Wyld Girls Can Defy

How much trouble does it take to forget your summer fling is now your English teacher?

A lot.

That’s right, Wylder Anderson, troublemaker extraordinaire, didn’t see this one coming. When she walks into class the first day of her senior year, Wylder’s ex is just a fond memory. Until she sees him.

Sebastian Cook.

Dating a teacher is so not on Wylder’s agenda for the year. Vowing to keep her distance and focus on school, she jumps headfirst into a music project with Logan—the twin brother of Wylder’s superstar nemesis—and also the younger brother of Sebastian.

Yeah, that Sebastian.

The Cook brothers are going to be the death of her.

But they have a secret. A dangerous truth they’re hiding from the world that could burn their carefully constructed music empire to the ground.

Is Wylder the spark that will ignite that fire? Or is she the solution?

And is Logan Cook just an average high schooler, trying to make it to graduation? Or is he a secret rockstar, eager to disappear from the spotlight that was never meant to be his?

One ex-boyfriend/teacher.

One jerky superstar rocker.

And a boy who is anything but what he seems.

Who are these brothers? And why can’t Wylder stay away from them?

Disclaimer: This is not a story of a student-teacher romance, and Wylder is not underage. Wyld Girls Can Defy is book four in About That Girl, a clean YA romance series, but the others do not need to be read first. If you like feisty women, enemies to lovers, and scandals in the world of music then this book is for you.

Returning to Defiance Academy wasn’t supposed to feel like coming home. Wylder Anderson was a rebel, different from the prim and proper rich kids who attended the elite academy—and most of them let her know it. She didn’t fit in, but then, she’d never wanted to. 

Senior year. Finally. It took her a second attempt at her junior year but she’d made it. 

Wylder tuned out Devyn, her roommate for the second year in a row, and surveyed her belongings. There were perks to being a senior, one of which was no longer sharing a single shoebox-sized room with another girl. Now, they got a suite. Each of them had their own bedroom and shared a small sitting room and a bathroom in between. 

“Wylder, you brought too much stuff.” Devyn surveyed the bags Wylder had thrown on the couch. 

Again, Wylder didn’t listen as she wondered if this year would be different from last. Last year, she’d come to this school after she was expelled from Twin Rivers High and had zero interest in making new friends. Her best friend had graduated months before and moved to Nashville after falling in love with her brother—ew—leaving Wylder alone, just like she always told people she wanted. 

And then she’d formed an unlikely friendship with a senior, Kenny, the very last person at Defiance Academy she could imagine being friends with. After forcing him to fall in love with the president’s son—yes, that president—she’d moved on to two junior boys who refused to see how much they liked each other. 

Just call her the gay matchmaker. She’d had her boys and didn’t need anyone else. 

Second semester, the school’s resident ballerina—a loner like her—was helpless without Wylder guiding her in the ways of bucking authority and falling in love. 

Though, through all her matchmaking endeavors, Wylder had never been in love herself. Maybe this past summer in Nashville was her first foray into love, how did one recognize it? Sebastian Cook. A sigh wound through her, and she ignored the odd look Devyn gave her. 

Explaining her summer affair with Bash to the likes of Devyn would be just as useless as explaining her resistance to using the drums sitting in the corner of the room to her brother, country star Beckett Anderson. 

But she’d played with him first when most of the world hadn’t even heard his name. Before he left her in Twin Rivers all alone, she’d been a part of his music with him. 

Now, music no longer wanted anything to do with her. 

She had to get out of that room. Five minutes here, and she already couldn’t stand being cooped up. 

“This year is going to be epic,” she mumbled to herself, trying to force her heart to believe the words. 

She picked up speed, running up the stairs into the boys’ hall and heading for the room number Killian had texted her before. The school didn’t let him share a suite with Diego now that they were a thing, but she assumed Diego would be in there anyway, and she needed his innocence to put a smile on her face and remind her she was here with people who loved her. 

Without knocking, she pushed open the door to Killian’s suite. “Where’s my favorite tech geek?” Said with the utmost affection, of course. 

But it wasn’t Diego staring back at her. No, that would be the face of the boy she’d been in love with the last two years. Not a real kind of love, more of a fangirl love that faded the moment she’d met Luke Cook and heard the jerky words coming out of his mouth. 

They say to never meet your idols. Turns out, whoever they were was right. Because meeting the popstar a couple months ago at Beckett’s recording studio burst the bubble of her infatuation. 

Luke looked at her like he was expecting an answer to a question she hadn’t heard. His lips tugged down. “Are you looking for Killian? He didn’t strike me as a geek so much as a jock. Oh, you mean his boyfriend? I met Diego too. That, I can see.”

Wylder finally found her voice. “You don’t get to make fun of my friend. Only I call Diego a geek.”

“Noted.” He lifted one brow. 

