“Come on, Taryn. We need your help.”
“You guys are coming to double-team me?” I glanced around and noticed the attention we were getting. If Mandy was at my table, it was a big deal, but with Tray Evans there too, people’s mouths were on the floor.
“Well…yeah.”
Tray leaned forward, propping his muscled arms on the table, teasing me with a view of a tattoo peeking out from underneath his polo sleeve. “Mandy says that you’re good at stealing stuff. She said you’re good at breaking into places too.”
“No.” I paled. That was even worse.
“Taryn, come on, you’re like a legend. Mom and Dad had to attend meetings about this stuff just to prepare the family for you.”
The way she said it felt like a dagger stabbing me in the heart. “Sorry that your family had to learn how to thief-proof their home before their new defected adoptee moved in.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. I really didn’t. Taryn—”
I wasn’t listening. I left and ignored how everyone’s heads turned to follow me as I went out the cafeteria door. Once in the hallway, I headed for the parking lot. I didn’t think, I just went. It wasn’t until I was in my car with the keys in the ignition that I stopped myself. What was I doing? I couldn’t skip school. That was the old Taryn. I had to be the new Taryn. A wave of longing came over me. I missed Brian. He would’ve understood from the way I walked that I needed to get away, but he wasn’t there anymore.
The passenger door opened and my heart stopped. Brian?—no—Tray. He smirked at me. “Going somewhere?”
“Get out.”
He laughed, getting in. “All I did was sit down at your table and ask you a question. I’m wracking my brain, trying to figure out what I’ve done to piss you off, but I can’t think of another time that we’ve even talked. Did I hit on you at some party and act like an asshole?” He grinned. “If so, I apologize right now. It was probably because you’re hot and I was drunk.”
He sounded all nice now, but it was an act. Every alarm was going off inside of me. He was not this innocent guy. As I stared at him, I found myself checking him out. He really was gorgeous, with eyelashes that girls would kill for and full plump lips. His shirt had moved higher and I saw the tattoo again.
I had a thing for tattoos, and the sight of his tribal one had me squirming. It’d been a while since I had been with Brian. Shit. Brian. Tray Evans was the rich and blessed version of my ex-boyfriend. The difference was that the Brian Lansers of the world never got away with anything. They got in trouble just because they existed. The Tray Evans of the world pulled the same shit and were worshiped.
Dangerous. He was just dangerous in every way.
“Like what you see.”
I laughed softly. It hadn’t been a question. “You got the package. We both know that, but I doubt you have the quality.”
“You think so?”
“I’ve dealt with boys like you. You’re all the same.”
“Boys?” He flashed me a grin. “I’m all man. There’s no part of me that’s a boy anymore.” He leaned forward so his face was close to mine. He came in slow and his breath teased my skin. Then he tilted his head to the side and his cheek grazed against mine.
I held firm. I had to. He was testing me, seeing if I would flinch or melt. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t give him any reaction because if I did, he’d win. I would be the weaker one. Heat spread through my body and I gritted my teeth. My body was betraying me. No one had gotten that kind of reaction from me, not even Brian when we first kissed, and that knowledge made me hate this guy.
I smirked at him, he was so close to me. “Good for you.”
His eyes were laughing and the hazel color darkened to an amber color.
“But I’m not interested.”
A low chuckle slipped from him, and he moved back. “Listen, business only, okay?” He paused, an eyebrow lifted. “Next week is homecoming and we play the Panthers from Pedlam. They stole our game book last year, and we got screwed. We lost the game, and we lost going to the championships because of it. Some of my friends didn’t get football scholarships.”
“You want me to steal their game book?”
“Mandy says you used to do this stuff. I respect that you don’t want to do it anymore, but we know that they’ve already been sniffing around campus. We caught a few of ‘em Friday night. They were trying to take our state championship flag from two years ago.”
“You don’t even play football. Why do you care?”
“Because this is my school. Those guys are my friends, and I take care of what’s mine.”
I frowned. “I know people from Pedlam.”
“You went to school there?”
“More than any others. I don’t know if I want to help you screw with a school that I used to consider mine.”
Tray sighed, rolling his eyes. “You’re Mandy’s sister. This is your school now, Taryn.”
That was the first time I’d heard him say my name, and I hated hearing it from him. I hated him. A whole host of emotions were unlocked. Memories seared through me and Brian’s voice, saying my name, was on repeat inside of my head.
I wanted it gone. I wanted him gone. “I’m not helping you.”
Tray Evans was in my car, but memories of Brian were overwhelming me. I didn’t want to remember him.
“What?”
“Get out.” My voice was rougher than it needed to be. I couldn’t help it.
