“Remember,” Nolan says as he hands me a beer in a red Solo cup. “No murder.”
I throw my head back and laugh. A moment later his hand lands on my ass.
“I’m serious,” he bites out. “I want to have fun tonight—no jail.”
“What?” I ask. “You don’t think I could get away with it?”
He shakes his head and moves away. If he responds, however, I don’t hear it. Mads watches me with wide eyes.
“Whoa, why is he so worried about you killing someone tonight?” she asks.
“Because Megan’s probably coming,” I say, lifting one shoulder and letting it fall back down.
Mads chokes on her own drink, holding it carefully away from her as she coughs through her surprise. Only when she’s gotten ahold of herself does she look at me. “Megan? You’re fine with her coming here after what she did?”
“I never said I was fine with her,” I reply. “But I have my own revenge plan, and it won’t happen if she doesn’t come.”
“Oh no.” Mads flips around. “I’m not a part of this. I’m not listening.”
“Chickenshit!” I call out as she marches away.
“Bawk, bawk!” she shouts back, making several heads turn towards us in confusion as more and more people park in the lineup of vehicles and arrive on the scene.
It isn’t until a gruff masculine voice speaks from behind me that I realize I’m no longer on my own now that she’s gone. “Hey, baby, miss me?” Lex wraps his warm arms around my middle, settling his hands over the curve of my stomach as his front presses into my spine.
Sinking onto the back of my feet, I let myself fall against him, relishing the heat of him. “I did,” I confess. “Though, I’m starting to think you and your friends are crazy for hosting a party this close to winter. The weather was calling for snow this weekend.”
He chuckles. “Ah, but that’ll make your plans all the more devious, won’t it?”
While Nolan and Gio know I’m planning something—only Lex knows the details. If I worried it would drive a wedge between them or incite jealousy or annoyance, I’m pleasantly surprised because neither Nolan nor Gio seem to care. Instead, they’ve happily offered help if I need it.
“Is she here yet?” I ask in lieu of an actual answer.
Lex’s lips touch my throat and then move up until his teeth nip at my earlobe. A shiver of lust steals over me and I wonder if tonight will be the night that I have more than one of them in bed with me. That time in the woods with Nolan and Gio was one instance, and though I’d been angry with Nolan’s underhanded tactics—the idea of trying to take them together has been percolating in the back of my head for the last several weeks.
“She is,” he says, releasing my ear, “and everything is prepped and ready.”
Good.I pull away, turning in his arms and reaching up to loop my fingers around his neck. “Run interference for me?” I already know the answer to my request, but I ask it anyway.
Lex arches a brow and hooks a finger into one of the belt loops on my jeans, pulling me into the full length of his body. With how tall he is, I’m forced to tilt my head back to keep eye contact.
“What do I get in return?” he asks, grinning.
Going up on my toes, I smile as he bends the last little bit, allowing me to lick across the seam of his mouth as I offer him a kiss. Shamelessly, he devours my lips in a harsh demand—settling himself over me and gripping me tight as if I’d ever pull away from the heady drug of his kiss.
Breathing becomes harder. My head goes fuzzy, my mind blank. Each second that passes is consumed by nothing but him. The cold air swirling around, the heat of the fire, the sound of people laughing around us—all of it fades away.
Minutes later—or what feels like a lifetime—Lex lifts his head, breaking off the kiss, and I gasp for air, sucking down lungfuls so raw they burn against the inside of my throat. “Go get her, baby,” he says. “I’ll take my payment later.”
Lex walks away, heading back in the direction of his teammates as more people get out of their cars and head for the bonfire and beer table setup. A Scorpion King party is far different from the ones thrown by others in school. The bonfire isn’t the only heat source—several barrels have been set up and filled with dry sticks and underbrush from the woods around the property.
Several familiar faces surround them—some of them classmates that I’ve only ever seen or spoken to in passing, but a few I recognize from the day of the attack. When they catch sight of me, they stare. I’m sure they’re wondering how the hell they’ve been given the chance to step onto Scorpion King landafter what they did. It’s clear in their shared looks before they watch me pass them by with a wariness that practically seeps from their tense bodies that they don’t know what to make of me.
Perhaps a weaker woman would have felt insulted by each and every one of them. She might feel the need to attack each of them in kind, but not me.
Those girls are nothing but sheep. They follow who they think is the strongest—the alpha bitch. After tonight, I doubt they’ll ever even think to come after me again. What I’m about to do to Megan White will make their poor attempt at beating the shit out of me look like child’s play.
I find Gio tossing a football to a few of his teammates and wave him over. “What’s up?” he asks, jogging closer as I stand out of the way of his friends.
