Untouched (Bay Falls High, #1)(56)

“Think you can throw it to me?” I asked.

He spun around, missing his next catch.

The ball hit the field and Brando didn’t move his eyes from me.

“New girl,” he said.

“Tinsley,” I said.

Brando shook his head. “What’s this?”

“Curious about something. I wanted to talk to Maverick. But he walked away.”

“Nothing to talk about.”

“Yes there is,” I said. “You’re afraid of them. So is Maverick. He was giving me fuck me eyes that one day and you pulled him away when Pres was watching.”

“Your point?”

“Why?” I asked.

“There’s plenty of pieces around BFH. We don’t even have to try to get it. Why bother with a new girl? Heard where you came from too. If we wanted to make a run at you, we’d need to double up.”

“Double up?” I asked.

“Wear two condoms,” Brando said with a cocky grin.

I reached for my bag and took out the screwdriver. I looked at it in my right hand.

“You heard about this?” I asked.

“Yeah…”

“What I did. To Blair.”

“Yeah…”

“What if I stab your dick with this?” I asked. “Or what if I take out my phone… text Pres… tell him that you have me on the field. That you’re making comments about me. That you said you want to fuck me…”

“Bullshit,” Brando said.

I took my phone out.

Brando stepped toward me.

“Try me, motherfucker,” I said and stuck the screwdriver in the air at him.

“Shit,” he said and stepped back. “Wait a second. What do you want?”

“What were you just talking about with him?” I asked.

“With Pres? Are you kidding me? That’s what this is?”

“I want to know something about them. Anything.”

Okay, the plan in my head seemed so much cooler and smoother. I had a vision of Brando breaking down with fear and telling me every dark secret about them so I could figure some stuff out.

The opposite was happening. I looked desperate and stupid.

“What… you want to know what?” Brando asked. “I was talking to Pres about a football game. We have stuff going down with HCH right now. Needed to make sure we have his support.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Brando said. He lifted an eyebrow. “Anything else?”

I looked at the screwdriver again.

Such a stupid idea…

“Why are you so afraid of him?” I asked.

Brando laughed. “That’s what you wanted to ask me?”

“Or… I need to know why they are the way they are.”

“Maybe you should just ask him yourself, new girl,” Brando said. “Last thing I’m going to do is get into a gossip war with the Rulz. I know the ending to that.”

“Which is?”

Brando showed me his right hand. “My throwing hand would end up under the tire of one of their vehicles.”

Brando grabbed the football off the field and jogged away.

That did not go the way I had planned.

At all.

I looked at the screwdriver in my hand one more time and growled.

I quickly tucked it away into my bag.

My phone vibrated in my hand.

I screamed.

I looked, figuring it was Pres.

It was Iris.

bitch - be home - ill pick u up - partttttyyyyy My thumb shook as I sent her a middle finger emoji as my response.

When I turned my head I saw Barr’s cigarette on the field, smoke gently climbing into the air.

I curled my lip and walked over to it and stomped on it as hard as I could.

I could stomp all I want. As hard as I wanted. But it wouldn’t matter.

And maybe Brando was right.

Maybe I should just corner them and ask whatever the hell I wanted…

… not that they would actually even give me an answer.





Claire sat at the counter with a glass of wine.

There was a small dim light lit in the kitchen.

“You okay?” I asked her.

“Yeah,” she said. “Long day. Busy day. Glad I didn’t get any calls from the school.”

“And I had a screwdriver with me,” I said.

“What?” Claire asked, her eyes going wide.

I laughed. “Inside joke.”

“Not when everyone knows what you’ve done with a screwdriver,” Claire said.

“I know. It was a joke. I swear.”

“Hey, Tinsley. Someone did vandalize Blair’s car, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And it wasn’t you.”

“No.”

“But someone did it because of you. Or for you.”

“I guess.”

“Be careful with that,” she said. “Everything around here comes with or for a favor. Nothing is free. Especially when you’re wealthy. Trust me. Nothing is free.”

Claire stood up and took her glass of wine and walked to go out to the pool.

It was weird. All of it.

I watched as she sat down in a chair and crossed her legs. She sipped her wine.