Run Bad Boy Run

Chapter 16

It's like my brain has blown a fuse.

Nothing can process properly.

I can't move. I can't think.

All I can do is stand like a dumbfounded idiot and watch as my best friend plays tonsil hockey in a hot tub with someone who promised to make my life miserable, while a pissed-off bad guy with a knife is somewhere in this crowd waiting to gut me.

You said you wanted this year to be different—congratulations, it's worse!

Hayden's hand is cupped around the back of Gabby's neck and he cradles her against his chest, moving his head to deepen the connection of their lips. His eyes flutter open when she wraps her free arm around his neck, and once he's got a glimpse of me gawking at them from across the hot tub, his molten eyes are right on me. Staring into mine, glittering in surprise. Then amusement.

Look what I've done.

It thickens the boil in my blood until every ounce of alcohol in my system has evaporated into fury-filled sobriety. The mind-warping buzz of alcohol I had felt moments before vanishes almost instantly.

"Gabriella!"

Feeling my body coming back into my control, I march forward and push past a few guys reeking of booze. They don't seem to hear me.

"Get a room!" someone shouts from behind me.

"Let me watch!" another pig hollers.

I grit my teeth and let the comment slide. If this were any other day, I would turn around and gladly rip the face off of whoever said that.

Right now, I want to rip Hayden's off.

"Cross!" I scream, shoving my arms between them to pry Hayden and Gabby apart. My stomach rolls seeing Gabriella's cast completely submerged in water and the fact that the tent in Hayden's pants is so clearly visible through the water. I grab my confused best friend and yank her to her feet. "Gabby, get up!"

She looks at me and gives me a lopsided smile, eyes fluttering as she sinks neck deep into the hot water. I'll have to figure out a way to get her out after I rip Hayden a new one.

"Emmy!" she slurs.

"Gabby, what are you doing?"

"I'm just—" her gaze swings to Hayden and she stops, expression growing confused. She looks from me to Hayden and I can see her brain begin to register her previous actions. The crowd around us hushes into barely a whisper, greedy for whatever drama is about to unfold. And when the realization finally hits her, Gabby rips her arm out of my grasp, horrified, and the student council president takes a wobbly step back before she stumbles and crashes into the water with a giant splash. Everyone bursts into laughter.

Hastily swinging a leg over the edge of the in-ground hot tub, I help Gabriella to her feet. "What the fuck, Cross!"

"We would've gotten there if you didn't interrupt." Hayden points out.

That earns a few howls from the guys. I glare at a few with as much hatred as I possibly can and the satisfaction of seeing fear in their eyes makes heat swell in my chest.

"You stupid arrogant asshole," I spit, gripping the edge of the hot tub once Gabby is safely behind me. I'm shaking with each word. As much as I want to blow up and raise all hell, I can't lose my temper. It would only make things worse. It's what Hayden wants to do because he knows how easily he can get me if I'm blinded by rage. And besides, there's still another psycho maniac in this house who wants to get me. "Why did you have to do this? Gabby did nothing wrong! What comes out of humiliating her? This is a fight between you and me, that's it!"