Rich Kid Prep: Book 1 Page 5

  Is this seriously happening? Are two boys fighting over me?

  No, no way. This isn’t about me. I may be a common thread in why they’re fighting right now, but something tells me that this fight goes back a long way.

  Logan smirks. “I’ll only stay away if she asks me to.”

  They both look at me and I look between them, not knowing what to say.

  “Are we still on for tonight?” Logan asks.

  “I—uh…” I swallow hard, looking at Dastian’s cold eyes, then at Logan. “Uh, sure?”

  He grins, then saunters off. I stand there, feeling very confused about what just happened. I turn to Dastian, not knowing what to expect, but he is glaring at me.

  “I didn’t think you were that kind of girl, but I guess I was wrong.”

  He doesn’t wait for a response before he turns and storms off.

  I have no idea what just happened, but I don’t think it was a good thing.

  I’m in way over my head.

  Chapter Four

  The definition of trouble.

  I’m anxious about hanging out tonight. After what happened earlier, with Dastian and Logan, I can’t help but wonder if this is going to be a thing now. Are they always going to act like that around me?

  Lily meets me at my dorm room after curfew. Her room is on the third floor, so it’s easier to sneak out of my room.

  There is a tentative knock on my door about five minutes after eleven. I open it, grinning as I see a red cheeked Lily on the other side.

  Lily is so shy, but I like that about her. She’s not like the other kids here. I feel like she may be the only student at this school I can relate to.

  Lily has on an oversized t-shirt that has some kind of comic book character on it. Her black hair frames around her face, almost like she’s trying to hide behind her strands.

  “Come in.” I open the door wider for her, welcoming her to my room.

  Her eyes get big when she walks inside, looking around. “Wow. You hit the dorm room jackpot. My room isn’t even a quarter this size, and I have to share it.”

  I wasn’t expecting special privileges when I came here, but maybe it was naive of me. My life is different now. This is something I’m going to have to get used to.

  My phone vibrates, so I unlock it.

  LOGAN: Be outside your dorm in about three minutes.

  I hold up my phone toward Lily. “Logan is on his way.”

  She nods. “So... you and Logan?”

  I shrug, not knowing what to say to that. A lot of people have been asking me about Logan and I just don’t have an answer for them. I don’t really know Logan yet.

  “I don’t want to be mean or anything, but you should know, Logan isn’t the kind of guy who really commits girls.” Lily looks down at her shoes. “He, uh, dates a lot, but he always dumps them after a week or two, when he gets bored.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I promise her.

  And I will.

  Logan makes me nervous, simply because so many have warned me away from him. There has to be some merit to what they’re saying, right?

  “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” She offers me a smile.

  Lily is so sweet. I feel like I can trust what she’s saying. Whenever Dastian told me I should stay away from Logan, I felt like it was because of something personal. But Lily is just telling me to be nice.

  Tonight, I will find a way to ditch him. I can’t hang out with him. I will rid myself of my silly crush and focus on making friends here instead.

  Logan helps me from my window again, and then he helps Lily. Lily’s cheeks are bright red when he grabs her waist to help hoist her down. I’m glad when Logan doesn’t comment on it. The last thing I want to do is embarrass her.

  “You look gorgeous,” Logan says to me as we make our way down the path.

  He doesn’t seem to mind flirting right in front of Lily.

  “Uh, thanks.” I chew on my lip, wondering what to say next. I’ve never been good at these kinds of things and now that I’ve decided to keep my distance from Logan, I kind of feel awkward.

  Logan paces beside me, his arm rubbing against mine every now and then. Lily walks a little behind us. I glance over my shoulder every now and then to make sure she’s still there. She seems really uncomfortable, not that I can blame her after what she told me about Logan.

  The entire way there, I try to think of a nice way to ditch Logan. I kind of feel bad for wanting to ditch him, it’s just I can’t ignore the warning anymore. It’s not just Missy and Dastian anymore, but Lily too. With Dastian and Missy, I could convince myself it was a rivalry between Dastian and Logan that had them talking like that. But with Lily, I don’t think it’s personal like that. It’s just her looking out for me and being a good friend.

  As soon as we get to the clearing, it’s a completely moot point because Logan is called away by one of his friends and I’m left standing there with Lily. I’m so relieved.

  “I was trying to think of a nice way to ditch him,” I admit to Lily as soon as he’s out of earshot. “I’m not good at this whole boys thing.”

  She giggles. “That was so awkward.”

  “Right?” I chew on the side of my lip, looking off toward where Logan went. He’s talking to a boy I haven’t got to meet yet, but as he’s talking to him, a girl walks up. She rubs her hand across his back and he smirks at her.

  Logan is a big flirt. I can see that now.

  “Hens, what up?” Blaine saunters over toward me.

  “Hey.” I grin, waving at my new friend.

  My smile falls a little when I see Dastian walking beside him, but I quickly recover. My heart races a little faster at the sight of Dastian’s crooked grin, but I try to ignore it.

  He has a girlfriend. A beautiful girlfriend who is really nice. I think Missy and I could actually become good friends. I’m not going to screw that up by having a crush on her boyfriend.

