Her face was flushed and angry as hell, and I’d never want to fuck a girl more. “Where’s my gun?”
Again, faking innocence, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but as I said earlier, it’s not smart having a gun when the police are like ants on sugar.”
“Fine,” she said, dumbing the dumbbells down and wiping her sweaty hand on those thighs. “I’ll just send them to your frat house. I’ll just say there’s a gun hidden in The Lud up on the hill, near the Sport Science School. That’s what I’ll say.”
“Will you now?” I exclaimed, grabbing her arm just as she turned to walk away. “We’re not done.”
“Yes, we are,” she tried to release my grip on her, but it was impossible to fight against my will and strength. “I’ve got a class.”
I knew she was lying, but her fear seemed to make her hesitate. I tightened my grip on her arm and pulled her sharply, causing her body to press against mine. When those angry, scared eyeslooked up at me, I cupped her cheek and gently stroked her skin with my thumb. “6 PM, Stabby. Tonight. Be there.”
She swallowed nervously, then grew distant as if thinking of an excuse to get out of it, but I was one step ahead of her.
“Got it? Be there, or I will break into your room and destroy every fucking thing in there. You know I will do it, Stabby. You know what I am capable of, Stabby. I am my father’s son.”
She nodded, still gazing up at me soulfully, and I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear. What did you just say?” I pressed, cocking my head to the side.
She exhaled and tugged on her arm, but I refused to let her go until she agreed to dinner. Even if she didn’t agree, I would follow through on my threat and break into her room to destroy all of her possessions. Then I would force her to have dinner with me; in fact, I’d physically shove the food down her throat if she refused. But she won’t refuse because she is not stupid.
“Okay,” she said softly.
“Good.” I held my grip for a few seconds before letting her go, and she stormed off. “Remember, I’ll be coming for you if you don’t.”
As I watched her walk away, her sweet ass bouncing in tight sweatpants, I kept hoping she would turn back and look at me. I was mentally urging her to turn around and look at me,look back, look back,but as she entered the locker room, she kept her head turned. That, more than anything else, infuriated the living shit out of me.
28
My limbs ached after our training sessionbecause Coach was pushing us really hard. He was seeking revenge and taking it out on us. When I showed up for the class I shared with Conrad, Coach’s daughter was there too, wearing a wide grin as if she was expecting me.
“Isn’t that the chick always hanging around during practice?” Conrad whispered as she sat directly in front of us, just like in our other class with Cole. The main difference between Cole and Conrad was that Conrad had a temperament more similar to mine: aloof and less openly friendly, making him less inclinedto chat with her, unlike Cole, who would chat with her out of curiosity.
“Yeah, Coach’s daughter,” I educated him, and he cringed.
“She’s too clingy for my liking,” he pointed out, and I agreed. “I wouldn’t go near that if you paid me.”
“Same,” I agreed, although when I first met her, I thought she was alright, but that was before she kept turning up to each training session and was in two of my classes, causing an overdose of Melrose.
Like in the other class, she kept turning back and smiling at me as my scowl deepened. If she weren’t Coach’s daughter, I’d tell her to fuck off, like any other girl who pissed me off. He’d just awarded me the captain role, and I didn’t want to blow it by insulting his daughter, so I’d have to be a little patient than normal. So if I couldn’t tell her to fuck off, Plan B was just to ignore her and say nothing and act like she didn’t exist.
The fourth time she glanced back at me, she smiled and asked, “Do you guys want to study in the library after this?”
“No,” Conrad grunted, wearing a cringe.
Her head was still twisted toward me, waiting for an answer, and she looked like a character from a horror movie. All that was missing were rotting front teeth and empty eyes. “Ah, no,” I replied and left it at that, without offering her an excuse.
“Why not?” she pressed, okay, now she was starting to really fuck me off, and I could tell I wasn’t alone.
Conrad grew fidgety at her persistence and kept playing with his pen. At least Conrad had a girlfriend back home in Hartford, so he could use that as an excuse, whereas I had nothing, except a simple “fuck off,” which might not work on her because she seemed a little obsessed.
“Because I’m catching up with someone,” I told her straight, then focused back on the tutorial, hoping she’d get the message and fuck off.
Conrad shot me a look, then tapped his temple with his pen to indicate that this chick was nuts, and I agreed. She could be the type who struggles to read facial expressions and blunt language. Weirdly, most chicks would be standoffish with me, which was how I preferred it. If I wanted your company, I’d let you know. Otherwise, fuck off.
After class, we walked back to The Lud from the Sport Science School, and I spent ten minutes organizing my books and assignments on my desk in my bedroom while Conrad disappeared into the gaming room downstairs. My bedroom was at the back end of the fake castle, and my view looked out across the rising mountains that we’ve hiked over to hunt deer, goats, and pigs, and to the left was the lake that we’ve fished in. Freedom was only a few yards away, if I needed to escape.
Feeling a little hungry, I went downstairs to the kitchen and poked my head into the gaming room to find Conrad in the leather armchair, headphones fitted crookedly on his head, eyes focused forward, while a couple of our roommates were sitting in the background watching the fight on the screen.
