Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Nova

To my utter shock Vox parks in the driveway next to my new house and kills the engine as Vi announces that this is their house. I don’t comment as I climb off Hayze's lap and out of the car. I call out my thanks for the ride and try to escape back to my house, but I’m yanked backward by my arm. I spin around ready to fight but when I slam into Vox’s chest I’m rendered immobile, his blue eyes pierce me and hold me captive. Vivian’s plea for him to let me go falls on deaf ears when I see Archer wrap an arm around her waist to hold her back.

“You can fuck with Nexus all you want but you don’t fuck with my sister or use her.” His voice sends shivers down my spine, my body is flushed with heat from being this close to him. His eyes blaze with anger but I can’t stop myself from drinking in his features, his cupid bow or the hard set of his jaw. I flick my gaze to see his hair for the first time now that his hood is off. It's long enough to be tucked behind his ears and is black as night.

“Your sister is the one who came after me, dickwad,” I manage to grit out.

His eyes narrow. “Don’t fuck with Vivian or you will have me to deal with.”

My brows raise, I drape my free arm on his shoulder and press up onto my tiptoes. Rather than giving me the satisfaction of pulling back he remains still, I ghost my lips over his and hold his gaze as I speak.

“Don’t threaten me or you won’t like the raging bitch I become, Voxy.” His eyes darken. Before he can say or do anything, I place a chaste kiss to his lips, shocking not only him, but myself. I then tear free of his hold and dart across the lawn back to my house with his friend’s laughter following after me.

“Game on for real, witch!” Vox calls after me as I step through the front door. I slam it closed and lock it. His words have a pit of dread settling in my gut, I think I have just made an enemy of the wrong guy and I don’t know why the hell that thought sends a thrill through me. I race up the stairs to my room and lock the door in case Nexus thinks to come in when he gets home. I strip off my clothes, leaving me in nothing but my panties as I rummage through my drawers and pull out one of Waylen’s old shirts and tug it on.

Sadness sours my mood. God, I miss him so fucking much.

I’m woken on Monday morning to the sound of my phone ringing. I’m not a morning person and it pisses me the fuck off when people smile and are happy first thing when they wake up. No one is fucking happy at the ass crack of dawn. I reach for my phone blindly and bring it to my ear without checking who it is.

“Someone better be fucking dead!” I grit out.

“Baby, that is no way to greet your man.” At the sound of his voice, I smile and pop my eyes open. I stretch out on my plush bed and change the call to Facetime. The second his handsome face graces the screen I smile wide. “There’s my girl.”

“Fuck, I miss you!” I whine.

Sadness clouds his eyes at my words. “I know, same here babe, same here.”

I change the subject, trying to bring the conversation back to a lighter tone. “What’s been happening back home?” Waylen begins telling me everything that I have missed since the whirlwind wedding and moving across the country. Truth is, I don’t care about anything that has happened since I’ve been gone, I just like listening to the sound of his voice.

“You ready for your first day of your rich school?” His brown eyes are alight with mischief. I groan and turn my face into the pillow. “Bring that beautiful face back here!” I turn back to the screen and glare playfully at him, Waylen is my best friend and my rock. I don’t know if I would have survived middle school or even high school without him—he has been by my side through everything. He was there three years ago when mom first got diagnosed with breast cancer. She beat that fucker, thank God, but it was a hard time for me.

“I don’t want to go.” I pout at the screen, causing him to laugh and shake his head.

“Too bad, get that sexy ass out of bed and get ready for your first day.”

“I wish you were coming with me.”

A whoosh of air escapes him. “I know, me too. But, you are not going to sulk in bed and skip school. Get your ass up, go shower, then you can tell me all about your weekend.” I do as he demands. When I enter the bathroom, I switch the camera off and start the shower as I tell him about the bonfire Friday night and how I spent the rest of the weekend holed up in my room, except for meal times—there I ignored Nexus and his attempts to try and speak to me. I tell him about what happened with Vox and how I kissed him as I dry myself. A look of hurt flashes through his eyes for a second before he quickly masks it. I turn my camera back on when I have my towel wrapped around me.

“What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing.” I don’t call him on his bullshit. “This Vivian sounds like our kind of girl.”

