Page 158 of Their Cruel Play
I finish and head out to the sinks to wash my hands. Like Kenz said, I don’t have to fall in love with the horsemen. It seems like a stretch of a joke to make me apply to all the same colleges if they’re just going to dump me.
Maybe that’s how they treated girls before me...
But why am I special? What makes me think they want more? Just because I gave them all my firsts? I don’t know what to think.
If they try to play me like that, my mom would make their lives hell.
I smile at that thought. I catch sight of one of the hickeys Caden left on my neck. Luke stroked his finger over it in the shower. If they’re just playing with me, they should all become actors. Because if this is a lie, I’m falling for it.
Sighing, I head back out. Caden and Nico stand across the hall talking. Caden’s eyes light up when he sees me, and he walks my way.
He tips my chin up and as he searches my eyes, I search his for the deception, for the lie. He lowers his mouth to mine and kisses me softly.
“We won’t do anything with his sister. You know that, right, little nympho?” Caden strokes his thumb beside my lips. “I was just pushing Tanner’s buttons, looking for the hot spots.”
I force a smile and nod. Caden doesn’t look convinced, but my mind can’t stop spinning around what those girls said in the bathroom. I want to corner Rebecca Forester and ask her what they did to her. Were they like this with her? Did they make her open up her heart and then shove it back in her face?
Caden’s eyes narrow on me, but he wraps his arm around my shoulders and leads me to the cafeteria. The noise level increases as we grow closer. Still not my favorite place in the school, but what am I going to do?
We walk into the room, and my back stiffens. The Cheermonsters are at the table that’s usually empty next to ours. Zach Gray and some other basketball players sit with them. They seem to be having the time of their lives.
Maybe they’ll leave us alone and focus on their group. Wishful thinking, but I’m still cramping, and that conversation I overheard still spins in my head. Somehow I can block out Tanner, but not those girls. They didn’t even know I was in there.
Luke, Eli, and Jack talk casually at the table as we approach. Eli holds his hand out to me. I glance at Caden. His hand slips down my back and guides me toward Eli.
Okay, I guess I’m sitting with Eli today. I take Eli’s hand and he draws me down to sit between his legs.
“How are you today, kitten?” he murmurs into my hair.
I lean back into his warmth. “I’m fine.”
“Didn’t Caden treat you right?” He gently massages my hip.
Caden grins. “The only sleep she got was with Luke this morning.”
I meet Caden’s eyes. “Luke’s much better at sleeping than you are.”
“Careful, princess. I know where you sleep, and I know how deeply you sleep.” Luke smirks.
My insides flare with heat. I’ve woken with him fucking me a couple times now. I’m not objecting to it though. He swipes afinger through the whipped cream on his Jell-o and sucks it off his finger.
I press my thighs together at the growing ache there. The one place I do not need to be turned on is the cafeteria. I look down at my hands and then glance toward the other table.
Sidney laughs with her hand on Zach’s. Her other hand disappears under the table. Emma is between two guys that stare at her mouth while she talks. Hannah is on the lap of one of the bigger guys.
Ashley seems to be paying attention to the guy talking to her, but her focus is on Eli. Her hand is clenched in a fist around her can of soda. Eli drags his fingers up my arm, and a little involuntary shiver goes through me.
His lips caress my ear as he whispers, “She needs to know I belong to you now.”
I turn to meet his dark eyes, and he captures my lips with his. All those doubts fly out of my mind. How can this not be real? How can he make me feel this way if it’s all a lie?
He grabs the back of my neck. When he lifts his mouth from mine, I gasp in a breath.
“I was disappointed about missing my night with you this week.” He rubs his nose against mine.
“Poor timing.” My voice is low and I want to lean back in and claim his mouth again.
“One thing you need to learn about your horsemen, kitten.” His eyes hold mine and I want to lose myself in their depths.
