Devious Little Liars: A High School Bully Romance (Saint View High Book 1) Read online

  “That seems to be exactly what they think.” The burn on my leg throbbed beneath its bandages.

  Meredith threw up her hands in frustration. “That’s ridiculous. Ugh! They make me so mad with their uselessness. Do they even have to do an entrance exam? Or do they just accept those plastic badges you get in the cereal box?”

  I couldn’t agree more. The police in our town had never had a reputation for being particularly adept. I, more than anyone, knew that firsthand.

  “They don’t suspect you, though. Right?” Owen chewed his bottom lip, gaze darting between me and the rest of the room, as if he were on the lookout for any sign of danger.

  Something about it reminded me of a meerkat, the thought so amusing I almost smiled. Maybe I would have if he hadn’t been kind of annoying. He’d been smothering me with his concern ever since last weekend, and it was beginning to get a little ridiculous. It wasn’t like another fire was just going to spontaneously ignite.

  I hoped.

  “I don’t know,” I answered his question. The same thought had plagued me ever since I’d woken up in the hospital. The way the cops had taken my story had felt more like an interrogation than an interview. “My story hasn’t changed. Someone carried me from that building before it collapsed. His shirt had the letters SVHF. And he knew my name.”

  “That’s the part that freaks me out the most,” Meredith nibbled at a fingernail distractedly. “That means you know him.”

  “Or at least, he knows me.” I gazed around the room full of people I’d never met. But all of them knew me because of who my uncle was. Was it someone in this room? It had definitely been a man. I remembered the hardness of his chest. Tall and strong. Big enough to pick up my five-six frame from a dead slump on the floor and carry me out through the back of the school building. That’s where I’d been found by the firefighters who had arrived too late. Laid out on the grass, barely conscious, and gasping for breath. I’d been lucky, they’d said. A few hours on oxygen had cleared the smoke from my lungs, and my burns were superficial. They’d scar, but not badly, and should heal quickly. But I didn’t feel lucky. To the depths of my soul, I was gutted. My entire world had been ripped from my hands.

  Again.

  “Did you hear we’re all being moved to Edgely Academy?” Meredith asked, changing the subject. She twisted and looked in the direction of the bar. “I hope he goes there. Owen, do you know him?”

  I followed her line of sight. The ‘he’ in question worked behind the makeshift bar, set up off one side of our spacious living room. My aunt had brought in our usual caterers, but if he’d worked our parties before, I hadn’t noticed. Blond hair flopped in his eye as he poured a drink of something bubbly and passed it into the waiting hands of an older woman. She flashed him a smile, her mouth full of teeth so perfect they couldn’t have been real. He grinned back at her. He was tall, and broad-shouldered, a deep tan coloring his face and hands. Handsome for sure. I could see why he’d caught Meredith’s eye.

  Owen squinted at him. “Never seen him before, but Edgely is a big school.”

  “He seems young but he’s working a bar,” I noted. “Gotta be at least twenty-one.”

  Meredith straightened, pulling back her shoulders and sticking her tits out. “Even better.”

  The man’s attention drifted in our direction, and I waited for it. For his gaze to sweep her. For hunger to flare in his eyes. Meredith was hot. There was no denying that, with her long legs, big doe eyes, and a natural D cup that suited her taller frame. I was pretty. I was vain enough to admit that. But I was girl next door in comparison to Meredith’s Hollywood.

  But he barely hovered on Meredith a second before he switched to me. His eyes locked with mine, and the corner of his mouth tipped up adorably. Distracted by one of his colleagues thrusting an empty drink tray into his hands, he finally turned away.

  Meredith nudged me. “You’re looking at that man like you want him to devour you.”

  I grinned at her, not hating the way that smile had stirred something inside me. “Nothing like a good devouring when you’re feeling down, right?”

  Meredith elbowed me, and we both giggled.

  Owen groaned. “And that’s my cue to go get a drink.” He walked away, the tips of his ears reddening.

