CHAPTER TWENTY
Colton — 17 years old
“You have that look in your eyes,” I drawl, watching Maddox watch Lila. He can’t seem to take his eyes off her whenever they’re in the same space. “You’re plotting something in your head.”
He smirks. “Damn right.”
Lila Garcia is Maddox Coulter’s new obsession.
“Another prank?” I raise an eyebrow in question. Maddox and Lila have a relationship that I will never understand. They hate each other, but not really. They are enemies, but not really. Maddox wants entertainment and he found that in Lila.
And Lila is as fierce as she is sassy. My best friend can be a pain in the ass, and he’s been mindlessly provoking her. But she’s not shying away from his douchebaggery.
Lila is in this game as much as he is. And so, they have declared war on each other. A prank war. It’s silly, but not going to lie, it’s amusing to watch them “fight.”
Last week, she put itching powder in his pants and Maddox was forced to quit football practice in the middle. He was royally pissed . She’s smart and creative with her pranks, I have to give her that much. I’ve never seen Maddox so enraptured by another girl before. But she’s got his undivided attention.
I like Lila. She’s fun and she’s feisty. The perfect girl to put up with Maddox’s assholery.
I personally think they should just jump in bed together and get that sexual tension over with. Everyone can see it, so I don’t know why they are still fighting and not fucking already.
Maybe the pranks are foreplay?
But damn, it’s been six weeks of foreplay now. The chemistry is palpable. It makes me wonder how long they will last before they succumb to the tension between them.
“The haunted house,” Maddox says, his eyes still on Lila. Her ass, specifically.
She walks into the food line and waits. Riley is nowhere to be found. Hmm, interesting. They are always together. I wonder where the little wallflower has run off to.
“What about the haunted house?” I ask curiously.
Every Halloween, Berkshire Academy builds its own “haunted house” on the school grounds. It was a tradition that started a decade ago, and to this day, we still honor it. The haunted house is not child’s play. The student committee really goes all out and turns the gym, classrooms and hallways into the perfect nightmarish place. It’s our favorite event at Berkshire Academy and everyone is hyped for it.
Maddox rubs his chin, trying to hide his arrogant smirk but failing. “I’ll pull my next prank there. It’ll be payback for that damn itching powder she put in my pants.”
“What exactly is this prank going to be?”
Maddox grins with a dangerous glint in his blue eyes. I know that whatever he’s about to say, I’m going to like it a whole lot. He’s an adrenaline junkie, just like me. And he’s set on terrorizing Lila.
He leans closer and whispers his plan to me. And the more I hear about it, the more I approve of his sick idea. At the haunted house, his focus will be on Lila and mine…
Well, I have my little wallflower to play with.
Almost as if Maddox can hear my thoughts, he quirks an eyebrow in question. “So, what’s your deal with Riley?”
Now that Maddox has posed the question — I don’t know.
Maybe…
I don’t like how yellow her hair is. The color is too vibrant on her — she is too pretty to be the spawn of Thomas Johnson.
I don’t like how she smiles. There’s a softness in her that pisses me off.
I don’t like how she looks at Grayson with stars in her eyes. What’s there to like about that nerd? He’s nothing interesting. The only reason he’s here, at Berkshire Academy, is because he got adopted by the Hales. Otherwise, he’d still be trailer trash.
And I don’t like the calmness that resides in her.
Riley Johnson went from being Miss Little Popular and a Pageant Queen to a hopeless wallflower. With withered petals and broken thorns.
She’s too quiet, too calm, too docile — I want to ruffle her feathers.
I want her hate and her fury.
I want to see the fire in her eyes, because her poison feeds the venom in my heart.
I want to see what Riley is truly capable of. Other than this docile version of her. I see her vulnerability, but who is she beyond that person?
So, that’s my deal with Riley. But I don’t tell Maddox that.
I lean back in my chair, so I’m only balancing on the rear two legs. “She’s fun to play with,” I tell him, which is partly the truth.
“She’s a Johnson,” Maddox reminds me carefully. “Your father will disown you if he finds you hung up on Thomas’s daughter. Don’t get too attached.”
Attached? To Riley?
I can’t help but laugh. “Won’t be happening. She’s too… quiet for me.” Quiet and boring .
Maddox stares at me, his blue eyes darkening with suspicion. I don’t know what he sees on my face that convinces him, but he finally nods in satisfaction. “So, tomorrow? Haunted house. I’ll get Lila and you’ll get Riley.”
My lips twitch with a smirk. Oh, fuck yeah.
***
The place is pitch black as Maddox and I wait right outside the haunted house’s exit. We’re both sporting a LED mask, finding our faces. The type of mask you’d see in the Purge movies. Maddox is the one who came up with the idea. And I can’t lie, the masks go perfectly with his sick plan. After all, we are set on terrorizing our little hostages.
I see her the moment she exits the building. Her blonde hair is tied up in a messy bun, and she’s wearing a wine-colored mini dress with a black leather jacket and knee-high boots.
Riley takes a deep breath before she giggles, bumping her elbow into Lila’s hip. “You’re spooked,” she teases.
Lila lands a soft punch on Riley’s arm. “Shut up,” Lila says grumpily. She does look spooked. Lila takes in several ragged breaths, and she presses a hand over her heaving chest.
I hear the screams inside from the other visitors. This place is…creepy. But both Maddox and I are adrenaline junkies. We love shit like this.
