Bow Down To Your King

Chapter 16

ZEKE POV

Point Total: 0

I walked down the hall, knowing I couldn't avoid Jared for much longer. He'd ask his nosey questions, I'd barely answer them, and we'd both end the conversation annoyed and wondering why we bothered teaming up in the first place.

Something I asked myself a lot recently.

It was true, you can't room with your sex game manager.

But Julia made the trouble worth it, right?

I walked into the dorm, ready for Jared to give me the fifth degree. Instead, I was greeted with cold, bitchy silence. I rolled my eyes at the back of his head while he pretended like he didn't hear my keys get stuck in the door and my aggressive attempts to yank them free.

Finally, I shut the door and fell back onto my bed, enjoying the steely silence.

St. Anne's was a lot of things, but it wasn't quiet. In a few hours, I fully expected to hear my neighbors banging against the walls, trying feebly to beat my insurmountable level of whoredom.

They'd never win, but boy do they try.

Then, just as I shut my eyes and began to slip away, away from school, expectations, even Julia, the fuckening began.

They thumped aggressively against the drywall as if attempting to frighten me with their sorry excuse for sex.

"At least someone is earning points," Jared scoffed, shattering any semblance of peace I had.

Ugh.

I didn't owe him an explanation. I didn't owe him anything, at least not until I won. But still, I gave in to his snark. "I am earning points. We went to the garden today."

The garden, where I earned five hundred points a trip on any normal All Saints season, where Julia kissed me, where I realized that I'd once again be returning to my dorm with nothing.

Nothing except a boner.

"And you fucked?" Jared asked, turning to face me, already knowing the answer.

"Not yet."

He sighed, "I told you so."

There was something in his expression that pissed me off. Something defeated, annoyed, disappointed.

"We kissed," I said, already sharing more information than I intended to. I wanted to say it was none of his business, but it was.

If you want to get technical.

Jared handled the scheduling, I earned the points.

If I didn't earn points, he wouldn't get his twenty percent share of the prize money.

"You did?" His dull eyes lit up, "That's what, a thousand points?" Jared said, rushing to his computer, "Where's the photo?"

"There isn't a photo," I said, dashing his hopes quickly, mercilessly.

Unlike that egomaniac next door that lets girls believe they would be satisfied by his erratic thumping.

"What?" Jared frowned.

I'm speaking English.

"I'm building her trust." And losing all my credibility in the process.

Jared huffed, "You're supposed to be building your point total."

I stayed quiet, wondering if he was right. If focusing all my attention on Julia was stupid, I was a goddamn moron.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do," I said, not even convincing myself.

***

JULIA POV

Point Total: 1,350

I stared at the photo, trying not to focus on the way my tongue stuck out in the image. Zeke held me tight, so tight, and from an onlooker's perspective, he was clearly enjoying our moment.

The proof was hard to miss.

I diverted my attention away from his crotch.

Katie would submit the whole video alongside the picture to guarantee the emergency points if the need arises.

"And you won't upload it yet, right?" I asked, knowing that the moment she did, Zeke would know I was a competitor in the game.

I didn't need him suspicious.

"Not until the last week," Katie said, unbraiding her hair and shaking out the leaves. Apparently, a spider landed on her shoulder, startling her out of hiding and nearly blowing our cover. "He'll flip out as soon as he realizes you're using him."

She's right.

There would be no more easy points after that.

"But that kiss..." Katie said, laying down her comb and sitting on the edge of my bed. I shifted away from her, suddenly feeling the need to pull my knees to my chest and hide in the corner.

That kiss, I thought, trying not to relive it, again.

I handed her the photo, eager to get rid of it. "What about it?"

She shrugged, "I had no idea you were such a good actress."

I stared at my feet, hoping she didn't notice the pink hue taking over my face. "I was in a few plays."

Always a member of the crew, but she didn't need to know that.

"Right," she said, staring at her own, whimsical posters lining the walls. Unlike me, she was certain she'd remain at St. Anne's until graduation. Shortly after her politician dad died, her mother remarried and the stepfather couldn't be trusted around flirty, blonde coeds in short skirts. Hence, the banishment. "You know you wouldn't be the first one to fall for his charms."

I groaned, annoyed by the idea. "I'm not."

"He's very convincing," she said, softly, not accusatory.

"Katie," I snapped. I didn't mean to sound so serious, so pissed, but I did.

My roommate, and arguably my only friend, stood up, leaving me on my side of the room to doubt the effectiveness of my own plan. "I'm just saying."

I shook my head. "He's just a means to an end."