Emerson~
Today had been nothing but specialized Ramsey Reed torture all day long. After the ambush this morning, I'd found out that we shared four classes together, and that he'd somehow made sure that my locker was next to his.
It boggled the mind, really,
Ramsey was a goddamn eighteen-year-old kid, and he was telling grown folks what to do and how to do it. I'd found out that most of the kids in Windsor's senior class were eighteen through casual conversation around me. Apparently in their grooming to take over the world, these kids had spent a year abroad, studying life shit before entering their freshman year at this school, proving once again that rich people were different.
As I'd gone over my class schedule, I'd seen that we didn't have fourth, fifth or seventh period together. Still, lucky me, Deke Marlow was in my fourth period, and he'd taken the liberty of 'looking out for me'.
The bastard.
Plus, during one of our gatherings at our lockers-because Liam and Deke's lockers were next to Ramsey's-Liam had informed me that he had fifth and seventh period with me, and that we were going to become BFFs. I had almost punched him in his beautiful, perfect, blue-eyed face.
Where Ramsey had a sinister look about him with his dark brown hair and eyes, Liam was all sunshine with his dark blonde hair and baby blue orbs. He was just as tall as Ramsey, and he looked to be just as athletically built as him, too. No doubt about it, Liam McCellan was a good-looking guy. However, his All-American looks were a farce; there was nothing wholesome about him if he was best friends with Ramsey Reed.
Now, as for Deke...
Deke was something else altogether.
Deke had black hair with green eyes and was just as tall as his two friends. His build matched Liam's, and though they were both a bit smaller than Ramsey, they still looked like they could get the job done. The thing about Deke was that he'd come off as playful earlier, but I could sense a deep intensity skimming just below his surface. I couldn't imagine what would happen to the person on the receiving end of that intensity if it ever came out.
Thankfully, I had managed to ditch Deke by pretending that I'd needed to go to the restroom right before the bell had rung for the end of fourth period. Still, I wasn't naïve enough to believe that Ramsey wouldn't find me. After all, I wasn't exactly hiding out. Even though I was sitting by myself at a corner table of the eatery pavilion, the fact that I was by myself made me stand out. I also wasn't really hungry, but I knew that I'd be starving later if I didn't eat now. I just couldn't stop thinking about how I had recklessly spread my legs for Ramsey in class this morning.
Stupid.
If everything that I'd been hearing about him was true, then I was testing a guy that was free from all responsibility and consequences. I mean, who would do that? Even as cracked in the head as I was, I still knew better than to poke a bear that had no sense of accountability.
Someone brought me out of my musings when I was jostled by a body dropping on the bench next to me. I turned my head to the right and saw a girl that probably stood out more than I did. If I didn't belong here, then there was no telling what she was doing at Windsor.
"Hey," she greeted me as she reached over, then plucked a chip out of the bag on my tray.
I wondered what she wanted with me as I took her in. I assumed by her eyebrows that she was blonde, but her shoulder-length hair was the color of a wild rainbow. She had big blue eyes, and her makeup matched her hair; all bright, loud, cheerful colors. She had a petite nose that had a tiny, tiny diamond stud pierced on the left side. Her purple-colored lips were thin, but it worked for her. In fact, she looked absolutely awesome.
However, my guard had instantly gone up when she'd sat down. I may be insane enough to play dangerously with Ramsey Reed, but I wasn't a complete asylum candidate just yet. "May I help you?" I asked, my voice not friendly at all.
She smiled, and her teeth were white and perfectly straight. "Why, yes. Yes, you can." She reached over to help herself to another chip. "God, I love these chips, but I try to stay away from them," she rambled on.
My brows lifted in surprise. She was already slim, so there was no way that she could be watching what she was eating. "On a diet?"
"Hell no," she snorted, and I found myself liking her more. "They're just so good that I fear becoming really addicted, and then having to sell myself for a fix." She shook her head solemnly. "I'm not trying to go down that road."
I couldn't stop the laugh that emerged. "Understandable," I agreed.
