15. Kaylor
15
KAYLOR
“ I ’ve literally had to wait all day. I can’t wait a second more.” Poppy pouted, looping her arm through mine as we weaved through the crowded halls. With a dramatic gasp, she halted in the middle of the hallway, forcing a group of juniors to swerve around us. “Tell me you weren’t actually sitting on Kreed’s disco stick?” she shrieked, coming to a standstill in the middle of the hall.
I stiffened. Heat crawled up my neck as a few students turned their heads, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
God, can she be any louder?
“Disco stick?” I snorted, giving her a look that I hoped conveyed keep your voice down. Not that it mattered. The whole school, the teachers, and the staff heard about my morning with Kreed. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a chain of texts going out to the parents.
We were on our way out of school, heading back to Stacks for lunch. I needed the fresh air to clear my head.
Poppy waved a dismissive hand. “It was the first thing that popped into my mind. Now stop stalling. The entire school, and I mean the entire school is talking about you and Kreed. Specifically, how you got to see the elusive manhood of Public’s most feared yet wanted guy.”
I groaned. “Most wanted? Please.”
Poppy gave me a look. “Oh, come on. It’s that whole ‘you want what you can’t have’ effect. Kreed’s standoffishness makes him more attractive to, well, everyone. It’s psych 101.”
Make it make sense.
I exhaled sharply. “I didn’t see his dick. I just felt it. Nothing happened between us despite what Kreed implied.” My stomach twisted at the memory of the gym—of the way his words had sliced through me in front of everyone. “He was being an ass this morning, trying to hurt me or teach me a lesson. I don’t know which.”
Maybe both.
Poppy nodded, unsurprised. “Now that sounds like the Kreed I know. How bullish of him to twist the situation around and create a false narrative. They’re always doing shit like that and getting away with it.”
“You mean the Raven Crew?”
“The one and only,” she sighed.
Of course.
Her tone held a knowing edge like she’d seen this play out before. And maybe she had. Maybe Kreed and his band of untouchable assholes had done this to other girls.
And yet…this felt different.
Because the way he looked at me, like he wanted to push me just to see if I’d push back, wasn’t something I imagined.
I swallowed, gripping the strap of my bag tighter. “Despite what I said, we didn’t have sex. He makes me so mad, and I just want to hurt him.”
“Or fuck him,” she added with a twisted smirk.
I stopped dead in my tracks and threw her a withering look. “Definitely not.”
Poppy brushed her hair behind her ears. “I got a front-row seat to the Kaylor and Kreed show this morning. Let me tell you, sparks were flying. I’m surprised I didn’t suffer any burns.”
I scoffed, resuming my pace toward the exit. “It wasn’t like that.”
“It was exactly like that. And I wasn’t the only one who saw it.”
My stomach clenched. Great. Just great.
I barely had time to get my footing at Public, and I’d already been shoved into the spotlight. “God, what a mess.” I blew out a breath, a puff of cold air expelling from my mouth. “I know I only have a few months of school left, and I shouldn’t care what anyone thinks, but this was not how I wanted to start.”
Poppy’s voice softened, just a fraction. “You’re worried about your reputation?”
I hesitated before muttering, “Two days in and I’m already being labeled a slut.”
Her expression darkened, but before she could respond, I pushed forward. “So, no. We didn’t have sex. But…” I trailed off, reluctant.
Because something did happen.
Maybe not physically, but the way Kreed looked at me—the way his smirk curled just enough to make my pulse trip, the way he let me hit him like he wanted to feel it—that was something.
Poppy arched a brow. “But?”
I exhaled sharply, relenting. “But something happened. I don’t know what.”
She studied me, her eyes brimming with understanding. “No one has that much tension without good cause.”
She wasn’t wrong. But I wasn’t about to admit that.
Instead, I gave her a quick, censored rundown of my version of events as we crossed the street. I left out the parts that made my stomach flutter. The parts that made my skin prickle with something that wasn’t entirely anger.
I didn’t care about my reputation as much as I cared about Poppy believing me. Because if I was going to survive Public, I needed someone on my side. And for the first time, I felt like I’d found a friend who actually understood.
Poppy wasn’t Carson or Kenny, but she was someone who got it. She got me.
And she got Kreed.
Which meant she understood exactly how much of a nightmare this whole situation was.
“Holy shit,” she whispered when I finished, opening the door to Stacks for me.
Walking inside, I buried my face in my hands as if that would somehow erase the embarrassment pooling in my chest, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about this morning. Couldn’t stop thinking about him…or Kreed’s dick.
“This is bad.” Poppy’s voice was serious now. “And I’m not talking about you twerking on his junk. I mean, the fact that it got out and now everyone thinks you two did the nasty. Kreed’s little stunt this morning is going to have consequences. A domino effect that’s essentially going to unleash a mob of girls who want to rip you apart.”
