Avery eyed me before getting distracted by Alistair leaning over to pepper kisses on her cheek. “Hey, you,” she said.
“Hey.” He smiled across at me. “Hey, Cee.”
“Hi,” I greeted him.
“You scared of the new guy?” Kyle asked. “That’s unlike you.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m scared of him,” I replied, peeking over at him but quickly looking away when I realized he was looking back at me. “He’s just a little crazy-looking, that’s all.”
That description seemed to give Nathan a new bright energy. He slid his hand around my back and pulled me into him, kissing me on my cheek before nuzzling my head. “Don’t worry, my queen. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” He looked up and nodded. “Ah, perfect timing.” Jaxon, Nikita, and Colette reached the table and took their seats. “Nikita, Jaxon, I want you to keep an eye on Cherri. Make sure to keep Deon away from her.”
Well, that wasn’t quite the reaction I was hoping for. The last thing I wanted was Nathan’s minions snooping around after me, keeping tabs on me while I was trying to get to know Deon again and get to the bottom of this prison rumor.
I shoved Nathan away from me. “I’m not some damsel that needs protecting. I hate when you do that. You may need your knights, but I don’t.”
Kyle snapped his fingers. “There’s the Cherri I’m used to.”
“It’s like she said,” Avery cut in. “She’s not afraid of him. We were just wondering where a guy like that blows in from.”
“Exactly,” I grumbled, taking a quick bite of my sandwich. “It’s not like Postings is the rough-and-tumble capital of the world or anything. Last year, when Becky Townland got a tramp stamp, she was the talk of the town for, like, six months. This guy comes in tatted, ripped, and looking like a grown man. It’s a little jarring. That doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself.” Nathan watched me in silence. “What?” I asked.
At that, he shook his head and redirected his attention to his food. “Nothing. You’re right. Jaxon, Nikita, consider that order rescinded.”
That was unusual. “Really?” I asked. “Just like that?”
He looked over at me and smiled. “Baby, I just want you to be comfortable. You know Nikita and Jaxon will keep you safe if you feel threatened, but if you’re fine, then I’m fine.”
Avery and I locked eyes for a moment, and then my glance quickly shifted to Colette. They both looked as confused as I did. Nathan’s sudden turn toward being kind and reasonable was unsettling, to say the least.
“What?” Nathan asked. “Is it that shocking that I’d do whatever you wanted me to?”
My head whipped back toward him. “It’s kind of shocking.” I smiled. “But it’s good. Thank you.” I leaned in and gave him a kiss, and it was one of the rare times kissing Nathan didn’t make me feel like a cheap, paid-off whore. If he’d always been like this throughout our relationship, I’d be hard-pressed to not actually be in love with him. “Anyway. Avery’s right. We were just wondering where someone like him came from.”
“I told you already,” Colette said. “He was in prison.”
I rolled my eyes. “You heard one rumor. Who’s to say that’s really true?” Everyone at the table went quiet and looked away from me. “What?”
Nathan nodded in Brayden’s direction, and he got a smile as wide as if Nathan had just offered him a million bucks. He leaned across the table toward me. “He was in prison. The first two years he spent in juvie. The second two he spent in an adult prison!”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
Brayden sat back in his chair with a smile. “Come on. We know everything that goes on around here.” He looked at Nathan, and Nathan nodded to confirm.
“It’s a fact?” I asked Nathan.
He side-eyed me. “My dad told me.”
There wasn’t a reason to question if what Connor had told Nathan was true. Connor was the king of Postings. If something salacious like that happened with someone in his town, he’d know about it.
“Wow.” I tossed a quick glance in Deon’s direction, but I looked away before Nathan could see me. “Do you know what he did?”
Nathan shrugged. “He didn’t tell me that much, just told me to stay away from him, and I’m passing that order onto all of you. Whatever personality he tries to sell you, don’t buy it. He’s bad news, and we’ve all got too much going for us to mess it up on him.”
No doubt, any member of The Royal Court going anywhere near Deon wouldn’t improve our station. Apart from Brayden, we’d all be graduating this year, and if it got out that any of us were fraternizing with someone who’d been to prison, an adult prison no less, the news would spread fast, and we’d all probably struggle to get anywhere.
Still, it was Deon. I couldn’t just not talk to him. He wasn’t a bad man. Until I heard from his lips that he’d been to prison, I refused to believe it.
Colette led the table in a variety of miscellaneous subjects, like her upcoming class president campaign, as well as what we all planned to do for the upcoming Spirit week. I did the best I could to remain interested, but every time I got a little too bored with the conversation, I would catch myself looking over at Deon. The draw I felt toward him was too strong to deny. As much as I wanted to follow Nathan’s orders and just let it go, I couldn’t ignore the history we had or my curiosity as to what the last four years had been like for him.
If he’d never left, Nathan, The Royal Court, my popularity, none of it would be a thing. Even if my dad still got promoted and even if we moved out of the neighborhood, I’d probably have been sneaking out to
