Savage Rose: A High School Bully Romance (Rosehaven Academy Book 1) Read online

  My. Palms. Sweat. Everyone’s watching to see how I’ll react to his daunting brand of attention. Or am I imagining that? One swift look around tells me I’m not. They’re totally all watching—and delighting in—my discomfort.

  I don’t know what happened to the guy who stopped in the middle of his run to ask if I needed help. Or even the guy who tracked me down the next day to apologize and find out who I was. But this person is neither of those guys. This one’s stare is ice-cold and calculating.

  Menacing.

  Savage.

  And his friends aren’t much better. The shorter one, who I remember is named Beau, looks smugly at me. Looks like I’ll be sharing a table with him. The tight end is on my other side, across the aisle, and he has such a manspread going on, I have to step over his foot to get to my seat.

  All I’d wanted when I came here was to have a fresh start. Away from the people at my old school, the ones who knew my mother and felt sorry for the newly coined orphan. Away from the hospital Mom had been sick in and the home she’d passed away in.

  Is it really too much to ask that my new beginning wouldn’t be jeopardized by some jerk who has flipped his shit for some unknown reason? Why me?

  I put my bag down on the floor next to my seat, then pull out a notebook and a pen.

  A low whistle sounds from somewhere behind me. “Who the hell takes notes on the first day of class?”

  “Totally a Thorn thing to do.” Everyone around us laughs. Fingers of dread creep up my spine. I glance over my shoulder. Yep. It’s him, staring at me like a psycho. I wonder if I can ask the teacher to move my seat.

  Thankfully, Mrs. Harden walks in and calls us to attention. She talks so much that the dickheads don’t have a chance to say or do much else for the rest of the class.

  Throughout the entire period, the disturbing feeling of Xander’s eyes boring into my back never stops.

  Chapter 5

  After my second class, which, thank goodness, was not full of obnoxious football players, I stop by my locker. It turns into a huge ordeal just to open it—it’s a complete bitch to unlock. Once I finally manage to break into it, I pull out the books I won’t need today and place them on the top shelf, then squat down to cram my bag inside. With that accomplished, I stand and look around and realize the hall has pretty much cleared. I’d told Max to go on ahead because I wanted to get my locker situated. Taking a deep breath, I head in what I hope is the direction of the cafeteria. Up ahead of me is one last large group of students, all ambling slowly down the hall. I assume they are going to lunch, too, so I follow.

  One awesome thing about a private academy is that the school makes its own schedule; it’s not bound in any way by what the state school system does. So, while the poor kids over at River Rock High have a measly twenty-five minutes for lunch, we have a full hour. We’re even allowed to leave campus if we want to, which would never have been allowed at my old school. In that sense, things are looking up.

  It’s all good until I hit the lunchroom. Holy shit, this place is huge. I have no idea where my new friends are. Jeez, I don’t even know if they are really my friends or if they were just decent enough to help the wretched new girl because I’d looked like a deer in headlights back in the office this morning.

  Scanning the huge crowd, I notice a table dead center in the cafeteria where the whole group of football players I’d been in class with earlier are sitting alongside the girls Daphne pointed out as cheerleaders. Everyone else watches them, like they’re something special. In reality, they’re loud and boisterous, joking and having a good time, not giving two shits that they’re being studied like they’re in a fishbowl.

  Micah and Beau each have a girl sitting on one of their muscular thighs. Aria sits next to Xander, her arm wound through one of his, almost as if she’s hanging on, and her head rests on his shoulder. Every once in a while, she flicks her long, blonde hair over her shoulder and looks up adoringly at something he says. Hurl.

  I shake my head and get into the lunch line. My eyes get big when I see all the choices. A nice-looking guy slides his tray along the counter behind mine. “Too many choices, right?”

  “Yeah, you can say that again. It all looks like it’s straight out of a gourmet restaurant, too.” I shoot him an awkward smile, then scan my card and head out into the virtual sea of black-and-red uniforms.

