28. Margo
Chapter 28
Margo
I n the Emery-Rose Elite courtyard Monday morning, I spot Riley immediately.
She has a bubble of space around her, which is unusual. I mean, she has more space than normal. The royalty get their breathing room, and the rest of us rub elbows.
As I make my way closer, the courtyard slowly drains of noise.
It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Riley’s eyebrows crease, and Savannah is suddenly in my path.
“Following in Mommy dearest’s footsteps, are you?” She laughs. “It only took a few weeks for your true colors to come out.”
What the hell?
I push past her. Stares follow me. My skin crawls, but Riley meets me halfway and tows me back in the direction I came. I follow along, flustered and confused, but a terrible feeling kicks up inside me.
“Oh my God, Margo!” She stops and faces me. Her expression is horrified.
I flinch. “Why is everyone acting so weird?”
Her brows furrow. “Um, everyone got an email this morning…”
“I didn’t.”
“It’s…”
My stomach drops.
“Spit it out. Please.”
She opens her email and passes me her phone.
It’s a picture, probably either taken at the same time as the video Unknown sent or a screenshot from it. I’m against his car. His lips are on mine, and his hand is clearly down my pants.
There’s no more air in my lungs.
She grabs my shoulder, and suddenly I’m sitting on the ground.
“Breathe.” She rubs my back. “It’s okay. It’s not even…”
“I can’t,” I choke out. “I can’t do this. I can’t go in there.”
How could Unknown do this to me? Especially since I did nothing to them. Nothing . And with a single email, my life just got ten times worse.
“Given the circumstances, I think they’d understand if we skipped… oh no.”
I lift my head.
Caleb storms toward us. He’s impossibly angry.
He doesn’t stop until he’s right in front of us. He pulls me to my feet by my wrists, although I’m not sure I can stay standing. My knees wobble.
“She’s hyperventilating,” Riley says.
He touches my cheek.
I can’t stop gasping. Something heavy has planted itself on my chest. I grab at his shirt, my eyes wide.
“Panic attack,” Riley says. “Honestly, I don’t even blame her. But it’s going to be okay, Margo. It’s just a picture.”
It’s so much more than a picture.
“Give us a minute,” Caleb growls, not tearing his attention away from my face.
I may as well be in a vacuum for all the air I can drag into my lungs. I think Riley backs away, but all I can focus on is Caleb’s startlingly blue eyes. I know they’re blue, but today, with the morning sun angled just right, they’re light and clear and dazzling.
And he’s worried.
I’m worried, too.
“Margo.”
My head shake is frantic. “I can’t?—”
He slams his lips to mine, cutting off my words. His tongue forces my lips apart, taking ownership of my mouth.
I shudder against him, finally sucking in a deep breath through my nose. Then another. He’s not kissing me—he’s resuscitating me. He doesn’t stop until I’ve relaxed in his hold and my heart isn’t hammering so viciously against my ribcage.
He finally rocks back on his heels, and his eyes search mine.
He’s still holding my wrists.
“Wow,” Riley mutters, a few feet away. “That was hot.”
“I’ll find out who sent that picture.” A mask slips over his features.
“Mr. Asher!” The principal comes toward us. “Mr. Asher , you are suspended!”
What?
When did that happen?
He drops my wrists and faces her. “I know.”
“So what on earth are you doing here?”
He shrugs, keeping me mostly behind him. Maybe he thinks she’ll turn her wrath on me, next. Or maybe…
Oh my God . Did she get the picture, too?
“I’m on my way out,” he informs her. “See ya Wednesday.”
Even when he doesn’t have the upper hand, he sounds arrogant enough to send the principal away. After a moment of consideration, she marches back into the school.
Caleb taps under my chin until I meet his gaze. “You’ll be fine. Just ignore them.”
“Right. You got suspended?”
He rolls his eyes. “Perk of Ian being a loudmouth. I’m also not playing the next few hockey games.”
Oh, jeez.
Actually, didn’t they have a game on Saturday? I spent it recovering from my hangover from hell… He didn’t ask me to go, which I would’ve thought was weird if I was in any state to truly consider it. He heads back to his car, and I slowly rotate toward Riley.
“That bodes well,” she says.
“He didn’t fight Ian on school grounds. Why did they suspend him?”
She links her arm with mine. The bell rings, which means we’ve successfully avoided the courtyard.
“Ian’s parents complained,” she says in a low voice. “Threatened to sue if they didn’t do something to curb Caleb’s reaction.”
“He’s been getting in a lot of fights. Did Ian get suspended, too?”
“No, because they alleged that Caleb was the aggressor. He’s got a little split lip, and Ian looks like he fought a cheese grater. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”
Lovely. Just what I need—for Caleb to be out and Ian to be potentially feeling vengeful.