Enough. Wylder couldn’t do this weird staring thing anymore. “What are you doing here, Luke? Don’t you have a tour happening?” He was the last person she’d expected to invade Defiance Academy, and she didn’t want the reminder of his brother, Sebastian hanging over her. Did Luke know about her and his brother? Had Sebastian sent him? She hated that she didn’t hate the thought. 

Luke’s brow furrowed. “Hey, I know you. Wylder Anderson, right? You’re the one who yelled at Luke for being a jerk.”

“Wait.” It made sense now. “You’re Logan.” Luke’s identical twin brother. And man, were they identical. Everything about them was the same—she just hoped for Killian’s sake his roommate wasn’t at all like his twin in personality. She squinted at him, looking for the subtle differences. His hair might be a shade lighter, and his eyes not quite as angry, yet there was an intensity he shared with his brother. That didn’t explain why he was here. 

“I get that look a lot. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not Luke.”

“So he’s on tour, and you got stuck here?” She knew how that felt.

“Pretty much.” Logan returned to unpacking a box of books. “But you would know what that’s like, having Beckett for a brother, right?”

“Yeah.” Wylder nodded, not looking at him.  

“Killian and Diego went to get coffee. They should be back in a few minutes if you want to hang here.” 

Hang with the man wearing Luke Cook’s face? Even after she realized what a jerk the singer was, the thought seemed preposterous somehow.

“Uh, sure.” She moved to sit on the sofa, wondering how her luck always landed her in these situations. How was she going to get through the year with Logan Cook as her best friend’s roommate? 

“There she is. Wyld Child!” Killian crashed through the door with Diego at his side. 

Wylder blushed. “Don’t start that.” Becks’ single had hit iTunes last week, and Wyld Child had soared up the charts. It was a nickname Sebastian had given her, and her annoying brother ran with it.

“What? It’s adorable,” Killian insisted. “My little sisters have played your song on an endless loop. They think I’m a big shot because I know you. I’m supposed to ask for your autograph.”

“It’s a great song,” Diego said. “I didn’t get it at first. Killian had to explain it to me.”

Poor, sweet, logical Diego didn’t get most pop culture references. It was her favorite thing about him. 

“I missed you guys.” She wrapped her arms around them. “So much!” She gave Diego an extra squeeze. “This year is going to be amazing.”

“I’ll settle for normal. Last year was a bit tumultuous.” Diego took Killian’s hand.  

“I have plans, guys. Big plans. So, I just wanted to say hi. I better go unpack before Devyn has a conniption. I’ll see you at dinner.” She waved over her shoulder. “See you around, Logan. Good luck wearing your brother’s face.” He’d need it. Most people at the academy had experience with famous people. Either their parents were known or they associated with people who were. This place was sort of a dumping ground for important people’s children. 

Wylder was only here because of her brother. 

When she got back to her room, Devyn was gone. As the school’s star equestrian, she spent most of her time at the stables. It worked for Wylder because she got the space she so desperately needed. 

Staring at her bags, she knew she should start unpacking and settle in for the year. Classes started tomorrow. After getting home from Nashville last week, her parents had wanted to spend every last minute of her summer with her, so they brought her back to school at the last possible minute. 

She supposed there could be worse things. Most of the people here didn’t even see their parents during the year, and Wylder’s lived fifteen minutes away. 

Lifting one of her bags off the couch, she walked into her room and dropped it to the floor with a sigh, her eyes going to the one possession she wished she could have left behind in Nashville. That would have crushed Becks, knowing his Christmas in July present only brought her pain. 

Crossing the room to where her dad had set up the electric drum set before he left, she lowered herself to the leather stool as she’d done so many times in the last month. Becks tried to get her to play for him, to jam with him, but the music wouldn’t come. 

In the last three years, she played drums a total of once. When she’d gone to the recording studio with Becks and found the most beautiful drum set she’d ever seen while she was playing a prank on Luke Cook, his punishment for being a jerk. 

Sebastian had found her. A smile curved her lips at the memory of that meeting, how he’d stared at her after she’d finished playing. She should have known then they were meant for explosiveness, not longevity. Their brief romance was fun and left her heart spinning in a way she’d never experienced, but they’d never promised each other more than just a fun summer together before going their separate ways. 

Reaching for the drumsticks, she closed her eyes as her fingers slid over them, twisting them over the back of her hand. Her muscles hadn’t forgotten. She wondered if they ever would. 

A knock sounded on her door, and she knew who it was. The only people who’d come see her saw her practically bolt only minutes ago. “Are you waiting for a gilded invitation?” she yelled. 

The door opened, revealing her favorite couple in the entire world—don’t tell her brother and his boyfriend Nicky. 

“No.” Killian stepped into the room. “I think I’m more of the message by dove kind of guy.” 

