Dangerous Little Secrets (Saint View High, #2)

by Elle Thorpe

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” Rafe’s growl, low and deadly, was out of place with the excited gossip rippling around the shocked partygoers. I dragged my gaze away from the doors Lacey had disappeared through and focused on my best friend. “What?” Rafe’s laugh was cold. “Cut the crap. Are you happy now? You got your way. You’ve finally found a way to break her. Gotta say, you’ve done some fucked-up things, but this is next level.”

I folded my arms and peered at Rafe in disbelief. “You think I did this? From where I was standing, that was your face buried between her thighs, not mine. How the fuck do I have anything to do with it?”

“You’re upset, I get that.” The words were quiet, but my tone was no-nonsense. He’d get away with that sort of shit one time only. “But you’re going to back off now, because it’s not my problem the three of you were stupid enough to make a sex tape and then broadcast it to the entire party.”

Movement at the doors caught my attention, and I narrowed my eyes. Owen. Fuck that prick. Where the hell was he going? Every instinct in my body forced me to pay attention, priming my muscles, ready to chase him down. I didn’t trust that asshole as far as I could throw him. I hadn’t forgotten what he’d done at the beach party last weekend. The way he’d watched her lose control. His gaze had rolled over Lacey’s body tonight, lewd and possessive, until I’d wanted to ram my fist down his throat.

I sure as hell didn’t like that he’d disappeared in the same ...

I ran a hand through my hair. Dammit. I couldn’t leave him in this state. He’d end up in jail. “I’ve got him.” I spun around to find Jagger, Aaron a few steps behind her. “I need to go after Owen,” I confided in them. “I don’t trust him.” Jagger nodded. “Me neither. Go. We’ve got this.”

“Lacey,” I yelled into the darkness. I stopped, breathing hard, waiting for a reply. But nothing came. Fuck. Maybe I was way off base here. She’d obviously taken off for a reason, not wanting to be found. She could have gone back up one of the beach paths and gotten an Uber. With every cell of my body, I hoped she was tucked up in the back of a car right now, devastated, but safely on her way home. I couldn’t shake the sense that she wasn’t.

“Lacey,” I yelled again. The silence was deafening. “Fuck!” I closed my fingers into fists.

That’s when I heard it. Against the roar of the ocean, a muffled cry of agony chilled me to the bone. I bolted, this time toward the sound, up to the softer sand. My chest burned as I pushed myself past my limits, the memory of the pain in tha...

In the dim moonlight, a dark shape moved on the sand. Twisting, rolling. It was impossible from this distance to make out what it was, but I changed gears, finding a new speed that sent me pummeling forward. Lacey’s cries of ter...

I didn’t think. My brain shut down completely. He had her pinned to the sand, a hand pressed to her mouth and nose while she fough...

Through a haze, I grabbed Owen by his jacket and hurled him off her. He landed on the sand with a thud, the wind knocked out of him, a surprised yelp escaping his swollen lips. “Stay there,” I yelled. Ignoring his protests, I turned to Lacey, who lay on her back, gasping and wheezing, fighting to suck in air. Her ...

I dropped to my knees beside Lacey’s beaten body, yanking off my jacket and covering her. She blinked up at me through an almost completely swollen-shut eye, and I fucking lost it. He’d beaten her to within an inch of life. And probably wor...

Everything hurt. My throat was on fire, every swallow complete torture. My eye throbbed. Ribs ached. My thighs bruised and violated.

I could only pray he wasn’t going to take me home. If Selina saw me like this, she’d call the cops and an ambulance, and I’d be dragged off to hospital. What was the point? After last night, no one was going to believe me when I said Owen attempted to rape me.

We weren’t friends. This wasn’t a truce. He was still the enemy, and I’d come dangerously close to falling into his web.

She’d said she loved me. No one had ever said that to me, that I could recall.

