Chapter 46 #2
The groan from the Wexley students says it all. But Maddie struts forward like she didn’t just lose half her dignity ten minutes ago. She flips her fake-ass hair and blows a kiss toward the crowd that no one asked for.
Their song starts. And I’ll be honest, it’s actually not bad. Not the train wreck they pulled at Fight Night. They hit some clean moves. Maddie’s got rhythm when she’s not too busy being a raging bitch. I’ll give her that.
But then… bam. The one on her left face plants out of a spin. Straight up wipes out like she stepped in oil. The whole crowd gasps.
“There they are,” I mutter under my breath, sipping from my drink. “The Revenants we know and love.”
Maddie tries to recover but the momentum’s already dead. They finish in formation but it’s tight in that try-hard way. Over-rehearsed. No soul.
The song ends. Silence. A few polite claps. One loud boo from the upper deck. Even Maddie looks like she’s rethinking this whole rematch.
I lean forward in the chair. “I’ll give it a six,” I say casually. “Could’ve been a seven, but clumsy there couldn’t stick the landing.”
The crowd explodes. Ellie nearly falls over laughing. Haley’s already miming the wipeout behind Bella’s back. Bella just shakes her head at me like she’s going to fuck me later for being a menace. God, I hope so. Little Lex could use a fucking release.
“Thank you, Maddie Rae. That was… something.” Knox doesn’t even fake the enthusiasm. “Alright Wolves. Next up, the queens of The Row themselves… Trifecta, you’re up!”
Spotlights flip to red. Bass drops. “I Look Good” by Charlie Boy hits with that filthy Texas drawl and swagger-drenched beat.
And then they appear. Bella in the middle.
Ellie and Haley around her like lethal shadows.
Legs for miles. Hips locked. Eyes deadly.
They launch into this sexy-as-sin hip-hop routine—tight, hot, every move sharpened to perfection.
Hands flying. Legs slicing. Hair whipping.
They switch places on every verse like a synchronized storm.
When the part about throwing the white flag comes on, Bella reaches back and pulls out a white napkin from her shorts. Locks eyes with Maddie Rae and fucking tosses it straight at her.
It floats like a death sentence. My girl. Pure fucking fire.
And just when I think I can’t take more. They come to me. Ellie and Haley flank me first. Ellie plays with my hair, Haley runs her finger up and down my arm.
Bella walks slow. Purposeful. Eyes locked on mine.
Then she climbs onto my lap.
Calm down, Little Lex.
“Are you trying to kill me, baby?” I growl under my breath, barely able to breathe.
She mouths a kiss, rolls her hips just once, then gets up.
“Not fair, baby. Get your ass back here.”
Ellie takes her place on my lap, grinding on me for a few bars.
Then Haley climbs on, locking eyes with me as she arches her back with her hands in my hair.
Jesus Christ, I might actually combust.
“The fuck are you girls doin?”
Haley winks, gets up, and all three of them move off in perfect sync, spinning back into formation for the final run.
The Wolves lose their minds.
Knox is saying something but I can’t even hear it. Those girls didn’t just perform. They declared war and they looked fucking good doing it.
Knox’s voice is finally audible over the crowd, “Okay, Maddie Rae. I hope one of you can sing… because we’re about to mic you up.”
I raise an eyebrow. “This should be good.”
Ok, turns out they can’t sing. Shocker.
Some off-key Britney Spears disaster mixed with breathy dramatics and a lot of awkward arm sways. Maddie’s mini-me tries to riff and ends up sounding like a dying hyena.
“E for effort, Maddie Mini,” I mutter. “And by E, I mean eject.”
The crowd claps out of pity.
“Alright, Bella,” Knox announces, “you’re up, baby.”
Baby? The fuck, Knox? Bestie or not, don’t fucking call her that.
I lean forward in my chair, ready to lose my shit… but then the beat hits. It’s twangy. Southern. Country as hell.
Maddie laughs, that grating fake cackle she does when she thinks she’s won something.
“You realize Bella is literally from the south Maddie?” Haley says pure sass. That shuts her up.
I don’t even know the song. Some country banger that sounds like it was made to blast from a truck at a state fair. I should really listen to their Trifecta playlist more.
Sorry, baby.
But that twang? That smooth-as-whiskey Southern heat in her voice? I’ve never been more mesmerized in my life. Bella belts out some hilarious lines about what women actually want from us guys.
Something about being loved when she’s ugly.
Ugly? Baby, you’re the most beautiful thing in the goddamn world.
She throws in something about bad hair days.
Never you, baby. You’re flawless 24/7. Even in my shirts. Especially in my shirts.
She yeahs and points at the crowd. The crowd yeahs back. She’s eating it up. And I love it. I fucking love it.
She stalks across the stage, teasing and singing to a few other guys.
Do I like it? No.
Do I trust her? With my fucking life.
And fuck me, that final part? Ellie and Haley storm the stage. The three of them break into this country-style line dance shimmy-shake thing. They stomp, they spin, they turn. Bella leads it like she was born to.
