Page 24 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares (The Society #1)

Levi wasn’t understanding. He was an asshole. And Issac did violate me. I didn’t ask for it. They all deserved to get pepper-sprayed. I don’t know why I ever thought otherwise. And I sure as hell don’t know why I hugged him.

I didn’t hug anyone, ever. What the hell just happened? How did he twist my words like that? And how did I not catch it? One thing was for sure.

I was going to pepper-spray Levi, right now.

With my hand in my pocket, I spun around to find him when a male voice echoed down the hall.

“What do we know about Georgia’s dad?” That sounded like Issac.

My spine went rigid as my ears perked up at the voices coming from an open door.

Why was Issac asking about my dad? Was Rachel right? Was Issac going to go after my family? Targeting my dad might be hard, considering I didn’t even know who he was.

Mom never talked about him, and when I asked, she’d get this blank look on her face, then go and lie down with a headache.

I assumed whatever happened between them was too painful for her to think about and stopped asking.

It wasn’t like the guy was in my life anyway. He was nothing more than a sperm donor.

Still…

Curiosity made me tiptoe a little closer, as someone else—who I assumed to be one of the twins—coughed out, “We don’t know who he is.”

Figures. Well, at least I wasn’t alone in the mystery of my DNA. That didn’t mean I wasn’t a bit disappointed. It would’ve been nice to know something about my father, even if it came from Issac. A name, hair color, or shoe size. Anything.

Pushing the thought out of my mind, I marched forward and froze in the open doorway when Issac said, “Yes, you do.”

I stood there with my foot in the air, mid-step, and swung my eyes from Issac to Ravi—the tattooed twin. They were sitting on a large bed in the middle of the room, completely oblivious to my presence, which was fine with me. Because the only thought going through my mind was.

They know who my father is?

There was no way. How could they know when I didn’t? But the look Issac was giving Ravi told me otherwise. He seemed pretty sure that Ravi knew something. No, that was impossible, wasn’t it?

I held my breath, waiting for Ravi’s response. A part of me was excited at the possibility of finally having a name, while another part wanted to slap them for digging around in my personal business. The biggest part of me waited for the inevitable disappointment.

“Don’t you think you have other things to worry about?” Ravi gave Issac a pointed look. “Like the claiming.”

Issac responded with an exasperated eye roll, while my lip curled.

What the hell was a claiming? Who talked like that?

Certainly not any college students I knew.

Maybe they were involved in one of those whispered-about clubs.

Every campus seemed to have rumors about them.

The alleged secret societies that weren’t so secret, and were just glorified frats and sororities.

Was that what this was all about?

My eyes trickled over Issac and Ravi’s designer jeans and shirts. It was a crime that horrible people like them looked that good. I could see them as being involved in one of those clubs. They reeked of privilege and arrogance.

So what if I interrupted one of their secret club meetings, or whatever the hell they were doing. That didn’t give them the right to treat me like that. And they certainly didn’t know anything about me. The fact that they thought they did was just sad.

That was when I noticed the items strewn out on the bed.

Son of a bitch.

They were going through my belongings. Well, that was going to end now.

I stepped into the doorway and cleared my throat.

There were a few reactions I expected when Issac saw me standing there, all of which were the reasons I had my hand on my can of pepper spray. When his cold, turquoise glare locked on me, fear had me wanting to bolt in the other direction.

When he barked out, “What the fuck do you want?” I choked back the cry of panic bubbling up my throat and rolled my shoulders back, hoping they couldn’t see the way my knees were trembling.

“I want my things back.” My eyes dropped to the items on the bed. “You had no right to take them.”

I didn’t like the smirk at the corner of Ravi’s mouth, but I was not going to take my eyes off Issac, who I was sure already had about seven different plans for my murder.

He was the real threat, except I refused to bow down to him. After all, bullies only bullied someone as long as they let them. I was better than that.

My hammering heart disagreed.

Issac rose from the bed and strode forward, causing my pulse to thunder against my ribs so hard I couldn’t breathe.

The closer he got, the tighter I gripped the can in my pocket. That was my one safety net. The feel of the aluminum against my palm allowed me to suck a little oxygen into my lungs.

Until Issac stepped up to me.

As his foot came down in front of me, I felt his long, cold shadow stretch across me, darkening the air around us.

Whatever boldness I’d managed to fake cracked wide open, leaving behind nothing but my trembling body and the pulse wildly fluttering in my throat.

His presence was not only suffocating but overwhelming.

I had to crane my neck to meet his eyes, and even then, all I got was the curve of his mouth. If it came to a fight, I would not be the winner. I wasn’t sure if there would be enough of me left to be considered the loser. But that wasn’t my biggest concern.

“If you touch me, I’ll scream.” I could feel his hands on me, crawling over my skin and pawing at my breasts.

Issac glared down at me and let out a low, condescending tsk that scraped across my nerves like gravel. “Go ahead, scream.”

“There are other people in this house,” I pointed out. “They’ll hear me.”

“And?” Issac shot back.

He wasn’t afraid at all. Why should he be? No one helped me in the cafeteria, so why would they help me here? This was a bad idea. I don’t know why I thought I could do this.

“Careful, Issac,” Ravi sang from in the room. “She might have more pepper spray.”

That’s right. I did have pepper spray. Aha!

My chest puffed out, then quickly deflated when Issac said, “She does. It’s in her left pocket.”

His piercing turquoise eyes stared down at me, as if daring me to pull my weapon out. Suddenly, the can in my palm felt more like dead weight than a safety net.

“Look,” I swallowed down the lump of fear forming in my throat. “I just want my things back. That’s all.”

“Why don’t you call the cops?” Issac cocked a brow and added, “Again.”

How did he know about that? The cops refused to pursue it.

They weren’t even going to question him.

Did someone tell Issac? No, they couldn’t have.

No one knew. I didn’t tell anyone. Meaning, the only way he could’ve found out was if the police told him.

All of Rachel’s warnings suddenly felt a lot more real.

“Don’t look so surprised, Peaches. I have people everywhere.”

The world fell out from under my feet as reality set in. “You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”

“No. But if you’re a good girl and do what I say, maybe I won’t kill you,” Issac bent down and hissed in my face. “Now, get the fuck out of my room.”

His hand hit my chest, shoving me out in the hall, before he slammed his door shut so hard that it cut through the air.

Pain tore through my spine as I hit the floor, knocking the breath out of me and taking my dignity with it. There was only one option left…

Run.