7. Edge
EDGE
Ninja is already in class when Kade and I arrive.
With the guidance of Professor Hansley, I bet he told her to sit in the only empty chair—the one directly in front of mine, in the last row in the far corner.
There’s no assigned seats, but since class started a few weeks ago, we gravitate to the same ones.
Welcome to psychology, little Ninja.
Her hair is up in a sloppy bun on top of her head.
Thin dark strands fall around her flawless face.
From the second she took off her helmet in the parking lot, she’s been the only thing on my mind the entire fucking day.
She’s hot as fuck without riding a motorcycle, but the blacked-out Ninja between her legs is certainly a nice bonus.
Her blazer is draped over the back of her chair. She rolled the cuffs of her shirt just enough to see the tail of the inked dragon. A dragon. Any doubt I had about who she was this morning vanished the moment I saw her tattoo and her questions about submissions in the gym.
Her posture is tense as she doodles in her notebook and does her best to ignore everyone coming into class. But she’s not getting off that easy with me. I haven’t decided what to do with her yet, but there’s time.
“This should be interesting,” I say, sliding into my seat behind her. Kade sits in the seat next to mine.
Without turning around, she lets out a frustrated breath.
“What’s got you jacked? I did tell you we would see you here.”
She turns around to glare at me. “You’ve got to be kidding.
” The brisk movement sends a light breeze my way.
It’s a mix of sweat from gym class and a light, sweet scent reminiscent of honey and whiskey.
A few more strands of her hair fall to frame her scowl.
Her heated blue eyes are striking and severe.
A quick image crosses my mind, and the thought of her fighting in the ring has my dick twitching in my pants.
Fuck, this girl has no idea what she’s doing to me.
Without even trying, she’s managed to consume every damn one of my senses.
The sleeves of her shirt ride up her forearms, exposing shaded cherry blossoms wrapping around the dragon.
“I assume you’re talking about the seating arrangements.” Almost on its own accord, my hand goes to tuck the loose strands behind her ear. My brain kicks into gear before I go too far, and I think about what I was getting ready to do. Thank fuck, I stopped myself.
“Aren’t you a genius?” she grumbles.
“Well, little Ninja, I hate to break it to you, but we were here first.” She can hardly argue with that.
Her back stiffens, probably because she knows I’m right. “By the way, my name is Kinsley.”
“I know your name. The whole damn campus knows your name. But no, I’m going to stick with little Ninja. It fits you.”
“It’s better than little girl,” she mumbles.
I scoff. “Maybe, maybe not.”
Over her shoulder, I follow the clean lines of her tattoo. The dragon is as delicate and graceful as it is menacing. I don’t think its personality is too far from the little Ninja herself.
I’ve got the next hour to torment her. I don’t have a reason to, except that she challenged me this morning and then again in the gym.
And if there’s anything I hate more, it’s being challenged.
I still can’t believe she beat my fucking time.
Not that I’ll let her know, but it’s impressive as shit and only adds points to her already high tally card.
How the hell she did that, I have no idea.
No one has ever come close to my time except my boys, and then here comes this girl who does it on her first day.
That’s not the thing that fucks with my head, though. What pisses me off the most is that she doesn’t care. She’s not trying to impress anyone here, yet she keeps doing it with her don’t-give-a-shit attitude, an attitude that’s packaged up in a tight, hot ass.
Professor Hansley jumps right into today’s lecture. Ninja’s hand moves at a feverish pace over the page as she takes notes.
Kade elbows me. “I wonder if she has anything else pierced.”
My imagination is excited about where this is going. “You mean besides her eyebrow? Like maybe places that need to have clothes removed to see them?”
Kade nods. He’s usually quiet and keeps to himself, but this girl has even piqued his interest, or my asshole-ish demeanor is finally rubbing off on him.
If I had to guess, though, I’d choose the former.
Ninja seems to have that effect on people, even my best friend.
She makes people curious. At first glance, the guys want to fuck her, and the girls want to hate her.
But after she pulls a stunt like she did this morning, curiosity wins.
You want to know everything about her—and still want to fuck her.