“Fine.” He got out and shut the door. As he walked away, I tried to calm the storm he had unknowingly unleashed.
I missed him. I missed both of them.
*
I let myself inside the mansion, dropping my keys in the bowl beside the coat-rack. The place was just massive. I already knew no one was home. My parents—it was hard to think of them as parents; I had to keep reminding myself not to call them Shelly and Kevin in my mind—were gone to a medical conference. It wasn’t long until I learned that Kevin was rarely home. He was either on-call at the hospital or he was moon-lighting at a different hospital. When he wasn’t, he took Shelly with him for weekend conferences. When they both left, it was Mandy, Austin, and myself. A neighbor came over to check on us in the evenings. There’d been a few times when the neighbor slept over, but she always watched television in her room so we had the house to ourselves most of the time.
Grabbing a soda, I headed to the media room. It wasn’t long until I heard voices coming from the kitchen, and I groaned. Mandy’s friends’ voices. The gods of the gods.
I muttered, “Kill me now.”
“She’s down here.” Mandy bounced down the stairs and plopped next to me. Devon came in behind her and stood at the end of our couch, frowning at her. She beamed at me. “Hey!”
“Hey.” I frowned.
“Tray said you said no. A big fat no actually.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t going to deal with this from her. “No, Mandy.”
“Why not? This would be so easy for you.”
“What’s going on?” Jennica Kent asked, laughing as she sat on the couch opposite us. Tray and a few others came into the room. The only one missing was Amber Sethlers. She and Jennica were the two females at the top of the food chain.
I knew some about the others, Grant, Samuel, and I couldn’t name the third guy. There were enough rumors swirling about every one of them. One hated the other. They had all slept with each other at some point. I never cared. They were rumors. I could barely keep track of the ones about me. This was the social circle at the top, and they were in my media room, well, Mandy’s media room.
I wanted to run. I never mixed with Populars well.
“Leave her alone, Mandy. The girl said no.”
I glanced at Tray in surprise. I didn’t believe that he had backed down. “I’m not doing it. Wherever you want me to break into, I’m not doing it.”
“We’re not asking anymore.”
“Okay.” Mandy nodded. “We’ll figure some
thing else out then.”
She bit her lip and glanced around the room to the others. The guys didn’t care about the conversation. Devon had taken the remote and turned the channel to a basketball game. Jennica was watching Tray, who was staring at me. The longer he did, the redder her face got. I didn’t look at him. I wasn’t going to step back into that dark hole. He was like a vortex, a very hot and lethal vortex, but I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying how upset she was becoming. Then she shot me a nasty look and I turned away, biting my lip. What was I doing? I needed to fit in, strip off my rebel ways, and assimilate into this pack.
I was screwed.
I glanced at Mandy. I should leave, but her hand went to my arm. Even though she hadn’t said anything, I felt that she wanted me to stay. Oh hell. I knew she wanted me to be friends with her friends, but I couldn’t. I belonged in the criminal crowd, not this one. This was a whole new crowd.
But…she was my sister and I was trying a new way. Going against my instincts, I tried to watch the game.
Mandy squeezed my arm.
CHAPTER TWO
As I headed to my car on Friday, I felt someone fall in line beside me. I knew who it was before I looked. Tray Evans. Since I hung out that evening with the group, he hadn’t been around that much. He hadn’t cared about pushing his agenda on me. In fact, he hadn’t cared much about me at all. This was the first time since that day that he had even sought me out, but I had gotten used to his presence. There was a pull from him. If he was in a room, people knew it. They were aware of him and everyone migrated towards him. I couldn’t deny that I didn’t feel the same pull.
It was annoying.
I didn’t have time to ask what he wanted. He grabbed my arm and pulled me from the sidewalk. We went into a group of trees, and with foliage surrounding us, we were cut off from everyone else. No one would know we were in there.
“Hey!” I pulled my arm from his hold.
He crowded me. “You lied.”
“What?”
“I’ve been watching you, and I know you lied to me.” He stood so close that I could feel the heat radiating off his body. “You said you don’t want to steal anymore, but you lied. You get an adrenalin rush every time you take something. You’re addicted to it. I’ve seen it in your eyes over the week. You miss it, and you were lying to me when you said you wouldn’t do it anymore.” He moved even closer. “You want to do it. I can tell.”
He was right, but I pushed him back. “So what? I won’t live that life anymore.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Right.”
“I’m asking you to do one thing. One thing, Taryn.”
He said my name. It was the second time this week and it had the same effect on my body. I gritted my teeth. I was starting to hate the power he already had over me. “What is it? What’s going to screw Pedlam so much?”
