Page 12 of Charming Cruel Boys

I make my way back to the kitchen for more shots, finding Sawyer chatting with some football guys. But no Sara. I look around the crowded space, but I don’t see her and it’s hot as hell in this house. I need some air before I collapse.

I weave through the crowd once again and suck in a deep breath the moment I step out into the stately backyard. There’s a huge pool straight ahead with a few naked bodies splashing around and looking on the verge of one big orgy, so I dart left, not wanting to see any of that.There’s a few girls in that pool that are from strict religious families and I’m not in the mood to watch them break their purity vows as a group.

I walk slowly along the length of the house, stumbling in these ridiculous five-inch heels Sara made me wear. Moans float through the air as I near the corner and I stop walking, biting my lip as I listen.

I shouldn’t go any further. I shouldn’t look.

I’m a nosy bitch, though. My feet have a mind of their own as they carry me closer to the noise, while my head screams at me to turn around before I invade their privacy.Just one look and then I’ll leave.But as I turn the corner and take in the sight before me, I stop breathing.

Tears sting my eyes as Sara and Duke make out, all hot and heavy. His pants are shoved down as she jerks him off while his fingers disappear underneath her skirt.

It’s one thing to know your ex has well and truly moved on. It’s an entirely different thing to watch it happen with your friend.This is an image that will be seared into my brain for years to come.

I back up and walk away, speeding through the house and out through the front door. The noise of the party is pounding in my head and my eyesight is blurry. Angrily wiping my tears, I start walking down the street, not having any clue where I’m heading because I can’t go home like this and I sure as hell won’t be staying with Sara tonight. Or ever again.

Even though our friendship just started a few months ago, we were really close. I can forgive a lot, but hooking up with my ex, after I very recently explained how much the breakup hurt, is not something I can get past. Not for a while, at least. No, for now, I’m going to be fucking angry.

I call George but it goes straight to voicemail and I’m too embarrassed to leave a sobbing message. I send him a text telling him I might need a ride and maybe to crash at his place, but after a few minutes, I figure he’s busy hooking up and will be inaccessible the rest of the night. So I just keep walking.

I walk past blocks and blocks of cookie-cutter family homes until my feet hurt and goosebumps cover every inch of my skin. I threw Sara’s heels in a bush a few miles back. Screw her and her painful shoes. Coming across a park bench, I sit down to get my bearings for a minute. It’s really freaking cold. The August heat is long gone now that it’s — I check my phone — two in the morning.

Two o’clock in the fucking morning, and here I am, sitting on a bench in a stupid skimpy dress, my makeup surely smeared across my face from sobbing so hard, not having a damn clue where I’ll end up for the night or if I’ll just freeze to death on the side of the road.

Senior year goals, this is not.

8

Knight

Myheadisspinningas I rest my eyes and lean my forehead against the car window, my stomach clenching and swirling with all the alcohol I had consumed in just a few hours. A groan slips from my lips before I can stop it.

“Dude, if you barf in my car, I’ll kick your ass,” Andrew complains from the driver’s seat. Why the man left his own party to drive my ass home is a mystery to me. I couldn’t find Duke anywhere and if I stayed any longer, I’d have broken his drug rule and started taking whatever shit I could find. Not that I don’t want to get fucked up every waking minute of my life, but I don’t have a death wish. Mixing drugs and alcohol isn’t my MO. It’s one or the other, never both.If I can get my hands on some coke or weed, I’m fucking grand. If not, it’s fiery booze until I can’t walk straight.

I crack my eyes open as the dark streets pass by. “I’m fine. Just get me home,” I mumble as I sit up straighter. Something catches my eye in the distance, and as we get closer, I have to blink several times to make sure I’m actually seeing things correctly.

“What the fuck? Stop the car!” I order. I unbuckle myself and start pulling on the door handle frantically.

“Who the hell is that?” Andrew asks as he takes in the brunette sitting alone on a park bench just up the road.

“Goddammit, just stop the fucking car.” My tone holds no room for argument and Andrew reluctantly slows to a stop right in front of her.

I jump out before my mind can catch up to me. This is the girl I’ve been working so damn hard to keep away from Duke. The girl who can ruin my family if I’m not careful. The girl I’ve secretly been in love with for over three years before everything changed. Now she’s the girl I have to hate, the girl I enjoy tormenting, the girl I want to break. But the blank look in her tear-swollen eyes and the goosebumps across her skin do something to me.

I can’t leave her out here in the middle of the night and let her freeze to death. Or worse. Anybody could drive by and decide to snatch her away, and nobody would ever be the wiser.I’m an asshole, but fuck, even I have my limits.

I take slow, careful steps toward her. She’s staring straight ahead, giving no indication that she’s even aware I’m here.That scares me.

“Remi?” I ask as I raise my hand and touch her arm.Fuck, she’s ice cold. How long has she been sitting here? She doesn’t move or react to my touch and the potent fear that shoots through my veins instantly sobers me.“Remi, it’s Knight,” I whisper, crouching in front of her. “I’m gonna get you home, alright?”

That gets her attention. Remi’s big gray eyes snap to mine and she shakes her head frantically, grabbing my shoulders with freezing fingers. “I c-can’t go home. Not like this. He’ll be s-so angry with me.”

“Who will?” Although, I’m pretty sure I know the answer. Her cunt of a father. Parading around school with his holier-than-thou attitude. I’m about to tell her that having an angry dad is better than having a dead one and ask what’s the worst he could do to his perfect princess, but a tear escapes and runs down her cheek, cutting off my vicious remark.

“Alright... Fuck, alright. I’ll take you to my place, let you sleep it off.”

Another head shake. More tears. “I don’t want to be anywhere near Duke,” Remi says as she darts her eyes to the car behind me, removing her hands from my shoulders.My skin is instantly colder the second we’re not touching.

“Duke’s still at the party. You won’t see him tonight, I promise. You can sneak out before he wakes up tomorrow.”

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