Cruel Elite - Nicole Fox Page 0,2

enough to start some shit.

I stand up, throw my can into the fire, and jog into the trees. Finn says my name, confusion in his voice, but I ignore him.

They won’t follow me. They know better than that.

I can see her path through the trees. I move past more than a few couples in various stages of undressing and fornicating until I’ve left everyone behind.

Everyone but her.

Just as I begin to wonder whether this was all nothing more than my drunk mind making shit up, I hear a rustle to my right and turn.

There she is.

Penelope LaFevre.

Penny is leaning against a tree, her face tilted to the canopy of brown leaves above. Her eyes are closed, and despite the fact I wasn’t working to be quiet, she doesn’t seem to have heard me.

For one second, I forget why I followed her.

For one fucking, fleeting second, I forget I threw her out of my life.

I forget how strange it is to even be this close to her.

Then, she sighs, opens her eyes, and sees me. She starts to scream in surprise.

I leap forward and slap a hand over her mouth.

“Shh,” I reprimand. “You’re loud.”

I only remove my hand once I’m sure she’s quieted down.

Penny’s shock is replaced by dark suspicion in an instant. “What are you doing here?”

Her pink lips part as she lifts a plastic cup to her mouth. She wants to seem casual. Nonchalant.

But I know that she’s feeling what I’m feeling.

Being this close again stirs up bad emotions. Bad memories.

It’s been two years since I was this close to her. Now, seeing her face in detail again, I’m reminded of everything I’ve purposefully forgotten.

And how much I hate it. Hate her.

I hate those glossy lips. That deft pink tongue. The soft, creamy skin of her cheeks, her neck, her tits.

I step towards her and swat her drink to the ground. The liquid inside spills over the leaves and splatters on our legs.

“What the fu—?” she gasps.

When she sees the look on my face, the curse dies on her lips.

Now, she’s scared.

Terrified, actually. As she should be.

I can see it in her gray green eyes. In the way they dart to my face and then the area surrounding us.

We are far away from the general party area.

And even if we weren’t, there’s enough debauchery out here that a couple shouts would go unnoticed.

No one is coming to save you from me, Penny.

“You fucked up,” I announce.

She frowns. “What are you talking about?”

Her chin is raised defiantly.

But there’s no mistaking the fear in her voice.

I give her a cold grin. “You knew the rules of our deal. And you broke it. There’s a price to be paid for that.”

She presses her back against the tree, even though there’s nowhere for her to go.

I’ve had her in this position before. Years ago.

But this is different. Much, much different.

Penny swallows, her pale throat bobbing. “I didn’t break any rules. I didn’t do anything. Please just let me go.”

I shake my head. “Not a fucking chance. Actions have consequences, Penny.”

Her lip is trembling now. “You’re the one who came and found me. I didn’t do anything.”

She presses a hand to my chest to push me back.

Bad move.

I wrap my hand around her wrist. In an instant, her arm is pinned above her head and our bodies are pressed together.

Her breath catches. I don’t miss the way she leans towards me, rather than away.

Some habits are hard to break.

We haven’t been this close in a long time, but her body remembers.

God knows mine does, too.

Shoving my face right in hers, I hiss, “For two years, I’ve been content to leave you alone. As long as you did the same for me. But you violated that truce. So I’m done keeping my distance. I’m going to be a part of your life again, Penny. But not in a good way. Not in a nice way. I’m going to make you hurt. Make you suffer. And I won’t quit until I’ve ruined you completely.”

Silence. The longest silence of her life, I’m sure.

I don’t blink. Don’t look away.

I want her to see how much I mean what I’m saying.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispers in a tight, choked voice. “What did I do?”

I sigh. My answer is a single word: “Haley.”

Caleb had come to me a few weeks ago when Penny’s campaign of bullying against Haley was at its worst. He wanted me to try and do something to help her.

“You know Penny,” he said. “Tell