Page 60 of Chaos at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys 2)
“I’ll take the girls to school for now,” Hael muses, his face falling. “But they’ll have to deal with Brittany’s bitching on the way. Speaking of, what do you want me to do with her?”
“I already explained we had plans for tonight,” Vic says, turning back to his best friend. “I don’t give a shit if her date was cut short; shit happens. Take her home.”
Hael works his jaw for a moment before turning and heading back into the house. It only takes about five seconds before the screaming starts.
“God help me, but I hate that woman with a passion,” Oscar says, setting his tablet aside and steeling his inked fingers beneath his chin. He looks ridiculous, sitting out here in the sunshine in a suit and tie. He also looks dangerous as fuck. “We should kill her after the baby is born.”
I choke on my own spit, but Vic just rolls his eyes, making me question whether that statement was serious or not. He did flat-out admit to me the other day that Danny wasn’t their first body in the ground. How many others are there? I wonder if I should even ask.
“Finish that joint, and then get up. You and I have errands to run,” Vic says, nodding his chin in Cal’s direction. I wonder if the two of them have talked about what happened between me and Callum at the studio, or about what I did to Kali. I’m not about to ask because that’ll give Vic exactly what he wants: confirmation that I can’t get him out of my head, no matter how hard I try.
Cal salutes Vic with the joint and then takes a long drag, passing it over to me as he sits up. Our fingers brush, but I keep my body’s reaction as hidden as I possibly can. But to deny there’s chemistry there? I once read a book, some time loop story called Devils’ Day Party, where the main character said, “Lying to other people is insane; lying to yourself is suicidal.”
Pretty sure she was right about that. Oh, and her name was Karma. Talk about hitting readers over the head with metaphors, am I right?
“Bernie,” Vic says, crouching down in front of me. This zing passes between us, making my breath catch in my throat. Fuck you, Victor Channing, I think, but I can’t make my lips say the words aloud. “You and Oscar are going to run an errand of your own.” He reaches out to take my hand, pressing something into my palm. I’m overwhelmed with the feeling of burning, certain that every place his fingers touched must be blistered beyond recognition. When I look down though, everything is as it should be, but for a single key. “Don’t say I never did anything nice for you, princess.” He leans forward, cupping the back of my head and pressing a scalding kiss to my lips before he stands back up.
“You and I have an errand to run?” I ask, looking askance at Oscar and doing my best not to curl my lip. Callum rises from his chair, leaning down to whisper against my ear before he goes.
“Good luck,” he says with a small chuckle, disappearing into the house with Vic.
“And then there were two,” I say, saluting Oscar with the joint the way Cal did to Vic. He stares at me with a wrinkled nose and a deep frown, like one might stare at a pile of dog shit. “What is this key for?”
“Well,” he says, reclining back in the chair and letting his long body stretch out like a cat’s. That’s what it is, what he reminds me of. A fucking housecat, one who’s well-fed but kills for fun, one with sharp claws and glistening canines. The thing is, for his threats to be effective, I’d have to be a mouse. Maybe, once upon a time, when the Havoc Boys chased me through the woods, I was one. Not anymore. “Despite the fact that you’ve barged into a smoothly running operation and thrown it entirely off its rails, Victor wants to continue with your list. I suggested we step back from it and deal with more pertinent matters, but apparently your cunt is made of glitter and rainbows.”
I smirk at him, taking another drag on the joint.
“Curious about it?” I quip, raising an eyebrow, but Oscar just smiles at me like a shark who’s scented blood.
“Not particularly. I’d rather eat razor blades. What are you doing here anyway, Bernadette?”
“Seeking vengeance, finding justice,” I reply with a smooth smile, wondering how I’d have felt if Havoc really had come back at me with some bullshit price. They can’t have known how deeply the thorn of want had embedded itself in my heart, how desperately I wanted to be one of them.
