“Okay.” I shrug and walk off before she can say a word.

Cap is standing off to the side with Leo and a couple girls from school when I approach.

“Wassup, Rae?” Leo holds his fist out, so I give him knuckles.

“Not a damn thing.” I keep my eyes on Captain.

He studies me. “What’d you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing ... yet?”

I pop a shoulder. “You got plans with the bride of Chuckie over there?”

Leo spits beer, laughing and Captain grins.

“More like an open option, but uh...” He looks to the brunette beside Leo. “She’s not needed now.”

“I thought Royce was the slut?”

“I am.” Royce moseys up, throwing his arm around me.

Maddoc slides over and pushes it off.

“What’s going on?” Maddoc questions.

I look back to Cap. “Come on, packman. Let’s cause trouble.”

“Wait, I wanna cause trouble,” Royce whines but I shove him away.

“Not your turn,” I tell him, ignoring his pout. “She’s acting like a bitch, and I wanna bitch slap her, but I’m too tired to deal with your guys’ crap later. So, I’ll settle for an ego hit instead.”

“And how exactly do you plan to do that?” Maddoc snaps.

I grin and step toward Captain who puffs his chest out, a smile playing at his lips. “I’m tired, Cap.” I run my fingers down the center of his chest, cutting a quick glance at Maddoc when he steps closer.

“The fuck’s goin’ on?” Royce whispers not so quietly.

“Put me to bed?” I ask Cap, unable to keep from smiling.

Bride of Chuckie is standing now, I see her in my periphery.

“Captain,” Maddoc’s voice rumbles.

Leo steps back at the sound, putting distance between himself and the four of us.

“Chill, brother.” Captain doesn’t take his eyes off me, but reassures his brother in a whisper, “Just having some fun.”

He passes his drink to Royce, his other hand meeting my lower back and together we head for the cabin.

Yes, it’s the one I was already staying in, but she doesn’t know that.

At the door, Captain moves my hair over my shoulders and bends to whisper in my ear, his hands moving to grip my hips. He plays the part well. “It’s no wonder the girls can’t hang with you, Raven.”

“Why do you say that?” I turn the knob, then cover his hands with mine as we shuffle in.

“Because you do what you want and don’t let their shit get to you, at least not where they can tell.”

When we get inside, he pushes the door closed and steps back.

I head up the stairs, Captain on my heels. We both move for the kitchen, grabbing some snacks from the cupboards.

I pull out some Wheat Thins and he grabs a can of nasty spray cheese and a few waters.

“Anyway, thanks for that.”

I laugh, stuffing a couple of crackers in my mouth. “Thank you.”

“So what’d she say to you?”

I sigh. “Nothing that matters.”

“Keep talking.”

“People are assholes, especially when a girl like me is thrown in a world like yours. They feel the need to disrespect me to make themselves feel even more superior than they already believe they are. Like I get it, I have a stigma that follows me around, even hours from mine, it seems, but I don’t know why people go out of the way to piss me off. I don’t talk to people, I don’t get in the way. I stick to my damn self when they let me.”

“It’s because they’re jealous.”

I look up to find both Royce and Maddoc at the top of the stairs having heard our conversation.

“You guys are not that cool, not sure why they’re so desperate to stand where I’m standing,” I tease, motioning to Captain to squirt some nasty cheese in my mouth.

“They’re not jealous of you being around us,” Maddoc says as he moves to sit opposite of me and Royce drops beside me.

“I don’t get it.”

“Of course they want to be where you are, here with us, but that’s not what ticks them off,” Captain says.

“It’s true, RaeRae. It’s all about you.” Royce steals my water, downing it in seconds, so I move to grab another. “You’re new, sure, but you’re feisty and free-spirited, fine as fuck with this sexy ass edge to you.”

I scoff. “Okay.”

“For real, you’re like a biker princess or rock goddess, wrapped in a fat ass, shiny Do Not Touch tape that only makes everyone wanna touch it more. You’re a little hood but still a Cali girl. They want to be you, imitate you, but they don’t know how. They have fancy clothes and cars and Daddy’s plastic, but no matter what they do or buy or who they pay, they can’t reach your level, and they know it. You’re this lethal ass combination of girl they never knew they wanted to be until now but couldn’t match if they tried.”

“Okay, no more.” I pull my sleeves over my hands, and look over the boys, finding goofy little boy grins on each of their faces. Even Maddoc’s.

It looks good on him. Little foreign but ... good.

“Holy shit, she gets embarrassed!” Royce hops to his feet, looking like he’s seriously surprised.

“Dude. You’re over here saying all this ... jazz while you three flawless fuckheads stare at me. Stop it.”

They laugh lightly.

“For real, though.” Captain tips his chin. “Want us to make her leave?”

“Nah.” I shrug. “She’s harmless. Your people just need to stop thinking they can control what I do by talking shit.”

“They’re not our people,” Maddoc snaps and I roll my eyes.

“You know what I mean. They expect me to back off or keep quiet simply because they come from money or titles and I don’t, but that’s not the way I work.”

“People act like that to you at your old schools, too?” Royce asks, bouncing his shoulder into mine.

“All the time. Eventually I started acting in spite, doing the opposite, or least expected, even if what someone assumed was right. I like to make sure they don’t know it.”

“Why?” Captain asks.

“If they don’t know how to read me, they stay away. People don’t like what they don’t get, and if they don’t get you they can’t get to you.”

“That’s ... kind of fucked up,” Royce says, a little too gently for my liking.

I stand, not wanting to talk about me anymore. “Anyway, Cap. You’re free to make your move on the brunette. I think this lovely ten minutes was enough for them all to think ... who the hell knows what they think now that you all came in.”

“Aye,” Royce teases, doing a little dance from his sitting position and I roll my eyes.

“Walked in,” I laugh and Royce smiles.

“You really going to bed?” Maddoc’s question comes out a little hoarse.

I don’t look his way, I have a feeling his eyes hold a little more than I want to see after I ran my mouth just now. “I am.”

“Look, RaeRae, lock your door. When the crowd dies down, some of the party will move up here. They’ll have to come up the back, but still,” Royce tells me.