And I refuse to let him be the cause of my breaking.
He straightens up, blinking.“Sam—”
I shove my notebook into my bag, fingers clumsy and shaking, pages catching where they shouldn’t.The zipper fights me, and I nearly rip the damn thing off in my rush.I sling the strap over my shoulder and turn away.
I don’t look back because if I do, I’ll stay.
I walk out of the library fast.
Too fast.
My heart is lodged in my throat, pounding so hard it makes me dizzy.Blood roars in my ears, drowning out everything else.The hallway feels endless, too bright, too open.My skin still hums from where his fingers touched me.
I keep walking until I slip into the girls’ bathroom at the end of the hall and push the door open forcefully enough that it bangs against the wall.
It’s empty.
Thank fuck.
I stumble to the sink and grip the edge with both hands, knuckles whitening as I lean forward.My reflection stares back at me, eyes too bright, cheeks flushed, lips parted like I’ve just run a mile instead of barely escaping something I wasn’t ready for.
God.
He’s a fucking disaster.
Everything about him screams bad decisions.Trouble wrapped in filthy confidence.The guy you warn your friends about over coffee.The kind your mother would hate on sight and be right about.
And yet, it still works.Whatever this thing is, it works.
It shouldn’t.Not on me.Bad boys have never been on my radar.I like safe, predictable, and knowing where I stand.
Reece Wilson is none of those things.He’s chaos with a mouth that knows exactly how to undo me.
He shouldn’t have that kind of power over me.Not with a look that lasts too long or a touch that barely counts but still burns, anyway.Not with a few quiet words spoken too close in a library full of people pretending not to notice.
But he does.
And that truth sinks deep into my chest, heavy and terrifying.
This isn’t just about a stupid bet anymore.
He makes me feel reckless without even trying.And that scares the shit out of me more than anything he ever said to Jace.
Chapter 10
Reece
It’sthelastclassof the day, and I’m balls deep in it with Chloe in the third-floor bathroom, trying to get the ghost of Sam out of my mind.My hand grips the sink as I thrust into Chloe from behind, the mirror shifting slightly with each movement.
"Oh yeah, baby,” Chloe moans.“That’s it.Just like that.”
She throws her head back, her voice echoing off the tiles, with her mouth open, moaning louder.
Usually, I like it when girls get loud.I feed off it.But today, it’s fucking infuriating.
Because every sound she makes reminds me she’s the one beneath my hands, not Sam.
I grit my teeth, jaw clenched as I slam into her, trying to silence the voice in my head that keeps flashing images of Sam bent over the sink instead.
