The Silver Swan (The Elite King's Club 1)

I relax a little, yet not enough to trust what she’s saying. Not that I know anything about good—or halfway decent—first times. We start walking back to class.

“Anyway…” She grins. “…so what happened with you?”

What happened with me? Oh you know, got fucked seven ways from Sunday, and then the said person who did all the fucking left in the middle of the night and I haven’t heard from him since.

“Nothing.”

We walk into class and drop down into two of the back desks.

Lunch bell rings, and I gather up my books, tucking my hair behind my ear as I walk toward the door, when Ally shoulder barges me. “Oops.” Her hand comes up to her mouth, hiding her grin. “So sorry, I thought they took the trash out early today.” She looks to Lauren, and they both laugh, flicking their hair behind their shoulders.

“Wow,” I say flatly. “Didn’t think I could think any lower of you, but it turns out your lack of creativity when it comes to comebacks changed my mind.” Then I turn and leave them with their lips curled and their scowls carved into their faces.

“Hey!” Ally halts me. I stop just short of the door, and Mrs. Robinson stops stacking her paperwork on her desk. “Bishop is mine.”

I laugh. “You can have him.” When I finally leave, I walk out the door and toward my locker. Punching in my code, I slide my books in, obviously in a huff. I shouldn’t let Ally wind me up, but I do. I let her get to me, which isn’t a good sign. It means I’m starting to feel for the people I keep around me. Hello, Bishop.

“Hey.” A voice from behind me stops my deep breathing, but it’s not the voice I want to hear.

“Carter, hey!” I close my locker and start toward the entry to the cafeteria.

He follows closely behind me. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about that kiss.”

And I want to laugh. That kiss had long since been replaced and stolen and then shattered into tiny little shards of nothingness by Bishop.

“We really don’t need to go there,” I assure him, brushing it off as we enter the lunchroom. I’m not deluded. I know how exclusive Bishop is, and I know he doesn’t just sleep with and get with just anyone—well, so I’ve been told—plus, I know I’m nothing special. But being left cold while you’re sleeping is a whole new level of rejection. Asshole.

Thinking about it just makes me mad, and instinctively, I lean into Carter. Not to spite Bishop, because I know he won’t care, but to seek comfort in someone who maybe does want me. No, I couldn’t do that. Squashing my thoughts, I grab a tray.

“So what do you think?” he asks as we get in line.

“About?” I raise an eyebrow, putting an apple and a salad onto my tray.

“About camping. We’re all thinking of hitting the mountains for Halloween.”

“Oh,” I say, suddenly interested. I love camping and the outdoors as much as I enjoy recreational sports. “When?”

He loads up his plate, smiling at me as he tosses a carrot stick into his mouth, his two dimples popping in his cheeks. He’s cute; I could do a lot worse where rebounds are concerned, but at the same time, I don’t want to lead him on, because truthfully, I’m not interested in jumping into anything sexual or even halfway serious with Carter. Bishop was a wake-up call. Our one-night stand set off the alarm in my head.

“Who will be coming?” I continue, coming to the end of the table and taking a bottle of water.

“Pauly and Alias will be coming, with their girls, but you could bring Tatum if you want.”

I take a bite of my apple, my eyes going over his shoulder and landing on Bishop and the rest of the guys that are there, Nate included.

“One problem,” I interject, squirming under the daggers Bishop is aiming at me. “My aggro stepbrother and his pack of hounds? They won’t let me out of their sight.” Please let this go. Please let this go… I chant my prayer, hoping he’ll tell me to forget it.

No such luck.

He shrugs. “It’ll be a party.”

I look over his shoulder again, catching Ally on Bishop’s lap and playing with his hair. But his eyes are still on mine, boring holes into me.

“Good.” I smile sweetly, looking directly at Bishop. “It should be fun.” Two can play this game. I know I have no right to get angry or upset about him and Ally, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sting a little seeing her so cozy on his lap—and him doing nothing to move her. But I’m not naïve enough to say we had a connection and that we were deeply into each other now. This isn’t a fairy tale, and that’s just not how things go. At least not for me, anyway.