I didn’t immediately check my phone, but the snickers and pointed looks from the rest of the class clued me in pretty quickly that this was today’s first attack. Using technology seemed almost too advanced for some of the morons who’d jumped on the bully-Riley wagon, but they constantly surprised me.
With a heavy sigh, I pulled my own phone out and tapped into the mass recipient email. There weren’t any prizes for guessing what I was about to find—the teacher had already lost control of the class with several girls calling me names likedirty slutandwhore. A few boys were taking it further by suggesting I meet them in the bathrooms and show them my “skills,” so I was totally unsurprised to find an image of “me” in the midst of a very graphic four-way sex scene. I had to hand it to whoever had orchestrated this one, the photoshopping was impressive.
With a shrug, I powered off my phone and slid it back into my bag, then faced the front of the class with my very best poker face in place. Hanging out with the Delta boys had taught me a few things in the art of a blank expression, and I could tell my sheer lack ofanyreaction was confusing the ever loving shit out of my classmates.
“Miss Deboise?” the teacher asked with a small hesitation over my name. “Is everything okay?” Her gaze was serious, encouraging me to fess up and report the bullying. But I wasn’t stupid. The teachers held considerably less power in this academy than most. Saying anything would only result in more bullying for me and probably a loss of job for her.
The rest of the class went by uneventfully. I hadn’t really reacted to their big reveal, which left them all a little shocked, from what I could tell. Not that it stopped theslutwhoreslutcomments or the catcalls from the guys when I left the classroom.
I’d been the last one out, which was pure survival instinct, but they were waiting for me at the door.
I lurched back as a bag of trash was thrown at me. It tumbled to the floor and then there were condoms everywhere. Like hundreds of them, some even looked used.
“We gathered this from your last whore-session,” a chick said, laughing at me as I stared down with disgust.
“Hope you’re getting well compensated,” another called out, and I shook my head, ready to fight my way through this crowd.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” I said without inflection. It was a game now, refusing to let them see me break. They were not going to break me.
A familiar face came into view, and our eyes locked. Hers were glittering with mirth and evil intent, the smallest of an asshole smile on her face. Katelyn Huntley did not participate in the bullying, but she was there, watching, and enjoying it all.
I had a sneaking suspicion that she was the one orchestrating this all behind the scenes. But to what end? What was this bitch doing in Delta’s school? Was it just about making sure the five heirs were divided? Or was there something even more sinister in her plan?
Her smile grew, and she winked before pushing her way through the crowd and out of my line of sight.
Shit! She was definitely up to no good.
I had no time to worry about that though, I had to get the fuck out of this group of dickbags that were trying to get a rise out of me. Just as I raised my fists, ready to make good on my promise, the crowd stepped aside, finally allowing me to exit the classroom. I ground to a halt when I realized that they hadn’t moved for me. Beck, Dylan, Jasper, and Evan stood in a row, their faces completely unreadable, but I knew the four of them well enough by now to see the fire in their eyes. That slight rigidness to their jaws. The cut of muscles in Beck’s arms that said he was about to lose his shit.
The memory of his arms around me last night slammed into my mind, and I actually shook my head to try and dispel the thought. I had to stay strong. I could deal with this. I did not need to run back to the guys who had betrayed me.
Jasper took a step forward before he halted and squeezed his eyes shut for the briefest of seconds.
He was remembering that he couldn’t help me here. That none of them could protect me.
It was my choice, and I needed to live with it.
“Hey, assholes,” I said as I strolled past. “Here to join the revelry? Apparently I do a four for one in my whore sessions now.”
There were more beeps across all the phones around us then, and with trepidation, I pulled mine out and tried to mentally prepare myself for whatever was about to happen now.
Only it was blank. As was the previous email that was still sitting in my inbox. Someone had gone through and wiped all of the emails, somehow. That would have taken some high tech hacking to achieve such a feat.
Beck gave me the briefest nod that I knew no one else caught, and then he turned and left, his friends at his side.
Fuck. My chest ached, his actions slicing away at the shield I wore around my heart. The memories, my anger, all fading under the smallest of actions from the Delta guys. Fuck.
11
Imade it through the rest of the day without too much trouble. Which only made me suspicious for what they had planned next. That night Beck showed up silently, and before I could even say a word, he strode across and climbed into my bed.
“Uh, what are you doing?” I demanded, trying to figure out if I was seeing him correctly. “Get the fuck out of my bed.”
He shook his head before he reached over and grabbed the back of his Henley, slowly pulling it up over his head. I swallowed hard as his body was revealed, piece by delicious piece. “You don’t have nightmares when I hold you,” he said after he’d finished tormenting me. “Let’s just cut out the middle man here, and start the night how it’s going to end.”
I spluttered and glared and stomped around the room, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to move his stubborn ass, and I sure as fuck was not sleeping on the couch in my own home, so I dressed in my most revealing pajamas—because if I had to suffer, so did he—and I strolled across the room, as slowly and sexily as I could.
I felt a little like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time as I swung my hips, but Beck didn’t seem to mind. His eyes dark and glittering as he watched me cross the room. I wore just a tiny pair of boy shorts and a cropped top that revealed my stomach and most of my boobs.
