I couldn’t believe Mason had just said that. Out loud. In a moving vehicle. While Kreed was behind the wheel with a documented history of road rage and emotional repression.
“Would that get the two of you idiots to leave her alone?” Kreed shot back.
A beat of stunned silence passed.
“No,” the twins answered in eerie, perfectly timed unison.
“That’s what I thought,” Kreed muttered, gripping the wheel likeit was the only thing keeping him from committing a double homicide.
When we finally pulled into the school parking lot, the feeling of unease was completely gone. The Corvos were good at one thing…distracting me, whether it was intentional or not.
Kreed navigated to his usual spot and cut the engine. Before the key was even fully out of the ignition, Mason and Maddox were already moving, both doors opening simultaneously. Kreed came around to my side, opening my door and waiting for me to hop out.
I sighed. They’d done this ridiculous thing every day since we started back at Public. As we walked toward the main entrance, they arranged themselves into a loose but deliberate protective triangle around me: Kreed on my left, Mason on my right, and Maddox a step behind me.
I thought I would get used to the attention my involvement with the Raven Crew brought at school. Heads swiveled as we passed, conversations cutting off mid-sentence. Whispers erupted in our wake like static electricity, following us across the parking lot and up the front steps.
She thinks she is so special. I don’t get what the big deal is. It’s not like she’s that pretty. I heard she’s fucking them. I thought she had a hit on her head. Maybe she’s paying them. Gross. That’s worse.
This was my first week back at school, and to say it was an adjustment was an understatement. I felt like the new girl all over again. The assumptions got worse each day. I still despised being talked about, and the Corvos weren’t making it easier to disappear into the crowd. I didn’t bother straining to listen to the specific words, didn’t try to pick out individual voices from the collective murmur. Let them talk. Let them stare with their wide eyes and dropped jaws. Let them create whatever wild stories and theories made them feel better about their boring, safe lives.
Until Rusty was dealt with permanently, until his entire operation was picked apart and every person involved was exposed or dead, I wasn’t taking any chances. If being shadowed constantly bythe Corvos meant I got to keep breathing and walking and living, then I’d gladly take the whispers, the stares, the judgment, and whatever speculation came with it. I’d take it all without complaint.
The cafeteria smelled faintlyof burnt cheese and disinfectant, which seemed to be Public’s signature aroma, recognizable from three hallways away. Poppy and I claimed our usual table by the tall windows overlooking the courtyard. I peeled the plastic wrapper off my turkey sandwich, the safest bet, and took my first bite when the crawling sensation started up again between my shoulder blades, raising the fine hairs at the base of my neck. I was in a crowded room with at least a hundred people, and it was nearly impossible for me to distinguish if someone didn’t belong, someone who might work for Rusty.
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rusty was ballsy enough to sneak into my school. Desperate people do stupid things, but they also made mistakes, and I was counting on him fucking up. A part of me wished he would try something because, this time, I’d be ready. I wouldn’t be alone or a willing hostage.
“Seriously,” Poppy muttered, stabbing aggressively at a cherry tomato with her plastic fork until it split and spurted seeds across her tray. “How much longer is he going to follow me around? It’s been over a week.”
My lips curved into a small smirk despite the unease churning in my stomach. “Nash? Please. You secretly enjoy him following you like a devoted puppy.”
“I’ll admit it was kind of cute for the first day or two.” She glanced over her shoulder to where Nash and Maddox stood near the vending machines. As if he sensed Poppy was talking about him, his chestnut eyes moved to our table. Poppy squinted at Nash, her middle finger going up. “But now he’s seriously getting on my last nerve.”
“How so? Is he actually bothering you?” I leaned forward, ready to march over there and address the problem if needed.
“Not in the literal sense of the word.” She pushed her salad around with the fork. “It’s just his constant presence. Every time I turn around, he’sthere. His eyes are always on me. He’s just so damn…close.”
“So you’ve got the hots for him, and it’s driving you completely insane,” I stated, taking a slow, deliberate sip of my soda. The carbonation burned pleasantly down my throat.
She groaned, dropping her fork with a clatter against the tray. “Yeah, pretty much. How the actual hell do you do this every single day with Kreed? Doesn’t it make you crazy?”
I shrugged, feigning casual nonchalance even as my eyes continued their involuntary sweep of the cafeteria. “Sleep with him. It helps release some of that tension. Trust me.”
Poppy’s eyebrows shot up, her straw pausing halfway to her mouth. “I’ve tried that,” she muttered. “It only made this feeling of awareness worse.”
I snorted. “When are you and Nash going to stop pretending you don’t have feelings for each other?”
“As soon as you and Kreed do,” she fired back with a wily smile.
“I tried that. It didn’t turn out so well, remember.”
“Oh, right. I still owe him a kick in the dick for that shit.”
I snickered. “I’d pay to see that.”
Her black cherry lips curled. “I can’t take your money.”
I caught sight of Maddox shifting his gaze fractionally and wondering if he was feeling the same uneasiness I was. His eyes returned to me as he lifted his brows questioningly.
