Page 12 of Beg for It
“Evil just waltzed in like he has a fucking right to be here.”
My heart pounds against my ribs at the nickname Brett uses for his stepbrother.
Michelle scans the bar, rolling her eyes and letting out a disgustedtskwhen she spots the guy in question. “Whatever, just ignore him. Everyone else will.”
“Unless his crazy friends decide to stir shit up,” Riley barks.
The leather seat of the booth dips as Tess shifts to get on her knees and peer over the seats behind us. “Chill the testosterone, guys. He only brought Evan.”
“See.” Michelle pats Brett’s forearm rhythmically. “It’s just him and the puppy, no guard dogs.”
“If he comes over here—”
“We fuck him up.” Riley finishes Brett’s sentence with a look of pure malice.
“Yo, Tweedledee, Tweedledum. Do I have to remind you assholes that the last time you fucked with him, Bash cracked several of your ribs and almost blew out your knees? This isn’t some abandoned parking lot; we’re in the middle of a bar. You start shit here and it could get back to your coaches. You want to fuck around, find somewhere else.” David has always been the voice of reason among the guys, making sure all the shitty things they do never actually get them into trouble. Sometimes, I wonder if that makes him worse.
“Look at you, still watching our back, Pres.” Riley grins with a sharklike smile.
David rolls his eyes and downs the rest of his beer.
“Oh!” Michelle claps her hands together. “That reminds me. I heard Trent is having an apple-bobbing station but is filling the barrels with IPA.”
“Seriously?” D’Andre leans forward, cutting me off from the eyes of the group.
I try to tune into their conversation but am unable to filter any of the words as my gaze finally catches on the man who had riled up half our table with malicious intent.
Elliott Cross.
CHAPTER SIX
BLAIR
The crowd paves a path for Eli and Evan as they meander through the tipsy bodies. They treat him like a live wire—one touch and they’ll be gone. Evan is a golden retriever, a sweetheart whom everyone loves. But Eli? He is the lone wolf, or so everyone thought when he’d first transferred to our school.
Brett had spent months complaining about his new stepbrother and stepmom. The summer had been filled with rumors passing around from friend group to friend group about the alleged messed-up weirdo who was his new stepbro. The entire school knew Eli’s name before he’d stepped through the doors. Even I had built up this belief that I didn’t like him, that he was the creepy asshole Brett had talked him up to be.
Brett has a way of rallying people, of inciting the masses and encouraging them to follow him. It has been that way all our lives and still is.
Eli never stood a chance against his malice.
But Brett never anticipated that he would eventually snap.
I suppress the shiver that threatens to take over my body, downing the last of my drink and drowning memories of the past threatening to resurface.
I attempt to focus back on the conversation, to join in on all the gossip they have about everyone back in town. Rachel broke up with Trent because he skipped their anniversary fora baseball game. Evelyn got blacked out at her sorority formal and threw up everywhere and is now on probation. Kyle slept with his situationship’s roommate and got caught mid-bang by the boyfriend. Hugh dropped out and is about to go backpacking across Europe to “find himself.” So on and so forth.
I let Tess fill my empty vodka soda glass with beer from the table pitcher and use the drink as a shield for my unease. But I can’t shake off this feeling like someone is watching me. My skin prickles, an awareness needling down to the bone. It crawls over me, taunting me, teasing me.
I bite my lower lip so hard, I start to taste blood.
Shit.
“Blair, you good?”
My eyes flick up to Michelle.
“Yeah, sorry. Too much booze. I’m going to use the restroom.”
