Cruel Read online

  “Booth,” the men chorused and she nodded, leading them further into the dim establishment. It was a stunning contrast inside the Crow to the outside sunshine but Marcus didn’t mind it. Sometimes, the sun felt like it was frying his brain in California. He welcomed the cool interior.

  No sooner had they sat down did Marcus’ cell begin to ring. Instantly, he felt his neck tense and casually, he looked at the screen, his cheek twitching slightly.

  Fuck.

  “You gonna answer that?” Steve asked, his eyes trailing over the menu. Marcus shook his head and opened his own menu, putting the phone on silent and laying it face down on the table. Any semblance of a good mood he’d been carrying had dissipated completely.

  “I’m feeling chicken wings today,” Steve announced, flipping the menu closed but Marcus barely heard him. Despite not being able to see the screen, he could see the light illuminating the table as more messages came through.

  “Marc?”

  He raised his head and peered at Steve blankly.

  “What?”

  “I asked what you’re going to have.”

  “Oh. Probably a burger.”

  He tore his eyes away from the phone and forced himself to concentrate on his environment but he was painfully aware of the fact that his phone was continuing to go off. Suddenly, his full mouth parted in surprise as his gaze rested on a beautiful, pale girl headed toward them. Her blue eyes shone with intelligence but there was an undisputed sadness in their depth.

  “Hi,” she murmured as she approached the table. “I’m Elyse and I’m going to be your server today. Have you decided what you want yet?”

  “Oh, honey,” Steve purred, cocking his head to study her closely. “I can think of one thing I definitely want.”

  She raised her head to glare at Steve but instead, her gaze caught Marcus’ flashing brown eyes. Instantly, her pale skin seemed to go opaque as she recognized him.

  “Ellie. The cow,” Marcus growled, unable to stop himself as a slew of insults sprung from his lips. Elyse’s lips formed a word but no noise emanated. Anger and indignation colored her face in response.

  “You two know each other?” Steve asked, sounding bemused.

  “No,” Elyse snapped back.

  “Yep,” Marcus replied at the same time. “She used to go to Valley Heights too.”

  “Aw, how nice,” Steve purred. “She’s a hometown girl. I’m Steve.”

  Elyse didn’t acknowledge him in the least, her eyes falling from Marcus’ face as she turned away.

  “I’ll find someone else to take your order,” she muttered, disappearing before anyone could argue. Even so, Steve called out after her.

  “No! Why?!” he bemoaned, falling back against the booth. Elyse didn’t turn to answer him and Steve groaned loudly. “Do I smell or something? That’s two rejections in less than half an hour!”

  “You do smell,” Marcus conceded jokingly, also sinking back against the booth but his spine was so tense, he thought it was going to snap in half. “And it’s technically three rejections because both those girls rejected you.”

  Steve moaned like he was mortally wounded and Marcus rolled his eyes.

  “Calm down. You’re dodging a bullet with that one. She’s a stuck-up bitch.”

  Steve’s brows raised in surprise and he leaned forward.

  “That sweet little thing?” he demanded. “She doesn’t strike me as a mean girl.”

  “She’s just…I don’t know…full of herself,” Marcus insisted, not liking that he was being contradicted. “Trust me—I’ve known her for years. She doesn’t bother with anyone, like she’s too good for everyone else. No one likes her.”

  Steve craned his head to stare after Elyse again as if he was trying to reconcile Marcus’ words with the picture he’d gotten.

  “It’s hard to imagine anyone being full of themselves while working in a place like this,” Steve replied lightly. Marcus didn’t respond but he was wondering when Elyse Halston had begun working there. He was sure she hadn’t been there during the last school year and over the past couple weeks, he hadn’t noticed her.

  I hope she’s not going to be a problem, he thought with annoyance. I don’t want to find another hang out because of that stuck-up witch.

  Even as he thought it, Marcus couldn’t stop his eyes from traveling toward where she’d gone, his gaze taking in her slender form from the distance. He hadn’t remembered her being so attractive.

