“Hayley isn’t lying. I heard you tell her that after you stole her clothes in PE the other day.” April’s lips curved upward. “Did you forget that I was in PE with you, too? Careful, Madeline. You’re burning bridges left and right lately.”

A high-pitched growl left Madeline’s mouth. She looked as if she were ready to pounce on April.

“Get out,” I said calmly.

“You’re making a mistake, Christian.”

I slowly walked over to her like a lion on the prowl. “No, you made a mistake when you tried to play me. I don’t like liars, Madeline. Now get out. It’s my fucking birthday, and seeing your face makes me want to vomit.”

She rolled her eyes and stood back, trying to appear like she wasn’t fazed, but I knew better. I could see right through her; she was all sorts of nervous on the inside. Her words came out rushed. “Funny you say that. You seemed to like my face last time we fucked.”

I tilted my head. “Did I? I could have sworn I took you from behind for that exact reason.”

She gasped softly, her face turning red. People snickered around us, and someone yelled, “Oooh. Burn, baby, burn.”

I leaned down into her personal space, looking her dead in the eye. “What you did was dirty, Madeline. And I never want to get my hands dirty again.” I turned around and walked over to April, claiming her hand in mine. Then, I looked over my shoulder before heading out to the hot tub. “And if you ever fucking mess with Hayley again, you’ll find yourself at Wellington Prep with the accused rapist, and let me tell you, he knows exactly what you did.”

Her mouth opened in shock, and mine almost did, too. Did I just fucking stand up for Hayley in front of everyone?

Eager to erase the moment, I pulled April through the back door, letting it slam behind me. Everyone could see through the thin layer of glass separating us from the rest of the party as I pushed her body up against it and claimed her with my mouth, not even giving a fuck that this wasn’t part of my plan. I meant to use April as a way to push Madeline further into rage, taunting her with an enemy, but now I was taking it a step further because I was desperate to make up for my thoughts of Hayley.

I was infuriated with myself and eager to replace all the images of Hayley I’d subconsciously taken throughout the day and stored away for later. My tongue pushed into April’s warm mouth, her cherry-tasting lips only distracting me for a second. Her jean-clad leg wrapped around my hip, pushing me closer to her center. She moaned out a noise and tangled her fingers through my hair.

Get. Out. Of. My. Head.

I ground my dick against her, needing more pressure—anything to get me to stop thinking. But it didn’t work.

Why did Hayley look so worried when her friend tried to lift her shirt?

I groaned and pushed away from April. I turned my back and walked farther into the autumn night, the leaves crunching underneath my shoes.

“Christian?” she asked, tip-toeing after me. “What happened? Things were just getting good.”

Not good enough.

“There’s something I need to do.” I walked back into the cabin after mumbling a half-assed sorry to April. My chest was heaving, and my hands ached from clenching my fists so tightly.

I ignored everyone who tried to stop me to talk about Madeline and our little show and stepped in front of Ollie, who was doing his best at getting into Bristol's pants for the evening. He grinned when he looked up at me. “Bro, nice show. Madeline stormed out of here faster than Andrews scored that last touchdown.”

“There's something I need to do, and I need your help.”

His grin fell. “What? Right now?” He swept his gaze back and forth between me and Bristol and groaned. “Fine. But only because it’s your fucking birthday.”

He winked at Bristol and then began to follow me out of the kitchen. Once we were through the threshold of the house, I unlocked my car, but he stopped at the last second. “Wait, we’re leaving? We’re leaving your party?”

I ignored the question and opened my door to slide in. “Who is that girl that Hayley always hangs out with?”

Ollie climbed in after me. “The hot redhead? That’s Piper Jacobs. Why?”

I looked over at him, the rumble of my car in the background. “Do you have her number?”

He shook his head. “No, she’s way too uptight for me to pursue. Although, I would love to find out if she’s a natural redhead, if you’re catching my drift.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

I was being unpredictable right now, running on instinct and instinct only. “Find her online. Find out where she is. I need to see Hayley.”

Ollie didn’t move to grab his phone. He didn’t do much of anything but blink.

“What?” I barked. I wished I knew Piper myself; I’d have left Ollie here and hunted her down alone and demanded she tell me what was going on with Hayley.

Tags: S.J. Sylvis English Prep Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net