8. Talon
Talon
Did I just make Cin enemy number one around here? Yes.
Am I ready to see what she’s made of? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Do I care what the other kids have planned? Not even remotely.
All I know is the spark in her eyes signaled challenge, and I’m always down for a good challenge.
I’ll sit by while everyone breaks her into little pieces for my ‘Fish Boy’ food. She’ll find out soon enough how petty girls our age can be. Even though I’ve never dated any of them, they have this idea that I’m fixable. That whatever makes me an asshole can be erased and I’ll become their personal arm candy.
Not hardly.
Most of the girls here are looking to lock one of the four of us down. Make herself queen bee, self appointed of course. None of us give a shit about the hierarchy. We just want to graduate, fuck bitches, and move on.
Personally I’m ready to get the fuck out of here, and back to Gravity Hill.
Tapping the app on my phone to unlock my door, I step in and pack my swim bag. I shove the essentials and gear I need unceremoniously into the bag, and nearly make it to the door before my twin saunters in with Gemma.
I don’t care if Toby fucks her, but I do care that he brought her here .
“Toby,” I warn, voice growly and sharp, “rules.”
He scoffs and pulls Gemma in by their interlocked hands. I pull the door shut, rattling it on its hinges, so no one can hear the yelling that’s about to ensue.
“Save it,” Toby throws up a hand silencing my thundering rage, “we aren’t staying. Gemma has something she wants to tell you.”
The blonde bitch stays close to Toby as she begins speaking in a mousy tone that grates my nerves. I don’t know how Toby stays so close with her.
“Cin and Cody aren’t together,” she chances a look my way, but quickly changes her mind and looks up at Toby. He nods and she continues, “she’s also a virgin.”
A virgin, how? All the girls here are hornier than rabbits, I’m practically a nun compared to them. But a virgin?
“Who told you that?” I spit, unwilling to believe it if it didn’t come straight from the horse's mouth.
“Cody,” she drags out his name, as if it makes a difference.
I snort, “okay detective barbie, and did he also tell you he’s saving himself for marriage too?”
Shaking my head I turn to the door, twisting the knob to leave when she mutters again.
“Uh, not exactly?”
I laugh, I know she’s not about to tell me that Cody Platts is a virgin.
“He said, ‘Cin will be my wife, and if any harm comes to her while she’s here, I’ll make sure they pay in blood.’”
My brows rise with her last few words, interesting.
“What were you talking to him about, exactly?”
She looks down at her feet, twisting her fingers with Toby’s. “Cody and I were partnered up for Mr. Demus’s calculus project this year, so I figured I’d get to know him, and her. She’s my neighbor and she doesn’t have any friends...”
Holding up my hand palm out, I stop her, “what are you thinking, Tobs?”
He looks down at Gemma and whispers something I can’t hear. She looks between us one more time before she nods and moves to leave.
The door clicks shut and Toby sighs, “I know how you feel about women, but Tal, something isn’t right with Cody.”
“Cody? That’s who you think isn’t right?”
“Why would it be Cin? You barely have anything on her, other than her real name is Cinnamon, which doesn’t make her a bad guy. It makes her mother an asshole.”
Chewing on the inside of my cheek so I won’t say anything stupid, I think.
“He said ‘Cin will be my wife’ as if he has a reason to believe there is no possibility that it won’t happen,” Toby reminds me, “my gut says something doesn’t add up.”
“You’re worried about a money grabbing whore’s offspring? Toby…”
“Don’t Talon, I don’t know what she did to you, and I honestly don’t care. If Diego finds out anything else about her, I want to know too.”
I scoff, “why would I tell you anything now that you’re acting like her fairy fucking godmother.”
“You forget I can talk to Diego just as easily as you can,” he snorts, “I think you should ease up on her. Especially since word is, you called her ‘fish food’ in the dining hall.”
Opting not to reply, I shake my head and leave. Pulling the door closed harder than I need to. Toby knows better than to get in my way when I want something, so I hope for his sake he forgets about Cinnamon.
Practice is already underway when I arrive at the gym building, the large structure is across campus, tucked away behind the cafe. Surrounded by the tall trees it would be hard to find if you didn't know what you were looking for.
