Devious Little Liars (Saint View High, #1)

by Elle Thorpe

“Oh, you dirty ho bag. Tell me everything.” I shook my head. “There’s honestly not that much to say. Other than he’s got some talented fingers.” “Just his fingers?” “Trust me, that was enough to do the job.” “Where? At the party?” “Back of his car.” Meredith snorted on a laugh. “Oh, if that isn’t so Saint View High!” “Please,” I scoffed. “Like you didn’t go all the way in the back seat of Scott Amerson’s car after junior prom.” Meredith laughed. “It wasn’t all the way. Just…” “Third base?” I supplied helpfully. “Well, same. So you’re as big a ho bag as I am.” “And that’s why we’re friends.”

My history class seemed designed to send me to sleep.

I’d spent the previous forty minutes doodling in the margins of my page, while Mr. Sliden droned on and on about trench warfare. I’d started out drawing random shapes, which had morphed into flowers, and then abruptly shut my folder when I realized I’d doodled Banjo’s name. I hadn’t seen him yet today. Hadn’t heard from him at all since the night of the party.

I hadn’t even realized I’d come to a dead stop. Shit. No wonder Colt was smirking at me. I’d just given him pure proof that one look from him was enough to stop me in my tracks. For fuck’s sake. Rookie mistake in a game of cat and mouse. I’d just given him the upper hand.

“No, Lacey. It would just make my life easier if you were a bitch.” Understanding dawned on me. “Because of the target Colt and Gillian have drawn on my back?” “Something like that.” I shook my head. “I kind of thought you were too smart for their bullshit. Guess I was wrong.” “Lacey…”

We had music class last period, and Banjo was already in his seat, the one next to my desk, when I got there. His eyes flared. My heart skipped a beat. I had to admit, when I’d gotten dressed for school that morning, I’d done so with impressing him on my mind. A soft pink tee clung to my curves, and my skirt was shorter than normal. It was stupid and shallow, I knew that. But I’d wanted to show him I could fit in here with him, and his friends.

I took my seat next to Banjo and breathed in his coconut scent. “Hi,” I said quietly. “Hi, to you, too. You look different.” Without even glancing in his direction, I felt the way his eyes drank me in. “Do I?” “You look…fuckable.”

Heat rose in my cheeks, but I lowered my voice so even I barely heard it. “I didn’t look fuckable on the weekend?” He bit his lip, gaze hot. “Oh, you did. Trust me. I’ve been thinking about exactly how fuckable you looked ever since you got out of my car.”

“I just like this outfit better than the uptight stuff you were wearing last week. Though truthfully, I would have taken you in that, too.”

“Pink looks good on you, Lacey. I like making you blush. Want to come over after school and I’ll make you blush some more?” “To your house?” For some reason, I was surprised he was inviting me into his personal space so quickly. He shrugged. “Sure, why not? We need to start working on our assignment, right?” I smiled at him. “When you say assignment…” His grin turned devilish.

Banjo teeth bit into his bottom lip. “Actually, there’s something you should know. Colt lives right next door to me.” “You’re serious?” Banjo nodded. “That’s why we’re so tight. We’ve lived in each other’s pockets since we were kids.” “That’s…nice.” For them. “Perhaps I shouldn’t come over tonight then? Colt is the last person I want to see outside of school.” Banjo’s eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, I was just thinking that. Colt…I can’t tell him about us. It’ll just make him worse. If he knows what we did, he’d use it against you.”

He glanced over his shoulder, then gave my hand a quick squeeze. “But I want to see you, Lacey. Out of school. Out of a cramped back seat. We could go somewhere else? Your place?” I shook my head. “My aunt…” “Wouldn’t approve?” Fuck. It was the truth, but I hated it. Banjo didn’t need me to say it. It was written all over my face.

Banjo swore low under his breath. “She wouldn’t let you date me?” I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know. Maybe she’d surprise me. But I don’t want to put you in a shitty situation like that. Where I just spring it on her and she’s rude to you. You don’t deserve that. Just give me some time. Let’s just hang out. See what this is. And if it’s something, I’ll talk to...

I lowered my voice to barely a whisper. “So tonight…” Banjo thought that over for a second. “Tonight you’re coming to my house. Even if I have to sneak you in through the back door.”

