Always (Next Generation The Skulls #1) - Sam Crescent Page 0,18

to stand close to him. Behind her were five other girls. All of them wore short skirts and had this weird smile on their lips.

“Amber,” he said.

“You weren’t at my party last night.”

“I was busy.”

“Well, what about you make it up to me for Halloween? You be my date?”

“I’ve got nothing to make up for.”

Amber pouted. She went to touch his arm and he caught her hand before she even got too close to him.

“Don’t ever fucking touch me. Do you understand?”

This was the first time Amber had come on to him strongly. Sure, she’d smiled at him and tried to giggle and laugh. He’d ignored her. He had his woman back in Fort Wills. Anyone else wouldn’t do.

Eddie and Dean said it wouldn’t count if he wanted to fuck a chick. Tabby would never need to know, but he wasn’t going to cheapen their time together by fucking another chick. What he felt for Tabby wasn’t some quick flirtation. He loved her so damn much. He only saw his future with her. That was never going to change.

“Come on, Simon, don’t be that way.”

He got into her face. “I’m not someone you can control or manipulate. Go back to the pussies who want yours. I’m not interested.” He let her go, turned on his heel, and walked toward his homeroom class.

Eddie and Dean weren’t far behind him.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Eddie asked.

“I guess you can say that,” he said.

“I can’t believe you did that. No one has ever defied her at all. Holy shit, I think I’ve got a hard-on for you right now.”

He laughed. “Don’t be crazy.” He took a seat in the back. Amber would try to piss him off again. He’d heard a few tales of what she liked to do to hurt the guys who wouldn’t give her the time of day. He hoped if she tried, she was ready for a fight because he was more than happy to take her on.

The rest of the day went by without much event. Sure, people were pointing at him, but Amber kept a wide berth. At lunch, the tension mounted, but he sat at his usual table, staring at the jocks, waiting for one of them to come and try to defend her honor. He relished it, in fact.

Nothing happened. By the end of the day, he was a little disappointed. Unlike in Fort Wills, Piston County didn’t have a fighting club. Any fights he got into were on school grounds, or sparring with a couple of the club guys.

After school, he arranged to meet up with Eddie and Dean later on that night, and stopped off at Natalie’s to pick up the Halloween costumes. There were so many of them and she told him Lexie was expecting them at the club.

He didn’t linger to chat, even though he adored Natalie. She was a lovely person. Instead, he made his way to the clubhouse, pulling his bike up at the end of the lot. Compared to all of the Chaos Bleeds crew, his bike looked so small and pathetic, but this was just practice for him. He intended to join the crew as a prospect as soon as he hit eighteen. He removed the large bag stuffed with all the costumes as he climbed off his bike.

Glancing past the bikes, he saw Dick on the ground, eyes closed, legs crossed, hands resting on his knees. He was one of the guys who had no choice but to put himself in rehab. Chaos Bleeds hadn’t been strict on their rules and Dick had been a user, an addict.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Dick opened one eye. “I’m meditating. What the fuck do you want?”

“Why are you meditating?”

“It helps me to find inner peace.”

Simon couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. Now Dick was staring at him with both eyes.

“Inner peace.”

“You ever tried it?” Dick asked.

“Hell, no, that shit doesn’t work.”

Again, Dick was staring at him.

“Does it?” Simon asked, trying to be polite.

“I won’t tell you if it does or not. Piece of shit.”

Again, he laughed. He just couldn’t help it. He held up his hand in surrender. “I’m sorry.”

“Leave him alone,” Martha, Dick’s wife, said, coming out of the clubhouse. “Lexie’s waiting for you inside, and meditating helps.” She sat in front of her husband and Simon watched as the two held hands, their knees touching.

Simon couldn’t look away.

Both were staring into each other’s eyes. Their connection clear. They breathed as one and were together. At that