The Vengeance You Crave by Tracy Lorraine
Peyton
Ifeel him the second I step out of the building, just like I did last night when my shift ended. But just like last night, he remains in the shadows, lurking, watching me, probably scheming up all the ways he can torture me.
I try to force myself to be scared, but I'm not. I might not be able to predict Luca's actions, the things he's thinking like I once could, but one thing has not changed. When I'm with him, I feel safe. Which is ironic because he should be the person I'm most terrified of right now.
Keeping my eyes focused on the dark corner of the lot, I move toward my car waiting for him to emerge. But he never does.
As I drop down into my driver’s seat, I can't deny the disappointment that races down my spine. I shiver, my skin prickling with coldness that he's keeping his distance.
It's what I should want. But I don't.
At least if he's in front of me then I have half a chance of making him see the truth, of being able to convince him that I never once lied to him. That what I told him, although hard to hear and accept, was the truth.
I sigh, thinking of that sweet little boy hopefully tucked up in his bed at Aunt Fee's. He never asked for this. He doesn't deserve this. It's why I do this. I look up to the building, my fingers curling into fists. Tonight wasn't bad. It wasn't like Tuesday night, but still. It's not good. It's still not where I actually want to be.
With a long sigh, I start my car and pull out of the lot. I'm hardly surprised when headlights come on behind me and follow me out.
My heart jumps into my throat that he could be going to the same place as me. I didn't want to go to this party, but if he's going to be there, then… shit. Then it's exactly where I want to be.
"Shit," I hiss to myself as I turn down the street for the frat houses.
I glance in my mirror, expecting him to still be tailing me, but he's gone.
My heart sinks. Does he not care now I'm away from The Locker Room? What exactly is he waiting for, the opportunity for someone else to accost me like he did the other night?
The thought that he could be protecting me flickers through my mind. That's what the old Luca would have done but I squash the thought immediately because there's no way it's that.
He just wants to torture me, punish me. Prove that I'm nothing better than a filthy liar.
The knot in my stomach grows as I pull up somewhere close to where tonight's party is being held. The street is lined with cars and people all dressed similarly to how I should be.
All I've got to do is send one message and my little makeover team will appear to ensure I look the part.
Or I could make some excuse and head home to curl up in my bed.
"Argh," I scream when someone bangs on my car window, making me jump off the seat in fright. But when I look up, it's just a group of drunk guys enjoying their night.
They soon move on, leaving me in the solitude of my car but I know I can't sit out here all night, so I need to make a decision.
Pulling my cell from my purse, I send the message I need to and wait.
Not six minutes later do Ella and Letty come racing down the street. Letty looks relatively sober but Ella looks about as wrecked as she was on Wednesday night. This is not going to be good.
They both look like goddesses as they get closer. The pristine white sheet looks insane against Letty’s bronzed skin and Ella’s toga shows off every one of her wicked curves.
I feel completely inadequate as they descend on me.
Ella rips open my door and smiles down at me.
"Get in the back, girl," she slurs. "I need to work my magic."
Somewhat reluctantly, I climb from the seat.
"Here, you might need this," Letty says, handing me a small bottle of vodka.
"Thank you," I say, taking it from her.
She takes my seat, although sits backward so she can watch me get attacked by Ella in the back.
"Makeup," she demands and Letty throws my purse through the seats to her.
It's dark out so I have no clue how I'm going to look after this, but I go with it. Ella might be trashed but I trust Letty enough not to let me walk into the party looking like Frankenstein.
"Off," she demands, shoving the last of my makeup back into its bag.
I pull my tank off and shimmy out of my skirt.
"Off," she says again, looking down at my boobs.
"Umm…" Glancing over her shoulder, I take in the people that are still loitering out on the street.
"We've seen a pair of tits before, girl."
Reaching behind me, I unsnap the fabric. "It wasn't you two I was worried about.”
"No one will see anything. I'll be like lightning."
I stare at her in the shadows now Letty has turned the interior light off so my naked breasts aren't like a homing beacon for horny college guys. She doesn't respond to the incredulous look on my face. She is way too far gone to do anything at the speed of light, other than falling face-first to the floor, I'm sure.
But much to my surprise, no sooner has my bra left my skin does the softness of the sheet wrap around me and I breathe a sigh of relief.
"I don't know what you're worried about, your tits are insane. If I swung the other way, I totally would." Ella winks.
"Oh my God," Letty groans with a laugh.
"What? She's got a great rack. Any guy would be lucky to have a pop on those babies."
"You need to be cut off," Letty tells her, reaching for the bottle Ella stashed amongst my discarded clothes.
"Nah, what I need is to get laid and that is certainly not going to happen while we're hiding in here. So come on, I'll pin the rest outside.”
I look down at myself showing off way more skin than I was when we had our little fitting session the other night.
"Are you sure this is—"
"You look hot, now get out."
Unable to do anything but what I'm told, I slip my shoes on and slide out of the back of the car.
There are a few shouts and whistles as I emerge. I have no idea if it's a coincidence and I don't dare look up to find out.
Ella attacks the back of my toga, making me feel a little more secure in the thing now before running her fingers through my hair and making me twirl around to show them both the final look.
"Banging. Now let's go get drunk and dance the night away."
"Get drunk?" I mutter, much to Letty's amusement.
Ella throws my purse at me, allowing me to lock my car, and with them on either side of me, we head toward the house. To my first college party at MKU.