I exhaled sharply, following Poppy to the back corner of the diner. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was. The girls here aren’t just protective of what they want. They’re ruthless, and nearly every girl in this school has been trying to get Kreed to notice them. Something you managed to do on day one. That isn’t going to go over well.”
I clenched my jaw. “Fabulous. Just what I need. More problems outside of my control. I swear Kreed has made it his personal mission to ruin me, humiliate me?—”
“Destroy you?” Poppy finished darkly, sliding into the booth.
A chill slithered down my spine as I sat down.
“That’s what the Raven Crew does. They break people. You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last.” She paused. “It’s why they don’t date. Not seriously, anyway.”
My fingers fumbled with the napkin-rolled silverware on the table. “So, he’s never had a girlfriend?”
Poppy let out a sharp laugh, almost manic. “A girlfriend? That’s adorable. Kreed Corvo doesn’t date. Ever. Honestly, I’m not even sure he likes girls, but he isn’t the dating type. There are rumors about him hooking up with both sexes, but who knows what’s true? He’s got to be an alien or something. Nothing else makes sense.”
I wanted to argue, to call her dramatic, but a part of me wondered if she was right. Kreed Corvo didn’t make sense. The way he spoke, the way he acted, it was like he was wired differently.
“I might agree with you.” But did that mean I was semi-attracted to life from another planet? I mean, I hated Kreed, but I could also appreciate beauty even if it didn’t match on the inside.
“So, what was it like?” Poppy asked with an impish glint in her golden eyes.
“Waking up in his lap?” I clarified.
“I was thinking of something more specific and firm.”
I choked. “You want dick details.”
She grinned. “Yes, please. Immediately.”
To save time, we ordered our food and drinks together. “I didn’t see it. I just felt it a little,” I said after the waiter left.
“A little or a lot ?” she wagged her brows.
“Poppy!”
“What?” she exclaimed, batting her thick, black lashes. “You’d only be answering the question the entire Elmwood Public female population is burning to know.”
I lounged back in my seat, rubbing my cold hands together. “If I weren’t concerned with being mobbed, I might be willing to share.”
“Okay, just me. I promise I won’t tell a soul.”
A deep breath filled my lungs. “So…what do I do?”
Poppy tapped her chin. “Start a rumor. Say you’re dating him. Give him a taste of his own medicine.”
I blinked. “You’re joking.”
“I was. But now that I think about it… It could be genius.”
My lips pressed together. The idea was reckless. Stupid. Dangerous. But something about it called to me. If Kreed wanted to screw with my reputation, maybe it was time I played the game, too. “What do I have to lose?”
We were sharing a plate of nachos, which the server placed in the center of the table. Poppy reached for a chip. “Nothing but your soul.”
I met Poppy’s gaze. “Will you help me?”
A slow, wicked smile stretched across her lips. “Thought you’d never ask. And lucky for you, I know exactly where to start. There’s a party this weekend. Kreed will be there.” She popped the cheesy tortilla chip in her mouth.
I went for one loaded with guacamole. “How do you know?”
She crunched on another mouthful. “I have a source.”
Intrigue had my brows raising. “Who?”
She plucked a jalapeno from the plate. “Nash.”
I gaped. “Nash Hart? As in Kreed’s best friend?”
“The one and the same. Public’s star running back. Body sculpted like a god.” She shrugged. “To be honest, everyone knows about Raven Night. It’s the party the crew throws every year on the weekend before the playoff starts. You can only get in by invitation. If you don’t have the mark, you’re not getting in.”
“Do you have the mark?”
“Nash gave it to me.” She tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, but damn, if I wasn’t confused.
My brows furrowed. “Wait. You and Nash?—”
Poppy’s smirk widened. “You’re obsessed with Kreed’s dick. I’m fascinated with Nash’s.”
I had to take a sip of my drink to dislodge the chip stuck in my throat. “Excuse me. You’re dating Nash Hart? And for the record, I never said I was obsessed with any part of Kreed.”
“Dating is a stretch. We hook up sometimes when my brain momentarily forgets what a prick he’s turned into. It’s a mystery even to me.”
“You’re okay with that arrangement?” I learned more and more about Poppy every day.
“To be fair, I don’t want people to know either. We don’t like each other. Not really. And yet, things seem to magically happen when we’re alone and more than often drunk. It’s fucked up.”
“Um, okay. I don’t know how to respond.”
“Just say you’ll come.” A smile touched her lips. “It’ll piss off Kreed and be the perfect setting to start phase one of the Raven takedown.” She dangled the one incentive she knew I wouldn’t be able to resist.
Tendrils of excitement I hadn’t felt in weeks fluttered in my stomach. “Say no more. I’ll be there.”
“Good.” She leaned back in the booth, eyes gleaming in the dim diner light “Let’s make Kreed wish he never fucked with you.”
And for the first time since this whole disaster started… I actually smiled.