The Hunt: High School Bully Romance (Kennedy Academy Book 2) Read online

  “How’s it feel to be captain?” He leans towards me, his eyes a little bloodshot. “I think that it’s going to be a good year, don’t you?”

  I eyeball him and consider my options. Robby’s not who I really want to spend all of my time with, but our group of four dwindled when Clay and Brett graduated. He’s solid, though, and has a hookup for beer, which is more than the rest of the guys on the football team can say for themselves.

  In answer to his question I shrug and lean back, propping my feet up on the coffee table.

  “Hey, did I tell you that I have a new roomie?” I toss Robby another beer and wait until he pops the top and takes a long sip before continuing. “Some friend of my mom went crazy and is getting psych help for a year or so, and their kid just moved in.”

  His eyes widen. “You’ve got a crazy person living in your house?”

  “No, the mom is crazy, dumbshit. But I don’t know anything about the kid. They’ll be coming to Kennedy Academy, I do know that.” I shrug, trying to ignore the buzzing feeling in the back of my mind that I should know more about this mystery person than I do.

  Like maybe my mom has told me things about him. Her? I don’t fucking remember, and I should know something, at least. Like their name, their age. 18, maybe, I think I remember my mom saying. Fuck. How did it get to the day when this person was going to move in, and I don’t know a damn thing about them?

  “So you don’t know anything about them?” He takes another sip, his eyes growing glassier by the minute. Clay could handle his drink better than Robby and I feel myself getting angry with him.

  “No.” Standing up, I stretch, feeling every muscle in my body pull tight. We’ve been practicing all summer to get ready for the football season, and now that we just started back, I’m sore. Not that I’d ever admit that to anyone, though. That would be too weak, and I refuse. “But I’m going to go find out. Don’t forget to clean this up.”

  Normally I wouldn’t worry about being home for dinner, especially after my dad just bailed on us last year. My mom cries all the fucking time, which is getting really annoying, but I promised her that I’d be around to meet the new girl. Guy? I don’t fucking know.

  Robby stands up but I wave him away. “I know where the door is, you idiot. Just let me go and I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

  He argues for a moment but grows silent when I keep walking. Poor Robby feels all alone without his best friend here, but I’ve decided that now is my time to take control. Strolling through his kitchen, I grab a fresh cookie and wink at his mom.

  Moms love me. She says something to me as I walk out the front door, but I ignore her and keep on walking. That’s something that I’ve always been good at – keeping focused on the task at hand. I’m relentless.

  I’ve lived in Clay’s shadow for years. Everyone at Kennedy Academy was afraid of him, but now that he’s gone, it’s my time to shine, both on the field and off. I can’t spend all of my time getting drunk with Robby if I expect people around here to respect me.

  Glancing up at the house one last time, I hop into my truck and back out of his driveway, cranking the radio before I even hit the street. Blacksburg has a new ruler. Clay’s out, and I’m in.

  But I’m not a prince. Clay gets away with anything he wants, but that’s not who I am. I’m more dangerous than that. I have no desire to rule the school with an iron fist.

  I slam my hand into the steering wheel at a red light and wait just a moment before making a left turn.

  Tires squeal behind me, but I don’t slow down. I don’t look back.

  No, not a prince. That’s too kind. I’m something more. Something worse.

  My tires eat up the road as I drive to my house. Robby doesn’t live far away, but it still gives me some time to think. I can reinvent myself. It’s time for me to become something more. Turning the music up louder, I let it rip through the cab of my truck and swirl out my windows behind me.

  My driveway is long and winding and I slow down to make sure that I don’t run off the edge. It’s way too narrow, but my parents didn’t want to pay to have it extended since my mom spent so much money having flowers and bushes planted along it. She still hasn’t let me forget the one time that I got drunk and ran off the edge a little, taking an azalea out with me.

  Apparently it was a rare azalea, whatever the fuck that means.

