BAD WICKED TWISTED: A Briarcrest Academy Box Set (79 page)

I CAME TO on the floor, my eyes blinking up at light from the ceiling. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my head. “What happened?” I muttered as Sebastian sat back on his haunches next to me, a bemused expression on his face.

“You went down like a tank, man. You seem okay though. Pupils look fine. At least they didn’t call an ambulance.” He smirked. “Coach told the teachers he’d seen you take worse hits on the field. Anyway, you’ll have hell to pay at school come Monday morning when the headmaster finds out.” Then he grinned, shaking his head. “At least I got one band set in before you closed us down.”

I grabbed hold of the stage and stood, feeling off-kilter. I checked my reflexes, tentatively touched my temple. I sat back down on the stage, noticing the bra was gone. I also noted chaperones milling around, ushering students out the door. Several of them gave me a concerned look, and I nodded at them.

“Spider?” I winced at the sound of my own voice. Shit. I needed some Aleve.

“Gone. He punched a hole in the wall first though. I guess we won’t be coming back to The Dorchester anytime soon.” He sighed.

“Here’s the bra,” he added, tossing it at me. “I don’t have to guess who it belongs to, huh?”

My heart dipped looking at it, remembering how she’d taken it off for me, how she’d made love to
me
. And he’d had it. My fists tightened once again.

His words yanked me back. “Emma said to tell you she’s waiting for us in the lobby.”

Oh, yeah. I took a deep breath, getting myself together.

My eyes found Matt who was now lip-locked with the blonde from earlier. I stood gingerly, and went over and tapped his shoulder until he came up for air.

“Cock blocking, Cuba? Sorry, this one’s taken. Go find Emma.”

“Fuck you, we need to talk.” I’d already been in one fight, what did another one matter. Although I didn’t think I’d win. I was barely holding on.

“Get your ass up,” I told him.

“You spoiling for another fight?” he asked.

“Maybe.” I gave him my football glare. I ate boys like him for lunch.

He puffed out his chest, but let out an exasperated sigh as he followed me and Sebastian to the lobby. Emma waited for us, legs crossed, sitting in a chair by a huge stone hearth where a fire crackled and snapped.

She stood, her eyes flaring when she saw Sebastian and Matt approaching.

Matt gave us a surly look and plopped down on a chair, propping his feet up on the heavy coffee table. He swept his arms out. “Hurry it up.”

Sebastian glowered at him. There was no love lost between those two either.

And I now knew why.

Emma grabbed my hand and squeezed, and I just said it. “Emma’s pregnant.”

No one moved for about ten seconds until Sebastian’s face reddened, and he started toward me, a vein pulsing in his temple.

“It’s not mine,” I told him, holding my hands out. “She and I were over a while back. It’s one of yours.”

Dead silence filled the space as it settled in. Sebastian collapsed back onto the wall, his hand over his face.

“I’m here to mediate. Make sure the responsible person follows through,” I said.

Matt’s eyes protruded. “Who the hell do you think you are, dragging me in here, away from a sure thing to tell me
she’s
pregnant? She’s lying. She pulled this once before with me—”

“Shut up,” Emma hissed. “Don’t you dare. You know that was no lie. You
know
what I did. Because you wanted me to.”

Sebastian gathered himself, swaying a little. “Wait. Hold on.” His eyes jerked from Matt to Emma and then back to Matt. He licked his lips. “You told me you were over him. You told me you hadn’t been with him or anyone since Cuba last fall. You told me you were just waiting until school was out and we were going to be a real couple? Because you didn’t want to go from one relationship to another. Was that a lie?”

A flush crept across her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I do like you, but Matt and I…we can’t stay away from each other, Sebastian.” She swallowed, briefly closing her eyes. “I tried to.”

He rubbed his temple. “So the whole time we’ve been together
,
you’ve been with him too?
Both of us
?”

She hung her head, not meeting his intense gaze.

She’d told me the entire story as soon as her doctor told her she was only six weeks pregnant, which meant it wasn’t mine. She’d been with both guys, on and off for the past two months, sometimes using condoms, sometimes not. Sure, she was on the Pill, but it wasn’t always fool-proof, especially if you didn’t take it regularly. She was stupid, but hey, I didn’t tell her that. I’d done stupid stuff, too.

Sebastian’s chest heaved. He pointed a finger at her. “You told me you cared about me.”

“Tell him, Emma,” I bit out, hating this, but the truth was the only way. “Come clean with everything.”

Her hands fluttered. “Last year April slept with Matt, and when I found out that she’d fallen for
you
, I wanted to get back at her. And you were sweet, and it seemed so easy—”

He sliced his hands through the air. “You fucking used me?” Dipping his chin, he gripped his head, and I knew that look, knew he was trying to grasp on to the truth. That she’d never cared.

With slumped shoulders, he spoke. “It’s mine or his. Whose do you want it to be? Huh?”

She sniffed. “Sebastian, there are so many reasons why we won’t work. And—and I love Matt.”

“You’d rather be tied to that dickhead than me?” He rocked on his heels, his voice incredulous and hurt at the same time.

