Page 1 of Such A Bad Girl

Prologue

THEO

TEN YEARS AGO

Deep in the woods, on this sweltering Texas summer evening, the last thing I wanted to do was stick around and be anywhere near Avett Brooks, who I could hear laughing as I stepped around the tree and into the darkness. I was anxious to get back to the last party of the summer before my friends and I went our separate ways to go to college.

Avett was the school bully and besides Harlan, not many people liked him. If they did, they hung out with him because he had the good weed. I wasn’t usually interested in what he had to say, but his voice broke through the muffled hum of partiers in the distance. And his words stopped me in my tracks.

“What do you think of Everleigh?”

He was talking to his side-kick, Harlan. The two of them never seemed to leave each other’s side, even when nature called, apparently.

“Everleigh? Seriously? She’s kinda stuck up, if you ask me,” Harlan slurred. A handle of Jack Daniels had been dangling from his meaty fingers all night. “Why are you even asking?”

His drunken voice was laced with irritation.

“Yeah, but she’s fucking hot. That ass? Dude,” Avett replied. I heard the zip of his jeans and the distinct sound of liquid hitting the hot, cracked Texas soil beneath his feet. My stomach churned but I stayed frozen in place, listening. “Besides, crazy girls are hot. I can’t believe she tried to set fire to her old man’s place! That’s fucking sexy. Don’t you think so?”

“Not really, no,” Harlan replied. “Seems a little extreme to me.”

“I’m gonna fuck her.” I gasped at his words. No wonder everyone hated this asshole. Anger bubbled up inside me.

“What the fuck? Avett! Seriously? You are? Is she even into you?” Harlan’s distressed voice echoed up through the pecan trees, followed by Avett’s evil laughter that was as dark as the night surrounding us.

“I don’t give a fuck if she’s into me or not,” Avett sneered. “I’m going for it tonight. Did you see that slutty red skirt she’s wearing? I can’t wait to push that up over that sweet ass and go to town!”

“Whatever,” Harlan muttered, their voices fading away as they walked back down the trail that led back to the party.

My blood was boiling now. Every cell in my body told me to storm back through the woods after him and punch his stupid fucking lights out. But first, I needed to warn Evie.

The thing is — I knew that wasn’t really necessary. Ev could take care of herself just fine.

Everleigh was West’s sister. She’d been through hell and back.

I knew her well. Too well, in fact — but that’s beside the point.

She didn’t need my protection. I knew she could stand up for herself, she’d proven it many times throughout the years I’d known her. If she wasn’t fighting with West, she was getting into scuffles with other unsuspecting boys who made the mistake of underestimating her toughness. I had no doubt that if Avett tried to force himself on her, he’d come away deeply regretting that decision. He should know better, actually.

Still — his blatant declaration of his ugly intentions enraged me. And since West was in Hollywood for that audition, it was up to me to watch over Everleigh tonight. It wasn’t like I didn’t already have my eye on her anyway, truth be told.

Over the years, my affection for Everleigh had grown increasingly unmanageable. She was purely off-limits. West would kill me if he knew how I felt about his sister. But that didn’t make the feelings go away.

In fact, I suspected it just made them worse.

I did my best to hide them and not act on them. It was a constant effort, and it felt like torture some days.

I was successful. Most of the time.

Every now and then, though, I found myself slipping up. I’d catch myself looking at her a little too long, my gaze lingering on her lips when she talked to me. I was pretty sure she’d noticed. But my focus was always on making sure West didn’t notice.

Yes, it might reveal my feelings for her. And yes, I knew she could take care of herself. But I wasn’t going to leave her to deal with Avett alone.

I waited in the darkness until those two assholes stumbled back towards the music, and I followed them, keeping my distance and watching from the tree line as they rejoined the crowd.

They made straight for a truck that was parked in the lot under a bright street light. Everleigh was always the center of attention in any crowd, and she was in her element as she held court on the tailgate of her 1978 Ford F-350. Midnight black with an extended bed, it was loud and obnoxious, and Everleigh’s pride and joy. She looked like a Texas princess riding around in that thing, turning heads everywhere she went.

Her two best friends were at her side. Donna and Frenchie. They clutched a couple of Zimas like they were lifelines, sucking them down as fast as they could and throwing the empties into the bed of Ev’s truck. They scanned the crowd while giggling and whispering, gossiping with each other. They greeted their friends as they streamed by.