  “Do you know Lily?” I ask Blaine, motioning an arm toward my friend who is currently hiding halfway behind me.

  Blaine nods at her. “Yeah, everybody knows Lily.”

  “Lily, this is Blaine and Dastian.” I wave a hand at the two boys.

  Lily’s cheeks are bright red and she keeps her head down. “Hello.”

  “You never come hangout. This is a treat.” Blaine slips his arm around Lily’s shoulders and leads her off.

  I look at Dastian, raising an eyebrow. “Should I rescue her?”

  He smirks. “Nah, Blaine just wants to have a little fun.”

  “He won’t... be mean to her, right?” I ask, just to make sure.

  “Blaine is never mean.”

  I figured, but I wanted to be safe.

  I don’t know people in this school well enough to trust them yet. I do know that I like Blaine a lot. He’s a really nice guy. But I also thought Logan was nice and everybody is warning me away from him, so maybe I’m not the best judge of character.

  “Where is Logan?” Dastian asks.

  I shrug. “Probably off with some other girl.”

  I expect him to laugh, but he doesn’t. He just looks at me with an intensity that I can’t quite read.

  “I’m sorry,” he says.

  “I wasn’t into Logan like that anyway,” I assure him. “I just wanted friends and Logan is a pretty friendly guy.”

  He chuckles. “I can’t argue that. He is friendly, especially to beautiful girls.”

  My cheeks grow warm. “I wish you wouldn’t call me beautiful.”

  “Why?” He takes a step closer to me, invading my personal space. “Are you scared of me, Hensley Lockwood?”

  It’s weird to hear the name Hensley Lockwood on his lips.

  I clear my throat, taking a step back. “My mom named me after my dad. She always told me she did. But I thought he was dead. I didn’t realize that my mom was still in love with a guy who was married to another woman.”

  Dastian’s eyes study me carefully, and I wish I knew what
he was thinking.

  “You really didn’t know?” he asks.

  I shake my head. “And I never really asked. My mom always got super upset when I’d bring up my birth father, so I stopped asking questions.”

  “That must’ve been hard.”

  I shrug, not wanting to talk about my mom anymore. My chest hurts too bad when I do. “I don’t really know Henry though. I spent one night at his house before he sent me here.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get the chance to know him eventually,” Dastian says.

  His words aren’t really that comforting.

  I’m nervous about getting to know Henry. I’ve heard so much about my birth father growing up. My mom always described him as kind and soft—words that I wouldn’t use to describe Henry Lockwood. Then again, maybe I do need to get just to know him. Maybe he is nice under his hard exterior.

  I want to ask Dastian about Ellis, but Blaine was pretty adamant about not asking questions about him to Dastian.

  “Do you miss your mom terribly?”

  Tears press against the back of my eyes. I nod, not feeling comfortable answering out loud. If I did, I’m sure my voice would break. The last thing I want to do is start crying in the middle of a party.

  Dastian puts his hand on the small of my back. The move is so unexpected that I flinch. He doesn’t seem affected as he leads me away from people. For a moment, I wonder if I should go off with him. I’m trying to avoid Dastian, not spend time alone with him. But when he’s got his hand softly touching me, it’s hard to remember the reasons I should stay away from him.

  Well, reason.

  Missy.

  He’s got a girlfriend.

  A really, really nice girlfriend.

  “I like Missy,” I tell Dastian, needing to bring up his girlfriend.

  He blows out a long breath. “Yeah, she’s nice.”

  “And pretty,” I add.

  He chuckles. “Yeah, that too.”

  We don’t stop until we’re a ways from the clearing. There is still light peeking through the trees. He leads me toward a large bolder, motioning for me to sit down. When I do, he sits down right beside me, way closer than I’m comfortable with. His thigh is against mine, and he slips his arm around my back.

  “Do I make you uncomfortable?” Dastian asks.

  My entire body is stiff. “Uh, no.”

  He laughs. “I think I do.”

  I clear my throat. “Nope.”

  Racking my brain, I try to figure out what we were talking about before.

  Oh, right.

  Missy.

  The thought of his girlfriend feels like a rock in my stomach.

  “Speaking of Missy, where is she?” I ask.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Missy and I aren’t really like that.”

  “Like what?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

  “We’ve dated off and on since we were thirteen,” he explains. “We don’t feel the need to keep track of one another all the time.”

  “Wow.” My eyes widen. “Thirteen? That’s so young.”

  “It was expected. Our families are close.”

  I try to imagine having a relationship that young, but I can’t. At thirteen, I’m pretty sure I was still obsessed over my favorite boy band at the time. Boys in my school were gross to me because they were all far too immature.

  I clear my throat. “Uh, what is it like?”

  “What is what like?” he asks.

  “Being in love so young,” I clarify.

  He rubs a hand at the back of his neck. “To be honest, I’m not sure. Maybe part of me loves Missy, but I’m not in love with her.”

  My eyes widen at his confession. “Then why are you with her?”

  “I don’t know,” he answers after a moment of hesitation.

  I believe his answer, that he really doesn’t know why he’s dating Missy. But hearing all this is really, really bad for my crush.

