“Aiden! There you are!”
As if I called Hailey into being, she hustles toward me from down the hall. I mentally chide myself for even thinking of her. I glance toward Ashlyn’s door again, but she’s still not done.
“What’s up?” My eyes snare on her fingers as they grip my bicep.
“Just wondering how you were. And, uh, how things went with my father. You spoke to him, right? He said you did. I was wondering aboutus. You know, our appointment? Thought we could discuss rings.” There’s a terrifying hope behind her eyes as her hand reaches for mine. But then she follows my field of view and spots Ashlyn, who’s laughing and scribbling on her notepad. “Do you need me to come and visit you atThetaManor? Help you…clean up some trash?”
I drag my gaze back to her angelic expression. Pretend innocent. Jealous. And deeply unattractive.
“No. I think I’m coming down with something. Probably best you stay away. Wouldn’t want you to get sick.”
“I could bring you soup! I’m a great cook!” She smiles broadly, cluelessly.
“Nah, the chef makes some stellar stuff at the manor…”
“Oh.” Her face falls as her fingers grip the strap of her bag. “Well, if you change your mind?—”
“I won’t. See you.” I give her my back, hoping she’ll walk away. When I finally hear the clicks of her heels on the floor, my shoulders relax.
It’s frigid as fuck outside today, and I smile, sadistic and satisfied, as Ashlyn stands. Nipples pebbled under the pleather pink bodycon I forced her to wear. Thing’s so short, you can see where her ass meets her thigh. So low that the tops of her rosy areolae peek out, desperate for attention. So tight, every breath she takes makes her waist sink in deeper.
She’s sex in liquid fabric.
Shivering and blushing like a kitten dropped in cold water.
Ahellkitten.
Her face is carefree, but the moment she sees me leering at her across the hall as she exits the room, her expression hardens, and her arms cross over her chest. This only makes her breasts rise higher, and my cock grows harder.
“What’s the matter, baby? You look like a sugared tulip left out in the frost.”
“I’mfreezing,lord. I’m going to get sick. And then I’ll getyousick.” She flicks her hair over her shoulder and saunters a few steps in front of me toward the parking lot, then stops. “Never mind. I think I’d quite enjoy watching you die slowly of consumption.”
Rolling my eyes, I shrug off my puffy black winter coat, then toss it over her shoulders. “First of all, you don’t get sick from the temperature outside. That’s a myth. It comes from?—”
“People staying indoors in proximity, I know.” Lower, under her breath while shoving her arms down the sleeves of my jacket, she adds, “I didn’t knowyouknew.”
I grab her tote and my backpack, sling them over my shoulders, and lead us out of the glass-and-pine design building—sleek, modern, the kind of space she studies and I quietly admire. Out in the lot, I head for the Porsche.
Part of me thinks I should’ve made her ride on the back of my BMW motorcycle—especiallydressed like this. Let her freeze against my spine, legs wide, heels slipping off the pegs. Let the whole damn campus see what she is.
“What did you learn today?” I ask, hand behind her headrest, as I reverse out of the spot.
She curls deeper into my coat, tugging it over her thighs like a blanket. Instead of answering, she cranks the heater to full blast.
My fingers hook under her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Speak. Tell me what you learned.”
“I’m tired, Aiden. I don’t want to play.” With a whip of her head, she turns to face the window and mutters, “I want to veg tonight. Can’t I have some peace?”
“Didn’t seem so tired when you were chatting with those girls in your class.”
“Because they don’t ask stupid questions.”
Jaw clenched, I focus on the road and ignore my palm tingling, itching to rub the creamy thigh sticking out from under my coat. Seeing her drowning in it, the collar of ownership around her throat… I shift in my seat, readjusting myself without shame. Her gaze flicks down to the movement in the corner of her eye.
“What? You want me to suck you off now,too?”
“You’re one snide remark away, missy.”