Page 107 of Kings & Corruption

Willa

Back in my room, I gravitated toward the jeans and hoodies in my wardrobe, then realized it was because of Enzo. I hadn’t been lying when Oscar asked if I was okay. I was, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still a little shaken up over the whole thing.

Nothing like some big asshole trying to take what wasn’t his to remind you that you weren’t invincible.

Fuck that. I may not be invincible, but I wasn’t going to shrink because of what Enzo had pulled in the kitchen.

I chose a tight skirt and matching crop top that showed off my increasingly pale stomach — I needed some self-tanner stat — and paired the outfit with heeled booties and a shearling-lined jacket.

I pulled my hair into a high ponytail, then applied light makeup and some gloss before I headed to the car.

Neo was already in the driver’s seat, hands on the steering wheel and staring out of the windshield like he was late for the Indy 500, while Oscar and Rock stood patiently next to the car, looking like they had all the time in the world to wait for me to get ready for school.

Oscar looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my bare legs.

He grinned. “Good for you.”

I was pretty sure that was admiration I heard in his voice, and it made me extra glad I’d decided not to play the wallflower just because of what had happened with Enzo.

I rode in the back seat with Oscar while Rock took shotgun next to Neo in the front. Oscar's hand played with my bare leg just above my knee, his long fingers stroking the inside of my thigh, teasing me into a state of low-key excitement that was totally inappropriate for 8 a.m. on a school day.

Not that I minded. The alarm bells that had rung insistently when I’d first realized I was going to be living with the Kings were growing fainter by the day. Deep down, I knew I was in real trouble with Oscar, and probably with Rock too, since they seemed to be agreeable to the idea of my sleeping with them both, but I was too far gone to care.

And honestly, I was tired. Tired of being on guard all the time and tired of being the only one who cared what had happened to Emma. I would take all the help I could get finding out the answer to that question, even if that help came from three of the men I’d hated most when I got to Aventine.

By the time we pulled into the student parking lot I was more ready for Oscar’s dick than for psych class with Professor Ryan. If we’d been alone, I would have been tempted to straddle him then and there. I was quickly reaching the point of no shame when it came to my attraction to Oscar, and I could admit — if only to myself — that I was basically desperate for a replay of the moment we’d shared in his room.

Except this time I wanted to finish what we’d started.

I didn’t even protest when Oscar kissed me on the lips after we got out of the car or when Rock grabbed my ass under my skirt. I tried to tell myself it was just to get back at Neo, who clearly hated the flirtatious nature of my relationship with his two roommates, but there was no point lying to myself.

I liked it. I liked them.

It wasn’t what I’d expected to happen, but here we were.

We parted ways at the car, the three Kings going one way to class while I headed to Psych.

More and more, I couldn’t see them in the Aventine ecosystem. They were bigger than life, and they seemed completely out of place with all the other students. It was almost impossible to imagine them taking notes in some lecture hall, but I had to assume they did, since this was their third year at Aventine.

Either that, or they were paying someone to pass them so they wouldn’t have to crack a book, but that didn’t feel right either.

I shivered as I hurried toward the door to the building. There was a definite bite in the air and most of the trees surrounding campus had already lost their leaves. It wasn't enough to make me regret wearing a skirt, but I would definitely have to start considering the weather when I planned my outfits for the day.

It was a relief to step into the warm building, and I relaxed my shoulders as I headed to class.

I was a little early, only two other kids in the lecture hall, both of them staring at their phones as Professor Ryan worked on his laptop at the front of the room. He looked up when I started down the stairs and his eyes met mine as I slid into a seat halfway up the theater-style seating.

Not long ago, I would have spent the entire class making googly eyes at Professor Ryan, but times had definitely changed. My mind spun between what had happened with Enzo in the kitchen, the fact that Neo had kicked all the other guys out of the house (to protect me?), and the fact that tomorrow I wouldn't be on campus: I would be breaking into Daniel Longhat’s house with Rock, trying to steal the keys to the case in the teachers’ lounge while Daniel slept, after which we would have to race to campus and open the case during the school day while the admin building was packed with teachers and students.

It sounded crazy because it was.

But Neo had made the point that we couldn't break into the lounge on a Saturday or Sunday. Daniel and his sister would need the keys to clean the building, and he would probably report them missing the second he noticed them gone.

Plus, there was the matter of the security cameras.

Breaking into the teachers’ lounge during the week while everyone was on campus meant that we could blend into the crowd in the places where we couldn't avoid the cameras, and since there were no cameras in the lounge itself, they’d never be able to prove we were the ones who’d broken into the case.

It also meant Daniel Longhat and his sister wouldn't be cleaning the admin building. If we could break into the case during the day and get the keys back to Daniel’s house before nightfall, he would never know they'd been missing when he used them to clean that night.

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