“How could you?” I shouted, shoving him hard when we were outside. “How could you go near that fucking bitch?”
Rafe’s face was unreadable, his eyes darker than a raging storm. “Did you fuck Alex?”
Some of the fire died inside of me, and I swallowed roughly. “That’s none of your business,” I finally choked out. He was watching me without movement or expression, just those eyes that gave away his emotions. “Why do you even care?”
His body unfroze, and all I could see was violence as he stepped closer, leaning over the top of me. “You can fuck half the school if you want. But Alex … he’s off limits. There’s no happy ending for Alex of the Australasians, not after what he did to Jasmine.”
My hands shot out, and in two movements I’d wrapped my arms around Rafe and jerked him out of the way so that he was no longer crowding me into the wall.
“That’s really rich coming from the guy who fucks Claudette. She tried to kill me.” I slammed my palm into his hard chest, trying not to think about all the ink hiding beneath it. Until he’d taken his shirt off at soccer, I hadn’t realized Rafe was both ripped and tatted—two of my favorite things. And I really wished I didn’t know.
“Some days,” I said, sounding breathless, “I fucking hate you.”
We were so close that I could feel his hard thigh brushing against me, and it was partly the reason my breathing was all screwed up.
“Do you though?” Rafe mocked, and I noticed he was looking at my nipples. They were standing out even against the black shirt. Fuck, I should have thought this skintight shirt through.
“It’s cold in here.”
Rafe chuckled an evil, dark sound. “Right. And if my hand slid under those jeans and into your pussy, I wouldn't find you soaking wet?”
His hand was on my hip now, and it tightened to just short of pain. A strangled moan escaped, and I pressed my thighs together because the ache there was real. Really real.
But I was no cheater, and while Rafe was the perfect physical package, Alex was the one I cared about. The one who had been there with me through everything I’d gone through at Arbon. I would never betray him
I needed to get rid of Rafe first, and I knew one way to piss him right off. I pressed my body into his and could have laughed at the shock on his face, except I was way beyond that. “I’m wet because Alex fucked me all morning,” I drawled, the smallest of smiles playing on my lips. “He fucked me and made me come more times than I can count.” Lies. All fucking lies. But I needed Rafe to go. Now. Before I did something I’d greatly regret.
“You’d be a poor substitute,” I added, cringing internally at the black rising in the irises that used to be blue.
I might have gone too far.
“We’ll see who fucks whom tonight,” Rafe said, and it was clear he was no longer talking about sex. “Show up at the fights.”
Then he was gone, storming off in the direction of the soccer field. For the first time since he’d all but carried me out of the dining room, I realized that Rafe should have been with his team in the soccer rooms. But he’d been here?
Why?
Chapter 22
When I stumbled back into the dining room, Claudette was gone. Mattie was still the only one at the table, and I relaxed into the seat next to her. “Where did the British bitch go?” I asked, picking at my no longer appealing sandwich.
Mattie smirked. “She’s no longer welcome at this table.”
I shot her a grateful smile. “Thanks, friend. I appreciate you having my back.”
Mattie’s lips twitched. “I threatened to cut her if she sat here, but apparently someone had already given her marching orders. She’s not to sit here any longer.”
“Who?” I asked, taking a long sip of the most delicious and refreshing juice I’d had to date. No wonder my hair was so thick and shiny now. I was practically overdosing on vitamins.
“One of the royals,” was all Mattie would say, and I figured she didn’t really know.
A few others joined us at the table, but it felt quiet and sort of boring here without the triple threat of Rafe, Nolan, and Jordan. I was stupidly attached to all three of them, even the asshole of the group.
Just the memory of his hand gripping my hip... If he’d followed through on his threat and dipped his fingers into my panties, he’d have found me fucking dripping. That edge of pleasure and pain … Rafe was no doubt an expert.
“Come on,” Mattie said, pushing her plate back and standing. “We should get in before the start. We don’t want to miss anything.”
Alex.I couldn’t wait to see him again. Whatever back and forth bullshit I was doing with Rafe, the thing with Alex … it was real. I felt all the warm and fuzzy emotions, and while I wasn’t one to jump into the L word, I was kind of thinking we might be heading that way. He was just so easy to be around, sweet, and damned hot.
