BAD WICKED TWISTED: A Briarcrest Academy Box Set by Ilsa Madden-Mills Page B

had been finished that week, and it seemed like a good opportunity to see if the spur-of-the-moment decision to ask to her to help him had been a good idea. I could already tell that Teddy liked her, but it was important for her to return the feeling. I didn’t know her well enough to judge yet, and I wanted to believe that she wasn’t just another entitled rich girl, but I needed to see her one more time.
    That’s the only reason I invited her.
    I heard the buzzer peal while we were at the pool. Teddy jumped up from his deck chair and ran over to mine, his Mickey Mouse swim shorts still wet from swimming. His sister had dropped him off with us about an hour earlier, and he’d been in the pool the entire time. He was a good swimmer and had only gotten out when he knew it was time for Nora to arrive.
    “Nora’s here. Nora’s here,” he said, walking in circles, flapping his arms a little more than usual.
    “You want to see her, Teddy?” I know I did, and I didn’t like it.
    “She’s pretty. She plays piano like me,” he said, his voice rising up and down in a rhythm I’d gotten used to with him.
    “Come on,” I said with a grin, “you can go with me to let her in.” I handed him a towel and pointed out his shoes. “Go get your flip-flops. I don’t want you slipping on the slick floor in the gym.”
    He slipped his shoes on, and we went to the front door. She was waiting, wearing a breezy, white dress, looking innocent. Yet, she wasn’t was she? She’d told me she’d been with other guys before, and I wondered how many. Fuck it. Why did it matter anyway?
    I unlocked the door and let her in, noticing her slightly cool demeanor. Had I been too hard on her at the park? Maybe it was none of my business what she did with her life, including who she fucked. Yeah, I needed to let her live her life. She was nothing to me but a way for Teddy to expand his song selections and make our band better.
    Teddy ran right up to her. “Nora, Nora! This isn’t band practice. It’s to see if we like you. Leo isn’t sure you’ll work out.”
    My stomach dropped, realizing I shouldn’t have said so much in front of Teddy earlier when I’d been talking to Sebastian.
    Nora laughed, her eyes dancing. “Teddy, I can tell already that you and I are going to be best friends.” She gave him a big smile and me an amused smirk. “Tell me what else Leo says,” she said, walking over and tentatively crooking her arm through his and heading out through the patio doors to the pool area. I found myself pleased at her reaction. With Teddy, you had to get that he didn’t hold back when it came to what he said. You had to roll with it ’cause social cues and niceties meant nothing to him.
    As soon as we stepped out into the hot August sun, Sebastian yelled for her to get in the pool with him and Vixen. I stood there not sure what to do now that she was here. I hung back, watching as she pulled her dress off, revealing a bright orange bikini. It wasn’t too revealing; it covered her full breasts and her pert ass, yet I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I thought about the piercing she’d gotten last week. I wondered how it would feel in my mouth, how I could use my tongue on it to make her hot and wet. Pissed at my wayward imagination, I forced my eyes back to the pool, where I caught Sebastian checking her out, too. Fuck. Stupid, asinine idea to be around Nora in a bikini. Maybe we should have just had a band session. At least then she would have decent clothes on.
    Teddy’s bony frame jumped back in, and she dove in after him, her body knifing through the water. While they swam, Sebastian and Vixen set up the net for a volleyball game as I sat and played my guitar, working out the beat to a new song I was working on. I stared at Nora while I strummed the chords, wondering what had happened to her to make her snap. Just looking at her, you’d never guess she had problems. She seemed confident, poised, and perfect, even though I