Page 15 of Cruel Prep (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 1)

Then he shifts his weight, and I see what he was planning the whole time. If I wasn’t buzzing with half an ecstasy and six shots of whiskey, I would’ve seen it sooner.

As it is, I barely have enough time to react. I duck down just as Dallas’s knife flashes where my face was only a moment before.

That bastard tried to slice me open.

He didn’t expect me to dodge though. And he’s drunk. Added up, that means he’s got more momentum going than he accounted for.

And that means his balance tips. Way too far.

He falls backwards. It’s like it happens in slow motion. There’s just enough light to see the surprise on his face as he realizes what’s happening.

Even if I wanted to intervene, I couldn’t. There’s not enough time.

There’s just the sickening crunch as his skull cracks against the edge of a hardwood step.

His body folds up as he slides the rest of the way down the stairs and he ends up in a groaning puddle at the bottom.

I spit down after him. “Good fucking riddance,” I snarl.

Then I turn and go back upstairs to finish what I started with Lily.

9

Lily

Finn’s bedroom is absurd.

Black leather chairs, a deep blue comforter on a solid wood bed frame, and a giant TV mounted on the wall make up the bulk of the décor. I’m sure every game console in existence is shut away in the cabinet beneath the TV.

But otherwise, the room is sparse. It doesn’t look like any teenage boy’s room I’ve ever seen. No clothes piled on the floor or empty cups or food wrappers lying around. There doesn’t even seem to be anything very personal around. No photographs or medals or souvenirs. It’s cold, impersonal.

The click of the doorknob brings me back to my senses.

When I look back at the door, Finn is leaning against it, his hands folded behind his back. His dark hair falls over his forehead, and for the hundredth time tonight, I can’t believe he is here with me. That I’m here with him.

I spoke to him for the first time earlier today, and now I’m in his house.In his bedroom.

He steps forward, closing the distance between us. His smell fills my nostrils. Arctic and masculine and intoxicating all at once—not that I needed anything else to make my thoughts swirl.

He curls his finger under my chin and lifts my face to his. I’m so grateful for his carved cheekbones and square jaw. I’m grateful to the symmetrical, perfect lines of his face for wiping my mind clean. For letting me focus on this moment.

My skin tingles under his touch, and I shift forward slightly, nuzzling my face into his hand.

“What’s on your mind?”

“You.” It’s an honest answer. Finn is on my mind right now. When my eyes are on him, nothing else matters.

He grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet until we are standing chest to chest. “Good.”

“What about you?” My heart is thundering against my rib cage, so hard I’m sure Finn can feel it.

Finn answers by leaning forward and brushing his lips against mine. It’s a whisper of a touch, there and gone in a second. He starts to pull away, and I quickly wrap my hand around his neck and pull him back.

I haven’t done this many times before, and never with anyone who actually knew what they were doing. My first kiss was with my best friend in eighth grade, Amanda. Neither of us were into girls, but we wanted to know what we were doing when the right guy came along. As it turned out, Amanda was my best kiss for years, even with her braces in.

Until now.

Finn smells like an icy morning, like the clean scent of a fresh freeze. But he is hot everywhere. His skin scorches under my fingers, and I drag my hand down his chest, feeling the hard lines of his body.

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