The Prey: A Dark Enemies to Lovers Romance (Oakmount Elite Book 3)

It’s only been a few days since I moved Elyse into the room across the hall, but I’m still suffering the consequences of that choice. Sleep? What is that? I find it harder to sleep now than I did before, and I was barely sleeping before. Every little sound makes me climb out of bed and check the hall, my eyes gravitating to the door across the hall. I haven’t checked to see if she’s locking her door at night like I instructed her.

It’s disturbing how much I care about her, her safety, and my lack of self-control.

I’m rudely pulled from my thoughts when something hits me in the back of the head. I glance down to see an orange land on the floor beside me with a thwack. What the hell?

I swivel around on the stool where I’m eating at the kitchen counter and spot Lee and Aries standing on the other side near the patio doors. I already don’t like where this is headed, and neither of them has opened their mouths yet.

“I guess we don’t use the front door anymore?”

“Why use the front door when there’s a perfectly good entrance right here?” Aries asks.

“Honestly, I prefer to enter through the back door, but I’m not going to lie, it’s not usually this easy to get into. Most of the time, there’s a lot more prep work…”

“Are we talking about the same thing?” Aries interrupts Lee before he can finish what he was going to say. Sometimes I wonder how I became friends with these fuckers.

I rub at the back of my head. “Can’t you two be annoying elsewhere? Some of us have adult stuff to do.”

Lee raises one imperious eyebrow. “And have you miss out on the fun? Nope.”

“Oh yes, because it’s so fun being annoyed by you.” I roll my eyes.

“Why are you so grumpy?” Lee questions.

“I’m not.”

Lee exchanges a look with Aries. “He is, though, is he not?”

Aries nods. “He is.”

I wasn’t grumpy before, not really, but now that they’ve accused me I might as well be.

“You both can fuck all the way off. I know you have other shit you could be doing right now. Shit that doesn’t involve annoying me.”

“Of course we have other things we could be doing…people, as well.” Lee winks and continues, “Speaking of people…where is that little maid of yours?”

I blink slowly, trying my best to regulate my breathing and not react. I’ve known Lee for years, and his favorite pastime is annoying the shit out of everyone. If he can piss you off or get a reaction out of you, then you’ve already lost the game. Good thing I already know his antics and can spot them a mile away, which is why I don’t fall into that trap.

“The maid is busy cleaning and not making my blood boil like you two.”

“When are you going to admit you like that little brunette?” Lee ignores what I’ve said and carries on like he didn’t hear me at all.

“Never, because I don’t like her.” Do I like her? I wouldn’t call it like. It feels closer to obsession, with a dash of need to protect what’s mine.

“Could’ve fooled me. I swear my cock gets hard when you start your foreplay banter.”

I shake my head and sigh. “Please, stop. I don’t want to hear about your hard cock.”

Aries shrugs. “Everyone wants to hear about my cock.”

Lee snorts. “Sure. Everyone but you know who…”

“Shut up!” Aries shoves him, and Lee bursts into a fit of laughter.

I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic over having them in the kitchen berating one another. It reminds me of a time not too long ago when we were all on the same page, without so many secrets separating us.

“Anyway, even if it’s funner than fuck to bust Ari’s balls, we didn’t come here for that. We’re here on official Mill business.”

“Okay…and why couldn’t you do this on the phone?”

Lee tugs out his cell phone, and his fingers fly over the screen with agility.

What the hell is he doing? I hear the faint ringing of my own phone from inside my pocket. This asshole thinks he’s funny, doesn’t he? I tug it out and set it on the counter, hitting the red decline button. Fuck off.

“Holy shit. It’s a miracle. It really works.”

My lip twitches up at the side, but I don’t smile. “Why the hell wouldn’t it work?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you never fucking answer it when we call or text you.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Lies. You haven’t been active in the group chat for almost a month,” Lee postures.

“It’s time to face the music, Seb. You’re being a shitty friend.” Aries crosses his arms over his chest, staring me down like I’m a child who disobeyed their parents.

“I’m not being a shitty friend.” Lies. I’m being a terrible friend.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Aries taunts, echoing my thoughts.

“Sure, keep on telling yourself that. Like we don’t see you avoiding us. Drew’s busy, too, but even he still makes time to hang out,” Lee mutters.

A sliver of guilt cuts across my chest. Okay, so I haven’t been a great friend, but I’ve got a lot of shit going on, and I can’t fathom burdening them with any of it. They couldn’t help me even if I was willing to accept their help. I’m not dumb; sometimes you have to fight the battle on your own.

“Did you come here to berate me, as well, or are you going to tell me what this official business is?”

