The Second Move: Rogues of Everly Prep Book Two Read online

  My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I discreetly pulled it out. Keeping it in my lap beneath the desktop, I opened the texting app to see another message from Stella.

  Meet me at Barney’s at 9pm tonight?

  Barney’s was an old-fashioned ice cream parlor downtown where old people took their grandkids for triple-scoops and chocolate malts. I’d never been there before, but as far as I knew, no one our age would be caught dead there. Especially no one from Everly Prep. It was hokey and fun and way too juvenile to be cool.

  Stella had picked the one place no one we knew would ever see us.

  Sure, if you’re buying, I tapped out and sent back.

  My eyes darted her way and I could see the corner of her mouth tugging upward as my phone rattled in my hand.

  Deal. See you then.

  The bell rang, signaling the end of class. I gathered my things and stood, ignoring the Rogues and Roguettes as I passed by them to leave the room. Charlotte hissed something I didn’t catch, but I honestly didn’t give a shit about anything she had to say.

  As I walked out, I could feel eyes burning into my back, though I didn’t know who was staring. And I didn’t glance back to check. I lifted my chin and put a little swagger in my step, hoping to give them an eyeful.

  It was my time, and the fun and games were about to begin.

  3

  “Thank God,” I grunted, dropping my bag into an empty chair as I slid into another across the table from Josh.

  “Rough morning?” Josh asked as he slid a tray of food in front of me.

  I shot him a grateful smile as I stabbed a piece of grilled chicken with my fork. I popped it in my mouth and chewed it slowly, mulling over the events of the morning. Josh waited in silence, an expectant look on his face.

  I swallowed my bite with a sigh. “It wasn’t terrible. Charlotte tried to rile me up in history, but I shot her down. It’s just exhausting, seeing them all and trying not to lose it. I wish you were in all my classes. It would make it so much better, having you there.”

  “You got this, Chaz. You are the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”

  “That’s sweet, Josh,” I said, arching a brow, “but you have to say that because you love me.”

  “That’s a fact,” he replied, grinning. “And one day, you’ll agree to marry me and we’ll live a fabulous life together.”

  “You’d be completely miserable, and you know it,” I said. “I don’t own the right hardware.”

  He chuckled and shook his head, dropping the subject for the moment. I really wanted to ask him if he’d talked to Theo Davenport today. They hadn’t spoken since the infamous doctored video of me and the guys in Theo’s pool was released on social media. But some time had passed, and break was over, so maybe seeing him face-to-face might have made a difference.

  “No, I haven’t spoken to him.”

  “What?” I asked, confused. Was he psychic, or something?

  “You were staring at me with an expression like someone kicked your puppy. Since I’m the closest thing you have to a puppy, I can only assume you were thinking about me and you-know-who.”

  My eyes darted from left to right to make sure no one was near enough to eavesdrop on our conversation. Josh and Theo were a hot, albeit secret item for a while until some of the guys walked in on them and Theo broke things off. Theo kept his sexuality locked up tight behind a thick steel door, and as soon as he thought someone may guess, he dropped Josh like a bag of bricks and started up a fake relationship with Isla.

  Once I came into the picture and started hanging out with the Rogues, Josh and Theo had grown closer, even sneaking off during that pool party to have some alone time. But once the assholes betrayed me, Josh was done with him. And as far as I knew, Theo hadn’t tried to fix things, either.

  “You don’t have to stay away from him for my sake, Josh,” I whispered. “I know how you feel about him.”

  “Felt, Chaz. Past tense.”

  “Josh—”

  “He hurt you,” Josh snapped, cutting off whatever I was about to say. “I can’t be with someone who tried to destroy the person I love the most in this world.”

  “Okay,” I murmured, holding up my palms. “Just know, that if you decide to forgive him, I won’t be angry. I want you to be happy, too.”

  “And that’s why you’re my queen,” he said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.

  “I’ve been thinking about taking him off my list, anyway,” I said, turning my eyes back to my food.

  “What? Why?”

  I shrugged without meeting his eyes, picking at my Caesar salad with my fork.

  “Chaz.” When I finally met his eyes, he said, “Theo Davenport was just as much a part of their plan as any of them. We were at his house, for Christ’s sake! He deserves whatever vengeance you feel the need to dole out.”

  “I love you more than anyone, too, Josh. You are more important to me than my revenge, so if taking Theo off the list will make things easier for you, then I’ll do it.”

  “No. He deserves to pay for his part in all of this.”

  “And maybe after it’s all said and done, and he’s earned his absolution, you’ll forgive him and try again?”

  “You never give up,” he laughed, plucking a crouton from his salad and tossing it at me.

  I caught it and popped it in my mouth, smiling as I chewed.

  “Better you know that about me now, before we get married.”

  “Don’t tease me, woman!”

  We both laughed, and my eyes focused behind him on a table across the cafeteria. The laughter died in my throat as I locked eyes with Mason Bellamy. He held my gaze for several heartbeats before looking to his left. My eyes shifted to see Charlotte, glaring at me as she leaned in and licked Mason’s mouth.

