Savage by Caitlyn Dare
Sadie
“Psst, Sadie,” a familiar voice whispers behind me. Rolling my eyes, I glance over my shoulder and quirk a brow.
“What?” I hiss, failing to hide my satisfaction at the fact that he clearly had his ass handed to him already this morning. One of his eyes is swollen, his lip is split, and he’s got a nice glowing purple bruise on his cheek.
“Wanna suck me off after class?”
“Go fuck yourself, Evan.”
Evan Henley, star quarterback for the Savage Falls High Saints and total asshole, smirks at me.
“I know something I’d like to fuck,” he drawls, letting his eyes drop to my boobs.
“Pig,” I hiss, but he only smirks harder.
Ignoring him and his friends’ quiet snickers, I turn back around and focus on the teacher’s monotonous voice. It was foolish to think that maybe this year would be different, that maybe Evan and his jock friends would give me a break.
I heard them this morning when we arrived. I let their taunts and derogatory remarks roll off my back as Quinn and I ushered River into school. She didn’t say anything, and I didn’t offer an explanation. But part of me wonders what she made of it. Does she agree with them? Does she look at me in my ripped black denim skirt and fishnet stockings, tight-fitting Rolling Stones t-shirt and leather jacket and see what they see?
Not that I care.
I love my edgy style. I always have. Quinn blends in a little more than me. I don’t know if she does it to make life easier for herself or if she’s happy straddling the line of being one of them and one of the club kids. I never had that choice—not being Ray Dalton’s daughter. His name is synonymous with Savage Falls. There isn’t a person living in this town that hasn’t heard of him or the club. To many, he’s the scourge of society, but to others, he’s a protector, a figurehead, the guy who rules with an iron fist.
The truth is that my dad is all of those things. He loves as hard as he hates. He upholds the law as much as he breaks it. And he’s a real good guy until you get on the wrong side of him, and then you’ll wish you’d never met him.
The club looks after its own, but it also looks after Savage Falls and the people in it. Weird, I know, but it’s how it’s always been since my great granddaddy and Rhett’s great grandfather founded the Sinners MC, back in the early fifties.
My chair jerks as someone’s foot collides with the back legs, and I whip around, pinning Evan with a hard look. “Seriously?”
“Meet me behind the bleachers after class…”
“No.”
“Go on, you know you want to.”
“Go ask Nyla or Felicia. I heard they enjoyed your big dick over the summer. Oh wait, that wasn’t you, it was Paul Sumner.”
“Fucking bitch,” he hisses, anger rolling off him in waves. Nyla and Felicia are captain and vice-captain of the cheer team and were Evan’s fuck pieces until they decided to slum it with Paul Sumner, the QB over at County High. I heard they enjoyed quite the night together.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Evan,” I snarl. “I wasn’t interested in you in ninth grade, and I’m certainly not interested in you now.”
“Miss Dalton, something you’d like to share with the class?” Mr. Jackson booms from up front.
“No, sir.” I turn around and smile politely. “Just helping Evan with something.”
“Yes, well, I’d prefer it if you let me do the teaching.”
“Sure thing, sir.”
He shakes his head a little. Most of my teachers give me a wide berth because of my surname, but Mr. Jackson has never let me off the hook.
“Sir, I have a question.”
“What is it, Mr. Henley?” He lets out an irritated sigh.
“I want to make a complaint.”
“A complaint? Take it up with Principal—”
“It’s about you, sir. Well, your class.”
Trepidation races down my spine as everyone starts whispering and giggling at Evan’s outburst.
“I know it’s summer and all, but I find Miss Dalton’s attire to be very… distracting. Not to mention inappropriate for the classroom environment.”
Heat floods my cheeks as everyone turns their attention to me instead of Evan.
“I mean, I can practically see her—”
“Okay, Mr. Henley. You’ve made your point. But Principal Winston has made it quite clear that the school policy values student individuality and the right to express oneself. And we’re all young adults now, Evan. I’m sure you can control yourself. Now, if you’re done, I’d like to move on to more important things.”
My fingers are practically white as I grip my pen, resisting the urge to spin around and stab it in Evan’s hand. Fucking asshole. He’s gone out of his way in the past to embarrass me, but he’s never been so blatant in front of a teacher before.
I guess he’s upping the ante.
Well, two can play at that game.
Besides, I’m Sadie Ray Dalton, and I never back down from a fight.
* * *
“I can’t believe he did that,” Quinn says as we head for the cafeteria.
“He’s such a jerk. I wanted to stab him with my pen.”
“You know, if you react, you’ll only give him more ammunition.” She gives me a pointed look.
“If he wants war, then he can bring it—Oh, shit.” I draw to a stop as I watch Evan and his friends crowd around River. “Seriously…”
“She looks terrified. We should probably—”
But I’m already storming in their direction. “River,” I say. “Everything okay here?”
“Oh look, the cavalry has arrived.” Evan chuckles, but I’m not smiling. “We were just getting to know each other. Isn’t that right, cutie?”
“Go annoy someone else.” I flick my head toward the cafeteria doors.
“But we weren’t done here.”
“Well, you are now.” I step forward slightly, putting River behind me. Evan narrows his eyes, trying to look around me to her.
“Don’t look at her, look at me.”
