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“I’m kind of in the middle of something,” I said, hefting the bundle of clothes in my arms. He’d just fucked my roommate in front of my eyes not even twenty-four hours ago. I didn’t want to hear whatever was going on inside his head. “Can it wait?”
“I like you,” he said.
Huh.
Now this was interesting.
Stuffing the clothes under my arm, I leaned back against the wall opposite of him, and stayed silent.
“Look,” he said again, blowing out a long breath. He mirrored my stance as he stood back against the wall. “I think you’re really cool. And nice. And… I guess I’m just not used to girls like you.”
I nodded, as if permitting him to continue. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like what I was hearing.
“I want to get to know you better,” he continued, cracking a lopsided grin. “Maybe in a less distracting setting.”
“What?” I said, laughing. For someone who seemed like the stereotypical jock that most girls drool over, he wasn’t the smoothest talker. “Are you asking me out?”
When he avoided my gaze, and the question, I knew exactly what he’d meant. It wasn’t that he was bad at talking to girls, it was that he never had to in this way. He never had to commit—it was all lust. Vivian was just another dose of that drug.
I knew exactly who I was dealing with.
And kind of enjoyed it.
“Just…” He shook his head, pushing himself away from the wall. “Think about it. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said, watching him go back down the hall and turn on his heel as he ducked around the corner. I turned back to the door, and was about to press my key card against it, when his head popped back around the wall.
“Just so you know, I don’t like what she did to you,” he said, looking at the clothes in my arm. “I’m sorry.”
With that, he disappeared, leaving me with a warmth turning in my stomach. Taking in a deep breath, I unlocked the door, but before I could enter, it swung wide open.
Vivian was on the other side, hand on the handle, just as she’d done the first day.
“Oh, hey,” I said.
When she didn’t move, I tried to shoulder my way past her. When she didn’t budge, I plastered on a wide smile, just in case she didn’t get the message. Her eyes were boring into mine.
“Excuse me,” I tried again.
“Just so you know,” she said, her voice so calm that it scared me, “if you try anything with him, I’m going to make your life hell.”
Woah.
I blinked back at her, still registering her words. So, she’d been eavesdropping. What a dirty little bitch—and she’d said it as if she wasn’t making my life hell already.
The nerve.
“I’m sorry, but,” I began, “Eric soughtmeout, just so you’re aware.”
A wicked smirk rose and fell on her lips as quick as a flash of lightning. It said,I don’t care.I felt a cold rush down my spine.
This was all too familiar to me.
I was different from her. I was a threat. She held power over me in her looks and toxic disposition, and she’d only exercise it over me as long as it kept her afloat, kept her above me. Just like Elliot. Just like Felix. Just Like Leo.
I couldn’t repeat high school. I couldn’t face four more years of cowering, hiding, tip-toeing around eggshells and still getting hurt, bearing the brunt of some egotistic rich kid’s wrath. Something had to change.
“If you try anything,” she said, her frigid gaze unmoving from mine, “you’re going to regret it.”
