"Wow," Mallory giggles after I finish telling her the whole thing, aside from Bailey and I actually trusting each other, "this is going to be so easy, Max."

"Yeah..." I lock up my BMW and follow her into the school.

"You look great today, by the way, and I didn't even have to help you," Mallory looks me up and down.

Copper blond hair flows down my back, straight and shiny just like always. Tight jeans hug every curve. I have always avoided wearing them before. It was hard to leave the house in the black, V-neck tank that shows off way too much cleavage, so I opted to wear a fitted green plaid flannel with cut-off sleeves over it. Of course, I am wearing my regular black DC Chelsea tennis shoes and applied a layer of mascara.

"Well, thanks," I shrug as butterflies flit through me anxiously.

"Are you two making it school official?"

"I think so..." I know we are.

"Oh, here he comes. I'll vanish," Mallory squeezes my arm and disappears.

Bailey is at my side in a flash, and loops an arm around my waist as I open my locker. He is warm and smells strongly of leather. I let him brush his lips over the shell of my ear as I dig out materials for English and economics. He closes the door for me and carefully turns me around, taking my things.

"What are you doing?" I flush when he drops everything.

"She never let me do this," Bailey sweeps his gaze over me, "do you trust me?"

I peek around him and see Cassie glaring daggers at me. I wouldn't have to trust him to let him have his way with me in front of her. Returning my gaze to him, I lock my hands around the back of his neck and nod. Bailey leers complacently, widening his hands on my ass and boosts me up. I hook my right leg around his back and he anchors my left leg in his arm.

Our lips smash together and my fingers immediately dive into his hair. He groans softly, so only I can hear, lighting fireworks behind my navel. Hoots and caws fill the hallways from the guys and several girls gasp. Cassie shrieks curse words at Delia and some of the other cheerleaders as they tow her away. Bailey breaks the kiss, letting me down, chuckling.

"That was fun," he tucks hair behind my ear, "I like kissing you in front of everyone, baby."

"Is this you pissing all over your territory?" I roll my eyes.

"Don't pretend like you don't enjoy it."

"That's not what I said," I peck his lips quickly, blushing.

"Not only did I just announce our relationship to everyone in this school, but we royally pissed off Cassie," he dips his forehead into mine.

"I'm going to have to watch my ass for real now," I grimace a little anxiously.

Bailey grabs everything from the floor, "the Ghost Riders have your back, Max."

💀

All through homeroom, Bailey keeps his hand in mine after scooting our desks closer. The teacher either doesn't care or makes a point not to notice. Then he walks me to economics. I sit in the back, taking tedious notes and try not to think about how much I am enjoying this pretend relationship with Bailey so far. It almost feels real with him and I know for a fact, I am fucking screwed.

The plan is to make him fall in love with me and break his heart. I am already failing by letting him in on the game and trusting him to help me. I do trust him. More than I trust Mallory and maybe even myself at this point.

You're going to get your heart torn out.

"Is this really how you want to play this game?" Cassie's voice grates in my ears when I walk out of history class.

"Cassie?" I hesitate to face her, "oh, that is you?"

Cassie and Delia rush me and knock me into the wall of lockers. My cheek smacks into an open door, and I stumble backward. Delia catches me under my armpits, laughing hysterically and lets me drop to my ass. Cassie fists my hair, yanking my head up to stare at her. I reach back to grab my hair, but she's stronger and hasn't had the wind knocked out of her.

"You're going to regret stealing my boyfriend, Maxi Pad," she snarls, "I will make sure he remembers where you belong."

There isn't even a haunting crowd of students whispering and gossiping. This isn't about throwing around her elite weight, but putting me in my place. Cassie feels endangered.

"Bailey doesn't care where you think I belong," I snap foolishly.

"Just because he threw you against the lockers to make out, doesn't mean he wants you. That was all for show!" She's only half-right about that.

Bailey did it for show, but that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy kissing me. He makes sexy noises whenever he's kissing me, and actually closes his eyes, losing himself in me. He never did that with her. I watched them make out enough times to know that he was bored.

"At least he can act with me," I claw at her hand in my hair, "he couldn't be bothered to pretend he liked kissing you."

Delia's hands scratch at my wrists, prying my hands off Cassie. She pins my arms behind my back at a painful angle. Cassie kneels one knee into mine, digging excruciatingly. I hiss and cringe, wiggling to get her off, but I am not in any position to fight. I might stand a chance against her if I had my arms and both my legs were healthy.

This is bullshit!

"You think he can keep you safe?" Cassie gets frighteningly quiet and closes in on my face, "he can't be everywhere, Maxi Pad. You should watch your back. You think I was gunning for you before? You haven't seen me at my most poisonous, you bleeding cunt."

