“It was?”
“Yep. I don’t count Nolan and his sickening bet. After we broke up, I was off dating and Julian’s hounding didn’t help. Then there was Royal, but I don’t think taking my virginity and disappearing after I fell asleep counts as a date. So, you’re my first.”
“How’d I do?”
“Got me out of my clothes on the first one, so you did pretty good.”
Laughing, he tugged me in, kissing my temple. “Wait till you see what I have planned for the next one.”
Clay walked me to the dorm and didn’t let go on the fourth floor. He said nothing as he tapped in the code for the boys’ side. Cassius was fast asleep. A rising and falling mound that didn’t stir from our chuckles and hushed whispers.
We shed our clothes and tucked beneath his sheets. I fell asleep listening to his soft, breathy sighs.
Chapter Five
There was something about being one of the Angels. And there was something about being on their arms. Mouths shut and eyes widened as I strolled through the halls holding Clay’s hand, kissing Cassius, or talking to the infamously uncommunicative Royal Cruz.
In the two weeks since we returned to school, I didn’t hear a word about my parents or the money. Everyone was too afraid I’d report their disrespect to the boys. Their fear made me uncomfortable, but their silence lowered my shields. For brief spells, I convinced myself I was a normal teenager. Those spells were broken when I delivered the second payment of a thousand dollars and got the note the next day demanding another thousand in two weeks.
“I wish I had the full list of who my parents cheated.”
Royal and I lazed on his bed. Monday morning brought an end to our weekend. Breakfast and a full day of classes beckoned.
“I could narrow down the blackmailers,” I continued. “It’s still about half the school, but I’d know the right half.”
“Rio got his hands on the note. It’s possible he could get the cops in his pocket to give up the list.”
I shot up. “Could he really do that?”
“I’ll ask. He wants you searching for them. If I say it’ll help you find them, he’ll do what he has to.”
I tossed my head. “I never thought I’d be hoping for a gang leader and a dirty cop to succeed.”
“You’re doing this to find the trash that attacked the little man. Don’t worry about anything else.”
“I know,” I whispered. “Still, I can’t help but wonder how we ended up here. Eli wouldn’t be in danger if my parents hadn’t defrauded the town. I’ve looked at it every single way. Gone over every moment of my life, and I can’t understand it. They raised us to be honest. Never steal. Never lie. Wait your turn. Hold doors open for the elderly. All of that. How could those people do what they did?”
“There was never a sign they weren’t the best people?”
I looked away. “To everyone but me, they were great.”
“That’s not what counts, princess. It’s who you are off the stage that says what kind of person you are. Anyone can put on an act.”
“Not you.” I popped a kiss on his nose. “You are so wonderfully messed up on and off the stage.”
He chuckled. “You posed for me all weekend, so I’ll let you get away with that.”
My cheeks warmed. Hiro was coming back to school and Royal got it in his head that we should spend his last weekend alone in his room sketching and having sex. He now had twelve drawings to add to his growing collection of naked Embers.
“You should draw some for me,” I said. “I’d love my own collection of you in various compromising positions.”
“Sorry, princess,” he said with a smirk. “I warned you I don’t draw for anyone.” Royal got off the bed.
“That’s not fair.”
He pulled me up. “I return the favor in dick and orgasms. It’s plenty fair.”
“You saying you only sleep with me to feed your muse?”
Royal kissed my grinning lips. “I sleep with you because I can only go about two days before the withdrawal kills me. That spell your pussy has me under is strong.”
“That’d make a nice greeting card.”
I stole another kiss and then grabbed my stuff. I threw open the door and nearly ran into Julian. He put me back on my feet.
“Ember.”
“Julian.”
Leo dropped his eyes and picked up the pace, leaving ahead of his friends. Clay and Cassius’s order that he remain a ghost was enforced stricter than traffic laws. The week