  He surprises me when he continues talking. “I think I was with her because I thought she’d be it, you know? I didn’t realize there was more than just a good friendship kind of connection. My parents are like that... just best friends. They don’t even kiss anymore and they haven’t for years.”

  “That’s incredibly sad.” I frown.

  “But maybe I was wrong.” His brown eyes lock onto mine. “Maybe there is more than just friendship.”

  He’s not talking about me.

  Absolutely not.

  Because my heart can’t handle that.

  I can’t keep obsessing over a guy who has a girlfriend, even if he’s not in love with his girlfriend.

  “But Missy is gorgeous.” I chew on the side of my lip.

  He glances down at my lips. “You said that already.”

  I did say that.

  To remind me.

  And, apparently, to remind him.

  “Well, she is.”

  His lips turn up in one corner. “So are you. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met in my life.”

  My heart stops.

  Seriously, Dastian, stop saying these kinds of things to me. My heart can’t take it.

  I clear my throat, backing away from Dastian slightly. I need room.

  His grin widens at my movement.

  “So, uh,” I blink, trying to think of a new subject. My mind right away goes to Ellis, but I quickly decide against it. “What’s the deal with Logan?”

  Dastian frowns. “Please tell me you aren’t still carrying a torch for the campus playboy.”

  I roll my eyes. “No. I’m not. I just wonder what’s going on with you two. I’ve been warned about him, but it seemed personal with you.”

  He shrugs. “I’ve just seen how Logan is. I witnessed it firsthand with Missy. She dated him freshman year when we were broken up and he hurt her bad.”

  I frown. “That sucks.”

  “She’s over it now. And I’ve watched him do it to countless other females, including my older sister,” he says.

  “You have an older sister?” I sit up straighter, liking to hear about Dastian’s life outside of Lockwood Academy.

  “Yeah.” His face lights up. “She’s a year older than me and she just started her freshman year at Harvard.”

  “Wow.” Harvard is impressive.

  “She’s really smart. Well, ignoring her lapse in judgment her senior year when she and Logan almost dated.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “I tried to warn her.”

  I’m sure he did.

  “I didn’t really believe you,” I tell him. “I just thought it was personal, you know? Then Lily told me the same thing. I figured it was probably true then.”

  He smirks. “I should be offended that you didn’t believe me, but I don’t blame you. You’re right not to trust anybody here.”

  A thought that scares me terribly.

  “Lily seems nice,” he says.

  I nod. “She is. Though, I figured you’d know that since she’s gone here since freshman year.”

  “She’s a scholarship kid.”

  “So?” I throw my hands up. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Everything,” he answers.

  I lick my lips. “I didn’t think you were the kind of guy who cared about somebody’s bank account.”

  “I don’t.” He leans forward, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

  I suck in a sharp breath.

  “I already knew you were naive. But you have to learn, Vixen.” He leans closer, his voice dropping to an almost whisper. “You’ve entered into a world vastly different than what you’re used to. You need to catch up quickly or you’re going to drown.”

  I swallow hard.

  I’m not sure what is making my heart race faster—his words of warning or the fact that his face is inches away from mine. It would be so easy for him to close the distance between us, and I’m afraid I’d be powerless to stop him.

  “Do I make you nervous?” Dastian’s brown eyes sparkle in a mischievous way
I haven’t seen before.

  I nod, wanting to be honest.

  Dastian Graham makes me incredibly nervous.

  He chuckles. “Don’t be nervous. I like you.”

  He likes me.

  Yeah, that doesn’t help at all. If anything, knowing that makes me more nervous.

  I lick my lips and once again, he looks down at my lips. The smile falls from his face and he looks at me in a way that I recognize. Not because I’ve seen the look before, but because it’s very obvious what he’s thinking right now.

  Long stares at my lips.

  Him leaning into me.

  He wants to kiss me.

  Dastian Graham wants to kiss me.

  The same Dastian who has a girlfriend.

  A girlfriend that he’s not in love with.

  “Hey, Vixen?” He still hasn’t moved back.

  “Yeah?” My voice comes out more breathless than I intended.

  “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  I should back away. I should tell him no. Instead, my body leans further into him.

  My body is a traitor.

  The moment his lips touch mine, I know that I’m in trouble.

  His lips are so soft and warm. They’re so inviting. I never want this moment to end because I know that this is perfection. Dastian Graham is perfection.

  I sigh against his lips, leaning further into him. When I do, he tangles his fingers in my hair with one hand and pulls me closer with the other.

  My heart is racing so fast that I can hear it in my ears. I worry he’ll be able to hear it too, but I have a feeling he knows regardless.

  Dastian knows what he’s doing to me.

  He’s going to ruin me. Not Logan Griffin, but Dastian.

  I pull back slightly, needing to gather my thoughts.

  “Vixen,” he mumbles against my lips.

  Before I can say anything, he kisses me again, harder this time. I don’t think I could stop if I wanted. I am in far too deep with this complicated boy.

  Complicated because...

  Missy.

  The name in my brain brings a halt to everything. Because I am not a cheater.

  I pull away from him forcefully, standing up. I back away from the boulder so I won’t have the urge to sit back down and continue right where we left off.