  You’re not getting enough sleep. That girl is not attractive, no matter how good she looks on the outside.

  “Are you checking her out?” Steve demanded, shattering his reverie. Marcus scowled, grateful for the low light of the establishment. There was an undeniable blush forming on his face.

  “Of course not,” he snapped. “Why would I want to look at a snobby bitch?”

  “Because she’s hot?” Steve offered, turning his own head to drink her in. Inexplicably, Marcus felt a rush of irritation, not unlike jealousy as he watched his friend watch Elyse.

  “We’re at Cal State,” he reminded his buddy. “We have no shortage of hot women here.”

  Through his peripheral vision, Marcus saw the screen on his phone light up again and his annoyance became full-fledged angst.

  Fucking women. They’re all trouble, he fumed, pulling his gaze back to the menu. Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry anymore.

  Chapter 2

  Leah’s hand reached out and grabbed at her arm the second she walked into the house. A rush of terror surged through Elyse as she instinctively pulled back but instantly, she willed herself to breathe normally.

  “Shh!” her roommate giggled. “Come and look!”

  Without a word, Elyse followed the tiny Asian girl through the front foyer and into the living room where their third roommate had fallen asleep on the couch. Elyse groaned aloud when she saw what Leah had done to Amy’s face.

  “What did you do to her?” Elyse sighed, taking in the sharpie on Amy’s delicate features.

  “She knows the house rules,” Leah said firmly, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. “She signed the lease.”

  Elyse shook her head and untangled her limb from Leah’s grasp, turning away from the scene. It wasn’t the first time Leah had done something so cruel to Amy and Elyse was sure it wasn’t going to be the last. In some morbid sense, Elyse was grateful that Leah focussed her mischievous deeds on Amy and not her but at the same time, it didn’t make her feel good.

  This is what the college experience is all about, Elyse reminded herself. Everyone tortures everyone else. You should be used to it by now. It’s like high school with more beer and justifications.

  But she wasn’t accustomed to any of it and on that day in particular, she didn’t want to see any more maltreatment of anyone.

  Seeing Marcus Preston at her work that afternoon had been enough to send her spiralling back into a childhood she had hoped she’d left behind. It had never occurred to her that Marcus might attend Cal State, not when he was guaranteed to get a scholarship almost anywhere in the States.

  Why would he stay in Sacramento?

  Then again, why would anyone think she would either? Her grades had been good enough to get her far away from Irene and the town she’d never left.

  Not that anyone would ask what ever happened to Elyse Halston.

  Much to her mother’s chagrin, the rest of Elyse’s junior and senior years played out the same as the rest of her high school career. She had focussed on her studies, laying low and avoiding most social functions, despite Irene’s endless pushing.

  “You should join the cheerleading squad!” Irene urged. “Men love cheerleaders!”

  And Elyse would again ask herself why Irene always seemed to base her worth on how many boyfriends she had.

  “Mom, you know I can’t,” Elyse had sighed. “It’s too much.”

  Irene had snorted derisively and shaken her head.

  “How would you know if you haven’t tried?” she
insisted.

  I know because I know myself, Elyse had wanted to scream. I know because I was told by people more experienced than you that I can’t!

  Of course she merely kept her mouth shut and retreated further into herself, counting the days until she would leave her mother’s house behind and begin her real, adult life.

  “Why would you stay on campus?” Irene had shouted in her usual, dramatic fashion. “You have a room here!”

  The warm sentiment behind Irene’s words did little to alleviate Elyse’s determination to leave.

  “Think about it, Mom,” she’d said instead of fighting. “You’ll have the house to yourself. You won’t have to worry about me interrupting your dates.”

  That was all the argument Elyse had needed and in the end, the redheaded girl had found a two-story house with Amy and Leah, two second-year students who had just lost their original roommate to a college transfer.

  “You have to have a good sense of humor to live here,” Leah had warned her. “If you can’t take a joke, you aren’t going to last long.”

