Lost Boys (Slateview High 1)

I huffed.

“Okay. Better question. Why did you stop that guy the other day? Logan?” I asked, more boldly than I probably should have. “I’m still not really sure I get it, even if you guys say that I’m… yours. I know you hate me because of my dad, but then why wouldn’t you want to see the whole school go after me? Wouldn’t that be more satisfying?”

It was a dangerous question to ask—if they realized I was right, they could go back on our deal and let everyone at Slateview have at me. I doubted I’d last a week. But the question had been poking at my brain ever since they’d made their offer, and I felt like I needed to know.

I needed to know what they expected. What they wanted from me.

What they had planned for me.

The three boys exchanged a look, seeming to communicate without speaking.

“No. It wouldn’t be,” Bishop answered after a moment. “No one else at that school gets to have you. Not Logan, not any other motherfucker. Like we keep telling you, Princess. You’re ours.”

My thoughts instantly flashed to the other night. To how I was very much not theirs, and more like Bishop’s. Did the other boys know what he’d done? Did they know that he’d broken into my room at all, much less what had happened after he crawled through the window?

Taking another swig from my bottle of beer, I crossed over and settled onto the couch. Then I looked him in the eye, my gaze almost challenging.

“I can’t possibly ‘belong’ to all of you. There are three of you and one of me. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“It only makes sense if you’re not creative.” There was something different in Kace’s voice when he spoke, and the sound of it made my heart beat a little faster. “Come on, Princess. Think about it. I know all that high-priced schooling wasn’t wasted on you.”

I swallowed, glancing between the three of them as I processed his words. Before I could come up with a response, Bishop spoke again.

“You think I’m the only one with a claim on you? You think what happened between us the other night made you mine?”

My head whipped up to meet his gaze so fast I almost made myself dizzy. Furtively, I cast a glance out of the corner of my eye at the other two boys, trying to see if shock or surprise registered on their faces. But they were both watching me calmly, Misael with a wicked grin curving his lips and Kace with his usual inscrutable expression.

They knew.

They’d probably known since the day after it happened.

And what Bishop had just said…

When they’d told me that I was theirs, I’d never been entirely sure what that meant. To what extent they intended to claim me. That night with Bishop—no matter how short-lived it had been—had made me believe that, at least in the physical sense, he was the only one interested.

But I’d been wrong.

These boys were close like brothers. Closer than that even. And they didn’t just share beers, rides to school, and years of history with each other.

They shared girls.

Or at least, they were willing to share me.

I caught Misael’s gaze again as the realization hit me fully. Heat flooded my body, pooling low in my stomach, even as nerves made my skin chill. I was in so far over my head it wasn’t even funny—I was miles below the surface, and with the way my lungs were suddenly burning, I wasn’t sure I’d ever make it up for air.

The blush that crept up my face must’ve been bright red, because it felt like my cheeks were on fire. Misael smirked, catching my gaze and holding it. There was heat and something like possessiveness in his gaze, and I was torn between conflicting impulses to lean toward him on the couch and to run for my life.

I had agreed to their bargain, but I didn’t—shouldn’t—want this.

It shouldn’t make my nipples peak, and it shouldn’t make my breath stutter like this.

Breathe, Cora. Just breathe. Nothing’s even happened yet. Maybe it won’t ever.

The only one who had made any kind of move was Bishop, and even that had seemed to be almost against his will. The other two boys touched me like they owned me, but never in that way yet.

Did I want them to?

Could I handle it if they did? If all of them did?