out the door, but instead, he turned back to me.
“Listen, that girl isn’t some sweet innocent that Kingston took advantage of. She’s a social climber that’s trying to latch onto him like a leech.” He shook his head. “Kingston just accepted what she was offering, and now she’s trying to make it into something it’s not.”
I rolled my eyes, but Maverik had already disappeared through the door and slammed it behind him. It seemed like a bad time to chase after him and ask if he was still taking me to school, so I sat on my bed to put on my shoes.
I decided to wear a professional-looking outfit to my evaluation because Richard said this was an academic school. Ella had filled my closet with more clothing than I would be able to wear. Since Nina was the one who forced me to come here in the first place, I didn’t feel bad about taking advantage of the clothing choices. After the last sixteen years, the least she could do was buy me some clothes.
I wore a cream blouse, black pencil skirt with a small slit in the back, and black pumps. The skirt was snug enough to show off my toned shape but demure enough to be appropriate in an academic environment. I debated on pinning up my hair but decided to run a straightening iron through it to get it sleek and shiny. A few touches of natural-looking makeup, and I was ready to go.
Richard said that the school didn’t have a ballet program already in place, but I decided to stuff an oversized Gucci tote bag that I found in the closet with ballet things just in case. Richard hadn’t told me what was expected of me in the evaluation, so I wanted to make sure I was prepared for any eventuality. Any other school that focused on dance would have asked me to audition for them, not to interview with them.
I didn’t hear any shouting coming from Kingston’s room, so I decided that his guest must have left without an incident, and it was safe to leave my room.
That was a mistake.
I went down to the kitchen to grab a yogurt to settle my nervous stomach and almost had heart failure when a girl stepped out in front of me.
“Who are you?” she asked rudely.
“Uh, Katya,” I answered as I eyed her warily. I really didn’t want to deal with this type of shit right now. She was a pretty blond in a tight bandage dress. Her hair had that sexy messy look, and she had obviously found time to touch up her makeup.
“I didn’t see you at the party last night. Where did Maverik find you?” she asked suspiciously as she ran her pretty green eyes over my much more conservative clothing.
I just stared at her. If this was the girl Kingston was talking about, then I see why he was having trouble. I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know that I lived here.
“New York,” I said casually. It was true - we had first met in New York.
“What?” she said angrily. “Are you staying here?” I winced when her voice rose to an uncomfortably high pitch.
Kingston made things even worse when he strolled into the kitchen and immediately slung his arm around me. “What’s up, hot stuff?”
“Are you kidding me?” Melanie screeched. “You’re kicking me out for her?”
Kingston shrugged with one shoulder. “I like her better.”
“You bitch!” she yelled as she charged toward me.
I braced for impact, but she never reached me. Maverik appeared out of nowhere to block her advance, and Melanie stopped in her tracks. She still looked like she wanted to kill me, but she wasn’t willing to cross Maverik.
I was pretty baffled that her rage was 100% directed at me. Shouldn’t she be mad at Kingston? He used her, tossed her aside, then made it look like he was parading another girl in front of her.
“Dude, I’ve told you a million times not to stick your dick in crazy,” Maverik said smoothly before eyeing Melanie. “I called security. They’ll be here in a minute to escort you out.”
Melanie pouted. “Aww, Mav, you know that wasn’t necessary.”
Her simper faded when she realized she wasn’t fooling anyone. “You better watch yourself, bitch,” she hissed at me before stomping out of the house.
I looked incredulously at Kingston. “You’re the one that was an asshole to her, but I’m the one she wants to kill?”
I wasn’t any stranger to competitive females in