Page 8 of Her Wicked Knights
I see Marley laugh as Jake presses himself against her, and it must be funny because she throws her head back and laughs louder. I can hear the sweet sound even through the glass panes in her room and the din of crickets screaming below me, but it only makes me clench my jaw tighter, because I'm not the one making her laugh. I'm not the one pressed up against her, breathing her air. And I want to be.
A scratching sound on the other side of the treehouse draws my attention to the doorway, a square space trimmed with wood pieces that Tripp's mom and Marley painted patterns on once. That paint has long since faded, and the wood is knotted, showing the passing of time. I don't know what weight limit he built this place to have, but I'm probably pushing it... especially once Tripp pushes in with me.
He doesn't look the least bit surprised to see me, and I gather he figured it out when I confessed my dirty secret earlier. "Fancy meeting you here." He muses, his lips curling at the corner into a wry smile that confirms exactly how he knew I was here.
"Tripp," I nod my greeting and turn back to the window, where I can see her still wrapped tight in Jake's arms. He's kissing her, her head tipped back. I can't see much, but that's probably for the best since my blood boils at the sight of him with her like that. I know Tripp has kissed Marley before too. They werekids, so I've never asked him, but I'm dying to know what she tastes like... how soft her lips are, if he's ever found anything that comes even remotely close to what that felt like.
"Don't you have practice tonight?" He asks, his eyes raking my face for a minute before I feel them leave me so he can look out the window too. At her.
"Got cancelled tonight. That's why Jake's there. With her."
He doesn't judge that my voice darkens, or roll his eyes, or tell me to get over it. Instead, he curls his knee against his chest, resting an arm on top of it as he watches the same display as me. I know he doesn't use the treehouse anymore, but it's not like he has to. His bedroom window looks right into Marley's, as if the people who had the houses built all those years ago planned for this, as if they knew that best friends would grow up in those rooms. When we were younger, we used to come up with all sorts of ideas for how to pass stuff back and forth, sometimes leaving notes on the window in Tripp's mother's lipstick, or in Marley's case, her sister's lipstick. We made cup phones once when Tripp was grounded, and the rest of us piled in Marley's room to be able to talk to him. I'm sure there's no way his parents didn't know.
Tripp sets his jaw, and I can tell he feels the same way I do about Jake. "Audrey seems like a bitch, huh?"
His question takes me by surprise, so at first, I just laugh. "What?"
"What?" He laughs back. "You can't tell me you didn't notice. She screams 'daddy-issues'."
I laugh louder at that, shaking my head. "You sound jealous."
"I am fucking jealous." Tripp shrugs. "But so are you. That's why you're in my treehouse watching Marley with Jake like it's going to change the fact that they're together. It won't."
"Yeah, well Audrey doesn't have her hands all over my—" I swallow, not willing to go so far as to claim Marley asmy girlwhen I have no claim to her.
"Still," he shakes his head, ignoring my slip of the tongue. "I don't like her."
"You don't know her." I reason. "Maybe you should give her a chance."
"No," He looks like he's tasting something sour as he stares out the window. And then, as if he's just now realizing how ridiculous he looks, he shakes his head again. "There's just something about her."
"Yeah," I laugh. "It's called 'you're worried she's going to replace you'. Well, I've got bad news for you, friend. Jake already did that months ago."
"I noticed." Tripp glowers. "And I have the self-awareness to realize that I'm not going to change it. Unlike you, who is stalking her."
I shrug, unbothered by the accusation in his voice. "It's not that deep."
"Stalking?" He laughs like maybe we're talking about two different things. "Actually, it is. It's a crime. A gross one."
Now it's my turn to laugh. "I'm not doing anything worse than you. Or are you going to tell me you don't find yourself looking out your window, waiting for the slightest chance that she'll turn to see you so you can play it off as a coincidence, so that you can have a minute of her to yourself?"
When he doesn't answer me, I smirk.
"Thought so."
5
Colton
Therainoffersmethe perfect cover as I stand out in the dark night, letting it plaster my hoodie to my skin. It’s late summer, not yet fall, but there’s a definite chill in the air. Fall is coming, and winter will be right behind it. And fucking Jake North is going to be the one keeping Marley warm.
My fingers flex around the hilt of the knife as Marley laughs, throwing her head back to cackle unashamedly. She’s always been so blissfully ignorant to the world around her. It allows her to sit there with Jake on one side and the red-headed whore on her other and laugh at something I guarantee isn’t even that funny. Would she laugh if I barged in there right now and buried this blade in Jake’s lungs? Would she think it was all a joke when I slit Audrey’s throat, so I never have to hear her whiny fucking voice again? Would Marley Lavigne beg me to stop as I claimed every inch of her as my own? Would she forgive me if I took what I’ve wanted from her for so fucking long that it makes every cell in my body feel as if it’s been shrink-wrapped, unable to breathe?
In just over a month, Audrey has sank her claws into Marley so deep I expect she’ll bleed out the minute Audrey lets go of her.Ifshe ever lets go of her. It doesn’t seem likely, given that they spend every waking minute together. They even spend the sleeping ones together—Audrey stays over, even on school nights, sleeping in the room across the hall that Hadley vacated when she left for the city.
I hate her, but she’s a necessary evil. If I don't want to drive away the person I want the most, I have to tolerate Audrey Graves. At least, in front of Marley I do.
Her sheer curtains are shut, with just a gap in the middle where the two panels meet. She usually doesn't even do that much, but tonight, it's to my advantage. Looking up at her from down here, I can see her in perfect clarity... a fucking vision. She'd have to come to the window, bracing her hands on the sill, and look down below to notice that I'm out here. But she wouldn't. I've watched her like this for the last week. She doesn't notice me when I'm right next to her, so why would she notice me standing out here?
