16. Quinn

16

QUINN

T his was the first time I'd been in the infamous crypts, and I was only here because everyone else was. Despite knowing Roman would be here, I'd believed him when he said he'd stay away from me, and I had to learn how to handle seeing him around the school, until the sight of him stopped affecting me. I longed for the day I'd be indifferent to him.

"I won't let him near you," Aria promised, threading her arm through mine as we descended the stone stairs. I smoothed down the hem of my short dress, glad I'd worn my Converse with it so I could at least attempt to be casual. I didn't want Roman to know how he affected me.

From my vantage point, I could see an archway leading into a large underground chamber far beneath the school. Laid-back beats played from hidden speakers, echoing off the ancient walls, and people were crowded into most of the available floor space, talking, drinking, and chilling. Amidst the haze of smoke clouding the air, I caught a glimpse of raven hair on the cluster of sofas beyond the archway, and my heart beat faster. I immediately averted my gaze, but not before noticing the blonde seated on his lap.

It had taken him less than four hours to move on.

I hadn't been prepared for it to hurt so badly.

Aria stiffened next to me, her sharp gaze taking in the same sight I had. "That motherfucker," she hissed. "Grace, Mira, c'mere. Get our girl a drink, and keep her away from you-know-who while I give that wanker a piece of my mind." Before any of us could reply, she bounded down the final few steps and stormed over to the sofas, pushing through the crowd with ease despite her small stature.

"Oh, shit." I glanced behind me at Gracelyn and Samira.

"Oh, shit is right." Samira grimaced. "Come on. We'd better catch up before anything happens." We followed in Aria's wake as quickly as we could, catching up with her as she rounded the corner of the sofa where Tristan was seated with a girl on either side of him, a joint dangling from his fingers. When he caught sight of the rage on Aria's face, he smirked, his hand shooting out to grab her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. With another jerk of his hand, she lost her balance, falling into his lap with a cry, much to the displeasure of the girls on either side of him.

"Aww, sweetheart, you don't need to throw yourself at me to get my attention," he drawled, banding his arm around her waist to hold her in place. She didn't miss a beat, swinging her body around to straddle his thighs. Their eyes connected, and she raised a disdainful brow.

"What's the matter, head boy? Two girls aren't enough to satisfy you anymore? I hate to disappoint, but I have no interest in joining your little orgy."

He lifted the joint to his lips and inhaled deeply. "Shame," he breathed on an exhale, smoke curling from his mouth.

Aria leaned in, stealing the smoke while the rest of us watched, wide-eyed. "I seem to remember you calling me a drug user. Bit hypocritical, don't you think?"

Tristan leaned in even closer, murmuring something too low to catch, but one of the girls at his side frowned. Aria leaned in and whispered something in his ear, making him chuckle. "You're right. Up you get, little scorpion. Go and shout at Roman so we can get on with enjoying the party."

"Enjoy your orgy," she said sweetly, swinging herself off his lap and blowing him a kiss with her middle finger. He raised his finger in return with a wide grin on his face, and I was so engrossed in watching their bizarre exchange that it took a moment for Tristan's words to register.

Then everything came flooding back in one sickening rush.

Roman.

"Aria, no," I called, drawing everyone's attention, including the one person I didn't want to notice me. I kept my gaze fixed on my friend, well aware of the two sets of eyes across the table. One set bored holes into my skull—Freya—and the other slid over me before pointedly turning away. Roman's gaze was like a burn, but a burn of ice.

Cold. So very cold.

And the jealousy. How I hated it. Hated that I wanted to tear Freya from him, to choose violence, to make sure she never went near him again. That was not me, and the fact that Roman affected me in such a visceral way was just another reason why I needed to forget about him as soon as possible.

Aria glanced at me, and her shoulders slumped. Twisting her head, she bared her teeth at Roman. "Stay the fuck away from my friend, Cavendish," she ground out before dragging me away. I heard Freya mumbling something about how he'd never go near me, but her words were thankfully lost in the crowd. Aria, Gracelyn, and Samira surrounded me, forcing my focus away from the people clustered on the sofas.

After a quick detour to the makeshift bar, Gracelyn thrust a drink into my hand, and I happily accepted it. Holding up my can, I looked at each of my friends in turn. "Tonight, we forget the gods exist."

