a laugh and I lean back in my seat, chomping on my own slice of pizza. It’s steadily become ninety percent of my diet.
Personally, I’m still trying to figure out if Ben is actually as dumb as he looks.
“Shut the hell up,” Carlton says, cheeks red. “I admit I’m in a bit of a slump, but that’s because I’m picky. I’m not putting my dick just anywhere, unlike you indiscriminate fucks.”
“Your loss,” Ben says, righting his chair and flopping back into it.
We’re seated in a small circle inside the bunker beneath the Devil’s Tower. So far, it’s only the four of us making up the Devils, which is kind of sad, if I’m being honest. Four dudes sitting in a dank dungeon eating room temperature pizza does not an elite secret society make.
Since we need a couple more guys, we’ve made a list of who we plan on inviting. Some new kid named Tyson from the swim team was tossed around and given approval. For the last guy, we needed a legacy—someone whose family is Devil-made—and that’s how we settled on Sebastian Wilcox, Heston’s younger brother. I don’t know a lot about Sebastian, but I know just enough about Heston to feel like it’s a bad idea.
Narrowing down the girls is a bit harder.
“I think the best thing to do,” Emory says, propping his feet up on the small table in the middle of the room, “is to have each of us invite a girl to tryout to be a Devil’s Plaything.”
“Try out?” Ben asks, eyes flashing in excitement. “Like, we each get to fuck her?”
“Jesus Christ,” Emory mutters, dragging a hand down his face. “No, fuckweed. They’re not whores. They’ll be our…” He rubs pensively at his chin, eventually landing on, “Our contemporaries. Every good fraternity has a sorority counterpart; girls to party with, both beautiful and smart. Think about Campbell. She ran those girls with an iron fist. The rest of the school revered them. Guys wanted to bang them. Girls wanted to be them. The Devils are nothing without a solid group of hot chicks by our side.” He taps his pen on the pad of paper, mouth turning into a frown. “Unfortunately, most of them graduated last year, and frankly, Campbell may have done too good a job of isolating the rest of the girls at the school. We’ll need to start fresh.”
“I vote Afton Cross,” Carlton says, using his pizza crust to point at Emory.
“Seconded,” Ben instantly says. “Damn, she’s hot.”
Emory doesn’t argue. “Yeah, that’s pretty obvious. Because she’s not just hot. She has influence and a good bloodline. See where I’m going with this?” After a few nods, Emory offers, “Aubrey Wills, too.”
Everyone agrees, while Ben mumbles, “God, those tits,” and makes a squeezing motion in front of his chest. Emory throws the pen at him and it bounces off his forehead. “Ow.”
“Stop being a pervert,” Emory admonishes, looking frustrated. “Aubrey is hot, but she’s also smart and her family is loaded. Are you not getting the point of this?”
Ben stretches out his legs and rubs his forehead. “Fine, what about Sydney Tisdale?”
“Fuck no,” Emory replies quickly.
“Why not? She’s hot. Fun…”
“She’s toxic,” Emory explains, “and cannot keep her goddamn mouth shut. The whole school will know about this two minutes after she’s invited, and there will be a video to prove it.”
“That’s fair,” Ben admits. “Girl gives good head, though.”
I snort a quiet laugh and Emory’s attention turns to me. “What about you? Who are you going to nominate?”
I know he’s expecting me to say that I don’t know, that I haven’t been here long enough to read the room or scout the options. He’s not wrong. Nerves twist in my belly, knowing what I’m about to propose is going to be tough to sell. I take a calming breath and say, “Actually, I do have a suggestion.”
“Wait, really?” His face shows his surprise. “Who?”
“Vandy.”
The name is met by an uncomfortable silence, Carlton going still, mid-chew. All eyes dart to Emory, who stares at me for a long moment before bursting out with a loud, “Ha! Yeah, good one.”
I cut my eyes to him. “I’m serious.”
The tense amusement bleeds from Emory’s face instantly. It’s replaced by something dark and threatening. “You’re going to want to get unserious.”
I hold his stare, unheeding of the warning in his eye. “Why?”
He just grinds out, “Not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
Ben and Carlton watch us closely. The back of my neck prickles like crazy, either in warning or annoyance.