Page 15

brIELLE

T he sun warmed my skin, and I tipped my head back to enjoy the moment.

I was early. My sister wasn’t supposed to meet me for another five minutes during her lunch hour.

As a senior, she was allowed to leave campus, so long as she didn’t abuse the privilege.

Even though we were several years apart, it felt like a lifetime since I’d attended the all-girls prep school.

I wished she were there already. The few minutes with my thoughts were almost more than I could bear.

What will I do? I’d been pondering how I ended up back in Ares’s bed for the past few days.

All he had to do was crook his finger, and I’d happily launched myself into his arms. I couldn’t get enough of him.

I swore something hummed beneath his skin, an electrical current of sorts, a magnetism I found impossible to deny.

I’d experienced it before, but not to that degree, and I guessed it was present in most soon-to-go-pro athletes.

They had a different mindset, an unrelenting drive, an ambition that enabled them to achieve their highest goals.

But even with the few almost-professional stars I’d encountered, none had affected me like Ares.

I wanted him like no other. And I was even beginning to like him—an unexpected occurrence, especially after our first encounter and my video-crafted image of him as a self-serving manwhore.

My face warmed, and not from the sun. The video version of Ares was hot as fuck, but the real one was a million times more so.

I’d even gotten to know Aurora and Kylian—Ares’s roommates—and Liam, who wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d thought. Well, he slept around constantly, but once I got to know him, I appreciated him on another level.

Still, I was having so many issues with Preston, I feared I would have to go to the headmaster. What then? Would whatever my relationship with his uncle was come to light? If Preston got expelled for his continued disruptive behavior next semester, would Ares become my enemy too? Should I care?

A breeze lifted several strands of my hair, offering a brief respite from the midday heat. I glanced at the time just as a shadow fell over me.

“Hey, sis.”

I tipped my head to meet Serena’s grin as she stood in front of me in her school uniform, a blue-and-black-plaid skirt and a white button-down. “I got you a sandwich.” I pushed the bag and bottle of water toward her.

She claimed the seat across from me on the café’s outdoor table. “Thanks.” Her backpack landed with a thud on the table, and she rooted around in it before pulling out her laptop. “I finished my essay.”

I rubbed my hands together, waiting for her to pull it up on the screen then pass it over.

We ate in companionable silence as I read through what she’d written.

It was a personal narrative about her experience growing up in a family that had everything, only to have her world crumble around her when her dad’s corruption was exposed.

How she’d had to learn about herself, what she was capable of, and who around her had revealed their true colors of friend or foe.

It was touching and heartfelt, and instead of being about tragedy, it was a story of strength and hope.

A gentle push, and I closed the laptop with a soft snick, affected by Ser’s prose. “It’s really good. I only have a few suggestions.” I glanced at the time. “If you send it to me, I’ll return it tonight.” We only had a few minutes until she had to get back to school.

Ser squealed and launched herself at me. My arms wrapped around her slender frame and squeezed. I let my eyes drift shut to savor the moment. I missed being around my sister more than I could stand sometimes.

“I have to get back. It’s ridiculous that they only give us half an hour. Walk with me?” Ser slung her backpack over her shoulder then swallowed the last few bites of her sandwich before throwing the paper bag in the garbage. Grabbing her water, she stood waiting for me.

“Yeah, sure.” I tossed my garbage and stuck my half-finished water bottle in my bag. Ser linked our arms, and we headed around the back of the café, a shortcut to the academy. I could have driven her, but we had more time together walking, and I could use it to clear my head.

“Were you able to get the tax information you needed from Mom for FAFSA?” Ser asked before her lips pinched into a straight line.

I understood the stress she felt. Veronica was a nightmare at times.

And tax info? That was one of them. Her response had been, “Your father handles all that.” I’d come back with the fact that he was in jail.

After a few rounds, I’d finally gotten her to call the accountant and send me what I needed, which had been different than what Ser had gotten her hands on before.

Neither of us should have been surprised.