We clinked our cans together, and a smile crossed Aria's face. "You know what's even better than a god? A goddess. What do you say?"

Unlike the last time I'd been a student at Hatherley Hall, wanting to be a goddess at the ball and somehow ending up as their youngest ever one, it was at the bottom of my list of priorities. I groaned. "You really want me to be one of the goddesses, don't you?"

"Mostly because I'm petty and it would amuse me to see Freya's face if you were crowned. Elena's definitely gonna be one of the three goddesses—that's pretty much a guarantee now she's Knox's girlfriend—and probably Penelope since she's head girl and she was one of the goddesses last year. You need to be the third."

"I'll let you campaign for me if I can campaign for you." I smirked at her when she pulled a disgusted face. "Don't look at me like that. Out of the two of us, you'd probably end up being the one who gets crowned. Everyone likes you. You're popular, whether you want to be or not."

"Ugh, no. Don't even joke about that. Not everyone likes me, anyway. The wannabe goddesses don't."

"Yeah, because they're jealous that Tristan flirts with you all the time," Gracelyn interjected, and Samira nodded.

"She's right. He totally does."

Aria blanched. "That's just wrong. So wrong. If you knew—" She cut herself off, shaking her head. "Whatever. The point is, not everyone likes me."

"Come on." I batted my lashes at her. "Do it for me? Double the chance to oust Freya."

"You do realise the gods and goddesses have to dance together? In front of the whole fucking school? It's a complete farce," she muttered.

"Yeah, and if you're crowned, you can pick Roman and ‘accidentally' knee him in the balls. Or tread on his foot with your heels. Penelope would dance with Tristan, wouldn't she? It makes sense since they're head boy and girl."

"True. Fuck it, okay, I'll let it be known that I'm throwing my hat in the ring. Just for you. But I want it to be known that I'm doing this under duress. And there's no chance I'll get voted in over you, anyway."

"Noted."

We smiled at each other.

A couple of hours later, and the drinks and the atmosphere were beginning to work their magic. I'd made sure I kept my back to Roman, not wanting to witness the point when he invariably took Freya down to the lower level of the crypts, which, as Elena had previously informed me, was where the gods took their girl of the moment when they wanted some privacy. I couldn't deal with that, not yet.

An arm loosely wrapped around my waist, and I turned to see Lincoln, one of the guys from the lacrosse team, grinning down at me. "Tonight is your lucky night, Quinn. You and me—we're gonna get a chance to do what we should've been doing before you left us all behind to move to Switzerland." He paused, his brows pulling together. "Uh, maybe not back then, but whatever, we need a chance to do this now."

"And ‘this' is?"

His grin widened. "First, you have to dance with me. Then I'll tell you."

I glanced around us. There were a few people dancing, including Gracelyn and Samira, their thighs sliding together as Samira ran her hands down Gracelyn's back. But most importantly, there was no sign of Roman.

"Go on," Aria whispered from my side. "He's hot and not as much of an asshole as certain team members I could mention."

"Such a glowing character reference," I murmured, amused, but let Lincoln tug me over to the space where the others were dancing. At least he wouldn't ring any alarm bells with my parents—although I hoped I was out of their reach down here. I placed my hands lightly on his shoulders, but he shook his head.

"Nah, that's not how we dance. We dance dirrrty," he said with a smirk, spinning me around and pulling me back against his chest. His hands landed on my hips, moving us to the heady beat of the music thrumming through the stone cavern. Across from me, Knox and Elena were wrapped up in each other, less…dancing and more…grinding. I tore my gaze away from them, but not before Lincoln noticed.

"If I play my cards right, that could be you and me later."

Why did that sentence feel so wrong? He was gorgeous, a lacrosse player, and, from what I knew of him, nowhere near as arrogant as most of the elite were. I should know. I'd been one of them once, back when Roman had been on the fringes. Now, he was in the centre, and I was the one on the outside.

Instead of replying, I kept dancing, gradually losing myself in the music and the feel of a warm body pressed against mine without any expectations…at least, not yet.

Lincoln's head dipped to my ear. "All this dancing is thirsty work. Wanna grab a drink?"

