Page 8 of Iced Out
His voice sliced through me, and I caught myself cataloguing the angle of his jaw. My fingers tightened around the edge of the tray. I forced my shoulders loose. Calm. This was a game. And I’d learned to play with the best. I met his gaze, steady and unflinching. “Looks as if someone’s still nursing a grudge.”
The shift was subtle—just a flicker of darkness in his eyes. But it was enough. I hit a nerve. Good.
He stepped closer, voice dropping just for me. “You don’t belong here,” he murmured, breath fanning across my cheek. “And I’ll make sure everyone knows it.”
Cedar and spice. The scent clung to my memory, bittersweet and cruel, dragging old warmth through new wounds.
I blinked up at him, slow. “Try me.”
For a second, we just stared. Neither of us blinking. Neither of us moving. Then he scoffed and turned, his team following like well-trained dogs, peeling away just as the tension in the room snapped back into place.
My appetite had vanished. I dumped the tray and left, not looking back, even though I felt his gaze burn down my spine the whole way out.
I didn’t slow down until I reached my locker. The metal clanged when I twisted the combo and yanked it open. My fingers shook, just a little. Just enough to piss me off.
He was harder now, colder, and sharper around the edges like someone had sanded down whatever softness he used to let me see. I hated wondering if I was the one who did that to him.
Then—out of nowhere—a body fell against the lockers.
“Girl, I heard you were back. Why didn’t you call?”
Avery. Leaning against the locker next to mine like nothing had changed. Same confident smirk. Same cascade of honey-blonde waves. Same cornflower-blue eyes that missed nothing.
Relief punched the breath out of me. I hadn’t realized how badly I needed an ally until she showed up, a lifeline. “I didn’t exactly have a going-away party.” I grabbed a notebook I needed for my next class. “Didn’t think you would want anything to do with a vanishing act.”
She scoffed. “Please. This is Blackwood. You gave the school a trust fund worth of drama. I eat that shit for breakfast.” She looked me over. “You’re lucky I like ghosts.”
I smiled—small, real. “You’re the first familiar face that hasn’t tried to gut me. Why is that?”
“That’s because I’m not stupid.” She leaned in. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready, and I already witnessed the welcome wagon the guys gave you. Besides, I remember who you were.” Her voice softened. “And I remember who you were with.”
My stomach flipped. I shut my locker a little harder than necessary. “So does everyone else.”
“You dated a King.” She shrugged. “No one forgets a scandal of that magnitude. Least of all Elise.”
Of course. I exhaled. “I used to run in their circle. Now I’m barely orbiting the planet.”
Avery laughed, full and unbothered. “Coming in from the wrong side of the tracks, huh?”
Her tone was teasing, but her eyes were steady. Kind. She wasn’t mocking me. She was marking the line I’d crossed. Power was currency in Blackwood. And I’d overstepped.
“You good with that?” she asked.
“I have to be.”
She bumped her shoulder into mine. “Good. Because I hate fake people. And you coming back? You just made things a hell of a lot more fun.”
We pushed off the lockers, weaving through the crush of students. People still stared. Still whispered.
Avery leaned closer. “Word of warning. Elise is already circling.”
I’d caught that. “She never liked me.”
“She tolerated you when you were Luke’s. Then, she hadn’t stood a chance. Funny that she thinks she has one now. It makes you competition.”
I snorted. “I’m not competing.”
“Doesn’t matter. In her eyes? You walked back intoherkingdom.”
