Devil Incarnate (Boys of Preston Prep #4) - Angel Lawson Page 0,179

Georgia to come closer. “So I shouldn’t expect any more calls from you begging for my help? Too bad. That shit kept us laughing for days.” Stopping in front of me, he pitches his voice mockingly. “Sebastian, daddy won’t talk to me. I need a car to make my court-appointed meetings. Boo hoo.”

“Fuck you,” I spit, feeling my blood boil. “If you’d put your fucking grudge aside for one second, then I wouldn’t have had to—” My jaw locks, eyes pinging to Georgia. I finish, “People think you’re such a great guy. You’re no better than me.”

Hamilton stands up. “Sebastian never kicked my girlfriend in the face.”

“I wasn’t trying to kick her, I was trying to...” I reach up to scratch at the stubble covering my jaw. “Well, I was trying to shove her with my foot, but—”

Hamilton barks a disbelieving laugh. “Oh, my bad. You accidentally kicked the fucking daylights out of my girlfriend in the process of pushing her face with your foot. You’re right! That makes it so much better.”

“Why are you even here?” Sebastian asks, and I can tell that he’s close to bursting. He’s so goddamn easy, it’d take almost nothing. “Look around! No one likes you, Heston. No one fucking wants you here!”

He’s not wrong. I wonder again who sent me that invite. Who sends any of the invites?

I’m beginning to have my suspicions.

“I do,” Micha pipes in, and when everyone cranes around to look at him, he shrugs. “Heston’s not so bad, you guys. He’s got good taste and can occasionally be pretty hilarious. I mean, he’s a jerk and all, but he’s also kind of too pitiful to hate.” He tilts his head, considering. “It’s like when you see a mean, mangy dog on a street corner. Sure, the dog might bite a little, but it looks so sad that you just want to take it home and address all of its unresolved trauma.”

“Micha,” I snap, “get off my side.”

He gives me a toothy grin. “I’m stickier than glitter, Coach. Deal with it.”

Sebastian gestures to him. “Great, you’ve managed to fuck with the kid’s head. Nice job. But other than that, no one—” He must catch the flick of my eyes to Georgia, because he darts in front of her, blocking my view. “Don’t fucking look at her. No one wants you here less than she does. After what you did to her, you should be in prison!”

“Hey!” Georgia snaps, shoving between us. “Don’t you dare bring that into this. My life is more than a yardstick to measure your dicks with! That’s for me to throw in his face, not you. And since no one seems to want to actually fucking ask me,” she says to Sebastian, eyes flashing, “I do want him here.”

I stare at the back of her head, dread filling my stomach at her words. The last thing she wants is for people to know about us. Fuck, I don’t want these people to know about us, either. They’re out for my blood enough as it is. Quietly, I try to tell her, “You don’t have to…” but can’t take all the eyes already on us. “I’ll go. He’s right, this was a bad idea.”

“No.” I watch her hair sway with the sharp shake of her head. “Heston is a Devil, whether you all like it or not. He got an invitation like everyone else, right?”

I nod, wondering why she’s sticking up for me. Pity, probably. Like Micha said, everyone here hates me or pities me. One sucks just as much as the other.

“No one knows better than me that he’s done some really messed up things, so I’m not going to act like everyone needs to give him a chance.” She pauses, shoulders tightening with an indrawn breath. “But I have.”

“You what?!” my brother says, looking at her like she’s lost her mind.

“Oh, my god.” Vandy says slow and drawn out. She’s looking between us, face pulled into a horrified gape. “It’s him, isn’t it? He’s the guy.”

“What guy?” Bass asks.

“The guy. The one who…” She looks at Caroline, who for being a brainiac catches on a little slower.

The comprehension that crosses her face a moment later makes my spine go rigid. It doesn’t get any better when she breathes, “Oh, Georgia…” It’s pitying and patronizing, and from the way Georgia stiffens, she’s already picked out every thread.

From over on his log, Micha snorts. “The two of you are just now figuring all this out? I’ve been