“Or you could jump on the handlebars and we’ll get there twice as quick.” I snorted on a laugh. “You’re kidding, right?” He slung one leg over the seat of his bike and patted the handlebars. “Jump on.” “How?” “Have you never done this before?” “No! Why would I have?” Banjo looked puzzled. “You rich kids are weird. Didn’t you ever ride your bikes around the neighborhood, just for fun?” I couldn’t remember a time where I had ever done that. Uncle Lawson had taught me to ride a bike when I’d been six, but I couldn’t remember riding one much after that time. “No, I guess not.” “Then you’re in for a treat.”

His fingers grasped my hips again, and I grinned at his touch. But I wouldn’t let it distract me. I was determined to prove to him I wasn’t some hopeless rich kid. I could ride on his handlebars, dammit. How hard could it be?

“Wow,” I said, allowing myself to be towed along. “Not what you were expecting?” I squinted at him. “Truthfully? When you said it was just you and your brother, I kind of expected it to be a pigsty. Beer cans, pizza boxes, funky smells…” “You’re surprised we know where the trash can is?”

“You’re staring at me, Lacey.” I smiled. “You’re staring at me, too.” “Because you’re beautiful. I feel like I’m always staring at you, even though I know I shouldn’t be.” My insides went gooey. “You’re a sweet-talker.” He shook his head. “I mean it.”

“You don’t scare me, Banjo. Giant cock and all.”

“Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” he asked, his breaths turning into pants. “Your mouth…so good.”

I whirled around, cheeks flaming. For some reason, in that one tiny second, I’d assumed the barked question had come from Colt. I knew he was just next door. And he and Banjo were so tight, it wouldn’t have surprised me if Colt had felt comfortable enough to waltz in without so much as a knock. That was all we needed. Colt finding me sucking Banjo’s dick would have been a swift end to whatever Banjo and I were.

It was anything but all right. It was downright mortifying, is what it was. I just wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole. Oh God. Swallow. Not a good time to be thinking about swallowing. Fuck! And I couldn’t even just leave. I didn’t even know where we’d left my car or how to get back there. It was fully dark outside now. I’d be lost in seconds.

“Want to introduce me to your friend, little brother? Now that her mouth isn’t wrapped around your dick?” Annnnd, I was back to mortified.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. His voice got a little louder. “That was really bad, wasn’t it?” “It wasn’t the best,” I agreed. He stared at me. I stared at him. Slowly, a grin tugged at his lips. Damn him, it was infectious. I slapped his chest. “Stop it. It’s not funny!” “It’s a bit funny!”

“Your brother caught us while I was giving you a blow job, Banjo. Like, your dick was actually in my mouth. He saw that! Can I curl into a ball and die now, please?” He gathered me up in his arms and kissed my forehead. “How do you think I feel? He interrupted before you got to finish. My balls are blue right now!”

“I know I don’t have the right to be jealous when I can’t offer you more than what we’re doing right now.” I shrugged. “I can’t offer you anything in return either. So whatever we are, I’m all good with it. You date who you want. I’ll date who I want. We’ll hang out when we can. Maybe I’ll try sucking your dick again, but next time, it’ll be with the door locked.”

I ground my teeth together. That right there was why I smoked in the first place. Just one word from him, and my fingers twitched, craving to hold a joint, take a drag, and let the pot do its thing. Being high was the only way my father was bearable. The only way my life was bearable.

I pretended I didn’t notice him standing by the door in his preppy clothes. He wasn’t fooling me. We might have been a little better off than most of the people in Saint View. We lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods. Our house was under a mortgage instead of government-owned. But my father had delusions of grandeur. He dressed like he was from Providence.

And on first glimpse, you might have been forgiven for believing the smarmy exterior he showed the world. He dressed nicely. No jeans or baseball caps like most of the other men around here. He always wore fitted pants and button-down shirts. His hair was always artfully slicked back, his beard groomed. But if you looked closer, you’d see his appearance was as phony as his...

We might have had a little more than most in Saint View. But that didn’t make him better. In fac...

Mom and I were the only ones who ever got to see the real Todd Simmons. The rest of the world did...

There was nothing new there. That was how he’d run my entire life. And he never failed to remind me. He was the boss. He was the one in charge. I was just his minion.

