Tiny Dark Deeds: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Court Legacy Book 3)

Sloane

Lunch with Legacy had been quiet lately, mostly on my part. Dorian and I still weren’t really talking to each other.

I think he was trying to give me space.

He eyed me while Ares talked to him about something on the other side of the table, the dark prince dipping his fry into ketchup. Generally, he tended to do that, juggling eating, conversation, and staring at me. It was like he was trying to remind me that he was still there and wasn’t going anywhere.

How could I forget?

I was well aware of his presence, just as I was about the conversation that’d blown up between us the other day. Gratefully, the Legacy table wasn’t just Dorian and me, and lately, the boys had been letting more people sit with us. This kept the constant attention off me, which was especially nice since Bow and Bru didn’t always sit with us. Bru typically missed most lunches. He studied a lot in the library, and though I didn’t know where Bow was when she didn’t eat here, I figured it was more academic stuff. She was a brain just like Bru.

Thatcher and Wells were pure entertainment in themselves. Currently, Thatcher was juggling about five oranges while Wells egged him on, a Court guy under Wells’s arm. I think he was seeing the guy, but I wasn’t sure. The redhead tended to frequent our table the most when Wells brought others, and the guy clapped Thatcher on with the other Court guys and girls who were eating with us today.

Actually, Thatcher had drawn quite a crowd, and even some of the lunch staff was watching from their serving stations. I think that was why none of us saw Bow coming, a bottle of chocolate milk in her hand. I lifted my hand to say hey when I saw her, but stopped when I noticed her face, her cheeks red. She almost looked like she’d been crying, and she didn’t stop for me. She actually walked past my side onto her brother’s end of the table.

Thatcher caught the oranges. “Sup?”

Bow threw the milk, the chocolatey drink exploding in her brother’s direction, but it didn’t hit her brother.

It hit Wells beside him.

The platinum blond launched out of his chair, him, the redhead beside him, and the girl next to him all within the line of fire. Wells had gotten the brunt of it, though, which meant Bow had obviously aimed for him. The chocolate beverage covered Wells’s stark blond locks down to his dark roots, his chest completely soaked. His eyes blazed. “What the fuck, Bow?”

Conversation at the table stopped, gasps in the air. Thatcher, who’d been completely missed in all this, dropped his oranges to the table. I believed he’d dropped them mostly out of shock, and Dorian and Ares looked like they were just trying to play catch-up. Dorian frowned. “What the…”

“How could you?” Bow was shaking, her little fists balled. She stamped one of her Mary Janes to the ground. “Why would you do that, huh? You’re such a jerk, Wells!”

My head shot to Wells, along with the rest of the table, and Wells’s glare only cut deeper in Bow’s direction.

Bow came around to him, like a good solid two feet under him, but that didn’t stop her from shooting a finger in his face. “Mr. Shapiro told me what you did, and it was so out of line.”

“Hey.” Thatcher put a hand out, which kept Wells from making a stride distinctly in Bow’s direction. The guy was still blinking down chocolate milk, and his face had shot up about three shades in color. Thatcher faced Bow. “What are you talking about?”

“Talk to your jerk friend,” she snapped, making me snap back. I’d never seen Bow talk this way about anyone. She shook her head. “Mr. Shapiro said I can’t eat lunch in his classroom anymore because my brother’s friend is an overbearing jerk who said I have to eat in the lunchroom here with you guys.”

“Call me a jerk one more time, Rainbow.” Wells’s chest touched Thatcher’s hand, the boy snarling. I’d never seen him this way either. He was normally the laid-back one out of the crew. He pointed a finger at her. “And you will eat lunch in here with us because that’s where you belong.”

Bow’s laughter was manic, and at this point, Dorian, Ares, and I had made our way to that side of the table. I didn’t know what the fuck this was, but I noticed the boys weren’t breaking this up. People even had their phones out, an audience gathering. Around the time some of the few security staff around here started to approach our table, Rainbow Reed did the craziest thing. She raised her empty bottle of milk, then proceeded to throw it. Actually, she launched that shit.

It hit its intended target.

The bottle ricocheted off Wells’s milk-stained chest, his white dress shirt clinging to him at this point. His head shot up, and I watched what could only be described as an animal rise inside him. A growl and he shoved his way forward, pushing Thatcher clear out of the way, who was easily twice his size. He cut in front of Bow, but Dorian and Ares blocked his strides. They literally made a man wall in front of her, which gave Thatcher enough time to gain his bearings and lock his arms under Wells.

