Dynasty (Boys of Winter 1)

I narrow my gaze at Knox, unsure why his judgment of the guys irritates me so much. Don’t get me wrong, everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinions, but in this case, he’s wrong. Carver, King, Cruz, and Grayson will never be nobodies. It’s just like saying the sky is blue or that bunny rabbits are scary as hell. They’re cold, hard facts.

The tension between us begins to rise and I laugh it off before it turns into something more. “I think you’re underestimating those guys,” I tell him, shrugging off his comments. “Don’t let Carver catch you calling him a nobody.”

“Yeah,” he says with a scoff. “You’re probably right. Guys like that are assholes. They’d probably try and beat the shit out of me just for thinking less of them. There’s no winning there.”

I nod, my fingertip roaming over the top of my brass knuckles. “Yeah,” I say slowly. Why the hell do I feel as though I’m the only one allowed to hate on them? Hell, why do I feel as though I might be the only one who could possibly get away with it?

“Listen,” he says, stepping into me in some half-assed attempt to block out Ember as I feel four lethal stares piercing into my back. “I wanted to chill out with you yesterday because my uncle is having this epic party at one of his clubs on Saturday night, and I wanted to see if you were down. It’s going to be fucking awesome, but you’re going to need a fake ID.”

My brow raises and a slow smile stretches across my face. I glance at Ember, slightly adjusting my stance to make a point that she should be included. “What do you say? You down to party?”

She grins wide. “I’m in if you are.”

Irritation crosses over Knox’s face, and is gone a second later, leaving me with an odd suspicion that he was going to try and use the party as a way to get me alone, but I’m not that fucking easy. I only lose my pants for guys who can make me feel something, even if it’s just confusion while being pressed up against the side of a house.

“Alright,” I tell him. “Count us in.”

Knox’s gaze flicks to Ember before coming back to me, his lazy grin now pulling up as though he has some sort of chance with me, leaving me wondering what the hell happened to the cool guy I met at the cemetery party. “Alright, cool,” he says, playing the role of the cool guy who doesn’t get affected by a girl agreeing to go out with him, though this is nowhere near a date, just a fun party at what I hope is going to be an incredible club. “Are you right for IDs?”

I glance at Ember who nods before looking back up at Knox. “We’re good.”

“Cool,” he says again before pulling out his phone and handing it to me. “Give me your number and I’ll text you the details.”

I hesitate for a moment. Handing out my number isn’t something I do often, and after the weird vibe he’s been giving me this morning, I’m not exactly sure I want to share it with him, but I don’t have a good reason to say no.

With the bell due to sound soon, I take his phone and quickly hash in my number before shoving it right back into his hands and turning to my locker. Knox gives me an awkward smile before realizing our conversation is over and subtly backing away, making himself seem like a complete idiot while talking to a girl.

The second he’s gone, Ember bursts into laughter. “Are you kidding?” she asks. “Are we seriously going to spend Saturday night hanging out with him? Did that not feel … I don’t know … weird?”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “It was definitely weird, but I was hanging out with him over the weekend and he seemed cool. Maybe he’s just having a weird day. Either way, if he’s being weird at the club, we can just ditch him and chill by ourselves. Besides, there’s going to be a bar and a dance floor. What else could we need?”

“Good point,” she says. “Either way, I’m excited. It’s going to be epic.”

“Right?”

Ember gets all giddy as I jam my backpack into my locker before grabbing the stack of books that I need for my morning classes. The bell finally sounds and I slam the door before stepping away. Ember ducks into the bathroom so I’m left to walk down the hall by myself, but I really don’t mind. It gives me a chance to watch the people around me and try to get a good feel for who I’m spending my days surrounded by.

I walk past Sara Benson and laugh as her shoulder rams into mine, trying to make some kind of point, but she’s fucking with the wrong girl. I’m not the bitch she wants to mess with, just as Carver and his boys shouldn’t want to mess with me either. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times over, having those guys all up in my business might just be the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t know why the thrill of screwing with them keeps hitting me so hard, but damn it, I’m excited.