She stretches her neck from side to side. I know she heard our conversation. How could she not? It gives me more satisfaction than it should. I lean back in my chair, stretching out my legs, my boots landing on either side of her desk.
Her gaze drops from Professor Hansley to the floor. Her profile is the only glimpse I get of her before she faces forward.
“Feeling a little caged in?” I tease.
“Since the moment I stepped foot on campus,” she returns.
I chuckle. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Ms. West, Mr. Hunt, is there a problem?” Mr. Hansley interrupts our conversation.
Her head pops up to look at the front of the room.
Almost the entire class whips around in their seats to see what they may have missed.
Fucking pathetic. Since they can’t find a thread of entertainment in their own miserable lives, they latch on to anything they can.
I imagine Ninja’s face reddening, but then again, maybe not.
She’s proven she’s not easily flustered.
“No, we’re fine,” she answers for both of us.
Disappointed they have nothing worth spreading around campus, the class faces the professor again.
I draw my legs in and lean toward her. Her sweet scent, mixed with her musky perfume, clashes with the rebellious attitude radiating from her. That alone should be a warning enough to keep my distance. But I’m more than intrigued and way too curious to stay away.
“Are we fine now?” I whisper into the back of her hair.
The sound of paper being ripped scratches in the quiet room right before the crumpled ball is flung over her shoulder. It lands on my desk.
“A love note, I’m guessing.”
“In your dreams,” she whispers over her shoulder.
Unfolding the bundled mass, I’m again floored at her boldness… or stupidity. As hot as her sassy ass is, I haven’t decided yet which better suits her.
Small, block, precise letters spell out, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!
“Not a chance in hell.” I scoff. Sitting back, I fold the torn piece of paper and tuck it into my pocket.
Catching the last few words from Professor Hansley about an upcoming test, I can’t help the wicked smile playing over my lips.This is going to be fun.
Ninja is on her feet the second class is dismissed. She stuffs her blazer into her backpack, along with her notebook and pen.
“Where are you off to in such a rush?” I ask.
She stops and turns to face me. “Anywhere but here,” she says with a smile.
Internally, I grin at her audacity. It should be a turn-off, but fuck if it’s not.
“Little Ninja,” I call out. This time, she slows but doesn’t stop. “There’s no escaping.”
She doesn’t respond as she picks up her pace and bolts for the exit.
The parking lot is a clusterfuck of people and cars. Some are hanging out, and others head to the dorms. I scan the area, looking for the raven-haired rebel. She stands next to her motorcycle. Gunner and Levi come up behind Kade and me.
“Party at my house,” Gunner says.
Kade punches him in the arm. “It’s Monday, you shit.”
“You need to take your Einstein head out of your ass and realize any day is perfect for a party.” He takes a joint out of the pocket of his blazer.
Gunner flicks the lighter and sets fire to the tip. He inhales, passes the joint to Levi, and then they start humming the same fucking reggae song. I swear those motherfuckers are always in sync.
Tuning them out, I focus on Ninja. She pulls the band out of her hair. Long black waves fall down her back. I imagine curling my fist around the lush bundle, then pulling it down so that she’s forced to look up at me.
I’m yanked from the fantasy as Brielle tucks herself under my arm, draping it over her shoulders.
“Hey, baby, it’s been a shitty day, huh?” she whines.
A few of her friends trail after us as we head to my Jeep. Their giggles and nonsensical chatter are annoying as shit.
“Baby, why are you ignoring me?”
I pull my arm away, trying to do just that.
She’s irritating as hell but puts out whenever I want.
Bastard of a reason to keep her around, but it doesn’t seem to faze her.
She thinks we’re destined to be together forever or some shit.
The problem with her thinking is that we’re not, nor have we ever been, together.
Truth be told, there isn’t much more between us than her pussy and her mouth.
Brielle follows my gaze and huffs out an exasperated breath when she realizes who has my attention. “And there’s the cause of this shitty-ass day in the flesh. The slut can’t even afford four wheels.” She laughs.
I wish she’d just keep her mouth shut. What money means to her is something very different than what it means to me.
The only similarity between my family’s wealth and hers is that Brielle’s family money has been passed down through generations, growing in size with each reading of a will.