  Once I pull up to the house, I kill the engine and hop out of my truck, my eyes scanning for this new person who was supposed to arrive this afternoon. There’s a flash of movement at the corner of the garden and I turn, finally seeing them for the first time.

  No, not them. Her. I didn’t know that the person who was coming to live with us was a girl.

  In fact, I think that my mom may have conveniently forgotten to mention that little detail. Crossing my arms, I lean back against my truck, watching as she walks among the flowers.

  I could have mistaken her for a neighbor kid if I didn’t know any better. She’s short and thin and looks much younger than 18. A primal urge rises up in me as I watch her. She has no idea that I’m here. I have no idea how she missed the sound of my truck pulling up, but she must be lost in her own world if she didn’t hear me.

  Suddenly, I know what I want. The urge overtakes me, and I feel my nerves spring to life. Clenching my hands and tightening my jaw, I stand up and walk to the edge of the driveway.

  I want to stalk her. Quietly, I take one step towards the garden, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. She doesn’t see me, even though I’m only about 20 yards away. She must be deep in her own thoughts if she’s not paying any attention to what’s going on around her.

  Crouching down, I watch her from behind a bush. I can’t believe that this stupid girl doesn’t even know that I’m here. Her long blonde hair ripples down her back as she moves, and she’s wearing filthy clothes. The thought of my mom having a shit fit when she walked into the house this afternoon makes me smile.

  Good. My mom needs to loosen up some.

  And this girl? Well, she gives me an idea for who I am.

  Not the prince. I don’t want to fill those shoes.

  Carefully I take another step closer, then another, closing the gap between us without her knowing that I’m here. Her back is towards me and she’s bending over to smell a flower, which allows me to stand upright and make my way through the garden.

  Roses pluck at my jeans, but I ignore them, my attention focused on her. She turns at the last possible second, when I’m just 10 feet from her, and I can finally see the fine details of her face. Tears are streaming down her cheeks and I freeze, but only for a moment.

  She turns back to the flower she was looking at and I take another step forward, carefully planting my feet on the mulch. The girl has no idea that I’m here and I feel all of the muscles in my body shaking and screaming.

  I want to tackle her.

  I want to pin her to the ground.

  I want to make her wish that she’d never come here.

  Suddenly, it comes to me.

  Who would have thought that this girl would help me realize who I am now?

  The hunter.

  The wind blows hard from the south and lifts her hair from her back. I watch, mesmerized, as she plucks a flower from the plant and tucks it behind her ear. My mom is going to be pissed when she sees that she picked a flower, but that’s not my problem right now.

  Right now, all I can think about is chasing her. My muscles twitch as I watch her, then she turns and sees me for the first time.

  She gasps, reaching up and lightly touching her chest above her heart. “You scared me! I didn’t know that you were here.”

  Her eyes are deep pools of brown but are shining bright with tears. A smattering of freckles stands out on her face and her perfect little nose has a small jewel shining in it. I bet that my mom had a shit fit about her having a pierced nose, too.

  I’m silent for a moment, watching her and thinking, but finally I smile and take a few steps close
r to her to close the gap. “I’m Teague.” Reaching out, I take her hand in mine. Her skin is warm and her cheeks flush when we touch.

  “Nora.” She smiles at me for a moment and then takes her hand back, gesturing around her. “Your mom has a beautiful garden.”

  “She does.” I smile, a twisted one that curls up the corners of my lips. Nora would be beautiful if she hadn’t already awakened another sense in me. Now I can’t see her as a pretty girl. I can only see her as something that I want to hunt.

  To destroy.

  She’s like a gift that landed here in my garden. A gift for me to help me learn about what and who I really am. I don’t hate Nora. In fact, I love her for that, but I can still destroy her.

  “Sometime I’ll take you out into the woods and show you around.” Our house is on one of the biggest plots of land in the county and it backs up to thick woods. When I was little and my dad was still around he would take me out in there hunting for rabbit and squirrel.

  But the game I’m after is much bigger now.