  This is the worst. I knew it would be like this on day one, but I guess I was holding out hope after Max and Daphne latched onto me this morning that maybe I wouldn’t have to go through this.

  Tucking my lip between my teeth, I command my feet to move. My heart rate picks up as I scan the room for an empty table. I would much prefer to sit alone than impose myself on people I don’t know.

  I’m about to give up and head outside to the gardens to eat in peace when movement from the side of the room catches my attention. Daphne and Max wave, and my shoulders droop in relief.

  I cautiously make my way in their direction, winding through the tables. Unfortunately for me, the only way to get to Daphne and Max is to walk right past the football team and their adoring fans.

  As I walk past, Xander looks me up and down. “Fucking scholarship students. Am I right?” The entire goddamn table of football players and cheerleaders bust out laughing.

  What. The. Fuck?

  I avert my eyes, my face flaming red.

  “Check it out. Her face just turned as red as her hair.”

  I don’t even know which asshole said that, but I pick up speed to get away from them.

  Daphne grits her teeth when I get to the lunch table she and Max have claimed. “This is not good.”

  I set my tray down and flop down into the seat. I scoff, “You think?”

  Max shakes his head, looking over my shoulder at something going on behind me. “Xander’s still watching you. He’s like, weirdly fixated on you or something.”

  “Awesome.” I pick up my fork and dig into the lasagna I’d selected.

  “You’ve got to tell us. You knew his name, but just how well do you know him? Did you date him over the summer or something? He’s giving off jackass ex-boyfriend vibes, you know?” Daphne is so absorbed in my current drama she hasn’t touched a bit of her food yet.

  This drama is something I want no part of; I already have plenty. I prop my elbow on the table and lean my head against my hand, eyes focused on the food on my plate.

  I’ve lost my appetite.

  Daphne and Max wait patiently for any sort of a response. I set my fork down and look up at them. “I just met him last week while I was out running.” I shrug. “I got a stitch in my side and stopped to catch my breath. He came up on me and asked if I was okay and walked with me for a while. The next day, I got the impression that he’d been looking for me.”

  The confusion clearly visible on both of the faces in front of me matches my own.

  Max puts a forkful of pasta into his mouth, chewing carefully while watching the other table. “Weird. Because the kind of animosity he’s aiming in your direction is lethal to your start here. No one wants to put themselves on that kind of radar.”

  Daphne elbows him. “Except us. He can be a dickhead all he wants. I don’t care. It’s high school, not the real world. Just wait until we graduate.”

  I wince. “Well, don’t do anything you don’t want to on my account. I’ll be fine. I just want to know why everyone thinks he’s so freaking special.”

  Max chortles. “Well, to start with, he’s hotter than sin.” When he’s done fanning himself, he continues. “Xander’s dad is Joseph Grey, so that automatically makes him important.”

  I blink. “I don’t know who that is.”

  Daphne picks up her water bottle and takes a quick sip as she sends a pointed side-eye in Max’s direction, and I’m struck with the impression she’s trying to relay some bit of information to him telepathically. “Grey Technologies? He’s the CEO. They’re loaded. Not to mention, like we told you this morning, the Grey family has
been royalty around here since the school was built.”

  My forehead creases in a mixture of frustration and disbelief. “All the money in the world means nothing if you’re a dick. I just don’t get why he would be super nice and then boom! He just turns around and acts like a total jerk.”

  Max grimaces. “I’ve been in school with Xander since we were little. He’s always been a bit standoffish, a little different. I gave up trying to figure him out a long time ago. I think his parents’ divorce when he was younger fucked with his head.”

  Daphne looks over my shoulder at the all-important table again. “Beau and Micah are a little more personable, but the three of them have been tight forever. Aria, too. They were in diapers together. Their parents are good friends.” Taking note of the screwed-up expression on my face, she lifts one shoulder, then drops it. “I get it. It’s a lot of weird bullshit to take in at once.”

