Devil Incarnate (Boys of Preston Prep #4) - Angel Lawson Page 0,194

prank they pulled could barely be called property damage. What’s at stake? Your pride?”

“You know better than anyone exactly what’s at stake,” he says, fingers digging into the arms of his chair. “Do you know what it feels like to teach some jackass that it’s okay to run rampant over this school, making other kids miserable? Knowing that he’s going to get into a good college, where he’ll spend four to eight years harassing—maybe even assaulting—as many people as he sees fit, only to get a job at his daddy’s company, where he’ll do nothing all day but bully the people who have been put underneath him?” His lip curls up as he looks at me. “You exemplify my reasoning for not allowing the Devils on this campus.”

Nodding, I put the crystal devil back where I got it, adjusting him just-so. “I wasn’t a very good representation of the Devils’ ambitions. I was a bitter, fucked-up, entitled little shit. Sometimes, I still am. But that was just me.”

“Oh, good,” he wryly replies. “Because our upper-class prep school will never see another one of those.”

“Not in the Devils, you won’t.” Standing up, I assure him, “It has oversight now.”

He narrows his eyes. “Oversight from whom?”

“Nope.” I stroll to the door, tossing him a wave. “I’m done digging up dirt for sad old fucks. I’ve got my own life to live.”

“I can’t.”

I swivel the chair and see Georgia in the doorway of my office. Her hair is pulled back, the straps of her bathing suit peeking out from under her t-shirt. Behind her, Micha is out by the pool, dipping a toe in the water. I raise an eyebrow. “Can’t what?”

She wrings her hands, shoulders inching up. “The test. Swim. Get in the pool. Any of it.”

“Is there a reason you aren’t speaking in complete sentences?” But I don’t need to ask. Her test is in fifteen minutes and there’s a lot riding on it. She has to pass it to graduate, for one. And I need her and Micha to both pass so that I can keep my promise to myself. When Collins signs off on that paper, it’s going to be the real deal. That means I’m going to have to seriously impress Coach James for him to give his approval.

“Heston,” she says, face pale, “it’s not that I don’t want to. I know we both need me to pass, but after the lake, I just don’t think I can get into that water.”

I don’t need to see the dread in her eyes to understand. We don’t get the luxury very often, but the few times we have, I’ve been the one waking her up from nightmares about it.

“You’ll fail,” I point out.

I’ll fail.

She gives a tight nod, pacing in front of my desk. “Who needs a diploma anyway, right? College was always a long-shot for someone like me. I can get a job working on Daddy’s campaign. Field experience means more than academics, everyone knows that.”

I stand and cross the small space, easing the door to a scant crack. Georgia and I have been taking things slow since that night after the lake. She knows how I feel, and after fucking up so many things in my life, I don’t want to ruin the little progress we’ve made. She still needs sex, and I still want to be the one who gives it to her, but even though we don’t talk about it much, we’re both aware that this is more than just fucking. More than hooking up. More than having feelings.

I haven’t put a name to it, and I wouldn’t ask her to. But I know that it’s not something that’s going to arrive overnight. Whatever we’re doing, it’s a marathon, and fucking on campus all the time is a surefire way to ruin it before it even begins. Like Micha said, screwing in the office was a sloppy move.

That doesn’t mean I can’t meet other needs.

I tug her into my chest, palm running over the back of her head. “I’ll be there. If anything happens, I’ll jump in and drag your ass out right out of that pool. You know that, right?”

She sighs, nodding against me. “I know. It’s kind of our thing.”

I know it’s a joke, but it still feels good to hear this knowledge that I’m more than just some guy who keeps sinking her lower. It doesn’t last long. “I’m sorry I couldn’t show you.”

“Show me what?”

“How good it can be out there. In