Cruel Devil: Chapter 2

I smile, watching the gears turn in that pretty little head of hers as she struggles to find a way to get rid of me. Not happening, baby girl. Kasey coming to Suncrest U is a disaster waiting to happen. She’s seventeen for chrissakes, and her idiot mother thought it’d be a great idea for her to join the biggest sorority on campus. What a joke.

Football and training for football are what I’m focused on, so it’s become a habit of mine to avoid all things Greek, but only a hermit wouldn’t know Kappa Mu and their frat counterpart Alpha Ze are the two most notorious party houses here. Problem is, when shit goes down, it gets ugly.

There have been plenty of rumors about girls getting drugged and guys taking turns at some of their parties, and I’ll be damned if anyone is going to try shit like that with Kasey.

I can’t stand the girl, but that doesn’t mean I’ll sit back and let anything happen to her, either. I’m not a complete asshole, despite what she might think.

It’s why I suggested to Aaron that she move in with us. I’m willing to take one for the team if I have to, not that it’d be some big hardship. I’m barely home during the week. Most of my time is spent in class, on the field, or at the gym, and most Saturdays I have games. Half of them are out of town.

I’m home on Sunday afternoons but usually gone in the evening to see my sister. Sundays are the obligatory Price family dinners. My parents made them mandatory when Monique and I moved out for college, and while I managed to find a way out of them, my sister wasn’t so lucky. She goes to school out of state and she still has to fly in for those fucking dinners, so I make it a point to at least catch up with her while she’s here and take her to the airport for her return flight whenever I can.

Where Kasey and Aaron’s parents are damn near absent, mine take overbearing to an entirely different level.

Aaron liked the idea of Kasey moving in. He’s protective of his little sister the same way I am of mine, so it should have been a done deal, except Kasey refused to get on board with the program. The pretty little idiot.

When she shot down the idea, there wasn’t shit I could do about it, and Aaron wasn’t willing to pressure her. Something about her being independent and responsible and yeah, compared to most females her age, maybe she is. But she’s still young. Impressionable. Guys are going to take one look at her small body, perfect tits, and seductive mouth and think she’s theirs for the taking.

“Why are you here?” she asks like she doesn’t already know.

“I’m helping. That’s what do.” I put more emphasis on the word friend than necessary, but sometimes I need to remind myself that’s what we’re supposed to be. Friends. Not enemies. Not rivals. She’s part of our crew, which means I’m obligated to look out for her same as I would for Allie and Bibiana—Roman and Emilio’s girls.

But fuck, the way she gets under my skin, sometimes it’s all I can do not to spank her ass to get her to behave. Kasey Henderson is a match just waiting to be lit, and I’m the spark that gets her temper roaring. The way we verbally spar with one another, her tongue like a whip intent on tearing me down, it makes my cock jerk just thinking about how she’d be in the sack. Would she be just as wild and unrestrained? Or would she be shy and submissive?

I fight the urge to adjust myself and force my face to remain impassive. I’m not interested. Not really. I’m just also not blind. Kasey’s all grown up. Her waist dips beneath her ribs, giving her an hourglass figure that should be illegal on a seventeen-year-old girl. Her tits are full and round and her ass is more than a handful that I’ve definitely considered squeezing a time or two. Again, not because I’m interested.

I lock down thoughts like that as soon as they occur. Kasey Henderson is one hundred percent off limits. For one, she is too fucking young. Four years might not seem like a big deal to everyone else, but it sure as shit is when the girl in question is a minor. And for two, I don’t do relationships.

Between school and football, I don’t have time for one, nor am I particularly fond of having someone all up in my business. Women are needy and temperamental. If the urge arises, I’ll find a girl to take home for the night, but that’s all I’m interested in. One night.

Besides, I’m pretty sure Aaron would have my balls if I made a play for her. There’s an unspoken rule between friends. Thou shall not fuck one another’s siblings.

He and I are damn near brothers at this point. No way can I cross that line.

After graduation, the plan was for Roman, Emilio, and I to get a place off campus together. But both fuckers had to go and couple up senior year of high school, so that plan went down the drain real quick and left me with two options. Move into the dorms—not fucking likely—or get my own place off campus. But then money would be tight and I didn’t want to ask my parents to cover it. Doing that would lead to trouble. Nothing given was ever given freely, and I didn’t want the strings I knew would be attached.

My grandmother set up a trust fund for my sister and I that we got access to the day we turned eighteen. It’s not much, but it covers my monthly expenses and would cover rent on a house off campus if I could find a roommate.

The idea of living with a stranger isn’t something I could get on board with, so I buried my shit with Aaron and got a place with him since the fucker was the only other one in our crew riding solo like myself.

Since he and the girls are all close, it made sense. We weren’t going to be getting rid of him anytime soon. Looking back, it was the right call, even if I didn’t love the idea at the time.

Aaron’s good people. He fucked up when we were all kids but since then, when any of us need him, he shows up. He’s there when it counts, and he’s put his ass on the line for me more times than I can count. I won’t repay that by banging his sister behind his back, even if there was that one time we kissed, and it still fucking haunts me.

e a I shake out the memories from that day and focus back on the here and now.

“We’re not friends,” Kasey retorts, arms folded across her chest and mouth pressed into a tight line.

I shrug like her words don’t affect me.

“We’re not even friendly,” she adds.

She’s not wrong. Since that kiss, shit between us has gone from bad to worse. Kasey and I are like cats and dogs, or oil and water. We don’t mix. When we do, things get heated and not in a good way. It’s my fault for the way things are between us, and I’m man enough to own that, but when I pressed my mouth against hers and swallowed her soft cries of pleasure I knew right away it was a mistake.

“I’m friends with him.” I nod in Aaron’s direction. “And I’d be a shit friend if I didn’t at least offer to help the guy out. We both know he’ll do most of the heavy lifting while you and your mom talk with whoever it is running this show.”

Her jaw works and I can tell she’s barely keeping herself in check. I love it when she gets like this. All fire and brimstone, ready to raise hell to get what she wants. But before she can say anything else, her mom tugs on her arm. “Kasey, leave the poor boy alone. He’s only trying to help. Besides, there are so many things I want to show you before I have to leave.” She tugs on her daughter’s arm, who reluctantly follows, throwing one last look my way before admitting defeat.

I give her a small wave and her eyes narrow even further. She’ll come up with a way to get me back.

I’m looking forward to it.