All eyes are on me. I try to do what Caleb says—to ignore them—but it’s hard when the hallway gets quiet again. Riley stays with me until we get to my homeroom, and she throws me a sympathetic look.
“I’ll be okay.” I think I’m lying.
She nods once.
I slide into my seat and keep my head down.
Someone kicks my bookbag as they pass, the contents scattering across the floor.
A cheerleader stops, one foot hovering over my fallen phone. She looks around, then laughs. “I expected more condoms, slut. Opening your legs to anyone who gets you drunk at a party.”
I glare at her. “That’s not?—”
“Why else would Caleb go for you? You’re an easy target.”
She uses her toe to send my phone skidding out of reach. It stops a few rows away, under a desk. “Oops. My bad.”
It continues like that throughout the day, only growing in intensity. I try to focus on the good: Caleb will be back on Wednesday, and I’ll get to see Claire on Friday. Although, I need to figure out how I’m going to get to the mall and back… I’ll have to both escape Caleb’s clutches and get out of school undetected.
Should be interesting.
When I walk into my last class of the day, I’m defeated. Someone spilled chocolate milk on me after lunch, and my shirt smells sickly sweet. It sticks to my skin. Not to mention the brown stain on the white fabric.
Robert sees me and smiles, then does a double take.
Yeah, it’s that bad.
He motions me aside.
The teachers haven’t been acting any differently, which makes me believe it was just sent to the students. How that miracle happened, I’ll never know.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I say.
“What happened…?”
I sigh. “It’s been a long day.”
He squints at me. “Are you being bullied?”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
The cheerleaders were the driving force today. Amelie and Savannah watched while their minions pinched me, ruined my things. The contents of my locker were coated in a fine layer of glitter. The back of my arms are bruised from fingers biting my flesh.
I’ve never been so tense.
And it’s probably because Amelie and Savannah both want Caleb—and here’s the proof that he wants me .
He’s not even here to stop it. Won’t be until Wednesday.
“Okay, take your seat.” He does reach out now, putting his hand on my shoulder for a brief moment.
I tuck myself away in a corner for the rest of class, letting my mind wander. I thought I saw someone familiar at the party. It was just a brief moment, glancing out the window at someone by the bonfire. But I can’t put my finger on who it was. Maybe they’re the culprit.
Or it could be… literally anyone who went to the party and had their phone out. Someone smoking on the front porch or pausing their own make-out session in the shadows, or leaving the party at the same time as us.
I need to figure out who Unknown is. If I can uncover their motive, maybe I can stop them or tell someone who can help me.
The bell rings, shattering my thoughts. Chairs scrape back, and my classmates perform a mass exodus.
I stay where I am, wondering if I can just wait everyone out.
Robert starts picking up, casting me a glance or two before setting down the canvases and approaching. “Something is wrong.”
“It was just a tough day.”
He sits on the stool next to me. The one Caleb usually takes. “Did something happen at that party on Friday?”
I flinch. “No, it’s more complicated than that. It just needs to work itself out.”
He exhales. “It hurts to see you like this, Margo. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thanks, Robert.”
He packs up his bag, and we head toward his car.
Unsurprisingly, Caleb is waiting for us.
The whole school emptied out fast. Besides cars belonging to students staying late for sports, the parking lot is deserted. He rises from where he was leaning against his car, parked next to Robert’s, and shoots him a smile.
“Mind if I steal her?” he asks Robert.
My foster dad shrugs. “I think she could use some cheering up. Even though she’s technically grounded.”
I wince.
Robert chuckles. “Just be back before Len gets home around five, okay?”
“You got it, Mr. Bryan,” Caleb says.
His gaze turns to me, and he takes in the chocolate milk stain on my shirt, then my bloodshot eyes. Is that from crying? I’ll never tell.
He opens the passenger door for me and takes my backpack off my shoulder.
We sit in his car and wait until Robert drives away.
“Today was hell.” Obviously.
He leans across the center console. “You’re a fighter.”
That might be the first time he’s ever paid me a compliment.
“I’m sure it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle.” His fingers undo the buttons of my blouse, and fuck it, I let him.
“I don’t want to handle it,” I say quietly. “I just want?—”
He finishes with the buttons and pushes the soiled fabric off my shoulders. His gaze rises to mine, his eyebrow up with a silent question.
What do you want, Margo?
“I have to do this again tomorrow?” I ask, my voice weak.
He reaches into the back and produces a sweatshirt. I’m collecting them now, I think. I shrug it on over my bra, settling the warm fabric around me. It smells more deeply like his cologne, and I lift the collar to inhale more of it.
