Page 29 of Poison Touch (Monarch Vipers #1)

KINSLEY

Morning comes way too soon. Streams of light fall along my comforter at my feet. I stretch out my screaming muscles. Luca did a number on my body yesterday. At least it was mutual. He’ll be waking up just as sore as me.

Remembering the text from the night before, I’m reluctant to turn on my phone. When I do, I regret it the second the screen comes on. Nine more texts from the same unknown number. The last one says:

Don’t be late!

I don’t bother reading the others before I erase them.

However, after a few minutes, when the anger, confusion, and frustration lessen, I wish I had read them.

But whoever it is doesn’t seem like they’re going to let up any time soon, so I’m sure I’ll be privy to more of their electronic abuse soon enough.

I take a quick shower before getting ready. After saying a hasty good morning and goodbye to my uncle, I hop on my motorcycle to drive to hell.

Monarch is the usual bustle in the morning. When I take off my helmet, I notice not only students sipping their lattes as they talk about their weekend but they’re pointing at me as they do it. Their whispers thread through the morning air like a poison fog.

Okay, I’m being way too judgy for the first thing in the morning. I mean, shit, I used to be that girl. I give myself a mental slap. By the sounds of some of the conversations I pass, the party seems to have been a big hit, especially after I left and everyone moved inside during the storm.

Doing my best to ignore the peculiar stares, I head for art.

If it wasn’t evident that they were talking about me, it becomes very apparent when I pass the tenth or so group of people in the hall with their tight-lipped mouths and trailing eyes.

With only hearing slivers of conversations on the way to class, I construct what the gossip is all about: I disappeared from Saturday night’s party with Edge .

We snuck away during the storm, and then he was the only one to return to the party house two hours later. What the fuck?

If he spread rumors about me opening my legs for him, I’m going to fucking kill him. I should be able to get something out of Gunner. He likes to talk it up, so I shouldn’t even have to ask. He’ll be the first to ask me how fucking his best friend was.

I stop at the vending machine before heading to class. The protein bar falls to the well as Brielle comes straight toward me. Her frown is so deep it’s gouging into her Botox treatments.

“So, you are a whore?”

What I want to do is grab her shiny blonde hair and smash her pretty bitch face into the glass of the vending machine.

Instead, I adult, take a deep breath, and ask myself if I should hear her out or completely ignore her and walk away.

Since she’s in my first class, I don’t think ignoring her is an option, so I might as well get the suffering out of the way.

I plaster a sickly sweet smile on my face. “Yes, Your Gracious Highness, what can I do for you on this lovely Monday morning?” Then, to top it off, I do a little bow. Patiently waiting for her to say something, I maintain a fake smile as I pull my hair over my shoulder.

Her lips peel back over her straight, unnaturally white teeth. “You fucked Edge, and you’re going to pay.”

I unwrap the protein bar. “Wow. That’s news to me. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Don’t fucking lie about it, slut.”

“Where did you get this insane information about my fucking habits from?” I ask. I know she has no intention of telling me, but it’s worth a try to ask.

“Venom is taken.”

“By you? All of them?” I laugh because she makes it hard to take her sorry ass seriously.

I’ve seen the way each of them treats her, and she must be one delusional hoe to think she’s with any of them.

Her face turns red like the Corvette I blew by on my motorcycle this morning.

“So, can I assume you’re the mystery person who’s been blowing up my phone with empty, dumbass threats? ”

She takes in a deep breath, then pulls back her shoulders in her all-mighty bitch posture. “Trust me, they’re anything but empty.”

“Bring it on.” Happy to have the mystery solved, I slap a smile on my face and take a bite of the chocolate bar. Pointing it at her and looking up to the ceiling as if contemplating something, I say, “Tell me something, since I don’t remember, do you know if I enjoyed fucking your boyfriend?”

She snarls as fury blazes in her narrowing eyes. “Stay the fuck away.”

Remaining in complete control, I take one step so that my face is within inches of hers.

Her friends step back a couple of feet, their heels clicking in sync.

Smart of them. Lowering my voice to a growl, I say, “I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.

After I saw him drilling into you last week, I wouldn’t want his putrefied dick anywhere near me. ”

I back away. Her face drops a fraction as if the relief of knowing I’m telling the truth sets in. I take another bite of the bar even though I’ve lost my appetite.