I'm sure it's a cookie-cutter duplicate of the ones back at Trinity, drunk college kids making memories that will embarrass them for the rest of their lives. There's only one difference here. I have no idea if Luca is inside this building or not. And if he's not here right now, he could turn up at any moment.
My heart tumbles in my chest and my steps falter as we get to the front door.
"Are you okay?" Letty asks.
"Y-yeah. That vodka hit me. I need food," I admit.
I went home between classes and work. Aunt Fee had made dinner but I could only pick at it, too anxious about what tonight was going to hold to really stomach any of it. But even though my nerves are completely shot right now, I know I need something before the alcohol hits me too hard and I make an even bigger mess of my life tonight.
At some point on the way to the kitchen, Ella disappears into the crowd but Letty makes sure I get there and deposits me by the mass of food that's been arranged on the kitchen island.
"Ah, a girl after my own heart," a familiar voice says as I reach for a handful of chips.
Looking over, I find one of the guys who lives in Ella and Violet's dorm. He's dressed in a toga—obviously—the loose fabric hanging from one shoulder and leaving very little to the imagination. If I didn't already know he was on the team then it wouldn't be hard to guess from looking at him.
It makes me wonder how well he knows Luca. If they're close. Was he one of the guys standing outside the coffee shop with him on Monday? Hell, I have no idea how well Ella or Letty know Luca.
"Hey, um…"
"Brax," he says.
"Y-yeah, of course."
"It's easy to remember. I'm the good-looking, smart one."
I chuckle at his idiocy. "I'll try to remember that."
"Our girl is looking hot, right?" Letty says, handing me a red Solo cup.
"Hell yes, shame I've already been warned off." His eyes drop down the length of me, lingering on the side boob that Ella left me with before finally meeting my eyes.
"Ah look, the ugly, dense one," I deadpan as West joins us making both Brax and Letty choke on their recently sipped drinks.
"Uh… got an issue, new girl?" he asks, although there's no malice behind his words.
"No. Brax here was just telling me that I can tell him apart from you because he's the good-looking, smart one."
"Is that right?" he asks, turning to his friend.
"Only telling the lady the truth." Brax shrugs.
"I'm banging your girl tonight."
"I don't have a girl."
"Nope because your cock is so small that no one wants to bounce on it. But whoever you end up dancing with, she's mine, motherfucker. I'll show her how a real man does it."
"Fuck you, man. You've only got all of that on display in the hopes of distracting them from the reality under your toga."
"Oookay. As fun as this little cock measuring contest is," Letty says lightly. "We've got places to be."
With her arm around my shoulders, she leads me away from the guys and out of the kitchen. The music gets louder as we weave together through the crowds and toward the back of the house.
"Oh wow," I breathe, taking in the floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase the twinkling lights and pool in the garden.
"Yeah, the Kappas have a pretty sweet thing going on," Letty says beside me. "There's El and Vi, come on." She nods to the crowd but I have no chance of seeing them with all the people grinding it up on the makeshift dance floor. I do, however, look around for someone else, but I don't see him anywhere.
Plastering a smile on my face, I follow Letty through the crowd and lose myself to the music pounding through the speakers almost the second we join the other two.
"Your man not here tonight?" I shout to Letty. I was kind of hoping to meet this enigma of a man who's stolen her heart.
"Yeah, he is," she calls back. "He's with some friends. I'm sure he'll find me before too long.”
And she's not wrong because not two songs later does the crowd before us part and a hot but slightly terrifying guy marches straight up to Letty, wraps his hand around her throat and slams his lips down on hers.
Whoa.
My temperature spikes just watching them as he crushes her slender body against his and totally consumes her.
I'm immediately taken back to having Luca squashing me between his hard body and his car. How would that have felt if it were fueled by desire, not hate and vengeance.
"You get used to them eventually. Just be glad you never experienced living in a dorm with them," Ella shouts in my ear as she rests her arms over my shoulders, encouraging me to dance with her.
"That good, huh?"
"My batteries died."
I bark out a laugh as we're joined by the other guys. Brax steps up behind Ella, his eyes flicking between the two of us rolling our hips to the music.
"Now this is something I can get on board with," he announces happily.
"Shut up, you dog," Ella snaps, but with a wink, she turns her back on me and begins dancing with him. He whispers something in her ear and she throws her head back with a laugh.
Jealousy washes through me at their easy relationship. West has Violet in his arms, the two of them enjoying themselves in the same relaxed manner.
My heart sinks as I think of years gone by when I'd have got that same comfort and enjoyment from dancing with Luc.
"Dance with me?" a voice says over my shoulder.
Spinning, I find their final dorm member. Only, he hardly resembles the guy I met briefly on Wednesday night as he ripped into the other two. His geeky glasses are gone and his hair has been styled away from his face. He looks… hot. And the fact I know that he's not a part of the team—or at least I assumed he's not seeing as he looked more nerd than jock the other night—means I'm even more drawn to him.
With a smile, I hold my hand out to him. "I'd love to."
Drinks are delivered to us courtesy of a few of the freshman team members and after being assured that they're totally trustworthy by everyone, I happily knock each one back until all my limbs begin to feel heavy and my head starts to swim.
It's the best I've felt in a long time as I move my body against Micah, a wide smile splitting my face as we all enjoy ourselves and just for a few hours, I'm able to let go.
Coming here was the right decision tonight. I have no idea what I was even so worried about.
