Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,23

mouth and crowed like a rooster to celebrate his team’s victory, running over to Tatum and slapping her a high five. In all honesty, I hadn’t bothered to keep track of the score so I had no idea if they’d really won. Who gave a shit anyway? Aside from Blake of course. That kid had to win something at least five times a day to keep his ego propped up and he invented competitions for himself to win if there weren’t enough real ones to keep him satisfied.

Kyan Roscoe strolled up to me, re-tying his top knot as he offered me a dark smile. “Are you free tomorrow night, Nash?” he asked me casually like we were old friends instead of student and teacher.

“It’s Monroe around the other students,” I reminded him, rolling my eyes. Not that he ever listened.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Actually I’ve got a hot date,” I joked. The only chance of that would be if I went off campus, and with the staff meeting planned for tonight I’d have to do an extra workout tomorrow to stick to my goals so there wasn’t much likelihood of that. Besides, the closest town was ten miles away and it wasn’t exactly filled with bars and nightlife. No, once I set foot on campus I basically got to say goodbye to my dating life until the holidays.

“Yeah. With me. I promise to treat you real nice before I get you on your back and start pounding you,” he joked and I snorted a laugh.

“You know I prefer being on top,” I replied, earning me a heated look from Pearl Devickers as she walked by. I swear that girl could scent testosterone from a mile off and always came panting like a bitch on heat at the slightest whiff. I cleared my throat as Kyan laughed. “Fuck off before you get me into trouble.”

“Yes, sir,” he said mockingly as he backed away. “Tomorrow at nine?”

“I’ll text you. I do have other students to teach, you know?”

He nodded, hiding his smile as he headed away after his friends. It wouldn’t matter if I told him to meet me at four am, he’d still show. Kyan was even more addicted to training than I was and he was damn good at it too. It didn’t hurt that our little sessions earned me a cut of his illegal brawl winnings either. Although officially I didn’t know anything about those of course.

I folded my arms and watched as all of the students headed away to the locker rooms to get changed.

The princess fell into step with Mila Cruz, laughing her head off once again as she sashayed out of the gymnasium without so much as a backwards glance.

My jaw ticked as I waited for her to remember her rendezvous with me, but she just kept walking. And walking. And fucking laughing.

I blew out a long breath through my nose and started counting to one hundred as I gave her one final chance to realise her mistake.

One, two, three…

What was it about these jumped up little rich kids that made them believe they were so superior? Was it the solid gold diapers they wore to catch their shit as babies or the thoroughbred ponies they were gifted for their fifth birthdays?

Twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight…

Maybe it wasn’t the stuff though. Perhaps it was the careless way Daddy ignored the cleaning lady or the look Mommy got on her face whenever the bellboy dared to open his mouth.

Forty one, forty two, forty three…

It could be the casual way their parents tossed hundred dollar bills out as tips as if they weren’t even worth the paper they were printed on.

Seventy five, seventy six, seventy seven…

Maybe it was all of those things, but I had another theory. I was willing to bet it was the way their parents just made problems magically go away. DUI? Sorry Officer, maybe I can just pay the fine this time and we can forget the paperwork. Disgruntled employee? Just talk to my team of lawyers, they can wrap up your issues in a mountain of red tape and you can sign an NDA for good measure.

No problem was too big or payoff too small. And that just had to fuck up an integral part of a kid as they grew up. What was life without responsibility, accountability, consequences? They were given free rein to be little assholes as often and as aggressively as they liked. It was no wonder they all