Page 100 of Filthy Rich Boys (Rich Boys Of Burberry Prep 1)
Lizzie turns her amber eyes over to me and smiles.
“I’m not allowed to tell you much, but … it used to be a boys’ club.” She sighs and sits up, pushing her dark curls back from her face. “It wasn’t until, like, ten years ago that they started letting women in.”
“Is the gambling stuff … necessary?” I ask and Lizzie shrugs.
“Infinity Club is about … risks … money, connections … secrets.” She exhales sharply and leans back. I can see her infinity tattoo just above her right hip. “Nations thrive and wither depending on the club’s wants. We’re all just, like, the junior version.” She laughs softly, focusing on her blue painted toenails. “We’re being molded into the future rulers of the world.”
I get chills down my spine at the melancholy note in her voice and decide that maybe I’m digging too deep into something I don’t want to know much about. I just want to live a normal life. I’ll never be in their club anyway, so what’s the point?
The less I know … the better.
A shadow falls over me, and I look up to see Zack standing next to my chair. My heart leaps in excitement, and I rise to my feet to give him a hug. He holds me so tight and so close that I can hear his heart beating. His muscular arms give just the right amount of squeeze before he releases me.
“It’s been a while,” he says, and I grin as he pulls over a chair to sit next to me and Lizzie.
The Idol boys are off somewhere doing their thing, but I’ve already seen a race around the lake today that almost gave me a heart attack. I was sure one of those fancy sports cars was going in the water, and someone was going to die. They’ve moved onto other stupid games, gambling away fortunes my father’s never even dreamed of, but so long as they don’t start playing Russian roulette, I decide to just leave it be.
When you’re as rich as they are, life starts to dull around you. They don’t appreciate the little things anymore, so they create big things to entertain themselves. It’s a little sad, actually. I almost feel sorry for them.
“It has been a while,” I say, biting my lower lip and looking over at him. I guess I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him. Or that I’d missed him at all, really. Zack glances over at me, his brown eyes dark, face unreadable. He’s a mystery to me, but he doesn’t have that cruel streak in him the way the others do. My heart pitter-patters in my chest, and I glance away, catching Lizzie’s amber-eyed stare. She smiles knowingly, and I flush.
I’m a little jealous that they go to the same school. Or rather, I’m disappointed that Zack didn’t get into Burberry Prep. I would’ve loved having him here with me.
“Your dad misses you,” he says, glancing over at me. “I go home every weekend, and I usually stop by his place. You're the only thing he talks about.” Zack glances out at the lake, and all the students splashing and laughing and screaming. “He's really proud of you, you know.”
I nod, but there's too much emotion in my throat; I feel like it's choking me. There's something going on with my dad and Jennifer, that much I know for sure. It's been bothering me since winter break, but I just can't figure it out.
“Has there been a woman coming around a lot?” I ask, fishing for information. “One who drives a new white Cadillac?”
Zack shakes his head, and I sigh in relief. I was starting to worry that my parents might be seeing each other again. What a strange thing for the kid of divorcees to worry about, huh, their parents getting back together …
“Nothing like that,” Zack says, looking over at me again. The way his eyes take me in, it's like he's drinking me up, like he's thirsty and can't get enough. After a moment, he runs his tongue across his lower lip, like he's thinking hard about something. “Do you mind if I get changed? We can go swimming or something.” I nod, and Zack gets up to head into the lodge.
When he comes back, he's dressed in black swim shorts, and nothing else. I can see the infinity tattoo above his right hip, and since my eyes are already down there … Wow. Not only does he have a perfect six pack, he’s also got those delicious V-lines. They draw my eyes down to the waistband of his shorts, briefly wondering what might be underneath.
Damn.
All this time spent with Creed, Zayd, and Tristan is really corrupting me. I pretend like I wasn't just checking Zack out, and take his hand when he offers it to me, letting him pull me to my feet. It's like I weigh nothing, and in a split-second, I'm up and in his muscular arms, and he's carrying me to the water.
