Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,18

ear. “Take your shit with you. And if you ever insult me again, I’ll do more than pull your hair, Barbie doll.” He shoved the gum wrapper down my shirt, pushing it between my breasts with his thumb and I gasped as hot, burning embarrassment rushed through my veins, colliding with a heated ache between my thighs.

He released me with a shove and I staggered forward, taking in the crowd of students who were staring at me in a mixture of horror and amusement. I tried not to run back to my seat as Kyan’s cold laugh fell over me like icy rain.

I didn’t know if I was turned on or humiliated by the time I dropped back into my seat and Mila stared at me like I’d lost my damn mind.

“Holy shit, girl,” she breathed then a smile split her cheeks apart as she slammed her hand down on the table. “That was legit the best thing I’ve seen in like, a week.”

“You’re one crazy motherfucker,” Gerald said from beside me then leaned in and patted my arm. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I shook him off, but knew my cheeks were still bright red and the back of my neck felt hot enough to set fire to my hair.

As subtly as I could, I tugged the gum wrapper out from between my cleavage while everyone around the table unsubtly watched. I cleared my throat as I tossed it onto my plate and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. Pearl was giggling with the girl beside her, muttering words I couldn’t hear which made each of them shriek with more laughter. My cheeks continued to burn, but I fixed on an expression of indifference and blocked out their mocking.

Slowly, the room filled with chatter once more and I tried to ignore the ache in my scalp from where Saint had yanked on my hair. I also tried to ignore how much that had weirdly turned me on. I definitely didn’t have a thing for public humiliation, but hair pulling…yeah I could grow to like that. Preferably behind closed doors and with less clothes on – fuck what am I thinking? Those boys were bad news. I’d always had a bit of the devil in me and if I wasn’t careful, I’d end up letting it lead me to sin.

If I screwed a guy on campus, I was gonna have to see him every day for the rest of the year. This wasn’t what I was used to. So I needed to adapt to my new environment and start being smart about my life choices.

The bell finally rang to announce the start of classes and I breathed an internal sigh of relief. Holy shit, it’s only breakfast on day one and I’ve managed to incur the wrath of a demi-god.

I’d already registered for classes yesterday afternoon and had my timetable in place. P.E. was the my first lesson of the day so I headed out of the hall with Mila as she led the way towards the Acacia Sports Hall.

She bumped shoulders with me as we walked, throwing me a smirk. “You’d better watch yourself with those boys, girl. I mean it. I’ve got balls of iron too, but I’ve seen what happens to those who piss off the Night Keepers.”

I fought a tsk as we headed around the edge of the lake and students split off in every direction towards their classes.

“I was kinda aiming to disarm them, not piss them off,” I said innocently. “Blake didn’t seem to mind.”

“Blake is a fuckboy with a one track mind. He’ll covet you, adore you, make you his one and only until he gets your legs spread. Once he’s had a girl, he loses interest. And I don’t just mean he ghosts her. He fucking zombies her. She might as well be the undead clawing at his window for the heartless treatment she’ll get.”

“Have you…” I raised an eyebrow and she released a hollow laugh.

“Fuck no. I don’t mess with Night Keepers. I mean sure, I would if they weren’t fifty shades of fucking psycho. But trust me, you’re safer to keep away from them and date normal hot guys. Play to their rules, keep out of their hair and you’ll have a sweet life here at Everlake. Have you seen how many dudes have checked you out in the past five seconds?” She gestured to a group of senior boys who glanced back over their shoulders at us as they walked