“There are rooms upstairs, why don’t you and I…” The girl’s hot whisper as she grinds against my side drifts away as I scan the room. She’s not the same girl I walked in with and won’t be the one I walk out with either. She’s just a prop for my real objective.
“Hey, man, you got anything for me?” One of the guys from Silverwood Prep approaches, his hair slicked back away from his face and the collar of his polo popped up. It’s so… wannabe gangster that I almost laugh him away from me, but I’m here to do a job, so instead I flash him a bright smile. The one that comes with practice and a whole lot of false charisma.
“Of course, man.” The deal is an excuse to shift the girl away from me. She’s practically humping my lap as I sit on the overstuffed lounge couch in one of the rooms of the party house. With a quick push, I get her off me and lean forward, digging into my back pocket for the bag of supplies each of us brought for tonight. It’s really the only reason no one ever bats an eye as we walk through those doors.
We might look like guests, but we’re no different from the valet guys or the bartender in the kitchen. We’re here to serve them after all.
After quickly checking the contents, I toss him a small baggie pulled from the others and tell him the price. He flips me a couple of hundreds which disappear neatly back into my pocket, and I rise from the lounge.
“Wait, where are you going?” the girl whines. Her hand reaches out, snagging onto mine. “I thought we were going to…” Her sentence drifts off as if she’s uncomfortable saying it out loud where other people can hear.
I look down at her and arch a brow. “Going to what?”
She squirms where she sits. “You know…” she hedges. I do know, but I want her to say it. I want to listen to her debase herself for a guy like me—trash from the wrong side of the tracks. Maybe it makes me an asshole, but sometimes, it makes me feel a little bit better about my situation to hear one of the elite girls practically beg to suck my cock for a little high.
Instead of saying it the way I want, though, the girl stands up and presses her body against mine. Her chest is flush to my arm, breasts rubbing in a way that doesn’t hide her intentions.
“I thought we could find a room and have a smoke,” she murmurs. “Then maybe…” Her hand trails down my chest to my abdomen. I suck in a breath, but not because I’m aroused. I suck in a breath because I don’t like her fucking touching me and the action pulls her away from my body.
Capturing her hand before it can make it to my crotch, I nudge her away. “Maybe some other time,” I say. “I need to find my boys.”
Her whine of annoyance follows me as I leave the room in search of the others. An hour into this damn party and the only information I’ve gleaned from the attendees is that things at Silverwood Prep are relatively the same. Morpheus Calloway is a sponsor of their football team—so that claim checks out. It’s not enough.
A few of the guys that I regularly sell to come up to me as I make my way through the party. I pass off a few more little baggies and collect my exchange before moving on. There’s no sight of Nolan or Lex until I find myself outside on the back patio.
There’s an oblong-shaped in-ground pool with steam rising off it and speakers set into the outside walls that pump out the same music that’s coming from inside the house. It’s quieter out here with fewer people as they gather around tiki torches with cigarettes in one hand and bottles of alcohol in their others. Towards the back of the patio area, a familiar face tips over the others, half surrounded by a group of guys and girls.
Nolan’s expression is all stone as he silently takes in whatever they’re telling him. I almost snort at the sight. Of the three of us, I’m honestly the best equipped to handle people. I’ll just punch them whereas he might shoot them if they annoy him, and theyalwaysannoy him. It’s a testament to how much he wants the information the sheep of Silverwood Prep can provide that he hasn’t done so yet, though it’s clear by the tic in his throat that he’s getting close to the edge.
Dodging a few smiling girls and waving hands, I stride immediately for him. When I’m about ten feet away, he lifts his head in an acknowledgement of my presence. Then, his expression shifts and he morphs into a man I don’t fucking know. Jesus—I forgot how well he can turn his own allure on and off.
“Jenna, have you met my friend Gio?” A girl with a thick braid of black hair turns to face me. Her soft features are almost fairy-like with a petite nose but plush and wide lips. She tips her face up to me.
“Giovanni Vargas,” she says, lifting a bottle of beer to her lips. She takes a long drink before nodding in my direction. “I’ve heard of you before.”
I arch a brow. “Just heard of?” Silverwood is a small town, but I don’t recognize this girl.
“Jenna’s not a Silverwood Prep student,” Nolan answers my unspoken question.
“Oh?”
She smirks as if amused by my surprise. “Nope,” she agrees. “I’m just in town visiting a cousin that attends.”
“You should come to town more often,” one of the guys nearby says as he leers down at her body encased in tight black leggings and a low-cut silver top that contrasts nicely with her darker skin.
Jenna rolls her eyes at the man’s obvious come-on, but otherwise ignores him. “Nolan was just telling me that he and his friends were going to apply to go to Eastpoint. That’s a good school,” she says.
“Yeah, it is.” I glance at Nolan with a look that says ‘who the fuck is this chick and is she important?’ and to my shock Nolan nods. I return my attention to Jenna with more keen interest. “Are you an Eastpoint hopeful?” I ask.
She snorts. “Not hardly,” she replies easily enough. “I’m at Hazelwood and I’m perfectly content there.”
“That’s their rival school,” one of the other guys comments. “Didn’t think you’d have anything nice to say about a rival.” His head tips back and he looks at me and Nolan pointedly as if to remind us about our own place as Silverwood Prep’s rivals.
“You know what they say—” Jenna shrugs and downs the last of her beer. “—keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” With that parting statement, she walks away.
To no one’s surprise, the gaggle of guys that had been nearby follow her. I step closer to Nolan. “Did you get any good info from her?” I ask, lowering my tone.
In response, he turns his head, scanning the nearby area before leaning in and dropping his own voice. “Jenna has a thingfor gossip rags and she seemed to know a lot about the trial for Donovan.”