Matt rose up. “If that’s all you got, I’m outta here. This party’s over anyway.”

I grabbed him by the arm. “You’re both going to undergo prenatal paternity testing. Emma’s going to need financial support. Her family has disowned her, and besides that, it’s your responsibility.”

Matt snorted. “Bitch ain’t getting my money.” He shot a smirk at Sebastian. “And you, my friend, don’t have any.”

“If you’re the father, you will pay up,” I told Matt. “Legally, you’ll have to.”

He huffed and sauntered off, but I could tell by his white face that he was shaken by Emma’s news. And since there’s no way he could get out of a court order for a blood test, I let him go.

Sebastian’s eyes careened around the room, as if looking for answers.

“I’m sorry, man,” I said. “I had no idea all this was going on. I was too caught up in my own shit to notice.”

He didn’t seem to hear me, instead stalking over to Emma. I knew he wouldn’t hurt her, because that’s the kind of guy he was. But I didn’t take my eyes off him.

He scowled down at her. “Whatever happens, I’ll take care of what’s mine. But don’t you dare ever look at me or talk to me. Because I’ve written you off. You’re the coldest bitch I’ve ever met.”

Wham!
He kicked the stone fireplace and stalked back into the ballroom.

“
Does doing a wicked thing make you bad inside
?

I must believe it doesn’t
.”

–
Dovey

THE MAN INSISTED on walking me to the lobby, and because I didn’t want to be weird, I let him. It was just past ten o’clock, so more than likely, the BA dance was still going strong.

We stepped off the elevator and onto the first floor, his hand at my elbow again, this time more firmly, as if he’d staked his claim and now I was his.

I walked fast.

We passed by the bar where we’d met earlier, and a guy with white hair caught my attention at one of the bar stools. With dawning horror, I realized it was Spider.

He sat there, nursing a whisky, his brown eyes widening as he caught my eyes through the glass wall that separated the bar from the hotel. I tried to make myself disappear, but yeah, that didn’t work. His mouth opened as if to speak, but then he noticed The Man. Red colored his cheeks as he bolted from the stool and came barreling out the door.

My stomach dropped, and I walked more briskly for the exit, putting some distance between us.

“Dovey!” he yelled. The sound of his footfalls were like a death knell in my head.

The Man stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Friend of yours?”

I licked my lips. “He’s one of the students at my school. There was a dance here tonight.”

“Ah,” he murmured. He brushed his lips against mine. “Perhaps I should be going then?”

Please, yes!

“Yes,” I whispered.

He turned and walked away just as Spider reached me.

“Who the fuck was that douche?” he shouted, his voice loud and carrying down the hall of the hotel. He literally bounced around me, jittery, with a wild look in his eyes. Something was more wrong with him than just seeing me with someone. Maybe it had something to do with his black eye.

“Calm down,” I said, tugging on his arm, ushering him to the side.

“You turn me down, but you’re with some old fuck?” he hissed at me.

“Shut up,” I seethed. “You messed us up, not me.” And then I pivoted, my heels clicking against the tile.

“Don’t walk away from me.” He whipped me around, and nose to nose, we faced off so close I could smell the bourbon on his breath. How much had he had tonight?

“Why were you coming from where the rooms are with a man twice your age?” He enunciated the words slowly.

“Let go of me,” I snapped, pulling away my arm. “You do not own me. I do not have to answer to you.”

He let me go, and I stumbled back but caught myself on one of the heavy pieces of hotel furniture. He immediately looked sorry, but my mouth tightened.

“Go away, Spider. I’m not talking to you when you’re trashed.”

He waved his hands around. “I’m not drunk.”

I shook my head, words I shouldn’t say spilling out. “Yes, you are. And you only want me because I keep telling you no. And that man you saw? I was making the money I needed to pay back the loan shark. Because if I didn’t, he was going to hurt Sarah or me or anybody I cared about. Maybe you.”

His face whitened. “To pay off your debt? But I thought—”

“You thought what? You haven’t spoken to me! You’re too busy getting blow jobs in your car.”

“I tried to give you money—”

“I don’t want it,” I bit out. “And it’s not like you’ve tried to ask me how it was going anyway. You didn’t call me or try to talk to me at school. What was I supposed to think?”

He clutched his stomach, his anger gone. He gazed at me in horror. “You fucked him for money?”

A low voice growled at me from behind. “
What have you done
?”

No. Just no
.

Please, not him. Not Cuba.

I turned.

The hotel lobby shrank down to just me in my black dress and him in his black tux. All the sounds disappeared around us except for his heavy breathing and my short pants. His jungle cat eyes were the darkest I’d ever seen them, his neck corded, his nose flared.

He clenched his fists. “You whored yourself out for money when I had plenty? When Spider had plenty?
Why
?”

I clung to my purse, swaying on my feet, trying to quiet the screaming in my head. I didn’t have an answer for him that he’d understand.

And so. A second later, I took off in a dead-run for the exit, and part of me wanted him to yell and call me back, but all I got was silence.

Blinded by tears, I somehow managed to crawl inside a waiting taxi that drove me back to Ratcliffe where I belonged.