AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I blink, coming back to the moment.
Why is the air suddenly filled with Owen’s scent? I glance aside, and realize he’s turned to face me.
Oh.
I tip my head back, staring up into his gorgeous, enigmatic eyes. “Do you see it?” he asks again, quieter this time, barely a murmur.
I shake my head. He gently grasps my chin and angles my face so that I’m staring down into the quad. His arm reaches around me to point. “There.”
His body is flush with my back, effectively boxing me in against the mesh.
My pulse quickens. “I see it…”
“So I won’t find you in the hallway again, banging your head against the wall because you’re lost?”
“No.”
“Good.” Instead of releasing my jaw, Owen trails his fingers down the front of my throat. That gentle caress sends goosebumps rippling down my arms. My belly tightens, my breath coming in short, fast bursts. “You don’t want to get lost in this town, Evie. You might never find your way out again.”
Why do the things he says always sound like some low-key threat on my life? Does he really hate me that much?
I turn, trying to push past him, but he grabs the window ledge on either side of me and leans in, blocking me. I tilt my head back, glaring up at him, refusing to show him how nervous he makes me. “I’m not a thief,” I tell him. “So stop treating me like a fucking scumbag.”
“So what were you doing in Liam’s room that night?”
“I was getting my bag. The one Kat said I could keep there.”
“An innocent person wouldn’t have hidden under the bed.”
“I was high on drugs, so forgive me for acting irrationally.”
His mouth tightens, eyes narrowing as he scans my face like he’s trying to hunt out the lie in my words. He won’t find it, obviously, because it’s the truth. But damn, it looks like he’s trying really hard.
“So there’s no reason for you to keep treating me like shit.” I bite the inside of my lip to stop from saying more.
“What if I’m just a bad person?” he whispers. “What if it’s not in my nature to be nice?”
I huff out a laugh, crossing my arms as I look away. He’s toying with me now—it’s obvious from the mischievous gleam in his eyes. “No wonder you didn’t have a date to the dance.” I keep the words flippant. I’m not actively trying to hurt his feelings; I’m just providing a much-needed reality check.
But the omnipotent Owen Dalton doesn’t seem to see it that way.
“Iwantto go with Willow,” he growls.
I cock my eyebrow at him. “Yeah? Because it sounded like she had no idea what you were talking about.”
There’s no impish light in his eyes anymore. It’s been replaced with annoyance. Arrogance.
Yeah, that’s more like it.
This is the Owen I know and hate, not the one who was acting like we were on a first date, showing me oak trees and magnificent views of the mountains and shit.
Thismakes sense.
“I’m going to be late for class,” I tell him, again trying to push past.
This time he lets me go, and relief floods through me. I swam right into the shark’s mouth and back out again, without those razor-sharp teeth slicing me apart.
I’m getting good at this.
