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“Let me go,” I say, forcing myself not to drop his gaze.
“But you’re so pretty when you cry,” he croons. “I like how easy you break. Especially knowing who you are.”
“You don’t know anything,” I growl, twisting to get away.
His fingers tighten, his other hand slipping behind my neck, like he’s getting ready to twist my head around and snap my neck. I shiver with terror, and his ice blue eyes brighten with a spark of something primal, like a wolf that just spotted movement in the grass.
“My sister’s as savage as the rest of us,” he says. “She threw you out with no coat. I’m impressed.”
“Lindsey would never do that,” I snap. “This has nothing to do with her.”
He leans in, the point of his sharp, cold nose brushing my cheek as he inhales. “I smell a liar,” he whispers.
My whole body goes tense when I feel how warm he is against me, how strong—strong enough to make me helpless. “I’ll scream,” I whisper, grabbing the hand that’s still locked around my throat.
He chuckles. “I don’t think so. Girls like you are too repressed to be loud. Though a few nights in my back seat could change that.”
“Please,” I whisper, my eyes filling with tears again, my vision starting to cloud as he cuts off the blood from my brain.
His eyes brighten again, and his smile turns wolfish. “That’s a good girl,” he says, loosening his grip. “I love it when chicks beg. Say it again.”
I swallow, and his nostrils flare.
“Again,” he orders sharply.
My voice shakes as I force the word past the tight ache of fear in my throat. “Please.”
Humiliation burns through me as a tear spills from my lashes, trickling down my cheek. Preston watches it like a hungry animal about to pounce.
“Good fucking girl,” he says, his voice a breathy growl, his eyes heated for once. He slides his hand up, gripping my chin and pulling me forward. His lips meet mine in a rough, harsh kiss.
I let out a muffled protest and shove at his granite chest, and he releases me, letting me stumble backwards away from him.
“Work on that before you come around this way again,” he says, one corner of his lips tilting up. “Even an uptight little virgin should know how to use her mouth.”
“Go to hell,” I snap.
“Try not to get raped on your way home,” he answers. “Though if you’re a Dolce girl, you might enjoy that.”
Before I can respond, he turns and jogs through the gate, disappearing along the road toward Lindsey’s house.
If I had any doubts about leaving, they’re gone now. I hurry away, shivering already, trying to get the creepy feeling to leave me. I don’t know why Lindsey’s brother unnerves me so much. I can’t even pinpoint exactly what’s so different about him, what sets him apart from the Faulkner High guys I know. He’s… Harder. Meaner. Sharper.
I step into the shadow of the fence as a car passes, my nerves on high alert. This side of town is nice, like the suburbs where I grew up. But not all of Faulkner is as pristine as Lindsey’s neighborhood, and Preston’s parting words echo in my mind. He was being a dick, trying to scare me, but it’s good advice.
What did he mean about being a Dolce girl, though? What the hell is that? Is it like a Gucci girl, but less fancy? Or is he talking about that guy we saw at the steakhouse?
I have plenty of time to think about it on the way home. Whenever Preston talks to me, I’m reminded how little I know about this town. I didn’t even get a chance to ask about Destiny before he overloaded my brain with a million more mysteries.
When I’m with Lindsey, it’s easy to get caught up in our little bubble of high school drama, football games, and dating. With Chase around, I get washed away in guilt and anguish and love, and that’s all that matters.
Remembering what Chase said, my stomach churns with sickness. Surely he wouldn’t really break up with Lindsey if I wanted him to.
And I don’t.
I’ll get over my crush. I will. I have to.
I can’t lose Lindsey, can’t lose any of them. After having friends and being included and having a life, I can’t go back to how I was before. I was never really living before this year, especially not last year. I was just existing in some state of numb limbo. Now I have friends, I feel things, I love someone. I’m alive to all of it.
