Page 44 of Freestyle (Academy of Stardom 1)

“Okaaaay, fuck. I think I’m getting a picture here. Right. So, now they’re back and Xeno is a motherfucking bachata teacher at the academy. So fucking hot by the way.” I grimace, pushing away the memory of his possessive thumb pressing into my back that first morning. “Zayn is a hip-hop genius and York is a fricking tap-dancing gangster,” she continues excitedly. “What about the big, tatted dude you battled against at Rocks? I haven’t seen him at the academy.”

“Dax? I’m not sure.” My hands curl around my Styrofoam cup to stop them from shaking. Clancy notices and gives my arm a squeeze. “I swear to you Pen, you can trust me.”

I shake my head, blowing out a breath. “I’ve said too much already.”

“Okay, I get it. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, right? So, what are you going to do now?”

I think of that night three years ago and the deal I made. Swallowing the nausea rising up my throat, I take another sip of my coffee. “Stay out of the Breakers way and hope to fuck they get bored of all the mind games and leave me the hell alone.”

“You think that’s going to work?” she asks.

“It has too.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then I’ll have to figure out something else.”

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