“Maybe something more interesting will crop up tomorrow.” He winks at me, then finally puts the car in drive.
We head in an unfamiliar direction. When he turns into a driveway and parks, I have no choice but to follow him up the front walkway.
“Whose house is this?”
“Eli’s,” he says. “He’s busy. But since you only have a few hours, I figured I could make your day a little better.”
The house feels oddly familiar. Like I came here in a dream.
We go into Eli’s living room, and Caleb throws himself onto the couch. He pats the space next to him. “Sit.”
“You just let yourself into his house?”
He nods. “Yeah. His parents are pretty cool. They travel a lot, though.”
“Gotta love absentee parents,” I answer.
His face shutters for a second.
“Why did you attack Ian?” I need to change the subject.
“Just protecting what’s mine.” His hand wraps around the back of my neck and pulls me to him.
Our lips touch softly at first, barely moving.
I open my eyes.
He’s watching me. His free hand sneaks up the sweatshirt, dancing across my back. He unhooks my bra at the same time that he lowers me to the couch.
“Wha…”
“One choice,” he says, his lips moving to my jaw. He palms my breast. His fingers find my nipple, rolling it and pinching. “If you want this—if you want me —just say the word.”
One choice.
It’s not just one . It’s a series of choices that could lead to catastrophe… But certainly not happiness.
God, that seems like a possibility right now, with Caleb’s breath in my ear and his hands on my skin. He could play me like an instrument, make me sing. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else. No one has ever bothered to try to touch me.
And then it comes back to me that we’re in his best friend’s living room.
I push his face away, staring up at him. “I do, but not here.”
He laughs, and the walls that he let down for a split second are resurrected. “If not here, where?”
If not now, when?
He picks himself up off me and leaves the room. My silence must’ve spoken for itself.
With shaky fingers, I re-clasp my bra and straighten the hoodie.
He comes back with his jacket on. There’s a new set to his jaw and a smirk on his lips. “My place. If you don’t want to here… and you’re not going to tell me where, then I’ll choose.”
I shiver.
But I can’t say I’m against it. A distraction is sorely needed.
The drive to his house is quick.
As we pass the front room, I point at the covered furniture. “Why is this place so…”
“Haunted?”
I walk into Caleb.
He catches me by my upper arms. “A lot of ghosts in this house, little lamb.”
I meet his gaze.
“Let’s banish a few.” He leans down and kisses me.
It’s more ruthless than the kiss in Eli’s house. Something has shifted. He’s released the monster inside him.
I shudder at the infiltration. My heart cracks open as he backs me against the wall, taking my wrists and holding them above my head with one of his hands. His other continues his exploration of my body like we never stopped.
His tongue slides into my mouth.
I push his tongue out with my own. He tastes like honey and cinnamon. He growls, the sound resonating deep in his throat, and tears his lips from mine. He latches on to my neck, biting and sucking.
Tingling pleasure flows under my skin. I lift my leg, wrapping it around his hip and pulling him flush against me. I tilt my head to the side to give him access.
He draws back only long enough to get the hoodie up and over my head. He unhooks my bra again, and it falls to the floor between us. I kick it away and go for his clothes. His t-shirt, jeans. My fingers drag over his abdomen.
His lips move down, off my neck. He draws one of my nipples into his mouth, teeth grazing it. Stars burst in front of my eyelids. I wind my fingers through his hair, holding him to me as every muscle tenses. The pain feels good. He could do this to me for an eternity, and I don’t think I’d ever get sick of his touch.
He was made for me.
Pain and pleasure. Isn’t that always how he does it?
He carries me deeper into the house. I’m so drunk on him. He sets me on the counter in the kitchen, dragging my lips back to his before I can register where we are. He kisses me like he’s been starving and I’m his favorite dessert.
Completely.
Savagely.
He pushes my skirt up and tugs on my panties. I flinch at the sudden rip .
“Did you just?—”
He raises my torn panties and grins.
“Caleb—”
“Don’t worry. I have a feeling you’ll like what’s coming next.”
He plunges a finger into me without warning.
My abdomen clenches. My lips part. His body wedges between my knees, forcing me open wider, and I lean back on the counter.
He taps my chin with his free hand. “Watch me.”
I shudder when he lowers himself, his head going between my thighs. He puts my legs on his shoulders. And then he pauses, staring at me with an odd expression.
“Caleb—”
He bites my inner thigh. I yelp, trying to close my legs, but his shoulders block the movement.
His tongue swipes up my center, swirling on my clit. His finger is still inside me, picking up a brutal pace while his tongue pays attention to my bud of nerves.
I groan. It feels too good. Unbearable, even. I try to shove him away, but he doesn’t budge.