“You’re taking a walk,” Thatcher gritted at him, forcing him when he bucked. It took some maneuvering, but Thatcher got him to walk away with him while Dorian and Ares calmed the rest of the lunchroom down. People were up, talking, and snapping pictures, but they stopped at one bark from the dark prince.

“Show’s fucking over,” he ground out about the same time I noticed Bow escape. Bracing her arms, she left the room through the doors on the other side of the lunchroom. I started to go after her around the same time Ares and Dorian decided to go after Thatcher and Wells. They said as much as they walked away, but I caught Dorian’s eyes before they did.

He tipped his chin at me, a mutual exchange there. He was going to handle his friend while I handled mine, and we said as much with a single look. The two of us got each other.

Not focusing on that, I went after Bow, still fucking confused about what had just happened. All this was super weird, and I did find Bow right away.

She was pacing.

Her fists to her mouth, she was on her way to running a fire trail through the floor when I entered the girl’s bathroom. Seeing me, her head snapped up, but she didn’t stop pacing.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” she gasped, panicked, shaking. She hugged her arms. “Oh my God. I shouldn’t have done that.”

My head popping back again, I approached her. “What?”

“I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have…” Her lips moved, opened and closed like a panicky fish. “I need to apologize. If I don’t, it’ll make things so much worse.”

She cut around me, but I grabbed her.

“Apologize? To who? Wells?”

Her nod incessant, she attempted to move again, but I wasn’t letting go.

“Um, little rabbit. He should be apologizing to you.” He had no right to tell her who she could eat lunch with. I braced my arms. “And why does he think he can tell you who you can eat lunch with?”

“Because he’s a bully,” she said, shocking me. I mean, were we talking about the same Wells? The guy was more than laid-back, happy-go-lucky. Sure, I’d seen his dark side, Thatcher’s too, but things back when I first got here had been complicated. His or Thatcher’s behavior hadn’t been justified then, but I did get it. Her tiny fingers gripped her arms. “He’s controlling and overbearing just like the rest of the guys. You know how him and Legacy throw their weight around here.”

I did, but this was crazy. I mean, Bow was Legacy, and the kid sister of the group. “Yeah, but that doesn’t make it okay.”

“I’m not saying it does, but that’s who he is, and I need to apologize because I don’t do things like that.” She stamped her feet. “He just made me so mad.”

God, how was this girl even cute angry? I didn’t mean to laugh, but I did. I put a hand on her arm. “One, you’re not apologizing. He was a jerk, and two, what were you talking about when you said it’d make things worse if you didn’t?”

“I just meant I overreacted so if I don’t apologize, it’ll make the situation worse,” she said, but she definitely was flustered while she said it. She really looked like she was going to cry, and I decided to get her a paper towel before she did. She blew into it. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” I stated, meaning that. I still felt a little confused by all this and even what she said just now. I felt like I might be missing something here, but right now, the little rabbit seemed like she needed a hug more than anything.

I gave that to her, and she laughed. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” I repeated, laughing too. She settled down a little, and when I pulled away, I wiped the running mascara away from under her eyes. This caused her to thank me again and made us both chuckle.

“He really shouldn’t think he can control you,” I said, and she shook her head.

“I just want to let it go, okay?” she asked, and I chewed the inside of my cheek. I didn’t really want to let it go, but I would for her. She looked up at the ceiling. “I can’t believe I threw chocolate milk on him.”

“He deserved that shit and more.” I hopped up on the bathroom sink, sitting. “I mean, is this why you don’t have many friends? Overbearing shit like this?”

She said nothing, but she really didn’t have to say it. I’d stay the fuck away too if I knew I’d be dealing with Legacy shit. I mean, I got wanting to watch over and look out for the girl since she was the Legacy’s youngest, but this was a bit much, and coming from Wells? Even more. Like stated, he was the easy going one.

I also didn’t understand what the harm was that she’d decided to eat lunch away from them at all. Especially with a teacher, and I knew she was working with Mr. Shapiro on her computer programming stuff. She’d mentioned it a time or two.

“I should get back to class,” she said, causing my thoughts to drift. She rubbed her nose. “Thanks for being here.”

I got off the sink. “Of course, and hey? Want to stay over tonight?” I shrugged. “We can gossip about how the Legacy boys like to take any opportunity they possibly can to… annoy us.”

She knew I had my own troubles. Hell, all of Legacy knew. When things were good between Dorian and me, the world knew. The same with the bad.

I hoped we’d be okay.

I honest to fuck just needed a night of girl time away from boys, and when Bow jumped excitedly, she seemed to need the same. She said she’d bring some girly flicks but promised me some slasher ones too. She’d gotten to know what I liked over the past weeks I’d been back.

Because she was my friend.