Page 25 of Wicked Ends
“Same. But HHU has a powerful athletic department. The hockey team in particular needs to eat right—so they can win for all of us,” Bill said.
“Damn straight. With Martino home again, we’ve got a shot at a spotless season.” Wade looked at me. “Do you watch hockey?”
“Yeah, it was a prerequisite to enter town, wasn’t it?” I ventured.
He paused and then chuckled. I relaxed an inch. I couldn’t maintain being this nervous. I was wearing my nerves out, and it was only my first day.
“That’s right, it is, as it should be. If you live in Hade Harbor, you are a Hellion supporter—or you need to leave town.”
I nodded and took a bite of my terrible, plain salad.Yuck.Still, I didn’t want my stomach growling later in class, so I forced it down and listened to the others talk about HHU.
It was nice, I realized. If they hadn’t come into my class for me, I’d have probably bought a snack and run back to class to eat it alone. I wouldn’t be surrounded by conversation in a busy, vibrant lunch hall. I’d be alone, like I had been for so long. Evenall this noise and chaos was preferable to the silence and the voices inside my head.
Kenna breezed over and sat, peering at my tray and wrinkling her nose.
“What happened? The chicken rice is good here,” she said, taking her bowl and scraping half of its contents onto my plate. “Here, have this.”
I didn’t bother protesting; it would be pointless. Instead, I took a bite of her rice and found she was right. Itwasgood.
While Bill and Wade argued about the merits of classical literature versus opera, with Kenna chiming in now and again, I gazed around the room.
My eyes were drawn to the feeling of being watched. It only took me a few seconds to find him.
Marcus Bailey, hot bartender by night, my student by day, stood against a pillar, staring right at me. He appeared casual, nonchalant, for all the world, but his eyes never budged from mine. He had a shiny red apple in his hand, tossing it up and catching it with effortless precision. The hockey jersey suited him; it looked like he’d been training, his wavy dark hair damp and pushed back from his forehead. It made him seem younger somehow.
Jesus.What had I done?
He smirked, and I silently freaked out, worried he could read my condemning thoughts even across the room.
He brought the shiny red apple to his lips and took a huge bite, his strong jaw flexing as he bit down. There was somethingsuggestive about the movement, something that felt intimate and reminded me of the other night.
He chewed slowly, showing off the strong, tanned column of his neck, and then brought his thumb to the corner of his mouth to catch a stray drop of apple juice.
“Anna?” Bill asked.
For a beat, I didn’t realize he was speaking to me. In my previous life, everyone had called me Arianna, except for Kenna. Anna had been her nickname for me. When I’d gotten my fake documents, a little nugget of wisdom the forger had given me was to stick with a name similar to my real one, as it would make it easier to adjust.
“Hmm?” I cleared my throat and turned to Bill.
He now glanced in the direction I’d been staring.
“Oh, don’t mind him. That’s Marcus Bailey. He’s hot stuff around here. A Hellion, and I mean in that way that all the girls love.” Bill sighed. “And straight, of course, so boring.”
“Not everyone can be gay for you,” Wade muttered.
Bill shrugged. “But he could be queer, that’s all I ask. Anyway, Anna, you’ll want to stay away from him and his friends. They aren’t the sort you want to get on the radar of.”
“Why not?” I asked nervously. I couldn’t exactly tell my new coworkers that I’d already gotten on Marcus’ radar.
“Because… they aren’t just regular students around here. They make their own rules, and they don’t follow anyone else’s. And Marcus Bailey is particularly dangerous.”
“He is?” My heart sank.
“Couple talent with a huge fan club, a shit scary family, and a penchant for playing twisted games… and you have our goalie for the Hellions. I’m pretty sure he’s a psychopath.” Wade sat back and folded his arms over his chest, watching Marcus and a pretty cheerleader who stopped to chat with him.
“You mean sociopath,” Bill corrected him and shrugged. “And you’re probably right. Like I said, stay clear.”
“Understood,” I said and pasted a smile on my face that felt as if it were made of paper.