  “That sounds amazing, thanks.” She turns to the house. “You want to go in? I know that your mom has been looking for you for a while. I just thought that I’d come out here and check out the gardens before you got home.”

  I frown and pull my phone from my pocket. Sure enough, there are a dozen missed calls and half a dozen texts from my mom, all wanting to know when I would be coming home. I must have left it on silent after practice. Scowling, I turn on the ringer and then slip it back into my pocket.

  “Let’s go.” I turn and start walking to the house without waiting to see if Nora will follow. She does. I can hear her crunching through the garden, probably flattening my mom’s favorite flowers. I clench my fists but resist the urge to turn around and look.

  The louder she is, the easier she’ll be for me to find.

  To follow.

  To hunt.

  My mom sees us coming across the front yard and throws up the door. “Teague! Did you have the chance to meet Nora?” She waves at us and I slow down enough for Nora to catch up.

  She’s a pretty girl, much more petite than I thought at first when I saw her. Her long hair is thick and has a bit of a curl to it, and I bet that she has a great little body hidden away under her baggy clothes. She looks like she thinks that she’s an artist or some shit, which I’m sure is going to drive my mom nuts.

  In a moment of inspired genius, I pause long enough to throw my arm around her shoulders. She stumbles and then falls into me, but I hold her up. “We’re getting along great,” I call back to my mom.

  Nora tires to pull away, but I keep my hand grasped firmly on her shoulder.

  I never expected someone like Nora to fall into my lap. She’s perfect.

  Any doubts that I had about how the year was going to go are quickly dispelled. I have a feeling that Nora and I are going to get along just fine.

  Chapter 2

  Nora

  “Are you not hungry, Nora? You really should make sure that you eat something or you’re going to be simply famished today at school. Isn’t that right, Teague?”

  I’ve been pushing my food around on my plate – china, of course – since I sat down, but I just can’t force myself to eat anything. Last night was one of the worst nights of sleep that I’ve ever gotten and I’m just not feeling on my game this morning. It’s probably rude to refuse to eat when I’m going to be here for months, but I can’t handle the thought of something in my stomach.

  I glance over at Teague, who is absolutely destroying a stack of pancakes and bacon. He smiles at his mom and then takes a huge sip of coffee, locking eyes with me. I know that I should be grateful, that I should thank his mom for making such a huge breakfast, but I can’t.

  How was she to know that my mom always made me pancakes and bacon before school? Smiling thinly, I take a bite, but as soon as I chew, the food turns to glue in my mouth and falls with a dull thud to my stomach.

  It’s going to sit like a rock there all day. I just know it.

  “I guess I’m just nervous.” I push my plate away and smile at Mrs. Ward, but she doesn’t smile back. At least, I don’t think she’s trying. All of that Botox makes it tricky for me to tell what she’s feeling. “But I bet I’ll have an appetite after school today.”

  I’m trying. Mom, just know that I’m trying, but nobody here is making it any easier.

  The three of us had a quiet dinner last night all spaced out at a huge table that could easily seat 12. Immediately after dinner I went upstairs to shower and to go bed, but I couldn’t sleep. The moon shone through my window most of the night, casting an eerie glow around the room.

  I don’t even want to look in the mirror this morning. I’m sure that I look terrible. My worst fears are confirmed when Mrs. Ward sighs and picks up my plate. “You know, dear, I can help you do something with that hair of yours so that you don’t have to be so self-conscious when you go to school. You do want to make a good first impression, don’t you?”

  Frowning, I reach up and touch the long braid hanging down my back. “Is it not okay? I thought that it looked fine.” In the morning before school I used to like to draw or paint, and worrying about my hair was one thing that I didn’t have a lot of time for.

  She leans over and pats my hand. “It’s just fine, honey. Isn’t it, Teague?” I can hear the condescension in her voice and I lift my head up, waiting for Teague to answer.

