Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Indi
I’m lost in a fog of jumbled thoughts, moving on automatic as I head for my locker. I’m vaguely aware that Addy’s chatting to me, but I honestly couldn’t have remembered a word she said if she’d held a gun to my head.
There’s a strange smell in the air when I reach my locker, but there are so many different smells inside a school that I don’t think anything of it.
I should have.
My locker opens easily. Too easily.
I yell out in surprise. Red roses spill out and land on my shoes, thorns scratching my bare legs.
Music blares out of my locker, and everyone around me stops to stare as something blue tumbles out and lands on the floor.
Like a virgin, touched for the very first time.
Madonna screeches out to my massive audience.
Like a vi-ir-ir-ir-gin ? —
The entire school erupts into laughter. Addison pulls up short and throws me a wide-eyed stare before slowly coming closer. She reaches down to pick up the thing on the floor where it lays in a pile of long-stemmed red roses and petals.
“Don’t,” I say in a strangled voice.
But everything moves like a dream, and my warning comes too late. Addison picks it up, holds it out.
Lingerie.
Dark blue, ridiculously sexy, lingerie.
I snatch it from her. Then I fumble around inside my locker until I find the offending Bluetooth boombox, and pluck it out so hard that it goes silent it hits the floor.
But that doesn’t stop the laughter. That does nothing to prevent red-hot shame flooding my face.
I see movement further down the hall.
Briar.
He’s at his locker, the door partly open, but with zero interest for what’s inside.
Instead, he’s watching me.
Waiting for my reaction.
Hey, maybe it’s because I’m still stoned. Or maybe it’s because I have a fucking death wish.
Instead of running away to go sob in the bathroom like anyone else in my position most likely would, I push back my shoulders, take out the lingerie, and hold it up for him to see over the laughing crowd of students.
“How thoughtful,” I yell out. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m the same cup size as Jessica.”
“What are you doing?” Addison murmurs, coming closer and making a grab for the underwear.
I move out of her way and hold the piece of erotic blue fabric even higher. “I mean, it’s not as if she’ll be needing it anymore, amiright?”
Briar’s face turns to stone. He slams his locker so hard it rattles, and storms off down the hall. His entourage breaks away from their lockers and follows him like sheep.
All except one.
I catch sight of Marcus. He’s wearing an open leer on his face, as if he’s picturing how I’ll look in the lingerie. I hurriedly shove it back into my locker.
When I look up, Marcus is gone.
Addy steps closer and leans in. “What the fuck was that about?”
“Briar pulling my fucking hair again,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. I grab a bunch of the roses, sniff at the offending piece of underwear sitting in my locker, and slam closed the door. “Catch you later, Addy. Gotta trim my roses.”
Briar
Fuck, I’m tired. Marcus and I stayed up until two in the morning playing video games, drinking, and smoking weed. And when I finally did get into bed, I spent another hour thinking up kick-ass pranks for my little virgin. I’ve already been in homeroom ten minutes, and I’m about to put my head down and take a nap when I hear someone nearby murmur, “There she is.”
Indi storms inside the classroom, faltering when she sees me in the far corner. She purses her lips like she’s bitten into sour candy and flings herself down in her usual seat close to the door.
I allow myself a grim smile, but it doesn’t last long. I’d thought she’d been sobbing in the bathrooms, but she just looks angry. That prank was legit—she should be a blubbering mess—but that’s not how Indi fucking Virgo rolls, is it?
My phone vibrates with a new message. I sigh and take it out of my pocket as Ms. Parsons starts going through the day’s announcements.
Leave Indi alone.
I frown at the message, and then at the strange number. Who the hell sent this? When I look up, my eyes latch onto Indi. She’s glaring at me.
Was it…?
I’ve known her less than a week, but she’s not the type to threaten me with a message. She’d rather get up in my face and say something, like she did in the hall this morning.
She’s either really brave, or very stupid. And I have a feeling she’s more than just a pair of tits on legs.
I type out a quick reply, and immediately look up.
Who is this?
Indi doesn’t move, but a second later I get another message.
I have proof.
My skin prickles.
Addison Green. It’s the only thing that makes sense. But she doesn’t have jack shit. Marcus took care of everything. And even if she did, she’d never have waited until now to use it. She’d have shown it to the police, and I’d be in jail right now.
What if she did show it to them? What if they found it inconclusive…or my father called in a favor?
Addy must have gotten herself a new number; I’d blocked her old one months ago after the hundredth message and threatening voice mail.
Crazy bitch.
Why the fuck is she dragging this all out into the open again? Is it because of Indi? Did she…?
I look up and lock eyes with Indi. She’d been staring at me with a soft frown on her face, no doubt trying to figure out why I look so fucking pissed off.
I draw a huge breath, and slowly let it out. Then I get up and walk over to her, ignoring how Ms. Parson’s stops talking mid-sentence, and take the seat behind Indi’s desk.
Ms. Parson’s doesn’t pause for long—she starts yammering on about something happening at assembly on Friday—but Indi’s acting like I’m a viper that just slithered up to her and now she’s too scared to run in case I lash out and bite her.
