For a moment, I have a strange sense of déjà vu. The last time he begged me to go, he’d betrayed me immediately afterward. It nearly broke me, and he almost won the last time.
But he didn’t. I came back and defied him.
He won’t win this time either because he doesn’t have the same advantage he had before.
I’m not half-way in love with him anymore.
Sure, you’re not, the voice in the back of my head laughs at me.
“Why should I listen to anything you have to say to me?” I snap, shaking off all thoughts of love and Saint Angelle. “You’ve targeted me before I ever had a chance to do anything to piss you off!”
His eyes narrow. “What are you talking about?”
I jab a finger against his chest. “Liam told me you were planning on fucking with me before we ever met. Why? If it wasn’t because of that goddamn apple, then why would you ever single me out?”
He stares at me for a heartbeat of time, and I doubt he’s going to tell me anything.
I’m surprised, then, when he mutters, “It’s because I never forget a face.”
I blink at him. “What does that even mean?”
His expression goes cold, and I can see him throwing up his defenses.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Like hell it doesn’t!” Letting out a strangled cry, I drag my hands through my hair and squeeze my eyes shut. “You’ve screwed up any chance I had of having a decent year here or having a fucking relationship that’s actually healthy. I could be with someone like Liam if you hadn’t screwed me up in the head so badly!”
When I open my eyes, his face is swarming over mine, rage darkening his expression just like I thought it would when I dropped Liam’s name. “Is that who you want to be with?” he roars, taking a menacing step toward me. “You want to be with that fuckhead?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time one of your girlfriends decided to change teams,” I scream. I want to hurt him. I want to hurt him so, so badly. Physically, I don’t stand a chance against him, but mentally, I’m determined to hold my own. “Maybe Rosalind had the right idea a couple of years ago. Maybe I should—”
“Stop it, Mallory. Stop it right fucking now.”
“Why do you want me gone so bad anyway?” I demand to know. “Huh? I’m not the only scholarship student here, so it’s not like I’m dragging down the prestige of Angelview, not that you give two fucks about that with the way you behave. So why is it you just want to get rid of me?”
His jaw is granite as he peers down at me, but he doesn’t answer. Of course he doesn’t. That would require him to give up insight into his twisted, fucked-up mind.
After several moments of his stubborn silence, I rasp out, “Do you want me gone?”
I don’t really know where that question came from. He’s made it pretty clear he wants me to leave, right? But … does he really want it or is there something else at play here he’s not telling me about?
His stony silence infuriates me more, however. I don’t know why I continue to try with him. He’s never going to tell me a damn thing since he doesn’t really give a shit about me. I need to remind myself of that again and again because for some fucking reason, I keep letting myself forget.
“You know what, Liam was right,” I hiss. “Just stay away from me, alright? I’m done with whatever this toxic bullshit is.”
I turn, intent on leaving him and walking back to campus.
“The swim meet.”
I stop at his growl and slowly turn around. “What?” I ask, beyond confused.
He takes a step closer to me. “The reason that gangbang fucker bothers me is because I saw him in your hallway last semester after the assembly. I went looking for you, and he was lurking around your room.”
He can’t know the fear his words send pulsing through me, and I fight to keep my face from giving anything away. If he knows how freaked out I really am over Ghost, he’ll hold it over me and try to use it against me.
When I speak, I’m surprised my voice is so steady. “What does Ghost have to do with any of this? I asked about you. I never brought him up.”
“Do you know why he was there?” he demands to know, ignoring my own question.
I can only guess it had something to do with Jenn, but Saint can’t know she’s in California. “He was there because I asked him to be,” I lie.
Before he can reply, I turn and stumble away, break into a run when he calls my name. He doesn’t chase after me, though, which is a small blessing.
I fumble for my phone once I hit the pavement of the parking lot and desperately try to dial the number that Ghost had texted me from last. It’s yet another burner, though, which I’d suspected, so I can’t get through. By the time I reach campus half an hour later, my mind is running on full, paranoid blast.
What was Ghost doing here last semester? Had Jenn already been in California by then?
Why didn’t they approach me before break?
“Well, well, if it isn’t the campus’s favorite little slut,” an annoying voice greets me as I start across the quad toward my dorm.
My whole body goes rigid, and I let out a groan as I spin around to face Laurel. She’s got her arms crossed and her slim hip cocked, dressed head-to-toe in the usual designer labels she drapes herself in the moment she can change out of our lowly uniforms. She’s wearing a smirk that puts me on edge, like she knows something I don’t and is excited to tell me.
That can’t be good.
“I don’t have time to waste with you today.” Especially not when I’ve got my mom’s apparent goon keeping tabs on me, and Saint harping at me to leave again.
My dismissal doesn’t seem to faze her in the least.
“I was hoping I’d run into you,” she says, dramatically examining her super long fingernails. “I’d hate to miss round two of your downfall.”
I don’t know what the hell she’s talking about, and I don’t really care.
“You know what Laurel, why don’t you go make that mouth useful and suck a dick?”
“Whoa, ladies, what’s the drama?”
I glance over my shoulder and roll my eyes to the sky asking why, God, why?
Liam and Gabe are walking down the sidewalk toward us. Gabe’s green eyes are alight with interest as they bounce between me and Laurel, but Liam’s stare is firmly locked on me.
Laurel scowls. “Get lost, Gabe. This doesn’t concern you two.”
“It sure looks entertaining, though,” he says, grinning. He looks me up and down, then continues, “Except, Mallory, you appear to be losing your touch. That last insult was a little weak. Everybody already knows Laurel’s only living her best life when she’s blowing someone and preaching about saving her cunt for Saint.”
I can’t even enjoy the outraged look on Laurel’s face because my mind is still so focused on Ghost and Jenn.
When I don’t respond, Liam finally glances up at me with a furrowed brow. He doesn’t say anything, but he’s studying me so intensely, it’s unnerving.
At length, he finally says, “You okay?”
I blink at him. “What do you mean? I’m great.” My voice is dripping with disdain, but that doesn’t stop Liam from pushing me for more.