Page 62 of Wicked Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 1)

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Stella

Ashiver of awareness races down my spine as I stand at my locker a few minutes before the bell for the end of lunch on Friday afternoon.

Yesterday was suspiciously quiet from both Seb and his little gang, and Teagan.

I spent the whole day looking over my shoulder, waiting for the rug to be pulled from beneath me, but by the time I got to gym practice after school I soon discovered that Teagan and her bitches weren’t just avoiding me, but they’d all skipped out on the entire day.

Practice was amazing without their piercing stares cutting into my skin. For the first time since starting here, I was actually able to just lose myself in something I loved and forget about all the bullshit with Dad and the idiots I seem to have found myself surrounded by. I want to say that I was able to put him and our second altercation in the graveyard out of my mind too, but that would be a big fat lie, because the memories of having him on top of me, pressing me into the soft and muddy ground beneath me won’t leave.

Seeing as I had a car once again, I didn’t even find anyone waiting to escort me home. My afternoon was almost enjoyable—hence I was waiting for someone to come running in to ruin it.

Despite knowing that he’s watching me, I refuse to turn around. He shouldn’t have this kind of power over me, and there’s no fucking way I’m allowing him to see that his mere presence affects me in any way. His ego is already a few sizes too big. Teagan and her band of little bitches have blown it up nicely.

Everyone here, in fact, seems to either be terrified of Seb and his boys or worship the ground they walk on.

They’re the school’s kings—or knights, I guess—but they’re no different to the arrogant pricks of every other high school I’ve attended. They’ve just got bank accounts that are the same size as their egos to buy whatever their little black hearts desire.

Toby’s face flickers through my mind.

Why is he even friends with those jerks? I might have only spent a few hours with him, but he doesn’t seem like them. Well, not like Seb.

I grab the book I need for this afternoon and slam my locker closed. Typically, the direction I need to go is where he’s standing, but seeing as I’m refusing to go anywhere near him, I take a step the opposite way, more than happy to take the long route to my final class of the day.

I only take two steps when someone else appears before me.

“Oh my God, what happened?” I ask, staring up at Toby’s black eye and split lip.

A smug smirk curls at the uninjured side of his mouth as he leans his shoulders against the bank of lockers beside us.

“You should see the other guy.”

I roll my eyes at his attempt to brush it aside.

“I didn’t have you down as a fighter.” I know that Theo and Alex are still sporting wounds from whatever they got themselves into the other night, but I get those vibes from them. They’re privileged, wealthy pricks. It only makes sense that they also feel the need to prove their worth with their fists too.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Oh, mysterious.”

His eyes hold mine, a soft smile playing on his lips before he glances behind me for the briefest moment.

“Oh my God, it was him,” I breathe, realization hitting me out of nowhere.

“Just leave it, yeah?”

My fists curl and my lips purse.

Clearly Toby has a lot to learn about me too, because there is no fucking way I’m leaving it at that.

I spin on my heels, ready to march over to him, but just as I’m about to take a step it becomes abundantly clear that I don’t need to move an inch.

“Hellion, how’s it going?” he asks, his voice as smooth as melted chocolate and an accomplished smirk playing on his annoyingly handsome face.

“You,” I spit, poking him right in the chest. “What is your fucking problem?”

“Me?” he asks, faux innocence covering his face before he leans into my ear so that only I can hear his response. His hot breath tickles my neck and I have to fight like hell to stop myself reacting to it. “I think we both know I’ve got more than a few problems. But right now, my issue is your company.”