Cassie is suddenly staggering off me and Delia releases me. Mallory comes into view, slapping the shit out of Cassie and knocking Delia back. Mallory is the same height as me, so it surprises me that she can take on both her ex-best friends, who are each a cheerleader.

"I think that's enough of your bullshit, Cassie," Mallory continues to shove her back, "you better watch it or you'll have all the Ghost Riders coming after you!"

"I don't see them now!" Cassie yowls, glaring at Mallory.

"All threats!" Delia grasps Cassie and starts carrying her away, "you're both on our radar!"

As soon as they are gone, Mallory returns to help me to my feet. I lean heavily into the wall of lockers as the tardy bell echoes through the halls. We both glance around and let out a relieved, breathless laugh.

"Thanks, Mal," I rake fingers through my knotted hair, "I need to learn how to fight her before she gets me on my ass."

"Just slap the shit out of her," Mallory shrugs, "it astonishes her when she's attacked. She's not used to it."

"She always catches me off guard."

"How? She's always after you," Mallory challenges, gathering my things from the floor.

I let her walk me to my locker, "you have a point."

"We need to do some recon, Max. She's laying low after the party because she's licking her wounds. She'll come flying out of the bull pen full force before we know it."

I switch out books and notebooks at my locker for my last class before lunch, "do you really think she's going to keep throwing down like she has any backup?"

"She has the cheerleaders," Mallory clarifies, "and they'll listen to her because they don't want to lose their spot. It wouldn't surprise me if she has shit on every person on the squad to keep them in line."

"Thanks for your help, Mal," I shut my locker, "and we should make plans for after school soon."

"You and Bailey need to make your relationship a little more apparent if you're going to stay safe. It's not just Cassie who will be coming after you. All the guys saw you two making out."

"That doesn't make me available for the guys, though," I am so confused about the way the elite work.

"The guys don't know if that makes you one of them or off limits yet. It looked like a hell of a show, but it appeared like it was just for fun," Mallory explains how the others viewed it and it worries me if Bailey knew that's what he was doing.

"What should we do?"

"Eat lunch together every day. Plus, you two will literally have to be seen together outside of school."

"I think that's part of the plan."

"Then take the week to make that happen. It's not just about Cassie this week, but everyone. They'll all back off and then you and I can refocus on her. Besides, I need time to come up with our next move."

"Running out of ideas?"

"It's not like how I knew all of this would play out. I thought we would still be working on Bailey at this point, honestly. He was a lot easier than I thought. And not because of him, but because of you," she gives me a quick hug at my classroom door before scampering away.

💀

At my locker, I toss my things inside, preparing to head for the cafeteria for lunch. I slam it shut and glance around the emptying hallway. I don't see Bailey or any of the Ghost Riders around. I don't know if I should meet them there or wait here.

"Hey, baby," abruptly Bailey is slinging his arm around my shoulders. "How were the rest of your classes?"

I figure since he wants to know everything about Mallory that also means he wants to know when Cassie comes at me. I'm not sure exactly what she did that was any different from before.

"I had a run in with Cassie..."

Suddenly he jerks to a stop and I am drawn into his chest. His hands dig into my biceps and he scowls at me like I just told him he's the worst kisser. The determination on his face to prove me wrong sends a chill up my spine.

"What did she do?"

"She just wanted to make sure I know she's still out there," I shrug casually, but he doesn't buy it.

"Did she hurt you?" His eyes rake over me like he'll find a bruise, and then they land on my cheek, "did she do this?"

I touch his hand as he brushes it over my sore cheek, "it's fine. It was a locker door... I mean, she threw me into it, but..."

"She what?" His grip on my shoulder tightens painfully.

"Ow..." I flinch from him and he releases me.

"S-sorry," he grumbles, hauling me flush with him, "I'll take care of it, Max. Don't worry about it. She can't keep up this game."

"Don't," I thread my fingers through his that are on my face, "just let it go this time. Please?"

"Don't beg me..." He bows his forehead into mine, "don't do that. That's not fair."

"Please?" I let out a soft whimper.

Bailey snarls under his breath, snaking his arms around me protectively. He really cares to make sure I am safe, and I'm confused why he wants to fake a relationship with me at all. It was Zane's idea for us to do this, and he went along with it. I suppose, so did I.

Bailey changes the subject, "Are you hungry?"

"Starved," I let myself smile as he pecks my cheek and steers us toward the cafeteria.

"I finally get to show you off," Bailey lets his hand wander down to my waist, and flirts with the hem of my shirt. He tugs it back into place and opens the door for me, "I can't believe you're my girl."

Your girl?

He's saying that because we are at school and someone could be listening. That has to be what he means by it.

"Believe it," I wink at him and head for the line.

We both grab sandwiches and sodas then he pushes me toward his table with the Ghost Riders. I figure I will sit with them, but everyone is staring at us.

