“Yes.” She breathes.
“That was a weak answer.” I chuckle. “But I like your fight, Austin. Your anger. It shows me that you haven’t given up yet. And you’re gonna need that.”
She picks up the knife that sits next to the tub of icing. Her hand grips it like her life depends on it. She’s not far off. “Are you gonna stab me?”
“It crossed my mind,” she growls, but her ass pushes into my already hard dick. God, this woman drives me mad.
I smile. “You better make sure you kill me, sweetheart. Because you won’t get a second chance.”
“I’ll only need one,” she assures me.
I have no doubt.
I bring my free hand up and wrap it around her throat, and like always when I touch her, her pulse races. “I figured you for the type of girl to grab a gun over a knife.”
“I’d go for whatever is in reach.” She pants.
I let go of her neck and yank the knife from her hand and hold it up to her throat. She whimpers. “The thing about a knife is that you have to get up close and personal, sweetheart. And you have one chance to do the most damage.” I run the knife down over her black shirt, between her breasts, and her chest rises and falls quickly with each breath. I want to cut the annoying fabric off. “But we both know that you don’t have a problem with letting me get close to you, do we?”
She shoves my hand away and spins around in my arms. My one hand still fists her hair. “You son of a …”
I cut her off, slamming my lips to hers. She tries to push me away, but I tighten my hand in her hair, and it causes her to cry out. I slide my tongue into her mouth and kiss her aggressively. Her legs buckle, and her hands grip my shirt just like they did in the hallway at school. I drop the knife, and it hits the floor with a clank. My now free hand goes underneath her shirt, and she doesn’t try to stop me as I slide it up and cup her breast.
She whimpers.
“I guess you still want me to fuck you,” I whisper against her lips.
“Why do you do this?” She pants.
“Do what, sweetheart?” I play dumb.
She groans. “Like you have to prove to yourself that I want you. When you don’t want me.”
I can’t help it, I laugh. “Feel that?” I press my hard dick into her lower stomach. Her green eyes stare up into mine. “That’s for you. You do that to me. Now tell me that I don’t want you,” I demand. I grab the top of her bra and yank it down, exposing her breast to my hand. I run my thumb over her nipple, and it hardens. I want my lips on it.
“You don’t want me,” she whispers hoarsely.
I remove my hand from her breast and out from underneath her shirt. I take a step back. “You’re right. I don’t.”
Her eyes narrow on me as she fixes her shirt.
“Got it,” Lilly says, running in, and my eyes go to hers.
“Thank Austin for picking you up,” I tell her because I refuse to say it. I didn’t ask her to; she offered.
“Thank you, Austin,” she says, walking over to her and hugging her hips.
Austin smiles down at her, our conversation no longer on her mind. “You’re welcome, Lilly.”
“Can she pick me up tomorrow?” she asks, looking at me.
I refrain from growling. This is why I didn’t want Austin’s help. “I’ll be able to pick you up tomorrow,” I tell her. She pouts, and her brown eyes look at the floor. “And Austin will be with me,” I add, making her smile.
Fuck!
AUSTIN
Friday went as well as Thursday did. Cole showed up, and we dropped off Lilly. Then we went to school, and he walked me to first period. He kissed me in class and at lunch, and every time, I found myself leaning into him. And I have to remind myself that I still have stitches in my arm because of him.
We’ve just picked up Lilly, and I’m looking down at my phone, responding to a message I got from Becky. We finally exchanged numbers today. And she hasn’t stopped texting me since third period.
I just happen to look up to see he missed the exit to my father’s house. “Where are we going?” I ask, glancing at Lilly in the back seat. She has her headphones on as she watches videos on her phone.
“My house,” he responds brusquely. He’s been in a mood today, and I noticed the tension between him and Kellan at lunch. And I didn’t miss the cut on Kellan’s face either. Something is going on.
“Why aren’t you taking me home?”
“We have plans.”
My knees start to bounce. We have plans. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Cole Reynolds, it’s that I never like his plans. “Will you quit with the cryptic answers. Why didn’t you take me home?”
He doesn’t respond, and my anger for him grows like it always does. “Cole—”
“Later,” he snaps, interrupting me before looking in his rearview mirror at Lilly. And I get it. He doesn’t want to say it with her in the car even if she has her headphones on. That makes me even more nervous.
“You’ll already be asleep by the time I get home, okay?” he tells Lilly as we stand in the foyer of his father’s house.
“Okay,” she says, nodding her head.
“Be good for Blanche.”
I’m not sure who the hell Blanche is, but if I had to guess, I would say a nanny.
“Always,” she tells him, and then he hugs her. Before I can say anything, he’s grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the house and back to his car.
“Now are you gonna tell me where we are going?” I ask.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
I bite my bottom lip, wanting to demand he tell me what the hell we are doing, but I know fighting with him won’t get me anywhere.
“Can you at least tell me how long we will be?”
“Why?”
“Really?” He can ask me questions, but I can’t ask him any? When he doesn’t say anything, I roll my eyes. “Becky is going to a party tonight and asked me to go.”
“No,” he says immediately.
“Excuse me?” I snap.
He looks in his side mirror and changes lanes. “No,” he repeats as if I’m hard of hearing.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Cole.”
“Wanna bet?”
I grind my teeth in frustration. “I can go out if I want.”
“Not without me and I’m not going out tonight,” he says matter-of-factly.
“What the fuck, Cole? You’re not my boyfriend,” I grind out, tightening my hand on my phone. Even if he was, he still wouldn’t have a say in what I do.
“The entire school thinks otherwise.”
“That’s because you told them that,” I snap.
He glances over at me. “No. That was all you, sweetheart. And wanting my cock.”
I suck in a breath through gritted teeth. I want to scream at him. Slam his head into his steering wheel and jump out of this moving car. Instead, I pick up my phone and text her.
Me: I’m down. Doing something right now. Will let you know when I’m done.
Then I lock my phone.
We sit in silence, and I stare out the passenger window, ignoring him as he flies down the highway.