  A shout and a hoot of laughter has me turning to see what’s happening behind me. I’m not sure if it was a wise strategy to turn my back on that crew, but if I’m being honest with myself, I know my eyes would have been drawn back to Xander over and over again if I’d taken a seat facing his table. There’s something about his icy gaze that has me mesmerized when it definitely shouldn’t.

  As we watch, I’m rather disappointed in myself to find I’m just as enthralled by their antics as everyone else in the room. Beau slaps the ass of the cheerleader on his lap and she yelps. The whole table is rolling with laughter about something.

  I’m annoyed that I kind of want to know what’s so funny.

  My gaze lands on Xander, and he shakes his head at his buddies. Aria tugs on his arm, and he leans his head down to hers so she can whisper in his ear. Whatever she says has all traces of amusement leaving his face. He looks up and locks eyes with me. The stare is steady as hell, but I can’t read him.

  Fuck. I quickly turn back around. Just what I didn’t want to do—attract his attention.

  Daphne blinks a few times. “I’ve never seen him so fixated on someone like this before. Interesting.” She puts a forkful of salad in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

  Max mumbles around a bite of pudding. “Me neither.”

  I blow out a breath. “So, he and Aria are together?”

  “It’s hard to tell what they are to each other, but they’re always together at big events like dances or charity stuff with their parents. If you watch, Xander isn’t really into the PDA. And Aria totally hates that he doesn’t want it.” He snorts and nods at Xander’s buddies, who have their hands all over the girls on their laps. “Unlike the other two. I’m surprised Aria’s never tried to date Micah or Beau instead. Of course, they tend to use girls and toss them away like used tissues, so …”

  I frown as I sneak a glance back over my shoulder. “I swear those girls are playing musical football player laps. Am I crazy?”

  Max gives a swift jerk with his head. “Nope, not crazy. So, Beau and Micah, uh, from what I hear, they share.”

  “They share? Like, share?” My eyes go wide and I swallow. I’m no prude, but is he implying that they—

  Daphne almost spits out her water, and Max cracks up. “No, not threesomes—at least I don’t think so. I mean they just don’t seem to care which girl they are with.” He shrugs. “Not so long as their dicks stay wet.”

  Daphne’s hand covers her mouth, looking at Max with horrified eyes and slapping at his arm before finally looking at me. “Sorry. He has no filter, but it’s part of what I love about him.” She rests her head against his shoulder.

  “Noted.” I wink at them.

  “But anyway, yeah, they pretty much have their choice of pussy.”

  This time, I actually do spit my water. I hurriedly wipe my face with a napkin. “Thanks for that, Max.”

  “Anytime, Cupcake. Anytime. Welcome to Rosehaven.”

  Chapter 6

  In the middle of my final class of the day—Physics—I realize there is no way I’m going to make it the whole way through. I was too stressed to eat my lunch, but hunger pains had me guzzling my water bottle last period and there’s no way I can hold it until class is over. I hate that I’m about to call attention to myself, especially since Xander is in this class with me, but I don’t see how I have a choice.

  Speaking of the star wide receiver, just when I thought I was in the clear, he’d sauntered in late, dashing my hopes that I was free from him for another class. My only saving grace is that he’d had to sit all the way across the room from me. I thanked my lucky stars because I could not have handled having him sit anywhere near me in yet another class.

  I raise my hand.

  “Yes, um, Scarlett, is it?”

  From across the room, there’s a cough. “Red.”

  I glance in that direction and roll my eyes before returning my attention to the teacher. “May I use the restroom, please?”

  The teacher, Mr. Roudebush, pushes his glasses up on his nose. “Oh, uh, of course. But hurry back. We’re going to be selecting lab partners and whoever you get paired with is who you’ll be with the rest of the year.”

  “Yes sir. Thank you. I’ll be quick.”

