Chapter 6
6
C arly hadn’t been lying when she said her friends had shunned her after whatever went down with Nate. I blissfully hadn’t run into him or his pathetic little friends all week, but I’d had plenty of opportunity to see how Carly’s ex-friends treated her.
It was their loss, honestly. She was awesome, and if she hadn’t been ostracized, I probably never would have had the opportunity to become her friend.
For the most part, it was snide comments and nasty whispers behind her back that I couldn’t help but hear. Which meant Carly heard them too, even if she pretended not to. My initial instinct was to lash out and correct the behavior, but after entering into a couple of verbal sparring matches with girls I’d never laid eyes on before, Carly asked me to please ignore the whole situation.
It didn’t sit right, but I bit my tongue for the next couple of days…until I couldn’t any longer.
The whole mess started on Friday morning when Carly and I shared a Political History seminar together, along with one of her biggest tormentors. Jade was the best friend of Paige—Nate’s actual girlfriend—and a raging bitch on the best of days.
Friday morning, though, she was in fine fucking form. Throughout the whole seminar, she found every opportunity to toss insults at Carly, calling her a slut in the same breath as she flirted with the handsome young professor. It blew my mind how she could possibly hope to retain the class content and learn when she was so preoccupied with her hatred of another woman, but somehow she was managing.
“Ash,” Carly warned when I started gripping my pen as if it were a weapon. “Leave it. She’ll get bored eventually.”
I rolled my eyes, inclined to disagree, but tried to stop imagining what noise Jade would make if I stabbed her with my pen. In fairness, it’d probably snap in half before actually hurting her, but it always worked in movies…a girl could dream.
“Have you got any plans tonight?” Carly asked after the seminar finished. We were making our way out of the building, on our way to the Dancing Goats for coffee before we each needed to head to different classes. “First Friday night at Nevaeh, gonna hit up the party by Lake Prosper?”
“What party?” I asked, yawning. I’d stayed up late, reading over my notes from the first couple of days and letting the information sink in a bit deeper. At least two professors had hinted at the prospect of quizzes, and I wanted to be ready.
Carly sighed. “It’s a Nevaeh tradition. First weekend of the year there’s a huge party on the west bank of Lake Prosper. Faculty claim they know nothing about it, and it’s not permitted since so many students are under twenty-one, but there’s no way that students are pulling it off without help.”
I shrugged. “Not really my scene.” And if it was such a big deal, then there would be no avoiding Nate. Or Heath. Dickheads .
“I hope you don’t think you’re going, slut ,” Jade spat from behind us, making me turn to glare her way. “No one wants you there, and if Paige sees you drooling all over Nate again, she’ll probably drown you in the lake.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I snapped, my patience worn way too thin. “It’s one thing to call Carly nasty names in class when you’re supposed to be learning, but threats of physical harm are a step too far. Mind your business, Jade.”
Her lip just curled in a sneer. “Who the fuck are you to talk to me like that? You aren’t one of us.” She scoffed like she thought she was royalty or some shit.
“And thank fuck I’m not,” I retorted, shaking my head. “I thought this kind of bullying was left behind in high school. You’re an adult, Jade. Start acting like one.”
Silly me for thinking she would do as she was told. I turned my back on her, linking my arm through Carly’s to continue on our path toward coffee, but Jade had other ideas. A hard shove in the middle of my back sent me reeling, but I managed to catch my balance before I ate pavement.
Fury and outrage flooded through me and I saw red.
“Ash, don’t!” Carly yelped as I spun and launched at Jade. It was too late, though, I’d already committed to my tackle and a split second later I had that smug, cruel-tongued bitch face down on the grass beside the path.
I was no fighter, but neither was she, and I had the element of surprise. She didn’t stand a chance as I sat across her back and grabbed a handful of her dark hair. I hadn’t really hurt her. I’d just shocked her more than anything. Bruised her ego. But the way she hollered made out like I was stabbing her or something.
“Holy shit, shut up! ” I exclaimed, but before I could climb off her, a pair of huge hands clasped my waist and lifted me clear off the shrieking girl.
Those hands definitely didn’t belong to Carly.
Nope, there was Carly, pale and staring in shock and not holding me off the ground with big, tanned hands around my waist.
“Shut the fuck up, Jade,” a British-accented man barked, and I stiffened. More than I already was, which I hadn’t known was possible. “Get off the ground. You’re an embarrassment to the DBs, carrying on like that.”
Two bright spots of color bloomed in Carly’s cheeks and she shot me a pleading look. If only I knew what it was she was asking me to do…or not do? Fuck if I knew.
Jade had shut up real quick and scrambled to her feet with wide eyes. “Carter! What, um, how are you?”
Nate’s bestie just grunted, placing me down so close that I ended up standing on his shoes, and when I tried to move away, he held me tighter. “I’m irritated, Jade, that’s how I am. Get the fuck out of here and stop picking fights with my little Spark.”
I couldn’t see Carter with my back to his chest, but the derision in his tone left no room for disagreement. Jade pouted but dusted herself off and did as she was told.
