Sin Five

We descend a long driveway before easing to a stop behind several other cars parked in front of a well-lit beach house. Bass filters faintly through the air to greet us. Through the window, I can see two guys playing beer pong along with several others milling about.

"Where are we?"

"My house," he says in a tone that doesn't invite a response before swinging the driver's side door open and stepping out without looking to see that I follow. He just assumes I will. What am I, a dog?

I get out of the car and rush to catch up to him like the aforementioned dog, glad that I wore my flat sandals instead of a pair of heels because I would be sinking into the moist lawn with each step. I catch up to him right before he opens the front door. The volume increases and a rush of warm moist air pours out to meet the cool dusk breeze.

"Why are we here?!" I yell over the music and voices.

He gives me a side-smirk, "I thought you would want to go over where we are in classes. Am I wrong?"

"Well, yes, thank you, but why is there a party in your house?!" I yell just in time for a tall surfer boy to come barreling down the stairs toward us wearing nothing but board shorts and a backward hat. The uniform of beach boys everywhere. He greets Lex with a fist bump and hands him an open beer.

"Who's the bird?" the beach boy croons with an English accent, heavy eyelids, and a half-drunk grin. Who the hell still calls girls birds? I school my expression before my irksome disposition shines through.

"This is Ellie Dubois," Lex says, turning to me, "Ellie, this is Dominic. He's in psych, too, but he looks far less like a beach bum most of the week." I try to offer Dominic a coy smile, knowing very well that I cannot hide the level of discomfort I feel. Especially because I know I never told Lex my last name.

"Nic, please. I go by Nic. We all just got in from a Sunday at the beach, so you'll have to excuse all the sand and bikinis. Beer?" He reaches toward me offering his Stella Artois. At least he's not so far gone that his manners have taken a complete nosedive, but he's far enough gone to assume a lone girl would prefer a beer he's had his mouth all over.

I gently wave him off with the shake of my head and watch him glide to the leather couch across the room to snuggle down between two bikini-clad babes with real beach waves. Lex places his hand on the small of my back eliciting a chill down my spine before ushering me deeper into the house, and up the stairs.

"Mine is the door on the left," he says, which I open and enter cautiously, taking notice when automatic lights flash on. The room has minimalist vibes with floor-to-ceiling windows giving a beautiful view of the beach. It's a starless night but the moon is full and reflects off the crests of the waves creating a vision from a storybook. A black wood canopy bed sits against the far wall with a blue duvet. The style of this bed would normally seem feminine, but it seems perfectly masculine in this space - and perfectly Lex. The canopy sits free of drapery which probably helps the cause. The colors of the room are all blues, black, and gray creating an extension from the view outside.

"I wasn't exactly ready for a party. I was just getting my materials together for tomorrow. I'm in fucking yoga pants." I snipe at him almost involuntarily. He raises one black brow to me in challenge.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" The words are playful and his tone is intentionally light. Too intentional. I've offended him. I try for contrite.

"I'm sorry, Lex. I just haven't met anyone yet and I'm not exactly at the top of my game right now." I look down at my outfit, wrinkling my nose.

Lex visibly relaxes, letting the hardness leave his eyes. "Let me get my notes and the reading list and I'll go over these with you." He gestures to a large desk with two chairs in front of it and a MacBook propped on top.

I take the chair on the left realizing I don't even have a pen because he didn't give me any indication of what we were doing. Thankfully, he pulls out a fresh notepad and a Montblanc from a drawer on his side of the desk and slides them to me before we begin.

I'm becoming increasingly aware of our proximity by the minute. A brush of the shoulder here, a glance of his fingertips there. His knee is resting against mine and he's leaning in far closer than necessary while pointing to things on the page. Every touch is bringing my body temperature up, adding more butterflies to my stomach.

I know better than to make any sort of move with this guy. Not only does his reputation precede him, but I know I'll need to be able to stay close to him in order to do my investigation thoroughly. I know I'm supposed to keep my enemies closer and all - but I'm not sure the saying means I should fuck them.

I'm a few minutes into copying down the notes when he clears his throat. "So, Windsor? Are your parents anyone I would have heard of?"