  He chews, his dark eyes locked on mine like he’s thinking. Finally, he swallows, still staring at me. I wish that he would just hurry up and say something. The way that he’s looking at me gives me the chills and is making it difficult for me to stay focused.

  After a moment and another sip of coffee, he speaks. “You look rough. They’re going to eat you alive, you know, but I’ll protect you if you want.”

  If I want?

  What the hell kind of offer is that? Even as I open my mouth to respond, I think about what it would be like to have him protecting me. With his body. And his muscles. There’s something undeniably sexy about Teague, even if he is a little standoffish. “I don’t need protection, but thanks.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I know that I’ve messed up.

  His eyes darken and he sets his mug down on the table with a dull thud. I feel my stomach twist as his gaze bores into me.

  Mrs. Ward coos and pats her son on the back. “Such a sweet boy. We can’t help it if our houseguest is a little short on manners, can we?”

  What? My jaw drops open as she saunters off to the kitchen, taking my plate with her. The lump of pancake in my stomach has begun to dance and I feel like I might get sick.

  “You don’t think that you need protection?” Teague leans towards me so that he can whisper without his mom hearing him. “You have no idea what’s waiting for you at Kennedy Academy, do you? You’re fresh meat, Nora, and everyone there is hungry for something new to do.”

  Nervously, I wipe my hands on my napkin. “I don’t care,” I tell him, looking him in the eyes. “I only have to make it through the year and then I’ll never see your or anyone else there ever again.”

  He laughs. “You think so? You think that making it through the year is going to be as easy as that?” He uses air quotes when repeating my words back to me and I want to smack his hands out of the air. “That’s so cute, Nora. Is that what it was like in your hippy dippy art school where you came from?”

  My cheeks flush and I glance back down, wishing that I hadn’t put on a shirt with a bit of paint on the hem. The problem is that all of my clothes have a bit of paint on them. “I don’t see how that’s a problem.”

  “Oh, that’s rich.” He leans back in his chair but never takes his eyes off of me. I get the feeling that he likes seeing me squirm, so I try to hold as still as possible. “You know, I’m happy to take you shopping for some new clothes so that you’ll fit in, if you’d like. But you’d have to model everything for me, of course. In fact, I can even help you change.”

  H
e winks at me and my stomach twists. Part of me is thrilled that he would even think about seeing me naked. The other part of me is repulsed, and that’s the part that wins out. Pushing back from the table, I throw my napkin where my plate had been. “I’m full. See you at school.”

  “Oh, but you can’t leave yet,” Mrs. Ward interrupts, walking back into the dining room. “Didn’t Teague tell you that he would be driving you to school?”

  “I’d rather walk.” I’m gripping my fists so tightly that my nails are digging into my skin. Focus, Nora, take deep breaths.

  She laughs, an obnoxious sound that makes me squint. “That simply won’t do, dear. You’re a guest here, and what would people say if they saw you walking to school? No, no, Teague will take you, of course, so you just wait one moment until he’s ready to go. Besides Kennedy Academy isn’t exactly right around the corner. We made sure that we didn’t live too close to town, you see. Location matters here in Blacksburg.”

  Is everything about appearances with these people? I close my eyes and count to 10, and when I open them, they’re both still staring at me. “That sounds great. I’ll wait by the front door.”

  Teague makes me wait almost 10 minutes before he comes strolling into the front foyer, his backpack and gym bag slung carelessly over his shoulder. “You ready go to, Nora?”

  He’s thrown on a button-up shirt and a pair of jeans, and even though I hate to admit it, he’s gorgeous. There’s something about the way that he carries himself, with all of the confidence in the world, that makes him irresistible. He knows it, too, and he winks at me when he catches my eyes raking up his body.

  Oops.

  The way he carries himself makes it seem like he thinks that nothing bad will ever happen to him.

  Nothing bad probably ever has. I don’t know where his dad is, but I doubt that he’s locked up in a loony bin like my mom. Already he’s coming out on top.

  If only he weren’t such a jerk, I could like him, but I hate him.