  “I can take a joke,” Elyse had assured her. That had been before she realized how far Leah would go to stir up shit. The girl had no filters and every day seemed worst than the last.

  “Hey!” Leah yelled after Elyse as she climbed the stairs. “We’re having a party tonight.”

  Elyse paused and gazed back down, nodding agreeably.

  “Okay,” she replied.

  “I’m just telling you because…well, let’s face it, Ellie, you’re kind of a downer at parties.”

  The words hurt Elyse more than she wanted to admit, the fact that Leah called her “Ellie” only drove the pain home.

  I’m really never going to outgrow my childhood, am I?

  “Are you asking me not to come?” Elyse asked slowly, realizing what her roommate was trying to say. Leah shrugged and shook her head.

  “Nah,” she replied without conviction. “It’s your house too. You paid your rent. I wouldn’t tell you not to go but…I mean, can you try to have fun?”

  Swallowing the lump in her throat, Elyse turned around without responding, slowly heading back up the stairs and toward her bedroom. She wasn’t in the mood for a party that night or any other but now that Leah had openly called her on her wet blanket propensity, she knew she’d have to make an appearance.

  Maybe I’ll get lucky and get called into work, Elyse thought, shuffling into her bedroom and closing the door firmly behind her. Sinking onto her bed, she realized just how sad her life had become.

  What do you mean, become? You’ve always been pathetic. Maybe Mom was right about you. Maybe you’re just not trying hard enough.

  Sighing, she fell back onto the bed, releasing her high ponytail to let her dark red waves fall over the stained work uniform. She was going to need a shower but suddenly, her body just wanted to sink into the depth of the too-soft mattress and lay there.

  I’ll rest for a few minutes and then I need to study, she thought, her eyes growing heavier as she thought about it. In seconds, she was asleep.

  Her bedroom door flew open, the handle banging into the wall as she bolted up in shock. Her jaw dropped as Marcus Preston glowered at her from the threshold.

  “Jesus Christ,” he muttered, shaking his dark curls with disgust. “You live here?”

  “W-what are you doing in my room?” Elyse squeaked, her heart hammering wildly in her chest. “G-get out!”

  Instead of obeying her command, he ambled forward, his cocky swagger patronizing as he loomed over the side of her bed.

  “Are you waiting, for me, princess?” he taunted. “Waiting for me to come up here and show you what it’s like to touch this?” He indicated his six-pack, the muscles rippling beneath his tight shirt.

  She had no answer but as she stared up at him, she felt an unexpected flush of heat burst through her and slowly, her shoulders sank. Their gazes locked and for the first time, Elyse didn’t see cold malice in his steely green eyes. She saw heat. And desire.

  Her nipples tightened unexpectedly, her heartbeat increasing as her body became uber-sensitized.

  Suddenly, she could see the pain that he tried to hide from everyone. It was reflected in his eyes and it was so obvious that she couldn’t believe she had never noticed it before. Was she the only one who could see it? Her heart clenched, realizing the magnitude of mental trauma it would take to scar a man like him.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” he demanded, a strange expression overtaking his eyes. He took a step back as if her mere gaze had the power to move him.

  “Who hurt you?” she asked him softly.

  He tried to scoff but the sound that came out was less than insolent.

  “I can see it in your eyes, Marcus. Someone hurt you.”

  With a sneer, he turned to leave her but as he got to the door, a thousand zombies appeared, their hands outstretched.

  “Run, Ellie!” Marcus yelled before being consumed by the horde. Abruptly, Elyse’s eyes flew open and she heard herself gasping, the sound not subsiding until the sleep cleared from her hazy eyes.

  Freud would have something to say about that dream, she thought to herself, willing her heartrate to slow. Closing her eyes, she took strong, deep breaths until she was sure her pulse was normal again.

  But when she went to swing her legs over the side of the bed, Elyse realized something else—it was unmistakably damp between her thighs.

  Mortified, she jumped up, grabbing a towel from her closet and made her way into the bathroom.

  Stupid, she cursed at herself. Having a wet dream about your bully. Have you no self-respect at all?

