Page 64 of Web of Lies
I take another bite of the cupcake, moaning again because I can’t help myself. I point to a few papers on the desk and urge Seger to get to work. “Ohhh, now she wants me to work,” he quips, flipping through the pages.
A hand falls on my shoulder, causing my body to stiffen and fall back. I stare up at Oscar, one of Trent’s friends, and blink. “Don’t touch me,” I spit out, peeling his fingers back, “don’t fucking touch me,” I say in a pained voice.
“You think if I brought you something like that, you’d moan for me too?” A disgusting grin spreads across his twisting face.
“The fuck?” Seger asks, dropping his pencil onto the table with a thud.
He drags himself up from the chair, eyes dripping in a fiery rage straight from the depths of hell. I almost expect Lucifer’s wings to burst from his back, along with a twisted tail. His fists clench and unclench at his sides as he stares him down.
Seger never has time to take a step when Zepp comes out of nowhere. Hands on Oscar’s chest, pushing him entirely from me. Oscar’s back collides with a small bookshelf, almost knocking some books over with force. His smile dissolves from his face immediately. Evil morphs Oscar’s face as he points a finger into Zepp’s chest.
“Step back,” Oscar growls in his face. But Zepp doesn’t step back. Instead, he pushes his solid chest into Oscar’s.
Searing pain envelops my shoulder where he touched and held me. Panic flares through my mind. Dirty hands. Gross hands. Unfamiliar touch. My fingernails dig into my flesh, scratching at the flaring burn on my skin. I know the burn doesn’t exist, but the weight of his hand still sits on my shoulder. When Seger hugged me, it felt nice, but Oscar… Oscar flayed me open.
Seger grips my wrist harshly, yanking my nails away from my reddened skin. I swallow hard, closing my eyes. My mind conjures ocean waves crashing against the shore. Like the time we spent on the beach on vacation years ago. One breath in. One breath out.
“Hey,” Seger whispers, his breaths tickling my ear. “You, okay?” his grip loosens on my wrist, but his touch grounds me to the spot. My anxiety evaporates into thin air. The heaviness pushing my shoulders down relaxes in an instant.
“You’ll regret that,” Oscar growls, pointing a finger toward the ceiling. “Fucking regret that. Sticking up for her? Dumbass freak?” His chest heaves, face reddening with every word he spouts through clenched teeth. “Watch your back, West. Both of you.” He takes a step toward the boys.
“Fuck off, Sanchez. You’re ruining my tutoring session.” Seger releases my wrist, waving Oscar on.
“And don’t let me hear you talking to another girl like that, especially her.” Zepp heaves out in the calmest tone I think I’ve ever heard an enraged man say.
Oscar slowly walks away, dragging his feet against the carpet. He throws his head back, laughing wildly. “Whatcha gonna do about it?” he says through a laugh, pointing toward the ceiling again. “Good luck, Westies. They’ll eat that shit up.” He chuckles more before walking out of the library.
My entire body snaps up straight. ‘They’ll eat that shit up.’ Oh no. The cameras, they’re everywhere here, and they saw. Apparently, no one may protect me or defend me? Seems odd.
“Are you okay, Kaycee?” Zepp whispers, sitting down next to me. He swallows hard, looking up at the ceiling and then back at me.
“I could have handled him,” I say with a shrug, staring back down at my half-eaten cupcake.
“Like you handled, Hadley?” he asks, pointing toward my face.
I wince at his words, my brain suddenly remembering the bruises on my face. “Yeah—something like that,” I say, shrugging. I could tell him I started it. But I like to keep my skills up my sleeve and not for show. Having Carter know is bad enough. I can’t let these guys know, either.
“Well fuck them,” Seger says, looking down at his paper. “Fuck all of them. I’m so done playing these stupid fucking games,” he mutters into his papers, continually writing answers down to his extra math problems.
I tilt my head, catching Zepp’s murderous glare towards his brother. He rubs a hand down his face. “What do they have on you two?” I ask, running my eyes between the twins.
Zepp’s entire body stiffens at my questions, eyes bugging out of his ridiculously attractive head. Seger manages not to drop his pencil as he lifts his head in slow motion.
“Not here,” Zepp says, holding out a finger in Seger’s direction.
“Fuck, but how—”
“I said not here,” Zepp snaps again, covering his brother’s mouth, muffling his explicit words.
“Fucking fine,” Seger mumbles out from beneath Zepp’s palm.
They both stand without warning, gathering their things. “Come on,” Seger grumbles, snatching my cupcake off the table.
“I’m not done with that!” I retort, grabbing my things in a hurry, throwing them in my bag, and taking off after them.
“Then hurry, or I’ll eat it.” Seger doesn’t even turn around. He holds the cupcake above his head, dangling it back and forth, taunting me with its deliciousness. Knowing damn well I can’t reach it until he gives it back to me.
“Bastard,” I mutter, making two distinct chuckles erupt in front of me. “Double bastards,” I mutter again, hurrying behind them.