“Doves.” She nodded. “I’ll remember that next time.”

Diego’s brow creased, his confusion plain on his face. “If you guys need to talk, why don’t you just use email? It’s much easier.” 

“Babe.” Killian pressed a kiss to the side of his head. “It’s a good thing you’re adorable.”

Diego’s entire face reddened. 

Wylder set the drumsticks down. “What he’s trying to tell you, D man, is no one uses email anymore. Texts, sure, but if I were to email Killian, he’d probably think I was being held captive somewhere and that was my only mode of communication.”

“I email.” Diego looked down at his feet. 

Standing, she approached Diego and slid her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. What few people got to know about this lovable geek, who was both the smartest and most oblivious boy she knew, was that his hugs could cure cancer. 

“I missed you.” She held him tighter. 

Diego played with the end of one of her dreadlocks—a habit of his. “It was only a few months, Wylder. After this year, we could go years without seeing each other.”

Killian groaned. “You might want to stop with the doses of reality, babe.” He tugged Wylder away from Diego and enveloped her in his firmer hug. “We missed you too, Wyld Child.”

She buried her face in his shirt. “Don’t call me that.” The entire world now would, but in her mind, that name belonged to a summer romance she’d never forget. It was for her and Sebastian alone. Sliding her hands up his arms, she pulled back. “Someone has been working out.”

He shrugged. “This someone is going to have scouts at every single hockey game this year. I need to be prepared if I want to go high in the draft.” 

He was currently ranked as the highest draft-eligible goaltender in North America. Yes, she’d checked. Multiple times. After watching on TV when Kenny went in the first round last June, she hadn’t been able to contain her excitement for next year. 

Wylder surrounded herself with people who’d do great things. A famous brother, two future NHLers, a techie who’d already sold his first app, and the son of the president of the United States—who was also an amazing artist. 

And then there was her. Average. Troublemaker. No one expected much from her after graduation, and that was how she preferred it. With fewer expectations, there’d be less disappointment. 

Killian flopped down on her couch and pulled Diego down beside him. “So, Wyld Ch—Wylder.” He smiled, realizing he’d almost done it again. “We barely heard from you all summer. How was Nashville with your brother?”

How was Nashville? That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? It sucked at first. She hadn’t wanted to be there, to have Becks shoving music down her throat and trying to force her to play. 

Then… it got better. 

Killian lifted a brow. “Wylder Anderson, is that a smile?”

She forced her lips into a fake grimace. “No.”

“It was.” He reached for her hand, pulling her onto the couch and wedging her between them, using his leg to trap her there. “You need to spill.”

“Since when are you so talkative and smiley, Killer?” She looked to Diego, hoping he had an answer. “Where is the grumpy loner we both love?”

“He was never grumpy.” Diego shrugged. “He just didn’t think he fit into this school.” He smiled at his boyfriend. “Now, he does.” 

Wylder mimed puking. “Kidding. You guys are sickening but in a good way.” Would she have developed that with Sebastian? The lovey-dovey looks and silent conversations? If given a chance, could they have been as epic as her two favorite boys? 

Sighing, she leaned her head on Diego’s shoulder. “There may have been a boy.”

Killian’s smile widened. “Look at you being all normal, Wylder, getting flustered over a boy. What was his name?”

“I feel like I need to start singing about summer loving.” 

Killian wouldn’t admit how much he’d loved Grease, but he’d watched with Wylder and Lillian more than once, and his eyes lit up. “Had you a blast?”

A laugh broke free of her. “It just happened so fast.” Her laugh turned to a very uncharacteristic sob, something she’d held in since the day Sebastian left for Luke’s tour. 

But seeing Logan… here… it brought everything back to her. “He called me Wyld Child.”

Understanding dawned in Killian’s eyes. “And then Beckett put out a song using the nickname.”

She nodded. Her brother’s heart was in a good place, and he’d wanted to cheer her up, but it had done the opposite. 

“His name was Bash.” She didn’t know why she didn’t share his real name or the fact that his brother somehow ended up at her school as her best friend’s roommate. 

“Was he good to you?” Diego met her gaze, his eyes telling her just what he’d want to do to the guy if her answer was no. 

She slid her hand into his. “Yeah, D, he was good to me.” 

“And?” Killian nudged her. “Good kisser?”

She pictured Sebastian sitting in the back of his truck, Sebastian singing karaoke—poorly. 

Sebastian kissing her in the rain. The answer was yes. No one had ever kissed her like he had. 

“I’m not going to tell you that.”

“He was.” Killian laughed. “It’s written all over your face.” 

Diego’s voice was much quieter. “So, why are you sad? What happened?” 

She looked to the ceiling, willing the tears not to come. “Summer ended. Sometimes good things aren’t meant to last.” 

“I don’t think I like that.” 

“Me either, D. I really don’t.”