Heart skips a beat.
Fists curl in with fury…
There she is. Myobedientdog. Leaning back against a wall, skirt high, and lashes low, flirting with some douche who’s about to get his spine removed.
sixteen
“But if youhave the chapter notes, I’d be grateful if you could email me— Ouch!”
The wiry kid from my psych class is ripped off his feet and slammed into the painted concrete wall. His skull thuds against it hard enough to makemeflinch. Aiden’s forearm pins his windpipe, jaw set, spit lacing the words.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Huh?”
“What’s your name, other than deadman?” Aiden sneers.
My pulse spikes. The guy had asked me one question. One. I don’t even know him, though he looks familiar. But the Asshole-In-Charge’s wrath ignites like dragon’s breath.
“G-Gray.”
“Gray.” Aiden jerks his chin toward me. “You see this slut next to you?”
Gray’s glasses slip down his thin nose, but he doesn’t dare look. “Yeah?”
“That’s the last time you look at her. I’ve always wondered what eyeballs would taste like, and yours look luscious.Feel me?”
I tug at the iron bar of his arm, veins thrumming under my fingers with riotous rage.
“S-Sure, sorry. I was asking her a question about class. It’s not like I was extracting her organs or anything.”
We both blink.What? Our eyes meet, a silent agreement passing between us that this guy might be more clueless than dangerous.
Aiden tilts his head, but takes a step back from him, then snags my hand in his. “Great. Disappear. Be gone.”
Gray grabs his bag, shoves up his glasses, and vanishes toward the cafeteria.
Aiden doesn’t slow. Fury steams off him as he grips my waist and steers me into the women’s restroom, his legs propelling mine forward. With a quick scan of the room, he flips the lock on the door and tosses his backpack and pea coat onto a hook.
“I was just?—”
“Don’t,” he says, one finger up to his lips. “No words. No excuses. I told younotto speak today. I said you’re not allowed to talk to other men this month. Do you remember that?” Each word is a slow advance until the tile chills my back. The ice in his eyes makes my skin prickle.
Ilovehim like this.
My head bobs in a quick nod.
Standing only a few feet from me, eyes locked on mine, he tugs his belt buckle open, then whips the leather out of the loops of his jeans, folds it in half, and snaps it several times. I flinch at every clap in the air.
“Say it.”
I shake my head, not understanding. “W-What?” I whisper.
“Say the safe word.”
“C-Crest?”
“Crest.” He nods while biting his lower lip. A beat passes.Tense air. Dry mouth makes it hard to swallow. Heart pounds erratically against my ribs.