  He didn’t move to reciprocate, but he also didn’t flinch away. It was like he was a statue, some inanimate object for Charlotte to paw all over. I focused back on Josh, who turned back to me after seeing what I was looking at.

  “You okay?” he asked, a worried expression marring his handsome face.

  “No,” I said. “But I will be.”

  It was funny, really, how hard Jasper Lockwood was trying to bring some normalcy back to his class. He’d reverted to calling everyone, including me, by our first names. And insisting we call him Jasper. He was ready to move past the whole video debacle now that he’d been exonerated.

  But I wasn’t going to make it easy on him.

  His betrayal hadn’t been as devastating as the Rogues’ but it had been painful, nevertheless. I tried to tell him the video was faked, that I’d never said any of those lies about us supposedly fucking. But it hadn’t mattered to him. All that mattered was his reputation, and that disillusionment had hurt.

  I thought he was different than the rest of these rich assholes, but he wasn’t. He’d left me to weather the storm on my own, and it wasn’t until I’d cleared both our names that he tried to make things right.

  Too little, too late, asshole.

  Jasper wasn’t on my list, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be involved in helping me take my revenge. In fact, he would be a key factor in aiding me check off the most difficult box.

  Because after today’s opening to his lecture, I had a stroke of brilliance. Keeping my phone under my desk to hide it, I texted Josh, telling him my plan. His brow quirked as he read it, then he met my eyes and nodded his head enthusiastically.

  I just had to make Jasper believe he didn’t have a choice but to agree to my demands.

  I was filled with nervous energy for the rest of the hour, anxious for the bell to ring so I could put my plan into action. I hoped Jasper wasn’t covering anything too important, because I didn’t hear a single word he said.

  When the bell rang to signify the end of class, I kept my head down, slowly packing my things to give the other students time to file out of the room. I looked up to find Jasper’s eyes on me. They were filled with a strange mix of dread and hope,
like he expected the worst while simultaneously longing for some sort of amenable resolution to the tension in our student-teacher relationship.

  Oh, I had a resolution, all right. But I wasn’t so sure he was going to like it.

  “Chaz, can I help you with something?” he asked, breaking the awkward silence.

  “Yes, actually,” I replied, rising from my desk and moving toward him.

  He took an involuntary step back as I approached, and it was all I could do to keep my face firm and suppress a feline smile. I had him right where I wanted him—on the defensive. The sensation of power was intoxicating, but I needed to stay focused.

  “It’s about the project you mentioned at the beginning of class,” I said. “I want to pick my partner.”

  “As I stated earlier, the partners will be chosen by random draw.” He paused for a moment, cocking his head. “But if you’re worried about being paired with one of your antagonists, I am willing to make an exception. I assure you, I won’t force you into an uncomfor—”

  “I want you to pair me with Mason Bellamy,” I demanded, cutting him off.

  Jasper’s head reared back, shock making his eyes widen. He sputtered for a moment, and I silently glared, letting him know I meant what I said.

  “You can’t be serious,” he finally gritted out.

  “Oh, I am. Dead serious.”

  I narrowed my eyes and moved a little closer, invading his personal space. It was an intimidation tactic I’d learned at an early age. Unless Jasper Lockwood had some hidden steel in his spine, I’d have him backing down within moments.

  The fact that I was basically threatening a teacher wasn’t beyond me, but I honestly had nothing to lose. These people had tried their best to break me. And rather than doing his duty as teacher and mentor, Jasper had left me in those shark-infested waters all alone. With no life vest.

  He owed me.

  “I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Chaz,” he said, but there was a slight waver in his voice.

  I smelled blood in the water, so I moved in for the kill.

  “I told you they set me up. I told you it was a lie and asked for your help, and you turned your back on me. Even when you believed I was telling the truth.”

  I propped a hand on my hip and threw his words back at him, deepening my voice to mock him.

  “It doesn’t matter, Chaz. It is what it is—we just have to accept it. But I appreciate your explanation.”

  In Jasper’s defense, he flinched like my hostile reenactment of his betrayal was a brutal shot to his gut.

  “I am truly sorry for that, Chaz.”

  I started shaking my head before he finished his lame apology.

  “I don’t want your regret,” I hissed. “I want you to partner me with Mason Bellamy.”

  “But…why?”

  The anger drained out of me, replaced with the sweet thrill of victory. Jasper was caving, crumpling to my demands just like the little man-baby I knew he was.

  “The why doesn’t matter,” I replied. “What matters is that when you do this for me, we’ll be even. You can move on, knowing you’ve made amends, and I can move on, too. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to respect you again, but I will be able to let go of the anger. I need this, Jasper. And you need it, too. It wasn’t just me they fucked over with that video.”

  With those words, I spun and stalked from the room without waiting for reply or confirmation. It was my not-so-subtle way of letting him know I expected his compliance. To make him feel like he had very little choice in the matter.

  It was a risk, giving him that little tease that my desire to be Mason’s partner was based on revenge. He could have decided to deny me on principle, some previously nonexistent sense of valor emerging to protect me from myself. But I was banking on the opposite.