His teeth graze my clit.
I cry out and try to squirm away.
He grips my ass, dragging me to the edge of the counter. “Make as much noise as you want, baby.”
His tongue plunges into me again.
Something animalistic claws out of me. I roll my hips into it. His finger takes over where his tongue left off, and he sucks hard on my clit.
I shatter. The orgasm explodes through me, my vision going white and fuzzy. I grab his head as he sucks and sucks. My body trembles in the aftershock.
But instead of stopping… he keeps going. His finger pushes in and out, a steady, quick rhythm.
“I can’t do that again.” My arms are jelly. I let myself fall back on the counter.
“No.” He hauls me upright.
He undoes the button of his pants, and we both look down at his erection. There’s a bead of liquid glistening on the head of his cock.
He rolls on a condom, then notches at my entrance. There’s a pressure there, the beginning of a stretch, and fear bleeds through my lust.
Is this going to hurt?
He grips the back of my neck, drawing my face down to his. He kisses me at the same time that he thrusts into me.
The pain of it is… shocking . Eye-opening.
I gasp into his mouth, and he only pauses for a fraction of a second. Surely, he felt that. The deep pressure, a ripping away of innocence.
“You’ve always been mine,” he says against my lips. “This just fucking confirms it.”
I wrap my legs around his hips. We’re at the perfect angle. The perfect height.
And the fact that he didn’t just freak out on me lifts a weight off my chest. I never said…
Well, it doesn’t matter. After a few seconds of discomfort—an alien feeling, something being inside —he moves. And then no thought in my head matters.
“I don’t want gentle,” I tell him.
“Good thing, because my self-control is about to go out the window.” He slams into me, filling me completely.
In the back of my mind, I knew we wouldn’t be able to do easy . Just like we wouldn’t do slow .
We’re fast and reckless and wild.
I dig my nails into his skin. He relentlessly hammers into me. A tingling feeling picks up in my lower abdomen, and my teeth tear his lower lip. My heart is beating so fast, it might take flight.
“Scream,” he orders. He flicks my clit.
This orgasm is violent, a tsunami force. Better—or worse—than the first one. I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. It’s made better by the way my muscles have something to squeeze around.
He presses on my clit, but he never stops moving. The slide of him in and out creates a new feeling… I let my head fall back and I do what he wants. I scream.
I yell his name, my thighs tensing around him, until my voice disappears. Until the pleasure finally releases me, one hot finger at a time.
He quickens, then abruptly stops. He groans, spilling inside me. His lips track along the top of my shoulder. We stay like that for a long moment, wrapped around each other.
His pulse hammers through our connection.
He pulls out slowly, and I wince.
There’s blood on the condom, on my thighs, on the counter.
He touches my cheek, and his finger swipes under my eye. “You’re beautiful.”
I slip off the counter. My muscles quake. “I need a minute,” I say in a low voice.
He inclines his head, and I slink away to the bathroom. It takes longer than I would expect to put my pieces back together. My resolve goes here, my dignity goes there. Inch by inch, I rebuild who I was.
Who knew sex would destroy me?
I clean myself. When I come out of the bathroom, Caleb holds out my bra and the sweatshirt he gave me earlier.
I stare at the kitchen island.
“I’m going to fuck you on that counter,” he had promised. “You’re going to enjoy it, even knowing what happened here. Because all you’ll be able to think about is my dick in your pussy, spreading you wide. Hitting every. Fucking. Nerve.”
Horror washes through me.
He spoke the truth.
I forgot.
I let myself fall into his madness, and now…
“Caleb,” I choke out, grabbing his sweatshirt and hugging it to my chest. “How?—”
“How could I?” His eyes are dark. Glittering. He leans down until we’re face to face. “It’s like you don’t know me at all.”
Tears build up and spill down my cheeks.
He yanks the hoodie out of my grip and puts it on me. Forces my arms through the sleeves and straightens it. He takes my bra, my panties from where he dropped them, and slides both into his pocket.
“Let’s go.” He puts his hand between my shoulder blades and guides me out.
“You got what you wanted,” I say once we’re in the car. There’s a chill in the air, and my nipples pebble. I want to dive out of the car and walk home rather than let him see.
“Yeah, well, it’s not all sunshine and fucking roses up here.” He taps his temple.
We ride back to the Bryans’ house in silence. I get out and jog to the front door without looking back, my backpack thumping against my shoulder blades. Lenora’s car isn’t in the driveway, and I slip up to my room undetected.
I go to my window in time to watch Caleb’s car pull back out into traffic, slipping away like he was never there.
The haunted feeling I got when I walked into his house is still surrounding me, thicker than smog. He wanted to banish a few ghosts.
I guess that includes me.