Pretty Little Savage (Sick Boys #1) - Lucy Smoke Page 0,117
step back onto the main foyer, I realize that even more people have arrived.
Day one and spring break appears to be in full swing. Girls in bikinis much more risqué than my own and guys in board shorts race through the house, beers and Solo cups in hand. I don't know where the alcohol came from, but it seems like whoever planned for this knew they would need it in abundance. Interestingly enough, I don't spot a single staff member. No cooks. No maids. No butlers. Just a bunch of college kids wrecking some millionaire's vacation home as they get drunk and fuck on the banister of the upper stairwell.
I roll my eyes and head towards the back of the house. Stepping out into the sunlight is a wash of hot air and that same salty sea breeze, and if I ignore the people crowding around the pool and the guys to the side of it playing beer pong, the scene, alone, is quite beautiful. I'm drawn to the half wall of stones cutting the pool area off from the ocean and beach.
Glancing over, I see that it's actually not a half wall at all, but an extension of a cliff and beyond it is a full drop off. "Beautiful, isn't it?" A shadow falls over my side as an unfamiliar voice speaks.
Turning my head, I meet a pair of ice blue eyes. "Yeah, it is," I agree.
He sticks out a hand. "I'm Jeremy."
I look down at his hand and then back at his face. "Avalon."
When he realizes I'm not going to take his hand, he lowers it and grins sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to bother you," he says. "Just thought it'd be nice to admire the view with somebody."
Tilting my head at the guy, I scan him from head to toe. He's not bad looking, with a fit physique and classic washboard abs, but it's clear he's not from Eastpoint. No one else from Eastpoint has had the balls to approach me, and I doubt any of them would risk the Sick Boys' wrath just to look at a view with me.
"No one saying you can't admire it," I state, glancing back to the sea.
"Ah, but I don't think we're admiring the same thing now, are we?"
My lips twitch against my better judgment, and I shoot him a reproachful look. "That's an absolutely awful pick up line."
He laughs but takes a seat against the wall anyway. "Yeah, I know, but you cracked a smile, didn't you?"
I shake my head. "What school are you from?" I ask.
His eyes widen. "How do you know I'm not from your school?"
"I just know." I flick a pebble off the top of the wall and watch as it disappears into the churning waters below.
"Fair enough." He nods. "I go to Hazelwood U."
"That's on the West Coast, isn't it?" I ask curiously with a raised brow. "What are you doing so far from home?"
He puts both hands against the wall and crosses his legs at the ankles. For a brief moment, I think that it's an awful choice. Someone could come up and just grab his legs in one go and tip him over the edge and then it'd be too late. Poof. He'd be gone, his body washed away in the ocean. I keep my feet firmly planted on the ground.
Jeremy laughs, unaware of my thoughts. "I'm actually here with my step sister," he admits. "She goes to Eastpoint."
"I see."
A few moments later, a second, more familiar figure appears at the edge of the crowd and makes his way over. "Avalon." I tip my head back until my eyes meet Jake's. He darts a glance to the guy at my side and then frowns. "Hey..."
Jeremy uncrosses his legs and stands. "Jeremy," he introduces himself.
"Jake, uh, can I have a moment alone with Avalon?"
"Sure." Jeremy looks back at me as if to make sure I'm cool with it. I shrug. It's not like I was asking for the presence of either of them. He nods to me. "Guess, I'll see you later, beautiful."
Jake's lips part in shock, but I merely shake my head as Jeremy moves away and Jake darts a look at me. Might as well get this shit over with. "What do you want?" I ask.
"I came to say sorry," he tells me, pressing his lips together before taking a step closer and dipping his head. "For the fight. I know you didn't want me to call them, but I—"