Removing his hand from my shoulder, I spit blood at his feet. “You better.”

I wait for him to nod before I swipe my gym bag off the floor.

“You were really something out there,” someone purrs.

When I turn around, I see a leggy brunette smiling at me. She’s wearing a pair of black booty shorts and her white tank top is knotted just below her tits, showing off her toned abdomen.

But that’s not what has me smiling back.

She goes by Candi Kane at the Bashful Beaver.

The same place Aspen works.

Her gaze lingers on my bare chest and she worries her bottom lip between her teeth. “You want to get out of here?”

Her breathy tone and the way she’s looking at me make it obvious that subtlety isn’t her style.

I jerk my chin toward the door. “My jeep is outside.”

I watch the way her throat works as she swallows. The rapid way her pulse thrums against her flesh.

She’s not the one I want.

But she’ll do.

For now.

Chapter 10

Aspen

I turn my focus back to my locker when I see them saunter down the hallway, hoping like hell they stroll past me without stopping.

No such luck though, because a moment later the sounds of their heels clicking on the terrazzo floor come to a halt.

“Hey, Aspen.”

Dammit.

Nothing good ever comes from my exchanges with Traci and Staci—two popular cheerleaders with chips on their shoulders the size of Texas.

Refusing to make eye contact, I switch my history textbook out for my biology one.

“Traci.” I try to clear the bitterness out of my throat but fail, “Staci.”

I can practically feel their eyes boring holes into me, and I brace myself to be insulted.

Only to my surprise, it doesn’t happen.

“What are you doing tonight?” Traci asks instead.

It’s a trick question. I know damn well the second I tell them I’m either studying or working, they’ll make some dumb quip about me being a nerd who doesn’t have any friends.

Bitches.

I go with the safer of the two options. “Working.”

“Well, do you think you can take the night off?” Staci chimes in.

That’s…odd.

Curious, I tilt my head to look at them. “Why?”

Traci flips her long blonde hair over her shoulder. Seconds later, Staci does the same.

Even though they aren’t related, they somehow look like clones of one another. Perfect, silky blonde hair, bright blue eyes, tall with mile-long legs, and of course they’re both a willowy size zero.

Not that there’s anything wrong with being a size zero…

Unless you’re a cunt who likes to make those who aren’t feel inferior like these two do.

A trickle of jealousy washes over me because I wish I were as pretty—and skinny—as they are.

That said, I’d rather look like me than ever act like them.

Yet—I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t still a small part of me that wishes I were popular and fit in.

Sometimes it gets lonely being an outcast.

“We want to hang out.”

It’s all I can do not to drop the stack of books in my arms.

I blink in disbelief, effectively thrown. “With me?”

Staci laughs. “Yeah, silly.”

“Why?”

It’s a legitimate question, given they’re so much higher on the food chain than I am. Not to mention the little jabs they’ve both thrown my way over the years.

“Well,” Traci begins, “senior year will be over soon, and we realized that we haven’t been very nice to you.”

Staci nods in agreement. “We don’t want that kind of bad karma on our conscience, so we were hoping to make amends.”

Yeah, this conversation just went from odd to super fucking weird.

Since when do Traci and Staci have a conscience or give a shit about karma?

On the other hand, who the hell am I to snub either of them for trying to be a better person?

“It’s fine,” I tell them, slamming my locker shut. “We’re cool.”

Staci takes her compact out of her purse. “Does that mean you’ll come chill after school?”

“Can’t,” I mutter. “I have to work.”

I’m about to walk away, but then Traci says, “Well, if you can’t hang out tonight, then what are you doing this weekend?”

“There’s a bonfire party at Devil’s Bluff Lake,” Staci adds.

I’ve heard all about the parties at Devil’s Bluff, but until now I’ve never been invited to one.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to decline, but then Traci utters, “Come on, Aspen. Don’t be such a loser. Come with.”

Staci smirks. “We can even do your hair and makeup beforehand.”

Traci chews on her bottom lip as if she’s pondering something. “Maybe you can tell Knox and he can come, too?”

There it is. They’re not being nice to me to make amends. They’re being nice because they’re hoping it will get them closer to Knox.

Which is strange because everyone at Black Mountain is terrified of him.

Then again, I’ve caught Traci and Staci talking about how hot he is while applying their lipstick in the girls’ room more than once. Gross.

Knox would rather swallow nails than go to that party. He might be a homicidal freak, but his disdain for the bullshit social hierarchy around here is something I can respect.

I shake my head. “Sorry—”

“Ken Ruckman will be there,” Staci chirps.

Traci grins. “Word on the street is that he really wants you to come.”

If that were the case, he’d ask me himself.

Not that it would matter because my crush on Ken is ancient history, and I have a boyfriend.

Well, not a boyfriend on account he’s definitely not a boy.

Not to mention…married.

Maybe that’s why I find myself saying yes.

Not because of Ken…

But because for once it would be nice to fit in, act like an eighteen-year-old, and have a sense of normalcy in my life for a night.

“Ginger, I need you out on stage in five,” Freddie says from the doorway.