Page 30 of The Devils They Are

My mouth pops open as I process his confession. Tai quickly covers a snort when Rylan glares at him.

Sighing, I look between them. "She superglued my ass to a desk yesterday."

This time, Tai can't hold it in, bursting out in a fit while Rylan splutters. "She,what?"

I quickly fill them in about detention—how I organized to clear Smythson out of the room so I could have some fun tormenting her. But embarrassingly, she got the upper hand on me.

I'm so angry at myself for letting her do that. I should have seen it coming, but I got complacent—mistook the moment for a bout of weakness.

Since everyone had left for the day, I had no choice but to call Peyton for assistance. My dear cousin was just finishing a late cheer session and helped grab a pair of spare shorts from the admin office. The only way I was getting that thing off my ass was by shimmying out of my pants. But there was no way I was walking around in my boxer trunks with Dad lingering around.

It was on my to-do list to fill Rylan and Tai in about it this morning, but I never expected that Duchess would get to him first.

I think we may have underestimated her willingness to start shit on our turf. We're going to have to hit back hard, make her regret the day she stepped foot inside Willowbrook.

Rylan is still muttering curses when we all pull out our cells to check whether the little stunt has made its way onto social media. We need to do damage control as soon as possible.

But before any of us can check, both Tai and Rylan yell at the same time.

My eyes widen, switching between the two of them, wondering what I've suddenly missed.

"Why am I missing two-thousand dollars from my account?!"

"Why am I being sentdickpics?!"

The two of them pause, staring at each other in complete silence. Sighing, I pluck Rylan's cell from his hand—because I don't want to see wrinkly balls—and check his screen.

"Tarven INC?" I read the newest transaction on his banking app. "Tai, search it up."

He nods in reply, quickly tapping his screen before his eyebrows disappear into his hairline, eyes snapping up to Rylan. "Oh, man..."

"What is it?" Rylan growls, ripping the device from his palm. He scans the screen, fingers clenching the sides tightly. "The fuckingConservation Mission for… Wildcats."

Oh, Spencer. You're fucking dead.

Dead and then I'll resuscitate her just so I can end her a second time.

There's a small yell of disgust from Rylan as he flings the cell back to Tai. "You're getting dick pics one after the other. What the fuck?"

"She's obviously leaked my goddamn number," he grimaces, shoving his burner back into his bag. "That has to be it. There's been seventeen so far and they just only started at the end of first period."

That sneaky bitch.

Whispers behind me have us all whipping around, Rylan yelling at the gossiping girls to fuck off.

This is bad. Really bad.

"And there's pictures of you in the shorts," Tai mutters low. "It's popping up on social media. But it looks like it's coming from Willowbrook students."

Rylan massages his temples. "Right. We need a plan. Tai, can you get the picture wiped? If my dad sees it, I'll never hear the end of it."

Giggles ring out around the courtyard. "I think we might be a little late for that," I murmur darkly, watching as people gasp at their cells and send amused looks in our direction.

"I need to find the source of these text messages. But I can't do it until I'm off school grounds," Tai grunts.

"I need to get my damn credit card back," Rylan interjects. "Who knows what else she'll do with it. What's her schedule?"

I glance over at the courtyard doors, popping an eyebrow. "No need. She's rightthere."

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