Untouched (Bay Falls High, #1)(48)

He backed away just as Barr and Pres came back into the ditch.

“You two good?” Pres asked.

I turned and looked at Barr.

He was smoking a cigarette, eyes locked on me.

“We’re perfect,” Kip said. “Now tell me again who I’m beating the shit out of tonight?”

“You’re fighting?” I asked, my attention back to Kip.

Oh, this is going to be a problem… going from Barr to Kip to Barr to Kip…

“Of course I am,” Kip said.

“We’re throwing some money at you tonight,” Pres said. “Don’t fuck this up.”

“Not a chance,” Kip said.

“Sure you’re not distracted?” Barr asked, winking at me.

My cheeks burned hot.

“I’m fucking fine,” Kip said.

“Good,” Pres said. “Let’s go arrange the bets. Everyone will be showing up soon.”

Kip started to walk and I grabbed his hand. “Are you serious right now?”

“What? You worried about me, girl?”

I let him go. “No.”

“Liar,” Kip whispered. “Don’t worry, even if I take a few hits to my lips, they’ll still be kissable.”

Kip kissed the air and strutted away.

He and Pres were shoulder to shoulder talking, leaving me alone with Barr.

As he approached, I felt a wave of guilt hit me.

Barr took a deep drag of his cigarette and never blinked once as he stared.

“Barr… I don’t know what you saw…”

Barr touched my chin, running his thumb across my bottom lip. “So much fucking fun, love.”

“What?”

He laughed and turned.

With one last drag, he dropped his cigarette and stepped on it. He put his head back and blew out a cloud of smoke as he left the ditch.

I stood there alone, looking around again.

The place where guys got their faces beat up and their ass kicked.

For fun.

For money.

I laughed because if I didn’t I would have cried.

All I could picture…

… my heart… broken… in pieces… right there in the middle of the ditch…





fifteen





I felt like I had guilty kiss tattooed on my lips. I kept touching them, feeling them tingling, wondering if they were puffy, red or had any hint that would tell Gi and Iris that I had been making out with Kip in the middle of the ditch where two guys were now fighting.

It wasn’t Kip. Yet.

It was a big guy named Cruz and some tall, skinny guy wearing a blue bandana.

“I hope Cruz rips his head off,” Iris said.

“Why?” I asked. “Did you bet on this?”

“No,” she said. “But I know him. Handsy prick from a party I went to.”

“Told you not to go too far south,” Gi said.

“Handsy, huh?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Iris said. “I love how guys think our ass has a giant flashing sign that says SMACK HERE! GRAB HERE! STICK IT HERE!”

“Like you don’t enjoy all of the above,” Gi teased.

“Not from that toothpick looking freak,” Iris said.

“Ouch,” I whispered. “That’s harsh.”

“He’s lucky he got away from me when he did.”

There was a cheer and I looked to see the ass grabber stumbling back from a hit from Cruz’s thick fist.

I thought about the ass grabber… what Kip would have done to him if he knew he was doing that stuff to someone at BFH.

“They like to come down and try to find someone to surprise with a fight,” Iris said. “Boring.”

“Better than studying,” Gi said.

“Even if I was home bored out of my mind, I still wouldn’t study.”

“Only because you know you’ll never fail,” Gi said.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“You think Jacobson wants to keep us around?” Iris asked. “He’s got nothing on any of us. Dumb penis head with glasses.”

I laughed.

There was another cheer and Cruz had the ass grabber near the edge of the ditch. He threw two hard punches and the ass grabber stepped out of the ditch and waved his left hand. He pointed to his nose and shook his head.

“That’s the fight,” Iris said.

Everyone started to boo.

Cruz walked away shaking his head.

As he walked out of the ditch, Kip entered the ditch.

His hands had white tape on them. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and ripped it over his head in one quick move that definitely left guilt written all over my face. He balled the shirt up and tossed it back to Barr, who caught it and looked right at me.

“Here, let me help,” Iris said.

She swiped her middle finger near my bottom lip.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Wiping away the drool,” she said.

“Shut up,” I said.

“Fun to look at,” Gi said. “But that’s it. It’s like when you go to the zoo and see the tigers, right? They’re all cute and cuddly looking. But you know damn well if you went into that cage you’re getting mauled.”