Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 131926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
I press my lips into a tight line and nod, feeling a heavy guilt sink into my stomach at how I have to twist the truth. “Okay, well after you went down, he raced after me. I don’t know if he was trying to get me to unlock the house or if he wanted something else, but he chased after me and I wasn’t fast enough.”
She sucks in a gasp and grabs my hands. “Please don’t tell me that he …”
My eyes widen, realizing where her train of thought has taken her. “Oh, no,” I quickly rush out. “He didn’t do that, but he threw me into the pool and tried to hold me down, but the boys made it just in time and dealt with him.”
Ember’s eyes narrow. “How do you mean ‘dealt’ with him?”
My jaw clenches as I try to figure out what the hell to say before I let out a soft sigh, regret sitting against my chest. “They beat the shit out of him and then dumped him behind some shitty bar to let someone else deal with him. But we’re safe now. You don’t need to worry about him, he’s never going to hurt you again.”
Tears well in her eyes. “I just … I was so scared.”
“I know,” I murmur, reaching across and pulling her into my arms. “So was I, but it’s over and now all we have to do is focus on getting you better. Your head is probably going to hurt for a few days. Did you want me to take you down to the ER to get checked before I have to go to school or are you alright? You’re bound to have a nasty concussion.”
She gently shakes her head. “I think I’m all good. I mean, no offense or anything, but I just kinda wanna go home and spend the day sleeping in my own bed.”
“Yeah, of course,” I say. “Let me call the boys. Carver can drive you home and I’ll get one of the others to follow with your car.”
Any other day, Ember would have fought me on the decision to have someone else drive her car, but the fact she just nodded and let it go is a testament to how out of it she really is.
Wanting to get her home to her comfort place, I call Carver, and within the space of ten minutes, I have her at the front door with Grayson helping to get her down to the Escalade. I climb in the car beside her and go along for the drive. The trip to her place and back, plus the time it takes to get ready for school, will have us all late for homeroom, but what does it really matter?
We get Ember home just in time to find her parents trying to slip out of the house to get to work. Her mom instantly gasps and helps King and me usher her up into her bedroom. The other three boys stay downstairs with her father, charming him out of his pants and letting him know what happened—at least the Dynasty free version.
An hour later, I walk out of homeroom with a pretty pink detention slip for being tardy to class, and as I walk deeper into the hallway, I glance up to find the guys hovering around Carver’s locker. I walk straight up to them, slipping right between Carver and Grayson.
I hold up my pink detention slip with a scowl. “Did you assholes get one of these as well or is today just my lucky day?”
King’s lips pull up into an amused smirk. “I’ve never received one of them. The teachers here are too fucking pussy to even try.”
I gape at him before glancing at the others, who all nod, but I have no idea if it’s because they’re confirming King’s story or if they’re trying to tell me that the same goes for them. I groan and reach forward to slip the little square piece of paper into the front pocket of Cruz’s pants. “Screw it,” I say. “If you guys don’t have to suffer through detention, even though I’m sure you’ve done worse things than showing up late for homeroom, then I don’t have to either. Mr. Bennett can go and suck a fat one.”
King smirks and just as I’m about to ask them what’s so important that they need to be huddled in front of Carver’s locker, Sara Benson steps into Carver’s side, and by ‘steps,’ what I really mean is that she tumbles into him and puts on a show of what a clumsy idiot she is.
Her hand falls to his chest as he catches her arm to balance her. My eyes instantly zone in on their touch, and an intense fire burns through me like an inferno threatening to destroy everything in its path, but why? Carver isn’t mine and I sure as hell have no claim over him. He can be with whoever the fuck he wants to be with. I have no right to get jealous.