In the Arms of the Elite (Rich Boys of Burberry Prep #4) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,26
be touched by her? I can’t tell. I can’t tell! And it’s freaking killing me. “How so?”
“That’s a secret, and not for you to know,” Zayd says with a smirk, and I see that cruel streak of his rising to the surface. Lizzie stares him down, narrowing her eyes slightly, and I remember the story about her dating all the boys one fateful summer. Surely that was just a sweet junior high crush sort of a thing, right?
Lizzie opens her mouth to speak when Zayd’s green eyes lift up and widen. His mouth tightens into a flat line.
“Boys, we’ve got trouble.” He shoves up and out of the hot tub, his dick shimmering with warm water and bumping against my elbow. I almost scream, but like, in a good way. Pretty sure the edible is setting in. I feel lightheaded and giddy, like I want to laugh at everything.
“Trouble?” I echo, way too slow. Windsor is up, too. Even Tristan is standing up and whipping a towel around his body so quickly that I don’t see a thing.
I glance over and find Harper, Becky, and Ileana standing beside the hot tub. They’ve got a full crew behind them, too.
My list flashes in my mind, like it’s been burned into my brain.
Revenge On The Bluebloods of Burberry Prep
A list by Marnye Reed
The Harpies: Harper du Pont, Becky Platter, and Ileana Taittinger
The Company: Abigail Fanning, Valentina Pitt, Mayleen Zhang, Jalen Donner, and Kiara Xiao
They’re all here, every last one of them, and then some. They’ve recruited plenty of new students, hungry for a view from the top.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house? This is most definitely not an Infinity Club party. Get the hell out.”
“Your door security could use some fortifying,” Harper says, her hair long and luxurious, fresh extensions in a juicy bloodred color trailing over her shoulders. She’s not the only one: all the girls are sporting either wigs or extensions again. They’re like dandelions, getting trampled down and springing right back up. “We’re here because we’re making a stand.”
“Is that so?” Tristan asks, voice cool and even. I see his hands quivering as he struggles to keep from balling them into fists.
“Quiet, Working Boy,” Harper snaps, her voice commanding authority as she sneers at Tristan. “We weren’t happy with one charity case at our school and now we have two? What are you trying to do, cheapen the reputation of the academy so the rest of us suffer?”
“Oh, but darling, you’ve already done that.” Tristan folds one arm over his middle, resting the elbow of the other in the palm of his hand, so he can gesture at her with long, elegant fingers. “Your decorum is poor, your breeding substandard, and quite frankly, you’re a dumb bitch that nobody likes. If you consider yourself one of the best at the academy, then the great reputation of Burberry Prep is already suffering.”
Harper sneers at him and steps forward, but Zayd cuts her off.
“Get the hell off my property,” he snarls, his towel sliding down his hips. It’s about to fall completely off. I scramble up and out of the water to fix it for him. He shivers when my fingers brush his hips, but his eyes never leave the Harpies and their new Company of popularity slaves. Jalen, the last remaining guy, has been joined by a good half-dozen fourth years that I vaguely remember seeing around campus.
“Oh, we will. Trust me.” Harper narrows her eyes on me, but I just stand up straight and put my hands on my hips, dripping wet and wearing lingerie. I don’t even care. Take a fucking picture. “I just wanted to stop in and let you all know that we do not accept the new status quo. If you think this year at the academy is going to be easy, you have another thing coming.”
“And if you think,” I start, stepping forward and cutting off several of the boys as they start to argue, “that I’m going to allow bullying at my school, you have got a rude awakening coming your way.”
“Your school, huh?” Harper asks, and the way she looks at me, I can tell she’s playing for keeps this time. She wants me out of the academy, out of her life, out of her way. And she wants to crush me in the process. “Well, we’ll see about that.”
She hair flips (yes, expertly so) and then saunters off, taking a good portion of the Burberry students behind her.