Lee smirks and cuts across the kitchen, acting like I invited him in. He pulls out a stool across from me and plops down on it.

“Sure, of course. Come in, have a seat.”

“Shut up.” Lee snorts. “We’ve been planning all the senior activities for The Mill, including this year’s annual hunt. It feels wrong that you aren’t actively a part of things. Every time we need your help or opinion on something, you’re nowhere to be found.”

I look down at the bowl of food for a moment, and when I feel I’ve got my emotions in check, I look back up. “Not sure if you noticed, but I have shit going on. You’re lucky I’ve been making it to practice. Where’s Drew?”

“Inside your sister.” Aries smirks, knowing full well his comment will make me lose my shit. I clench my hand into a fist, ready to punch the smugness off his face.

Lee snickers, and I shift my glare to him. “He can stop fucking for five minutes and plan something.” Filled with irrational anger, I scoop up another bite of blueberry oatmeal and shove it into my mouth.

Lee huffs. “No worries, we have your help now.”

“What do you need my help for? You act like this is your first year putting the event on. It’s the same thing but with a slight difference. Send the invites out, buy the alcohol, come up with new rules, and show the fuck up when it’s time to start.”

This earns me an affronted look from Lee. “You say all of this like you didn’t spend months planning who to send out invites to last year.”

I don’t have the time or patience for this. With a long sigh, I shake my head. “If it’s of such importance, then send them out to the same people as last year and move on. I don’t have the time to do this right now.”

Aries hops up on the counter next to Lee and snags a banana out of a nearby bowl of fruit.

Lee glares between us. “It’s not that easy.”

Aries peels the banana while speaking. “It’s the biggest event we hold, and it’s our senior year. The last one before they send us out into the great unknown. We need to end the year with a bang. The whole night needs to be unique, an unforgettable experience, per se.”

“We aren’t Disneyland. Isn’t it enough they get to live out their sexual fantasies for a night?”

Lee shakes his head at me, his gaze pressing like he’s trying to look deep inside me. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong,” I grind out.

“Why are you lying? I thought we were friends?”

“Yeah, you’ve never been a good liar.” Aries frowns. “How can we help you if we don’t know what’s going on?”

“If I needed help, I’d ask, but since I didn’t, I think that means I don’t need help.”

“Yes, you do. You’re here, but not. No one can get you to show up for anything. I mean, I guess you did show up for your date with Bel, but you were late, which isn’t like you.” Lee rubs his chin as if he’s pondering something, “Oh, actually, no. Sorry. You were in attendance at Pound of Flesh. Weird how you can travel overseas to attend some obscure flesh market, but you can’t make it to The Mill meetings or answer the fucking phone when your best friends call you.”

I really don’t want to have this conversation right now, or ever, for that matter. My friends sort of know what’s been going on in my life since my grandfather died, but they don’t know the gritty details. They don’t know how much I’m struggling or what I’m willing to sacrifice to be free of this noose tied around my neck.

I’m not ignoring them by choice, and I’m not attending events for fun. I need to get Sidorov to take over so I can slip into oblivion without question. How the fuck can I explain to them that the only reason I went to Pound of Flesh was so that I could meet with Sidorov? In what way could they help me escape this shit show?

I swallow down the words before they can spill out. The need to confess to someone, anyone, eats at me from the inside out.

There’s a sound at the door, and Elyse stumbles into the room. She freezes in the doorway when she sees us gathered around the counter. “Um…I’ll just…”

Aries smiles at her and then hops off the counter. “Ahhh, there she is. We were just talking about you, little pet. So cute and tiny.”

I ignore him and her. Reacting to anything he says or does gives him ammunition that he can use against me later. But my lack of response pisses Aries off, and he stalks closer to Ely. If he touches her, I just might fucking lose it.

Lee’s eyes ping-pong between Elyse and me, suspicion building in their depths. “Is she the reason you haven’t been pulling your weight?” I grind my teeth together so hard I’m shocked they don’t crack. “Fuck. Don’t tell me you’re pussy whipped, too?”

“If you haven’t claimed her yet, I might be interested.” Aries grins and leans in closer, his nostrils flaring as he inhales her scent. My scent.

His single saving grace is the fact that Elyse flinches away from him like she despises the idea as well.

“I… I think I should go,” Elyse stutters awkwardly.

“But you just got here, sweetheart…” Aries raises his eyebrows.

I grit my teeth. If I show even the slightest response, these fuckers will know what’s up, but I won’t stand by and let them touch her either.

“Leave her alone, Aries. She’s my employee. I’m not fucking her, and neither are you.”

The resounding sound of high heels clicking on the tile greets my ears, and I let out a sigh of defeat. Could this day get any fucking worse?