He lifted a shoulder, a lazy shrug. “Fine. Truce. But you need to kiss my boo boo better first.”
Is he really serious?
So, this was his game? He really wanted my lips on him, somehow. Jerk. But fine, I’d play. “Fine. I’ll kiss your boo boo better before you go running back to your mommy crying.”
I brought his arm closer and slowly bent my head down to the bite mark. It did look ugly and painful. For the briefest moment, I felt bad and guilt gnawed at me before I pushed it away.
Before my lips could touch him, Maddox crowded into my space. I sucked in a harsh breath when his arm curled around my waist and he pulled me into him. Our bodies collided together softly and time came to a halt. Tick…tock…
His heat seeped through his clothes and mine, and I could feel the flush on my skin. My heart skittered, and I could feel the beat of his own heart against my chest.
Something pulsed between us, electrifying and powerful… a brief moment in time… something that lasted for only a nanosecond.
His other hand came up and his fingers slipped behind my head, curling around my nape.
My brain screamed at me, angry and confused.
His breath feathered over my mouth; I blinked, and his lips crashed against mine.
I gasped into his hungry lips. My hands landed on his chest, and I tried to push him back, but he clutched the back of my neck as he deepened the kiss. With his arm still locked firmly around my waist, he swiveled us around, and my back slammed into the locker. My heart dipped into my stomach when he pushed against me, and he lifted me up, only allowing my toes to touch the ground.
I didn’t know if I should kiss him back… push him away…
My mind went blank as he licked the seams of my lips. His chest rumbled with a small groan when his teeth grazed my bottom lip before he bit down. I hissed into his mouth, even though I was trembling in his arms. The gentle bite stung, and I could feel the blood rushing through my ears. Slowly, he pulled his mouth away. The taste of him, mint and tobacco were heavy on my swollen lips.
“Now we’re even. Truce, baby,” he whispered in my ear, his voice deeper and darker.
My breath caught in my throat as he untangled himself from my body, and I slumped against the locker. I couldn’t… breathe.
Shock and rage coursed through me, a sea of mixed emotions, too deep while the tides were too violent, I was drowning into the bottomless ocean.
Maddox gazed down at me, and he lazily swiped his tongue over his red, swollen lips as if to taste the remnant of our kiss. “You taste sweeter than I thought.”
His lips twitched, and with a ghost of a smile, he strutted backward and away from me. I let out a choked gasp… finally able to breathe.
I inhaled sharply, sucking in desperate breaths as he winked at me, and then rounded the corner out of my sight. My hand slowly crept up to my chest, and I left it there, over my rapidly beating heart.
His lips had tasted like… sin.
And I hated myself for reacting the way I did to his kiss.
12
Lila
I walked through the door of my grandparents’ home and stumbled onto the couch. Gran leaned against the kitchen’s doorway, having heard the door open. She watched me closely. “What’s with that face, sweetie?”
“Nothing,” I grumbled, rubbing a hand over my face.
“That sigh tells me it’s definitely something.” She took a seat on the opposite couch, waiting for my answer. I knew she wasn’t going to rest until I told her what was actually bothering me. “Is someone bothering you?”
Someone? Yes, your precious helper aka Maddox, my enemy.
I groaned in defeat. “There’s someone…”
She gave me a knowing look. “A boy.”
“Yes, a boy.”
“What boy?” Grandpa came down the stairs, and he settled beside me with a hard scowl on his face. He was a tad overprotective.
The last boyfriend I had was two years ago. We dated for about four months before I lost my virginity in the back of his dad’s pickup truck in the dark. The next time we made out, he noticed my scar and the look of disgust on his face still burned through my memory. Leo broke up with me the next day. When Pops found out, without any of the nasty sex details, he lost his shit. Since then, he had been wary of any boys who came around.
“It’s someone from school,” I finally admitted, leaving Maddox’s name out, since they both thought highly of him and it’d break my Gran’s heart if she ever found who the real Maddox was. Granted, yes, he was the perfect helper on Sunday, and he really did work hard, so I couldn’t really ruin his image just because he was an asshole to me in school. Right?
“Is he being rude to you? Do I need to file a complaint to the Headmaster? Molly, where is my rifle?” He stood up, his back straight and his jaw hard as granite. My sweet grandpa, even in his old age, he was fierce.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him back on the couch again. “No, no. He’s just… a bit annoying.”
“A bully?” Grandpa inquired. His intense stare burned holes through the side of my face. This was his if-you-lie-to-me-I-will-find-out look.
“Not exactly. I won’t let him bully me. You could say I’ve been a pain in his ass, too. I dyed his hair pink.”
Gran snickered. “Did you know that’s how our love story started?”
“You dyed Pops’ hair pink?” I gasped, my jaw going to slack.
“Not exactly. It was during summer camp. Your grandpa was a sweetheart, but his friends were vexing. You see, I didn’t mean to dye his hair. It was meant for his other friend who stuck gum in my hair.”
“She had to cut off her beautiful locks.” The forlorn look on his face as he stared at Gran, as if he was remembering that day very clearly, made my romantic heart sing.
“Yes. But Sven went into the shower first and… he came out with white hair.”
“Jack Frost,” Pops mumbled under his breath.
“A handsome Jack Frost.” Gran lifted her chin, a twinkle in her pretty brown eyes. “That’s how our love story started. We hated each other until he kissed me at the end of summer. We parted ways, but he followed me. He said he was going to marry me, and he’d win me over. He did.”
I was already shaking my head before she could finish her sentence. Love story? Maddox and I? Ha. I refrained from letting out a mocking laugh. “Oh no. There’s no love story between us. He’s my….”
My what? My nemesis who kissed me? Confused, I couldn’t find the right word to describe him. The definition of our relationship was… complicated. He was a jerk, but he wasn’t exactly a bully, since I fought back just as hard. Sure, he was my enemy, but he also kissed me, and my treacherous heart had done something weird in my chest. We were both passionate about our ongoing war, but it wasn’t hate.
Pops patted me on the knee, always on my side, always so encouraging. “If he’s making your life hard, make him miserable. Don’t be shy. Make him bend the knee,” he said fiercely.
I swallowed past the knot in my throat, refusing to admit that Maddox and I had anything more than war between us. It was a battlefield between us. Turning to Pops, I gave him a tender smile. “You’ve been watching Game of Thrones again?”