“The truth hurts,” Blake said with a shrug. “But it’s still the truth. And I need to bury myself ten inches deep in Tatum Rivers to try and forget it.”
“More like eight inches,” Kyan mocked, his gaze turning back to Tatum.
Tatum. Yeah, I could hear myself growling that name as I lost myself between her thighs.
“Are you seriously interested in her?” I asked, glancing at Kyan. He was as unpredictable as the damn wind, but he’d never fucked a girl from school before so it seemed unlikely.
He ran a hand over his stubble as he watched her for another minute before shaking his head. “Naw. Not worth the drama if she can’t handle what I want from a girl.”
I rolled my eyes at him and looked back at Blake instead. He was giving me the cocky fucker mask and I sighed dramatically.
“Fine. You get one free shot at the initiation party. I’ll keep it in my pants until then. But after that, all bets are off,” I said as my gaze drank in the sight of the new girl again. All of that blonde hair would look really damn good knotted in my fists while I fucked her mouth.
“Trust me, brother. I only need one shot,” Blake said with a smirk.
He might have been right, but that was okay. He could take her for a test run before I took her for a ride. It didn’t make much difference to me. Point was, that girl belonged to me. She just didn’t know it yet.
I felt them before I saw them. Their stares burned, searing into my flesh like lasers.
“Holy shit, Tatum, the Night Keepers have noticed you,” Mila stage whispered loud enough for the whole table to hear. I’d hacked this mingling business already. Mila was connected. She knew everyone and everything about everyone. So long as I rode between her wings, I was going to sail my way right into the popular crowd. But there were three guys I supposedly needed to impress if I didn’t want to get outcasted and shirked from the community. The three guys who were currently assessing me like lions hiding in the long grass.
I let my gaze lift to the Night Keepers naturally, reacting slowly to Mila’s words and keeping my casual expression fixed in place. I sucked my lower lip in that way that drove guy’s crazy as I let my eyes meet Blake’s. Hunger, pure and simple, awaited me within them and sent a delicious warmth spreading out through the base of my belly. He looked like he was about to get out of his seat and come over so I flicked my gaze to the right of him, taking in the Night Keeper who sat in the centre of their trio. The obvious leader.
“That’s Saint Memphis,” Mila whispered in my ear, openly pointing him out like she didn’t care how clear it was that we were staring at him. I didn’t even need to hear his name to know who he was. Saint Memphis was the son of Troy Memphis, the Governor of Sequoia. His daddy was the most powerful man in the state. And it looked like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Saint exuded power. His eyes were as cold and as impenetrable as iron, but a small smile twisted up his lips in a way that suggested he knew something I didn’t. His skin was heavenly dark and the perfect angles of his face looked like they’d been designed by an architect. His hair was well kept and his uniform immaculate. Every movement he made was controlled, refined. Like he’d practised each one a thousand times. My core liquefied as the intensity of him dripped through me like burning candle wax. He reminded me of an emperor watching a gladiator fight, a simple flick up or down of his thumb deciding whether I lived or died. And something told me that wasn’t too far from the truth.
I let my eyes slide away from him and felt him stiffen the moment I did, as if he was shocked that someone would dare break his gaze.
On his right, was a beast. That was the only way to describe him. Visually, he was everything Saint was not. Relaxed, brutish, unruly. But as his eyes scraped over me with the sharpness of a knife, I could tell he was just as deadly.
“And that’s Kyan Roscoe,” Mila supplied.
His hair was pulled into a topknot and stubble clung to his jaw like he gave no fucks. He continued to give no fucks throughout the rest of his appearance, his blazer abandoned, his sleeves rolled up to reveal an artwork of tattoos. His knuckles were bruised and split like he’d spent the night pounding them into someone’s face.
My heart stumbled as he rubbed his thumb against the corner of his mouth, a dark hunter shining behind his eyes. It felt like a target was painted on my forehead and he was about to loose an arrow that would carve a hole between my eyes. My breathing was getting heavy as I pictured this wild man’s hands on me. All three of their hands…
“They’ll want you to initiate at their party tonight,” Mila said, slicing through the red hot fantasy currently playing out in my mind.
I ripped my eyes away from them, turning to give her my full attention as I tried to quiet the rampant pounding of my heart. Down girl.
I blew out a laugh. “Initiate me? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Everyone around the table exchanged worried glances and I looked to Mila for an explanation. She tossed her hair over her shoulder with an ominous laugh.
“You’ll see, babe.” Her eyes glittered darkly and I realised nearly everyone in the room was glancing my way like I had a glowing beacon on top of my head. The word fledgling was passing behind hands and under people’s breaths and I guessed that was aimed at me.
I could feel the Night Keepers still giving me their attention and my spine prickled from all the eyes on me. They were picking me apart, hunting for weaknesses and I suddenly realised I needed to prove I wasn’t the type to be messed with. I hadn’t come here to fall under the rule of some preppy assholes. I wanted to make a few friends and glide through this year pressure free. But right now, the pressure on me was mounting and I knew I had to do something about it.
A whistle caught my ear and I frowned as I looked at Blake who was staring right at me.
Did he just whistle for me like a dog?
He jerked his head to beckon me over and my brows jumped up.
“Oh my god, Blake Bowman just summoned you,” a girl Mila had introduced as Pearl hissed from across the table, using a sheet of her inky black hair to cover her face as she spoke. She looked crazy excited, like I’d just been handed an invite to Prince Charming’s ball. But no one summoned me. It was rude, not to mention arrogant as hell.
I waved my toast at Blake to show him I was busy eating then took another bite out of it. A ripple of tension passed through the Night Keepers. It was almost imperceptible, but their gazes sharpened just enough to let me know I’d offended them.
Blake pushed his tongue into his cheek, leaning back in his seat so the front two legs must have been off the ground. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, “Tatum Rivers, come over here!”
Blood rushed into my cheeks and I glanced at Mila who was staring over at the three guys with her lips parted. “You’d better go.” She turned quickly, prodding me in the side.
“Hey,” I hissed, but she continued prodding until I moved. Damn her.
I pushed back out of my seat and lifted my toast to my lips, finishing it in two angry bites before making a beeline straight for these so called Night Keepers.
The entire hall of students were giving me their attention, all conversation abandoned. I felt like I was walking up to the chopping block.