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The four of them circled me like vultures, their laughter mocking.
“We’re just wondering when your self respect is going to kick in,” Ashley said snidely. Her blonde curls were especially volumetric today.
I sighed, shaking my head. They were never going to move on, not while Sebastian, Carter, Jack, and Greyson were paying me attention.
“We all laugh about it, ya know. How you pant after them. I really wish you would get some self respect.” Sasha twirled some of her hair around her finger.
“I’ll work on that,” I muttered, rolling my eyes and turning to leave.
“They just feel sorry for you, you know that, right?” Tiffany said, hitting me right in my sore spot.
I’d been wondering since that first day why the guys seemed to want to be around me. It didn’t make sense. I was no one, and they….they were everything.
“Ahh, but you know that already, don’t you?That you’re their charity project?”
My hands were trembling at my sides, and I was trying to hold in my tears as I slowly turned back towards them.
“Anything else?” I said, hoping my voice sounded more indifferent to them than it did to my ears.
“What’s going on, baby?” Carter’s voice said from behind me, a pair of strong arms wrapping around my waist.
The girls’ eyes widened as they stared at him. Carter leaned over and nestled his chin on top of my head.
And I immediately felt safe.
Sheltered…
Wanted.
“The four of you wouldn’t be giving my girl a hard time, would you?” Carter asked cooly. I could feel the rigidness in his body though—he wasn’t happy.
Sasha’s face had twisted from cruel to innocent and wide-eyed. “We’re just saying hi, Carter.” Her voice was breathy…and high pitched, nothing like it had been a few seconds ago. “Isn’t that right, Kennedy?” Sasha pressed, a warning in her gaze to back her up or she would ruin me.
“Sasha, if you think that any of us doesn’t think you’re the slutty witch of the west…you’ve got another thing coming.”
Her mouth dropped. “Carter—”
“You and your friends are trash, Sasha. Absolute trash.”
“That’s not what Jack thought this past summer!” she spat.
Carter laughed cruelly. “You mean when he was black out drunk and a donut hole would have done it for him.”
Tears were gathering in her eyes, but I didn’t feel an inch of sympathy for her. She and her friends spent their days torturing anyone they thought was below them.
“Carter, come on,” Ashley said sweetly.
I couldn’t see Carter’s face, but I could imagine the look he’d just shot her, because she literally flinched.
“The four of you are done. Don’t talk to any of us, don’t look at any of us…don’t show up anywhere you think we can be. I’ll ruin you. All of you,” he said coldly. “And just in case I wasn’t clear…’us’ includes Kennedy.”
Carter’s protective embrace tightened for a second, and then, he released me briefly, his hands sliding down to my waist.
With a quick and fluid motion, Carter dipped me backward, his strong arms supporting my lower back, his lips crashing against mine in a searing kiss that short-circuited my brain.
Our mouths melded together, and my senses were overwhelmed by the taste of his lips, the warmth of his body pressed against mine…of him.
When he released me…the girls were gone.