“Maybe if you’re not getting fucked, I’ll see you in class.” I turn and head toward art.

I toss the rest of the uneaten bar in the garbage.

Even though what I said is true, I went to sleep last night thinking about Edge and his body, including his man parts.

But we won’t go there with Brielle. That’s nothing she needs to know about.

I want to know who started the rumor. I have a few guesses in mind but none that I’m entirely sure about.

If it was Edge, what would he have to gain by spreading a lie about fucking me?

He has nothing to benefit from it. The guy can have any girl in this school he wants—well, except for me.

Someone behind me calls my name and rushes up to me before I can answer. Josh’s expression is stricken with regret and hurt.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“I wanted to apologize for Saturday night, passing out like I did. It had been a long day of drinking and sun, and it kicked my ass earlier than I wanted.”

“No problem. It started storming, and I went home.”

“Home?” His face etches into confusion.

I immediately stop in the middle of the hall to face him. A few huffs and curses follow as I disrupt the flow of traffic. “Yes, home, Josh. In contrast to the rumor floating around about me. I went home… alone.”

His tense shoulders visibly relax. “Good,” he breathes out. “I mean, if that’s what you wanted to do, then…”

Knowing where he’s going with this and deciding to save him, I say, “Yeah, it’s what I wanted to do.”

I hate to give him the sense of any hope between us, but there it is, unintentional hope. I’ll have to steer that ship away from my shore another way and another day. Today’s missions are to shut down the rumor about me hooking up with Edge and find out where Venom trains.

“I have to get to class. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, see you?—”

I’m gone before I hear him finish his sentence.

Gunner isn’t in class when I arrive. Dammit, I was hoping to get him alone or hear his sarcastic comments or teasing before class got started so that I can set the record straight.

Waiting at my easel is a used condom. Oh, joy.

And here I thought my Monday would be boring, with sleuthing on Venom and trying to find their dojo.

I guess the joke is on me. My face flushes as anger swells inside me.

I lightly touch the scar on the left side of my stomach.

It grounds me, reminding me why I’m here at Monarch.

Taking a deep breath, I use a pen to remove the disgusting item and toss it in the trash.

Eden pops her head in class as I’m setting up my canvas. “Hey, Kinsley.”

“Hi.”

“Where did you go Saturday night?”

Even my new friend is curious, and I can’t blame her. “Home. I went home.”

I leave out the part about the pitstop in the lifeguard stand and the unfortunate events that I was trapped in. Besides, what happened there is irrelevant to the rumors being spread. They aren’t about me being shacked up with Edge to get out of the storm but straight up fucking him.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. I think there’s something I need to clear up today. Maybe the fact that I fucked Edge isn’t true.”

“So, you’ve heard.”

“It was news to me that I slept with Edge.” My gaze finds its way to the ceiling. “And yeah, it was obvious when the stares and finger-pointing started the second I got off my bike that something was up. Then I was confronted by Brielle.”

She, like Josh, lets her shoulders drop in relief. “Your mornings really suck.”

Her remark pulls a smile from me. “Yeah, since I moved here, you’re right.”

Gunner takes that exact moment to enter the class. His eyes gravitate right to me. The grin on his face widens like the great divide.Seriously?

“I’ll catch you in biology,” Eden says as Gunner passes her on his way into class.

He glances over his shoulder. “You know, tapping the chancellor’s daughter doesn’t seem like it would be too bad. She’s kind of growing on me. She has funky hair like mine and is smart like me. We might have more in common than I thought.”

Eden wouldn’t give him the time of day if someone paid her. But I don’t say this. As selfish as it is, I’m keeping this moment all about me.

He glides onto his stool. “So, you and Edge, huh?”

I act like I have no idea what he’s talking about. “Where’d you hear that?” My innocence is pretty convincing if I’m judging my performance. I shuffle around with the tubes of paint.

“Partying, storming, lightning, thundering, fucking… sound familiar?”

Nonchalance plays in my lies. “The partying, storming, lightning, and thundering all sound very familiar, but about that last thing you listed, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As I squeeze a few colors onto the palette, he’s across the room and next to me without me realizing it. Reaching into the closet, he grabs his canvas. His breath feathers along my neck. “Oh, come on, just give me one little detail.”