Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160041 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 800(@200wpm)___ 640(@250wpm)___ 533(@300wpm)
I shake my head.
“Good boy.”
Me?
A good boy?
My cheeks heat instantly, and a whimper escapes my mouth when she squeezes my blood vessels so tightly my brain begins to tingle.
“I don’t like people meddling in my business. Normally, I would delete someone off the face of the earth if they tried,” she whispers. “But since you’re Aspen’s brother—and my half brother is so very much in love with her—I’ll let you live. Since I don’t want to ruin his happiness.” Her right eye hovers close to mine. “For now.”
I am absolutely frozen to the floor.
For now?
“As long as you keep your mouth shut, of course,” she says. “You’ll do that for me, won’t you, Xavier?”
I nod again and again.
“Good boy.”
There it is again. That flutter in my heart, along with that whimper, and my pants are tenting fast.
She chuckles. “You’re practically melting in my claws. Pathetic.”
Her fingers slowly loosen their grip, and I suck in a hampered breath, nearly disappointed that her nails are no longer embedded in my skin.
“Glad we talked,” she says, casually throwing her long hair over her shoulder. “Bye-bye, Xavier.”
She turns around and waltzes back to the only free seat left in the classroom, all the way at the front of the desk, right as our professor walks in.
I’m left completely blindsided by this conversation.
Like a fucking puddle of water on the goddamn floor.
Melted.
Because she touched me.
This is what I’ve dreamed of.
And what has terrified me my entire life.
Years ago
While my sister is shoving dandelions into my hair, my gaze is fixated on the girl pricking the doll she’s roped against the tree behind our house. Mom and Dad invited the Reeds and the Torreses over for dinner, and the backyard has been taken over by them jumping and running about. My mini truck has already been stolen from the sandbox, and my collection of stones is strewn all over the grass.
But I still don’t care, because the one girl in that family is busy stabbing her own doll like she’s practicing for later, and I’m fascinated beyond comparison. Every time the small kitchen knife buries into the stuffing, my skin pricks with both excitement and fear at the thought of one day being the target of her obsession.
“You look so pretty!” my sister says as she tucks another dandelion behind my ear, blocking part of my vision, and I push it out of the way.
“Stop, I’m trying to focus.”
“On what?”
Aspen follows my gaze toward the girl, still unaware that I’m watching, and she laughs. “Who, Sunny? She’s weird.”
Frowning, I grasp all the dandelions from my hair and throw them in her face. “You’re weird.”
She laughs and picks the broken dandelions up from the floor to shove them into my face. “And you’re weird for watching her!”
She giggles and runs off, and I crawl up from the grass to chase her. “I’m not weird. Come back here!”
Orion
Present
My gaze flickers back and forth between Xavier and Sunny as they both try to pay attention to the class we’re attending, though I doubt any of us are getting any proper notes.
It’s far more interesting to see him squirm in his seat from the mere memory of her perfectly manicured nails latched around his throat.
If only …
That could’ve been me.
I sigh out loud.
Why would she give such a gift to him? She doesn’t even know him, doesn’t care about him. Not that she knows me, but she should. She definitely should get to know me just as well as she thinks she knows him.
What were they talking about? Some kind of hush-hush secrets no one else is privy to?
I must find out. But how?
My eyes narrow as I keep my gaze fixated on the two of them, while Xavier tries his best to avoid eye contact with me. I know he sees me staring, and I don’t care in the slightest. I want him to know that I’m invested in this now, and that I won’t let this go.
He knows something about her that she clearly didn’t want anyone to know.
If I want to inject myself into her life, he is the key that will unlock her door.
When class is over, she immediately waltzes off on those knife-shaped heels of hers, and the moment she’s left, the air in the room feels much less … heavy.
Deadly.
I miss her already.
But she won’t grant me a single look until I figure out what it is that makes her tick. And the only way to do that is by grilling Xavier.
He packs up his things without ever looking my way, then slowly saunters out of class. He’s zoomed out of his mind, and it’s gotten me curious beyond belief.
If I don’t end up murdered for interfering, at least I’ll have plenty of inspiration for my poetry.
I drift through class and pass by several students before I finally manage to latch onto him in the hallways. The moment my hands touch his shoulders, he jolts up and down like a scared little puppy.