Page 45 of Darkened Truths
I need you. Meet me tonight at our spot. Bring everything you have.
TWENTY-TWO
RILEY
What the hell just happened?I trace my swollen lips as I stare in the direction Zander walked in moments ago. Everything with him is so hot and cold. One minute he’s basically fucking me against the wall, then the next he’s running with his tail tucked between his legs. I can’t keep up. He’s almost as bad as Julien…almost. Does he want me, or not? Do I want him? I space out, my mind working to make sense of everything that’s been happening.
I’m so confused about this whole thing.
“What the fuck did you do this time?” Julian roars as he descends upon me. A few students slow and turn their heads to look in our direction, but hurry along when Julien glares at them.
I mentally take a moment to prepare for this conversation. Clearly he woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and needs to get his head out of his ass. He doesn’t take well to being ignored. Which makes pushing him just a little further, even more satisfying.
“Wow, you really are turning into a whore.”
I snap my attention to his; my eyes flare with anger.Excuse me?He didnotjust call me that. My entire body feels hot, andI narrow my eyes at him. I despise him with every fiber of my being. I hate the fact that he’s so damn good looking, because his personality ruins that. There are moments I almost feel bad for him, but then he does stupid crap like this and the animosity returns with a vengeance.
“I’m not a whore, Julien. And fuck you for saying that.” I spit out, anger lacing my words. I pick up my bag, pushing past him to get to the class we share. His dark chuckle behind me makes me walk that much faster trying to get away from him. It’s not my fault Zander kissed me. It’s not my fault Wes pulled me under his wing to protect me. I didn’t choose that. In fact, I wanted to stay as far from the Kings as I could. They’re the ones who wouldn’t let me. Each one dragged me to the center of their inner circle.
“You know, we’ve all had our fill of women to fuck around here. No one can say they’ve had all three Kings though. We should give you a fucking medal for it.”
Oh. My. God. I’m going to murder this man before the day is through. I turn on him and shove my finger into his chest. He looks down at it, and with his head lowered, looks up at me through his thick lashes. It’s dark—menacing. He’s a wolf and I’m the lamb he’s going to slaughter. I won’t go down like this. I will not cower in a dark, musty corner and tremble in fear. Julien swats my hand away but doesn’t move. He just grinds his teeth, his jaw muscles twitching like crazy. I hope he chips a fucking tooth.
“I haven’t been with all three of you. I’ve been with Wes. You’re the one that made me suck your cock, buddy. And Zander’s the one who kissed me.” Someone whistles from behind me and I get a few cat calls that are less than pleasant.I shouldn’t have said that out loud.I close my eyes and rub my forehead, a stress headache taking hold.
“You make it sound as though you didn’t enjoy sucking me off. If I remember correctly, you were all but set to rub that little pink clit of yours and find your own release. You were soaked for me in the woods. So don’t kid yourself.” He leans into me and takes a deep inhale. “Now move. We’ve got class and I don’t want to be late.” He walks backwards, keeping me in his line of sight until finally he turns and walks away.Asshole.I hate the fact that I have to follow him like a lost puppy.
As usual, I stand as far away from Julien as possible as we wait for class to begin. And once again, the other students keep their distance. It doesn’t bother me that the others stay away. In fact, I’m thankful for it. I don’t want to be associated with the kinds of people who go here. Except…I guess I’m one of them now. I may not be a mafia princess, but my father still sent me here to mingle amongst them.
In a class of twenty, ten students are upperclassmen, and out of the rest of us there are only three girls in this class. A girl named Chloe, who I think feels like an outcast like myself. And there's Chastity, who seems to be the opposite of her name. In every class, she keeps her eyes glued to Julien like he’s a prized heifer at an auction. She’s constantly surrounded by the men in the class and I have to keep from gagging every time I hear her giggle.
“Julien, do you want to be my partner today?” She asks loud enough for me to hear.
Please say yes. Please say yes. It would get him away from me for a while, a welcomed reprieve.
I’ll give him some credit. He doesn’t turn her down right away. He drifts his gaze over her body, her long legs on full display in a skirt that is a few inches shorter than my own. She must have made a few alterations in her free time. She pops her hip and twirls her strawberry blonde hair around her finger, as she waits for him to respond.
“No.”
The sweet smile she has plastered to her face drops quickly as she turns back to the circle of guys and one of them, Bruno, offers to be her partner today. A wave of satisfaction washes over me, and I can’t help but give myself an internal fist pump. I may not want him to bemypartner, but it’s oddly comforting that he doesn’t want to be hers.
I take a chance and stand next to Chloe. “Hey,” I say.
“Hi.” She keeps her eyes on Chastity and her group of goons.
“I’m Riley. You’re Chloe, right?” I ask, pretending I don’t know.
“Yeah.”
Not much of a conversationalist, I see. Okay. I guess befriending her won’t be as easy as I thought.
Mr. Scarboro walks in, the heavy door closing harshly behind him. He drags a metal chair with him, the noise sounding like nails on a chalkboard. Most of the class winces, but no one comments.
“You’re going to work on getting out of a chair today.” There are a few whispered words between the students and the upperclassmen laugh before Mr. Scarboro holds a handful of zip ties up and smiles.
That was the absolute worst class I’ve been in. I rub my sore and raw wrists after I unsuccessfully broke out of my zip tie. Mr. Scarboro walks up to me and I offer my arms for him to cut the tie.
“You did well, Ms. Whittier.”
