Just Drop Out (Hannaford Prep, #1)

by J. Bree

“I hate my brother more. Tell me, how did his dick feel up yo...

“I've signed up for your tutoring. I haven't been given a time slot yet, but I'm hoping to just tag into Ash’s. Do you think you could do us both at once?” I nearly faint. He must be doing this on purpose.

He grins, and I decide that the only way to get through this is to just avoid looking at him until I'm desensitized, like I did with Harley. I barely notice he's the epitome of panty-dropping gorgeousness anymore. Okay, I do notice, but I can look past it.

“I need a drink,” he says as he loosens his tie with a sharp yank. “Oh, have you two finished arguing over which brother has the biggest dick?” Blaise grins at Ash wickedly, and I keep my eyes firmly on the page in front of me. “We both know I win that one. She's a lousy, backstabbing whore. She sold herself to him in the hopes it'll give her a leg up in the social hierarchy.”

“Your sister did this to me. Now the entire fucking school has photos of me naked, and I get to enjoy the privilege of being looked at by you lot, like I'm a piece of meat. Like I actually want your rich dicks, when really I'd rather fucking die.”

“Avery is very protective, and you managed to get on the bad side of one of the three humans she gives a shit about. She won't let that go, and sometimes she goes to great lengths to keep us safe.”

He’s attractive, but all I see when I look at him is the evil in his eyes when he looks at his siblings. All I can see is the guy who talks down to everyone around him, the guy who calls girls he’s slept with sluts.

“Suit yourself. You sure do make it hard to impress you, Mounty. I’ve had girls start Fight Clubs over who got to have me for the night. I’m a little put out.” “No, you’re not. You’ll forget I exist the second you leave this room.”

I don’t like the way Joey speaks about me, like I’m a thing to possess. It takes me a minute to realize why it feels so wrong, but so familiar. That’s exactly how Matteo talks about me.

“Look, I get that I've been a dick to you. I get that Avery has been full-on, and you have no reason to trust me, but you should not go tomorrow night. Joey is up to something, and when he's scheming, it never turns out good. Things have gone really bad in the past before, like permanent-damage-and-death bad. You should just pretend you've gotten sick.”

“First of all, the guys don’t date, they sleep around. And Avery is the center of her brother’s life. He does not cope with any sort of sharing unless it’s Harley and Blaise. Last year she kissed one of the upperclassmen at the end-of-year party, and Ash broke the poor fool’s jaw. Broke it.”

“Wow. I thought after seeing your nudes I’d seen everything you had on offer, but you clean up good, Mounty.” “Gee, thanks.” I make sure my tone is dry as fuck, and he laughs. “Come on now, I didn’t mean anything by it! I’m just giving you a compliment, jeez. Let’s head down, the underclassmen should have it all set up by now.”

He catches up to me and throws his arm around my waist, pulling me into his body, and I smell it. Cocaine. The good shit too, all sweet and floral and none of the chemical scent that comes with poor product.

What a dumb question. I’d never tell him I am a virgin.

put the scared fifteen-year-old girl into a box, and I let the Wolf take over. The Wolf is calm and patient and can wait for the right moment to go for his throat.

“Just lay still. You might find you have less trouble at this school once you’ve been fucked by me.” His lips crush into mine, and I can feel his tongue come out and force its way into my mouth. I’ve never been kissed before. It’s disgusting. I might never kiss a guy again, if it’s always like this.

“Get off me.” I say softly. The vein in his neck is flicking, his blood pumping like crazy. He’s frozen for a second, just staring down at the knife pressed against the hard line of his dick.

“Fuck it. It’s not like I need the money, I was just hoping for the bragging rights.”

“What the hell are you going on about? I wasn’t going to give you money.”

“My family earns more money in a minute than your worthless bloodline ever has, so clearly I didn’t mean your money. If you fuck me, I’ll win the sweep.”

“What fucking...

“First to fuck you gets the sweep. There’s currently a hundred and forty grand on the line, and it’s climbing daily. I thought it would be worth a quick fuck even if you are Mounty trash.”

This boy is way too dangerous for a scholarship girl to mess with without a plan. If I want to end him, I’ll have to be more subtle about it. And now. Now I want to end him.

“Did someone have a big night?” he says, too loud and far too cheery. I want to hurt him. “Feel free to choke,” I reply, and he grins at me.

“Did you know there’s a price on me? Did you know that’s why I’m being stalked by guys at this shitty school?”

“Everyone knows about it. They all know Joey staked his claim on you as well.”

“Like I said, Mounty, if you hit Joey, I will take that memory to bed for the rest of my life.”

“Fuck hitting him,” I whisper back, and Avery turns to glare at us both.

