbulent thoughts. The past month had been the worst of his life and hits kept coming. If he allowed himself to think too much, he would crumble. Nothing would ever be the same.

After Parker and Eric were arrested along with their parents, everything had begun to happen at once. Since his family was friends with Parker’s, they were all under investigation. His parents’ assets and bank accounts were all frozen, which meant that they were essentially broke. They couldn’t even withdraw enough money to pay their monthly bills. Luckily, Adrian’s tuition and room and board had already been paid for the year, or he’d be in even deeper trouble.

Worse than losing access to their money was that his father was put on administrative leave from his own company. The board had not been understanding and there were even rumors of replacing him as president of the large financial brokerage firm.

His parents had locked themselves away in their home and Adrian didn’t think they had left much. His mother had screamed about the embarrassment and the scandal and cried about how she would never be able to show her face at the country club. Priorities.

His older brother, Heath, distanced himself from the family and was working with the investigators. He claimed it was to help clear the family, but Adrian knew that his brother was making a play for their father’s position within their company. His brother was an opportunistic dick.

Adrian sighed. His head was too messed up for a trip down the river to help him.

* * *

Kelsey openedthe door to the apartment she shared with her best friend, Janie, a little harder than she had planned, making it bang against the wall. She dropped her large hobo purse onto the coffee table as she passed it.

“Uh-oh. What happened?” Janie stopped rummaging through the kitchen cabinets when she spotted the family-size bag of Swedish Fish Kelsey was wrestling with to open.

---