  I slip down the hall to the girls’ bathroom, and finding it empty, I choose a stall, do my business, then come out to wash my hands. After a quick glance in the mirror, I tuck a few stray strands of hair behind my ears. The girl in the uniform staring back hardly seems like me. I’m beginning to question my sanity in doing this to myself. River Rock probably would have been the easier choice. But in the end, I wanted to be where Mom went, so I’ll deal with whatever I have to, I suppose—even if it comes in the form of a wickedly hot football player with a bad attitude. I sigh and give my reflection a little shrug. I’d better get back to class; I don’t want to get paired with the class slacker or worse, be the odd woman out and have to work alone for labs all year.

  With my head down, I push through the door and ram directly into a solid object, causing all the air to whoosh out of my lungs. The warm body I’ve collided with is hard and most definitely male.

  Two big hands grasp my upper arms, steadying me. The scent of an expensive cologne wafts from his body, carrying notes of citrus and spice. It’s delicious. And I’m still standing way too close for comfort. I gasp and stutter out, “S-sorry.”

  When I look up into dark eyes, I realize this could not have gone more wrong. Cruel lips curl into a crueler smile, taunting me.

  Xander.

  He sets me a half step away from him, squeezing briefly before he lets go of my arms. My throat goes dry and my lips part, unsure of what to say. Do I even have to say anything? What’s he doing outside the girls’ bathroom, anyway?

  My brain seems to have disconnected upon impact, and it’s taking some time to reset. Without realizing I’m doing it, my eyes roam over him. His tie is hanging loosened around his neck, his shirt partially unbuttoned. The sleeves are rolled up, showing off well-muscled forearms. As much as I haven’t appreciated his whole entitled I rule the school vibe today, I can’t deny that I see what everyone else does. He’s handsome as the devil and, if I’m not mistaken, possibly just as brutal.

  “Are you lost, Red?” The sound of his deep voice makes a sharp zing travel down my spine straight to my core.

  Annoyed, I huff, “It’s Scarlett.”

  “Right.” He smirks as he looks me over in my uniform, a slow once-over, head to toe. I can feel his gaze like a physical current of energy crackling over my skin as it touches every single inch of my body.

  Oh, God. What is he looking at? “Am I wearing it wrong or something?”

  “Nope. You’re just right.” He reaches out, dipping his strong hand inside my blazer to grip my hip. His fingers flex, pressing into my skin through the material of my skirt. He makes a low growl somewhere in the back of his throat.

  I blink up at him, completely taken aback. Shaken. “You know, I thought you were nice when I met you. But today—” My voice trembles, and it pisses me off.


  “You thought wrong.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  His full lips curve into a haunting smile. “You should drop out now. Go back to where you came from.”

  My mind reels. “What? I have a right to be here just as much as you do.” Drop out? What is wrong with him? He’s fucked in the head.

  He chuckles, the sound scraping up his throat like he’s swallowed nails. “You can’t seriously think that, Red.”

  My back straightens. “Stop calling me that.” I’m tempted to tell the asshole that my mom attended here, so in a way, I do belong, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing anything else about me. And if I talk about her, I could very well break down, and I won’t let him see me cry.

  Not again.

  His hand drops its hold on me, and he walks away, back to class. You know, the class I’ve got to return to, just like he does.

  Unfortunately, I’m stuck following right behind him. I put my hand gingerly to my hip where he’d held onto me, his heat penetrating right through my skirt. What the ever-loving fuck was that all about?

  Mr. Roudebush looks up when I come back into the room. “Oh, good, you’re back Scarlett. You’ll be partnered with Xander Grey for labs this year.”

  “What? No—I mean—” I pause, aware I have no choice. “Okay.” My palms dampen as I glance over to where Xander is casually sprawled back in his seat watching my internal struggle as it plays out on my face.

  He tosses me a teasing grin and a wink. He’s laughing at me. He knows I’m freaking out on the inside. I don’t know whether to slap him or combust right where I’m standing.

  “Please rearrange your seating when you come in next class period so you share a table with your partner.” Mr. Roudebush’s demand hits me square in the chest. Share a table with Xander?

  Fuck. My. Life.