I’d probably kill him if given the chance.
It takes him a solid twenty minutes, but he finally shows up. Larsen enters the common room with a smile on his face, high fiving a couple of dudes who greet him like he’s their long-lost leader.
Such a bunch of shit. That they even look up to this supreme asshole says a lot about them.
He spots me, surprise on his face since I’m sitting in the chair he usually occupies. See, I know what he’s up to. I know how he operates. And I can tell by his grim expression that he doesn’t like me sitting in his chair.
My family owns this place. Technically it’s my mother fuckin’ chair. I can sit wherever the fuck I want.
“Hey, Crew,” Larsen says, stopping directly in front of me.
“Hey.” I indicate the empty chair across from me. “Have a seat.”
He reluctantly sits down on the edge of the chair, looking ready to bolt at any second. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much. How are you?” I could give a shit how he’s doing, but I’m not going to be an idiot and attack him at first sight.
I need a quiet approach. Lull him into thinking everything is fine before I lay down my threat.
“I’m good. Ready for the weekend.”
Damn, he walked right into it.
“Got plans?”
He nods, relaxing slightly. “Headed to the city. Not till the morning though.”
Good to know. I’ve already done a little research. Figured out exactly where this exhibit is happening that Wren is planning on attending.
“What are you doing while you’re there?”
“Staying with the family. They’re having company for dinner, and my mom wanted me there.”
“Oh yeah? Who’s coming over?”
“The Beaumonts.”
“As in Wren Beaumont?”
He nods. Grins. “Hoping to spend a little one on one time with her, you know? She’s the ungettable girl.”
Is that even a word? Ungettable? “You really think she’ll go for a disgusting pervert like you?”
His grin fades, replaced by a scowl. “What the fuck, Lancaster?”
I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I glare him. “You’re a scum sucking piece of shit who makes videos of girls you fuck. The only reason you fuck them is for the videos, so you can share them. Make money off them. You don’t give a shit about the fact that those girls are devastated by what you do. Some of them have even left school over it. They never come back. And you keep doing it because not a one of them tell anyone what’s going on. They’re too embarrassed. They believe their lives are over. I’m surprised you haven’t received a therapy bill from one of them yet.”
“I bet you’ve watched a few of those videos,” Larsen says, his expression surly. I’m sure it never feels good to have your dirty shit explained to you.
“One.” It’s the truth. “I watched one, and I was immediately disgusted and stopped.”
“So high and mighty,” he spits out. “You think you’re the lord of the manor around here, and it fucking sucks. Not all of us have to do your biding, dickwad. If you have such a problem with me, tell on me. I mother fuckin’ dare you.”
“I have no proof. And I’m not about to put a bunch of girls, who don’t want to talk about it, in the spotlight.” I hesitate for only a second. “Is that your plan for Wren? You want to make a fun little video of her? Maybe of her sucking your pencil dick? Or of you fucking her from behind, so we can’t quite make out her face?”
That’s one of his tricks. He never actually shows their faces. Not all the way. But we can figure out who it is. Every time.
“You’re just jealous,” Larsen snaps. “You want her too. Don’t think we haven’t noticed you following Wren around lately. Hell, you’ve been watching her walk into the building every morning for the past two fucking years, staring at her like some sort of stalker. It’s not my fault you’ve waited too long and now you’ve missed your chance.”
“You actually believe you have a chance with her?” My voice is flat.
“A better one than you do, you stupid fuck. At least I have Mommy and Daddy’s approval. And that’s the hardest thing to get when it comes to the Beaumonts. Her daddy keeps her locked up tight. Not quite sure why. Maybe she secretly has a bad reputation? Baby prostitute at thirteen? I wouldn’t doubt it. Look at her, with those giant tits and dick-sucking lips.”
I’m on him in seconds, pulling him out of his chair. Grabbing hold of his tie so fucking tight he makes a choking sound, his eyes practically bulging out of his head when I thrust my face in his. “Shut the fuck up.”
Larsen exhales raggedly, smiling despite the fact that I’m about to choke the shit out of him. “Or what? You going to beat my ass? Bring it, Lancaster. You don’t scare me. Besides, you’ll get kicked outta here so fast your head will spin.”
His grin is back, and I want to slap it off his smug-ass face.
“Touch a hair on her head and I’ll tell everyone about your recordings. I’ll expose your ass for everything you’ve done the past two years. Forget the girls and protecting their privacy. In the end, they’ll probably thank me when it comes out and I expose what a piece of shit you are.”
Larsen’s eyes fill with a mixture of anger and fear. “What’s the big deal, huh? Why do you care whether I fuck her or not?”
“First, she’d never let your sleazy ass touch her. Next, I care because I actually like the girl, which is more than I can say about you.” I go still the second the words leave me, shock coursing through my blood.
I like her.
I do.
What the fuck?
“Crew, come the fuck on. Leave him alone.”
I turn to find Ezra standing there, slowly shaking his head. I ignore him, returning my attention back to Larsen. “Like I said—touch her and I’ll break every bone in your body. Record her doing anything, even smiling at you, and I’ll kill you.” I shove him away from me, and he stumbles into the chair behind him, falling to the ground.
We glare at each other as I stand over him, my hands clenched into fists. I’m fucking panting, I’m so pissed.
I hate this fucker. So damn much.
Turning away, I leave the common room, Ezra hot on my heels.
“What the hell, dude? Why you fucking with Larsen? We always would leave him alone, you know.”
Because we were a bunch of idiots who thought we were doing the right thing by protecting one of our own.
Well fuck that.
“He’s a piece of shit.” I wipe the back of my hand across my mouth. “He deserves to be called out.”
“Why? What’s the big deal now?”
I turn on my friend. “He’s having dinner with the Beaumonts tomorrow night.”
Realization dawns across Ezra’s face. “And what? You think he’s going to get with Wren? Give me a break. She’s too scared to even look at him.”
“I saw them talking in the hall earlier. I think she trusts that asshole.”
“She shouldn’t. Doesn’t she know?”
“Probably not.” She didn’t. I don’t know if she believed what I told her, either.
My mind won’t stop imagining her with Larsen. Laughing with him as he slowly but surely earns her trust. Honing in on that needy side of her, the one she doesn’t really show anyone. She wants attention. She’s starved for it. And he’ll give it to her. He might even try to drug her.
Next thing she knows, she’s getting fucked by that asshole. And I can see it. I can see it all in my head, and there’s no way I can let that happen.
I can’t.
I won’t.
FOURTEEN
WREN
“I’m so sorry, Pumpkin, but I won’t be able to make it tomorrow for the exhibit.”
“Wait, what? Are you serious?” I clutch the phone closer to my ear, my fingers cramping, I’m holding it so tightly. “I only came home so we could go together.”
“I know, and I wish I had a different answer for you, but something else came up,” my father says.
I flop onto the blue velvet couch in the living room, hating how hard it is. How stiff. Like everything else in this cold, sterile apartment my parents live in. “What suddenly came up?”