I would listen… but only because if I didn’t he would probably never let it go. I offered him a sarcastic military salute as he let out a growl but stalked towards his locker. Unfortunately, juniors were separated into two different hallways, so his was in a different section than mine. I began to unpack everything from my backpack, considering what exactly I needed to bring home for the weekend.
When an arm slid around my waist, I instantly knew it didn’t belong to one of my boys. The overpowering scent of cologne and the laugh had me knowing exactly who this was. Unfortunately.
I snapped around, backing up against the locker, wincing as my head hit the metal in the process.
“Hi Dahlia.” Greg flashed a smile. I had a feeling he thought it was a charming look, but trust me, it was anything but. In fact, everything about him made me uncomfortable. He should have been attractive considering he was tall, muscular, and was even wearing his football jersey, but the man left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
“Hey Greg.” I offered a tight smile, my eyes darting over to the turn of the corner where I knew Yates was in the other hall. No one else was around because we had taken our time walking from our last class, arguing about our plans for the weekend. So now I was stuck against a locker with Greg, who was double my size, in my space and offering me a smile that gave me the chills.
I was totally blaming Yates for this one. He better show up soon.
“I heard you were thinking of coming to the game tonight,” he said, his hand on the locker next to my face. I shifted on my feet and shrank into myself, not liking how close he was.
“Undecided,” I hedged, wondering how he knew that considering I had just brought it up to Yates moments ago. Then again, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he had been listening. Greg wasn’t exactly known for being a good guy around school. In fact, most of the girls that he had hooked up with all seemed to note one trait about him.
The man wasn’t good with the word ‘no.’
Which, of course, scared the mess out of me. I was torn between trying to slip away or offering a set of appeasing words so he would leave me alone. Those were really my only two options right now.
I swallowed nervously, his smile growing as he tracked the movement.
“You should come.” His voice held an edge of near warning. “Afterwards, we are going out to the quarry for a party. I know the guys and I would love to spend—”
“Greg.” Yates’s voice was a low, dangerous hiss as I met his eyes over Greg’s shoulder. The man in front of me was large, but Yates was larger, and I immediately felt a sense of security filter through me.
At the sound of Yates’s voice, Greg nearly jumped, fear then anger flashing across his face before looking back down at me. He finally turned to face Yates, their feet nearly touching with how close my friend was. I watched as Yates’s features went especially cold, making my eyes widen as my heart jumped, not in fear but in something else that I wasn’t fully ready to examine.
“Yates,” Greg greeted, offering an attempt at a smile. “What’s up, man?”
Yates didn’t bother with niceties. “I highly suggest you get the fuck out of here.”
Greg seemed to debate his next move before he looked back at me, slipping between us and stalking away. My stomach instantly relaxed in the absence of his cologne, but my gaze followed him until he was out of sight.
I deflated against the locker in his absence, looking back at Yates, who looked furious. His gaze snapped back to mine as he seemed to shake himself, grabbing my backpack and throwing it over his shoulder. Yates intertwined our fingers and pulled me from the hallway. I didn’t know what to say to the man.
“He’s an ass,” I pointed out softly, not one for swearing but feeling like it was needed. Yates’s lips lifted in a small smile as he nodded, seemingly trapped in his head. I tried to think up something silly to argue about because it seemed to put him in a better mood, going back and forth, but instead I just tightened my hand in his. I think it did the trick because by the time we were down two floors, he was complaining about our plans again, a happy reprieve from the tense situation Greg and his friends always created.
So was I supposed to feel bad at seeing proof that a man like Greg got what he deserved, frankly? I hadn’t even suffered his true ugliness, and it was enough, in my mind, to justify it. Some people were justbad. Greg was one of those people. I didn’t need to see proof of that; it was evident in how he handled everything and everyone.
Honestly, I knew I wasn’t the only woman enjoying watching Greg get absolutely demolished on screen this afternoon. You couldn’t see his features completely, but it was obvious to anyone that grew up with him, his trademark polo embroidered with our high school mascot giving him away. I found myself nearly smiling seeing that it was covered in blood.
Rather than worry about the violence, my brain had constructed a different concern, one that was frankly far more pressing in my mind. Whoever had taken this video had done so from a bit of a distance. I didn’t recognize the setting, but it was lush and green, so most likely by the club?
Who would have taken the video? More so, why? It was possible it was one of Greg’s friends or someone who followed them from the club when they left with him. I mean, it had to be someone pretty dumb considering I even knew that we probably had enough pull to figure out who submitted the file to the news stations.
“Who sent this to them?” I turned to ask King. “Why haven’t we gotten it taken down? When did the story break?”
I mean, this was significantly worse than my social media story… Which was obvious, given the number of news channels who’d shown up to cover it.
King’s expression was serious as he watched me with a bit of confusion, his eyes darting down to my pulse as if he wanted to run his hand over it. Something I wouldn’t mind in the least right now, frankly. His touch was not only familiar, growing more constant every day, but it grounded me, making me know that he was right there with me through all of this insanity.
“Working on that,” Lincoln stated. “Story broke about fifteen minutes ago while you guys were… occupied.”
My blush hit my cheeks as I offered Lincoln a small scowl, his eyes jumping with amusement. So clearly they had an idea of what was going on. Good to know.
My question: why wasn’t this more awkward?
Then again, had anything ever truly been awkward with these men? I was pretty sure each of these men had been with me during an embarrassing moment of my life at some point.