Chapter One
Rygaard
Junior Year
“Hey look, fellas… fresh meat!” Paul, one of the guys on the football team, calls out as a group of freshmen shuffle past.
The way they huddle together, eyes wide and unsure, makes me want to laugh. Baby faces, trembling hands. Easy targets. But among them is Presley, Rafe’s little sister. And unlike the rest, she’s not looking at the floor. She’s looking straight ahead.
That won’t do.
“Hey, guys, what do we do with fresh meat?” I ask, loud enough to stop them in their tracks. Eyes drop to the ground… all except hers.
Perfect.
“Hey, freshmen,” I call out, locking eyes with Presley. “Get over here.”
She folds her arms like she’s unfazed. Bold move.
The guys around me whistle and hoot. “I don’t think she heard you, Ry,” Paul grins, slinging an arm over my shoulder.
Switching to my serious tone, I bark, “Now, freshman!” Presley rolls her eyes but steps forward, weaving past her classmates. Defiant. I like that.
“That’s more like it.”
“What do you think you’re doing, Rygaard?” she snaps.
Like she has the right to talk to me like that.
“Speak when you’re spoken to, freshman.” I step toward her, just enough to make her back up. “For the next two weeks, you and your little friends are carrying our books and doing our homework. Got it?”
Her voice is ice. “No.”
I blink. “No?”
Right on cue, Rafe steps up beside me. “What’s up, Ry?”
“Just showing the newbies how things work around here.”
Presley turns to her brother, furious. “Are you seriously letting him do this?”
Rafe shrugs like it’s nothing. “Sorry, sis. Ry’s right. All newbies have to learn the rules.” He drops his backpack at her feet and ruffles her hair like he’s proud. “Pick it up, Presley.”
She gapes at him, a scowl forming. “No,” she grits out. “You can’t make me. None of you can. So stop wasting my time with your immature bullshit and move.”
She turns her back to me.
Mistake number one.
Mistake number two? Thinking just because she’s Rafe’s little sister earns her any favors. “Don’t you fucking take another step, Presley,” I growl.
She freezes.
“Just because you’re Rafe’s little sister doesn’t mean shit to me. Pick up the backpack, or I’ll make sure every day you spend here is hell.”
She scans the crowd, gauging her audience. Agatha, her best friend, gives her a tiny nod toward the bag.
Slowly, Presley bends down and slings the backpack over her shoulder.
“You happy now?” she spits. “You humiliated me in front of everyone.”
I grin. “Everyone? This isn’t even half the school. But by the end of the day? Yeah… everyone will know your name.”
She mutters something under her breath, just for me.
“Fuck you, Rafe.”
“You wish, Princess.”
I’d always treated her like the little sister I never wanted, ruffling feathers, giving her shit the second she was old enough to take it.
Like now.
Now that she’s in high school? She better be ready for whatever comes. Whether it's from me… or someone worse.
She shoulder-checks me and I grab her elbow, pulling her in close. I lean into her ear.
“Welcome to hell.”
She shivers.
I smile.
Then I push her away and walk off, not sparing her another look.