The Lie (Kings of Linwood Academy 2)

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They’re right. I’d bet anything they’re right. The sequence of events that would’ve had to take place for Trent to be the killer make no sense. They make a lot less sense than the multiple pieces of evidence pointing toward Samuel Black.

It’s close to midnight when Linc pulls up in front of River’s house. Chase slides out to let me climb out behind him, but when I look around, I realize all the boys exited the car. There’s a moment of silence as we all look at each other, the adrenaline from this evening still pulsing around us. Then Lincoln steps toward me, tangling his fingers with mine and pulling me closer until our chests practically brush.

His amber eyes gleam in the dim light as he gazes down at me. “We okay, baby?”

I know what he’s asking. I don’t think he wanted me to see that—to see him like that. I doubt this was what any of the guys had in mind when they went after Trent tonight. They might’ve expected to rough him up a little, but finding out he was the one who attacked me after that poker game snapped something inside all of them.

“Yeah.” I bite my bottom lip, staring back up at him. “We are.”

He lets out a deep breath, then his fingers thread through my hair and he kisses me.

He kisses me the same way he hit Trent. With everything he has, as if he can’t fucking stop himself.

I’m drowning in it, kissing him back just as hard, and I know the other three boys are watching, but I can’t stop. I don’t want to. I feel like I’m being held up only by his grip on my hair and his lips on mine, and when he pulls away, I sway on my feet slightly.

He gives me one last lingering look and then slides back into the car.

Dax steps forward, and there’s a glint in his eye I’ve never seen before—a possessiveness as fierce as I just saw on Lincoln’s face. As if he’s done pretending this thing between us is casual, just for fun, something we could both walk away from intact.

We couldn’t.

And he kisses me like he’s trying to prove that.

I know it already though—am starting to feel it down to the depths of my soul—so I kiss him back the same way. And as our lips move together, it’s not even arousal I feel, exactly, but something deeper.

Like I’m accepting a claim and claiming him right back.

He releases me reluctantly, and as he does, Chase’s arms wrap around me from behind. His body curves around mine, molding to my back, and for a moment it seems like he really is trying to become my armor, to shield me from all the dangers of the world.

With his head bent to bring it closer to mine, he whispers, “You know he deserved it, right, Low? We don’t normally do shit like that—that’s not who we are. But that fucker deserved it.”

I turn toward him, brushing my lips against his. Terror and euphoria bang around in my chest like stray bullets ricocheting off the walls of my ribcage as I realize I believe him. This isn’t who these boys are. But it’s who they’re willing to become.

For me.

When our kiss breaks, he squeezes me against him once more before stepping away.

“See you tomorrow, yeah?” he asks as he and Dax head for the car.

“Yeah.”

The two boys get back in the dark vehicle, and as Linc pulls away, River puts an arm around my waist and leads me toward the house. He lets me use the bathroom first like always, lounging on the bed while I go to brush my teeth. The iridescent club top shimmers in the soft light, and when I run my fingers through my long hair, they come away wet and stained crimson.

Blood.

Linc must’ve gotten it in my hair when he kissed me.

Suddenly feeling claustrophobic in my own skin, I peel my clothes off and step into the shower, letting hot water stream over me.

It was just a few streaks of blood. The water hardly even turns pink. But I wash my hair twice anyway.

When I wrap a towel around myself and step back into River’s room, I don’t even pretend to go looking for my pajamas. Instead, I drop the towel by the foot of the bed and crawl between the sheets naked. River disappears into the bathroom for a few minutes, and when he comes back out, he’s naked too.

We don’t have sex, but we sleep skin to skin.

And it keeps the nightmares at bay.