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9

Bianaca

Iremained in my room, staring blindly out the window. At one point, it had begun to rain. Thunder crackled overhead and lightning struck, illuminating the sky in palest gold.

I barely processed Beau sitting beside me on the bed, wrapping his muscular arm around my waist. He held me to him, content to comfort me and hold me together when I wanted nothing more than to fall apart. He didn’t ask me what was wrong—he knew I wasn’t in a state to answer—but he didn’t let go of me, either.

Hours passed. We moved only for bathroom breaks and to sneak snacks from the cafeteria. Still, my stomach began to growl, having only eaten one granola bar that entire day.

E-A-T, he wrote on my skin. Goosebumps erupted wherever his calloused finger touched me. I shivered delicately.

“I’m not hungry,” I whispered, focusing once more on the bloated, angry storm clouds prowling overhead and the pelting rain. Beau leveled me with a no-nonsense scowl. Before I could protest or assure him I was fine, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

I didn’t complain as he led me outside, beneath an awning that shielded us from the worst of the storm, and to the cafeteria.

“Princess, I’m surprised to see you here,” a snide voice said from behind me. I rolled my eyes but did not allow Aiden’s presence to deter me from my goal.

My goal: eating as much food as humanly possible until I could continue in my wallow of self-pity and teenage angst. Healthy, I know.

“In the cafeteria?” I snapped, barely sparing him a glance as I piled my plate high with spaghetti. “Eating?”

I was becoming increasingly pissed at his devaluation of women. He deserved a good kick to the balls. With cleats on. Metal cleats. Cleats made of knives sounded appealing…

“That’s not what I meant,” Aiden said with an eye roll.

“Look, I don’t give a shit ‘what you meant’,” I hissed, throwing his words back at him. “You said it yourself…you don’t think I’m behind Josie’s disappearance. Leave me the hell alone.”

Aiden clicked his tongue ring against his teeth, the sound oddly seductive. Decadent.

“I’m afraid that’s not a possibility anymore,” he said lightly. His eyes shone with humor.

What I wouldn’t give to shove a poisonous dildo into that smug, smiling mouth—

Beau stopped whatever retort burned on my tongue, one arm lazily resting on my shoulders. Aiden’s eyes narrowed on the limb before his smile widened.

Crazy, psychotic bitch.

“Come,” he said, nodding toward the table we had sat at last time. My cheeks heated when I thought of our encounter.

The salty taste of Aiden’s finger…

The bulge in Kace’s pants…

And then my thoughts drifted to Tanner’s sensual show just that morning. The feel of Beau pressed against my back, arm spooned around me, hand inches from my breasts…

Down girl, I scolded mentally. I really had to get fucked. My damn ovaries were practically putting up ads on Craigslist: Wanted. Four Men to Find a Home Within My Pussy.

So fucking dramatic.

My vagina, that was. She acted like she hadn’t been fed in years.

Beau paid for my dinner, and I reluctantly followed him toward the table that housed the Three Horsemen. Only Tanner sat there currently, his feet kicked out and a lighter in his hand. As I watched, brow furrowing, a brilliant flame emerged. Tanner stared at the flickering flame with awe. Wonder. Reverence.

When he caught me looking, he shoved the lighter into his leather jacket pocket and flashed me an indolent grin.

“If it isn’t the little gymnast,” he cooed.

Throwing myself into the seat opposite him, I gave him the finger.