Page 134 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

I turn to her with a big fake smile painted on my face. “Yeah, actually, there is. We were both wondering where on earth you bought that stick that’s shoved up your ass.”

Penny’s lips press together into a flat line. Haley stifles a laugh across the table.

“Laugh it up,” Penny says, looking directly at Haley. “From what I hear, you’re the whore who likes it up the ass.”

I lean across the aisle between our tables, my voice low. “Listen here, you rat-faced bi—”

“I got this, Caleb.”

Haley lays a hand on my shoulder and pulls me back to the table. Her movements are delicate and graceful as she slides out of her chair and smooths down the front of her dress.

For a second, I think she is about to get up and leave. I think what Penny said must have upset her, and she is going to wait out front for me to come meet her and go somewhere else.

But just before panic can set in, Haley smiles at me and then turns and walks over to Penny’s table.

Without a second of hesitation, she wrenches her arm back and lets a punch fly.

Penny never sees it coming.

I know that because the smile is still on her face when she falls backwards out of her chair.

Haley shakes out her hand, wincing slightly, and then turns back to me with a smile…

Just as our waitress finally shows up.

The woman is middle-aged with dyed red hair and long green fake nails. “Fucking teenagers,” she groans. “All of you. Out.”

* * *

A blanket of paper napkins covers Haley’s dress as she bites into her breakfast burrito and moans. “This is so good.”

“Better than mixed berries and danishes?” I ask.

“God, yes. This is amazing. Plus, I’d eat soggy cereal if it meant getting to punch Penny in the face. She is the worst.”

“The actual worst,” I echo. “Ever since she and Noah stopped hanging out, she is a nightmare. Watching you punch her in the face was the highlight of … wow, it might have been the highlight of my life.”

Haley snorts. “Please tell me that isn’t true. I mean, we’ve had sex in every corner of Finn’s house. Please tell me one of those times was better than that moment. I got rug burn, Caleb.”

I bite my lip at the memory of that time, specifically. “Okay, you’re probably right, but damn, watching you fight has got to be one of the top five hottest things I’ve ever seen.”

She looks over at me out of the corner of her eye, dark eyebrow raised. “That got your engines revving?”

“If you must put it that way, then yes, it got my engines revving.”

Haley sets her burrito upright in the cupholder and leans across the console. “So will you be turned on or annoyed if I punch you in the face and steal the rest of your tater tots?”

A surprised laugh forces out of me. “Honestly? Probably both.”

She closes the distance between us, curling her finger under my chin as she kisses me. Her tongue swirls into my mouth, effectively scrambling my brains, and I don’t feel her reach between my legs and steal the cup of tater tots nestled there until it is too late.

Haley drops back into her seat and pops one in her mouth, a self-satisfied smirk on her face, and I’m not turned on or annoyed …

I’m in love.

Epilogue Part 2

Haley

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