Broken Kingdom (Royal Hearts Academy #4)(28)

Minus the parachute.

My head whirls as I slowly slip off the ledge.

Dying isn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be.

Except for the sharp pulling sensation under my armpits.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Oakley grunts.

Sand and rocks scrape the underside of my thighs as he lugs my drunk ass from the cliff.

“I told you to stay away from there,” he roars, refusing to ease up on his death grip.

Confused by his presence, I glance up. There are not one, but two Oakley’s. Yum.

“I didn’t think you were coming. Either of you.”

The expression on his face tells me he’s not amused.

“Stand up,” he grits out. “Now.”

Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’d think he’d know me better than that.

No one orders me around.

“Nah. I’m good right here.” I pat the ground beside me. “Come join me.”

The little vein in his forehead makes an appearance. Given he’s always so chill, it’s kind of funny how much I can rile him up.

Then again, I love pushing all his buttons.

In one fell swoop, he yanks me off the ground. “I wasn’t asking.”

I notice he’s wearing his No Name t-shirt and it occurs to me that he must have rushed straight here from work.

Not that it matters, the seedy bar across town he works at two nights a week is only a cover-up for his actual job.

Drug runner for a scumbag named Loki.

He has Dylan, Sawyer, Cole, and Jace all believing he stopped dealing after Sawyer ended up in the hospital, but that was a lie.

He’s just become more secretive about it.

Given they all go to college and he doesn’t, it’s fairly easy for him to conduct his double life with his friends being none the wiser.

“Start walking,” he commands like a drill sergeant.

Swear to God, I want to punch and fuck the son-of-a-bitch in equal measure.

I shoot him the dirtiest look I can muster. “No can do.”

“Why?” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Are your legs broken?”

“No.” I point to my now dirty feet. “But I’m not walking through a forest without shoes.”

An irritated sigh leaves him as he mulls this over.

A moment later he turns around. “Let’s go.”

And here I thought I was the drunk one. “What part of I don’t have shoes don’t you understand?”

Oakley rolls his shoulders, and I can’t help but notice the way his muscles flex. He’s been working out with Jace and Cole a lot lately and it shows.

“Hop on.”

Shit. He doesn’t have to tell me twice.

“Just so we’re clear, that was an invitation to hop on your cock later, right?” I enquire as I jump on his back.

Craning his neck, he glares daggers at me. “One more word out of you and I’ll toss your ass off that cliff.”

I’m about to ask him to do me the favor, but then I’d lose out on my little piggyback ride so I wisely shut my mouth.

We begin trekking through the wilderness and I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol or because I’ve had a shit night, but I can’t take this tension between us anymore.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

I loathe the way my voice cracks, but I have no control over what’s coming out of my mouth right now.

No handle on my emotions.

It feels like an eternity before he answers.

“I don’t hate you.”

Lies. “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Oakley.”

He drops me so quick I nearly bust my ass.

“Fine. How about the fact that you keep screwing around—”

“That was after,” I tell him. “I started messing around with Hayley and Morgan after you started hating me. Months after we...you know. Not before.” I draw in a shaky breath. “We used to be cool, Oakley. I used to be able to talk—”

“Then why?” he snarls. “Why do you keep fucking with me?”

“I’m not…” I swallow hard and try again because lying to him always feels wrong. “You know why.”

If I can’t have him...no one else can either.

I’ll keep playing his skanks like my personal fiddles until he finally realizes he has no loyal bitch left in his corner but yours truly.

“Un-fucking-believable.” His jaw works as he pulls a joint from his ear and lights it. “You are un-fucking-believable.”

“It takes two to tango, remember? Therefore, instead of being mad at me, maybe you should be mad at them for dining on my pussy like it’s their personal buffet all the time.”

“I don’t have time for your shit,” he huffs as he stalks off. “Find your own way home.”

“You know, there is a simple solution to all this.” I hold my arms out wide. “How about a threesome?”

Fuck that noise. I’d happily cut those bitches throats and drown them in their blood before I’d ever share him.

I just want to know if he’ll take the bait.

Turning around to face me again, he digs his finger into his temple. “You’re fucking psychotic. You know that?”

Oh, I’m aware.

You don’t study psychology since elementary school in hopes of working in the field one day without being able to diagnose yourself first.