Page 38 of Buried Betrayal

Both Eli’s and West’s heads shot up and searched for her in the crowd. I arched an eyebrow, wondering what kind of shot this was. Everyone started cheering, even though most of them had no idea who they were clapping for. Kat’s friends were pushing her toward the bar while Kat fought against them as she laughed.

Pink crawled up her face as she got closer to the bar. The only time she liked attention was when she was on a basketball court. Other than that, she’d rather blend in with the crowd. I guessed that was half the reason she hadn’t told anyone her real name. She was enjoying not being associated with the founding families. It wasn’t going to last.

“She’s not going to fucking do that shot,” West growled loud enough for me to hear over the loud music.

My curiosity grew as Eli shared West’s annoyance when the bartender grabbed Kat’s hand and pulled her behind the bar. She seemed to be actively ignoring the part of the counter the three of us were sitting at. The guy tugged her into the middle where a chair sat. I hadn’t even noticed it before now.

The chair was taller and resembled a lounge chair. It was long, so Kat had somewhere to lay her legs when she sat down. The back was slanted, and when Kat leaned back against it, she was almost lying down. There was a cushion for her head so that she was staring at the ceiling.

My teeth snapped together when the bartender swung his leg over the chair, straddling her. The room was deafening, the crowd pushing up against the bar to watch. The song changed to a club song with an addictive beat. The bartender grinned and held up the two bottles of liquor he was holding in his hands.

Then he started grinding on her. Everyone started hollering and laughing, obviously enjoying the show. It must happen often, but this was my first time coming to the campus bar on the weekend. Kat had her hands covering her face, her chest heaving with either laughter or embarrassment. West’s hands curled into fists when the guy set down the bottles and grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from her face. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, not hiding the fact that he was nearly lying on top of her.

The grip around my beer tightened as she giggled and let her arms rest on the sides of the chair. I shouldn’t give a fuck about who touched her. The guy probably did this all the time to girls who wanted the shot. It was his job, and he clearly enjoyed it. He shook his head, grabbing her arm again. He raised her hand up and pressed it against his hip until her finger hooked into his belt loop. He repeated the same thing with her other arm.

West rose halfway out of his seat when the guy began grinding on her again, lowering himself onto her stomach. Making a quick decision, I wrapped my hand around West’s arm before kicking his legs out from under him. He let out a yell as he crashed to the floor. Payback was a bitch. Probably not the best idea when I was trying to get on their good side.

Oh fucking well.

Eli lunged at me, but I swiped my beer out of the way and leaped over the bar counter. Murmurs ran through the crowd as my feet hit the floor. The bartender glanced around when the cheering stopped. By the time he saw me, I was in his face. He frowned, ready to tell me off until he recognized me.

I smirked, grabbing one of the liquor bottles from his grasp. “Let me do this one.”

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

Even with theamount of alcohol I’d consumed tonight, my muscles locked up when River came into my line of sight. I couldn’t hear what he was saying over the music, but I got my answer when the bartender climbed off me. I shot up, only for River to push me back down and straddle my hips, pressing his weight on me to keep me still.

“Get off,” I snapped. “You’re not supposed to be behind the bar.”

“Really, Kit-Kat?” He leaned down, placing his hands on the armrests on either side of me. “You got West all hot and bothered over there because of whatever you did to him. He was about to knock the guy’s teeth out. At least my way isn’t violent.”

“It will be if you don’t get the hell off,” I threatened, making the mistake of looking around. The crowd was watching, the curiosity rampant on most of their faces. Even in the short time River had been here, word about who he was had circulated. Now he was on top of the purple-haired girl no one knew.

“You’ll make it worse if you try to push me away,” he murmured, keeping his gaze locked on me. “Then they’ll all wonder why the new girl hates a founding family in this town.”

“Or maybe they’ll see what dicks the founding families’ sons are.”

“How about I blurt out your real name so everyone knows who the new girl is?” He cocked his head to the side, his eyes brimming with challenge. “Then they’ll all know it’s not just the Braidwood boys running around campus.”

I bit my tongue, not ready for everyone to know yet. Bri had finally warmed up to me. I was with her and Abigail tonight. If my team found out my last name, that would be the end of my comfort in my house. Sure, they’d be nice to me. But not because they liked me. Because they’d fear me. The power of my last name. Making any true friends would be impossible.

“Come on, Kat,” he tried convincing me, nodding his head to the side. “You wanted to piss them off. I know at least one of them will hate seeing this. Here’s your chance.”

I couldn’t stop my eyes from darting to where Eli and West were sitting. Both were glaring at River. Eli caught my gaze and raised an eyebrow as if he was waiting for me to shove River off.

“They don’t trust us.” This time when he spoke, his lips grazed my ear. “They would fucking hate seeing us getting along.”

“We don’t get along.”

“What’s the harm in pretending for the next few minutes?”

Fuck it. He wasn’t going to let it go. Even in all the years I’d been gone, I still knew him well enough that if I pushed him off, he’d scream my name for the entire bar to hear. He never bluffed. And I was enjoying the anonymity too much to let it go until I didn’t have a choice anymore.

The hesitation I would usually have was clouded by the shots I’d downed. With only a few bubbling nerves, I raised my hand and ran my fingers through his messy waves before tightening my grip. Pulling him closer until my mouth was near his ear, I made sure my next words stayed between us.

“And what if I told you it wasn’t you I wanted on top of me right now?”

I waited for his anger, but instead, his chest vibrated as he laughed. Without moving his head away from mine, he began dancing on me like the bartender had been. I tried ignoring his constant touch as he jerked away from my hold on his hair. His eyes were lit up with amusement when he met my gaze.