The mention of his family makes my skin crawl, but I don’t say anything.
Instead, I scoff. “Please, you’re insanely hot. At the very least, you could have modeled.”
He makes a face, glancing at one end of the hall as if checking to make sure no one’s coming. The blush returns to his cheeks, and I wish I could snap a photo of it for later.
“Not my thing,” he replies. “If I’m going to be perceived, I’d like to be wearing someone else’s skin for a bit.”
“How very Ed Gein of you.”
Another laugh, rich and throaty, erupts from him. “I knew as soon as I thought the words that you’d say something to that effect. I’d much rather not be associated with a real-life serial killer though. Can’t we call me Titus Andronicus or something?”
“Are you eating your roles?”
“Hm. I suppose, in a way, there is a degree of consumption when you play someone else. Internalizing their struggles, finding what makes them human, and digesting their flaws so you can present them to the audience… One could argue that’s a simulation of eating.”
My face screws up. “That might be the grossest way anyone’s ever described acting.”
“Innovation, my dear séductrice, is half the battle.” He grins, and it feels so out of place that I get a little dizzy staring at the curve of his mouth. After a moment, he clears his throat, rocking back on his heels. “So you’ve been studying with your sister?”
That familiar pang of jealousy pulses in my heart when he mentions her. “Well, no. I left her to prep forOthelloauditions.”
“With your classmates?”
Once more, the air around us changes, turning a bit darker. Headier. I shift in anticipation. “Maybe.”
“Which ones?”
“Is this a conversation you really want to have here?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Why does it matter?” I swallow, emotion clogging my throat. “Are you jealous?”
His jaw clenches. “Lexington and Perciville. Are they here with you today?”
“And what if I say yes? That we’ve skipped studying altogether, and I’ve just come from a superhot threesome to get a drink, but I’m heading right back in to start up again. Obviously, you know the rumors, and I’ve thrown myself at you multiple times, so clearly I can’t keep my legs closed at all?—”
He covers my mouth with his palm, cutting me off. The water bottle falls from my grasp, tumbling to the floor. “You are incredibly,ridiculouslybrazen, temptress, but that is not what I said, nor what I implied.”
I roll my eyes, moving to escape, but he grabs my hip with his free hand, keeping me in place.
“It simply agitates me the way they’re able to spend time with you. And yes, I know that is a line I’ve drawn, but it drives memadto be relegated to stolen glances, pretending I don’t care…fucking my fist at night, desperately wishing it was that insolent mouth of yours. All while they can interact freely.”
Warmth spreads through my limbs. He slowly withdraws his other hand from my lips.
“After the incident in my apartment, I know I have no right to be standing here even saying any of this…”
“I don’t mind.”
A smarter, stronger girl wouldn’t let him see her cards so readily, but I’ve never been very good at resistance anyway.
He tucks some hair behind my ear, his gaze softening a little. “What is this spell you’ve cast on me? Why can’t I get you out of my head, no matter how many times I remind myself that you’re poison to my life?”
“Some poison in moderation won’t kill you,” I whisper.
Shaking his head, he makes an irritated noise. “I don’t want just a taste…or a bite…” His nose skims mine as he bends, and my stomach flips violently.
“Doesn’t this go against everything you’ve been saying since I showed up on the first day of classes?” I ask softly.
