Page 37 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

Her middle finger is up. She raises her other hand, too. A double flip-off.

Damn. I don’t know why I figured she’d be weak in the knees to see me. But this reaction is so much better.

We’re going to have some fun.

10

Riley

He pulls away, and I release a shaky breath.

I just flipped off Eli Black, and he smiled. When the hell is the last time he smiled at me like that? A year ago, probably.

Still, I survived my first real encounter with him, if we don’t count the run. I actually spoke words to him—at him, maybe—and didn’t crumple. Didn’t falter. Well, not really.

The first moment of surprise was tough to swallow. I knew I would be seeing him again after our encounter this morning, but so soon? Once I can no longer see his truck, I cross to my car and set my bag in the backseat.

Skylar comes out of the school and waves at me. I wait for her to jog across the parking lot, and she skids to a stop in front of me.

“Holy shit,” she says.

“I know.”

“Did he tell you he was coming back?”

I roll my eyes. “If he did, I probably wouldn’t have joined the team.”

She purses her lips. “True. Do you mind giving me a ride home?”

I glance around. This is sort of sudden for rekindling a friendship, right? Were we ever really friends in the first place? No. We were both trying to impress Amelie, and when that backfired on me, Skylar didn’t give me a second glance. Then again, it wasn’t like I reached out after her fall from grace.

“Sure,” I find myself saying.

I unlock the doors and watch her circle the car, slipping in and closing the door gently. Almost like she doesn’t want to make an impact.

My skin crawls, and I glance around.

The parking lot is deserted except for a few cars, but the feeling remains.

I get in and lock the doors. Skylar raises her eyebrow, but I ignore it. How would I even manage to explain it? That I think someone is watching us?

She’d laugh.

“You’re still in SR?”

She shifts. “Yeah.”

Stone Ridge is a bit out of the way, and it was one of the reasons Skylar had to work so hard to gain Amelie’s favor. Without that, she was a fish out of water. And it isn’t just because Stone Ridge doesn’t boast the same rich population, it has a reputation of violence.

Rumor had it—and we all know how believable those are—her parents spend all their money on the school’s tuition. It was either live in SR and send her here, or live somewhere nice and she’d be in public school.

The public school for the county is in Stone Ridge, but I don’t know anyone from Rose Hill who actually goes there. And most kids from Beacon Hill choose Lion’s Head.

I clear my throat. “How, um, has everything been going?”

Unexpected guilt slithers up my throat. If I had even mentioned Skylar’s existence to Margo, I’m sure we could’ve been friends with her. But I didn’t. I ignored her in the halls and she ignored me. She made other friends, and I got Margo.

But now here we are.

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