Page 9 of Brutal Reign
I snatch it from his fingers, grunting as I shove up to my feet. If I’m gonna go to bed at ten like a fucking toddler, I’m at least gonna get stoned first. “See you guys in there,” I mutter, tucking the joint into the front pocket of my hoodie as I make my way toward the exit, leaving my friends and the thirsty-ass blonde behind.
This whole thing is fucked. I was actually looking forward to training camp until I sawherhere.
No, not the blonde.
RiverfuckingJacobsen.
I’ve successfully avoided having any real interaction with her over the past three years, but now the ghosts of my past are apparently back to haunt me. She wasn’t supposed tobehere, damnit.
Descending the stairs two at a time, I emerge into the barracks at the bottom, where most of the other recruits are already tucked up in their beds like good little soldiers. A few of them cast wary glances in my direction as I head down an aisle of bunks, eating up the distance to the locker room in long strides.
Being the tallest fucker in here definitely helps with the intimidation factor. Got my height from my old man. Some ofthe other Alphas come close, but I edge out even the tallest of them by a couple inches.
I could walk right out the main door of the barracks, but some try-hard squad fighter is probably waiting out there to make sure everyone’s in their bunks by lights-out, and I’m not in the mood to deal with any pushback about breaking these moronic rules they have in place. Cutting through the locker room into the squad dorms will save me the hassle of putting a random pleb in their place.
The lights flicker in warning again as I approach the door to the locker room, shoving it open and striding through. As soon as I do, I nearly collide with someone, jaw clenching when I realize it’s the hazel-eyed brunette I’ve been trying to avoid since I got here.
“Seb,” she breathes, blinking up at me through the lenses of her glasses. River has always been embarrassed about the genetic abnormality she inherited from her mom. Most shifters have perfect vision thanks to the whole rapid healing thing, but she has to wear contact lenses to correct hers. Probably why she waited until lights-out to make the switch; she rarely lets anyone see her in her glasses.
I look down my nose at her, my upper lip curling back from my teeth in a snarl. “Are you lost? I thought IT geeks got to move straight into the dorms.”
She frowns, rocking back a step. “Not lost, and not an IT geek.”
I reach over to flick the edge of her glasses tauntingly. “You sure about that?”
“Get out of my way, Seb,” she grumbles, ducking sideways to shoulder-barge past me.
Rather than letting her, I move to block her path. “Since when do you want to be a squad warrior?” I grit out.
She steps back, her gaze snapping up to meet mine as she folds her arms under her boobs. “Since it’s my damn birthright.”
I can’t help the way my eyes immediately drop to her cleavage, her crossed arms pushing her already perky tits up even higher. The thin white tank top she’s wearing doesn’t leave much to the imagination, the hard buds of her nipples poking at the fabric tauntingly and prompting my dick to wake the fuck up and take notice.
“You should leave,” I growl as my gaze climbs back up to hers.
“I’m trying to, asshole.”
River attempts to duck past me again, but I move with her, keeping my body between hers and the exit door. I don’t even know why I do it.
She jerks her chin up, cutting me another glare as I reach out to finger a strand of her hair, reveling in the way her breathing increases in tempo. It’s laced with fear, but she doesn’t let it show on her face. She’s always put on a tough front.
“I mean training camp,” I murmur, trying to ignore my body’s reaction to her scent as it registers.
River doesn’t smell all flowery and shit like most girls. She smells like pine and that damn strawberry chapstick she’s always applying, with a faint hint of motor oil.
She smells like bad decisions I can’t afford to make.
“This isn’t a place for a nice girl like you,” I warn, biting out every syllable.
She makes a scoffing sound in her throat, tossing her hair back. “I’m not a nice girl anymore.”
My eyes flicker over her tight little body, lingering on the valleys above her delicate collarbones and the swell of her breasts.They’ve gotten bigger.I follow the column of her throat up to meet her hazel eyes again, the corner of my mouth ticking up in challenge. “Care to prove it?”
The overhead lights abruptly shut off, the dim wall sconces around the interior of the locker room illuminating instead. River’s breath catches, and the sound of it makes my dick instantly hard.
The door from the barracks swings open behind us, Chandler’s annoyingly high-pitched voice cutting through the white noise in my head. “Am I interrupting something?”
Fuck.