  Yet even as she tried to think rationally, she couldn’t quite strike the image of Marcus Preston towering over her from her head—maybe because it wasn’t the first time she’d had it.

  Chapter 3

  Marcus looked at his watch and Steve whooped as he caught sight of the gesture.

  “What?” Marcus demanded. “What are you laughing at?”

  “Look at you, all 007 with a watch and no cell phone,” Steve teased. “Have we stepped into a time machine?”

  “I forgot it,” he replied shortly. “I can live without a phone for a night. They used to do it back in the olden days.”

  “I’m starting to think you’re an old man,” Steve laughed, punching him in the arm.

  Marcus didn’t bother to tell his friend that he had purposely left his cell at home. He tried to stifle the guilt he was feeling about it but quickly silenced the thoughts creeping into his mind.

  She’s fine. She’s always fine. You just saw her.

  “We’re out to party tonight, not play Angry Birds,” he retorted. Steve laughed again, his white smile a blinding contrast to his dark skin.

  “Atta boy,” he encouraged. “Let’s find us some honeys and enjoy ourselves after this last two weeks, right?”

  “Hear, hear, brother,” Marcus agreed, shooting him a grin of his own. They approached the house and loud rap music filtered through the open door to meet their ears. The truth was, he wasn’t looking to hook up but just getting out was good enough for that night.

  I’ll have a couple drinks, let loose a little and then return to the hell that waits for me.

  “Ah, that’s what I’m talking about,” Steve chortled, hopping up the steps. Night had fallen and all up and down the residential street, people milled about, eager to get their weekend started.

  Marcus paused to take in the student house, wondering how Steve always heard about the best events. He’d never met the hosts of this party but that didn’t matter. Everyone was invited and Marcus relished in the free-flowing booze.

  “You gonna stand out there all night?” Steve called down to him. Marcus moved as Steve disappeared into the flock of people already swarming the main floor. He looked about for a familiar face but when he found one, he felt his gut lurch.

  Cody Marks eyed him warily from where he stood by the beer keg. Marcus approached,
cringing inwardly as he noted the huge bruise forming on the younger man’s face.

  I did that.

  “Hey,” Marcus said. “How’s it going?”

  Cody grunted and handed him a cup. Marcus took it as a peace offering and felt himself relax slightly.

  “I’ve got a shiner,” Cody replied shortly. “In case you haven’t noticed.”

  “Come on, man. I said sorry,” Marcus grumbled, loathing that Cody was milking his small injury for sympathy.

  “No, actually, you didn’t,” Cody contradicted. “You told me to suck it up but you didn’t say sorry at all.”

  “Jesus Christ, Cody. Are you a man or a little girl?” he snapped. “Don’t play ball if you can’t take a few bumps and bruises.”

  All the contrition he’d felt melted into a puddle of animosity.

  “You’re an asshole, Preston,” Cody growled, slamming the red cup down on the table and advancing on him. “You think you’re so much better than anyone else but really, you’re just an insecure prick.”

  The insult both stunned Marcus and made him laugh.

  I think I’m better than everyone else? What the fuck is this idiot talking about?

  “Wow. Talk about being a drama queen,” Marcus snickered. “You really—”

  He didn’t get a chance to finish his retort as a fist came flying out to connect with his nose. Blood spurted everywhere and Marcus reeled back, gasping in pain at the unexpected assault. Instantly, a crowd gathered around them as the partygoers tried to see what was happening. Marcus didn’t permit himself time to feel the sting. Instantly, he was on his feet lunging forward, fury overwhelming him as he took Cody down. Their bodies crashed into the keg and taking out the card table beside them. Beer sprayed about, causing the partygoers to cry out in annoyance but the noise did nothing to make Marcus stop.

  “You fucker!” Marcus howled, punching Cody as he straddled him. “You little, prissy fucker.”

  “STOP IT!” someone screamed but Marcus managed to get two more blows to Cody’s jaw before strong arms yanked him back and he stood, panting.