Chapter 22
BECKHAM
“Fucking squeeze my cock, baby, just like that. Don’t fucking stop.”
The memory flashes as I watch Sage and her friend sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria, making my fists clench and my breath come out choppy.
My cock twitches in my pants, almost as if I’m right back in the crypt with her, as I remember how tight her dripping cunt swallowed me down when she came.
Both girls keep leaning forward on the table, as if they need to whisper whatever juicy shit they’re sharing so no one else hears.
The thought it might be about me and my brothers makes me swell with pride but also feel protective.
Those memories are not for anyone else—just us, and I didn’t take Sage for the gossiping type.
Once their conversation has fizzled out a little, Sage’s face drops into a mask of disinterest before she gets up.
My brow furrows in concern for a breath until I remember that she isn’t mine to take care of.
I step from foot to foot anxiously, trying to gain back the dominance in my stance even though she can’t see me.
She says something to Juliet, then puts her bag over her shoulder and heads right toward me for the exit.
I turn and leave before she can see me lurking, moving into the courtyard to find Vinny and Kai.
They’re waiting for me under our usual tree, and I push up the sleeves of my long-sleeved tee so I can feel some of the crisp morning air on my skin.
I’m burning from the inside out for her, my blood heated to a boil with the need to touch her, kiss her, fuck her.
But Kai says stay away, and his word is law.
He thinks she’s a threat to us, thinks she’ll penetrate the hard exterior we have around us and tear it all down. He’s wrong, though. She wouldn’t break shit. She’d build us up higher, adding bulletproof forces that absolutely nothing could penetrate.
She’s exactly what we’ve needed for so long, someone who could fall into our ranks and lead the pack, and my friends will realize that soon enough.
Either that, or I’m a pussy-whipped, lovesick fool.
I guess time will tell.
“Where were you?” Vinny asks as I drop onto the bench. His ass is perched on the backrest with his feet on the seat beside my thighs, so I prop an elbow on his knee to hold my head up as I look at him.
“Off causing trouble. The usual.” I grin.
Kai snorts, spinning a lighter between his long fingers mindlessly. I snag the lit cigarette from Vinny’s lips before he can shove me away, pressing the filter against my own to take a drag.
It’s always been an easy friendship between the three of us.
We became brothers long before we even knew shit about the Hallows Games.
We grew up here, in Blackmore, where everyone knows everyone, becoming close as fuck in elementary school.
We’ve been inseparable ever since. Family to each other when our own shitty bloodlines couldn’t give a fuck.
I’m the only child my parents had, and they split not long after I was born. I was handed back and forth between them like an unwanted dog they felt responsible for until I was old enough to make my own decisions. My mom left Blackmore a few years ago, remarrying and leaving me with my father.
My father is a world-class dick with high standards and a seat on the town’s council.
When I came out to him, he clenched his fist and spit in my face, using derogatory terms to make me feel smaller.
He disowned me, ignoring my very existence, but his pride is too big for him to get rid of me.
His image is everything, and if anyone found out that he didn’t accept his bisexual son, he’d look bad.
So, we coexist in the same house without speaking.
My home has always been with Kai and Vinny. They’re the family I always wanted and needed. Kai takes care of us, protecting us and defending us, especially from Vinny’s bastard of a sperm donor who speaks through punches and kicks.
I can see why Kai is so hellbent on keeping Sage at a distance.
He’s scared. He’s afraid of letting someone into our inner circle, just in case they take it in their hands and crush it.
He’s protective of our family, and it’s not just something silly he’ll let someone into without wary and meticulous consideration.
When we were selected by the previous generation of Hallows Boys, it came as no surprise to us.
Every generation chooses the next group. We’ve already started scouting for who we’ll pass the torch to, because it takes a lot of pre-planning and thought. The selection is based on popularity, dominance, brains, and physical ability.
Kai, with his big-ass brain and dominant demeanor was ideal for the Alpha.
Vinny, football God and muscle maniac with no limits, the perfect Beta.
Then there’s me, the balance. Jokes and heart. I’m the glue that keeps the entire operation together.
“Is she fucking coming over here?” Vinny grunts under his breath, making me look up and across the quad to find Sage walking toward us on some sexy high-heeled boots.
Her steps are determined and purposeful, like she’s a woman on a mission. She’s dark and delicious, covered in black from eyes to feet, and it has my cock thickening in my jeans as I picture her moaning and pleading beneath me.
When she’s about fifteen feet from us, Kai stands up and grabs the cigarette from between my fingers, taking a long drag and then flicking it toward her, almost hitting her with the glowing ember. “Let’s go.”
She stops in place, narrowing her eyes. “What the fuck?”
It kills me, but I stand up and follow Kai and Vinny in the opposite direction. When I take the risk of glancing back at her, Vinny throws his arm over my shoulder and grunts. “Becks.”
I may follow Kai’s orders, but Vinny knows my heart. And he knows that this shit isn’t easy for me deep down.
We push through the door to the academic building and I pull out from under Vinny’s arm. “I’ll catch you guys later. I’m not feeling this right now.”
I split off before they can say anything, then head back the way we came.
Pulling my headphones from my pocket, I slip them in my ears, hitting shuffle on my playlist and letting the raspy tones of the dark hip-hop I’ve been obsessing over fill my head.
I push through the doors of the building again, finding the quad empty, and pull my cigarettes from my pocket. I take one out of the cardboard, slip it between my lips, and light it with my Zippo.
It’s a dirty habit, but there’re worse things in life than smoking.
I take a deep inhale of the smoke, dropping my eyes closed as nicotine and menthol burn my lungs.
If Kai would just admit to himself that Sage is different, everything would be so much fucking easier.
She’s the last goddamn puzzle piece to our trio, sliding in flawlessly and with so much ease you’d think she was fucking made for us.
But he won’t. He’ll keep her at a distance, maybe fuck with her a little, and waste this opportunity.
I open my eyes just in time to spot Sage’s little friend, Juliet, sneaking off campus toward the woods that sit behind school, her phone pressed tightly to her ear.
Her eyes widen a fraction when she looks over her shoulder and catches my gaze, making my eyebrows pull down in curiosity. She acts as if I’m the campus fucking police, like I’ll give a shit that she’s skipping class.
Finishing off my cigarette, I toss the butt onto the ground and stomp it out.
I decide to head to the library to see if I can find anything in the old archives or annuals about Andrew Blackmore. Maybe by the time I get to my second class, I’ll have some answers for Kaiden.
I make my way across campus, waving at the librarian sitting at the desk just inside the library doors, and head to the back to where they keep old annuals and class photos.
Hearing the door for the library open, I look up to glance that way and see Sage poking her head through the door before she pushes it all the way open and walks in cautiously.
I duck behind the bookcase I’m next to, watching her in between a few of the books.
She looks around like she’s looking for someone—me?
When she doesn’t find whoever she’s looking for, she makes a right and goes across the library to the very end of the room, then starts walking slowly back, looking down each aisle as she passes, as if she’s on the hunt.
My lips quirk as I walk toward where she is, creeping on my feet while she searches the room. When she’s gone through the entire reference section, as well as nonfiction, she groans and heads for the fiction aisles.
I lick my lips, watching her hips sway as she walks, getting frustrated she hasn’t found whatever it is she’s looking for, and I decide to put myself right in her path, just in case it’s me.
Circling the room, I stalk behind her, going down the next aisle to circle back and put myself in front of her.
When she turns the corner and sees me, she jumps back, sucking air into her lungs like she’s frightened. Spreading my lips into a big smile, I cross my arms over my chest.