My phone rings, but I ignore it. If it’s Diego with more information, it can wait, and if it’s anyone else they can fuck off. I hate being late, and even worse because of her.
Solely focusing in on what coach is saying is the only thing I care about at the moment. Quickly changing out of my clothes and tugging up the spandex material that clings to my fucking skin, I rush out of the locker room and immediately spot coach.
He nods, pissed, but unwilling to hand me my ass.
Good, I already plan on taking a cold shower to remind myself why I’m here, swimming when I could be home with my fucking family learning things that I’ll actually use one day.
Coach blows his whistle the second I get up on the starting block. My muscles tense and I fly off the block, cutting into the water and holding my breath. When I emerge a few feet away, I immediately start kicking and rotating my arms.
The water is the perfect temp, which only makes me push harder, and I twist, placing my feet on the tiled wall to push off and propel myself further. Zipping through the water as fast as I can pushes my lungs and muscles in the most pleasurable way.
Moving is the only way I can stop my mind from straying to more nefarious things. Like how I’m going to get my little spice to leave, forget Ravard Prep exists, and never look back.
My hands hit the tiles and I stay under the water for a few minutes longer, closing my eyes and listening to the bubbles that fill my ears. Splashes from the other swimmers threaten to push me out sooner than I want and I let some air out of my lungs.
When I can no longer stay under the surface, I lift myself out of the pool and sit beside the block, waiting on coach to come over and tell me my time. He stays over on one of the other lanes, eyeing me every few seconds with disapproval.
I would laugh, but that would make him angrier. While I appreciate his tolerance for me, I would hate to embarrass him if he were to raise his voice at me. Coach is one of the only people outside of my family that I semi-like.
He walks over after Cody runs his lap and squats, “good run, Talon.”
“Thanks.”
He sighs and stands, “new record, first run, got something on your mind?”
I twist to look at him, knowing the girls on the opposite lanes are staring at my chest and the way it rises with my breaths. The attention isn’t what I look for, but I’m aware it’s there all the same.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I answer him.
He runs a hand down his face and nods, stress and age have him wrinkled and gray. But he’s traditionally handsome, unmarried, and boring. His life consists of making athletes better, and a sad dinner at home, alone.
“Practice is important, no matter who you are,” he leaves me with that and I plunge back into the pool to swim a few more laps. I have to get the burn in my muscles to stay longer than a few minutes when I get out.
The cold shower does what I need it to do and I leave the gym to a dark sky. Stars dot the sky as I make my way through the forest toward the campus cafe. Henry is locking the building with a to-go cup of what I hope is tea.
He still doesn’t speak as I take the offered cup and we walk to the dorm.
“I don’t understand why y’all are so invested in this girl,” I break the silence as we enter our joint suite and Henry stops.
Toby is in his bed, books open, tapping on his laptop, but he stops at our arrival.
“Honestly,” I say, “none of you know her, and yet, you aren’t speaking to me; Toby thinks she’s in some sort of domestic violence situation and Banks thinks…”
“That Talon bit off more than he can chew with this girl,” Banks says laughing and stepping through the doorway that leads to their rooms.
“She did put you on your ass,” Henry pipes up and I tilt my head, “Banks sent me a video.”
Of course he did.
“Why her?” Banks says.
“Because she’s pretending to fit in where she doesn’t belong,” I tell them, “and she’s a bitch.”
“And you’re an asshole, Tal, but we love you,” Henry replies.
I look at Toby who's been quiet while we’ve been talking. He’s leaned back against his headboard watching as if it’s a tennis match. Eyes bouncing between the three of us.
“I think you might have stepped into something our families will inevitably have to clean up,” Toby says, and we all pause to stare at him.
Digging into her past gave us little to nothing, other than her name and the various places they’ve lived. She doesn’t have a very active life.
“Like what?” I ask.
Toby shrugs and licks his lips, “I don’t know Tal, but I think you need to leave her alone. Forget she exists before she becomes an obsession.”
“I don’t obsess,” I defend.
Banks laughs and Henry looks at me with pitying eyes.
“Whatever, Fish Boy ,” Banks mimics Cinnamon’s nickname for me.
Throwing my bag down, I head for the bathroom while shedding my clothes. I know I just showered, but I need to breathe in some steam and scald my skin before going to sleep.