In Ruins: A Dark High School Bully Romance (A Black Falls High Novel Book 1)

Maybe I hadn’t really voiced my choice, but Fox must have taken it upon himself to prove to me how very serious he was. I realized that the next day as Juliet shoved me in the locker room after gym class.

“Hey, skank,” she simpered. “Heard you and Jack Gildner were screwing in the crow’s nest on the football field at lunch yesterday.”

Melissa and Tara snickered as I stared back stupidly at them.

“That’s a lie.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Melissa piped up. “I heard you sucked off both him and his weirdo friend, Aaron.”

I ground my teeth at them. “Where did you hear that?”

“I made it up.” Juliet flipped her hair. “But after I tell everyone, it’ll be a truth, and I doubt Jack or Aaron will deny it.”

“It’s a lie because I was with your boyfriend on the football field,” I hurled back at her.

Her eyes widened for a moment before she struck me in the face, sending me tumbling back against my locker.

“Listen here, bitch,” she snarled, fisting my ponytail and yanking so hard my eyes wa-tered. “We’re going to end you. Fox has given us the green light. He was the only thing stopping us before. But now?” She cackled wickedly in my ear, tightening her grip. “You’re fair game.”

She released me, shoving me back. I slid down the lockers onto the bench, my face ach-ing where she’d struck me, and my head hurting from the grip she’d had on my ponytail.

“Do yourself a favor and fall in line,” Tara spat at me. “Or this is only going to get worse.”

“What do I have to do?” I rasped, afraid the guys had told them everything.

“I don’t know what you did to piss the guys off, but I suggest trying to make it right be-cause at the moment, it’s not looking good for you.” Juliet looked at her friends. “Ladies.”

She flounced away. Melissa spilled my gym bag all over the floor before leaving.

If this was just the beginning of what the guys had planned, I was in for a rough time.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR EYE?” Jamie demanded as we sat down at a table in the back of the cafeteria.

I stared at the guys as they laughed and acted like nothing was going on in their world. Like they hadn’t just set the hounds of hell snapping at me.

“Huh?” I muttered, tearing my glare from the table of nightmares.

“Your eye. It’s red.” She touched her own eye for emphasis.

“Oh.” I waved her off, lying, “Juliet hit me in the face with a volleyball during gym.”

“What a bitch.” Jamie shook her head, shooting a scowl over to where Juliet was kissing on Fox. “I wish her herpes would just kick in already.”

I poked listlessly at my salad. The air around us shifted. I didn’t need to look up to know who’d joined us.

“Ladies,” Ian said.

“Hey,” Jamie answered, her voice breathy.

I opted to continue stabbing at my salad.

“Rosalie, anything new and interesting going on with you?” Ian’s voice carried a note of sarcasm.

I chanced a look at him and frowned. “No.”

“I heard you were screwing around at Cole’s party over the weekend—”

“Shut up, Ian,” I snarled at him, slamming my fork down. Jamie looked between us as Ian settled in his seat, her eyes round.

“Did you mess around with someone at Cole’s and not tell me?” Jamie asked, leaning forward after the shock of Ian’s words melted away.

“Yeah, Rosalie. Didn’t you tell Jamie?” Ian stared back at me with mock innocence.

“Ian, please,” I whispered. “Not now.”

“Then when?”

“What the hell is going on?” Jamie called out, her gaze volleying between me and Ian.

“Nothing. I drank too much and kissed Cole. That’s it.”

Ian let out a derisive, cold laugh as he shook his head. He leaned back in his chair, putting it on two legs.

“You made out with Cole Scott on Saturday?” Jamie squeaked. “Are you kidding me? Why didn’t you tell me? Is that why they’ve been lurking?”

“It’s not important.”

“The hell it isn’t! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! What was it like?” She sat forward, staring at me. I glanced at Ian who shook his head in disbelief at me.

“It was… fine.”

“You’re fucking ridiculous,” Ian snarled, slamming his chair down and glaring at me. I swallowed hard as he got to his feet.

“Ian, please,” I choked out.

He nodded at me. “Soon, Rosalie.”

He backed away, still glowering at me, before turning on his heel and storming away.

“What’s his problem?” Jamie looked back at me, frowning.