It's not necessarily rude to ask, but most people usually don't and he's once again caught me unprepared for a question. I begin slowly, "Uh, probably not. I guess it just depends on which circles your family runs in. My dad was a musician, and my step-dad works in movies," I say, casually leaving out any mention of my mom who everyone has heard of.

"Is your dad no longer in the music business?"

"My dad passed away when I was a baby," I offer sullenly.

"Mine too. I'm sorry."

I'm taken aback by his confession so my shock and response are genuine, "I'm sorry about your dad, too."

I knew that Brooklyn was his step-sister because his mom married her father, Chadwick, but the news about his dad is new. I'm starting to feel like my research wasn't thorough enough. "Brooklyn is your sister though, right? You seem close in age."

"Yeah, Brooklyn is my step-sister. Our parents have been married since we were kids," he answers quickly. I get the feeling that he's not used to being the topic of conversation because as quickly as this small glimpse behind the curtain came, it's gone and the cocky mask falls back into place. He regains control of the conversation, steering it back to me.

"Did you leave anyone important behind at your fancy east coast college? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Sugar Daddy?" He offers a shit-eating grin after the last bit, just enough that I could assume he's kidding - or not kidding depending on context. I don't know him well enough to assume either way just yet, so I take the moment to give a sweet giggle I pray doesn't sound forced.

"No, no. Just me," I offer vaguely. If he wants more than that he's going to have to pry every word from my cold dead hands. "I was very involved in my studies. The social scene there was run of the mill, but the school wasn't as interesting as this one."

I take the opportunity to segue into a question I frame as harmless. "How about this school? Are all the rumors true? I heard there's some crazy on the loose here that's part of a secret society attacking girls on campus."

His eyes are hard and guarded as he parts his lips to answer only to be interrupted by a thundering down the hall. The door swings open followed by a less than graceful entrance by Nic and a second guy with slightly more clothing on and a deep caramel complexion. Are there any ugly guys at this school? Just one?

"Lex," Nic begins breathless, "Abrams just sliced his palm open trying to take a pit out of an avocado for the ladies and he's bleeding all over the tile in the fuckin kitchen. You're sober, can you take us to the ER to get him stitched up?"

Lex stands quickly knitting his brows together in agitation, "Fuck! Not in my car I'm not. Pull out Abrams' jeep. He can bleed in his own fucking car." Apparently, swear words are just fine for mister bad boy because no one is about to correct him.

"I'm fine," I cut in, "I'll just catch an Uber."

"Are you sure? You could stay here, get some studying done. Chapters thirteen and fourteen need to be read before tomorrow. I could help you some more when I get back."

I shift uncomfortably on my feet wondering what kind of offer that is. Clearly, he's not thinking in a panic situation because he just met me.

"You guys might be there for a couple of hours, and tomorrow is my first day of classes. I want to make sure I've got everything together. I'm already the girl starting in the middle of a semester. I don't want to give the professors another reason to dislike me."

Lex hesitates slightly before giving me a confident nod. "Ok. I'll schedule you an Uber from my phone. You can wait downstairs or outside but stay inside the gate. Don't go past the gate."

Ok, bossy. This neighborhood is obscenely upscale. I'm certain I would be just fine on the road but I agree quickly anyway getting my papers together and watching Lex's lithe body as he puts on his leather coat and picks up his keys off the edge of the desk. "I'll pick you up at eight-thirty at the same place and take you to 2120. It's your first class, right?"

It is my first class but I find myself grappling to put some space between us quickly, "Oh yeah, but that's alright I was going to grab a coffee in the quad and stuff first. I can take myself."

We're going quickly down the stairs and out into the cool night air. Dark has fully descended and the cold is creeping in.

Lex turns to me when we find ourselves on the porch. "Coffee first then. I'll pick you up at eight-fifteen," he says climbing into the driver's side of the yellow Jeep Nic just pulled around and closes the door before I have the opportunity to offer any argument.

Well, fuck. I'm going to need to up my game if I plan to keep control of anything with him. It seems to just evaporate in his presence. I sit on the porch to wait for my Uber and begin to catalog ideas for exactly how to handle Lexington Wells.