Maddie’s smile is gone. Her ego? Dead on arrival.
Mine? Sky-fucking-high.
From across the room, Knox whistles low. “Damn, B. Sometimes I forget you’re from the South. Then you go full southern belle on stage and suddenly I remember.”
Bella flips her hair over her shoulder, smug as hell. “What can I say? Arkansas raised, New York refined.”
“Alright everyone it is officially time for Round Three,” Knox says, dragging it out like a showman. “Lip. Sync. Battle. You know the rules… no skipping verses and for the love of all things unholy, don’t do anything that makes us want to take a damn nap.”
Maddie and her Revs go first. They pick one of Taylor Swift’s songs. Classic. I mean, it’s good. I’ll give them that. Lip sync was on point, dancing’s tight, and the timing’s clean.
Even Bella nods in congratulations. Ellie claps once. Haley flicks a strand of hair off her shoulder like she’s bored but watching.
Knox chimes in over the mic. “Nice job, Maddie. Look at you saving the best for last. See? We Wolves don’t always bite.”
Maddie smiles. Smug little thing.
“Alright, Trifecta, it’s your turn,” Knox says, his voice echoing through The Row. “Give it up for your favorite little Wicked Witches, here to close out the night with one hell of a show.”
The Row boys absolutely lose their shit when Knox says Wicked Witches, like they’ve been waiting for this all damn night. They must know something I don’t.
Knox turns toward Bella. “You ready, trouble?”
She struts toward me, hips swaying, eyes locked on mine like she’s already planning my funeral and my lap dance all in the same breath.
“Oh, I’m ready,” she smiles. “But first, there’s one rule for this song, baby.”
She stops right in front of me, steel-gray eyes locked on mine, her fingers curl around the hem of my shirt. “Take it off, Lex.”
I do what she says without a second thought. Because let’s be honest, when my girl says jump, I ask how fucking high.
The Legacy girls go wild behind her, but I barely hear them. I’m locked on her, that wicked glint in her eyes already telling me I’m about to regret whatever she has planned.
“Ellie, tie him up.”
“The fuck did you just say, baby?” I raise a brow as Ellie moves behind me, already looping my arms with the shirt I just pulled off.
“We can’t have you ruining our dance by grabbing me the second I sit down on your lap, Lex.”
Bella leans in, kisses my forehead like she’s not about to emotionally castrate me in front of over a hundred people.
“So, Ellie’s gonna tie you to this chair, and if you’re good…” she trails off, lips tilting in that dangerous way that always means trouble. “…we might untie you later.”
Oh, I’m gonna fucking explode.
The opening riff of “Shakin’ Hands” by Nickelback hits and the entire Row ignites. This is obviously one of those routines. One that these girls have practiced more than their midterms.
Bella takes lead vocals, Ellie and Haley handling backup. Her eyes on me the entire goddamn time. She looks at me like she owns me.
Spoiler alert: she fucking does.
The choreography’s filthy in the best possible way. The Hollywood pose line? Haley grabs Bella’s tits right in front of me, and I swear to God, Little Lex fucking salutes. Full military-grade stand at attention.
On the first chorus, she struts toward me and drops into my lap like I’m her personal throne. And I’m just sitting here—tied up, losing my fucking mind, and praying I don’t bust in my pants like a sixteen-year-old virgin.
Holy. Fucking. Hell.
My little Wicked Witch of the East grinds once, slow and deep, and I see stars.
“Fuck, baby. I love you so much,” I moan.
She freezes. Just for a breath. Then she smiles like she didn’t hear it, but I know she did. My girl’s good. She doesn’t break character. She just winks and struts off like she didn’t just turn my brain to static.
By the time she lip-syncs the line about skirts being on piles, I’m a goddamn goner, because Jesus Christ, this girl shakes off her jean shorts and reveals a red bikini bottom that makes my dick twitch so hard I almost break the fucking chair. She drops her shorts in my lap and I about lose it.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” I mutter, tugging at my shirt knotted around my arms. “Goddamn baby, untie me right now.”
Bella just shakes her head with that evil little smile. The song hits the next chorus and she’s back on me, hips rolling, making it worse. Or better. I can’t even tell anymore.
My whole body’s vibrating with need. I don’t even know if The Row is still watching. I don’t care. My world starts and ends with her.
Near the end of the song, Ellie and Haley close in. Haley removes Bella’s shorts from my lap. Ellie’s behind me, working the knots loose as Bella lowers herself onto my lap again. Haley strokes my hair, giggling like she’s watching a porno live.
As the lyrics talk about judges and chests, Bella nods and Ellie finally lets go.
My hands snap free and I grab Bella’s throat and drag her down into a kiss that’s pure possession. Tongue, teeth, everything. She wraps her arms around my neck, moans into my mouth, and I lose the last shred of control I had.
I think Ellie and Haley finish the song.
Maybe.
I don’t fucking know.
All I know is I’ve got the girl I love riding my lap, my hands on her body, and a new favorite band.
Nickelback, you dirty Canadian bastards… I owe you one.