The Pact: Rebels of Ridgecrest High (Book 1)

“Die, fuckers.” Mila jumps on the edge of my bed, a controller in one hand and a fist in the air. God, she’s sexy, even when she’s a gloating winner.

“Oh my god, Mila. You’re blood thirsty,” Grady teases from beside her. His character dies dramatically on the screen. I’d invited her over to play on the Xbox with me after Coach let us go for the day. It had been nice to watch game tapes of myself when I’d played the best fucking game of my life.

Only, Grady took it upon himself to join us, like a third wheel. What’s more annoying is that Mila thought it was a great idea.

It’s “how we used to be,” she’d said. Which isn’t true. Grady used to avoid Mila, like he had been for the past week. Now, all of a sudden, he’s in her face again and pissing me off. When she bumps his shoulder, he looks at her like she’s the best thing ever, and I crack my knuckles. His eyes are drawn to me now, and I glare at him.

“Don’t you have something better to do? Like see Makai and study or some shit?” Anything but be here, in my room.

Grady just laughs. “I don’t study all the time, Jace. It’s good to have some fun.” He bumps Mila’s shoulder back, and she giggles.

I grit my teeth and clench my fist, trying to hold in everything I want to say to him, so I don’t look like a totally prick in front of Mila. But when Mila leaves, I’m going to break his nose.

She is leaving in ten minutes, so Grady better be ready to run. Her dad’s taking her out to dinner with Asher and his mom and sister. I was thinking of going to a party and waiting for her to get home. But she’s not sure if she’s staying over at Asher’s. And even though they say they’re only friends, I don’t like it. I don’t trust him not to make a move on my girl.

Yeah, my girl.

I give her butterflies. She said that last night. Yeah, we all do, but I know I have to be the one to give her the most butterflies and orgasms. Hell, maybe if Grady wasn’t here right now, I would be able to convince Mila to go for another round of playtime like last Saturday. But this time, I’d get to taste her.

Fuck, even the thought of her licking my cum off her finger gets me hard. Everything about this girl does. I might have been angry at her when she first came back. Hell, finding out my first kiss isn’t what I’d thought had upset me more than anything.

But I’ve settled on the fact that the way she gave us each her first kiss is fair. It’s not important who was really first. Still, a little bit of me wants to know. Maybe, one day, she will tell us. Right now, that’s not important. What’s important is Grady getting a clue and fucking off.

“I actually better go. I need to grab some things from my room before I leave.” She squeezes my knee as she stands up. But she does the same to Grady, and my pulse speeds up. My fist, his nose, as soon as she walks out that door.

“Thanks for a good afternoon, boys. I wanna play that again. I like kicking your butts.” She smiles and wraps her arms around me.

What she doesn’t know is I’ve been playing badly so she would win. Nothing makes me happier than watching her win. She is a boastful winner and loves to rub it in the loser’s face.

Maybe next time, I will bet her a piece of clothing every time I win…I like where that thought came from.

I hug her back and she turns. Grady is standing now, and she hesitates for a moment before hugging him. I don’t like the smile on his face or the fact that she’s touching him.

I shove his shoulder, wanting him to let go of her. “She needs to go now, or she will be late,” I explain when Mila’s eyes turn on me, questioning.

“That was a little pushy, Jace.”

“I didn’t want you to be late.” I give her my all-American boy-next-door smile. She doesn’t fall for it.

She just shakes her head. “Talk to you both later.”

I punch Grady in the shoulder the moment she leaves the house. He steps back, holding his shoulder and looking at me like he can’t believe I just did that.

“What the fuck is your problem, Jace?”

“You know what the fuck my problem is. You could have left us alone. I wasn’t gonna spend the whole afternoon gaming. I had other plans, and they didn’t involve you.”

His mouth opens then closes. He runs his hand through his hair and shakes his head. “She picked you?” His voice is deeper than usual, like he can’t believe she would pick me.

“No, not yet. I was going to help her with her choosing process, but you cock-blocked me all afternoon.”

“What the hell happened to ‘the pact stands’? You don’t care that making a move on Mila is going to destroy your two best friends? Do you really want that? For you or for her?”

I shake my head. “No, that won’t happen. We agreed, each man for himself and to be happy with the one she picks. It’s not going to destroy anything.”