“You think you’ll stop me from getting to her? School’s a big place; you can’t protect her everywhere.”
“No,” a deep voice says, “but between us, I reckon we can cover a lot of ground.”
Dane appears, shooting me an amused look.
“What are you… never mind.” The questions can wait. Right now, we have bigger problems—like the fact that Evan is staring at Dane as if the two of them have history.
“Do you two know each other?” I ask, noticing the hostility crackling between them.
“We met earlier.” Dane smirks, cracking his knuckles and ensuring my eyes drop to his banged-up fists. Well, that explains a lot, I guess.
“Isn’t that right, friend?”
“We’re not friends, asshole.”
“Too bad. I was looking forward to getting to know you a bit better.” There’s a dark edge to Dane’s voice, at complete odds with his casual stance and easy smile.
“Come on, Ev,” Wesley Noble says. “She’s not worth it.” His gaze skirts over me, and I sneer back at him.
“Yeah, okay. My offer still stands though, Sadie.” Evan rubs his jaw, letting his thumb linger on his bottom lip as he brazenly checks me out.
“Don’t look at her like that.” Dane steps forward, but I grab his arm.
“Relax, I can take care of Evan.”
“Oh, I’d like to see you try.” Dane’s eyes twinkle with promise.
“Whatever.” I flip him off and give them my back as I face River. “Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah… I… that was… who was that?” She cranes her neck around me and Dane, who’s closed our small circle now that Evan and his friends have left.
“Evan Henley. Captain of the football team. Mr. Popular. And total asshole. He likes to think he rules Savage Falls High.”
“The guy’s a douche,” Quinn adds.
“Thanks for coming to my rescue,” River says, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Don’t worry.” Quinn laces her arm through River’s. “We’ve got you.”
“And you?” I pin Dane with a murderous look. “Explain.”
“Hello to you too.” He grins.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hiss.
“So…” Raking a hand through his hair and down the back of his neck, he lowers his face slightly, looking up at me through thick lashes. Damn, he’s a beautiful bastard. He knows it too.
And I know he’s hoping his charm will disarm me enough to distract me.
“Explain, now.”
“Jesus, Sadie… I’m not the bad guy here.”
“Did my dad put you up to this?”
“Something like that.”
“I don’t need a babysitter, Dane.”
“You think I don’t know that? Ray thought it might be good to have an extra pair of eyes on River.”
“Me?” She balks. “But—”
“Rhett is worried. Ray too. They thought…”
He’s still talking, but I’m stuck on the part where my dad did this… for her.
“I see.” The words get stuck in my throat, and I glance away from Dane, trying to shield the hurt in my expression.
“Come on, Sadie,” his hand lands on my shoulder, “it doesn’t mean—”
“I don’t know about anyone else,” I cut him off, “but I’m starving. Shall we?” I move around them and head for the cafeteria.
Dane mutters something under his breath, but I don’t look back. I can’t. His unexpected presence here has thrown me for a loop, and I need time to deal. Because Dane isn’t just a prospect for the MC or Rhett’s best friend. He used to be my best friend.
He was the first kid I knew in the MC, except for Quinn, and I decided to make him mine. We were young and silly, and the blood pact we made to be friends forever was nothing more than a childish game, but it always felt like more to me.
Then we grew up, and he and Rhett became close… and Dane and I became like strangers to one another. He still tries to be my friend, but it isn’t the same anymore. When I was just a girl, I always imagined that one day he’d been mine in other ways…
I shut down those particular thoughts.
“Sadie Ray?” His voice cuts through my reverie, and I gawk up at him. “Are you okay with this? I didn’t mean to blindside you, but Prez thought—”
“What Prez wants, Prez gets, right?” Bitterness clings to every syllable.
“Shit, Sadie, girl, it isn’t even like that.”
“Yeah.” I smile sadly. “It is.”
Quinn has dragged River into the line, distracting her with the cafeteria’s delightful offerings. She knows Dane and I have history; she was right there to witness it.
I look at him. Really look at him. He’s still Dane. He’s still the kid I adored. Tall and lean with muscle in all the right places. Dark hair falls into his eyes, eyes which bewitched me more than once when we were kids. His mouth quirks up, and I realize he knows what I’m doing.
“You haven’t looked at me like that in a real long time, Sadie Ray.”
God, my name on his lips is sinful.
“Yeah, well, things change.”
You changed.I swallow the words.
“And yet, some things stay exactly the same.” He lets his eyes drink me in, moving slowly down my body as if he’s savoring being in the same space as me again. My heart crashes in my chest, my skin heating under his appraisal of me.
I’ve mostly avoided Dane since it was apparent that he’d traded our friendship for his with Rhett. We talk at MC events or functions, but it’s always polite and surface-level. There’s no avoiding him now, though. He’s staring right at me, looking at me with longing… with regret.
He’s looking at me like I’m oxygen and he’s running out of air.
Jesus, what the hell is happening to us?
His lips part as if he’s going to speak, and I brace myself, clinging onto a girl’s foolish dream.
“Dane?” I croak, unable to take the heavy silence for a beat longer.
He releases a steady breath, and then, with a glint in his eyes, he says seven little words that blow my mind. “You sure grew up good, Sadie Ray.”
