He tilted his head to the side. “You don’t like being the center of attention?”
“No.” It was the truth. Overnight, I’d become the envy of the school. Girls looked at me with equal measures of adoration and disdain. I didn’t care. The guys, they wanted to know what it was about me that had the guys so curious. They were more interested in what their dick wanted.
I couldn’t give a shit what any of them wanted.
My peace. My freedom, what little I had, was gone. I hadn’t been able to hang out at the library.
Since the day I let Gael touch me in the car, there had been a driver at school to take me home to hell.
Between their attention at school and what I had to deal with at home, I was at a breaking point. To survive, I needed to be cautious. At any point, I could end up dead.
Not that death was such a huge problem.
The sad truth was I looked forward to it. There were moments I thought about pushing my father to the next level. He couldn’t have his precious money or deal if he killed me. I’d love to know I fucked up his life because he ended mine.
I needed to get my shit together because that wasn’t fucking funny.
“You’re going to have to get used to it.” The hand on my hip wasn’t bruising. He stroked me through the fabric of my uniform.
Licking my dry lips, I knew it was completely messed up how I was reacting to him, to them all. They were all best friends. Being in a relationship with them was crazy. So messed up. It couldn’t happen.
I put my hand over his. “You’ve got to back off.”
“No, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.” The hand on my hip slid up, going toward my chest. His thumb brushed underneath my tits.
I drew in deep breaths, very much aware of how close he was to me.
He’d closed the distance. The tips of his boots brushed mine.
“Do you think I don’t see the pain inside you, Emily? You can’t draw for shit, but there’s something about a piece of art, no matter how good or bad the artist is. You’re in pain. You feel like you’re drowning. You hate me, Caleb, River, and Gael. I bet your hatred of him is even worse, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, you do, believe me. You do.” He smiled, but it wasn’t nice. This was deadly, dangerous.
I hadn’t seen this side of Vadik.
“You hate Gael because he broke past those feelings inside you. The ones where you think death would be so easy, and it will. I know what you think and how you feel. If you think you’re alone, you’re wrong. We all know how easy and fucked-up it would be. What you hate most about Gael is even as you want to hate us, he awakened your curiosity. You now want him, even though you also want to hate him.”
I shook my head. “I’ve got to get back to class.”
His hand cupped my tit. My nipple pressed against the palm of his hand. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
None of what he was saying made any sense.
He let go of my breast, but he suddenly gripped my ass with both of his hands before one slid up my back, cupping my head, drawing me down, and he was kissing me hard. His tongue traced out, curving over my lips, then plunged inside my mouth.
The kiss felt amazing.
I didn’t push him away. Holding his face between my hands, I gave up fighting and kissed him back, not wanting him to stop.
He growled against my lips and I did no more than wrap my legs around his waist. I hated that he was right.
Gael had awakened something in me.
My virginity. My precious fucking virginity was something my father wanted for his own deals. For me, at this very moment, I wanted to say to hell with all of it, to lose it right here, right now, in the girls’ bathroom at Crude Hill High.
Only, Vadik pulled away.
I glanced down and saw his cock pressed against the front of his pants.
“What game are you guys playing?” I asked.
Vadik looked at me. There were no questions, just a stare.
“You and Gael. I haven’t forgotten Caleb either. Is this where you all make me want you? Where I make a fool out of myself, only to have Gael push me aside as if I’m nothing?”
“You’re not very trustworthy, are you?”
“Give me a good reason why I should be.” I jumped off the sink.
“We’re not playing a game with you.”
“Then why are you all kissing me?”
“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe we all want to kiss you?”