Once upon a time, a young girl finds herself orphaned and at a group house. Another kid takes her under his wing. He protects her and cares for her for an entire year. She is lost and hungry, but she thinks someday she will know what it means to be happy. And then one day he tells her he’s named her in the Game. She doesn’t know what that means, but he tells her it’s the only way she will ever be safe and free. So, she learns. She learns how to fight. She learns how to disappear. She learns how to make others disappear. And then she competes. She is broken beyond repair. She will never run again. She is covered in scars. She can’t sleep at night, she can’t bear the sound of her own voice, she sleeps with a knife, she startles at every sound, she’s scared of what hides in the shadows, she can’t breathe— She wins. She is crowned the Wolf. She could become a leader. Have a gang of her own, make millions, live an untouchable life. She goes to school instead. Gets a scholarship. Disappears. Tries to forget all the things she did to get to where she is. She does forget, most of the time. She forgets until the Jackal calls her home.

I could have Joey taken out of my life as permanently as I wanted. It amuses me that Ash and Harley warn me about him. If only they knew who I really was.

I look around to find Annabelle sitting among Avery’s flunkies. She's gazing at the two boys with appreciative and possessive eyes. She could be sleeping with them both and hiding it. They could be sharing her. I wish they'd share me, I think, and then I shut that part of my brain down tight. I am Mounty trash to them. I need to get over my little crushes. They will never want someone like me, and the sooner I accept that, the better.

knowledge. I guess that’s what they call fake it ’til you make it. “She’s obsessed with Avery’s boys. She drapes herself over them at every opportunity. Avery only allows it because she’s discreet about whether she’s actually banging them.” My eyebrows shoot up. “Them? As in…” Lauren nods and eyes the back of Blaise’s head with pure lust. “She’s totally doing them all. Her room is next to mine, and her roommate is constantly getting kicked out because one of them shows up.”

When I arrive at Hannaford Prep’s chapel, the grin on Joey’s face chills me to my core. He’s not pretending to be a decent person anymore. There’s no fake civility. All I see is the evil that lives under his skin. An echo of Xavier rings out in my mind and the inventory of what it took to disable him. I can’t believe I’d thought he looked like Ash and Avery. The differences in the siblings are so clear to me now that I struggle to see their similarities. I am no longer blinded by the good looks.

I start toward the kitchen, and as soon as the door cracks open, the smell hits me. I gag and step back. It smells like vomit and shit and rotting meat. There had been a heatwave happening in Cali for weeks, and the temperature had gone over a hundred degrees every day that week. We didn't have air conditioning or even a fan. I'd learned to just sweat it out. It helped that I was skin and bone. I know now that the heat had accelerated my mother’s decomposition.

My voice shakes. I am only nine years old.

My eyes lock with Harley. He's standing at the end of the chapel, and he's the only one not laughing. He's the only one who can read the cold, dead calm in my eyes. He doesn't call out to help the girl who's touched me. He just stands witness.

The PA system is still playing the 911 call, it's on repeat, and I can hear the nine-year-old version of me screaming, but the fifteen-year-old me, standing here covered in blood with a fist full of some rich bitch’s hair—she is hollow. She is carved out until there is nothing but cold, dead calm. She is the Wolf.

“She still looks at Blaise like she would enjoy a ride on his dick. Looks like the money is yours, man,” Ash drawls, and I want to kick his perfect face in.

“I don’t fuck fans.”

I decide on the spot that I’m going to burn my Vanth Falling t-shirt and sleep in the nude from now on. I will never listen to his beautiful voice again. I’d rather die than admire this guy anymore.

After my self-imposed sabbatical from my classes, I make an important decision: I’m going to unleash the Wolf on these wealthy assholes and show them some real-life consequences for their terrible behavior. Things the rest of us had to learn as children, things I had learnt the hardest way imaginable.

You before my blood, My soul, my life, My heart. Iris Arbour.

Joseph Beaumont Jr. is in handcuffs.

“Please explain to me what the fuck you did?” “Did you know he's an addict? Cocaine was found in his room this morning. It seems the police were called in without Trevelen’s knowledge, what a shame Joey couldn’t talk his way out of it before law enforcement arrived.”

I wait until the crowd has thinned right down and Joey looks over to catch my eye. He doesn't look upset or surprised, he tips his head at me and grins. It's his maniac grin, the one that lets me know he will never be a good or kind person. I tip my own head back just a little and let him see the challenge I'm setting him. Let him come for me.

While Joey uses big, sweeping acts to attempt to break me, Avery knows the small pressure points that chip away at me.

“One of these days, I am going to show this school what it takes to survive at Mounts Bay High and foster care.” My voice shakes, and he smirks at me. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

I don’t want to think about Matteo anymore. I’m so confused about him. His gentle tones on the phone when I called him for help made my chest ache. I used to love him. Back when I first went into foster care, he was the cool kid. Someone in my corner who loved me back. I truly thought he loved me too. Now I know that he sees me as a valuable pawn on the chess board. Nothing more. But I still feel guilty for having certain feelings about Ash. And Blaise and, fuck, Harley. I can’t forget the feelings I have for Harley.

“Is she in love with you? I see her tongue down that dickhead Rory's neck all the time, so I wouldn't have guessed it.”

“We’re cousins. Our moms were sisters. Avery takes that shit very seriously, so I'm here with her and Ash because she couldn’t bear the thought of me going to a public school back home.”