Page 151 of Blackwood

She stalks across the stage, teasing and singing to a few other guys.

Do I like it? No.

Do I trust her? With my fucking life.

And fuck me, that final part? Ellie and Haley storm the stage. The three of them break into this country-style line dance shimmy-shake thing. They stomp, they spin, they turn. Bella leads it like she was born to.

Maddie’s smile is gone. Her ego? Dead on arrival.

Mine? Sky-fucking-high.

From across the room, Knox whistles low. “Damn, B. Sometimes I forget you’re from the South. Then you go full southern belle on stage and suddenly I remember.”

Bella flips her hair over her shoulder, smug as hell. “What can I say? Arkansas raised, New York refined.”

“Alright everyone it is officially time for Round Three,” Knox says, dragging it out like a showman. “Lip. Sync. Battle. You know the rules… no skipping verses and for the love of all things unholy, don’t do anything that makes us want to take a damn nap.”

Maddie and her Revs go first. They pick one of Taylor Swift’ssongs. Classic. I mean, it’s good. I’ll give them that. Lip sync was on point, dancing’s tight, and the timing’s clean.

Even Bella nods in congratulations. Ellie claps once. Haley flicks a strand of hair off her shoulder like she’s bored but watching.

Knox chimes in over the mic. “Nice job, Maddie. Look at you saving the best for last. See? We Wolves don’t always bite.”

Maddie smiles. Smug little thing.

“Alright, Trifecta, it’s your turn,” Knox says, his voice echoing through The Row. “Give it up for your favorite little Wicked Witches, here to close out the night with one hell of a show.”

The Row boys absolutely lose their shit when Knox saysWicked Witches,like they’ve been waiting for this all damn night. They must know something I don’t.

Knox turns toward Bella. “You ready, trouble?”

She struts toward me, hips swaying, eyes locked on mine like she’s already planning my funeral and my lap dance all in the same breath.

“Oh, I’m ready,” she smiles. “But first, there’s one rule for this song, baby.”

She stops right in front of me, steel-gray eyes locked on mine, her fingers curl around the hem of my shirt. “Take it off, Lex.”

I do what she says without a second thought. Because let’s be honest, when my girl says jump, I ask how fucking high.

The Legacy girls go wild behind her, but I barely hear them. I’m locked on her, that wicked glint in her eyes already telling me I’m about to regret whatever she has planned.

“Ellie, tie him up.”

“The fuck did you just say, baby?” I raise a brow as Ellie moves behind me, already looping my arms with the shirt I just pulled off.

“We can’t have you ruining our dance by grabbing me the second I sit down on your lap, Lex.”

Bella leans in, kisses my forehead like she’s not about to emotionally castrate me in front of over a hundred people.

“So, Ellie’s gonna tie you to this chair, and if you’re good…” she trails off, lips tilting in that dangerous way that always means trouble. “…we might untie you later.”

Oh, I’m gonna fucking explode.

The opening riff of “Shakin’ Hands” by Nickelback hits and the entire Row ignites. This is obviously one ofthoseroutines. One that these girls have practiced more than their midterms.

Bella takes lead vocals, Ellie and Haley handling backup. Her eyes on me the entire goddamn time. She looks at me like she owns me.

Spoiler alert: she fucking does.