I shrugged, dancing my gaze all around this guy's features. He was tall—so tall I had to look up at him. His dark hair was short on the sides and a bit longer on top. He was attractive, but in the I’m-rich-and-my-parents-give-me-everything type of way. Preppy. His hair had too much gel on top—so much that the dancing strobe lights glistened off the shiny strands.
“So, you go to English Prep?” He was in my space again, even though I’d stepped to the left.
I swallowed and answered, “Yep.”
“And how do you like it?” He eyed me suspiciously, his baby blues flicking down to my mouth a couple of times. My skin crawled. It was not on my to-do list to get hit on. But this did beat being locked in my bedroom, so what the hell. “I bet you hate it.”
Glancing out of my peripheral vision, I responded, “What makes you say that?”
His hand reached out, and he brushed my hair behind my shoulder. I froze, planting my feet to the ground. I hated the way my heart thumped in my chest. My stomach grew tight, and I had to bite down on my lip to keep myself from overreacting.
He isn’t Gabe.
“You look like you don’t belong.”
That had me turning my head. And he gave me a lopsided grin. “That isn’t a dig, sweetheart. That’s a compliment.”
Just then, his gasoline—aka vodka—breath hit me in the face as his hand wrapped around my wrist. Chills ran up my arms, and my vision started to get blurry on the sides. Where is Piper? “Why don’t we go upstairs and talk a bit? It doesn’t seem like this is your scene anyway.”
“What’s your name?” I asked, keeping my feet glued to the floor.
/> He gave me his lopsided grin again. “Cole.”
My insides churned. I pulled on my wrist for him to release me, but his grip got harder. “Oh, relax. Whatever you heard about me isn’t true.”
The nervous feeling deep within my belly quickly grew to anger. I leaned into his space and felt like a queen looking down at a lout. “I know guys like you, Cole. I didn’t hear anything about you. Your character says plenty. Now, let go of me before I bang your face off the backside of this wall.”
His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move. So, I acted fast. I grabbed his arm with my other hand and bent his wrist backward. He screamed out, surprised that I wasn’t kidding, as I turned him around and pushed him with all my might toward the wall. He wasn’t hard to move, because I’d caught him off guard, but if he wanted to, he could probably knock me down within a second.
I wanted to push my knee into his back to teach him a lesson about laying his hands on a girl, but he was suddenly ripped from my sight.
Just then, Ollie stepped in front of me. I looked up, shocked that he had somehow appeared out of thin air. “Sorry, scrapper. Christian came here to beat that fucker’s ass, and I have a feeling he’s gonna go a lot harder since he just saw that little scene.”
I ignored the way my heart hiccupped at the sound of Christian’s name. “Move,” I demanded, crossing my arms. “I can take care of myself.”
He threw his head back and laughed. It was a boyish laugh, a youthful I-don’t-have-a-care-in-the-world laugh. It brought back memories of the past that I quickly shoved away. “I don’t doubt that for a second, Hayley.”
I had no idea where Christian took Cole, and when Piper came back to find me, she was completely confused to see Ollie guarding me by the wall. No one else in the room seemed to notice the commotion, which was probably the way Christian wanted it.
“What the hell? I leave you for three minutes and all hell breaks loose!” Piper looked from me, to Ollie, then back to me.
“Move, Ollie. Or I’ll take you down, too.”
Ollie laughed again, and right when he threw his head back, I kicked my leg out and swept him right off his feet. He landed with a thud, and I rushed past him.
I heard him and Piper bantering back and forth.
“Go get your stupid friend, Piper.”
“Oooh, so he does know my name.”
“Of course I know your name. Your tits are talked about often in the locker room. You may be quiet, but those hips talk, baby.”
Their voices trailed as I made my way around the end of the hallway and pushed my hair behind my ear to have a listen. It wasn’t long before I heard grunting and flesh on flesh.
Running on the lush carpet, I came to an open living room with two of Christian’s friends standing guard, watching the fight unfold. Christian was rearing his arm back, ready to punch an already bloody and barely conscious Cole even more.
“Stop him!” I shouted. “Cole’s eyes aren’t even open!” Is he even conscious? He’s going to kill him! My body grew warm, a sickly feeling hitting me head-on.