  Meredith acted like Owen hadn’t even spoken. “Get over there!” she encouraged me. “Go get you some. That boy is down for it, for sure. And I sure as hell am not going to talk you out of a little distraction. You need it. Go get your pussy munched.”

  I burst out laughing, attracting confused looks from the rest of the room. My aunt was one of them. Her gaze darted to Meredith, a disapproving frown flickering over her features before it smoothed back into place.

  I got it. My laughter was out of place amongst the low murmur of polite conversation. Normally I was better behaved, but the champagne was going to my head.

  “You’re so inappropriate,” I hissed to Meredith. “This is a wake.” But the edge of a smile told her I didn’t really mean it.

  “Yeah, but I got you smiling. And as your best friend, that’s my job. But your aunt is gesturing for you to go to her, and since I’m a bad influence, I should probably go find someone else to talk to. Or make out with. I wonder if your cutie has a friend…”

  I didn’t bother mentioning that one moment of mutual eye appreciation did not make the cutie mine.

  I found my aunt in the crowd, and she immediately put her arm around me. I resisted the urge to lay my head on her shoulder like I had as a child. My aunt wasn’t perfect. I hated the way she had little ambition, beyond being a lady of luxury. Her life centered around her appearance.

  But she was also warm and caring. She’d taken me in when I was barely five years old and had never treated me as anything other than her daughter. She’d stuck Band-Aids on my scrapes, wiped my forehead when I was sick, hugged me tight when boys preferred Meredith to me.

  I put my arm around her waist and squeezed her right back. We’d get through this. Together. Somehow.

  I hovered around, keeping an eye on her as the afternoon dragged, turning into evening. The house slowly emptied out, and for the first time all day, there was enough room to breathe.

  “Sweetheart,” my aunt said, taking me by the elbow and tugging me into the hallway that led to the back of the house. Tension pulled her perfect eyebrows together in lines I knew she’d be horrified by if she could have seen them.

  “Headache?”

  She squeezed my fingers. “I’m sorry. I just need to lie down for a little while. Almost everyone has left anyway. Do you mind?”

  “I’ll take care of it. Go rest.”

  She leaned in, her lips brushing over my cheek then she hurried up the stairs, her long black dress billowing out behind her.

  I wandered back to the main room, and for a moment, watched the staff bustling around, packing up chairs and rounding up stray wine glasses.

  I wasn’t needed here. What I needed was some fresh air and time alone.

  As often happened when I wasn’t distracted by other things, the memories of that night played in my head. I’d thought the alcohol might help with that, but I was pretty buzzed, and yet the memories were still sharp as tacks. I drifted outside, skirting the sparkling blue pool and following the slope of the land that descended into a grassed area. Tall trees rimmed our property, providing privacy from the neighbors. My uncle had always been on the gardeners to keep the trees healthy, fearing one sick plant would infect the lot and he’d lose the mini forest that kept prying eyes from our business. I’d once heard him joke about the trees allowing my aunt to sunbathe nude, and she’d laughed and swatted his arm. I’d been embarrassed and slunk away, pretending not to hear.

  Now, I’d give anything to hear him say it again.

  Give anything to have him back.

  “Sorry for your loss.”

  I jumped at the deep voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. I spun around, searching for the owner in the disappe
aring light. He leaned against a wide trunk, cigarette dangling from his lips.

  The bartender from earlier.

  Hell. He really was attractive.

  It took me a moment to draw my gaze away from his mouth and up to his eyes. Were they blue? Green? Something light-colored for sure.

  “Thanks.” I shoved my hands in the pockets of my dress, studying him.

  He pulled a lighter from the pocket of his black dress pants and sparked it. A small orange flame erupted, sending a chill rolling down my spine. He brought it to the end of his cigarette, dragging hard to light it. When he straightened, he blew a lazy cloud of smoke out the corner of his mouth, his gaze trained on me the entire time.

  After the shitty day I’d had, I liked the way he looked at me.

  He didn’t look at me like I was the poor little rich girl who’d lost the only father she’d ever known.

