“All it takes is one shitty dark hallway and you can’t control the situation,” he sneers. “I’ll say it again: until I’ve sorted this out and punished the bastards sending those notes, you’ll do exactly as I say. You stay where I can see you.”
I feel the air leave my lungs, but it’s like it’s happening to someone else.
The cruelty of his shift—from the man who moaned my name to the barbarian who just called me stupid—snaps something inside me.
I raise my hand and give him a violent, two-handed shove.
“Go to fucking hell,” I say, my voice trembling with a mixture of hurt and fury.
I expect him to shove me back, to tower over me and bark another order.
But he just stands there, his face turned slightly away, taking the blow in silence. My hands are shaking uncontrollably now. I try to shoulder past him, desperate to run before I start collapsing.
But Devlin’s hand shoots out, grabbing the strap of my backpack and jerking me back toward him.
“Give me my bag,” I snap.
“No. Don’t… please don’t shake like that,” Devlin replies, his voice suddenly quiet. “I deserved that. I had it coming. It’s okay.”
I refuse to look at him. “I’m leaving. Now.”
“Then I’ll call Sasha,” he says, his tone returning to that cold, even steel.
I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “God, you really do despise me. And what are you going to tell him, Devlin? Huh. That I jerked you off in a hallway?”
“If I have to, I will,” Devlin says, his gaze narrowing. “I’ll even let him beat the shit out of me for it. But you won’t be wandering this campus alone after those notes. Not with your luck.”
Something in me finally snaps. Maybe it’s the thousands of new, terrifying emotions of the last hour. Maybe it’s the realization that I’ve been thinking about him since the day we met.
I move in close—so close our lips are almost touching again, mirroring the way he caged me earlier. Taken by surprise, his fingers slacken, and I rip my backpack from his grip.
“And you should tell him,” I whisper directly into his mouth, my voice dripping with all the venom I’ve suppressed for years, “that his little brother was looking at you as if he wanted to get down on his knees right here and choke on your fat cock. Because I really did want to.”
Devlin’s breath hitches.
“My first experience, Devlin. My first time touching a man, and it was Sasha’s best friend. Hell, it was the first time I’ve ever even seen another guy’s cock that close. Thanks for the education.” I pull back, seeing the stunned look on his face. “So tell him whatever you like. I don’t give a shit anymore. Actually, tell him I sent the notes myself. Tell him I orchestrated the whole thing just so a ‘god’ like you would deign to let someone like me touch him. Then you can stop pretending you’re somehero protecting me. And if something happens to me, tell Sasha exactly what you believe— that I brought it on myself.”
I turn and walk away as fast as my legs will carry me. I don’t look back.
Through the roar of the blood in my ears, the only thing I can hear is the sound of Devlin—still silent, still standing in the dark—breathing heavily and rapidly behind me.
7
Chapter 7
I’m practically jogging across campus the next morning, my backpack bouncing against my spine with each hurried step.
The sun is barely up, casting everything in that pale, watery light that makes the world look fragile and new.
I need to see Liz. I need to tell someone—anyone—about these cards before I completely lose my mind.
Not about the other thing.
Damn, definitely not about the other thing. About Devlin’s hands on me, his mouth, the way he came apart under my touch, the cruel words that followed. That stays locked away where no one can ever find it.
I’m holding myself together with duct tape and sheer willpower.
If I can just make it to Liz, if I can just talk about the Valentine’s Day card, maybe I can start processing everything else later.