“I don’t know. He caught me with Cole. He was upset.” The lies kept coming. I hated myself for them.

“Ian is really protective.” Jamie nodded thoughtfully. “He means well.”

Yeah, right.

I chose not to respond out loud, opting to going back to my salad once more.

“Don’t look, but Fox is staring at you right now.”

I kept my eyes down.

“Oh no. He’s coming over. Ethan is with him.”

Shit.

Awful scernarios raced through my mind. He was going to dump my lunch on me. At least it was just a plain salad. That might not be so bad. Oh god. What if he dumped Jamie’s lunch on me. She’d gotten spaghetti. I had to get out of there.

Without so much as a goodbye, I was on my feet and hauling ass out of the cafeteria, not bothering to look back. With the crash of the cafeteria door banging open again as I raced down the hall, I picked up my pace, my heart slamming against my chest. I hung a right then a left, finding myself at the door to the guys’ locker room.

“Shit,” I whimpered, glancing over my shoulder behind me. Heavy footsteps thudded toward me. Knowing I didn’t have another choice, I darted inside the dark room, swiveling my head left to right as I sought a hiding place. Deciding a dark corner with football equipment was my best option, I lunged forward and buried myself inside, praying I wouldn’t be seen.

The squealing of the door opening had me holding my breath. I watched through a space in the equipment as Fox and Ethan came into the room.

“She had to have come in here.” Fox looked around.

My breath came in soft, short huffs, my body as still as stone as I watched them move around the room like predators.

“Rosalie?” Ethan called out. “Come on, sweetheart. We aren’t going to hurt you. We only want to talk.”

Bullshit.

“Rosie, you don’t need to hide. We heard about what happened in the locker room after gym this morning. I want to make sure you’re OK.” Fox paused in the center of the room, looking around again.

Liar.

“I’ll check the back.” Fox moved toward the back of the locker room out of my line of sight. The showers had to be back there. Ethan prowled close by, stopping right in front of me.

“Rosalie,” he hissed, not looking at me. I stiffened.

“I know you’re behind the equipment. Your foot is sticking out.” He paused, glancing over his shoulder. “You’re going to have to come out.”

I stilled, knowing the jig was up. I let out a squeak as warm hands circled around my arms and tugged me out of my hiding spot. I came face to face with Ethan.

“There you are.” He smiled down at me. “Why are you running?”

“You know why,” I whimpered back. Ethan didn’t get to answer me because Fox came back into the area.

“I knew you were in here.”

The door banged open. Cole and Enzo entered. I stared in horror as Enzo grabbed a metal chair and propped it beneath the door handle, effectively trapping me inside with them.

“Please, let me go.” I struggled against Ethan’s hold. His grip tightened on my arms until I winced. Noting that, he immediately loosened his hold.

Ethan was definitely the nice one.

Cole took his spot, seeing Ethan’s moment of weakness.

“Keep fighting, Rosebud. It only excites me,” Cole grunted in my ear as I struggled against him. I stilled, knowing he wasn’t lying. He chuckled victoriously in my ear. “Good girl.”

“We’ve given you ample time to decide your fate, Rosie. Now we need an answer.” Fox lifted a dark brow at me.

“My answer is fuck you,” I snapped back. Fox rolled his eyes at my dramatics.

“You seemed pretty cozy out there with Ian,” Enzo added, stepping up to me. “That wasn’t good. Flaunting your fuck boy is a bad idea, Sunshine.”

“I’m not cozy with Ian! He makes me sick!” I shouted back at him. “He’s threatening me like you guys are.” I sagged back against Cole, feeling defeated.

“Ian is threatening you?” Fox asked, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.

I nodded miserably.

“What’s he saying, Rosebud?” Cole demanded, his voice matching Fox’s.

“That he wants to finish what we started. If I don’t, he’s going to tell Jamie.”

“I told you he was a piece of shit,” Enzo spat. “Didn’t I say that?”

“It’ll be taken care of,” Fox ground out, silencing Enzo.

“How?” I demanded.

“Don’t worry about it. I said it’ll be taken care of,” Fox snapped, his eyes darkening.

I shrank away from him, deeper into Cole’s hold.

It felt like I was in some of sort of high school mafia snuff film with Fox being the kingpin.