  He didn’t look at me in suspicion, like the police did every time I met with them.

  The only thing his look held was the promise of a good time.

  He pulled the cigarette from his lips, holding it between two fingers, and offered it to me. “Smoke?”

  I shook my head. “Not my thing.”

  But something about the relaxed expression on his face as he inhaled made me want to try it.

  Fuck it. I inched closer to him, eyeing the cigarette. He passed it to me, our fingers brushing in the exchange. I drew in a breath at the thrill that one tiny touch sent through my body.

  I grasped the cigarette with unpracticed fingers and brought it to my lips. I sucked on it, smoke filling my mouth and lungs. My head spun, flashing back to the moment I’d dropped to my knees outside my uncle’s office, overcome by the smoke and flames. I coughed at the invasion, my chest constricting, fighting the foreign feeling.

  The man plucked it from my hand with a chuckle, while my tarred lungs tried to haul in fresh air. I carried on with the deep breaths, longer than my lungs actually needed, just to give myself time to drag my head back to the present.

  “Well, that was a mistake,” I gasped out.

  “First time?”

  I managed to cough up a yes.

  He grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “It’s like sex. It gets better the more you do it.”

  I wouldn’t know. But I wasn’t about to tell him that. Not even Meredith knew that I was still holding on to my V card.

  “What’s your name, sad eyes?” He took another hit but this time didn’t offer it to me.

  I was glad. Once was enough.

  “Lacey,” I answered.

  “Banjo.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Interesting name.”

  “Interesting parents. Apparently, they were hippies. But I rock it.”

  It wasn’t false confidence. Then name suited him. He had a laid-back vibe that seemed to fit with hippie parents.

  “What do you mean, apparently? You don’t know for sure?”

  He tilted his head back, letting his hair rest against the bark of the tree, and blew smoke rings into the sky. “Kind of a personal question, don’t you think? Considering I’ve only known your name three seconds.”

  Heat crept into my cheeks. “Sorry. Blame the dead father figure for my lack of tact.”

  He nudged me with his foot. “I’m messing with you. They took off when I was a kid. Ended up in foster care for a while, until my brother aged out and took custody of me. I barely remember them.”

  “We’ve something in common then. Mine disappeared when I was five.”

  “Disappeared?”

  “Apparently.” I mimicked the word he’d used. “Cops determined they were dead or didn’t want to be found.”

  His gaze shifted to the mansion looming over us at the top of the hill. “This place doesn’t seem like a foster house.”

  I smiled ruefully. “No, I was lucky. My aunt and uncle adopted me after my parents were declared legally dead.”

  “Can’t even imagine what growing up here must have been like. Servants to wipe your ass?”

  I laughed. “Monday to Friday. We give them weekends off.”

  He chuckled, darting a glance at me from beneath his flop of blond hair. “You’re cute.”

  I bit my lip, not sure what to say. Thanks? You’re cute, too? My aunt would probably have a conniption if she knew I was hiding in the back garden, talking to a man I didn’t know. Especially one who obviously wasn’t from around here. The guys in Providence weren’t waiters. If they had summer jobs, it was with their fathers’ law firms. Not serving drinks at parties. I loved my aunt to pieces, but she was a snob. She wouldn’t have given Banjo a second look. Handsome as he was, she wouldn’t have even noticed him. Her eyes would have glossed right over him as if he didn’t exist.

  But Banjo was a nice distraction after a shitty day. My eyes weren’t doing any sort of glossing over him. More like studying every inch of him, wondering what he’d look like with that tie loosened and his hair mussed up.

  “I should probably go,” I said eventually, pretending he hadn’t said anything. “I’m supposed to be saying goodbye to people and making sure the caterers are packing up.” I eyed him. “Which they’re obviously not, since you’re down here smoking.”

  “They’ll be fine without us.”

  I drew in a deep breath and willed myself to push off the tree and put some space between us. “They might not notice you’re gone, but I was kind of in the spotlight today.”

  I started to walk away, but his hand shot out, circling my wrist, pulling me back. I smiled as tingles shot up my arm. I stared up at him through my eyelashes.

