“I thought I might find you here,” the bastard says.
“Massage duty,” Charlie quips, curling his hands in a cupping motion, and I want to smother him in his sleep. “Someone’s got to do it.” He slips his feet into his shoes and ties the laces.
I pull my top down and fix my robe around myself, sitting up and plastering a fake smile on my face. “Funny,” I deadpan, leaning over to kiss him, hating every second of this. “Thanks for dropping by. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He stands, reeling me into his arms, and dipping me down low as he kisses me deeply, like he did that night on the stage. Except, this time, I don’t see any stars through the red haze of anger coating the backs of my eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
School the following day is a strange experience without Jane by my side. All day, suck-ups approach me, telling me how happy they are that I’m back. My engagement to Charlie is all over the school, and I garner envious looks from several of the girls when they spot the massive diamond on my ring finger.
Charlie is waiting outside my class to escort me to the cafeteria. My nerves are shot to hell at the prospect of seeing Kai and not being able to talk to him. Jackson was in one of my morning classes, and it took mammoth effort to ignore him. The elite have spies all over the school, so I can’t risk even the slightest look for fear it’ll get back to Charlie.
Or Trent.
Because he wants payback, and landing me in it with my new fiancé and my father would be right up his alley.
Charlie takes my bag and slings his arm around my shoulder as we walk through the crowded hallway toward the cafeteria. The masses part to let us through, and I force a smug smile on my face, while inwardly calculating how many days we have left until Christmas break.
I contain my surprise as Charlie leads us toward our old table. The one where Trent is sitting with Shandra Farrell by his side. Drew looks up as we approach with a genuine smile on his face. He pulls out the chair beside him for me, and I round the table, ignoring my ex and his new plaything.
Although, I have to say I’m surprised at Shandra.
She’s one of the inner circle, from a respectable, well-liked family, and she’s super smart and very career-orientated. She’s not the type to hang off any guy, especially a douche like Trent.
“I’ll get your lunch,” Charlie says as I sit down beside my twin.
“Thanks, babe.” He pecks my lips briefly before walking off toward the counter.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Trent says, propping his elbows on the table and glaring at me.
“Aw, did you miss me, small dick?” Mention of his dick resurrects last night in my mind, and all good humor fades. “Or where you too busy forcing yourself on innocent girls to notice?”
Drew pinches my thigh under the table, but I ignore him.
Trent smirks. “I don’t have to force myself on anyone.” He grabs his crotch. “They’re lining up to ride my cock.”
“Thanks for that,” Shandra says drily, stabbing a piece of lettuce like she wishes it was his head.
Trent grabs hold of her hips and slides her over onto his lap. “They want me, but they can’t have me,” he tells her. “I told you we were exclusive, and I meant it.”
I cough. “Bullshit.”
“You say something, whore?” Trent snaps just as Charlie returns.
Charlie places a tray down on the table before coolly turning to Trent. “You want to say that again to my face?”
All the tiny hairs lift on my arms and the back of my neck, and the atmosphere in the room alters. But it’s not because Charlie and Trent are squaring off to one another.
It’s because the new elite have just entered the cafeteria, sucking up all the oxygen and claiming all the attention in the room. I don’t look at the door, because I’m not sure I’m strong enough to resist Kaiden’s lure. And I don’t need visual confirmation to know he’s here because I can sense his presence the instant he sets foot in any room. Maybe it’s our potent connection, or his intense aura, or it’s the audible gasp that rings out around the room, or the subtle shift in the air, but whatever it is, I could walk into a hundred rooms and immediately know he’s there.
Drew grips my hand in warning, and I shoot him a frustrated look, telling him to back off, that I know what to do.
Things have progressed while my mind has wandered, and Charlie has yanked Trent up out of his chair, and he’s fisting his shirt and snarling in his face. “Youwillapologize or I’ll put your face through the nearest wall,” he says in a clipped tone.
“I’ll apologize when she does. She started it by trying to embarrass me in front of my fiancée,” Trent retorts.
My head whips to Shandra’s hand, and I don’t know how I missed the whopper pink diamond on her hand. “You’re engaged?” I screech, asking the obvious.
