Dynasty (Boys of Winter 1)

That’s over now. From here on out, I rule my world.

Ember comes crashing into me, misjudging her speed, and nearly knocking us both on our asses. “He asked me out,” she squeaks, as I fight to keep us both on our feet.

“I … huh? Who did?”

“Jacob Scardoni,” she insists, looking at me like I’m an idiot for not having put it together in the first place, but I guess I am. After all, I hold this guy solely responsible for what happened to me despite the fact that he literally didn’t have a damn thing to do with it. I mean, I kinda have a point … though, not really.

After the pier party, I was supposed to spend the night at Ember’s house, but then she got all wound up with this Jacob guy, and because of that, I took off and ended up back at Kurt’s place where I was abducted. If Jacob wasn’t at that party, my night would have been very different, but I doubt Sam would have stopped looking for me until he had me right where he wanted me, and because of that, I went through hell.

Revenge is going to be sweet. I just need to figure out how to make it happen. Though while they haven’t actually said anything about revenge, I have a feeling that the boys are going to have my back with whatever plan I want. Though, that begs the question. Carver was all for me stepping up and having to make the decision to end Kurt. He said that he wouldn’t stand in the way of what I wanted to do, so why the hell did he feel it was his right to come after me last night?

God, that asshole. The more I think about it, the angrier I get, but at least the majority of that anger was worked out last night. I’m just pissed that he’s the reason I was angry in the first place, yet he was the one to help me take it all away. Fuck him. He’s so hot and cold, sweet and sour.

It takes me a second to realize that Ember has been non-stop talking about her new boyfriend, and while I’m over the moon happy for her, there’s just way too much going on in my head to even begin focusing on what she’s saying. So I smile and nod until the whole school becomes victim to the four guys making their way through the front doors as though they’re God’s gift to women.

“Ugh,” I sigh trying to figure out how everything seems to slow down wherever they go. It’s like some kind of magical force is putting them into slow-motion just to make all the girls around them scream and beg for them to bend them in half.

They make their way through the hallway, conversations dying as they pass, or maybe it’s just me zoning out the rest of the world and not being able to focus on anything but them.

As they get closer, I notice Carver’s stare first. He’s always the first to seek me out, always the first to set the mood, and damn it, the mood isn’t great today. He looks pissed, and it’s probably because I kept him up for a good portion of the night. He looks away, and the loss of his stare is almost like having a part of my soul ripped right out of my body.

King flicks his stare at me next, and just as I knew it would be, it’s short and sweet—a quick check to make sure I still have all four limbs. There’s not a hint of emotion on his face, despite his declaration of doing anything to keep me safe on the beach last night.

King keeps making his way through the hallway, and not needing his constant approval, I turn to Cruz, but instead of the flirty smirk and sexy wink that I’ve become accustomed to, there’s nothing but a narrowed gaze filled with confusion and a deep question—why the hell wasn’t I in his bed when he woke up this morning? In fact, I was in none of their beds.

I slipped out early in the morning and showed up at Ember’s place at the crack of dawn after only getting three hours of sleep. I walked out of Carver’s mansion to find my Ducati waiting for me with the gate still wide open. Though I still haven’t worked out who had gotten up to go and get it. For some reason, I’m leaning toward Grayson but I don’t know why. He keeps coming off as the silent hero.

Cruz passes, and his confused stare only has me shrinking back under the pressure, not sure if I’m ready to explain just where I was. I feel that while King is cool with the idea of me being shared around his friends, Cruz seems like the type to get hurt. Carver though, he’s complicated as fuck, but considering the bullshit that came out of his mouth after kissing me last night, it seems that’s not something I have to worry about anymore.