A Rose to Keep (The Society 1)

Some of the girls and even a couple of the female teachers, I only knew by their overall score. It made me a prick, but the truth was, I didn’t give a shit. I lived by different rules than everyone else, and I refused to deny it.

Up ahead, I spotted William and Mateo sitting at the same bench as Sian and her friend. They had gained some stares, and just watching them, I saw Sian try to shy away from the guys.

Why did she do that?

We were fucking catches. Anyone at this school should be feeling grateful to even have our attention, yet, she treated us like fucking lepers. Anger rushed through my body as I took a step toward them, Dante at my side.

I was stopped when Chloe, arms folded, walked right up to me.

The quad went quiet. Did these people have nothing better to do today than to hound me?

“What the fuck gives, Gideon?” she asked.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Er, hell yeah, you do.” She shoved me in the chest hard. I didn’t budge. Years of practice and building my muscle meant her little push did nothing to me. It never would. I was a force to be reckoned with and it was why I did it. I always pushed myself to be harder, to do better, to lift more weights than anyone else.

“Chloe, move.”

“No. Not until you give me an explanation. You told me I was the one to get the rose. You … you promised me.”

I finally looked her in the eye, and I saw the hurt in her gaze. It was really pathetic.

“I didn’t promise you shit. I would never promise you something I couldn’t deliver. You’re the one who wanted to get on your hands and knees for all of us. We didn’t stop you, and if my memory serves, you enjoyed it.” I stroked a finger down her cheek.

Chloe could pretend to be the victim, but she was far from it. She loved everything we did to her, and she’d been the one begging for more. What she hated right now was not being chosen by us. She had wanted to take all four of us on at once, but that wasn’t ever going to happen. She got one of us at a time, never all.

She had no idea what was at play.

“Damn it, Gideon, you know we’re meant to be.”

“What I know is you like to spread your pussy to every single dick with a big enough bank balance to match. We know who you are. We know what you want and how you intend to get it. Don’t drag us into this. You’ll lose.”

“You will regret this,” Chloe said. “If you don’t change your mind and tell the entire school it was a joke, you’re going to wish you had never made this mistake.”

It was so fucking cliché and laughable. I threw my head back and laughed and did so for everyone to see. I pushed aside the most popular girl in school, and I didn’t fucking care. Chloe was nothing more than a pest. She was all bark and no bite.

Arriving at the table where Sian and Heather ate, I saw her groan.

William let out a chuckle while Mateo played it cool. I sat down, throwing my bag onto the table, and turned toward her.

I was the leader of the group. They all turned toward me for guidance. We did everything together, but I was the one who assessed the risks, judged if it was safe for us.

Heather cleared her throat and smiled. “Hey, guys,” she said.

I didn’t look away from Sian.

“You do know you guys can sit anywhere you want. Anywhere that is far away from here?” she asked.

“Sian, we need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.” She was so fucking stubborn.

Gritting my teeth, I saw her friend give me a pitying look, but I merely glared at her. Heather didn’t belong in this school. She was a fucking poor person. I remembered how my father reacted to the news of a scholarship kid making it into All Saints. He’d been so fucking pissed. He was tired of dealing with charity cases like they were special or something.

I knew Heather was highly intelligent. She aced every single one of her classes and was constantly in the library. No one stood a chance in getting rid of her.

“You need to leave. This doesn’t concern you,” I said.

Sian hadn’t been paying me attention, but after I finished talking to her friend, she spun around in her seat and glared at me. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that. You got a problem with this, you take it out on me. She has done nothing wrong. You want to know why I rejected that bullshit rose, take a look in the goddamn mirror. Come on, Heather. We’re out of here.”