Page 150 of Devil's Bargain

I suppress a sigh and rise to my feet. Jamie looks amused. He knows how much I hate looking like a dick in front of the entire class.

“Jerk!” I mumble under my breath and make my way to the front. “Pussy!” he coughs, making me chuckle.

“Hi, babe!” Maddie calls out as I walk past. She’s the very definition of clingy. In her head, we’re a couple, and she’s days away from getting a ring despite me telling her otherwise about five times a day. It probably doesn’t help that I let her suck me off in the bathroom earlier.

Annoyance flares up inside me, and I fist my hands by my sides. April doesn’t want me, so I’m not doing anything wrong. But it still feels like I do. Why the fuck do I like a girl who doesn’t want me back?

I accept the paper Scott holds out and the marker to write down the sums.

He looks at me expectantly. “They’re different questions from the ones on your test, but I know you can solve them.”

I shrug, then work out the first math problem on the board. It doesn’t take me long.

“You guys see what he did there?” Scott asks the class. He looks at me when no one replies, nudging his head to the board. “Explain it to them, Quarterback.”

I go to open my mouth, but before I get a word out, the door flies open, and Ben storms inside. His friends run in after him.

I jump out of the way as Ben tackles Scott to the desk and punches him square in the face. “Where the fuck is she?!”

Josh shuts the door and crosses his arms—on guard duty.

Scott holds his hands up placatingly, blood dripping from his mouth. “Who?”

Ben slams Scott’s head against the desk and growls in his face, “Where the fuck is she?!”

Scott laughs, then wipes the blood off his lip. “You’ll get more than detention this time.”

Jamie stands up slowly, his shoulders tense. “What’s happening?”

That’s a good question. My stomach twists uncomfortably.

“Matt, help me!” Ben orders.

Shocked, we watch Matt walk up and grab one arm while Ben seizes the other. Then they haul him away.

Jamie gives me a look, and we hurry after them. As soon as we’re outside, Ben throws the teacher down on the ground and kicks him in the side. “Tell us where the fuck she is!”

“I don’t know who the fuck you’re talking about?”

Ben kicks him again. “Did you enjoy beating her up?”

I frown. “You’ve got the wrong guy!”

It’s Jared they’re after.

Ben glares at me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Ben…” Nina whispers.

“I’m fed up with seeing you every fucking where!”

“BEN!” Nina shouts this time, surprising us all. “They have a thing.”

Ben opens and closes his mouth. “What?”

Scott is laughing on the ground.

“April and Rick.”

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