I lean in, my elbows on the desk and my fingers laced. “How much did you tell her?”
Indi’s sitting in her seat at an angle, and turns her head just enough to catch me from the corner of her eye. “What?”
“Stop playing dumb. Did you tell Addy about us?” I’m gripping my hands so hard, my fingers are starting to tingle from lack of blood.
Indi shakes her head.
“Sure about that? Not a single thing?”
“No.” Another shake of her head. “And even if I did, it’s not like she’d believe me. Not after all this time.”
I narrow my eyes at her, but I can’t argue with her logic.
But if it wasn’t that, then what? Something had to have spurred Addy into hounding me again.
I lift my chin. “What’s she been telling you?”
Indi shrugs, and blinks innocently at me. “Lots of stuff.”
Fuck, she’s gloating about what happened earlier. I shouldn’t have lost my cool and left like that. We could have teased each other until the bell rang. Instead I stormed off like a kid throwing a fucking tantrum.
I grind my teeth. “About me. What’s she saying about me?”
“I think you know,” Indi says, turning. She lays her arm on the back of the chair and tilts her head.
“I don’t know what she thinks she has on me, and I don’t give a fuck.” I grab Indi’s hand before she has time to move out of reach, digging my nails into her wrist. “So you tell Addison I’ll leave you alone as soon as she gets off my fucking back.”
A crease forms between Indi’s dark eyebrows. “What makes you think she’s got something on you?” But a second later, her face clears. “And fuck you, she’s not my baby sitter. I can take care of myself, asshole.” She rips her arm free and moves her chair closer to her desk.
“Don’t think for a moment that Addy’s your friend,” I say, my eyes turning to slits. “Jess made that mistake too.”
Indi sneers at me. “And you sure showed her the error of her ways, didn’t you?”
Anger wells hot and thick through me, strangling any words I could possibly have produced. I shake my head and push away from the desk, leaning as far away from Indi as I can.
Fuck Addy and her empty threats. She did this before, and for some reason she’s gotten the balls to do it again. Maybe it’s Indi’s influence. If I weren’t so pissed off right now, I’d have to admire this tiny chick with her fierce green eyes.
I curl up one side of my mouth. Indi turns her head, staring suspiciously at me from the corner of her eye.
“Wish we’d met under different circumstances,” I say.
Indi lets out a single, bitter huff of a laugh, her lips barely parting. “Really?”
“We’d be hot as fuck together.”
Her eyes widen in surprise, but a second later she’s glaring at me. “Never! You’re the biggest prick I’ve ever met.”
My smirk becomes a suggestive grin. “I also have the biggest dick you’ll ever see.”
In a flash, red tinges her cheeks. She opens her mouth in shock, but if she was going to retort, nothing comes out.
“Not even close, my little virgin.” I lean forward again, make a show of looking at her lips, and then shake my head. “You’ll have to open much wider than that.”
Indi
Oh man, there’s some fucked-up shit going on in my head right now. Even as I’m snapping my jaw closed, my mind takes a mental screenshot of just how wide open my mouth was.
He’s gotta be bluffing.
I turn in my seat, hoping to hell I don’t spontaneously combust. As if the movement catches her eye, Ms. Parsons turns to Briar and me and grins wide.
Shit.
“Indi, Briar? Did you two enjoy your ride yesterday?”
I groan, squeezing my eyes shut with my fingers in dread anticipation.
Wolf whistles, choruses of, ‘virgin’, ‘cherry popping’, and God knows what else erupt from the class.
Ms. Parsons’s attempts at hushing the kids are unsurprisingly ineffectual.
“Yeah, we did,” Briar says, raising his voice over the noise.
I let out another groan. Of course he’ll milk this as much as?—
“In fact, we just decided to go out again today. Bare back, this time.”
The crowd only just settled, but now they all burst out laughing again.
Ms. Parsons is probably as red as I am, but this all ends in about five minutes for her—I’m not that lucky. I’m going to be on the receiving end of every horse-related sex pun for the next week until Lavish Prep’s gossip machine finds new fodder.
I’m terribly tempted to announce that I hate horses, Briar, and everything in between and just be done with this farce…
But despite what I told Addy this morning, I’m convinced that getting closer to Briar will give me— us —the answers we’re so desperately looking for. After all, we had a moment out there, yesterday.
It could have been because we were alone, with none of his classmates or friends around to impress. If that’s the case, then maybe it can happen again.
“I’ve always wanted to try that,” I quip, doing my best to ignore how hot my cheeks are. I turn to Briar, giving him a frigid smile. “Oh, and I’ve still got that gift you gave me this morning. Should I wear that?”
Briar blinks, his smug expression freezing. Then his face melts into grudging admiration. He gives me a small nod. “Good one, angel,” he says, his voice only loud enough for me to hear.
“I learn from the best.”
When Briar shakes his head and a rueful smile touches his mouth, my chest feels like it wants to explode. I face forward, brimming with victorious glee. But I know this feeling won’t last. Something rattled him earlier—that’s why he came to sit behind me, why he started talking about Addy.
Fuck it—I know the war’s far from over, but I won this battle and I’m gonna celebrate.