Aiden leads me to one of the tables with a cushion.
I slide inside, expecting Aiden to sit across from me.
And surprise, he doesn’t meet expectations.
He plants himself right beside me. The distance between us is so minuscule, I can feel his body heat and smell his clean, toxic scent.
Damn his scent.
I purse my lips against the protest itching to be set free. If I tell him to change positions, he’ll do the exact opposite. Hell, he’ll go above and beyond to make my skin crawl.
He places his elbow on the table and leans his head against his palm as he watches me with a smirk.
“What?” I snap.
“You’re so expressive, it’s adorable.”
“And you’re not.”
“I can live with not being adorable.”
“I meant you’re not expressive. The star image doesn’t count. I know it’s a mask.”
“You know it’s a mask, huh?”
“Would you stop repeating what I say?”
“Do you know how euphoric it feels to get under your skin, Frozen?”
“How the hell would I know that?”
“Exactly.” He chuckles, reaching a hand to pinch my cheek. “You should see how red these get. Do I affect you that much?”
I wiggle away from his touch. “More like you infuriate me.”
“You can lie to me all you want, sweetheart. But do you think it’s a good idea to lie to yourself?”
“Maybe we all lie to ourselves.” I mirror his gesture and lean on my palm. It’s a way to disarm him, make him believe that he’s getting to me. “You, too, have a mask all the time.”
“A mask, huh?”
“What? You’ll deny that you show the world a calculated image of who you want them to believe you are?”
“It comes with the family name.” He winks. “I can’t be a sobbing, emotional mess if I’m going to be a leader.”
I focus on him. Like really focus on him. Not the arsehole Aiden, the school’s king, or Elites’ ace striker, but the other Aiden. The Aiden King. Heir to King Enterprises.
If he’s so mature at this age and knows exactly how to behave and what to do for his leadership position, he must’ve had a lot of pressure growing up.
Sociopaths are made.
My spine jerks at that idea.
Was he… abused? Not that it excuses what he did — and continues to do — to me, but that could put some pieces of the puzzle together.
I take a sip from the water. “Was your father hard on you?”
“I wasn’t abused by either of my parents if that’s what you’re thinking about.”
Damn. I wasn’t smooth enough in bringing out my assumptions.
There’s no helping it now that it’s out in the open.
“If it wasn’t your father, then were you abused by someone else?”
He stares at me. Hard. The energy radiating off him becomes foggy and suffocating.
If his eyes were his hands, he would’ve choked the life out of me by now.
A waitress stands at our table, interrupting the moment.
“Mineral water, please,” I say.
“Boiled eggs. Bacon. Large protein shake.” Aiden lists without looking at the menu. “And a vegetarian breakfast menu with zero fatty acids.”
My lips part. I was going to ask if they have any non-fatty acid breakfast menus since most restaurants don’t.
The waitress scribbles our order, nods, and leaves.
I face Aiden. “How did you know that I only eat that type of food?”
“Your aunt was packing a vegetarian lunch and there was a special brand of biscuits with no fatty acid on your breakfast table.” He glances at me. “Besides, you only eat your lunchboxes at school.”
“You’ve been watching me at school?”
He ignores my question and tilts his head. “Why don’t you ask the cafeteria for your type of food?”
I shrug. “I don’t like eating at the cafeteria.”
“Why not?”
“It’s where the bullying gets worse.”
He hums as if he never thought about that.
Dickhead.
My fingers play with the straws on the table. “Why did you really bring me here, Aiden?”
He grins. “I told you. Breakfast.”
“You want me to believe that you don’t have an ulterior motive?”
“I only want to feed you.” He pinches my right cheek. “Stop overthinking.”
I pull away from his touch. “It’s kind of hard when you were my bully for years.”
If he thinks I’ll ignore the elephant in the room, then he has another thing coming.
“I did nothing to you, Frozen.”
“Do you seriously believe that?”
“Believe what?”
“That you did nothing!” My voice raises. “You signed my death certificate that first day. You must’ve known they’d target me.”
“And why would I know that?”
“The entire freaking school bows down to you. Did you honestly think they’d leave me in peace after you so eloquently announced that you’d destroy me?”
He grins with that sadistic edge. “It’s not my fault I’m so loved.”
“You’re not even sorry for it, are you?”
“No.”
Something squeezes in my chest. I don’t know why I thought he’d show a bit of remorse.
There’s no remorse in an unfeeling monster.
I stand and throw the napkin at his chest. “Thank you for the clarifications. Have a shitty day.”
He clutches my wrist and pulls me down so fast, so hard, I yelp as I fall back down on something warm.
His lap.
I’m sitting on his lap.
My heartbeat picks up at being this close. So close that we breathe the same air. So close that I feel every ripple in his strong, hard thighs underneath me. So close that I can almost hear the pulse in my ears.
His face is a few inches away from mine that our noses nearly touch. His arm wraps around my waist in a steely, almost painful hold, and his eyes zero in on my lips as he speaks, “Did I say you can leave?”
It takes everything in me to ignore his proximity. I concentrate on his face despite the urge to look at his lips.
“I’m trying to understand, Aiden, I really am, but it’s impossible. You made my life hell for two years and now you want to get close to me without as much as an apology? Do you think I’ll forget about all that torment just because of your majesty’s presence?”
He continues feasting on my lips with his gaze. “Do you think you have a choice, sweetheart?”
“Every time I look at you, I remember when I was locked in the showers for five hours until Kim found me. I remember someone stealing my track clothes and feigning a headache to not practice that day. I remember being tripped in the cafeteria the first day I stepped in there and having pasta and juice all over my clothes, face, and hair. I remember being called a Teacher Slut and accused of sleeping with them. I remember being hated for being me!”
I’m panting after my outburst, my heart almost leaping out of my throat. I never thought there’d be a day I’d give Aiden a piece of my mind.