“You too, Carly,” Carter snapped. “I need a moment alone with the new girl to teach her some manners.”
Fear and anxiety flooded through me, and I tried to wrestle out of his grip. All I achieved, though, was somehow ending up with my arms trapped where a moment ago they’d been free. Fucking hell, what was he, part octopus?
“Let me go,” I growled, remembering I had a voice.
He chuckled, low and cold. “Not a chance, Spark. I gave you an order, Carly. Are you refusing to comply?”
My new friend winced, her face full of apology and regret. “Ash…” She shook her head. “I, ugh, Carter, I can tell her the rules. Can you just let her go? We have a class and?—”
“No, you don’t. You just finished Political History together and you’ve got a thirty-minute break before you have Ancient Architecture and Spark here is due at Essex Hall for Philosophy.”
His knowledge of our schedule shocked me speechless. How did he know that? Why?
Carly looked scared. Downright terrified.
“Go on ahead,” I told her, keeping my own voice confident and unbothered. “Order my coffee and I’ll meet you there, okay? I’m sure whatever Carson needs to tell me, it will be quick and polite.”
He just chuckled at my deliberate mistake on his name. Well…if he couldn’t use mine, why should I use his?
Carly bit her lip nervously, her eyes darting from me to my looming captor and back again, torn.
“Go on, Carly,” Carter purred. “You really don’t want to get on my bad side so early in the year, do you?”
I met her eyes and gave her a nod, reassuring her that I would be just fine if she left. I definitely didn’t need to go dragging her into whatever fictional grudge Nate’s friends seemed to have against me, not when she was already dealing with her own crap.
She gave a pained sigh, then nodded and reluctantly walked away from us.
“Perfect. Now I have you all alone,” Carter murmured in my ear, making me shiver. I wasn’t an idiot; I knew perfectly how dangerous this situation could end up since Carter held a definite physical advantage.
And yet, I couldn’t stop running my mouth. Call it a defense mechanism.
“Oh yay, does this mean you’re gonna make up your own bullshit story about fucking me so your bros don’t make fun of you for being rejected?”
He laughed again, and I hated that I liked the sound of his laugh. It was oddly infectious and shockingly flirtatious. With my feet still on top of his sneakers, he took two steps off the path and spun me around until my back was against the side of the building.
Now I could see him and he was just as handsome as I remembered from the wedding. Maybe more, since he wore a black T-shirt that did sinful things for his thick biceps wrapped in tattoo ink.
Shit. Why were the pretty ones always so personality-defective?
“That’s cute,” he commented, keeping one hand on my waist as he leaned the other against the wall. “Six grand is a lot of money for nothing to happen, Spark. Maybe you didn’t fuck him…but you did something. I bet there was even a spark between you two.”
My face flamed. Heath had said that…but it was right after I rejected him. I guess his version of events was dramatically different.
“See? Your guilty face says it all. Listen, I’m not judging. Chicks have sucked his dick for a whole lot less money, you know?” His lips curled in a smile, the tip of his tongue running over his teeth.
I shook my head, stubbornly refusing to be seduced by his mere closeness—it may have been a while since I’d gotten any—I would never admit that kiss with his friend was the hottest thing I’d had happen in the last four months—but I wasn’t going to cave due to hotness when it was so evil. “No, Carlos , I don’t know. Now did you have something you wanted to tell me or were you just fishing for dirt?”
His oddly dark blue gaze locked on mine for a moment, thoughtful, then he nodded and eased back a slight distance. His hand remained on my waist, hot and heavy, but at least I could breathe a touch easier.
“You can’t pull that shit with Jade again. Not in public, anyway.” He pursed his lips like there was something more to add but decided not to.
I narrowed my eyes. “She fucking started it, and who the hell made you hall monitor?”
He blinked a couple of times, then grinned. “You’ve got a bad attitude for a girl who just got her golden ticket to a brighter future, you know that?”
“Oh no!” I gasped dramatically, pressing my hand to my mouth. “Callum Buckingham the Fourth thinks I have a bad attitude? Whatever will I do? Gosh, this will make me lose sleep, for sure.”
That sexy grin spread wider on his lips. Did nothing get under his skin? “Cute. But I’m serious about this. Next time you want to start a bitch fight, make sure no one is around to witness it.”
I frowned, hearing the serious undertone. “Or what?”
His brows arched. “Or disciplinary action will have to be taken.” He started to push off the wall, then gave me a thoughtful look. “If you really wanted to wrestle Jade, I could line up a pool of Jell-O and some string bikinis. Just say the word, Spark, I’ll sort you out.” With a cheeky wink, he released me and swaggered away with way too much confidence.
Sleazy fuck, of course he had to suggest that .
I rubbed the spot on my waist where he’d had his hand and bit my lip as I watched him disappear around the corner. Something about his warning gave me chills, because I didn’t believe for a moment he meant discipline by the university staff.
Why the fuck did that make me so curious ?