“See? That’s what I mean.” Georgia points at me. “He’s good-looking, popular, and comes from a wealthy and influential family. He’s fun but loyal. And fuck, that boy gives the best head. A Preston girl will do anything for that combination, but he’s made it perfectly clear that he’s not into Preston girls.”
“Whoa, whoa, back up.” I hold up my hand. “Did you say he’s good at head? You two hooked up?”
She shrugs. “Yeah, a few times. No sex. Just fun. It started as a…” She glances at Vandy, whose expression is blank. “Well, it was like a dare, I guess. But he’s not what I’m looking for and it’s pretty obvious I’m not what he’s looking for.”
A flicker of emotion burns in my chest at this admission. I like Georgia and have no reason not to trust her. She’s been really helpful to me since I arrived. If she says that she and Sebastian hooked up and everything is cool between them, it gives me pause. But that’s not all I’m feeling. There’s a burning ember of something else. Jealousy.
Not about her being with Sebastian. We all had lives before I came here. No, I’m jealous with the ease that she talks about it all. If only it was that simple to cave to someone like that. Just hook up with no trepidation. To let them see you at your most vulnerable. To let them touch you like that, want you, like it’s no big thing. There’s no way I could do it.
Especially with Sebastian Wilcox.
“Well,” Georgia says, grabbing a towel off a stack on the counter, “I’m not saying you need to cut Bass a break, but if you think fighting with him is going to make him back off, you’re wrong. Sebastian Wilcox lives for a battle. The more you push back, the more he’s going to keep coming for you.”
A heavy rap bangs on the door and Vandy opens it. Reyn stands on the other side, eyes glued to his girl. “Jesus, Baby V, you trying to kill me with that thing?” She grins shyly and walks out. A moment later his hand splays across her scar like a shield, and he kisses her temple.
“Disgusting, aren’t they?” Georgia and I follow them, towels over our shoulders. Cold winter air blasts against my exposed skin, and as much as I’m dreading facing all these people, freezing my tits off isn’t a better option. I head toward the pool, which is currently filled with everyone who hangs out at the lunch table, but realize Georgia is hanging back.
“Are you coming?” I ask, dipping my toes in the heated pool. Ahhhh. Rich people know what they’re about.
Georgia scans the pool deck, her gaze pausing by the patio. A tall man stands in the doorway to the house, handsome with strangely familiar features. Distractedly, she says, “I’m going to head into the house for a minute. Grab some water. You go ahead.”
She walks away before I can protest, and I search the pool for someone to talk to. Reyn and Vandy are caught in a lip-lock on the steps. I can see Aubrey and Emory over in the hot tub. Tyson treads water in the deep-end with a girl I don’t recognize. I think I heard he has a girlfriend that goes to school somewhere else. Caroline, Elana, Carlton, and Ben are batting a volleyball back and forth. Faced with the decision of hanging out with a bunch of couples or playing a sport, I make the quick decision to wade back to the edge and go hide back in the changing room.
“Leaving so soon?”
Sebastian is standing by the edge of the pool in nothing but red swim trunks that are two inches too short and a size too small. I have to take a moment to gawk angrily at him, because seriously? I’d gotten a glimpse of his abdomen that day in the hall, but Jesus Christ.
Sweet mother of all fuckery.
How is this fair?
He’s ripped, from the lean muscles of his shoulders and arms, to the hard planes of his chest, down to the ladder of abs and the cut V between his hips. Beyond that, I’m struck by the tattoo spanning both collarbones that declares, ‘Only the Strong Survive’. He’s also branded by a pitchfork logo. The same one that Georgia has below her neck. The same one that Vandy has on her inner thigh. This school pride thing is beginning to look more cult-like every day,