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Court kept.
Some couples held hands, others visually making out on the property grounds. We passed them all, more waves in our direction for Knight. He wasn’t much of a talker, at least not to me, and we stayed silent all the way up to the castle.
The SUV doors clicked open after stopping, and I unbuckled, watching as Knight came around. He let me out like a gentleman, or a dutiful bounty hunter.
I wasn’t sure which one he was at the present.
After shutting the door, he directed me down a path and to the side door of the structure. He had to press in another code, and when he opened the door this time, he didn’t go first.
He nodded me to go in, and I did, my eyes adjusting from natural light to artificial. Inside was what appeared to be some type of lounge, or a rec center of some sort, with pool tables and old-school arcade games. Nearly all had people around them, boys and all of them, absolutely all of them, stopped the minute they saw me. I mean, mid-point in pool, sticks freezing in hands and everything. They stood slow as Knight guided me through the room without even a stop or a glance, but I felt those eyes. They were on me, not him.
Where are all the girls?
There were none in this room, actual fear in my veins as I flanked close to Knight. Was this part of Royal’s deal?
“…this one will cost you.”
I didn’t like this, on the brink of turning this train right around as boys, who both outnumbered me in actual numbers as well as size and height, stopped everything they were doing. Some rested their hands on pool cues, others stopping their games of chess and conversation. I was foreign to this place, my presence foreign to them clearly; otherwise, they wouldn’t be watching so close.
“It’s about time. Let’s get this done. I have a shit ton to do.”
The appearance of LJ normally might give me a sense of security. I mean, he looked out for me at the community center but here… in this place. Standing from his seat in front of a big-ass television screen, he gave Knight one of those guy handshake and hugs, only bigger than the dude in height. His hair down, LJ panned to me. “She does too. We got to go to work.”
“Work. Work,” Jax teased, also on that couch. He stood, the only one of the guys with a buzzed haircut. “Always gotta work.”
“Well, some of us don’t have daddies and mommies that hand us everything,” LJ said, his eyes narrowing at their Court jester. “My mom needs all the money I bring in to her.”
Shocked at least one of the members of Court and Windsor Prep wasn’t affluent, I kept silent during the exchange, the two jostling each other after. Obviously, their difference of opinion on this issue didn’t mean much in the end.
LJ proved that when he tossed an arm over Jax, who was significantly smaller than him. Don’t get me wrong. Jax was still a tank like the rest of them, but closer in height more to me at five foot six.
“Ready?” LJ asked me, finally acknowledging me. “We’ll get you loaded up, then I’ll relieve Knight and take you to work.”
I frowned. “Loaded up with what?”
The boy said nothing, merely winking at me before punching a fist into Knight. He also didn’t answer me, flanking behind LJ, and Jax looked to follow, but I stood in his way. He was closer in height to me, and though I feared being bowled over by him too, I held my ground.
“What is this place?” I asked, noticing some of the boys around me had returned to their activities, but their observant gazes remained.
Jax grinned. “We’re being rude, aren’t we? Come on. Let me show you around. The guys don’t need me.”
LJ and Knight stood at the door I’d come in at, but when Jax waved them on, they shrugged, leaving the pair of us. I supposed they didn’t need him, and when Jax motioned me to follow him, let’s just say I didn’t drag my feet. Any moment I could get out of this room with all these boys wouldn’t be a moment too soon.
“Welcome to Windsor House,” Jax introduced. Out of the room with all the boys, he’d led us into a hall, expansive walls with old wooden paneling and giant light fixtures that twinkled with bright lights. With the added sun through the skylights, it made the place kind of breathtaking. Jax’s grin widened. “Consider it headquarters for the Court and all our activities. The alumni ‘officially’ use it for meetings and to host charity events and other shit for the city, but that’s only like, once a millennium. The rest of the time, it’s ours and we use it to hang out.”
The place and their organization was actually legit, a real boys’ club, but there were girls and I finally saw them when we traveled through the halls of Windsor House. They didn’t all have boys with them, socializing amongst themselves, but they all did wear necklaces that indicated their “status” here. They were all Court kept, and upon seeing me, some of their eyes widened. I completely noticed that I, amongst all these girls, didn’t wear a necklace, and I assumed that’d been the reason. They let their sights completely linger on me, but one person who didn’t notice was Jax, and catching the eye of a friend, he stopped and greeted him with a handshake. Not knowing what to do, I basically just stood there awkwardly. Especially when Jax left to go talk to the guy and abandoned my ass.
So much for showing me around. Trying to blend in, I studied the room.
“December, right?” A girl with nut-brown hair and twinkling blue eyes joined me with a friend who didn’t appear to want to be a part of this whole gree
ting. Sipping a red drink, the girl stared off to the side when her friend got my attention. I’d seen the girl who’d spoken to me around school. She placed a hand on her chest. “Demi Chandler. I think we have anatomy together…”
“Right.” I nodded at her, hoping Jax would save me soon. Being under the observation of all these girls was no better than the boys. Especially when it came to Demi’s friend. Staring off, her friend appeared to be pretty damn uncomfortable at being forced to be a part of this conversation, and she walked away, completely leaving us.
“Don’t mind Jasmine,” Demi said, frowning. “Her loyalties lie with Mira.”
“Is she okay? Have you heard anything about her?”
