Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,59

smell of spiced cologne he’d imprinted me with, tangling with the lasting tones of the best sex of my life. Dammit, why did he have to be so good? How was I gonna find a guy to top him?

I made it to my room, slowly turning the key in the lock with the plan of not waking Mila so I could shower and slip back into bed for another half hour. I found the room empty and breathed a sigh of relief. She’d probably ended up in the boys’ accommodation too last night with Danny Harper. He was legit obsessed with her in the cutest way. Wherever she’d been at the party, he’d appeared, and that had made her light up like a Christmas tree.

I stripped off, pulling on a robe and grabbing a towel and my washbag before heading to the showers at the end of the hall. There were a few girls in there, but none of them paid me any attention as I stepped into a frosted glass shower unit and scrubbed Blake Bowman off of my body. There was an ache between my thighs which I didn’t think was gonna heal for days. The way he’d screwed me this morning had been brutal, the kind of rough that brought out the animal in me. And as soap slid over my body, I discovered his finger marks bruised into my hips. I released a sigh. It looked like he was gonna linger with me a while longer than I’d hoped. Dammit.

By the time I was back in my room, I had a headache the size of Utah setting in and I was dying for a bottle of full fat coke to take the edge off of my hangover.

Once my hair was dry and flowing down my back in soft waves and I’d hidden the bags under my eyes with concealer, I pulled on my uniform and checked the clock. I was late to breakfast, but there’d be enough time to eat. I’d make damn sure of that.

I opened up the app on my phone where I could order my meals and selected scrambled eggs on toast served with a large glass of coca cola. I wet my dry mouth as I salivated over that then headed out of the room.

I soon arrived outside the Redwood Dining Hall and felt myself slowing as I approached the double doors. This was it. I was gonna have to pull up my big girl panties and face down every whisper about me and Blake. He didn’t screw me anyway, I screwed him, so who cared?

The bigger deal was that I was gonna have to pretend like he meant nothing to me. That I was perfectly content to move on with my life and never speak to him again if I didn’t have to. The problem was, I could still feel his claws in me, sinking deeper. But hell if I was gonna let anyone in the world know that.

I lifted my chin, fixing on a casual expression and pushed through the door. A hushed silence fell over the dining hall as eyes turned my way. People actually elbowed their friends to point me out. It was a little extreme. Did everyone really care that much about Bowman’s sexcapades?

I located Mila across the room with her circle of friends and headed towards her, firmly keeping my gaze away from the Night Keepers’ table like it didn’t exist. I dropped into the empty seat beside her and a fishy smell wafted under my nose. I frowned as I looked at the weird red stew sitting in front of Mila then noticed everyone around the table had ordered the same thing.

Mila didn’t look up at me, instead stirring the stew with a tension in her posture that made concern inch into me.

“Are you alright? What’s with the stew? Is it fish Tuesdays or something?” It was about the last thing in the world I fancied eating even if I hadn’t been hanging. The smell was turning my stomach. It was gonna ruin my eggs and toast just by being present.

Mila turned to me while the rest of the table exchanged awkward glances and a sliver of ice slid down my spine. What the hell was going on?

“I’m so sorry, Tatum,” she breathed, barely loud enough for me to hear.

Before I could ask why, Saint Memphis’s voice boomed through the room. “Tatum Rivers, come up here,” he commanded.

I turned to look at him and the