Facing the cafeteria, and parading past the gawking faces, my legs tremor dangerously. Bailey supports my back with a hand and guides me to the table with his boys. He takes a seat first before jerking me into his lap.

"Oh, shit," I flush as all the girls throw evil glares at me, "way to make everyone hate me, Bay."

"Don't they already?" Riette teases, enjoying a slice of pizza.

Bailey cradles an arm around my waist and smiles at me. He doesn't even bother with his food, regarding me as I dress my sandwich. My entire body is on fire and I break out in a sweat as he stares at me, licking his lips. Zane and Riette are busy talking about some fight, and no surprise Connor is missing. I still feel weird being on display, though that's sort of the point.

"Would you stop it?" I lock my eyes with his, "you're making it difficult to eat."

Bailey grins, pecks my cheek, and slides me to the seat next to him. I bite into my sandwich when he turns to his sandwich.

"Is this for real?" A senior guy I don't know approaches the table, gesturing to me and Bailey.

Zane and Riette are immediately on their feet, but Bailey remains calm. He hooks an arm around my shoulders again and stares at the senior guy, who glowers down at us. I don't understand what the problem is.

"It's for real," Zane snarls at him, "so spread the word. She's Bailey's girl now."

Bailey's girl.

"Got a problem with that, Childers?" Riette barks.

"Guess not," Childers holds up his hands in surrender and heads off to report back to the other seniors.

"Fucking dipshit," Zane plops back in his seat, immediately drawing his phone out of his pocket, "you need to change your status on social media, Bay. You never did that for Cassie, but you need to do it for Max."

"Thanks, brother," Bailey doesn't pull out his phone.

That must mean Zane is fixing it for him right now. Does that mean Zane has his password and everything? That's how much faith he has in his friend.

"Why can't you do that?" I nudge Bailey with my shoulder.

Riette chuckles quietly, resting his elbows on the table, back pressed into it. He glares around the cafeteria as if daring anyone else to come at us. He's definitely one to watch out for no matter what, and right now, he's playing guard.

"He's pure shit with technology," Zane teases.

There's that line again. He isn't good with technology.

Okay...

"Pure shit?" I question Bailey.

"Why?" He looks embarrassed.

"Well... You already know it was me and Mallory that stole Cassie's phone and sent her nudes to your friends and a few others..." I hold his gaze because it's safest. "Well, Mallory went through the messages you two sent and we saw that she sent you the original picture of-of me... You know, in the locker room." I glance nervously at Zane, who listens quietly, "and you sent back the altered picture."

Riette's laugh bounds across the cafeteria, "Bailey? Alter a picture? No fucking way he did that."

"That was the day my phone went missing," Bailey remembers, looking up at Zane.

"Give it," Zane holds out his hand.

Bailey complies without hesitation. Zane searches through the phone and his eyebrows raise when he finds what he is looking for. He shows us the messages Bailey and Cassie shared, which isn't much from him. She did send him the original picture of me and he did send the altered picture, but he's not good with technology.

"How the hell?" Bailey snags it.

"Cassie or Delia stole your damn phone and set that up." Zane shakes his head, "you need to get a passcode on that thing, man."

"Fucking bitch..." Bailey snarls, deleting Cassie's and his messages, deleting the pictures, and blocking her number, "finally fucking free of her. It's been too fucking long."

"No shit," Zane whacks him over the head.

My mind whirls as I realize Bailey isn't even the one to modify the picture. That moment in the parking lot outside the diner isn't tainted. I want all of our moments to not be hindered because of a fake relationship or someone's blackmailing.

I really like him.

He doesn't want you.

I can't help but accept that Bailey is right. The Ghost Riders have my back, too. Riette is playing the role as the knight, protecting the group, and Zane is the leader making sure everyone knows what they're doing to mark their territory. Even if it is personal property and not for the whole group. I thought I was taking them all on by going after Bailey, but he was always on my side. Now I know, that means they are on my side, too.

💀

When school lets out, Bailey is right next to me outside the locker rooms. Cassie is still inside changing, but Coach Parker held her back in the gym. I think she was buying me time to get out. She probably hears the rumors going around school, and is trying to help diffuse the situation. At least there is an adult in this fucking place who wants to help.

"That was fast," Bailey drapes around me and pecks my temple, "I missed you."

"You missed me?" I don't know how much I believe him.

"I always miss you when you aren't right next to me."

"Oh please," I giggle and open my locker to gather my homework.

"What makes you think I'm not being serious?" He takes my bag and shuts my locker, "I like being with you, baby."

"Hey," Mallory pops up in front of us making me blink rapidly, "do you two have plans? I was hoping we could hang out for an hour."

"An hour?" Bailey passes my bag to me, "I have stuff for lacrosse anyway. Go have fun, baby." He kisses my cheek slowly, "I'll see you after because I want to."

I can't help myself, admiring his ass as he walks away.