I scoff. “Please. It wasn’t even that good. Ormemorable.”
His eyes change instantly, going pitch black, and a shiver runs through me.
I wish it were fear.
His hand comes up fast, gripping the back of my neck, his fingers threading into my hair as he pulls me to him.
His mouth crashes into mine before I can react.
The kiss is violent, claiming, and punishing. His teeth catch my lower lip, biting down so hard that I taste blood. His tongue presses insistently, and my body betrays me once more.
He pulls away abruptly.
My chest is heaving.
Only then do I realise the room is empty, class is over, and it’s too quiet for my liking, because when things go silent, my badly wired brain starts to misbehave.
I grab my things, shoving them into my bag, my hands shaking. My heart is racing, my skin feels too tight, every nerve stretched thin.
As I straighten, ready to leave, he stops me.
He bends down and whispers. “I’ve got the solution.”
I frown. “For people to know you’re mine,” he continues. “I’ll marry you.”
He smirks. “A ring so big on your finger they’ll see it from miles away.”
His eyes stay on me. “My last name.”
It feels as though he’s poured gasoline over me and struck a match.
I swallow hard, barely holding back the nausea clawing its way up my throat.
I manage to hold it until I reach the nearest bathroom, but the moment the stall door swings shut, I’m throwing up and slipping into a void I’m not sure I’ll come back from.
Chapter 24
Milo
I fucked up.
Nothing new. That’s practically my default, it’s in my nature.
But this time, it feels wrong.
Because the moment those words left my mouth, it felt like I lost her before I ever truly had her.
I curse and drive my fist into the wall, again and again.
“Fuck.”
All those small steps forward, erased by one enormous step back.
How could I be so insolent? If anything, I don’t want that angel of mine carrying a name as warped as mine.
I was ignorant, but not anymore.
I’ll do better for her.