“I did.” I didn’t bother telling her it might not help her much. “We need to focus heavily on scholarships. I’ll keep researching and send you links to the ones you should apply for. ”

“Thanks, Brie. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

I hated the position we were in. She was stuck in a small apartment with our drunk-off-her-ass mother, who also happened to be delusional. “I meant it when I said you can crash in our room anytime you need.” Mal wouldn’t care. She understood what was going on.

“I’m doing okay. And hey, I went out with Remi the other night.”

I grinned and bumped my hip into hers, eliciting a laugh. “Does she go to your school?”

“Nope. She’s nineteen, and I think she’s planning on going to yours.”

“You think?”

“We didn’t get into details.”

“Huh, have you thought about applying to Fall Lake University? It’s a good school.”

“Yeah, I’m coming around to it, especially now.” Ser winked. “I’ll apply this weekend.”

We chatted about mundane things the rest of the way until we were at the edge of the academy’s property. After another hug, I said goodbye to my sister then jogged back to the car. I had to hurry to make it to class at the boys’ academy, which was not far from where we were.

As I ran, a strange feeling crept up my spine, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck rose.

I stopped to scan the trail behind me and the grassy, tree-lined area.

Something moved not far to my right. Ice infused my veins at what looked like a tall figure in a thin sweatshirt with the hood up leaning against a tree about twenty feet from me.

I couldn’t see his face, but malevolence pulsed from the dark space in the heavily shadowed cowl.

I shivered. My sister had walked through there alone to meet me. I didn’t like that thought one bit. The situation was creepy, and I wouldn’t wait around to find out what he wanted or what he was doing. I quickened my pace, and when I glanced back, he was gone. Maybe I’d imagined it.

I would like to say the day flew by from there, but it didn’t.

Preston—because it had to be him—let loose a mouse in the classroom.

I had to deal with complete chaos and the capture and release of a terrified rodent.

I managed to slam a bottle of water, aspirin, and an apple when I got back to the dorms before I passed out in a coma-like sleep, only to be woken by my phone pinging with texts.

Ares: I’m home. You coming over?

Ares: Brielle… you around?

I peeled one sandpaper eyelid open to read the texts, and my body heated at the thought of what waited for me.

Then, I thumbed a response. Pick me up. I wanted him to hold me.

And I had to face facts—I wasn’t capable of resisting him or the insane amount of pleasure he delivered.

We barely talked about anything serious, and we both liked it that way. It was less… complicated.

But the sex—God, the sex was incredible.

He did things to me I didn’t even think were possible.

I’d never reached the heights he could coax my body to.

I couldn’t resist him, and it seemed like he felt something similar.

Or I was just easy. Who knew? I didn’t care.

Not when he would pick me up, take me back to his place, and make me feel the most amazing things.

It was a surefire way to eliminate the awful headache and achiness I’d barely managed to sleep off.

I would still be sore, but it would be the good kind and for a different reason.

I must have dozed off again, and I woke to a loud knock on my door. I wiped the corners of my mouth, hoping I hadn’t drooled. A few blinks until my eyes stayed at half-mast, and I dragged myself from bed, shuffling to the door. I opened it without looking and leaned against the doorjamb.

Ares stood in the doorway, filling it with the most mouthwatering sight.

Will I ever get tired of looking at him?

He wore dark- gray joggers that did little to hide his muscular thighs.

A navy T-shirt with our school logo stretched across impossibly broad shoulders, straining at his biceps.

I wanted those arms around me, lifting me and pressing me against the wall before he buried himself deep inside me.

“Brie?”

I jerked my gaze back to his sinfully handsome— grinning —face. Well, if I hadn’t been drooling before, I sure as hell was now. “Let’s go.”

He chuckled before stepping aside so I could pass him.

I half turned to go back in, but he held up my bag and purse.

I nodded then shuffled toward the stairwell.

The sound of my door closing echoed in the quiet hallway.

It was a little after seven. I was surprised the floor was deserted but also glad.

I hadn’t seen Mal since that morning, but she had a long day, and I didn’t expect to run into her.