  “Don’t go,” he said, voice husky. He dropped his cigarette, putting it out with one scuffed boot, without breaking eye contact for a second.

  “Why not?”

  “I like talking to you. And I think you liked talking to me.”

  “What makes you think that?” I shot back.

  “Your eyes were a little less sad and a little more…”

  I waited.

  “Interested.”

  “I didn’t come out here to talk,” I admitted.

  He inched closer. “Why did you then?”

  “To find something to take my mind off everything up there.” I jerked my head in the direction of the house.

  His gaze turned curious. “Something, or someone?”

  The light pressure of his fingers encouraged me to step into him. I could have moved back but I didn’t want to. I stepped closer. Closer than was polite. So close my nipples touched his chest. They hardened instantly.

  “Someone,” I whispered.

  Banjo’s fingers grasped my chin and tilted it up. He leaned in. “You want me to kiss you, sad eyes? Because the way you’re staring at me says you do.”

  I did. I really did. I wanted to close my eyes and lose myself in his lips. I wanted to inhale his scent that was an intoxicating combination of cigarette, coconut, and something distinctly man.

  His lips brushed over the corner of my mouth, the barest of touches, but it sent a jolt of good feelings through my entire body.

  I wanted more.

  His mouth floated across my skin, to the sensitive spot beneath my ear.

  “Go out with me,” he said huskily.

  Good feelings gone.

  I blinked, jerking back. “Excuse me?”

  His lazy gaze rolled over me. “Like I said before, you’re cute. And your sad eyes intrigue me. So, I’m asking if you’ll go out with me?”

  “Are you joking?”

  He cocked his head to one side. “Why would I joke about something like that? You’re fucking gorgeous, Lacey. So yeah, I want to go out with you.”

  I breathed out a sigh of relief. He thought I was hot. Okay, that was good. Great even. I thought he was hot, too. He’d caught me off guard by asking me on an actual date, like he might have wanted something more than just sex. A date was not on the table. Sex? Totally on the table. And on the bed. Hell, if he kept checking me out with those half-
lidded eyes, I’d do him just about anywhere. V-card be damned. I’d been wanting to get rid of it for a year now anyway. “Why go out? We’re both here right now, aren’t we?”

  He studied me for a second, and obviously what I wanted was written all over my face. He barked out a laugh. “Well, shit. Didn’t expect that. You seem so sweet and innocent.”

  I edged closer and tilted my head back to look up at him. “I’m not in the mood to beat around the bush. It’s been a shit day. I just want someone who will make me forget that for a little while.”

  “And I’ll do?”

  I shrugged. “That bother you?”

  Something flickered in his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. “That you want to use me for sex? No, sad eyes. You wouldn’t be the first.”

  Though the statement intrigued me, I was more interested in other things he could offer me. It wasn’t worth my time delving into his personal problems when all I wanted to do was fool around and forget that this day, and the last few weeks had existed. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

  I towed him back up the hill and through the glass doors. He threw a wink at one of his work colleagues, who just shook his head. My aunt would have died a thousand deaths if she’d realized her niece was about to take the hired help upstairs for more than just cleaning. But she was in bed, and the only people left downstairs were Banjo’s coworkers. None of my aunt’s friends to tattle on me. Though in that moment, I might not have cared.

  All I knew was that Banjo’s hand in mine felt warm and alive. And I wanted more of that. Warmth to replace the cold dead feeling that had been slowly devouring me.

  The front door opened right as my foot hit the bottom stair.

  “Lacey Knight? Stop, please.”

  I twisted at the unfamiliar voice and glanced past our maid, Angelique, to the uniformed officer on the doorstep.

  “We need you and your guardian to come down to the station with us. Immediately.”

  Banjo shifted slightly, so he was between me and the officers. “What for?”

  The officer cast his gaze over Banjo, and I knew instantly what he was seeing. Banjo’s too-long hair. His waiter’s uniform. A tattoo peeking out from beneath his collar.