Devious Little Liars (Saint View High, #1)

by Elle Thorpe

“You taking some cheerleader out on a date? All romantic and shit?” “She’s not a cheerleader. And her name is Lacey.” “The slut who was giving you a blowie last night? Fuck, little bro. You don’t take those girls out on picnics. You just get what’s between their legs and move on to the next one.” Before I knew it, I was dragging Augie off his stool and had him pinned to the kitchen cupboards. My fingers balled into fists in his shirt. “Don’t fucking talk about her like that. She’s no slut.” Augie raised one eyebrow, then shoved me away hard. “Who is this chick? Her pussy made of gold?”

I was getting turned on just from her watching me, so I put my hands on her shoulders and twisted her to face the ocean. “The view is that way. Quit gawking at me.” The elbow I copped that time was harder and straight to my midsection, but I laughed. “I like it when you’re feisty.” “And I liked the view I had, thank you very much. But this one is nice, too. I love the ocean.”

I was a strong swimmer. You had to be when you surfed as much as I did. But my style was nonexistent. Hers was pristine. Born of years of swimming lessons in a fancy indoor pool, I’d bet. Not like me, who’d been tossed into the ocean as a toddler and never really taught proper strokes.

My dick swelled beneath my swim shorts. Fuck, I could come just staring at her. She was a stunner. Long legs that led to a sweet, completely bare pussy.

ran my hand up her thighs, urging her legs apart, and glanced up as I took my first taste of her. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened. “Oh God,” she whispered. “Banjo. We can’t. What if someone comes in?” “Then they can walk right back out, because you taste too good to stop.”

Fuck me, nothing had ever tasted sweeter than having my tongue between Lacey Knight’s creamy white thighs.

What the hell was I doing? That was all I could think of as I swam back to the beach with Banjo right beside me. Who the hell was that girl, brazen enough to let a guy take off her bikini and go down on her, when any number of people could walk in at any minute? That wasn’t me. That was something Meredith would do. She’d die when I told her about this.

And when I told her about what I’d done with him during the week…not to mention what I’d done with Rafe… Damn. Meredith was going to have a stroke. I’d have to make sure there was medical help nearby when I confessed.

“Whoa. Orgasms give you an appetite, huh?” Banjo joked, flopping down on the sand where we’d left our towels and bags. I wrapped a towel around myself before sitting next to him. “Apparently. I’m starving.” “Good. Because I brought food.” “You did?” I was surprised. Banjo didn’t seem like the type who thought very far ahead. Yet, when he unzipped his backpack, he pulled out sandwiches, drinks, fruit, and cookies. He’d even put in ice packs to keep everything cold.

“You packed a picnic? How cute are you?” He chuckled, the sound deep and delicious. Toe-curling. Just like everything he did. “Glad you think so. My brother gave me a hard time.”

“I love it. Your brother obviously doesn’t know how to win my heart.” Banjo went quiet....

“We’re on our way out. I’ll call you tonight, okay, Mer?” “You’d better. Actually, we need to discuss your birthday, too. I have ideas.” “I bet you do,” I groaned. “Don’t ruin my fun with your birthday-hating attitude, Lacey Knight. You are going to have the most amazing eighteenth birthday party anyone has ever seen. Second only to my own. Of course.”

“Your birthday is soon?” he asked. “October fifth.” He glanced up. “No shit? So is mine.” “Birthday twins.”

“I have an idea what you’re going to ask, and I’m going to let you ask it. Because it’s you. And something about you makes me want to tell you all my secrets.”

“Yeah, sometimes I think I do. I don’t know. I’m not gay. If I were, I’d just say it. I don’t want you thinking you’ve been some sort of beard for me. Because dammit, Lacey, I’d go down on you all day long if you let me. And I’m so fucking attracted to you, I’d do you right here on this beach. Screw all these people.” “Sshh, I know. I know. But maybe you’d do that with Rafe, too?” He snorted on a laugh. “I don’t know. I haven’t a clue how he’d feel about that. It’s not something we’ve ever discussed. Maybe, whatever it is I feel sometimes when I’m around him is completely one-sided. But to answer your question, no, the idea of getting dirty with Rafe doesn’t weird me out.” “It’s kind of hot, actually,” I admitted.