I nodded, and he released his hold on my hips but placed a hand at the small of my back as we pressed through the crowds. It was only when we reached the wall that I realised the direction he'd led us was taking us straight past the sofas where Roman was still sitting. Freya was still in his lap, but now she was straddling his thighs, and he was—he was— Is he kissing her neck?

My breath stuttered. Biting down on my lip, I somehow managed to stifle my gasp. I curled my fingers into my palms, the sting of my nails grounding me, and leaned into Lincoln, using his big body to shield me from the sight. He responded instantly, moving his hand from the small of my back to slide his arm around my waist instead. As far as I knew, only Roman's inner circle, my roommates, and Penelope were aware of what had gone down between me and Roman. I'd told my roommates the basics, and Penelope had a general idea based on the small details she'd picked up on and the few things I'd mentioned to her in passing. I mentally crossed my fingers, hoping everyone else was none the wiser, and did my best to act like I was unaffected by the sight. And it turned out that Lincoln was completely unaware because as we passed the sofas, he shoved at Roman's shoulder.

"Get a fucking room, bro."

Roman blinked slowly, lifting his head, and I could see his pupils were wide and glassy and a little unfocused. Probably high or drunk or both. A lazy smile curled across his lips.

"Thought I'd give you a free show."

"I don't need a show. I've got my girl right here." Lincoln moved suddenly, and then Roman's bleary gaze was on mine.

It was as if someone had thrown a bucket of icy water over him. The haze instantly disappeared, and his jaw clenched so tightly I could hear his teeth grinding together.

"Get the fuck away from her."

Lincoln reeled back at the venom in his tone. "What the fuck, Ro? Why?"

"Because I fucking said so. If you know what's good for you, you'll do it."

Lincoln stiffened. "No. If you've got a claim on Quinn, that's one thing, but from where I'm standing, you already picked your girl for the night."

Roman blinked again, his gaze sliding to Freya. She wound her arms around his neck, kissing the side of his head, and I had to turn my back, which meant that I was facing Lincoln directly. He tilted my chin up gently, lowering his head, and I was frozen in place?—

There was a high-pitched shriek from the direction of the sofas, and two seconds later, Lincoln was gone from in front of me, his head swinging to the side as Roman punched him in the face. He roared in pain and anger, lunging for Roman, and then people were diving out of the way—including me—as the two of them went at each other. Tristan leapt to his feet, shouting for Knox, and we were suddenly surrounded by half the lacrosse team, pulling their two teammates apart.

"What the fuck is going on?" I'd never seen Tristan so livid. "You don't attack a fucking teammate!"

Roman snarled like an animal, and it really, really shouldn't have been hot. There was something seriously wrong with me. Seeing him standing there, his chest heaving, rage in his eyes, his fists still clenched as he bared his teeth at his best friend…it did something to me.

"Ro." Tristan stepped closer, lowering his voice, and I was only able to hear him because I was pressed against the wall right behind them. That, and the fact that the crypt had gone silent other than the music still playing, with everyone focused on the drama happening between the elite. "You can't afford to get into any more shit, and he's our teammate. How are you gonna explain his black eye to Saunders? What if you'd hurt him and he couldn't play?"

"He fought back—why the fuck am I the one you're having a go at?"

"Because you started it. I saw you."

"Fuck this. I don't need this shit." Roman pushed past him, heading straight for the door that led to the lower level of the crypts, and wrenched it open. As it slammed behind him, the main crypt gradually filled with noise again.

Freya rose from where she'd been sprawled on the side of the sofa, her wide eyes meeting mine. They narrowed when our gazes connected, and she opened her mouth. "I'm going to comfort Roman."

"No, you're not," Tristan and I both said at the same time. He glanced at me, nodding towards the door Roman had just gone through, and I returned his nod. Satisfied, he turned back to Lincoln, directing him to take a seat on the sofa while another of their team members held a makeshift ice pack to his face. Freya shot me a savage glare and went to move, but I raised my palm in a universal "stop" gesture. "Don't even think about it," I hissed. Before she could reply, I turned my back to her. I forgot all about the threats of my parents, about all the reasons why this was a bad idea.

Sucking in a breath and squaring my shoulders, I headed towards the door that led downstairs.