“Why do you guys even care? Is it because it’s a competition to out me?” My voice wavered as I tried to compose myself.

“That’s exactly what it is, Rosebud,” Cole growled in my ear. “You belong to us. Our little whore. We call the shots.”

“I’m not your whore,” I snarled back.

Cole chuckled softly in my ear as his hold on me tightened. “You’re whatever the fuck I say you are. We run this place.”

I ground my teeth, itching to plant my foot in his groin as his hard-on brushed against my backside. Despite being angry, I couldn’t ignore the rush of tingles which shot through my body at his nearness.

As if knowing that, he whispered in my ear again, sending a flurry of goosebumps through me. “I fucking love that you love it. We’re going to have so much fun with you.”

“Agree to our demands, Sunshine. We’ll make sure everything else is taken care of.” Enzo leveled his dark gaze on me, pulling me away from Cole’s madness.

“I’m scared,” I choked, admitting out loud what I was sure they already knew. Maybe they’d find an ounce of compassion in their hearts to let me be.

That hope tumbled to the ground and shattered at my feet when Fox spoke. “Then you’re already halfway there.”

“Fear is an excellent motivator,” Cole added, giving me squeeze.

Fox pulled his phone out and thumbed through it for a moment before glancing up at me.

“What do you want with me? What do I have to do?” My voice shook again. “What makes you go away?”

“Depends on our mood. Maybe some homework. Maybe a blowjob.” Cole’s lips brushed the shell of my ear with his words. “Or maybe I bend you over a chair and fuck your tight little ass. It varies depending on what sort of day I’m having.”

“You’re a pig. Are you trying to compete with Ian for the douchebag of the year award?” I tried to break away from him, the fear and lust warring inside me, both fighting for supremacy, but he tightened his hold.

“And you’re turned on by the idea of it.” Cole growled again.

I shook my head, hating that he was right.

“We can start off slow.” Ethan cleared his throat, shooting a quick look at Fox who was glaring at me, phone in hand. “Since Fox isn’t interested in being too close to you, maybe Cole could get you for a week—”

“I’m not a toy, Ethan! You can’t just pass me around!” I snapped at him.

Ethan winced and looked down at his hands. “It’s not like that, Rosalie. We can switch off so you don’t feel so overwhelmed. I promise you I’m not going to make you screw me or suck me off, but I could use some help in calculus and chemistry.”

Enzo and Cole snorted at Ethan’s words. I scowled before leveling my gaze on Ethan.

“You want me to be your homework bitch?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

He flushed before muttering, “Among other things.”

“What other things?” I demanded.

“Show her,” Enzo said, a dark glint in his eyes. Before I could whip out a response, Cole knocked my legs out from beneath me, sending me careening painfully to the hard locker room floor. I let out a cry of agony as my knees connected with it. Tears filled my eyes.

“Keep that mouth open,” Cole instructed darkly in my ear as he reached around to grip my face painfully.

Horror and disbelief flooded my body as Enzo stopped in front of me, his crotch inches from my face. I tried to turn my face away from his groin, but Cole forced me to continue looking at it.

“I want you to suck my dick, Sunshine.”

Shivers innundated my body as my heart thudded uselessly in my chest. I clamped my mouth shut, despite the war inside that kept kicking up dust in my mind about wanting to taste him.

“Just open your mouth and put his cock inside, Rosebud.” Cole let out a soft laugh.

I caught Fox’s eyes as he stood only a few feet away, surveying the scene with narrowed eyes.

“Fox?” I whimpered. Whether I wanted a command, permission, or freedom, I didn’t know. All I knew was that whatever his answer was, it would determine the outcome of the moment.

He moved forward and knelt beside me.

“Have you ever given a blowjob before?” he asked softly, his voice husky.

I shook my head as much as Cole would allow. Ethan stepped forward and looked down at me, a frown on his face.

“Well, to start, you’ll need to unzip Enzo’s pants.”

He was serious. I looked up at Enzo, whose eyebrows were raised, clearly waiting for me to make my move. Cole released my arms. With shaking hands, I reached forward and fumbled with the buttons on Enzo’s jeans. The lust inside me landed a right hook to fear’s face, knocking it into a quivering mass of nerves on the floor of my mind.

