“Bah alors, Frozen. Anyone ever told you to chill?”
“I’ll be perfectly chill when you’re as far away from us as possible.”
Kim frowns. “That’s rude, Ellie.”
Rude? Doesn’t she realise he’s playing a game? A game Aiden must’ve put him up to it.
“No wonder he’s possessed,” Ronan mutters before he smiles at Kim, completely erasing me. “How about you stop being a closet fan and come over to one of my parties?”
Kim’s eyes almost bug out. “Who? Me?”
“I’ll win the drinking competition for your sake, Kimmy.”
“You will?” She almost shouts.
“I do anything for our fans.” He winks, brushes his knuckles over her hand before he stands and glances at me. “You can come, too, if you lose the frozen act.”
He throws a dismissive hand and leaves.
I continue aiming daggers at his back even as he disappears between the trees.
“Did you hear that? He invited us to one of his parties.”
“So what?”
“It’s Ronan Astor’s party, Ellie! I’ve always dreamt about attending one. I can’t believe he invited us.”
“Kim!” I grip her shoulders. “We agreed to never mingle with them, remember? We belong to different worlds and have different standards.”
“It’s just a party, Ellie. It’s senior year, we can at least go to a party.” The spark in her eyes doesn’t disappear. If anything, she looks about to explode from excitement.
That’s when I see it. The eagerness. The child-like thrill.
Kim wants this. She always had this dreamy look in her eyes whenever she talked about the football game or when we overhead other students talk about Ronan’s parties.
Unlike me, she wants to see that other crowd — Aiden and his pack of wolves’ crowd.
Maybe she’s been holding back because of the bullying. Maybe it’s because of me.
Either way, the new Kim isn’t afraid to go after what she likes. If anything, she runs straight to it.
Nothing I do or say will change her mind about the party.
I have to take care of the source of the problem.
A certain arsehole who’s been manipulating her throughout her new change.
We go back to school for our next class. Kim wouldn’t stop talking about the party even when I try to change the subject. I preferred the Korean soap operas retellings.
Near the class, Aiden crosses our path, coming in from the opposite direction. He stops near the door and Kim stops, too.
“Morning, Reed.” Aiden offers her a smile that somehow reaches his smokey eyes.
My chest squeezes in an uncomfortable, almost painful way.
“Morning, King.” Kim smiles back.
“You were amazing in the last game. We need more fans like you.”
“Go Elites!” Kim grins. “We’re so getting the championship this year.”
“Hell yeah, Kimmy!” Ronan cheers from behind us, draping an arm around Kim’s shoulder and leading her inside.
I hurry after them when a large-as-life presence pushes me back against the wall.
The students’ chatter disappears and my back snaps upright as I stare up at Aiden’s soulless eyes.
All the smiles he offered Kim disappear, leaving the actual demon Aiden is.
Looking up at him, I can’t help recalling his skin against mine. His finger sliding inside me. His lips biting my neck —
Nope. He’s not getting under my skin.
“Are you going to be mine?” he asks so low that the tenor of his voice vibrates on my skin.
Every day since that damned breakfast, he corners me somewhere and asks that same question.
I jut my chin out and give him the same answer I tell him every day, “No.”
“Hmm.” His fingers dig at the back of my scalp beneath my hair as he grips my nape and pins me in place.
There’s no escaping him even if I tried.
He’s freaking everywhere like the asphyxiating smoke in his eyes.
If I want to protect my sanity, I need to play my cards smartly.
If this were a football game, this is that time when the team is losing and the coach has to make decisive choices. He can lunge for offence and leave a void at the back that will cost him dearly in case of a counter-attack. Or he can hold his formation, draw in the adversary, and then attack when the other party least expects it.
I always preferred the second option.
Since I met Aiden, I had been the team that accepted defeat before the game even started. It’s like in the world cup when all English people have no hopes for the national team to go anywhere before it even started.
The forfeiting strategy was fine when Aiden just claimed his victory and moved along. Now that he’s pushing me, it’s time for a change of tactics.
Since the beginning of this school year, I used the all in attack, which obviously doesn’t work on Aiden. Not only is he a stronger, bigger — and a meaner — opponent, but he also gets off on my useless struggle. It’s time I go for the second option.
Lure. Wait. Attack.
Gah. I’m beginning to think like him.
But then again, one needs to be a monster to stop a monster.
He leans closer so his breath tickles along my lower lip. My breath catches. He’s always so close enough to kiss me, but he never does.
“Careful, sweetheart.” He pulls at a fistful of my hair. “You’re pushing me.”
“You pushed me first,” I grit out. “At least now you know how it feels to be pushed.”
“That’s nothing.” His lips hover over my ear before he darts his tongue and licks the shell. “I promise you won’t like it when I push back.”
I bite back the chill at his words and proximity and meet his gaze. “Aren’t you doing it already? What the hell is your game with Kim?”
He tilts his head to the side, his lips curving in a smirk. “Be mine and there won’t be a game.”
“Goddamn it, Aiden. You can’t play unfair like this.”
“Who said anything about fair?” His hand climbs to my throat and his thumb fingers the pulse point.
He’s obsessed with that.
“I told you I’ll threaten everything you love. Reed is only the beginning. It’s time you make a move, sweetheart.”
He pulls my cheek. “But don’t take too long. Patience has never been my strength.”
He releases me, leaving me breathless and boneless against the wall as he saunters inside the classroom. I hear him call Kim’s name.
And I know, I just know that Aiden’s strike will hit so deep.
He caught me by the arm that hurts the most.
When I peek into the class and find Kim laughing with him and Ronan, my heart squeezes and my chest aches.
A finger taps my shoulder. I startle, facing the intruder.
Xander’s gleamy blue eyes stare down at me. “I have an offer to make.”
Chapter Sixteen
For a week, I managed to avoid Aiden and Xander.
It might have to do with the weekend. I studied as much as I could, but whenever I was left to my thoughts, it was chaos.
I keep watching the steps of my house, expecting Aiden to show up unannounced like he did the other time.