“Would you really be happy if she came to you right now, holding Hunter’s hand, and told you that she wants to just be friends? That she picks Hunter?”

I growl lowly at that; that’s not going to happen.

“Yeah, exactly my point. Have you guys thought about it, really?”

“We all discussed it after the fight. Makes sense. She’s a big girl, and she can chose for herself. Roman’s out. He made that clear. It’s just me against Hunter.”

“And you know how that sounds right now? You against Hunter. That’s not how friends should be. Against each other is what enemies are made of. God, Jace. You can be thick at times, but you need to stop and think. This is the end of you all if you do this. The pact is the only thing that kept you together all those years.”

I don’t answer him. I know what he’s saying. I get it. Fuck, I hate that he’s right, but I just can’t step back and watch the girl of my dreams with someone else. Does he even understand how hard that is? If he loved someone as much as I do Mila, he would get it.

Grady paces a by the door. Mom and Dad are home today. They can probably hear our fight but are ignoring it. Mom always says it’s best to work it out ourselves but to come to them before fists are involved.

“Have you ever thought about others? Like, not Hunter and you. There are plenty of guys who would love to go out with Mila. Guys who have been crushing on her for years. What about them?”

“She said Emerson doesn’t give her butterflies.”

I’d always known it would just come down to the three of us; that’s why the pact existed in the first place. Roman’s out, Hunter’s gone all in with the flirty shit, and the one who’s gonna be standing at the end is me.

Mila is end game. She’s the girl I’m going to marry. After college and everything, I will marry her and put babies in her belly and show everyone that she’s mine. We will be together forever. I smile at the image in my head of her with her long blonde hair, a cute little kid with my hair and eyes on her hip, kissing me as I walk in the front door of our house.

“I kissed her.”

I snap out of my daydream and look over at him, surprised by the expression of guilt on his face. Huh? What did he just say…?

“Jace, did you hear me? I said I kissed her. And she kissed me back.” His hand rubs the back of his neck, and I can see it written all over his face. He didn’t, she didn’t, no.

“No, you’re fucking with me.” No way, I can’t believe she kissed Grady…there’s no way. And he wouldn’t do that to me; he wouldn’t kiss the girl I’ve been in love with since I could walk.

“I’m not fucking with you. Shit, I had a crush on her for years, okay? Just like all three of you did. I wasn’t part of your pact, but I respected the rules and never made a move on her. Until last week.”

I don’t even blink. I just charge at my larger, older, line-backer brother and smash into him. He’s prepared for it and doesn’t fall over like I wanted. Motherfucker is strong. I should’ve known that, though. He’s tackled me enough over the years.

“You’re a fucking asshole. You knew I’ve loved her all these years, and you went and did that. You dirty bastard.” I punch at his chest, his kidneys, and he blocks them all.

“I’m sorry, okay? It’s been eating at me all week, and I wanted to tell you. I told her not to say anything. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

I swing at him again, but and it doesn’t connect, and I scream out at him.

“Jace, stop.”

He isn’t fighting back. Why isn’t he fighting me? I want to kill him.

I can’t believe he would do that, that she would do that. Kiss him back. Unless she likes him?

She didn’t say anything. They’ve been sitting beside each other all afternoon, giggling and poking each other. I’d assumed it was friendly banter, like siblings do. He always called her an annoying little sister. When the fuck did he go from thinking of her as a sister to kissing her?

I don’t hear or see my parents as my fist connects with Grady’s nose. My dad is the one to pull me from Grady, but I’m still seething.

“I wanted to tell you, because as amazing as it felt to kiss her, the guilts been eating away at me. She was yours first. She won’t ever be mine. I know that.”

“Boys,” Mom cries out.

Dad lets go of me; I think he knows I need to be alone. I storm into my room just as Dad calls out that I’m grounded. I slam the door and don’t care if I’m grounded.

All I care about is whether she kissed my brother back.

Jace: Did Grady kiss you?

Mila: He told you?

Tears prick at my eyes, and I slump down to the floor.

Jace: Did you kiss him back?

She’s typing, the three dots keep appearing as I wait for her answer.

Mila: Yes.

Three little letters, and my heart shatters.