I stared at the hideous green-and-gold uniform in the mirror, twisting left and right, but there wasn’t an angle that magically made it any better. I traipsed out into the living room. Selina’s eyes widened. “Oh my.” “I know,” I grumped. “It’s hideous.” “There’s a reason none of the kids at your school wear the uniform. And that right there is it.” We both dissolved into laughter.

“Be nice, okay? Try not to be a total snob.” “I’m not a snob!” I raised one eyebrow. “Okay, fine, I am. But only when it comes to you. I just want you to have the very best. And that includes a boyfriend who isn’t going to end up in prison before he’s twenty-one.”

A knock at the door had her raising an eyebrow. “He knocks. I have to admit, I’m surprised.” “Did you expect him just to honk from the gates?” “I expected him to holler your name like a caveman, actually.”

“I can’t stand him. How sad is that? I despise the man who helped bring me into this world. If I could push him off this motherfucking cliff, I would.”

“He’s a user. He’s been desperate to meet up with your aunt from the minute you started school at Saint View. He probably had some grand notion of all of us arriving together, with your aunt on his arm or something. I don’t know. He was insistent I bring you tonight. I’m pretty sure he had this whole thing planned out. Meanwhile, my mother is at home, alone and upset, because he didn’t even invite her. He pulls this shit all the time. Treats her like she’s his pet or something. He’s completely isolated her. She used to have friends once, but not anymore. He’d sulk for days if she tried to see any of them, and eventually it became easier for her to just not see them at all.”

“That’s abuse! Now I feel bad for leaving my aunt there with him.” Rafe shook his head. “He’s probably charming the pants off her. But he’s a snake. Warn her. He’s not the man he makes out to be.”

I felt awful for his poor mother. The thought of the woman being told to stay home so her husband could flirt with someone else…with someone who’d just lost h...

“Sorry your dad is an asshat.” Rafe snorted on a laugh and came to sit on the hood be...

“But you’re kind of an asshat, too, you know.” Rafe sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you out, just to keep ...

“Excuse me, what? You laid claim on me? What the hell does that mean?” If he was trying to get out of a hole, this wasn’t the way to do it. But he was insistent and wouldn’t let me pull away. “It means I was so damn attracted to you, that when Banjo said he had dibs because he’d met you first, I broke our code and said he could go fuck himself.”

I rolled my eyes. “How incredibly caveman of you both. Did you ever think to ask what I wanted?” He inched closer. “Honestly? No. But I’m asking now. What do you want, Lacey?” My mouth dried. Rafe chuckled, and the sound rolled over me like hot molasses. Sweet, thick, and delicious.

“Come on, princess. Cat got your tongue? Tell me what you want? Who you want?” My brain ...

His thumb grazed over my lip. “What if I help you make up your mind?” His mouth was less than an inch from mine, and I could barely breathe with the anticipation. “Close your eyes, Lacey. Let me help you decide.” As if my brain had completely packed up and left town, my eyes fluttered closed of their own accord. His lips brushed the corner of my mouth, and I gasped at the contact.

“What’s one up from not bad?” “Amazing?” “I was thinking more like mind-blowing.”

Rafe rested his forehead against mine and groaned. “Don’t talk about blowing right now.” I dared a glance at his lap. His school slacks pulled tight over a very impressive erection. “Don’t stare at me like that either, Lacey. I’m trying really hard right now not to think with my dick, but if you keep looking at it, it’s going to be real hard not to use it on you.”

Heat flared between my thighs, and I pressed them together. Just the thought of him using it on me… Him flipping me around, bending me over the car, lifting up my s...

Rafe pushed off the car and stalked a few steps away before turning back to grin at me. “Stop it.” “Stop what? I didn’t do anything.” “You didn’t need to. Your thoughts are written all over your face.” “Oh yeah?” I challenged. “Let’s hear it then, mind reader. What am I thinking?” “You’re thinking about how if I walked over there right now and pushed your knees apart, you’d let me. You’d let me run my hands beneath that skirt, and up your thighs. And how you’d let me kiss you until yo...

“Do we have a picnic basket somewhere?” I asked, changing the subject. Augie scoffed. “Why the fuck would we have a picnic basket? Do I look like the type who goes on picnics?” No. He looked like the type who dealt drugs on the side of his other illegal activities.