Page 20 of Play Dirty
I need something stronger— something to take the edge off. From a distance, I watch the men continue to charm the newcomers. The high bitch in control, Fabiola Saez, stands beside Oscar Villalargos. Two top-notch elites who are rotten to the core. This batch of girls seems to be nothing but thrilled, enthusiastic even. Too young and naive to know the truth. Tati and I will have a blast bursting their bubbles; they have no idea how petals are broken.
Fuck.
I remember that feeling — thinking it meant something special...
That I was part of something wonderful.
What a mistake that was.
The bartender slides the drink over to me, and just as I turn to continue my observation, a firm wall barrels into me. Muscle. A scent of night breeze and the familiar herby scent of marijuana with a hint of whiskey.
The coldness of the drink spilling between my breasts has me furious, but it’s the eyes looking down at me that tip me over the edge. “Nicolas.” I bite out.
“You shouldbe more careful, Blondie.” He sneers, pushing back a small piece of dark curl that escapes his perfectly combed back hair. “We gotta stop meeting like this?” He taunts his voice, almost playful. Must be the alcohol, just as I go to open my mouth, he adds.
“Have you seen June?”His tone is now more serious, I narrow my eyes, folding my arms in front of my chest. “Hasn’t she been with you?”
Nico shakes his head, “No.”
“What did you do to her?”
He clicks his tongue before running it across his teeth. “Nice of you to assume I’ve done something to her. Have you seen her or not?” Nico seems tense, furious even… seriously, his abrupt change of emotions could give anyone whiplash. However, it’s not the attitude that pisses me off. It’s the fact that he isn’t looking at me; his attention is on the crowd.
Why won’t he look at me?
Worse.
Why do I want him to?
It’s been that way since that night, both of us freshmen and running through the woods. The first and last time he ever looked at me as if I was something precious— now I get nothing.
Only a wall.
“Blondie.” He grits out, cupping my chin. The touch sends sparks of electricity through me, and my brain instantly short-circuits. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol, but his proximity sends waves of warmth through me.
No. No. No.
Don’t think that.
“I haven’t seen her, and I’m worried.” I stammer out hating that I react this way to his proximity. He steps back and quirks a piercedbrow. For a moment, our eyes connect before he looks away. “Worried?”
“It’s not like her to disappear,” I reply, trying to dry the liquor that has pooled between my breasts, soaking the material of my corset. “Did something happen between you two? Did she go back home?”
Nico shakes his head as he opens his mouth before slamming it shut. Oh no, you’re not dismissing me. “So you’re going to ask questions but not respond to mine.”
“Because your question is irrelevant.”
I lift a brow, unsure of how to respond to his comment. I hit him with the only ammo I can use to disarm him. The truth. “She’s too good for you.”
He chuckles deep and husky. “I know, Blondie.”
“Stop calling me that. I’m not even naturally blonde.” I snap at him, exposing one of my greatest insecurities. Something I’ve been programmed to believe I need to appear more appealing as a crowned one, and continue my mother’s legacy. But like my father, my true color is a darker shade of blonde, almost golden brown, with deep blue eyes.
“No.”
NO?
Did he just say no? But before I can say what’s on my mind, he turns away and walks towards the crowd just as my father emerges from outside. “Princess,” My father greets me with open arms, and despite me being an almost twenty-one-year-old woman, I run into his embrace.
