Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,4

out of your head for once and make friends.

I turned back to Blake in resilience, finding him looking down at his phone as we walked. His hair had fallen forward over his brow and his jaw was tight as he read some message.

“I’ve gotta make a call.” He parked up my suitcase and walked off into the trees at the side of the path without another word. Oh.

I turned back to face the view, hugging my arms around myself and soaking in the atmosphere. At least this place was pretty damn awesome. If I had to be shipped off to boarding school then it sure as hell couldn’t get better than this one.

The pounding of footfalls caught my ear and I glanced back down the brick path we’d taken and spotted a guy running towards me. He was tall and shirtless, sweat rolling down his muscular body toward the low-hanging black gym shorts he wore. He was tanned and gleaming. The dark blonde hair which was tucked behind his ears, the stubble, and the fierce look on his strong features and the ferocious tattoos lining his muscular chest made him look like some sort of Viking warrior as he ran my way. His ocean blue eyes flicked in my direction and a blush burst into my cheeks. I couldn’t control the reaction at all. Did every guy in this place look like a freaking fitness model?

He suddenly collided with my suitcase in the middle of the path and crashed over it, rolling onto his back as he hit the ground.

“Motherfucker!” he roared so loud that the mountain echoed it back at him.

I gazed at the floored god in absolute shock for a full second before I ran forward to help him up.

“Shit, are you alright?” I reached for him and he smacked my hands away, getting to his feet and gazing down at his smashed headphones on the ground.

“Who leaves their fucking suitcase in the middle of a pathway?” he demanded, pointing at it and I suddenly felt like a little girl being told off by my dad.

“I di-” I started but he cut over me.

“What’s your name? I don’t recognise you.” He narrowed his eyes, letting them travel down me like an X-ray.

“Tatum. I’m new.”

He tsked. “Are you stupid too?”

“I didn’t leave it there,” I said sharply, anger rising in my veins. “It’s not like I was standing here laying suitcase traps for students. It was an accident.”

His eyebrows raised then he smirked like he held a dark secret. He stepped closer, folding his arms across that heavenly chest of his while I fought to look up from it and stop picturing it pressed against my naked flesh. “Do you know what happens to mouthy girls in this school?”

Woah, asshole alert.

I gritted my jaw and stepped forward to show him I wasn’t going to be intimidated. It was my dad’s golden rule. Never show your opponents that you’re rattled. It gives them power. And when they have the power, they win.

“No, but I have a feeling you’re about to tell me.” I cocked my head to one side and he scowled hard enough to break glass.

“They make enemies out of the wrong people.” He stepped closer so the scent of sweat and something impossibly inviting slid under my nose. “And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m the wrong people.”

My heart thumped harder and I didn’t know if it was from fear or excitement. Sure, he was a dickwad with a superiority complex. But those types were the best in the sack. Not that I was going to let him know that some wild part of me was panting on the floor for him, stripping her clothes off. That bitch had no game.

“Lemme guess…” I tapped my lips. “You run with boys like Blake Bowman and are one of the bros. You’re on the football team and think you’re some kind of king around here because you won the genetic lottery. Most of the girls in this school spread their legs for you when you offer them nothing more than a glance in their direction and oh, I’m missing the most crucial part, you’ve never worked for anything in your life.”

He blew out a breath of amusement that somehow held no laughter in it. “Firstly, I don’t run with boys like Blake Bowman. I rule them. I’m not on the football team, I am the fucking team. And I don’t care if every girl in this school would bend over