AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My heart pounded heavily in my chest and my palms dampened with sweat. I knew that man.
And he was the last damn person I’d wanted to see here.
Chapter Five
I felt like I should say something… or maybe run in the other direction and hide behind a table.
It wasn’t in my nature to run, but I was seriously considering making an exception in this case, especially when he stopped and turned his head toward me. I ducked, but there was no one to hide behind since most of the other students had already filed out on their way to the dorms.
I watched as his eyes narrowed and his jaw flexed.
Merrick.
The one-night stand who had become so much more than that. The man who had thrown my heart for a loop.
To say he was angry at me would probably be downplaying it quite a bit. The two of us had met a year and a half before, right after one of my bouts in the underground ring. The chemistry that’d sparked between us was immediate and all-consuming, and at first, I hadn’t tried to fight it. I’d taken him back to my place, and we’d fucked each other’s brains out until neither of us could move.
But unlike every other one-night stand I’d had before that, a night of hot, intense sex hadn’t eased my desire for him—it’d only seemed to fan the flames, turning the spark into a raging inferno.
Even now, knowing how much he hated me, I still wanted to drag him into the nearest room with a door that locked and tear his clothes off.
The thing was, he had wanted more. The raw attraction between us was insane, and he had been convinced there was something deeper there, something like fate pushing us together.
I had actually considered giving in to his request, at least for like two seconds. I was scared as fuck by it though. It’d been the first time I’d ever felt those kinds of intense feelings for someone, and I wasn’t the type of girl who did well with emotions. The last time I’d cried was when my father had died, and I’d been twelve at the time.
So, in an effort to save myself, I’d brushed all my pesky feelings off and bowed out. I had ghosted Merrick hard-core.
And from the way that he was stalking toward me with an angry, predatory stride, he hadn’t forgotten about it.
I straightened my spine, prepared to fake my way through the confrontation. Believe it or not, even being a fighter, I actually hated confrontation—at least the verbal, emotional kind. That was probably why I’d turned to fighting. There weren’t a lot of words spoken when you were trying to beat the shit out of each other.
Before he could say anything, I grinned. “Merrick, fancy seeing you here. I had no idea that you had magic.”
His nostrils flared, his amber eyes narrowing. “Well, that’s kind of the point of this place. Everyone here developed magical powers out of nowhere. Though it doesn’t really surprise me to see you here. I always figured you for a witch… No, wait, I mean bitch.”
I understood why he was pissed, but I wasn’t about to stand there and let him degrade me like that. No matter how shitty what I’d done might’ve been, I was gonna stand up for myself, and I was pretty sure he knew that.
“For fuck’s sake.” I rolled my eyes. “Sorry you’re so full of yourself that you think every woman you bang is going to fall madly in love with you.” I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout, batting my eyelashes at him. “Did I hurt your widdle ego?”
He scoffed and shook his head. “You still haven’t changed. You think just because you have daddy issues, it excuses you from hurting people.” His voice hardened. “It doesn’t. You know just as well as I do that this isn’t about my fucking ego. Things were good between us, but because of your issues, you refused to admit it. And then you have the audacity to talk to me like I owe you something. Please, get over yourself.”
I rested my hands on the door frame, tilting my head with a cocky look.
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who came over here to talk to me.” I smirked. “I mean, I get it. Your first instinct was probably to make a beeline to the love of your life, thinking I’d throw myself back into your arms and we’d go prancing off into some magical sunset, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I don’t really go for assholes, and you, my friend, are an asshole.”
“Is that so?” Merrick’s voice was a dangerous purr. “Tell m
e again how much you hate me, Aria. Maybe next time I’ll actually believe it.”
Without even hesitating, I met his gaze. “I hate you.”
Something almost like pain flashed in his eyes for a second, but it was gone so fast I was pretty sure I’d imagined it. All I could see now was the familiar distaste.
“You sure you want to be on my bad side, Ari? I’ve been here for a year, and you’ve been here for less than a day. I can make your life at Magic Blessed miserable if I choose to.”
He stepped closer to me as he spoke, and I got a whiff of his familiar cologne. Emotions bubbled in my stomach, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot. My cheeks always got flushed right before I got down and dirty, especially with Merrick.
I could vividly remember the mind-blowing sex we’d had numerous times, and standing this close to him was reminding my body of exactly how he could make it feel.