I couldn’t really remember my parents. But I doubted parents who loved their kids abandoned them when they couldn’t be bothered anymore. Augie didn’t have an emotional bone in his body. He wasn’t even capable of like, let alone love. The fact he had no friends and was content in his lifestyle of random women, who were only interested in him as a dick and a tongue, seemed to reinforce that. Colt and Rafe loved me as a brother. I loved them, too, but none of us went around saying it out loud.

Lacey was different. There’d been an honesty in her words that had slapped me in the face, rendering me speechless. I’d wanted to say it back. Wanted to grab her, wrap my arms around her, and tell her I’d fal...

Except I didn’t know how. Then the moment had passed, though I hadn’t forgotten. I’d spent the entire party walking around with a shit-eating grin on my face, all because of the knowledge that Lacey Knight was in love with me. And I was in love with her. So stupidly, head ...

“Rafe. Fucking listen to me!” “You know who’s going to see that tape now? The whole fucking world. Every scout. Every college dean. Every potential employer.” With one last look that seared me alive, he pushed past me. “You better hope she forgives you,” he said darkly. “Because I won’t.”

It was like opening the doorway to Heaven. With the crown prince of Hell standing in the way.

“I don’t know yet, princess. So let’s call it an IOU.” He spun on his heel and opened the door,

Find out who murdered my uncle. And take down Owen without landing Colt in jail. At least I had a plan for one of them.

“Then let me tell you again. To your face, so I know you heard it. I had nothing to do with that sex tape. Not the making of it or showing it at the party. I was as shocked as you were.”

“Because this isn’t it. You’re what I want, Lacey Knight. You’re who I want. And I was this close to having you. I’m not giving up.” I shook my head. “How are we supposed to come back from this? I just don’t believe we can.” “Then I’ll believe for the both of us. I’ll show you, Lacey. Every day. I’ll show you I’m the guy you thought I was. And that starts right now. I’m walking into that school by your side.”

One of the guys jumped up on the table instead, spreading himself so he lay facedown, head closest to me. Bracing himself on his forearms, he gyrated his hips against the laminate, simulating sex while Marnie moaned and carried on behind him. Their laughter echoed in my ears, and all I could do was stand there in shock. The boy stared at me as he air-humped the table, his eyes half-lidded in what was probably supposed to be a sex face. “That how you like it, baby?” he purred.

Something inside me snapped. My lunch slipped from my fingers, the brown paper bag spilling its contents all over the floor. It hadn’t been purposeful, but it distracted the group long enough. I grasped both sides of the boy’s head and then slammed his face down as if it were a basketball. His nose hit the table with a crack, blood spurting everywhere. His scream of pain cut through the laughter and Marnie’s fake moans. For a moment, there was pure silence. Pure peace. And I reveled in it, all while staring at what I’d done.

“Not you, Lacey. Him. Apologize. What the fuck even was that? Did you threaten her with sex? You fucking piece of shit.”

Rafe was a ball of barely concealed rage. His entire body coiled tight, his fingers clenched at his sides. I flinched at another big, male body moving in behind me, but breathed a sigh of relief when it was Aaron, Jagger’s sort of boyfriend, and Rafe’s teammate on the football field. One by one, the other football players got out of their chairs and pushed their way into the aisle, standing behind me and Rafe.

The boy lost his bravado. “Sorry.” Rafe leaned in. “You pull that shit again, to any girl, ever, and I’ll come for you. You remember that. Now get the fuck out...

“You’re such a badass.” I shook my head. “Not exactly. If you and the team hadn’t rescued me…” “Not rescued. Backed you up. That asshole deserved everything he got.” “You saw it all?” Rafe’s gaze was full of fiery anger. “If you hadn’t slammed his head into the table, then I would have. You did good, princess. Stuck up for yourself. I’m proud of you.”

“It made me realize something, though,” Rafe said. “Oh?” “I owe you an apology, too.” “For what?”

