Wicked Love - Michelle Dare Page 0,67

upon myself to enjoy the game alone. My two brothers have slowly been learning, been coming along for the ride, and I’m proud of their enthusiasm.

My gaze scans the quad. She’s moving closer to her Jeep. I haven’t read all the details about the agreement, but I will. All the information I need is at home, but I needed to look at her in person. The redheaded beauty will be as familiar to me as my brothers. I can’t help but want to get to know all there is to know about her.

When my best friend, Damien, stepped away from our game, I was gutted. Sad he didn’t want this as much as I do. But I would take it just one step closer to the edge of insanity. I love teetering on the precipice where morals are left behind and deviance takes over. I don’t blame him. He’s better off without me.

My grip on the photo is so tight it twists in my hand as she turns and leaves her friends to unlock her vehicle. I watch as she slings her backpack into the passenger seat. She’s dressed in a pair of tight blue jeans that seem to be painted on her slender legs. Her hoodie covers her top, so I can’t tell what she’s hiding underneath. But I I’ll find out.

Her feet are encased in a pair of Chuck Taylors. A tomboy at heart, perhaps, but I’m almost certain she could bring a man to his knees if she were all dressed up.

I don’t move.

I hold my breath.

My blood runs hot through my veins. Need and desire mingle with the hunger and yearning I’ve come to know as intrigue, which could twist into a beautiful game. She’s not my first. Perhaps she won’t be my last, but right now, she’s all I see.

I remind myself to blink. To breathe.

She doesn’t get into the Jeep just yet, and she’s interrupted with whatever she was about to do by her phone. I watch her pull it from her pocket, staring down at the screen for a long while, and jealousy races through me like white-hot pain.

When I get home, I’ll be doing my research. I’ll find out everything there is to know about this beauty, and when I do, I’ll enjoy her company immensely.

Soon, little mouse . . .

1

Micaela

It’s October, and the fact that I’ve been sent all the way to the middle of nowhere is evidence that my father has lost his mind. I have to admit Thorne Haven is beautiful, but as much as I love being independent, I do miss my old friends. The classes have been good so far, and as I make my way through the quad, I find a couple of girls I know from class standing near the parking lot.

“Micaela,” one of them, Paula, says with a smile. She’s gorgeous with long, dark curls and ice-blue eyes. “How are you finding your first week in our little town?” she asks.

“So far, so good, I guess. It’s taking a little getting used to.”

“This place will be the death of me,” Tamika says with an eye-roll. “I just want to get out of here and head back to LA.” From what I can gather, she’s been modeling for glossy magazines and designers since she turned eighteen a year ago, and before that, she was a child star on HBO. Her long braids hang to the base of her spine, and her dark skin matched up with hazel eyes is alluring. She really is a beauty.

“This place definitely is far from the city life I’m used to.” Shrugging my backpack, I smile. “I mean, I’m used to nobody knowing who I am. And somehow, I doubt that will be the case in Thorne Haven.”

“Oh god, no,” Paula says with a shake of her head. “This place is like the gossip pages of a magazine. Every move you make will be watched by those who love to talk. And if you ever get noticed by the Havens, you’ll only be worse off.”

“Yeah.” Tamika laughs, bumping her shoulder against Paula’s. “This one ended up getting off with the middle Haven boy and got her heart broken.”

“Oh please,” Paula says, her eyes rolling skyward. “He wishes he broke my heart.”

“He did break your hymen,” the third girl, a stunning blonde, teases as she looks up from her phone. She’s been at it with that thing for a while, but when she meets my gaze, she shrugs. “Just telling it