the dance world, but that girl was seriously deranged. Why would she give a shit about a guy that had just treated her like Kingston had? She should have kicked him in the balls and then walked out of the house with dignity.
Kingston looked embarrassed. “Yeah, sorry. I’ll be more careful about bringing girls like that around you.”
I blinked. He still wasn’t sorry about anything he had done? He was sorry that I saw it?
“Maybe you should stay away from them altogether,” Maverik suggested with an exasperated look at his brother.
Kingston shrugged. “You ready to go?”
I was surprised to see that both guys were cleaned up and looking good in dress pants, collared shirts, and ties. I was afraid they would show up half-naked and still drowning in alcohol.
Maverik ran his eyes over me, but he didn’t say anything. I hated that he was so difficult to read. What was he thinking behind those gray eyes? He, once again, had stepped between me and potential danger. He could have just watched as Melanie clobbered me - that probably would have been more entertaining.
Kingston was uncharacteristically quiet as I followed them to the garage to take in yet another obscene display of wealth. There were eight luxury cars parked in a garage that looked more like a showroom. Maverik led the way over to a Porsche and beckoned for me to get in.
The school was only a ten-minute drive away, and neither of the guys were in the mood to chat, which was fine with me. I watched miles of perfectly landscaped lawns and gated homes pass by until we pulled up to the school. I was used to being the scholarship kid in a school full of rich kids, but this neighborhood made them look poor in comparison. I must have been getting jaded already, because I wasn’t shocked by the sprawling campus full of regal buildings.
When Maverik parked the car, I reached for the handle, but he locked the doors.
“Katya, before we go in, we need to talk.”
I raised an eyebrow and waited. What came out of his mouth next was not something I expected.
“No one here wants to be your friend,” he said bluntly. “They might act friendly to your face, but they’re laughing behind your back and trying to use you to get to us.”
“Glad to hear you have such a high opinion of me,” I said sarcastically. “Are we done here?”
“For now,” he said cryptically. “Just remember what I said.”
How could I forget?
Maverik unlocked the doors for me before getting out and slamming the door behind him. Kingston leaned up against the car and watched me as I debated whether I was supposed to follow behind Maverik as he stalked away, and whether I cared what he wanted.
“Meet you on the ice,” Kingston yelled to his back.
Maverik waved a hand over his head but kept walking.
“So you’re the one that’s stuck with me?” I asked Kingston. I was over Maverik’s attitude, and I hated the way he got under my skin so easily.
He shrugged. “You’re kind of hot, so at least I can appreciate the view when I have to be around you.”
I gave him an irritated look. “Fantastic,” I said drily.
“Have you ever considered getting a boob job?” Kingston asked. “I feel like that would bring you from an eight to a solid ten.”
“No,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “That would end my ballet career before it started. There aren’t a lot of companies who hire dancers who aren’t perfect.”
Kingston gave me an odd look. “What they think is perfect. Personally, I think you should gain a few pounds and get some curves.”
“I need to fit their vision of perfect if I want to live my dream,” I said stubbornly. “And why do you care what I look like?”
Kingston chuckled. “Wilders have a certain reputation to uphold.”
“Maverik is pretty insistent that I am not, nor will ever be, a Wilder,” I pointed out.
Kingston swung an arm around my shoulders as we started to walk towards the front steps of a building that reeked of old money and privilege.
“Don’t take everything Mav says personally,” Kingston told me. “He’s being a hard ass right now, but he’ll come around.”
“Why does he hate me so much?” I asked curiously. “Because of my mom?”
If Kingston was in the chatting mood, then I was going to take advantage of it.
Instead of answering, he pulled away from me and opened the door that led into the belly of