Page 59 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

I hate it.

The smile slips from my face, and no matter how hard I try to hold on to it, it doesn’t stay.

My friends notice. They usually do, but I wonder if they really know what they’re doing. How to handle it. Me. Caleb stays by my side after Coach is done talking to us in the locker room, and we’re back out of our uniforms. We get into Theo’s shiny new car, and immediately a foul smell fills my nose.

What the hell?

I cover my mouth and nose. “What is that?”

Theo glances around. From my seat directly behind him, I have the perfect view of his ears getting red.

That’s not good.

He’s like a kettle about to scream—his temperature rises, his ears get red, then bam.

We all scramble out of the car. I suck in a deep breath of clean air and stare at Caleb over the roof, but he seems just as confused as me. Liam, too.

Theo gets out slower. He squats beside the driver’s seat and aims his phone’s flashlight at it, then sweeps lower.

He growls.

“Theo,” Liam says carefully. “Did you find…?”

“This,” Theo snaps. He shows us an open Tupperware. Rotten, hardboiled eggs. There’s spots of mold on them, and the smell is rancid.

He chucks the plastic container as far as he can, then closes his eyes.

“I’m going to kill her,” he says.

I raise my eyebrows. “Who?”

He doesn’t answer.

Doesn’t need to, anyway. We all know there’s exactly one female who would pull a stunt like this: Lucy Page.

“How’d she get into your car?” Caleb asks. “Don’t you lock it?”

Theo kicks at the ground. “She has a key.”

I choke on a laugh. “She does? To your brand-new car? You literally got it three weeks ago. You don’t even let us drive it.”

He shifts. “Yeah, well, she’s a pain in the ass.”

Liam shakes his head. “That’s fucked-up, man.”

I’d love to hear the story behind that, but Theo ignores our questioning stares and gets back in the car. We’re the last ones out of the parking lot, and we ride with all the windows down.

The smell lingers like it’s stuck to the leather seats.

One of the seniors is hosting the party tonight. He lives on the edge of Rose Hill and Stone Ridge, a drive that’s surprisingly quick. We’re obviously late, because the only parking Theo can get is almost at the end of the long driveway. We walk between cars toward the house, waving hello to people calling out to us.

Almost without realizing it, I’m scanning for Riley.

She’s in one of the rooms we pass, dancing with her friends. Her arms above her, head tipped back and eyes closed. A red cup dangles from her fingertips.

My urge is to go mess with her, but I ignore it.

I follow Liam deeper into the house, toward the back porch where they’ve set up the keg. Everyone wants a piece of us, so it takes a while to get there. Someone grabs my arm, stepping in front of me.

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