Lucas’ friend tilts his head at me. I purse my lips and flip my hastily done braid over my shoulder.
Keep quiet, Gem.
“You’re new, right?” The grin Lucas shoots me is all predatory. “Alec is good about introducing himself around. But not you, huh?”
“I’m Devlin.” The smoker with the fancy car offers his hand to shake.
I grant him a tight smile and don’t take it. Lucas watches us. I can almost feel the press of his eyes skating across my skin.
“This is the part where you give us your name, sweetheart.”
Lucas takes a step toward me when I don’t answer.
“Gemma. Her name’s Gemma.”
I glare at Alec. He shrugs and goes back to ignoring me.
“Gemma,” Lucas murmurs. “Now I know what to call you in my head instead of sexy.” Heat flares in his eyes as he takes another step until his body almost brushes against mine. “Been thinking about you since Friday night. You been thinking about me, sweetheart? Was I in your dreams giving you more?”
My eyes widen at his brazen questions when my brother is right there and he just met me. Well, sort of. Friday doesn’t count.
“Not for a single second,” I lie, glossing over how he was on my mind five minutes ago when I was ranting in my head about his entitled attitude.
Lucas smirks like he can see right through it. He taps my nose with a curled knuckle.
“Guess I’ll have to kiss you again to set you right.”
“Try it.” I show him my teeth. “I’ll bite you harder this time.”
With a sharp inhale Lucas grabs the edge of my skirt in his fist as he maneuvers me back a step until my shoulders hit the rear of my car.
“You’re getting me all riled up. Keep talking like that, babe, and I’ll have to tear into you right now. In front of everyone.”
Protests scream in my rigid body. “Stop it.”
“If they didn’t catch the show on Friday night, they’ll get a rerun. Everyone pulling in will see you begging for it.”
I stare up at him, my face a blank mask. I force every ounce of self confidence and strength I have into it. On the inside my stomach ices over and I prepare to stomp on his foot again.
Is Alec really going to stand by and watch without doing anything?
My throat burns and I clench my jaw. I’m the only person I can rely on to protect myself.
Lucas traces my lower lip. I snap my teeth and he jerks his hand away before I can get him.
A cruel, raspy laugh rolls through him.
“Better watch it, kitten.” Lucas’ eyes bounce back and forth between mine, then they harden. He chucks me under the chin. “Don’t make me get out the spray bottle.”
A growl rumbles through me before I can control my reaction.
I look for an escape, but more people sidle up. It gives me the opportunity to shuffle several steps away from Lucas when the newcomers distract him. He tosses me a quick frown, but his friends demand his attention.
A glance at Alec confirms he’s not even looking our way. Un-fucking-believable.
“Burns! What’s up, brother?” Alec greets.
Alec bumps his knuckles against the guy he called Burns with familiarity and puckers his lips cheekily at the girls. Burns must be on the football team because he’s stacked.
My shoulders tense. This is the crowd I want to avoid most of all. The in crowd.
The crowd I used to belong to, once upon a time.
Remaining quiet as the group talk, I form a new understanding of the dynamic.
I can see it in the way these people act around Lucas. The girls compete for his attention and Burns is poised to take whatever Lucas says as law.
He’s the king around here.
Burns pulls out his phone and he and Lucas crowd around it, the girls elbowing each other to stand next to Lucas. Tinny moans drift from the phone’s speakers and I roll my eyes. Lucas tosses me a smug look as his buddy high fives him.
“What a slut,” one girl whines as she bats her eyelashes at Lucas.
Lucas laughs. “Maybe that’s what I like.”
His eyes fall on me again.
Whatever.
“That’s Bishop’s spot you parked in, you know.”
I suck in a surprised breath.
Devlin is close to my back, able to loom over my shoulder with his height. Like a creep, he uses this advantage to intimidate me.
I narrow my eyes and take a pointed step away from him. The heat of Lucas’ gaze bores into my skin again, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of turning his way. Does he think he has some claim over me because of that kiss?
He’s probably the caveman type that thinks that’s as good as peeing on me to mark his territory. My nose wrinkles at the thought. Fucking gross.
“I don’t see the name Bishop on it. Or any of the spots.” I raise an eyebrow and shrug. “I guess he should’ve gotten here earlier if he wanted prime parking close to the steps.”
Devlin considers me for a beat before he laughs. The amusement chases away the shadows that crowd his face and gives him a more boyish look.
“That’s fair.” Devlin stomps on his cigarette and blows smoke away from my face. “If he gives you shit, tell him Lucas said you could park there.”
“If this Bishop gives me shit, I’ll handle it myself.” I cross my arms and tip my chin up. “I’m a big girl like that. I don’t need the boys to tell me what I can and can’t do.”
Devlin’s eyes move up and down my body, lingering on my gray tights, and his playful smirk grows. “Yeah, I bet, baby.”
Something over my shoulder makes his eyes widen slightly. He shuffles back, tucking his hands into his pockets. I turn, prepared to thank Alec for getting his shitty new friends to back off, but it’s not my brother who glares at Devlin.
It’s Lucas.
My stomach drops.
The people surrounding Lucas mess around with each other and talk about their weekends, but his fierce blue eyes are glued to me.
I’m done with this.
Ducking into the car, I grab my leather jacket from the backseat along with my camera bag that doubles as my school bag. Eager to put Lucas and his friends behind me, I flip the strap over my head and hurry along.
On the way, I toss the keys to Alec and nod to him. “Later.”
When I reach the top of the stairs, I grit my teeth and cast a glance down at the parking lot.
I watch from afar, where I’m comfortable at a distance from the king’s court. I need to avoid his radar if I’m going to white-knuckle my way through my last year of high school.
If I make a wrong move around him, he’ll throw me in the proverbial high school gallows.
One more year and then I’m free to pursue my dreams. I pat my camera bag and head into school.
In theory, it should be easy to avoid Lucas’ attention. He doesn’t have any real interest in me, so he’ll get bored and forget about this weekend in a few days when the next shiny thing draws him in.
I know his type. Intimately.
Six
Gemma
Adjusting to the new school environment is still a process.
At least my parents didn’t take me out of one school in the middle of the year and toss me in another this time. That was rougher to get used to.