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The day can only go up from here, right?
DELILAH
As I round the corner of the hallway after fourth hour, my pace slows when I catch sight of Austin leaning casually against my locker, staring down at his phone. It’s enough to make my belly hollow out. I don’t understand what it is about him that affects me this way.
What I do know is that I felt this attraction from the first moment I saw him in the office and showed him around school. His gaze never deviated from mine as he stood too close, crowding into my personal space. After that, I did my best to avoid him since I had a boyfriend, but it was never enough to evict him from my mind.
I have no idea if anything can do that.
Even though I should hate him for what he’s doing, I don’t.
I understand his anger and why it’s directed full force at me.
For a handful of seconds, I allow my gaze to rove over him while he’s unaware of my presence. Even though his posture is relaxed, the tightly harnessed power is there, simmering beneath the surface, ready to break loose. And that notion turns me on and sets my blood on fire.
A tiny voice in the back of my head prods me to close the distance. The pull is magnetic, and I’m powerless to resist the lure of him. Even when I understand that it’s bad for me.
After a handful of seconds, he straightens, turning as if he’s able to feel the penetrating intensity of my stare the same way I’m aware of his. It’s just another strange connection we have when there should be nothing. Our gazes collide and electricity sizzles through my veins as my pulse kicks up a notch, thumping an insistent beat.
Instead of giving into the attraction thrumming through my veins, I stay rooted in place, needing to prove to him as well as myself that he doesn’t have total control over me. When I don’t budge, one side of his mouth hitches as if he knows exactly what thoughts are circling through my head before he eats up the distance between us with long-legged strides.
The closer he gets, the harder it becomes to breathe. His gaze stays fixated on mine, and I find myself trapped within his green depths.
Drowning helplessly in them.
Is there a more frightening feeling than being rendered completely incapable of saving yourself from certain death?
That’s exactly the way it is with Austin.
Every time we’re together.
“Ready for lunch?”
The haze clouding my brain gradually clears. “In the caf?”
It’s the last place I want to go.
All those people…
They’re still buzzing about what happened this morning. Austin and Jasper together in the same space will only add to it.
“Where else would we go?” There’s a pause before his voice dips. “How else can I rub you in Jasper’s face if we’re not sitting across from him?”
The deep scrape of his words is enough to turn my blood cold. Nerves burst to life inside me. “Can’t we go somewhere else?”
I’m tired of pretending that I don’t hear the whispered comments or see the sly glances aimed in our direction. It’s exhausting. All I want to do is hide and regroup.
When he remains silent, unmoved, I force myself to whisper, “Please.”
Austin is so intent on pushing Jasper over the edge. After the confrontation this morning, it wouldn’t take much. I’m afraid his plan will backfire, and Austin will be the one to bear the brunt of the punishment.
Which will mean expulsion.
I know how it works around here. The cards are neatly stacked against him. They have been from the very beginning. Contrary to what Jasper and his father proclaimed at the fundraising event, we are not one big happy family.
These people want the Hawthornes gone. And they’ll seize upon the smallest infractions and flimsiest of excuses to accomplish their agenda.
His eyes darken as he reaches out and drags a finger across my lower lip. Back and forth he strums. “You know how much I love that word when it falls from your lips.”