She smirked. "I'm Roselyn, by the way," she said, finally introducing herself.
"I'm-"
"Oh, I know who you are," she cackled, interrupting me.
I arched a brow. "I suppose you do."
"Hell, the entire town knows who you are," she went on.
I groaned.
She laughed.
"Ramsey Reed's latest mouse," I bemoaned, even though I was sure that she already knew that.
This time her laugh was dark. "That's not the way that I'm hearing it."
What did that mean?
"Oh, really?"
"Let me explain a couple of things to you, girlie," she started. "I'm a step." A step? "Brandon Greene is my stepbrother, and not in that sexy, forbidden, romance novel kind of way. My 'gold-digging', 'trashy', 'desperate' mother-who is actually the best person on the planet but is blinded by love-married into the Greene family when Brandon's father met her a couple of years ago and lost his mind over her."
Wow.
Okay.
"So, I wasn't born into all this privilege." She waved her hand about, referring to our surroundings. "It took me a few months to figure out how this town worked, but once I did, I decided to mind my own damn business and just mark the calendar for the day when I finally graduate and can get the hell out of here."
"Lofty goal," I agreed since I was doing the same.
"Anyway, since I'm an outsider, I'm able to view all of this from a very different point of view, and I gotta tell you, girlie, a mouse you are not," she said, finally just grabbing the entire bag of potato chips.
"Then what am I?" I asked curiously.
Her grin was positively wicked. "You're the girl who has Ramsey Reed wrapped around her little finger," she answered, clearly delusional. "And that makes you the most powerful person in this school. Hell, in this town."
"I do not have Ramsey Reed wrapped around my finger," I scoffed, correcting her. "If anything, his hands wrapped around my neck, snuffing the life out of me, is more plausible."
"Keep telling yours-"
Roselyn's lips stopped moving as a voice above me interrupted her. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Sad to say, I didn't even have to look up to see who it was. I already knew that voice as well as I knew my own. "What does it look like? I'm eating lunch," I growled.
His Highness sat down, then leaned into the side of my face when he realized that I wasn't going to look at him. "Sneak away from Deke again, and you will not like the consequences," he threatened.
I knew that we were garnering an audience, so I turned to him before speaking. While I wouldn't let anyone see me back down, I didn't necessarily want them to hear our conversation. "I'm not scared of you, Shepherd."
His jaw ticked, and I almost smiled. That was until he grabbed me by my hips, then yanked on my body until I was actually straddling him on the bench. I didn't know what to do since I couldn't fight him and still keep my dignity. We were also positioned where I knew that if I started struggling, then we'd both end up on our asses.
Or rolling around on the ground with him on top of me.
So, I ignored my hormones, called upon all my pride, then kicked off round three. I brought my arms up, then wrapped them around Ramsey's neck. I leaned into his body, and we looked like a regular affectionate couple that were hugging. However, we were far from a couple that was madly in love.
I touched my lips to his ear as I rubbed my center over his obvious arousal. His breath hitched as I asked, "Is this what you want, Shepherd? Are you short a slut in your herd? Or are you bored? Do you just need a new pussy because all the girls here have gotten old?"
I felt his hands dig painfully into my hips. The grip was going to leave bruises, but I'd bite off my own tongue before I'd admit that he was hurting me. However, the pain hadn't lasted that long.
Thankfully.
Ramsey lifted me off his lap, then dropped me back onto the bench. He stood up, and my face was eye level with his hard dick. When I looked up at him, his face said it all. He wanted to yank out his cock, then force it down my throat, and my traitorous body clenched at the thought. Lust, pure and primal, was pouring out of every nerve in his body and it was colliding with mine.
Because everyone was watching the exchange with bated breath, Ramsey could be heard clearly throughout the pavilion. "Keep thinking that you're stronger than you really are, Charity. It's just going to make my victory that much more sweeter." He smiled down at me, and my body broke out in shivers. "I'm going to love breaking you, baby," he said right before he turned his back, then walked away.
All I could hear was Roselyn whispering, "Goddamn."