“I told you I didn’t know about the tape. And that’s the truth. But after it came out… I should have gone straight after you. Instead I was too busy focusing on who did it. I nearly punched Colt out over it. I was so riled up Jagger and Aaron had to force me into a car and drive me home.” His lips lifted in a small smile. “She’s surprisingly strong when she’s protecting someone she loves, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“It’s okay. I’m glad she was there to look out for you. And all the rest.” I shrugged. “It wasn’t your fault. Nobody knew what Owen was capable of.” He brushed a lock of hair out of my eye. “I’m still sorry.” “Then I forgive you.” There was nothing to forgive, but I knew he needed to hear it, anyway.

I stared at him for a long moment, then held my hand out. “Give me your keys.” He raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You want to go sit in the car?” “No, I want them because you’re a cocky son of a bitch. And if that guy kills you, I still want to be able to get home tonight.”

“Nice job.” “Nice?” “What’s wrong with nice? What do you want me to say?” “That was more than nice. That was a thing of beauty.” I snorted. “You and your ego. If it was more than nice, he wouldn’t have landed that first punch. You want an awesome? Next time, don’t go getting your cheek split open.”

But there were things she didn’t know. I had to protect my family. That was my job. I’d promised my father on his death bed that I’d look out for Aria above all else. She’d been a kid when he’d died. Hell, so was I. But his death had aged me. In an instant, Aria had gone from my annoying kid sister to someone I needed to protect at all costs.

While Lacey Knight might not know it, she had the potential to destroy my sister. She had the potential to destroy me. That didn’t stop me from wanting her.

It hadn’t been since Lacey had come back into my life. And I think both Gillian and I had known it.

Because your uncle isn’t who you think he is. Because you’re not. Because I’m not. Because everything you think you know is a lie.

I loved public sex. Had always gotten off on it. But public sex with Lacey was off the charts in terms of hotness. I ground on her, drinking in her gasp of pleasure. I put my lips to her ear. “Want to taste you, Lacey. Want to turn you around and sink my dick between your legs, right here, right now.”

Colt ran his hands through his hair. “Listen. I need to talk to you about something. You probably aren’t going to be happy about it.” What was one more thing to add to the shit list that had become my life? “Spill it then.” “I kissed Lacey last night.” A low growl vibrated through my chest. “You what?” “You heard me.”

“I’m fucking in love with her, Colt.” He froze. “What?” “Did I stutter?”

“How the hell did this happen? How did we all end up chasing one girl?” I knew the answer to that. It was because of who Lacey was. She was a ray of fucking sunshine in this gloomy-ass town. It didn’t surprise me that we’d all noticed her.

“The gang will be all back together. You. Me. Rafe.” “And Lacey in the middle?” He went quiet. So did I. That was a problem I didn’t have a solution to.

“Do you think your uncle could have been involved with something? A gang?” I bit my lip. “I almost hope it is something like that.” “What’s the alternative?” “That the words on the photos they shoved into my locker are true.” Liar. Cheat. Rapist. Rafe swore. “Shit.”

“There’s a game on Friday night. It’s a big one. Scouts are coming to watch. Will you come? Maybe we could get something to eat afterward, and I’ll explain everything.” “The truth? All of it?” Banjo swallowed hard, worry flickering in his eyes. But then he nodded. “You probably won’t ever want to see me again when I’m done. But I’m so sick of secrets.” So was I. He had no idea how much.

“Hey, little brother. You’re finally here. And you bought your princess, too.” “Not anyone’s princess,” I threw back at him. Augie chuckled. “Not anymore, huh? Crown too tainted? They take it off you?”

Colt raised an eyebrow at me. “You didn’t object when I called you princess in between kisses the other night.” My breath stuttered in my lungs while I fought for a smart comeback. Dammit. Why did he have to be so devastatingly handsome? Or so quick-witted? He was forever catching me off guard. Screw it. Honesty it was. “It wasn’t the name-calling I liked.”