Banjo rounded on me, kissing me so hard he pushed me back in the sand. “You’re perfect, you know that? I can’t believe I just admitted all that to you and your only reaction was to say that it was hot.” “Want to know what it’s like to kiss him? I could tell you,” I teased. Banjo groaned and pressed his body into mine.

Something about Augie set off alarm bells in my head. And when he called me princess, it was nothing like when Banjo did it. Hell, it wasn’t even like when Colt said it. When Augie called me princess, it was with barely concealed malice.

“Slumming it with the poor kids. Ticking something off your bucket list, maybe. But then what? My dumb-ass brother is following you around like some pussy-whipped moron. And you’re looking at him with come-get-me eyes. Maybe you think he’s even falling for you. But I know him. Right now, he’s probably thinking about how you’re gonna save him from his miserable small-town life. How you’ll be the one to pull him from this piece-of-shit town. Well, good. I hope he uses you to get as far as he can. Because we all know that as soon as you get tired of slumming it, you’re going to go running straight back to Providence and those stuck-up pricks from Edgely Academy.”

Colt cocked his head to one side, eyes narrowing. “And what exactly did you come here for? A little wrong-side-of-the-tracks cock? You sick of all your pretty boys and their fancy cars, flashing around their daddy’s money? I can give you that.” I shoved him away. “You’re disgusting.” He laughed, and my breath hitched at the sound. “Say it like you mean it.”

I spun back to face the line, startled to find it had progressed without me noticing. I stepped forward, but Colt wouldn’t give me an inch. If anything, he moved in closer, until his front pressed against my back. I stilled. Every muscle in my body froze at his touch. Alarm bells went off in my head, and yet, the rest of my body wanted to melt into him like a Goddamn ice cream on a summer day.

His fingers swept the back of my neck, brushing my hair aside. Like they had a mind of their own, my eyes closed. Behind me, he shifted so his lips brushed my ear. “I’ll break you, princess. You and your ivory tower.”

A shiver rolled down my spine. But it wasn’t one of fear, despite the underlying threat in his words. No. Colt didn’t scare me. What scared me was the fact I wasn’t scared at all. What scared m...

That was a bigger problem than Colt trying to run me out of school. That spoke volumes about how messed up my head was. This boy could threaten to break me, and all I wanted to do was find out how. I needed air. And I...

“Thing is, Colt,” I said quietly, my voice as deadly as his was. “You can try, but I’m not breakable.”

His headshot from the Providence School for Girls website. I recognized it instantly. But what clogged my throat was the words scrawled across his face in red sharpie. Liar. Cheat. Rapist.

I glanced around at each of them. I hadn’t expected to come here and make friends. But I realized in that moment, that aside from Meredith, I’d become closer with these three in a few short weeks than I had with any of the people I’d gone to school with for years. And I wondered how, once all this was over, I’d leave them to go back to my real life. In that moment, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

What did it matter how we got rid of Lacey? All I knew was that I couldn’t be around her. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

“Cheers to shitty days and the hot boys who rescue you from them.”

When we finally pulled away, I glanced over at Banjo, feeling the tiniest bit guilty, even though he’d been the one to dare me. I expected to see jealousy in his eyes. But all I saw was heat. “Well, fuck.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes from the nightstand and lit one up, not even bothering to crack a window. On the exhale he murmured, “If you two are gonna kiss like that, then I need a smoke. And maybe a cold shower. That was hot.”

“You good with this?” he asked Banjo. Banjo grinned. “Are you? I’m a fucking excellent kisser, Rafe. You might just fall in love if you kiss me right now. Lacey can vouch for me.” Rafe shook his head. “Shut up, dickhead. Kiss me then. Blow my mind.”

“Did you get what you wanted out of that?” Rafe asked, his voice slightly hoarse. I grinned at them. “Did you? Because that was the hottest kiss I’ve ever seen.”

There was no way I was going to lose my virginity in a threesome. That was just too much.

