“Let go of me,” I whispered harshly, though part of me was hoping he wouldn’t let go, which was…I didn’t have time to examine that.
“No,” he said, pushing me back against the wall.
And that was…bad. Really bad. My arms felt unusually hot where he was holding me, and something deep inside me stirred.
“River,” I hissed, trying to dart a glance around him and keep my head level. “Not now.”
“You got me a fucking detention,” he growled.
I clenched my thighs together. “What? No I didn’t! I got a detention too!”
River blinked a couple times, then scowled. “I could get you in so much trouble right now,” he said lowly.
“Or I could scream and getyouin trouble,” I shot back, though there wasn’t any heat behind it.
“Sure. I’d like that,” River growled.
I fucking shivered, but didn’t scream.
As confusing as his comment was, I didn’t really care to get River in trouble, but I did need to get the fuck out of here. I didn’t want to see Rafe’s dad again for the rest of my life if I could help it, and I’d be sent straight to his office if we were found. Maybe Rafe could banish him when he became king one day.
For some reason, right there in the hallway, pressed up against a hot douchebag, I again had the stunning realization that I was now in a fucking. Royal. Chain.
And Rafe would most certainly be naming me as a princess, because he was a stickler for titles and would probably demand everyone used whatever ridiculous name he came up with for me.
I was not ready for that at all. It was a good thing the Crown Princess wasn’t very old–
“Daydreaming about him again, are you?”
A record scratched in my mind, and I blinked furiously. I’d completely forgotten I was pressed up against a hot douchebag.
Again.
“Wait, what? Daydreaming about who?”
River sneered before backing away from me. “You’re so obvious, it’s kind of pathetic.”
“Fuck you,” I snapped even though I had no idea what he wasinsulting me over. “You’re the one following me like a creep every time I turn around.”
River’s gaze darkened, his expression changing from disgust to something a little…scarier.
But I held my ground when he leaned into my face.
“Mr. Craig doesn’t want you, Aria. Leaving little love notes in his office won’t catch his attention any more than your sexy little crop tops.”
My jaw dropped at thefucking audacityof this man, and then I almost laughed, and then my brain screeched to a halt.
Sexy little crop tops?
Realization crossed River’s face at the same moment, as if he hadn’t meant to say that much.
“You think my crop tops are sexy?” My smirk grew as his scowl deepened.
What the hell was happening to me? Why did I keep prodding this man?
River practically growled at me, and I was almost a goner. Angry men did something for me, andno, I did not want to examine that either.
Thank God Wyatt had never actually counseled me last term.
