Page 7 of Chosen Boy

Walking in, I don’t miss the eyes that look up at me. Some chicks wink, and dudes give me the head nod, holding their hand up. Hockey is basically a religion at Brooks. And even though I don’t love the attention, it comes with the territory, and I try to always be polite. Even when the last thing I want to do is talk to random people about the upcoming season.

I carry on, continuing to the back room, where the computers and printers are. I’m rounding the corner into the room when I collide with a small body. I instinctively wrap my arms around her as she flails around, preparing herself for landing. I catch her, pulling her against me before she can hit the ground.

When I look down, I can’t believe what I see. Sutton Savage’s angry blue eyes land on mine, shooting me a death glare. As she rights herself, she makes sure to shove me away, tiny fists and all.

What the fuck is she doing here?

At first, I can’t hide my stunned expression. It’s like seeing a ghost, only…she’s alive.

As she kneels down, scurrying to get her papers, I plaster on a smirk to mask my pure shock.

Bending down, eye level with her, I hold out one of the papers for her, still warm from the printer. But when she attempts to grab it from my grip, I let it drop to the floor.

“Whoops, sorry, Little Bird. It must have slipped.”

She snatches it quickly as her eyes narrow to slits. “I bet you are, asshole.”

I watch her stand, smoothing herself down. Her tight-fitting black cotton dress is short enough that her ass is barely covered. Her dark hair is pulled up into a bun, matching her no-nonsense personality.

She smells delicious, like a fucking dessert.

And when she brushes past me, I catch her wrist, spinning her toward me. “Look, I don’t know what you’re doing at Brooks, but understand one thing. You’re at my school now, brat. Remember that.”

Her nostrils flare, and she pokes a finger to my chest. “Oh, really? Last I knew, this was calledBrooks University. Not Hunter Thompson University,dick.” She steps back, clutching her papers to her chest. “And guess what. This is just as much my school as it is yours now. I suggestyouremember that.”

Every cell of her being is sharp. Her cutting blue eyes. High cheekbones. Hair as dark as night. Bold, plump red lips. And a bitchy personality to top it all off. She isn’t soft and sweet, like my Paige is. No, this chick is something completely different.

There is nothing sweet about Sutton Savage. That’s for damn sure.

She struts off with enough attitude to fuel a jet plane. Her dress hugs the curve of her ass. It’s not a soft curve either. Her ass is profound, begging to be looked at. And as much of a she-devil as I think she is…I can’t stop my eyes from gazing. Or my cock from twitching.

I could make her life hell if I wanted to. After all, her family is the reason why my parents never got to build their new establishment, which was going to help find the cure for my brother’s cancer. If the Savages hadn’t pulled the plug on the building permit, who knows what could have happened? She might not be her parents, but she’s still a Savage. And all Savages match their name.

My parents needed the rights to build on land. And the Savages just so happened to have the ideal spot. It couldn’t be just any old property for the place my parents were planning on building. It had to be the perfect location. It needed to be a place so promising that it would draw in the maximum sponsorships and investors. Endless funding to help them get what they wanted. A cure.

That was the only way they were going to beat the devil that had taken my big brother’s life when he was fifteen and I was thirteen. Having an establishment where they’d cure rhabdomyosarcoma. And even though I think my parents took it all too far, I know they had the best intentions. Even though he was gone, my parents thought that stopping this cancer from taking other people’s lives would make the fact that he’d died hurt less. I guess they needed something, anything, to make sense of his passing, and he deserved to have his name next to a promising treatment.

And when he died, they were stuck with me and my sister.

Out of the three of us kids, Holden was the one who had so seamlessly fit into the Thompson name. He didn’t shy away from the pressure of perfection and the constant need to meet unrealistic expectations. He’d stood tall, carrying the weight of my parents’ hopes like they were as light as a feather. He was going to be a doctor. We all knew he would have never strayed from our family’s legacy.

Holden was the golden child.

And me? I wouldn’t call myself the black sheep of the family. Perhaps maybe a grayish hue? I was the kid who just wanted to play hockey.

So, even though the Savages did my parents dirty, making Sutton’s life hell isn’t going to help me feel any better about the fact that my brother is dead. Especially since Holden would roll over in his grave if I tormented her. After all, he had been in love with her for years.

So, as long as she stays the fuck out of my way, I’ll leave her be.

Maybe.

Sutton

“Asshole. Jerk. Pompous douchebag,” I mutter to myself, walking home from the library. “Ugh. It’s not your school, prick. It’s an entire campus’s school.Thousandsof people.”

Hunter plowed into me like he owned every inch of that building, and whoever stepped in his way, well, they would be roadkill. And then he caught me in his arms, trying to act all nice. That was, until he saw it was me. Then, thatnice guyact went out the window real fast. His light-blue eyes darkened with rage. He dropped my paper just because he could.Dick.The most annoying part is that even though I hate him, my heart betrayed me for a split second—pounding in my chest as he caught me in his arms.

He and I shouldn’t even have beef. We should just be indifferent—that’s all. But because our parents are insane, we’ve been dragged into it. And that’s something I’ve never had control over—my parents and their issues. Their shit becomes my shit. And really, who wants that much shit? Not me.

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