My shallow breathing and the zipppp of Enzo’s zipper coming down were the only sounds in the room. The massive, bulging outline of his hard-on could easily be seen through his dark boxers.

“Now, all you need to do is take his cock out and put it in your mouth,” Fox instructed in a gruff voice.

“Fox,” I whispered, looking over at him. My heart fluttered in my chest.

“Would you rather it be me?” he challenged softly, his eyes locked on mine.

I didn’t even hesitate with my answer. “Yes.”

A tiny, wicked smirk tugged the corner of his lip up. “Do you think I’d let your nasty mouth on my dick?”

The heat of embarrassment flooded my body before anger took over. I reached out to slap Fox, but Cole grabbed my arms and tugged me roughly to my feet. I barely registered Enzo zipping his jeans up.

“You’re a prick,” I ground out at Fox, my heartbeat roaring in my ears.

“And you’re the little whore Cole said you were,” he shot back. “That’s how we prove our point. The next time, you will have a dick in your mouth. It’s obvious you want one.”

“No I don’t,” I hissed at him, the lie making me feel like I was sucking on a cotton ball.

“Liar.” Cole laughed.

I ground my teeth and glared straight ahead.

“So, back to negotiations since my dick apprently isn’t getting sucked,” Enzo broke in. “In exchange for your servitude, we can keep Juliet and her girls off your case, or at least have her ease up.”

The idea of being free of Juliet made me pause my anger. “You’d call off your dog?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at Fox. He shrugged.

“Sure. Until you screw up again.”

I snorted bitterly. “What constitutes me screwing up?”

“Pretty much breathing, freakshow.” Fox smirked at me.

I broke free from Cole and moved to Fox, jamming my finger into his chest. The smile slid off his face. “Call me freakshow again, and I’ll rip your testicles off.”

“Are you in?” he growled down at me, his blue eyes flashing.

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and stared up at him. Maybe I was screwed up in the head, but a tiny, niggling voice in the back of my mind hissed at me to scream yes and fall to my knees again. I pushed it away and stared defiantly up at him, my hands on my hips.

“Promise you’ll tell Juliet to back off.”

“I promise not to release your sex tape.”

“Fox,” I snarled. “Please. You just said—”

He rolled his eyes at me and unlocked his phone screen. I let out a gasp as he opened the share tab and starting adding people to an outgoing message with the video attached.

“Stop!” I squealed, reaching for the phone. He held his other hand out, stopping me from getting closer. “Fox, please! Please, don’t! I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you want. Just please. Please don’t send that!”

The bigger part of me which wanted my freedom would have to suffer. I could lie to myself all night long, but I was at their mercy. I knew it the moment Cole forced me on my knees. Running, begging, crying, none of that would change what was happening to me. They owned me. I did the only thing I could do.

Willingly, I fell to my knees in front of him, clinging to his pant leg as I wept and pleaded with him not to send the video out. I could only imagine the horror and disgust on my parents’ faces. The disappointment when Pendleton got it and revoked my scholarships and acceptance letter. The embarassment of people seeing me almost be raped while not fighting Ian off. And Jamie. My guts twisted.

“What do I have to do?” I sobbed. “I’ll do it. Whatever you want.”

Fox put his phone away and stared down at me.

“Say it. Say you’re mine.”

“I’m… yours,” I choked out, defeat ebbing from me in the form of tears. Who the hell was I kidding? I wasn’t strong enough to fight them. Despite feeling a strange desire for the guys, I still knew I shouldn’t. But I also knew I had to join them or risk losing everything.

Fox’s warm fingers lifted my chin up so I stared up at him, tears freefalling down my cheeks.

“I told you the next time you were on your knees begging it would be for me.”

He released me as I rocked forward, completely at his and his friends’ mercy.

“We’re going to have some fun, Rosie. Cole, take care of her.” Fox moved away from me, only for Cole to take his place.

“Come on, Rosebud.” Cole held his hand out to me. I placed my palm in his and let him pull me my feet.

“What are we doing?” I whispered in a choked voice.

“I’m taking you home. Your parents aren’t there. I’ll decide what I want once we’re in your bedroom.”

Enzo removed the chair from against the door as Cole led me to it. I cast a backward look at the guys, my heart plummeting.

“Have fun,” Fox murmured as Cole opened the door and pulled me out into the hallway.