I know for a fucking fact that her family’s money isn’t completely clean, but I’d bet her purse is carrying crisp dollar bills and unstained credit cards, whereas my wallet overflows with tainted hundreds that are laced with dark secrets and sin—in other words, blood money.
“A chick with an engine between her legs is hot as shit,” Gunner pipes up.
“Whatever. She’s a piece of trash, and she knows it. I bet she’s had a lot more between her legs than that.”
Levi props his arm on Brielle’s shoulder. “Like you haven’t, Bri?”
“Shut up!” she spits.
“I’ve got to go, my girl is waiting for me,” Levi says, handing the joint back to his brother.
“That’s it, run off to play house,” Gunner teases.
Levi flips him off. “Later Edge, Kade.”
Brielle tries to intertwine her fingers with mine. I jerk my hand away, tucking my hands into my pockets.
She grabs me by the lapels of my blazer and rises onto her toes.
It’s like nothing has changed since high school.
Why would it? Monarch University is basically the same as Monarch Prep.
It has all the same boring people, with the same expectations.
Even the campus is the same, just larger.
The buildings and dorms are just on the other side of the river, connected by a pedestrian bridge.
It’s all the same shit. That’s one of the reasons why the little Ninja is so intriguing.
With her lips against my ear, Brielle whispers, “Come by my place and I’ll have you forgetting all about that piece of trash.”
She tries to kiss me, but I turn my head.
Her lips brush the underside of my chin.
I’ve never kissed her, nor do I ever plan to.
But it never stops her from trying. The sad part is that she’s well aware of this, but she still tries, hoping to catch me off guard.
That will a thousand percent never happen.
The main problem with Brielle’s suggestion is that I don’t want to forget about Ninja.
I watch over Brielle’s head as Ninja unbuttons her shirt.
Taking my hands out of my pockets, I remove Brielle’s too-long fake claws from my lapels, then move her out of the way to get a better view of the girl stripping near her motorcycle. What in the actual fuck?
Within a few moments, I’m not the only one staring at Ninja. She’s got the attention of most of the parking lot as she fucking undresses right there in front of everyone.
Caught between wanting to cover her up to hide her body from the eyes of every other fucking guy here and cheering her on to take it all off, I stay quiet and watch the show.
She isn’t stripping for the attention. Fuck, she doesn’t even notice that she’s the focal point right now.
Again, her doesn’t-give-a-shit attitude rises to the surface.
She slides off her button-down shirt, revealing a white tank top with black bra straps underneath.
There’s the sexy-as-hell dragon tattoo on her forearm.
She said I would never be close enough to her to know what it means, but I’m going to have to disagree with her about that.
As dangerous as it is, I have plans for us to get very close.
She stuffs her shirt into her backpack, then she slides down the zipper on her skirt.
It falls to the ground, exposing her barely-ass-covering shorts.
She bends over to pick up her backpack, shoves her skirt in, zips it up, and hoists it onto her back.
She leaves her high socks over her knees.
Straddling her motorcycle, she puts on her helmet and starts the engine.
Fuck me and my hardening cock. The gasps and whispers around me spread like wildfire.
I stay perfectly silent as she backs out of my parking spot.
In perfect, fearless form, not giving a shit about what anybody thinks, Ninja pulls out of the parking lot onto the main road and disappears from my view.
Something about her isn’t quite right. No one has ever come into Monarch who hasn’t been afraid of what’s in store for them, having heard rumors about Venom or the Vipers.
The new kid always gets shit. Their one job is to win one of us over with their so-called charm or make some kind of offering to make them worthy.
Usually, it’s their subservience in return for invites and staying off our blacklist. She’s made no effort to fit in.
And she sure as hell hasn’t attempted to play nice. She’s done the exact opposite.
At a glance, you could sum her up as a snooty bitch who could fit in perfectly with Brielle and her friends, wearing too much makeup and grinding on every hot guy she sees, either for attention or to get herself off.
Up close, though, Ninja is none of those things.
Her game is different. She might have fooled everyone else but not me.
That girl is after something. And I have a feeling it involves more than getting a degree.
I’ll find out what she’s up to. Keeping her close ensures I remain in control.
And it’ll be my pleasure to keep her as close as possible.