Her Spite: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance (The Forgotten Elites Book 2) Eden Beck (best book club books TXT) 📖

after she’s gone, her own voice coming out in something of a rush. “That must have killed her to do that.”

I nod, my attention already turned to the pasta on the plate in front of me. “Not as much as it would have killed her to do it once the boys were here.”

As soon as I say it, I see both Alaska and Clark’s heads lift to swivel around the dining hall.

“They’re not here yet,” I reassure them. “Trust me, I’d know.”

Both of them share a glance as my own gaze lifts to watch Bridget and her friends again.

At first, her friends giggle as if they are waiting to see what the joke is, but when they figure out that Bridget actually means to invite me, they get quiet. The gesture is just enough to abate some of the harassment for the week that would have otherwise continued, but I know that it isn’t going to be enough.

It’s a good start though and will serve as an open door for the rest of the stuff that I’m going to have Bridget do.

There are a few other things that I need to address before this semester gets too far underway as well. One of which is the fact that I don’t have any money. In order to attend these events, and not look like Cinderella if she hadn’t had the help of the fairy godmother, I’m going to need some money to make it through the semester. I may not have any money coming in since being cut off, but fortunately Bridget does.

And more than enough of it.

I wrap up the day at a meeting with my new advisor to get reassigned to some new volunteer work. I’d initially dreaded meeting with him, but I am pleasantly surprised when it seems that I’m basically being given free rein now because the school is so embarrassed about what happened with the previous advisor.

Embarrassed enough, it seems, to place me with another male advisor. But also, smart enough to make sure he’s openly—and flamboyantly—gay.

No trouble from either side now.

The moment my new advisor opens the booklet of assignments and slides it toward me, I just shake my head and push it back across the table. I know exactly what it is I want to spend my semester doing.

And more importantly, who I want to be doing it with.

“There isn’t any extra space in that assignment,” the advisor says when I’ve told him. “Warren and his sister Bridget are filling that volunteering position.”

“I’m sure that Bridget won’t mind being bumped,” I say. “I mean, it’s really the only assignment that I want.”

The advisor looks at me with contempt, but he seems more worried about losing his job if I walk out of his office unhappy than he is worried about pissing Bridget off.

And that’s really saying something.

“Sure,” he says. “I’ll move her somewhere else. You can start the new assignment tomorrow.”

“Perfect.” I smile sweetly.

And it is definitely perfect. Not only is it a true jab at Bridget, who will likely get slid into some crappy volunteering slot that’s still open and have to do it all by herself without her brother there with her, but it also gives me the perfect opportunity to start screwing with Warren.

He won’t be able to get away from me now, not since we’ll be stuck doing mandatory volunteer work together.

This is going to be fun.

He just doesn’t know it yet.

None of them do.

Chapter Three

As expected, Warren is not happy with the new arrangement.

“Where’s Bridget?” he asks with nothing short of a venomous glare the moment I arrive instead of her. He even goes so far as to try to look around me, as if his sister could somehow be hiding her massive head of flaming red hair behind where I stand.

“Dunno,” I reply with a disinterested shrug. “Guess she got put on a new volunteer assignment.”

He eyes me a little more carefully.

“Why?” The tone in his voice is extremely accusatory.

“Uh, probably because I was put here,” I say, not at all hiding the fact that they can both thank me for getting her bumped. “School whore here who can’t be trusted around senior citizens, remember?”

Warren just sets his jaw.

Clearly, he’s used to his sister allowing him to shirk off—something that’ll be coming to a crashing halt with me here instead. Now that I’m here, things are going to be a lot less easy for Warren.

Which is precisely my goal.

“Want to show me around?” I ask him, knowing full well that he definitely does not. I make sure to keep my voice even, disinterested … a little airheaded, even. And I shimmy my shoulders just a little to make sure my blouse opens up just a bit.

Warren clears his throat with a huff and turns his head to avoid looking directly at me.

This is going to be even easier than I thought.

“Are you kidding me? I don’t even want to be here,” he says. “In fact, I wouldn’t have to be if it weren’t for you. So, figure it out yourself.”

“What do you mean?” I ask as if I don’t already know that he and Bridget break all the rules all the damn time. For them, not following the rules is as natural as breathing. “Don’t you have to fulfill your volunteer schedule?”

I might be overdoing it on the whole airheaded tone thing, because my voice cracks a bit at the end.

But Warren seems too distracted by my cleavage and batted doe-eyes to notice. He just rolls his own eyes at me and then slinks off to figure out what he should be doing. From the looks of it, he hasn’t put in too many volunteer hours. I’m guessing Bridget just covered for him and that he somehow sweet-talked his way past the staff.

I’m about to make that a bit more difficult for him to get away with now.

Now he’s actually going to have to show up and do what he’s told, which I’m sure