  I’d seen a bitter, hostile side of Jasper Lockwood that he kept hidden beneath his charming exterior. When he thought I had lied and told his other students we were sleeping together, he’d turned that malice on me with a vengeance.

  And I fully expected my reminder that the Rogues had tried to destroy him along with me would bring that part of him to the forefront. Only this time, it would be directed at those actually responsible.

  The bitter need for revenge coupled with his desire to make amends to me would sway his hand.

  But if it didn’t work, I’d find some other way to get close to Mason again. Because not drawing him back in was not an option. I needed to regain his attention, his affection, and his trust if I was going to complete number eight on my list.

  I needed to have his heart in my hands if I wanted to succeed in crushing it, the way he crushed mine.

  And making it look like we were thrown together against both of our wishes was the perfect start. I needed Jasper to come through for me on this.

  I decided right then that if he didn’t come through, he’d live to regret it. His ass would go right on my list with the others.

  4

  I managed to slip into the locker room to change and out into the crowd of students without Coach Barkley noticing I was late. I released my breath on a sigh, relieved I wasn’t going to be reprimanded in front of my nemeses. Nor would I be sentenced to yet another dull hour of detention.

  Josh smirked at me as I fell in beside him, pretending to listen to the old man’s lecture on the benefits of physical fitness.

  “How’d it go?” Josh murmured from the corner of his mouth.

  I shrugged, whispering, “We’ll see. I think I laid it on thick enough to guilt him into doing it.”

  “Of course, you did. You’re a master.”

  “Thanks…I think?” I mumbled, not really sure if that was a compliment.

  He was basically inferring I was pro at manipulating people. In this case, I hoped he was right, but I still wasn’t sure if that was a personality trait by which I wanted to be defined.

  Josh laughed and nudged me with his shoulder. He pointed to his chest, made a heart shape with his hands, and then pointed at me while mouthing the words, “I love you.”

  I repeated the gestures back to him, earning a wide smile. But my humor rapidly faded as a prickly feeling tattooed up my spine and into my scalp. Someone was watching me.

  I looked around, keeping my head still while moving only my eyes. I spotted the Rogues off to my right, standing in a loose circle. Mason’s eyes burned against my skin, but I forced myself to ignore the feeling and continued breathing normally. I needed to strengthen the walls I’d built against him. If his gaze had such a dramatic effect on me, how was I going to pull off my plan?

  I mentally ran down his list of offenses—from making me like him, to sleeping with me, to royally fucking me over—and the steel box I’d erected around my heart solidified once more. I would not fall prey to his charm and sex appeal again.

  Fool me once, shame on him. Fool me twice? Not going to happen.

  I wanted to snarl and snip and show all the negative emotions he invoked within me, but that would go against my plan. So instead, I forced a bit of longing into my gaze before dropping my eyes. I saw his chest heave with what was most likely a gasp of surprise, and I had to fight to keep the smile from my lips.

  Josh was right. I really was a master of manipulation.

  I looked over at him to tell him so, but my best friend’s eyes were locked on something across the gym. I followed his gaze to see Theo Davenport staring right back at him. The longing in his eyes was so apparent and so real that it lit a fire in my chest that made me fight for my next breath.

  My eyes chased back to Josh, who shook his head before lowering it, breaking off whatever connection he’d had with Theo. His body was tense, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he ground his teeth together.

  I wrapped my fingers around his bicep, pulling his attention to me. The pain I saw in his green eyes nearly broke me, but he buried it quickly and forced a smile that ended up looking like a grimace.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered.

>   “I will be,” he replied honestly.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  He shook his head before tightening his lips into a thin line. I nodded, but my mind was whirring a million miles a minute.

  Josh talked a big game about not wanting me to keep Theo out of my plans for revenge. He insisted Theo deserved it just as much as the others, and seeing the tortured look on my best friend’s face, I was inclined to agree.

  Theo hurt him. But would Theo’s pain at my hands hurt Josh even worse?

  I was going to have to come up with some way to prevent that. Josh didn’t need any extra heartache. He’d suffered enough.

  “Okay, let’s start with some laps.”

  Coach Barkley’s gruff order was punctuated by a round of sighs from the class. Everyone moved to the track painted around the edges of the gym before kicking off in a slow jog. Josh and I hung back, situating ourselves at the rear of the pack.

  “Running sucks,” I grumbled.

  “Agreed,” Josh replied, his face still drawn into tight lines.

  The need to make him feel better rose up inside me. I had to do something. Say something. Anything. He tried to hide his depression—and most days, he was successful—but times like these really drove home how much pain Josh was actually feeling.

  I looked across the gym to see the Rogues at the front of the pack, outpacing the rest of the class like they were fucking royalty and everyone else needed to remain ten paces behind them out of respect. Mason had removed his shirt, and I had a brief vision of my tongue following the trickle of sweat snaking down his chest.

  I shook my head to clear it of the errant thought.

  “I hate him. I hate him,” I whispered, repeating the mantra again and again, hoping it would stick and convince my libido that my head was right.

  “What was that?” Josh asked.

  “Nothing,” I said through the breaths puffing in and out of my lungs.