Can’t say the same for Riley and Lila though.
My attention slides over to Maddox. He nods, motioning for me to move forward. Time to set his plan into action. I unfold myself from my position and get to my feet, walking out of the shadows.
I move behind Riley and Lila notices me first. Her smile dies and her eyes widen in alarm. She doesn’t realize that Maddox is behind her, but I know the moment Riley sees him. Her body tenses and she gasps out loud, her shock evident in the tiny sounds she makes. Both girls reach out for each other, almost protectively, but they are too late.
I reach out toward Riley and grab her by the waist. She lets out a terrifying scream as I spin her toward me. She doesn’t have a chance to take a look at my masked face before I’m hoisting her over my shoulder. Maddox does the same with Lila, and then he’s carrying his captive away.
Riley lies there, hanging upside down over my shoulder as I do the same, going in the opposite direction. My little hostage doesn’t stop screaming though. “Let me go!” she bellows, her words choked with horror as she claws my back. “Oh my God! Please don’t kill me!”
Kill her? She does have a creative imagination; I have to give her that.
Yeah, there’s no killing happening tonight, I’m just gonna have a little fun terrorizing the little wallflower. I wonder if her eyes will look as pretty when they’re filled with fear.
And then it makes me wonder what her tears would taste like. I’m sure they would taste of salt, pain and despair. It would taste like the wreckage that is of her soul.
And I think I’d like that.
To taste her…and her tears.
Riley is wiggling so much that she starts slipping down my back. “Jesus, stop fucking moving so much.” She’ll break her goddamn neck if she falls.
I barely make it across the field, before I am forced to stop next to the new and unused dumpsters that the school has stacked up against the concrete walls of the building.
When Riley’s wiggling intensifies, I have no choice but to drop to the ground, to save her from falling and snapping her damn neck in half. Fuck, she’s trouble.
She’s still in my arms, and I adjust her on my lap. “Stop moving,” I hiss, pinning her arms between our chests when she tries to use her tiny fists to punch me.
Riley opens her eyes and she takes one look at my masked face before her horrifying wails pierce the air. Ah, for fuck’s sake. Everyone will hear her screaming and come running any second now. “ Stop ,” I growl, harsh enough that she flinches and sucks back the scream in her throat.
Her struggling ceases but her face crumples, fear etched all over her expression. “W-who are y-you?” she stutters shakily.
I grin behind the mask. “Who do you think I am?”
Her brows furrow, and I know she’s thinking of the familiarity of my voice. Her body is still tense, and she’s still too frightened to think straight.
Aw, poor little wallflower. Let’s give her a break.
I reach up and remove my mask, dropping it beside us on the ground.
Her breathing stutters, and her wide, shocked eyes sweep over my face, taking me in. When she realizes just who her captor is, Riley’s expression changes from fear to wild fury. Ah, there’s the fire. The poison in her eyes. The one that feeds the bitterness in me.
“You,” she accuses, her voice brittle and rough from all the screaming she had just done. “You fucking asshole! How dare you ?”
“How dare me?” I slowly cock my head to the side, watching her as the fury rolls off her in maddening waves. “How could I not? When you’re this entertaining…Anger suits you, nemesis. And it makes me think that only I get to see this side of you. Whether you want to admit it or not.”
I bring the worst out of Riley Johnson.
But…maybe her anger is the best of her. Her fury is real. It’s not fake, it’s not an illusion, and it’s not the pretty mask she wears everyday.
Riley can deny it as much as she wants. But this side of her…is her truth.
And only I get to see it.
The rapid rise and fall of her chest diverts my attention to her tits. She’s got enough to fill my hands and more. But my focus is cut short when Riley starts struggling again. “You are such a jerk,” she hisses in my face. Her tiny fists slam into my chest. “Let me go. Let me go! LET ME GO!” Her voice rises with every word, until she’s screaming again.
I do a quick sweep over our surroundings, trying to see if she’s caught anyone's attention with all her screeching. When I see that we are still alone, I grip her wrists and pin her to my chest. “Calm the fuck down, Riley. I’m not hurting you, so stop with the rioting.”
My words have the opposite effect. She goes absolutely ballistic on me. Her brown eyes are enraged and her lips curl in absolute disdain. “I hate you!”
My breath lodges in my throat. “Shut up.”
“Let me go, jerk! I hate you,” she shrieks louder. “I HATE Y—
I slam my mouth over hers, silencing her screams and swallowing her words.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Riley tenses in my arms, and I feel her silent gasp against my lips.
I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know why I fucking kissed her.
But the moment our lips touch, the moment I have my first taste of Riley Johnson — I physically can’t pull away. I can’t stop.
She tastes like clementines.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Her eyes flare with shock and…confusion. Her lips part, and a soft whimper escapes her throat. Her balled fists come to my shoulders, as if to push me away, but she doesn’t.
I lick the seams of her lips, testing her resistance, but Riley opens up for me.
Another whimper.
Her chest heaves.
There’s a dazed look in her eyes. Her lips move tentatively against mine, confused and inexperienced. Her fingers dig into the muscles of my shoulders.
Somehow, one kiss turns into more.
Our mingling breaths.
Our lips seeking out each other for more.
Our hearts thudding to the same perplexing rhythm.
My cock thickens in my jeans.
Riley Johnson is a complicated paradox. Together, we are water and fire. We don’t mix; we never will. Our pieces don’t fit together.
And I just made the gravest mistake of my life.