It wasn’t just Teresa I had to worry about. I had my future to think about.Our future, that possessive being inside of me whispered.Our future.
We didn’t say a word as the elevator rose to our floor. She stepped out and held her hand out as if I was just going to hand her the bag when I knew she had to walk down the long hall. I ignored her and started to walk.
“What are… Hey! What are you doing? Where are you going?” she asked, half-powerwalking to catch up to me.
“It gave you a big red welt,” I pointed out without glancing at her irritated skin because if I did, I would do something crazy like toss the overpacked bag over my shoulder and pin her against the wall just so I could lean down and kiss the offended skin better.
“It’s fine.” She sighed, and I grunted because it wasn’t fine, but I was running out of patience.Me!The guy who thrived off it! I walked her right to her door, and she frowned as she looked at me before she asked what I knew was inevitable. I hadn’t been thinking and had shown one of my cards.
“How did you know I live here?” A brow rose on my face, and that was as much of an answer she was going to get. “Stalker,” she said under her breath. I had to stop the wolfish grin that threatened to spread all over my face.
If only you knew, baby girl, if only you knew.I couldn’t tell her she got it right on the nose. That I’d been watching her, following her, learning all I could about her—her likes, dislikes, schedules, and routines.
“You’re annoying,” she muttered as I handed her bag back.
“And you’re beautiful,” I countered. “Think about my offer for bio,” I said before turning to walk in the other direction towards my end of the floor. It was a happy coincidence we lived on the same floor.
I didn’t turn because I wanted her too much and the animal inside of me was getting close to feral when it came to Teresa. Back in my place and in the safety of my room, I paced.Regrouped and planned.
Asking her out, trying to charm her, sure as hell wasn’t working.
I knew I had to try something else. Something… more.
High risk, high reward, the beast inside me rumbled.And she’s the best prize possible.
I had an idea of what could work. A way to twist it into forcing her hand to hang out with me. If she spent time with me, one of two things would happen: she’d give me the ick, her true colors shining through. Shit I couldn’t see because of the lack of blood to my brain and the overabundance of it at my balls. Or we’d get to know one another, have fun, and… walk away?
The thought made the beast inside of me growl maliciously. The idea of her not being in my life, not being a part of hers, churned deep down in the pit of my gut.Do it, the thing demanded. Do it. Fuck the consequences. Because if I was caught doing what I was about to do, there would most definitely be consequences.
I shook my head and tugged at the overgrown strands of my hair.
Shit would most definitely hit the fan if the press caught wind of it.
I might not be a hot catch for the draft like my best friend and roommate, Jason, or our pitcher, Dave Ferguson, but I would be drafted in the top ten this year without a doubt.
If you don’t fuck it all up, a little voice whispered in the back of my head.
And fuck me, it was a bigif.
But I knew, deep down inside, the decision was already made.
I’d have Teresa Reynova by any means possible.
Even if I had to blackmail and bully her into it.
1TERESA REYNOVA
The AC kicked on overhead. I shivered. But that wasn’t why my hands shook.
Guilt ate at me as I stared down at the papers in my hand. The answers were all there. Every. Single. One. Everything could be fixed if I just…cheated?I winced inwardly as I glanced over my shoulder. I couldn’t see her. The windowless room I was in wouldn’t let me, but I could picture her at the table where I’d seen her.
My best friend tutoring her pink-haired friend. Too captivated and busy with her to notice I’d stolen her keys a little earlier.Borrowed, I tried to excuse. Keys that gave me access to shit I had no business having. Access to answers for midterms and tests I shouldn’t want but really freaking needed. It was bad enough that my biology professor hated me; he graded my stuff with a fine-tooth comb for having turned down his advances.
I shut my eyes and tried not to think about the way he’d cornered me in his office. I’d gone to ask a question about a lab. It had been so innocent and naively stupid of me. I blamed the hot summer heat. I’d rushed to his office late at night after a soccer practice hoping to get just five minutes of his time.Professor Nick Gage had smiled charmingly and told me he had some extra time. He had been charismatic.
Kind.
Nice.