“Have we had a threesome before? That what you asking, princess? Or you asking if we’re virgins, too?” Banjo chuckled. “Definitely not a virgin here.” I shook my head. “I know you guys aren’t virgins. Have you had a threesome before?” Rafe nodded. Behind me, I thought Banjo might have as well. “Just not together,” he said, confirming my thoughts. “Or with other guys.”

“Oh. You must think I’m ridiculous…still holding on to my V-card and all…” Rafe leaned in and kissed me. “We don’t think anything. I don’t care what you are. Or what you aren’t. Want to know a truth?” I nodded. “I just want to strip you naked and get between your thighs.”

“You made her blush. Talk dirty some more, she likes it.” “I do not,” I protested, though I had no idea why, because we both knew I did. “Yeah, you do. You love when I tell you exactly what I’m going to do to you. Lie back. Because now I’m gonna kiss you, so you can’t squeal while Rafe takes off your panties.”

“Fuck, Lacey,” he groaned. “You’re so gorgeous. I love bare pussy.” I whimpered. “Get your mouth on it then. Before I do,” Banjo said, leaning down to take one of my nipples into his mouth.

Banjo frowned. “Actually, no. Only players wear these ones. There’s no supporters’ T-shirts like it.” “So…” “So whoever killed your uncle is probably on the team,” Rafe concluded. “Fuck.”

“But why?” I shrugged. “That’s what I’ve been trying to work out. I have no idea. I have no idea about anything. Why would he kill my uncle but then stick around long enough to save me, knowing I might be able to identify him?”

“You didn’t see his face?” I shook my head. “No, there was so much smoke, and I was really out of it. All I know is he was big. And fit enough to lift me from the floor. I was close to unconscious, so I would have been heavy and awkward. All I could focus on was the letters on his shirt.” Banjo flopped down on the bed and squinted at the ceiling. “Okay, this is all too much when...

“You don’t hate me? I lied to you.” “Everybody lies, princess. Some of us are just better at not getting caught.”

“Planning on lowering your ridiculously high standards? You know no one in Saint View has a trust fund, right?” “If the boys there are good enough for my best friend, then they’re good enough for me.

His fingers were warm on my skin and I liked it. It was somehow grounding, yet at the same time, I wished his hands were a little higher. I’d been thinking about sex all day and was horny as hell. It didn’t help I was now in a confined space with a guy I was super attracted to. Just the memory of what he’d done to me last night made me press my thighs together.

“I can’t stop thinking about last night,” I admitted out of the blue. He grinned at me. “Me neither, babe.” “Is it weird then? That I’m sitting here in a car with you, talking about having sex with someone else?”

“Not weird for me. We aren’t there yet, you and I. We had some fun last night, but if you’ll recall, we stopped because it didn’t feel right to go further. Not for your first time. Not saying I won’t be getting hard tonight, thinking about you and B, getting down and dirty, but I know he’ll take care of you. Our time will come.”

“You’re kind of amazing, you know that?” “That’s what you said last night, too.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, but then he groaned. “We need to stop talking about last night. I can’t play with a hard-on.”

“Was it okay?” I asked, though I had a good idea it was. Rafe laughed, then twisted his head to me. “Are you kidding? You sucked me off while I was driving to a football game. This is the best day ever. Best blow job ever. You’re fucking amazing. Kiss me. Quick.”

“I heard your coach on the intercom today. He said he’d sideline anyone who was late,” I whispered, glancing over at the line of people, wondering if any of them were from Saint View. He shrugged. “Coach also said we couldn’t have sex before a game… I apparently don’t follow rules well.”

I laughed. “We didn’t have sex.” “Only barely.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over mine. I pushed him away. “Go, or you’ll get sidelined. I came to watch you play.” “You came to have sex with Banjo,” he drawled, but he did it with a grin.

“Be good to our girl.” My heart thumped. Our girl. Was that what I was? Warmth kindled inside me when Banjo nodded.

“I know it’s not what you’re used to—” I shushed him. “I don’t need a fancy room. Just you.” He placed one finger beneath my chin and tilted it up. “You’ve got me.”