Page 19 of Kings & Chaos

Not that I’d ever dare say that to Rock. His was made with blue cheese and had a crispy panko topping, something he took great pride in pointing out when he served it even though we all knew.

There was no charge for cafeteria food at Aventine, and I grabbed a bottle of water and headed into the lion’s den.

As always, my gaze went straight to the Kings’ table. Looking for the blonde who was sometimes draped over Neo was a reflex, but not asking about her had become a point of pride.

Then I remembered: Neo had left campus after dropping us off that morning. Apparently he still wasn’t back, because he wasn’t at the table with Rock and Oscar, who were sitting with Matt and a gaggle of girls.

Jealousy clawed its way up my throat even though Rock and Oscar didn’t look remotely interested, and I forced myself to turn away and head for the table I thought of as mine, the one I shared with Claire, Quinn, Erin, and the handful of stragglers who joined us.

“There you are,” Claire said when she spotted me. Her long copper hair fell around her shoulders in waves, and her green eyes glittered with excitement. Claire was always excited about something, but gossip was definitely at the top of the list. “Get caught by Eagle Eye out there?”

“Eagle Eye?” I set my tray down and slid into one of the spots.

“The new dean,” Claire said.

“Interim dean,” Erin corrected. She’d done something new with her makeup that made her eyes appear bigger, her cheekbones sharper. With her short pixie haircut, the look screamed woodland fairy.

Claire rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“Yeah,” I said. “She seems to be doing a kickoff tour.”

Claire laughed. “Weird, right?”

“Kind of,” I admitted. “Maybe she’s just trying to be friendly.”

“Ugh,” Claire said, picking up her fork. She had mac and cheese too. “I don’t want to befriendlywith the dean.”

I knew what she meant. The dean was supposed to make speeches at important ceremonies, then disappear into his or her office until the next one. And after what had happened with Dean Giordana, being friendly with the new dean was at the bottom of my to-do list.

“Do you think she knows about the game?” Quinn asked, adjusting the brightly colored scarf she’d tied around her dark curls.

It was a good question. Dean Giordana had obviously been part of the family network. That had been clear from the beginning, when Neo’s dad had glad-handed him outside the admin building on move-in day. Plus, there had been the pictures in Dean Giordana’s office of him with Roberto.

“She has to,” Claire said. “The board wouldn’t hire someone who was going to make trouble. They’re probably already shitting themselves because of the fire.”

Yeah, when the kids of some of the most notorious criminals in the world attended your school, attention was the last thing you wanted.

“Does that mean there won’t be a second game?” I asked. Game two was scheduled to kick off at the quarry this weekend.

“We could be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and the game would still go on,” Quinn said, staring into a pocket mirror and refreshing her lipstick.

“She’s right,” Clare said. “There’s way too much big dick energy here for the Kings to cancel the game. Why? You worried you’ll be enlisted to work with one of your three hot roommates again?”

I barked out a laugh. “No. I did my time with the first game. I proved I would do it, proved I could do it, and helped bring home the win. This one’s on them.”

I’d worked with Rock to steal the medals from the teachers’ lounge, which had also meant stealing the keys to the glass case from Daniel Longboat’s house.

While he was asleep upstairs.

They’d wanted to see if I’d play. I had. I was done.

“I’m up next for the Queens’ house,” Claire grumbled, throwing her napkin on her plate. “I can feel it.”

I looked over at the Queens’ table where Alexa was holding court with a couple of her favorite groupies, including George, the giant Russian freshman she’d been eye-fucking since Welcome Week.

Poor George still looked like an oversized deer in the headlights, and who could blame him? Alexa was gorgeous, with silky brown hair, a rack perfect enough to be surgical, and legs for days.

She was also a fucking viper.

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