Page 101 of Anarchy at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys 4)
“Can I spend the night at your place?” I ask Hael just a few minutes after arriving back at Aaron's house. Everything is quiet and dark, buttoned-down and ready for bed. The girls are still at the babysitter's house, and I could really use a break from Victor. He’s already gone into the master bedroom and kicked off his boots, so I know he plans on staying here tonight.
Hael pauses to glance over his shoulder at me, keys clutched in his right hand. He was reaching for the door to leave. Pretty sure I just stopped him dead in his tracks.
I cock a brow.
“What?” I ask, putting a hand on my hip and wondering if there are any hidden spots of blood on my dress that I can't see. “You don't want me there?”
“I never said that,” he starts, trailing off and then hooking a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. “Does Vic know you're leaving?”
I shake my head.
“No, but I'll tell him,” I reply, my voice even and much more self-assured than I actually feel on the inside. Telling Victor I want to leave and spend the night with Hael isn't going to make him very happy. I bite my thumbnail, and I swear I taste blood. Frowning, I pull it away from my mouth and glance back at the door to the master bedroom.
It’s open now, and Vic’s standing there in shadows looking at me.
“What do you want?” I ask, and I hear him let out a frustrated sound that’s halfway between a laugh and a scoff. He moves down the hall, and I almost gasp when his face emerges from the shadows and I can see him in a bit of moonlight coming in from the sliding doors. Outside, rain pours in a steady, silver wave.
“You want to go to Hael’s house?” he asks me, laughing again and shaking his head before he moves past me. “Go then. I won’t stop you. I already explained my position to you.”
I feel my lip curving up in a scowl, my jaw clenching.
“Wasn’t it you who said you’d never agree to a fake marriage? That you’d rather die?” I quip back and Vic freezes, right between the peninsula and the fridge. He looks back at me.
“Is that what this is about?” he asks, his voice strange and light. “Jealousy.” Victor turns around to look at me, crossing his arms over his chest. I can’t take the way he’s looking at me, so I just turn away and shrug.
“Whatever. I’m going with Hael then. I wasn’t asking you, by the way, I was just telling you my plans.” I start toward the door when Vic’s hand lashes out, like a fucking king cobra. He yanks me around to face him as Hael makes a sound of annoyance behind me.
“You really can’t handle it, can you? Just the threat of me marrying that girl is enough to undo you.” I tear away from Vic but we both know it’s only because he let me go. Oscar comes into the kitchen at that same moment, bringing in the scent of Pine-Sol and weed when he does. There are so many jars of it, stacked in the spare bathroom shower and on the floor. Even though all the plants have been processed, the smell has stuck to the walls and ceiling, no matter how often Oscar scrubs the fucking room.
“You’re not fighting with him again?” he asks, like the very idea annoys the shit out of him. “Over Trinity Jade?”
“Stop saying her name like that,” I bite out and Oscar smiles as Hael comes over to stand beside me, swinging his keys in a circle around his finger. When he puts a hand on my hip from behind, it burns. Tomorrow I’m going to wear those high-waisted, forties style shorts with the silver buttons. They’re black, and my ass hangs out of them, but I’ll wear them and sit on the hood of the Eldorado while Hael works underneath.
“Like how?” Oscar demands. There’s barely a question mark at the end of it, more like a statement. He takes his glasses slowly off his face and then folds the arms back. Vic looks from him to me.
“Like she matters,” I say, my voice sharp. “Because she doesn’t.”
“She doesn’t?” Oscar parrots, and Vic gives him a sharp look as Hael’s fingers squeeze my hip hard enough to bruise. He’s warning me to keep my temper. I know he’s probably right, that Oscar’s baiting me, but it’s working for some stupid fucking reason. “She seems pretty important right now; I won’t lie. If Vic really did marry her, he’d have access to business connections we could only ever dream of.”
“Alright, that’s enough,” Vic says as Oscar stares me down with his graveyard-colored eyes. His smile is like a knife, and it cuts right through me. “Oscar, knock it the fuck off. I’ve warned you once.”