He smirked, then hid it when he saw my anger. “We need to get in their school. They’ve got all this new security, some serious stuff, and we need you to get us inside. That’s it. We just want to get in and do some damage. It won’t be anything that will get us in trouble or you sent to juvie again.” He softened his tone. “I promise.”
And I was pure and innocent.
I snorted in disbelief. “I’m not stupid and there’s a difference between helping you break in somewhere and lifting something for you. There’s a big difference.”
He flashed me a smile. Oh, whoa. I was suddenly burning up, and, judging from the look in his eyes, he noticed my reaction because the amber was back in his eyes.
“I know you’re not stupid.” He moved closer to wrap a hand around my neck. He bent forward slightly, his mouth just to the side of mine. He was almost kissing me. Without thinking, I closed my eyes and leaned into him, bringing our bodies in contact. His other hand slid from my arm and down my back, ending just on the small of my back. He applied enough pressure, tipping my hips against his.
This was how Brian held me.
At that thought, I softened. My arm slipped around his shoulder, curving around his neck, and I moved my head towards his. Our lips touched, just slightly. There was no pressure. Just a small graze. I hadn’t been kissed like in months. My body wanted it. There was a promise of safety and security. That old feeling I would get from Brian was there.
Brian…
I missed this, even if it wasn’t real, even if it wasn’t with the right guy. I could feel it again, for a small moment. I could slip away from the newness of my world, the fear from being out of my comfort zone and away from my real family. I was tempted. I was so tempted. Neither of us moved, we were at a standstill. Both of us were breathing deeply now and I slipped a finger inside the waistband of his pants and pulled. Tray’s mouth opened over mine. His kiss was rough, taking command.
Opening my mouth, I dipped my head back and granted him better access. As his tongue swept inside, I moved mine against his, and my hands took hold of his shirt. Then I slid my foot around his leg and he grasped it, raising it, pulling my body almost on top of his.
Shit. This was too much, too quick. I pulled away and frowned. It hadn’t been the warm comfort I felt with Brian. I glanced at Tray, seeing that he was just as affected as I was, and I shook my head clear. Tray was not Brian. He was a different type of danger than Brian, and with that thought, I shut it down. I wasn’t going there.
“Just think about it.” He had gone hoarse.
I didn’t trust myself to speak so I just nodded.
“Fine.”
I expected him to go. I expected him to pretend like I didn’t exist, like he’d done over the week, but he didn’t. He lingered and watched my lips.
Oh good god. My heart began beating faster. I hadn’t signed up for this. Before this week, he had never said a word to me. Before this school and before my new family, he would’ve been in a different league than I was.
Guys wanted me. I knew this. I used it as a weapon at times. Guys were dumb. Girls were jealous and while they were experiencing those emotions, I used it, getting what I needed while they were distracted by their internal feelings.
But this guy, I licked my lips without thinking, this guy was different. I felt unbalanced with him. I didn’t have the upper hand, and in those moments, I retreated. That’s what I needed to do now. I started to go, but he hauled me back. My hand went to his chest and I stopped him. “Don’t.”
He ignored me. His hand slid inside my pocket and he pulled my ringing phone out. A new surge of heat rushed to my face as I realized I’d been so distracted by him, that I had missed that. Swearing in my head, I took it from him and pulled away, turning my back to him. “Yeah?”
I didn’t check who was calling. I should’ve.
“Babe.”
It was Brian. Memories of being with him, of being held in his arms, of being sheltered by him assaulted me. I shook my head. “You can’t call me.”
“Taryn,” he said so softly, “come on.”
I shook my head. “You can’t. We talked about this.”
He paused on the other end. I heard his pain. I felt it too, but he was my past, and he had become a bad part of my past. I glanced at Tray. Here was a different guy, one from the ‘right side’ of the tracks. He was asking me to go back there. Hearing Brian’s voice was torture, but I was glad. The decision to keep clean was reaffirmed and I remembered what I could lose, or worse yet, I shuddered, what I could go back to.
“You can’t call me.” My throat swelled. “I’m sorry, Brian.” Then I hung up.
“That was your ex?”
I didn’t respond. No one needed to know my business.
“Look, I get it. I do.”
He didn’t, but I remained silent. My back was still turned to him.
“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important. Your sister said you could get into any building. That’s what her parents had been warned about, that you’re one of the best. I don’t know that world. I don’t. I know my school. I know my frien
ds, and I know that I have to take care of us. Getting into Pedlam will help.”
“It’s a stupid rivalry.”
“It’s not. They fucked us up last time. A lot of guys lost scholarships. I know it sounds stupid, but it’s important to us. It’s important to them.”