Page 50 of Hate So Deep

Besides, most of the time, the only way to get through Academy parties is to do it high.

Waving at Caro, I follow Danny back to the fire where Tori stands with her new boyfriend, Alex.

She smiles feebly and I merely nod before grabbing the roach from Danny’s hand and inhaling quickly.

After we take a few tokes, Danny pulls me into his arms and I look up, blinking when he blows the smoke into my face.

“I heard you been hanging out with the Northie boys, Lala,” he says. “You don’t like playing in our sandbox anymore?”

“Whatever,” I grunt, jerking away but he grabs my arm.

“Not whatever. You wanna ride a dick, it better be a prize fucking pony.”

“Are you for real right now?” I hiss. “What I do or who I ride is none of your fucking business. Besides, I’m looking for a fucking stallion.”

I look him up and down with a sneer.That’s right. It ain’t you.

His lip curls and he looms over me because that’s all this fucker has. He’s a lame dick asshole with nothing but money to stand behind.

“A stallion, huh?” he leers, grabbing his junk. “You want more dick, all you gotta do is say so, Lala.”

Scoffing, I toss my hair and say, “Your fumbling hands in a dark closet didn’t do anything but leave me cold.”

The low din of the conversation around us drops to nothing as Danny straightens, his nostrils flaring.

It was a low blow but he’s not exactly playing fair and proceeds to full on brutal when he says, “I heard you let some Northie fuck you. Pussy like that ain’t worth much anymore, is it?”

“And yet, here you are begging,” I sneer as someone says behind me, “What the fuck did you just say?”

Oh…shit.

Spinning on my heel, I meet Dirk’s deep, dark eyes and pause.

Although my spine tingles with relief, another feeling cascades across my skin and I open my mouth but before I can defuse the situation, he turns to Danny and says, “Open that mouth again and I’ma show you just how dirty Northie’s can be.”

Danny’s brow furrows while he assesses the situation before he covers his unease with a grin and says, “I popped that cherry, bro. It’s all sloppy seconds now.”

My cheeks heat but it’s the least of my worries as something akin to a battle cry comes from Dirk’s mouth before he tackles Danny to the ground.

My jaw drops when Academy boys step up and Dirk’s friends start throwing punches.

The girls behind me shriek and I spy Tori backing away as Caro stops beside me and says, “Now this is a party.”

Shaking my head, I move toward Dirk but one of his friends, a huge, husky fella with blue eyes picks me up and says, “Nope. You stay put.”

I don’t much like the word no, but this dude must play defense with Dirk because he’s so fucking big, his arms could wrap around my waist…twice.

Instead, I watch on helplessly while Dirk beats the shit out of Danny.

It’s a good thing the season hasn’t started because he won’t be doing anything but wishing he was dead for a while.

Unease pulses through me when Danny loses consciousness though and Dirk continues to wail on him until finally one of his friends grabs his shoulder and says, “Bro.”

He swings up, his eyes wild. When he meets my no doubt wide eyed stare, he drops his arms and steps back.

Without saying a damn thing, he walks away, and I watch him go, my heart in my throat.

What was that?

---