I smirk as I begin doing my hair. “She is definitely not what I expected, that’s for sure.” It’s true, I could actually see myself being friends with Vivian, she seems like a chick who doesn’t beat around the bush and can’t be fucked with drama.

“What are you planning on doing with your new harem?” I snort and shoot him a dirty look.

“Absolutely fucking nothing, but my harem doesn’t exist. I just need to get through the remainder of the year, then you and I can fulfill our plans of traveling to Rome and touring the world.” It’s a pipe dream for sure but ever since we were little, Waylen and I made a pact that when we graduated we would say fuck it to college for a year and travel the world and we’d start our journey in Rome.

“I guess we should start saving for this trip, huh?” I laugh and nod as I start to get dressed. Waylen turns away from the camera and that is just another thing I love about him. I remain on the phone while I finish getting dressed and make my way downstairs. My mom kisses me goodbye and wishes me good luck, then chats with Waylen for a minute before saying bye and shooing me out the door. I expect to be making my way to the bus stop down the street but the sight of Vox leaning against his car with his arms crossed over his chest in my driveway has me slamming to a stop. I can’t see his eyes, thanks to the sunglasses he wears. I run my gaze over him in appreciation, the uniform fits him perfectly—the white shirt is taut across his chest, and the navy-blue slacks hug his thick thighs. When he drops his hands back to his sides, it’s then I notice that he has tattoos on the tops of his hands. I dart my gaze back to his face and my jaw unhinges at the sight of the ink on his neck. How the fuck did I miss that on Friday?

“Babe?” Vox frowns and then suddenly I remember Waylen, I tear my gaze from him and look down at my phone. Waylen’s brows are bunched and he looks worried, I open my mouth to answer him but suddenly my phone is snatched out of my hand.

“Give that back, you asshole!” I scream as I jump for my phone when he holds it above his head. He turns the screen to him and I see Way’s eyes widen at the sight of Vox.

“The witch is busy,” he says, then ends the call… My fucking call, and pockets my phone. When I dart forward to grab it, he stops me with a hand around my throat. I still immediately and stare up at him. “Don’t fucking push me, I promised my sister I would get your ass to school so get the fuck in the car, witch, now .” I just stare at him, I have never had some guy lay their hands on me like this before, it's shocking and slightly… exhilarating.

He releases me, turns, and doesn’t bother to look back to see if I’m following. When Nexus comes out the front door and beeps the key fob for his car, I decide to say fuck it and throw caution to the wind. I dash after Vox, feeling Nexus’ glare on the back of my head the whole way as I slip inside the car. Once inside, I meet his gaze through the windshield and flip him the bird. Vox says nothing as he starts the car and reverses out, it’s only when I look in the back I notice that we are not alone. Ezekiel, Archer, and Hayze are all sitting in the back, looking like they would rather be anywhere but in this car with me.

“Morning, sugar.” Despite the look on Hayze’s face, his tone is easy and kind. I shoot him a tight-lipped smile and turn back to stare out the windshield, suddenly feeling all kinds of out of place. Friday night proved these guys are gods among the living. Pulling up to my new school with them isn’t going to make me popular, if anything it is going to put me in the firing range of every single female. I huff and cross my arms over my chest as I slide down in my seat.

“Sit the fuck up,” Ezekiel snaps. I scoff but don’t bother responding.

Fuck them!

“You have three seconds to do as he says, or I’ll make you.” I turn my head and glare at Vox.

“Fuck. You. Voxy.” The last word has barely left my mouth before he yanks the wheel to the side. Gravel spits up from the side of the road when he slams on the brakes. I don’t have any fucking time to prepare or defend myself before one of his hands is around my throat and the other is tangled in my hair. He uses his hold on me to yank me up. A whimper escapes me when I feel some of my hair rip out of my scalp. I try to bat his hands away but all it does is force him to tighten his grip on me so I can’t take a full breath. “Get the fuck off me!” I grit out.

“You need to learn who the fuck is in charge here because it isn’t you, witch. You survive for as long as I deem fit. You say anything to my sister and I will make you wish that you never survived coming out of your mommy's washed-up snatch.” At the mention of my mom, I see red. I strike out and slap him across his face, keeping my shock from splaying across my face and school my features.

“Don’t you ever speak about my mom!” I feel angry tears prick the backs of my eyes and force them to remain at bay. I will never give this bastard the satisfaction of seeing me cry.